Big Easy (Cowboy Craze) Read online

  “I agree.” Easy reached over and tugged on a lock of her hair. “Thanks for coming with me to check on her.”

  “Of course.”

  She was about to say more when Easy’s cell rang.

  “Hold on,” he muttered as he pulled the phone from the back pocket of his jeans to answer it. “It’s Philip.” He observed as he brought it to his ear. “Hey, how’s it going?”

  “Thanks for checking on Wren for me. I understand she refused to leave with you.”

  Jewel couldn’t help but overhear. She turned her head to look out the window as the men talked.

  “Yea, she was adamant about staying. I guess she told you about the trespassers.”

  “She did, Easy. I’m about to place a call to the sheriff’s department. I need to talk to them anyway. In my haste, I forgot to call and report in that I was leaving the area.”

  “Surely, that stipulation isn’t still in force.”

  “Hey, it’s only been a few days. No use taking a chance of pissing off the local cops. While I have them on the line, I’ll see if I can get them to drive out and look around Belle Chasse. Make sure everything is okay.”

  Everything within Jewel wanted to denounce the idea of going to Sheriff Hill about this. But…since she had no proof, only her visions – Jewel didn’t say anything.

  “Sounds like a good idea. So…how about your family? Have you heard anything?”

  Jewel looked around for this part. Her heart went out to Philip McCoy.

  “No, people are looking for them as we speak. Heath and I will be flying up there this afternoon. You and Jed just continue on with the plan and I’ll check in with you as I can. And Easy…”

  “Yea, Philip?”

  “Check on Wren often for me – okay?”

  “Sure.” Easy gestured to Jewel. “Give us your satellite number and we’ll call her later on today.”

  “Perfect.” Philip called out the number and Jewel entered it into her contacts.

  Once Easy ended the call, he placed the phone on the console between them. “So, they don’t know anything yet.” He pushed his Stetson back a bit on his head. “I keep thinking if it was Daniel and Sara or Benjen and Apple. The uncertainty must be agony.”

  “I’m sure it must be.”

  “Remind me to call Sam later. Okay?”

  “I will.”

  They drove on into Thibodaux, stopping at a boudin stand for some food to take home. “Damn, that smells good.” Easy sniffed the spicy Cajun sausage. “This and a glass of sweet tea is all a man needs.”

  “Oh, really?” Jewel asked mischievously. “Is that all a man needs?”

  “Ha!” He barked a laugh. “Hardly. I misspoke. I could do without food a helluva lot easier than I could do without you, treasure.”

  Jewel found herself blushing furiously. His tender words sounded an awful lot like some type of declaration. “Oh, Easy, you’re such a tease.”

  “I’m a lot of things.” He put on his blinker to turn into the parking lot of a Family Dollar store. “Handsome. Smart. Debonair. Sexy.”

  “Yes, you are.” She couldn’t argue with the truth. “Why are we stopping?”

  He winked at her. “Sit tight. I’ll be right back.”

  She did as he asked, her eyes following his progress as he hurried into the store. “Damn, the man is gorgeous. I could look at that fine ass in those tight jeans all day.” Her heated mutterings made Jewel giggle. “You’ve got it bad, Baptiste. You’ve got it bad.”

  …At home, Jewel readied their boudin, warming it in the microwave, preparing a salad to round out the meal. “So, what did you buy at the store?”

  Clink! Clink! Ice falling into glasses hid Easy’s chuckle. “It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait and see.”

  “Fudge.” She pouted as she padded around the kitchen barefoot, preparing their plates. “Patience is not my virtue.”

  Easy joined her at the table. He’d made himself comfortable also, shedding his boots and socks. “From where I sit, you are a woman of many virtues.” Yea, he was besotted – that was the only word for it. “You’re gorgeous. Brilliant. Sweet. Kind. Talented beyond belief.” As Easy gazed into her lapis eyes, he was convinced all the beauty and wonders of the cosmos paled next to Jewel.

  “Stop. You’re embarrassing me,” she whispered, almost too moved to eat.

  “Am I?” Beneath the table, he extended his leg, caressing her bare foot with his own.

  Jewel gasped at the touch. “Yea. So…don’t.” She held his gaze as she tickled the arch of his foot with her toes.

  Taking a bite of boudin, he murmured, “No deal,” while sliding the sole of one foot up her supple calf. “About tonight…we haven’t really talked about it.”

  “What about it?” Jewel tensed, trying to read his thoughts.

  “Well, this is Sunday night.” Easy moved the salad around on his plate. “We said we were going to spend the weekend together.”

  “And the weekend’s almost over.” The only emotion Jewel could sense coming from him was doubt.

  Easy held his breath for a moment, then let just let the words rush out. “Do you want me to sleep at the other house tonight or stay here with you?”

  His question surprised her. He’d made comments during the day alluding to what might happen tonight. Had he changed his mind? Was he hunting an out? Again, she endeavored to read his thoughts. Jewel frowned as she picked up what could only be termed as confusion. “Not if you don’t want to. I mean…you have to work tomorrow. You have to get up early. You need your rest.”

  “Let me worry about getting enough rest.” He let the sole of his foot slide seductively along the silky skin of her leg. “Now, answer the question. Do you want me to stay here with you – or not?”

  “Yes.” Playing coy didn’t even enter her mind. “I want you to stay.”

  “Good!” He rose and carried their plates to the kitchen. “Go make yourself comfortable on the sunroom. I’ll run over to the house, pick up some clean clothes, and join you in a few.”

  “Are you sure? I could help.” She hesitated, unused to being taken care of.

  “No. Go.” Easy kissed her on the end of the nose. “I have a plan.”

  “Oh? Okay.” She slowly backed away, fairly mesmerized by the sight of him puttering in her kitchen. “If it’s not too much trouble, bring your father’s medicine cord. I’d like to charge it in the moonlight before we use it.”

  “Okay. I’ll do that.” He placed their glasses in the dishwasher. “Now, vamoose. Relax.”

  As Jewel turned to go, Easy’s phone rang. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him glance at the read-out, hold up the phone, and give her a smile. “Sam,” he mouthed just before he greeted his brother with a happy, “Hello, Sam-I-am.”

  Enjoying his contentment, Jewel left Easy to his phone call. Instead of heading straight for the sunroom, she took advantage of the opportunity to shower. If his plans included anything of a physical nature, she wanted to be fresh as a daisy. Despite her anticipation of what awaited, she couldn’t keep her thoughts as pristine. After stepping beneath the shower, the memory of the poor woman who’d been run over next to Laurel Plantation came to haunt Jewel. Why was she naked and who had she been running from? Earlier, she’d wondered at the rise in paranormal activity. While encountering spirits was fairly normal for her, seeing them everywhere she looked – was not. Jewel couldn’t shake the idea that this escalation in supernatural happenings was a portent of a great evil afoot. “Oh, who am I kidding?” she muttered, flipping off the water. “You know this has something to do with Everett Hill.” Jewel couldn’t shake the notion that the woman who’d been killed running from the cane field was connected in some way.

  Once she changed into a simple yellow sundress, she applied a hint of makeup, staring at her face in the mirror. “Let it go for a while, girl. You’re not going to solve the mystery tonight.” Fluffing her hair, she gave herself a smile and a wink. “Tonight promises something much
more enjoyable.”

  What that might be – she could only guess.

  Hurrying to the sunroom, Jewel picked up a few stray newspapers and magazines, stacking them neatly on a coffee table pushed next to the windows. Aside from the periodicals, the table was full of containers of African violets she’d rooted from seed. The plants received just enough light here to grow big and vibrant. She cranked open the windows to let in the evening breeze, then fluffed a few pillows on the antique daybed and tied back the mosquito netting. With a faint grin, she admitted the room looked a bit romantic.

  Hearing the screen door snap closed, she bounced on the bed, hurrying to arrange herself into some quasi-seductive pose. Half reclined on the pillows, Jewel propped up on one elbow, bending her leg just so. Feeling a strand of her hair tickle her forehead, she sent a puff of air up to lift the curl into place – just as Easy came into the room.

  “After I talked to Sam, I called to check on Wren. She’s fine, said she’d check with me in the morning once I got to work.” Without waiting for her to respond, he kept talking. “And here’s the Izze-kloth.” He placed what looked like a square of silk on the table as he set a duffle bag on the floor. “Now, for my sur…” Raising up, he caught sight of her lounging on the daybed. “Dang, you look like a ray of sunshine, treasure.” Seemingly unable to resist, he came forward for a kiss. “Don’t move, I’ll be right back.”

  Jewel didn’t have a clue what he was up to. “Hey, come back here!” He wasn’t gone long before he returned with a towel and the bag from the Family Dollar store. “I can’t imagine what you’ve got in that bag. Did you buy some special kind of tingly lube or something?”

  This made Easy laugh. “Tingly lube? Do we need tingly lube?”

  “No.” Jewel giggled along with him. “I think you provide enough tingles on your own.”

  Easy winked at her. “That’s what I thought.” Climbing on the bed, he sat down next to her, his long muscular legs folded beneath him. “Now don’t you go forgetting I’m a sexy macho he-man.” With a deft move, he fanned the towel out over his knees and the portion of the bed between them.

  “Uh…how could I forget that?”

  “Just give me your hand, fair maiden.” He held out his and Jewel placed her left hand on his, palm to palm.

  For one breathtaking irrational moment, Jewel half expected him to pull an engagement ring out of the Family Dollar bag.

  Heartbeat one. Heartbeat two.

  Of course – he didn’t. But what he did extract from the plastic bag was equally shocking.

  A bottle of baby pink nail polish.

  “Easy, what are you doing?” He gave her this wicked, handsome grin – one that made her melt in a big puddle of girly-goo.

  “I want to paint your nails, beautiful. All twenty of them.”

  “Oh.” Jewel couldn’t say more; her heart was in her throat. And for the next twenty minutes, she allowed Easy to minister to her. She was mesmerized – enchanted – totally hypnotized by this big, incredibly handsome man who held her hand in his, applying polish to her nails with delicate strokes.

  “You’re good at this.”

  Easy chuckled. “I’ve had practice.”

  A spike of jealousy nailed Jewel to the mattress as she pictured him doing this for his one-night stands. Through the red haze of her despair, however, Jewel caught a completely different image. One so incredulous, she would need some explanation. “Tell me.”

  He chuckled again. “Well, you won’t believe this…”

  “Try me.”

  “One day, Sam and I found a bag like that one.” Since his hands were busy, he nodded at the Family Dollar sack. “Mom had bought herself some new polish.” Pausing, he stuck his tongue to the corner of his mouth as he did her pinky nail. “Dang, you have the tiniest nails, girl. Anyway – we decided to have some fun with the polish.” Another pause as he blew his breath on the small pink nail. “So…we took it out to the barnyard and painted the nails on all the chickens.”

  Ah, this explained the curious mental pictures she’d just received of two small boys scrambling with some Rhode Island Reds, giggles filling the air. “Seriously?”

  He nodded with a laugh. “The chickens were just our first victims. We graduated to the baby goats and the Mexican burro.” Finishing the last of her fingernails, he reattached the cap, then proceeded to scoot down the bed to her feet. “Now for the next ten.”

  “Easy…you don’t have to do this.”

  “I know.” He gave her the tenderest of looks. “Later, when my mother fell ill, I painted her nails.”

  “Oh, how sweet,” Jewel whispered on a gasp. She could almost feel Easy’s gaze on her body. “Most boys wouldn’t do such a thing.”

  “Simple. I loved my mother very much.” He could sense Jewel holding her breath as he took hold of her foot, caressing the delicate ankle. “I will admit this is my first foray into toes.”

  Over the next few amazing minutes, Jewel shivered as he painted her toenails, pausing to feather a kiss or two on the sensitive arch of her foot. “This is one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me, Easy.”

  “I’m glad.” He gently rubbed her calf as he blew on her freshly painted nails. “This is just one of the sweet things I plan on doing tonight.”

  Watching him place the nail polish on the floor at the end of the bed, Jewel trembled at the thought. “What else did you have in mind?”

  He settled at her feet, then spread her legs apart. “Kissing every inch of your delectable body.” Slipping his fingers into the waistband of her panties, he slipped them down her legs. “Is that all right with you?”

  As he began trailing fiery kisses up her inner thigh, Jewel closed her eyes and sighed. “Only if you’ll let me repay in kind.”

  Easy smiled as his tongue found her clit. “Deal.”

  * * *

  “You didn’t have to get up with me.” Easy brushed a kiss across Jewel’s cheek as he placed a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her. “But I’m glad you did.”

  “I’ve got things to do today,” Jewel muttered around a big yawn. “Might as well get an early start.”

  “I sure had a good time last night,” Easy told her, thinking she looked adorable wearing his shirt.

  “Me too.” Her confession made Jewel blush.

  “Eat your eggs,” Easy prompted, pointing at her plate with his fork. “Don’t forget, I left Dad’s medicine cord on the coffee table in the sunroom.

  “I won’t. I’ll take care of it this morning,” she promised as she spread some jelly on her toast. “So, how was Sam?”

  Easy took a sip of coffee, then placed his cup down with a look of satisfaction on his face. “Well, he didn’t give me any details – but…he’s seeing someone.”

  “So, this is good news?”

  “Very.” Easy ran his finger around the top of his coffee cup. “I wouldn’t say he’s a monk, but he hasn’t lived like me either.”

  She didn’t have to ask what he meant; Jewel felt his words like splinters under her fingernails. “I see.”

  “I mean…” Easy could see how uncomfortable he’d made her with his observation.

  “No, I understand.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “Go ahead. So, you have no idea who the lucky girl could be?”

  “No, he wouldn’t say. There seems to be some big mystery about it.” Easy reached over to rub a finger over the top of her hand. “All I’m saying is that he seemed happy. Really happy. His attitude was very different from when I left. I don’t know what happened to change it, but I think it has something to do with this woman.”

  “You miss your brothers.”

  Her statement was met with consideration. “I haven’t been gone that long – but, yeah, I guess I do.” Easy finished cleaning his plate, then stood to his feet. “That doesn’t mean I’m ready to go home. I have a job to do here. Besides…I’ve been completely distracted by this gorgeous woman.” He grabbed his hat from the seat of a chair, then lean
ed over to capture her lips for a kiss.

  “I’ve never been called a distraction before.” Jewel wasn’t sure she liked it.

  “A total compliment, I assure you.” Easy gave her a wink as he headed out the door. “Take care of yourself today. Okay?”

  “Okay. You too, Easy.” As she rose to watch him leave, Jewel got the funniest feeling…the shit was about to hit the fan.

  …The day proved to be too busy for Jewel to dwell on her odd feeling. As soon as Easy left for work, she dressed for the day, performed a perfunctory cleaning of the premises, then set out to prepare the medicine cord to be used to conjure its former owner. Jewel didn’t approach the task lightly, she realized this Izze-kloth, as Easy called it, was a sacred object. To show her respect, she planned to wear white gloves to handle it. Before she began, she set down at the computer to do online research. When she did, Jewel noticed the file for the camera Easy had installed on her front door. “Huh. I didn’t realize it was recording.” Out of curiosity, she checked some of the photos. “Must be motion detected.” The last shot taken was of her newspaper landing on the top step. “I’ll enjoy you with coffee,” she muttered as she called up the browser and entered the words Apache medicine cord Izze-Kloth in the search engine. After a few minutes, Jewel realized she was dealing with an extraordinary item. Before reading several historical articles, she’d thought it just a talisman or something akin to rosary beads. Now, she knew a shaman used it for protection, healing, and summoning spirits.

  After amassing as much information as she felt she needed, Jewel donned her gloves and set to work. She brought the silk packet to the table next to the cabinets and unwrapped it with reverence. The cord was braided with four strands, each dyed a different color – white, yellow, blue, and black. She’d learned these colors honored the four cardinal directions. At two-inch intervals the strands of leather were threaded through with Olivella shells and beads made from turquoise. Hanging from the Izze-Kloth was a leather pouch that Jewel didn’t open. It just felt too private. She felt, like the mojo bags she made, it most likely contained herbs, stones, and perhaps a charm or two like a bear claw or a twig from a tree which had been struck by lightning.