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.I got some money put away.It shouldn’t take too long to get a good string of rank bulls and horses—Are you okay?” he asked abruptly.“I’m okay,” she said, but she made the mistake of looking at him.“Hannah, are you going to cry?”“Yes, I think so,” she answered, giving a long, wavering sigh.“Then slide over here and let me put my arm around you while you do it.”She didn’t hesitate, and he held her close to him, not asking her any questions, just letting her use him as a crying towel if that was what she needed.It wasn’t for herself that she was crying; it was just that someone should mourn the agonizing demise of what might have been in her parents’ lives, and she was the only one to do it.She sat up, wiping her eyes with a red bandanna Ernie gave her.He reached out to run his hand over her hair.“You want to talk about it?”“No.”They rode for a time in silence, and he kept glancing at her.“You want a Starlight Café hamburger?”“No,” she said.“Neon sign,” he reminded her.“No,” she said again, knowing what he was doing.But she didn’t want to feel better just yet.“I’m buying,” he threw in as a further enticement.“No.”“Ozelle might have her hair curlers out.”“No,” she said, a smile working at the corner of her mouth.He was going to make her feel better in spite of herself.“You want to get married?”“N—what?”“Do you want to get married?” he said distinctly.“To me,” he added.“After I’ve courted you so you’ll know I love you and I’m sure about it, and you’ll know you love me and you’re sure about it, and I’m back rodeoing and I’ve got some money coming in and—stuff like that.”For once in her life, television experience or not, she was totally speechless.“Now, look, Hannah.You know I don’t work up to things.I love you.Well, what did you think?” he said a bit testily.“We were going to live in sin?”“It—occurred to me.”He grinned.“It did?”“Yes,” she said, shameless to a fault.“Damn!” he said, clearly pleased.“Except that won’t work.”“It won’t?” she said.“No.When you come to Tahlequah with me at Christmastime, or when you go with me to New Mexico to see my godchildren or on the road buying rank bulls, or when you come to see me at the rodeo, I want to be able to say, ‘This is my wife’—even if you’ve got one of those dang Perry Mason suits on.”“You do?” she said, staring straight ahead.This man was serious!“And that’s not even mentioning when we get pregnant.”She looked at him with such alarm that he suddenly pulled off the road by an abandoned roadside country store.The windows were boarded, and it was made of sagging, weathered wood and covered with rusty, illegible signs.The wind had picked up, and it buffeted the truck.Ernie reached for her, taking her into his arms and holding her close.She leaned into him, loving the feel of him, the way she always did.“Hannah, whatever Jake said—it’s not something that’s going to hurt us, is it?”She leaned back so she could see his eyes.“No.It’s nothing to do with us.”He nodded, and he reached up to gently stroke her cheek with the backs of his fingers.He took her into his arms again, kissing her deeply, lovingly.“We’re a pair, Hannah Rose,” he said with a sigh.She hugged him tightly and smiled, knowing the past was as abandoned as the old country store behind him.“You know what, Watson? I think maybe we are.”EPILOGUEHANNAH CAME STRAIGHT from KHRB, arriving late and out of breath and just in time for the introduction.She hadn’t stopped to change clothes, and she was still wearing high-heeled shoes and a Perry Mason suit—red, but Perry Mason nevertheless.“Ladies and gentlemen,” said the rodeo announcer, “welcome to Will Rogers Coliseum.While we’re waiting for the next event, I’d like to introduce one of our professional rodeo clowns.You’ve seen him out here working tonight—protecting the cowboys in these events.A fine athlete and gentleman—Mr.John Ernest Watson! Take a bow, Ernie!”The spotlights came on in the middle of the arena, and Hannah couldn’t keep from grinning.She loved him in clown face—actually she loved him in any kind of face—but she especially loved his flagrantly corny rodeo routines.Ernie had on a big black hat and a black and white striped referee’s shirt and cut-off baggy jeans with black tights and knee-high black and yellow rugby socks and orange Day-Glo suspenders.He had red and blue bandannas pinned up one corner all around his waist, and he was the most beautiful thing Hannah had ever seen.She moved closer to the front to get a better look, parting a group of cowboys who seemed unusually happy to see her.“So, Ernie! Tell us how you’ve been doing!” the rodeo announcer said.Ernie took his hat off and held it over his heart.“Not so good, Red!” He picked up one corner of a bandanna and carefully wiped his eyes.“Why, Ernie, what’s the matter, son?”He blew his nose loudly, then announced: “My wife died!”“She died! Ernie! We’re sorry to hear that! What in the world happened to her!”“Poison mushrooms!”“Poison mushrooms! Ernie, that’s awful! I’m really sorry!”Ernie put his hat back on and let go of his bandanna.“Naw, that’s all right, Red!”“That’s all right!”“Yeah, that’s all right [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]