Big Easy (Cowboy Craze) Read online

  “Oh, really? That’s interesting. She told me she hid sometimes in that old, abandoned sugar mill.”

  “Yea, I rode down there. It’s not safe. She didn’t like it, but I moved her in with me this morning.”

  This surprised Easy. He almost chuckled, but he caught the laugh in time. He didn’t think Philip would appreciate his amusement. “How’d you manage to do that?”

  Philip grinned. “I bribed her.”

  “With what?”

  “Microwave popcorn. All she could eat.”

  This time Easy couldn’t hold back his laughter. “Whatever works. I know she’ll be safe with you and I want to tell you again how glad I am that Pepper and her husband were found okay.”

  “God, yea. She’s the baby of the family. We all dote on her and we’re just thankful the rescue teams found them so quickly. You’d never guess, but it was two new members from Joseph’s and Ten’s wilderness training program who were first on the scene. In fact, one of them is our cousin. The one who plays football for the Texans.”

  “Clint Wilder. Wow. That’s crazy. Almost too coincidental not to be fate.”

  “That’s what Ryder said. And as bad as it was, Lord help, it could’ve been so much worse. They could’ve been killed. They could’ve had their baby with them. Thank goodness neither of those scenarios proved true.” Philip guided his horse around a boggy area. “This is one of those times when things worked out.”

  Easy blew out a long breath. “I hope all of this mess works out. Seems like there’s something bad happening every day. Did I tell you my house was broken into last night?”

  “Seriously?”

  “Isn’t that wild?”

  “What did they get?”

  “Nothing. I walked in on them. I was lucky they didn’t kill me.” Thanks to Cotton. Not that he was ungrateful, but Easy chose to keep that tidbit of information to himself.

  “I’d say you were. Shit.”

  They rode on in silence for a few more moments, listening to the sound of birds and insects. Finally, Philip broke the silence. “Are you still seeing Jewel Baptiste?”

  “Yea. I’ve essentially moved in with her, I guess you could say.”

  “Hmmm.” He nodded his head in a thoughtful manner.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  Philip shrugged. “Nothing. I was just thinking this isn’t your normal behavior.”

  “Stop analyzing me.” Easy scoffed. “I know you’re a doctor, but you’re not that kind of doctor.”

  A soft chuckle rumbled in Philip’s throat. “True, but I am a student of human behavior, even if I’m self-taught. I’m just wondering what this means for you, that’s all.”

  “Why does it have to mean something? I finally found a girl I enjoy keeping company with. Is that a crime?”

  “No. No. It’s not.” Philip actually looked apologetic. “I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. In fact, I’m glad you found someone. I guess if I was going to give you any advice, I’d give you the same words of wisdom that I gave to Ryder and Pepper when they started dating.”

  “I think I probably have more dating experience than you, Philip.”

  He waved a hand as if Easy’s comment was of little consequence. “What you’ve done in the past doesn’t qualify as dating.”

  “Fine. I’ve been sowing wild oats.”

  “Acres and acres of them.” At Easy’s hard look, he held up another hand in a gesture of surrender. “All right. All right. Anyway, what I told the girls was this – you don’t have to marry the first boy who asks you.”

  Easy laughed at Philip’s reasoning. “I don’t think Jewel is going to propose.” He refused to let his boss see how his offhand comment really affected him.

  “No, I don’t think she will either. I guess what I’m saying is that you don’t have to let your first real relationship be your last.”

  “Huh. That’s deep.” Easy clicked his tongue to make his mount pick up her pace. “Did your sisters follow your advice?”

  Philip laughed. “Hell, no. They did just exactly what they wanted to.”

  “Well, there you go.” Easy answered smugly as they headed toward the barn.

  * * *

  Once Jewel made it home, it took a good hour for her to calm down. The run-in with the angry woman left her feeling dirty and soiled. A half hour of standing under a hot shower helped immensely. After dressing and straightening her hair, she applied a little lip gloss and called it good. “Now, I feel better.”

  Returning to the kitchen with renewed purpose, Jewel threw herself into the tasks she’d left for the afternoon. The first order of business was to dig in the freezer for a beef tongue. Not as an entrée, thank goodness. She needed the slightly disgusting item to work a spell for Velma Duggan’s court case. After placing it in the sink to thaw, Jewel put the finishing touches on supper, making a gravy to go with the roast. Still needing to burn off a bit of excess energy, she set out to scrub every inch of the countertops. When this was accomplished, she also swept and mopped the floor. The simple act of working in her kitchen seemed to soothe her.

  When Jewel finally stopped long enough to catch her breath, she glanced at the clock on the microwave and saw the afternoon was quickly whizzing by. There were still things she needed to do before Easy came home. This was the night she’d promised to summon the spirit of his shaman father. In order to accomplish that feat, she needed to make sure to have all the necessary items close at hand. After making a mental list, she began to assemble what she would need – an incense burner with dandelion and sandalwood incense, six white candles, plus a selection of herbs: rosemary, holly leaves, mullein, and wormwood. Gathering everything into a basket, she carried it into the sunroom and placed each article on the table next to the Izze-Kloth. “Okay, that’s all I can do for now.”

  For a moment, she lingered, staring at the medicine cord under glass. “Please give me the wisdom to do this. And please, don’t disappoint him. He needs to know he’s loved. He needs to know he’s forgiven.” With one last, almost reverent, touch to the glass box, Jewel returned to the front, her ears alert to hear the sound of his truck as he arrived. Feeling a bit antsy, she moved to the reading table, taking the seat last occupied by Willie Mae Hill. As she did, Jewel expected to feel something. A connection. Maybe an inkling into what the other woman was doing, where she was, if she’d contacted the authorities about her husband. Holding herself completely still, Jewel waited, allowing her spirit to act like an antenna. Oddly enough, all she seemed to tune into was…white noise.

  Suddenly, she felt the need to move.

  Jumping to her feet, she danced away as if the surface of the chair she’d been sitting on burned her skin. Strangely, the burning wasn’t one of fire – rather it felt cold as ice. Not knowing what to make of such a sensation, she turned away. Tomorrow, she would attempt to contact Willie, to offer any help she might be able to provide.

  Today, however, she had other things to consider.

  Walking around the room, she ran her hand over first one surface and then another. The reading table, the book shelves, the apothecary cabinet. They were antiques, brought over from France. Her father bought them for her mother in an old shop on Royal Street in New Orleans. She could scarcely imagine the amount of magic these pieces of furniture had been party to.

  Raising her arms, she twirled slowly in a circle, absorbing the atmosphere of her home. Her sanctuary. A place that had provided refuge from many a storm. Yet…something felt different. Kinetic. Rubbing the tips of her fingers together, as if testing the texture of the air, Jewel had to admit things were not the same. In truth, she found it hard to remember what her days were like before Easy came into her life. She knew they hadn’t seemed empty at the time. Without meaning.

  But they had been.

  Compared to now, she’d existed in a fog. Adrift on the ceaseless flow of meaningless days. Merely imitating life.

  As she let this eye-opening revelation wash over her, she
detected the familiar sound of Easy’s truck approaching. Even as her heart leapt with joy, Jewel was left with one glaring question. When this was all over…how would she be able to exist without him?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The nearly full moon was obscured by clouds as a storm blew in from the Gulf. Wind began to whip through the trees as rain fell in thick, gray sheets. Outside, lightning ripped through the night sky and thunder rolled over the bayou, sending even the alligators to seek shelter. Inside, a sense of the mysterious unknown seemed palpable. Mesmerized, Easy sat on the floor next to Jewel, watching her work. She was so beautiful. If what she was doing wasn’t so important to him, he’d carry her off to bed on the spot. But since this was something he wanted desperately, Easy tempered his feelings, concentrating on what was happening before his eyes.

  She held out her hands, palm up, almost in supplication. In front of her, an incense lamp burned, delicate tendrils of smoke curling toward the ceiling. Forming a halfmoon at her feet, six candles twinkled, their small flames bright in the shadows.

  “Ancestor of Blood and Spirit, come to this light. Grant us an audience, Yuma Blackhawk.”

  From a coconut shell, she drew out pinches of herbs, scattering them over the glow of the candles. “With love and respect, we bid you join us. We call you forth from beyond the veil.”

  Taking the Izze-Kloth from its protective case, she passed it to Easy. “Hold this, think of your dad. Picture him in your mind. Call to him in your heart as I summon him.”

  Accepting the sacred medicine cord, Easy held it delicately in his grasp, letting his thumb pass over the worn leather with affection. Doing what Jewel requested wasn’t simple. Even though he wasn’t asked to speak aloud, he felt tongue-tied. Closing his eyes, he bit the inside of his cheek and all he could manage to chant over and over again in his brain was… “Please, Dad. Please. Please. Please.”

  “Yuma Blackhawk, Shaman of the Apache, I call upon you. Humbly, I ask you to appear before us. Appear to your son, Ezekiel. He needs you.”

  As Jewel spoke the last three words, He needs you, a crash of lightning lit up the sky, and the very air rippled before them. Easy felt the hair raise on the back of his neck. Open-mouthed, he stared at the space in front of them. At that moment, he didn’t know if he wanted this to work or not. It wasn’t that he was afraid – not really. Mostly, he dreaded facing a father who he knew would be dreadfully disappointed in the man he’d become.

  “Welcome, Shaman.”

  Jewel’s greeting came as a body made of lights and shadows began to materialize a few feet from where they sat. Easy couldn’t be still, he stood to his feet, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched familiar features begin to form. First, the moccasins on his father’s feet became fully visible. The ones he was buried in. The ones he’d made himself. Next, he could see the plain black charro pants, the heavy silver belt, and the black linen shirt they’d dressed him in at the funeral home.

  “Easy, speak to him,” Jewel whispered. “He’s here. This is your chance.”

  With a mouth dry as the desert, he let his eyes continue their upward journey. The strong chest. The flow of long hair. As Easy took in the details, he realized the incarnation before him was no longer intangible, the clothes possessed substance. His father’s hair was no longer iron grey, but black and shiny as it had been in his youth.

  “Easy. My son.”

  Only when he heard his father’s voice, clear and strong, was Easy able to lift his eyes to see his father face to face. At the sight of the familiar, dear countenance, Easy almost went to his knees. Scarcely able to breathe, he took in the twinkling eyes and the kind smile. “Dad?” In the next heartbeat, Easy was being held in his father’s strong arms. “I’m so sorry, Dad. I’m so sorry.”

  Feeling unnecessary and intrusive, Jewel rose to slip out of the room, leaving Easy alone with his father. She silently made her way to the living room, marveling at what she’d witnessed. Yuma Blackhawk hadn’t appeared as expected, a translucent specter, he’d appeared solid – as flesh and blood. How could this be? As she walked to the window to watch the storm, Jewel could only attribute this amazing turn of events to the shaman’s personal power. Leaning her face against the cool pane of glass, Jewel prayed Easy would find what he needed in his father’s warm embrace.

  …Easy understood he was taking part in a miraculous event. His father stood before him, young and strong. Alive and well. “How can this be?” he whispered with no assurance an answer would be forthcoming.

  “You needed me. I came.”

  The warmth and strength of Yuma’s voice cascaded over Easy like a healing rain. “I want to apologize to you, Dad. You died because of me. I’m so sorry.” He could no more have held the words back than he could’ve stopped the wind from blowing. “Forgive me, please.”

  “Ah, Ezekiel, there’s nothing to forgive.”

  “There is. If it wasn’t for me, you would’ve never been at that intersection, never found yourself in the path of that truck. You’d still be alive today.”

  Yuma placed his hand on his son’s arm. “Walk with me to the window.”

  Still in a state of near disbelief, Easy stood shoulder to shoulder with his dead father, watching the play of lightning dart over the swamp. “I bet you’re wondering why we’re in Louisiana.”

  Yuma chuckled. “I am not unaware of what goes on in my family. I’m dead. Not gone.”

  Knowing there was a billion things he wanted to say to his father, he couldn’t resist this one question. “The light on the mountain, the light that led Benjen to save Apple in the flashflood – was that you?”

  “Well…” Yuma kept his gaze straight ahead, his face illuminated by the light of the storm. “It was part of me. I guided the light.”

  “I might’ve known.” Easy found himself trembling. He didn’t know how long his father would stay; he didn’t want to waste a moment. “I just wanted you to know that I love you. If I could turn back time, I would do as you asked, I’d come straight home. I’d give anything in the world to relive that day. So, the wreck would never happen, so you’d still be alive.”

  “It was my time, Ezekiel.”

  “No, you were still young. We still needed you.”

  “And…I’m still here. And one day, we’ll be together again as before.”

  Ezekiel shook his head. “I can’t say I understand.” He nodded toward the other room. “To most people this would be impossible. To the amazing woman who performed this miracle for me – these things are within her grasp.”

  “She is an extraordinary woman. Reminds me of your mother. Beautiful. Intelligent. Strong. It’s almost time for me to return to her.”

  His mother. Easy felt a moment of guilt that he hadn’t thought of asking for her to appear too. “I wish I could see her.”

  “Your mother loves you. Always.”

  “Can’t you stay? For a while?” Easy didn’t know exactly what he was asking, he only knew he wasn’t ready to give up this euphoric sense of peace and well-being.

  “No. This is not my place. Not my time.”

  Easy couldn’t stop the movement of his hand. He reached out and grasped his father’s forearm. “Not yet. I need you.”

  “Never forget. I love you.” Yuma turned to look straight into his eyes. “I will be with you through the storm, Ezekiel.”

  In the next flash of light – he was gone.

  …Jewel wasn’t sure how she knew Yuma was gone, but she did. When Easy came through the door, she was there to greet him. “Are you okay?”

  Easy moved as if in a trance. He placed his father’s Izze-Kloth on one of the ornate cabinets, then faced Jewel. “Yes, I am good. Thank you.” How inadequate mere words could be. “I’m so grateful.” He shook his head, tears in his eyes. “You’ll never know what a relief this is. A tremendous burden has been lifted from my heart. All of this time, I felt like I didn’t deserve to be happy. I couldn’t risk happiness. Not when I was responsible for end
ing my father’s life.”

  “You weren’t responsible. Isn’t that what he said?”

  “Yes. He told me there was nothing to forgive.” Almost blindly, he reached for her. Easy didn’t have to see Jewel to sense her presence. She drew him, her gravitational pull was impossible to resist. The center of his attention. “I need to hold you.”

  Jewel melted into his arms, cradling him close. She felt an overwhelming desire to be his shelter, his refuge, his safe place. “I’m so grateful he gave you what you needed.”

  Burying his face in her neck, Easy drew from her strength. “You’re what I need. My beautiful, precious Jewel.” Framing her face, he kissed her deeply. How had he ever thought her to be less than perfect? No, she wasn’t flamboyant or pushy. He’d had enough of women like that to last a lifetime. Jewel was the epitome of femininity. Graceful. Elegant. More importantly, she had this huge heart. He’d never met anyone so caring. She attracted him like no other, when he wasn’t with her, he counted the moments until he could be again. Like the glow of a fire, she drew him. The pure light she gave off was undeniable. Yet, like a fire, it was not just the glow that would bring a man close – it was the warmth he felt when he was near to her. “Make love with me. Please?”

  As if she could ever tell him no. “Yes, Easy, yes.”

  Gaining her soft approval, he swept her up into his arms and carried her to bed, kissing her lips every step of the way.

  * * *

  The next morning, Jewel lay on her side, her eyes on the sunrise she could see out the window. A rosy glow blooming into brightness. Behind her, Easy’s big body was molded to hers as they spooned. She could feel his warm breath fan across her neck. A long sigh of happiness slipped from her lips. She was so in love, sometimes it felt as if her body couldn’t contain the emotion. Last night, their lovemaking had seemed different. No less exciting, but also tender. Devoted. Jewel had a hard time describing it to herself. He seemed freer, like he was truly able to let go for the first time in his life.

  What did this mean? She was afraid to guess. All she knew was that for the first time, she began to hope this could last forever.