TAMING JESSE JAMES Page 9

  He pushed the memory aside. "I just wanted to have a word with your patient."

  "You really think this is a police matter? It seems to be just a boy doing something ridiculously stupid."

  "I'd still like to talk to him just to make sure."

  "I hope you've had the chicken pox, then. Just keep in mind he's a sick kid who might not be up to answering a lot of questions."

  Jesse nodded and pushed open the door. Corey was sitting on the exam table in a hospital robe, his scrawny legs dangling over the side. His eyes widened at the sight of Jesse, then narrowed in contempt and something else that looked like betrayal.

  "She told you."

  He played innocent. "Who?"

  "Miss McKenzie. Why'd she have to go and tell you?"

  "She was worried about you."

  "The hell she is. She's just got it in for me like every other teacher."

  "You know that's not true. She cares about you. If she didn't, I wouldn't be here."

  "You gonna arrest me?"

  "No. Nobody committed any crime here." He watched the boy carefully as he spoke. "Unless someone did this to you against your will. Do you know what that phrase means? Against your will?"

  For just an instant, fear flashed through the boy's eyes, but he quickly looked down at his bare feet. "Yeah. It means if someone did something I didn't want them to do."

  "Is that what happened?"

  Corey's gaze darted around the examination room, to the sink and the door and the panda wallpaper. To anything but Jesse. "No," he finally said, his voice belligerent. "How many times do I have to say it? I wanted a tattoo and my mom wouldn't let me get one. I don't care what she says. I still think it's cool."

  "What does your dad have to say about it?"

  Again that fear tightened his features. "He … he didn't have anything to do with it."

  For the first time, the boy's voice wavered and Jesse narrowed his eyes. Damn it. Could Sarah have been right about Seth all along? The thought made his stomach heave. "Corey, did your stepfather hurt you?"

  Corey stared at him. "Seth? Hell, no. He wouldn't hurt me."

  He looked so genuinely astonished at the suggestion that Jesse felt a vast relief. Seth was his friend. The idea that he might be involved in this was repugnant.

  But if Seth didn't do it, who was hurting this child?

  "I need some names, then."

  That fear flashed across Corey's features again. "What names?"

  "The other kids involved in this so I can make sure they get medical treatment if they need it."

  Corey stuck out his chin. "I ain't tellin'."

  "You don't want your friends getting sick, do you? You can die from a bad infection if it's not treated, did you know that? In the old days, before antibiotics, people died just from getting a cut in their finger."

  He watched the wheels turning in the boy's head as he digested the information and considered his options.

  "The other guys chickened out," Corey finally said. "I was the only one with the stones to go through with it. Are you happy now?"

  Not by a long shot. Sarah was right. There was far more to this than the boy was revealing in these crummy little bits and pieces.

  "Why don't you give me their names anyway?" Jesse suggested. "Just so I can back up your story."

  He crossed his arms and jutted his jaw. "No. I'm not squealing on my friends. Nothing you do is gonna change my mind."

  Before Jesse could pressure him on it, the door opened and Doc Wallace entered, Ginny and Maddie right behind him.

  "Everything okay in here?" Doc Wallace asked.

  Jesse nodded. "We're just finishing up. Corey, think about what I said. If you decide to tell me anything else, either for your own safety or your friends' safety, you know how to get in touch with me, right?"

  The boy managed a smirk, even though Jesse could tell he was miserable and itchy. "Yeah. But don't sit by the phone, 'cause I won't be callin'."

  Jesse thought he would probably fall right off his chair if he ever did hear from the kid.

  * * *

  Chapter 8

  « ^ »

  Corey was the first of what turned into a virtual chicken pox epidemic at Salt River Elementary. In Sarah's class alone, six other children besides him had been hit with the nasty virus.

  She sympathized with them all. She could still vividly remember her own awful bout with chicken pox when she was eight—the itching and the sore, swollen throat and the unrelenting tedium of being quarantined at home for ten days.

  Her professor parents had juggled their respective class loads so one of them could be home with her during the day, but even the rarity of being completely at the center of their attention hadn't been enough to make up for the misery.

  The boredom had been the worst, she remembered. Knowing how energetic her students had been, she figured they were all going crazy being cooped up while spring exploded around them.

  The night before, she had come up with the idea of delivering care packages for her poor students, complete with a few books, word puzzles and games to keep their minds off the torment.

  She had to admit, a big part of her motivation for the visits to her students was a desire to make amends with Corey. She knew he still hadn't forgiven her for telling his mother and Jesse about the crude S branded onto his back.

  Her peace offering had been in vain, though. He wouldn't even allow his mother to let Sarah into his bedroom, so she'd ended up dropping his package off with Ginny.

  Corey was the first stop. The rest of her Saturday morning had been much more rewarding. The children had been as delighted to have a visit at home from their teacher as they were about the books and small gifts.

  She smiled, remembering the joy on all their dearly familiar little faces. What would she have done if she'd given in to her impulse right after the attack and left teaching? She would have missed it beyond measure. She needed her students to bring laughter and innocence into her life.

  Well, most of them were innocent. Her thoughts returned full circle to Corey. She had to find another way to reach him, but she didn't have the first clue where to start.

  She pushed the troubling thoughts away and concentrated on the drive. What a lousy day to be sick, she thought again as she cruised along the winding road toward her last stop, the Diamond Harte—hit with the double whammy of both Dylan and Lucy coming down with the spots.

  The day was sunny and warm, with only a few high, powder-puff clouds to break up the vast blue expanse of sky.

  Springtime in the Rockies was glorious, she was discovering. Snow still capped the highest peaks, but everything else burst with lush, vibrant color. She loved seeing evidence of new life everywhere, from the lambs leaping in pastures to the new leaves on the trees to the buds erupting everywhere in her garden.

  And the road to the Diamond Harte was among the prettiest she'd traveled in Star Valley. A creek tumbled beside it, full and swift from runoff. Lining the banks were sturdy cottonwoods, thick green undergrowth and the occasional stunning red stalks she'd learned were a western relative of the more common southern dogwood.

  On the other side of the creek, in a pasture surrounded by gleaming white fences, a trio of horses raced against her trusty little Toyota as it climbed the last hill before the ranch house.

  At the crest, she stopped for a moment to savor the view.

  The Diamond Harte nestled in a small, verdant valley. At the center was the ranch house itself, a sprawling log-and-stone structure that looked as if it had been there forever.

  It was flanked by a huge red barn and a half dozen other outbuildings. More of those beautiful, sleek horses grazed in pastures here and she remembered that Matt Harte, Jesse's brother, raised not only cattle but champion cutting horses.

  This was where Jesse had grown to manhood. He had probably climbed those fences and raced bareback across those fields of green and floated twig boats down the creek.

  She felt a strange little
tug at her heart picturing the big, gorgeous man who both terrified and intrigued her as a mischievous boy with startling blue eyes and a devil's grin.

  Drat. Couldn't she even go fifteen minutes without thinking of him? She hadn't talked to him since the week before, the day she had seen Corey's stomach, and she hated to admit that she missed him. The way those blue eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, the funny little flutter in her stomach whenever be looked at her, the way be somehow always managed to tease her out of her nervousness.

  He was so vibrant and alive, he made her world seem much more drab in contrast.

  She had to stop this. Firmly pushing thoughts of Jesse away, she drove the rest of the way to the ranch house, then carried her bags up the porch steps and rang the doorbell.

  Ellie Webster Harte—Star Valley's busiest veterinarian—answered the door.

  Ellie always seemed so beautiful and together whenever Sarah saw her. Today, though, her hair was slipping from a ponytail, she didn't have any makeup on and the T-shirt she wore had a streak of flour dusting one shoulder. She looked frazzled and worn-out.

  "Sarah!" she exclaimed. "Matt told me you called and were on your way out. What a brave soul you are to face our miserable pair!"

  Sarah smiled. She had come to know Ellie earlier in the year when they'd worked together on a school fund-raising project and she genuinely liked the other woman.

  Though they had arrived in Salt River at roughly the same time, that was about the only similarity between them.

  Ellie was spunky and energetic and not at all afraid to go after what she wanted—everything Sarah used to be. She had often marveled at the courage Ellie must have had to uproot her daughter and move to Star Valley, away from everything that was familiar.

  "How are the girls?" she asked.

  Ellie made a face. "Awful. We've already given them each two oatmeal baths and smeared them with calamine and they're still itching like crazy. Give me a whole stable full of sick horses any day over two nine-year-olds with chicken pox. They're climbing the walls."

  Sarah laughed and held up the gift bags she'd packed. "Maybe these will help entertain them, at least for an hour or so."

  "You're an angel! I can't believe you went to so much trouble!"

  "It was no trouble. I love the girls. I just wish I could do more to help them feel better."

  Before the other woman could answer, the smell of burnt chocolate wafted out of the kitchen.

  Ellie sniffed, then her face dropped. "Rats!" she moaned. "My cookies! I have to confess, I'm not much of a cook. That's Cassie's expertise. But the girls were craving chocolate chip, so I did my best. I swear, we'd all starve if Cassie wasn't bringing regular meals over from the Lost Creek."

  "I'll run these up to the girls while you rescue your cookies, okay?"

  "Thanks. Third door at the top of the stairs." Ellie rushed down the hall toward the kitchen, leaving Sarah standing alone in the entry.

  Her knee burned a little by the time she made it up the long flight of stairs, but she ignored it as she counted doors. Even without Ellie's directions, she would have known the third door on the right belonged to the girls by the collage of teen idols whose faces plastered the door.

  She smiled a little as she pushed it open, then her heart seemed to stutter in her chest and she stopped breathing.

  Jesse Harte, the subject of way too many of her thoughts lately, sprawled at the foot of one of the two twin beds in the room. Dylan and Lucy sat together at the other end wearing matching flannel pajamas. All three of them held playing cards, and other cards were scattered across the bedspread.

  Jesse obviously hadn't been expecting her, but his surprise quickly gave way to a grin of delighted welcome. He opened his mouth to greet her, but the girls had caught sight of her first and beat him to the punch.

  As usual, Dylan was the first to speak. "Miss McKenzie!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

  There was that flutter in her stomach again as Jesse grinned at her. Sarah tried fiercely to ignore it, just as she usually ignored the nagging ache in her knee. She held up the matching pink gift bags. "I brought treats."

  The girls shrieked and dived over their uncle toward the bags.

  "Oh, sure." He gave a rueful laugh that did funny little things to her nerve endings. "This is the thanks I get for spending two solid hours listening to your boy band music and letting you both whip my butt at crazy eights. The minute a pretty lady walks into the room carrying presents, you both forget all about me."

  The girls looked back at their uncle, clearly torn about what was the most polite thing to do in this situation, until Jesse rolled his eyes at them. "I'm joking. Go ahead. I know you're dying to see what goodies Miz McKenzie brought for you."

  They gleefully dived for the bags again and the next few moments were tilled with ripping paper and exclamations of delight.

  Their enthusiasm made her smile as she watched them, grateful for whatever impulse had given her the idea for the gift bags.

  Out of the corner of her gaze, she sneaked a peek at Jesse. She expected him to be looking at his nieces, too, but to her astonishment, his attention was focused only on her.

  "That was a very nice thing to do, Miz McKenzie," he murmured. The approval in his blue eyes slid through her like a caress, completely disarming her.

  "It's not much. Nothing compared to two hours of crazy eights and all the pop music you can stand."

  "I am feeling a little unhinged right about now. I never realized there were so many ways for teenage boys who can't even grow chest hair yet to sing about losing the loves of their pitiful young lives."

  She listened to the sounds emanating from a small shelf CD player and had to smile. "I heard this particular group is coming in concert to Idaho Falls next month," she teased. "Since you love their music so much, maybe you should take the girls."

  She hadn't meant Dylan and Lucy to overhear, but unfortunately the chicken pox hadn't affected their hearing at all.

  "Yes!" Lucy gasped with astonished joy. "Oh, Uncle Jess, that would be so awesome! Please, please, please?"

  He glared at Sarah. "Thank you very much. Now how am I supposed to get out of it?"

  She fought the urge to clamp a hand over her mouth, dismayed that her teasing Jesse had begun to spiral out of control. It would have been too late, anyway. The damage was already done.

  "Sorry," she whispered to Jesse.

  "If I have to go, you're coming with me," he growled back.

  Although he sounded disgruntled, she could see by the glint in his blue eyes that he wasn't really upset. Relief washed over her. She wasn't sure she could handle having this man angry with her.

  "I'm sure I probably have plans that day," she assured him.

  "Break them. You're not getting out of this that easily—you're coming with us."

  "Does that mean we're really going?" Lucy asked gleefully.

  "I guess you both do have birthdays coming up. I'll have to see if I can swing tickets for the four of us," he answered, with a pointed look at Sarah.

  For the next few moments the girls could talk of nothing else but their favorite group, until Sarah felt her eyes begin to glaze over. She was out of her depth here.

  But even though she knew she had no real excuse for staying, Sarah couldn't make herself walk out the door, too busy watching and listening to the camaraderie between Jesse and his nieces.

  The girls obviously adored him. Sarah was ashamed to discover she was jealous of their bond. The glaring contrast between Jesse's boisterous family and her own solitary life depressed her, made her feel even more alone.

  She was just about to make her excuses and leave when Ellie walked into the room in time to catch the girls yawning in tandem.

  "I saw that," Ellie said with a frown. "Ladies, it appears your uncle and Miss McKenzie have tired you right out."

  "It's exhausting business whipping me at every hand. Isn't that right?"

  Even tired, Dylan could
still serve up a cheeky grin. "Not really. We're used to it by now."

  "Be that as it may," her mother said sternly, "I think you'll both feel better after you rest for a while."

  The girls groaned as Jesse climbed to his feet. "Well, Miz McKenzie, I believe that's our cue to leave these two card sharks to their beds."

  "Matt said you planned to ride the Piñon trail this afternoon," Ellie said to him as she tucked the girls in. "How far do you think you'll make it? Before he took off for Afton this morning, your brother said to warn you the snow levels were still pretty deep a few weeks ago when he was up there and you might not make it very high."

  Jesse's grin was every bit as cheeky as Dylan's. "Doesn't matter, as long as I'm far enough to get out of range of the cell phone. It's my day off, but Lou doesn't seem to know what that means. She still calls me a dozen times a day."

  "Didn't it ever occur to you to simply turn your phone off?" Sarah asked.

  "What's the challenge in that? Besides, I could never lie to Lou if she asked why she couldn't reach me. This way I don't have to."

  He glanced at her, a considering look in his blue eyes. "Do you ride?"

  "Um, horses?"

  "No. African elephants. Of course, horses."

  The girls giggled and Sarah smiled, amazed that she enjoyed his teasing so much. "Not really. I know the front end of a horse from the back, but that's about it. I think the last time I rode was probably at summer camp the year I turned twelve."

  "Doesn't matter. We can give you one of the more gentle horses and take it slow."

  She didn't like the sound of that "we" business. "I don't really think…"

  "What a great idea!" Ellie exclaimed. "Sarah, you have to go with him. It's such a gorgeous day, you'd be crazy not to."

  "You can take my horse or Dylan's," Lucy chimed in. "Dandy and Speck are both really gentle."