Chapter 10 – Going Home
We drove back to Little Bend slowly; I wanted to give Jody time to settle her nerves. At the same time, I didn't want her to get cold feet – she needed to resolve this matter once and for all. I'd heard all the words she said, saw the look in her eyes, and came to a conclusion of my own – Jody was in love with Beckham Dooley, and Beckham Dooley alone. There was friendship, and physical attraction, between her and Billy Sunday, and some kind of affection. But it wasn't love, not like what she still had with her husband. And from everything I'd seen and heard between her and Billy, my Floor Manager might have been in love, too – but it wasn't with my sister.
When we got to Maude's it was still daylight, but Billy was already walking the floor. I sent Jody to my office and called Billy over. "Yeah, boss?"
"There's someone in my office that wants to talk to you. You got a few minutes?"
"Sure. Is there a problem with something?"
I shook my head. "No. No problem." I started for the bar, then turned back to the young man. "Listen – no matter what happens back there, nothin's changin' here at Maude's. You're still my Floor Manager. Got that?"
Sunday looked confused for a few seconds, then shrugged and accepted what I said at face value. "Ok, boss. I'll remember that."
I poured a cup of coffee when I got behind the bar, and Willie had a question for me. "Everything okay?"
"Not at the moment, Willie, but it will be. Things quiet while I was gone?"
The head bartender nodded. "Pretty much. This time of year it's too hot to cause trouble."
"Good. Let's keep it that way." I assumed the meeting goin' on in my office was gonna take a while to conclude, so when I finished my coffee I decided to go check on Doralice and the girls. "Willie, I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm goin' home, in case anybody needs me."
I was at the house in less than five minutes. Maria Elena and Belle were on the front porch, and when I asked where Doralice was, Maria Elena nodded towards the bedroom. "Inside, with Maudie. The little one didn't feel well."
Trying to be as quiet as a mouse, I tip-toed inside and found Maudie sound asleep in our bed, with her mother right beside her. Doralice was asleep, too, and they made a sweet picture. I brushed the hair from my wife's face before slipping back outside. "They're asleep," I told Maria before picking Belle up. "Daddy has to go back to work for a while, baby girl. You be good for Maria."
Belle put her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. "Luv daddy," my little one told me.
"Daddy loves Belle," I replied before kissing her back the same way. I sat her down in the rocking chair and headed back for the saloon.
"Bye, daddy, bye," I could hear Belle calling halfway down the boardwalk. How did I ever get so lucky?
XXXXXXXX
The door to my office was still closed, but Billy Sunday was in the far corner of the saloon looking carefully at the roulette wheel. I stopped at the bar and exchanged glances with Willie, who shrugged his shoulders when I pointed to Billy. "Don't know, Bart. Everything's been pretty peaceful."
Back I went, and stopped when I got to the roulette wheel. "Wheel okay?"
Billy looked up and grinned. "Oh, yeah, boss. I was just checkin' to make sure it was still balanced."
"And everything else?" I asked.
"Couldn't be better."
I continued on to my office and knocked on the door. "Come in," Jody's voice called, loud and clear. She was sittin' on the couch and, other than looking a little pale, seemed perfectly fine. "Bartley, you're back."
"Well, yeah, that was always my intent," I responded. "I saw Billy. Everything alright?"
"No," she answered me quickly but in a steady voice. "But it will be."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"You have any brandy in here?"
There in the bottom left drawer of the desk was the bottle that Maude left. It hadn't yet been opened. There were two glasses in the same drawer, and I filled one about halfway and handed it to Jody. She drank it down and extended the glass. "Another, please."
"You sure?" I remembered the last time I'd come running into this office and chugged, in quick succession, two glasses of the same concoction. I almost lost the love of my life with that rash action.
"Yes," Jody answered, and I complied with her request. This one she sipped, slowly, until she was almost through. I closed the bottle and returned it to its place in my desk drawer.
"You want to talk about it?"
"There isn't much to talk about. He just asked Evan Dandridge to marry him."
I was surprised that Billy and Evan had progressed that far, that fast. But I wasn't at all surprised that Billy was out in the saloon checking out the working status of the roulette wheel, and Jody was sitting forlornly in my office drinkin' brandy. My suspicion all along was that Billy had gotten close to Evan Dandridge. I just didn't know how close.
"Recently?"
"Two days ago."
"Did you tell him you had feelings for him?"
She nodded her head. "I told him a lot of things."
Soon enough I was sitting in my desk chair, waiting for Jody to tell me the whole story. Because I was sure she wanted to; it was just gonna take a while before she was ready. I got comfortable and closed my eyes . . . and must have dozed off, because it was almost an hour later before she spoke again.
"Bartley?"
"Hmmm?"
"Are you awake?"
"Yes, Jody."
I told Billy that Beckham and I were separated, and he seemed surprised. "Why are you surprised? You know we were having trouble . . . we talked about it almost every day."
"But I was always sure you loved your husband," he replied.
"I was miserable and alone. You were the only one I had to talk to. And you were so interested in everything I wanted to talk about."
He sat there watching me like he didn't know what to say. "I thought you just needed a friend," he explained. "Someone you could tell everything to, someone's shoulder you could cry on."
"I did. And you gave me that, and more. I fell in love with you, Billy."
"Then why did you encourage me to leave for Texas?"
"Because I thought . . . I thought it would be best for you."
"But, don't you see, Jody, it was best for me. I've got a great job here with your brother, and I've found the best girl."
"You mean Evan Dandridge?"
Billy nodded his head and smiled. "That's right, Evan. She's wonderful. She's everything I ever wanted. As a matter of fact, I asked her to marry me the day before yesterday."
"You . . . asked her to marry you?"
"I did. And she said yes."
"What happened after that?" I questioned Jody.
"I'm not really sure. He told me all about her . . . everything I never wanted to hear. He just kept talking, one thing right after another, on and on until I finally wished him well. And he left."
"He's out in the saloon workin' on the roulette wheel."
"Just like nothing ever happened?"
"It didn't, for Billy." What I was about to tell her was gonna hurt her, but she had to hear it. "Everything is fine in Billy's world, Jody. He's in love, and it's not with you. He chose his woman, and she said yes. You have to let it go."
"I . . . can't. I won't. He loves me, I know he loves me."
"No, he doesn't, Jody."
I expected tears, but there were none. She blew out a breath and looked at me with the saddest eyes I'd ever seen. "He doesn't, does he?"
"No."
"What . . . do I do now?"
"Figure out if you love Beckham enough to go back to Montana and work it out."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you have to decide if you're gonna stay in Texas with me and Bret."
She put her head in her hands and stared down at the floor. "Alright."
It didn't take much to make my way from the chair behind my desk to the couch Jody was sittin' on. I reached out a hand and she took it, and I pulled her to her feet. "Let's go home."
"Where is that, I wonder?"
Not sure of where Jody's home was, I had no questions about mine. It was right up the street.
