Renegades and Stubborn Pride (sequal to Renegades and Pretty Women)

Chapter Nine

 

                Reb just shook his head as he finished starting a fire and removed his knife to open the tin can of beans he’d taken from his saddlebags. Jonah still hadn't returned after storming off into the woods.

                Joe and Jonah had always had a problem with their communication skills. It had driven Reb more than a little crazy five years ago and it still drove him crazy now. Back then it had been Joe refusing to tell Jonah how she really felt about him, until the very end and then being too stubborn to try to stay around and give Jonah more time. Hell the man had still been on a vengeance trip after having his judgment when it came to women proven clouded not once but twice! But had Joe been willing to stick around and fight for Jonah? Nope.

And then there was Jonah. Reb could write a book on that man’s stupidity and lack of communication skills. Telling Joe he wouldn’t, or couldn’t love her when anybody that got within a mile of the man when that woman was around could tell that Jonah had been as deep in love with her as a man could be with a woman. Jonah’s problem had been that he simply hadn’t trusted himself and he had convinced himself that love wasn’t real.           

Reb guessed he hadn’t exactly helped things always teasing Jonah about his so-called brain ailment when it came to women… But Reb hadn’t meant women like Joe… Women like Joe were different… They were the kind of women that, if he wanted something like love, a man needed to grab onto.

Now it seemed that Jonah and Joe were going to fail to communicate and set their pride aside yet again, choosing instead to glare at one another, argue, fight and create a tension so thick that a peace loving man like Reb who just liked to drink, whore and have a good time had trouble breathing.

And then there was Bart. What had that man been thinking by not telling Jonah that he had a son? Or not telling Reb so that Reb could tell Jonah.  Bart and Reb had seen each other several times over the last few years and Bart had never once mentioned that he still had contact with Joe or that he knew about Jonah and Joe having a son.

Reb sincerely hoped that Bart had a damn good reason for doing what he’d done or else he was sure that Jonah would have a bullet or two aimed straight at the skinny bastard’s ass.

                “I’m gonna go find us some meat. We need somethin’ other than jerky.” Joe stated matter of factly as she rose from the rock she’d been sitting on and wiped off her hands on her pants.

                “Can I come, mama?” Clayton asked and Reb saw the glance that Joe threw in his direction and he knew that she was wanting a bit of privacy.

                “Actually, boy, why don’t ya stay here with me awhile? I ain’t a real good cook and I need ya to make sure I don’t burn the beans. If’n there’s one thing that makes Jonah hot under that collar real quick it’s a burnt batch of beans.”

                Clayton laughed and nodded as he came to stand next to Reb beside the fire. Reb nodded at Joe who took off silently in the same direction that Jonah had taken.  Reb hoped that the two of them might be able to work through the barriers of communication between them. Hell even he could tell, with his one good eye, that they still loved one another. He just hoped they’d both be able to see it too.

                “How come ya only have one eye?” Clayton asked, bringing Reb out of his thoughts. Reb glanced down at the boy and grinned. He never had been one for young kids. He’d never really had much use for them since they couldn’t do much of anything other than talk, eat, sleep and get in the way but Clayton was different.  Reb wasn’t sure why he was different but he figured it had something to do with the boy being Gideon ‘the hawk’ Redding’s grandson and the son of Joe and Jonah.