Chapter SIX
Heath caught Jarrod and Tessa up on Bill and Dorothy Johnson.
"So Jack owes me a new jacket and a week of the hotel bill," Jarrod grumbled, "Not to mention my shoulder, jaw, and eye."
Tessa and Heath looked at him sideways.
He mumbled, "I know, I know. It was a mistake. But we should be arriving in Tucson at the judge's house. Signing on the line for Rosemary's adoption. And I am stuck in this bed like an invalid. This bump has come up on my shoulder, and it hurts like hell." he spat out in childish anger.
"Let me see," Tessa stood up.
"No quit hovering. Just get me some scotch." he waved her away and used a harsh tone with her.
Heath looked at his sister-in-law; she looked hurt and angry. He wasn't sure which mood she would choose with his brother.
She took a deep breath, "No. I will look at your shoulder and if need be, your brother will hold you down."
Jarrod scowled and looked at the two of them, almost daring them to challenge him.
Finally, he unbuttoned his Union suit with his good hand, not speaking.
"Thank you," Tessa said sweetly.
"Heath? Can you get some ice? Look at this. Jarrod, it may be a break. A big hard lump has come up."
Heath looked over her shoulder, "Dern Jarrod, she's right, the doctor needs to come up again. I will send for him when I get ice."
She covered Jarrod's shoulder in the sling gently and kissed the top of his head. She walked across the room and poured a small scotch from Jarrod's flask.
"Here—-medicinal." she smiled.
He drank it down and reached up for her hand, "Sorry."
"The way I see it, I have quite a few months left carrying our child. I may need some grace myself for a wicked mood or two. I will be reminding you of that, Mr. Barkley."
Heath chuckled at the two, "Heading out for ice and doctor."
He pulled the door shut as the two looked lovingly at each other. An appreciation of their love filled him as well as a twinge of jealousy.
—-&—-
Jarrod dictated a letter for Tessa to post to his friend. He finished two more scotches to Tessa's chagrin. She knew he was hurting but wished the doctor would hurry up and appear. The ice had helped for a few minutes but it was now melted. Ice was at a premium in Arizona heat.
"Take out—-please, " deliberately changing his tone of frustration to Tessa, "the adoption file. I have all the necessary documents from Knight's Ferry and home."
"Are these all?" as she pulled them out of his case,
"Yes. Tessa, you will have to be my arm for a while. Although I would rather have you in my arms."
"And I will be glad to be either."
He scanned the papers with his good eye. He squinted a few times and grumbled under his breath.
"They look in order. Father: Billy Dent, deceased. We have the death certificate. And trust papers for you to hold in kind until Rosemary is of age—-"
"Yes, they are both here." she sighed. They had gone through these so many times.
"Your birth certificate?"
"Here too, Jarrod." she was getting miffed at his mood and rechecking the legal documents.
He reread the papers for the third time as Tessa patiently waited for him to finish so she could put them up and hopefully get her angry, hurting husband to bed.
Jarrod made a long sigh of pain and frustration, "it's as good as we can get it. I wish I knew if anyone else was going to pop out of the woodwork. At least, we are here and not in California. Taking too many chances at home with these unknowns."
Tessa had it, "Jarrod, you promised me you wouldn't ask me to break a vow. You have my word. Does that matter to you? Rosemary is my daughter in the sight of God. I thought we settled that before we married. Or is just three scotches on an empty stomach and your shoulder talking?"
His eyes flashed back at her increasing tone, "Of course it does. She is my daughter too. You and Zella need to be careful. I heard you ask Nellie questions about you know, babies."
She trembled at his comment. His face showed he regretted it immediately after he said it.
His curious mind had held onto a conversation he accidentally overheard in Stockton when Nellie and Nick arrived home from the honeymoon.
The three ladies were in the kitchen.
"Nellie, can I ask you some things personal? Neither of us know the answers and we were both scared to ask Dr Merar—about babies?"
"Of course. We are all sisters now. Was it different when you carried Rosemary?" she asked innocently.
Zella and Tessa realized their mistake and quickly covered it up with innocuous questions to cover. Nellie seemed none the wiser and the conversation broke into laughter.
"I will let you know when the doctor arrives." and she stormed out of the room. The wind from the door and window slam caused the papers to lift and scatter. Jarrod put his good hand to his brow and rubbed it.
"Well Pappy, you have another apology on the horizon. This damn shoulder—"
Eugenie wrote all the details down as she heard them in her notebook.
—-&—-
A mouse ran through Nick's bedroom into the dressing room. He grabbed his fishing net and went into the area he saw it run. His pants and shirts were lined up with his coats and suits at the end. Silas made sure they were pressed and ready for any occasion, work or church, or social occasions. His boots were lined on the rack with several hats on the wall. His undergarments were in the chest of drawers.
The area he cleared out for Nellie was sparse. Three dresses, a garden hat, and a Sunday hat and a worn cloak—he and his mother had told her to use the local dressmaker but she hadn't done it yet. It reminded him how much she had done without in her loveless marriage.
"I am going to change that 'By Damn'. Same thing when Jarrod brought Tessa home with just the clothes on her back and an oilcloth overcoat. It's still out in the corral. Audra and Zella got ahold of her and pushed her to shop. Well, I think shopped for her. Somehow I don't think that will work with my Nellie. Maybe Mother?"
A basket of undergarments was on the floor. The velvet robe and the blue peignoir hung above them on a hook. He couldn't help grinning.
He caught a movement by the boot and pulled back the shoe. He smiled seeing the worn apron from the Davis ranch—it had such good memories for them. It had lasted ten years from their meeting to their reuniting in the farm kitchen.
The mouse scampered again onto the temporary vanity area on a washstand he set aside for her. The bottle of witch hazel toppled onto the perfume he bought her in town. He grabbed the perfume before it spilled.
But the witch hazel trickled onto a hardware store calendar from San Diego that she marked dates. He grabbed it up and shook off the liquid before it smeared. Birthdays and anniversaries stood out to him as he fanned the pages to dry. Bill due dates from the first half of the year were already dimming. He decided it was dry enough and he went to shake it one last time.
He noticed the seventh of the month was circled every month of the year. He frowned and wondered what the significance was.
He was soon distracted as the mouse ran out again and he trapped it by the water closet. He scooped it up with the net and tossed it out the open window.
"Durn mouse. Let Rosie's cats have a snack."
He straightened up the disturbed items and looked back at the calendar, "The Seventh?"
—&—-