The pain in her leg had lessened. That was the first thing that Joe noticed as her senses began to return to her. She was hungry, that was the second thing she noticed. And the third thing that came to her mind was how warm and comfortable she was.
Joe opened her eyes and felt her heart tighten in her chest. She had thought that Jonah showing up had simply been a dream, brought on by fever, but here he was. His rugged, sleeping face was mere inches from her own. Joe could feel his warm breath against her skin and he had one strong arm draped over her waist.
Something squirmed between their bodies and Joe glanced down to see Clayton snuggled up in the cocoon that Joe and Jonah’s bodies made for him.
Joe’s throat clogged with emotion that she quickly swallowed down. This is what life should have been; Jonah, their son and herself all together. But Jonah had thrown all that away and she would do well to remember that and not get caught up in the sweet peacefulness of this moment….
But it couldn’t hurt to enjoy it for, at least for a few seconds.
She listened to her son and Jonah breathing deeply. Both of them were snoring lightly and the sound of it caused a smile to spread across her face. Clayton was so much like his father. Not only did he look like him but he had a softer side that Joe knew he hadn’t gotten from her, he was good with animals and he snored something terrible.
Joe heard Jonah’s breathing change and knew the man was beginning to wake up. Not wanting to be in such a vulnerable position when he did, Joe moved out of his arms and slowly got to her feet. Her leg still hurt her terribly but it no longer felt as hot or swollen. Her wrists were a mess but Joe knew they would heal and she’d have a few new scars to brag about.
“Nice to see ya lookin’ a bit more alive this morning.” Reb said as he walked over to her and handed her a canteen and several strips of jerked beef.
Joe took several deep swallows of water and then began to chew on the first food she’d had in days, a groan slipping from her lips at just how delicious it tasted. The fact that Reb’s jerky tasted like a delicacy told her just how starved she had been since she happened to know for a fact that it really tasted like stale horse piss.
“Thank ya, Reb, for takin’ care of my son and findin’ me.” Joe glanced around, through the early dawn fog and frowned. “Where is Bart?” she asked with concern.
“He snuck off last night.” Reb replied with a shrug. “And It’s Jonah that ya need to be thankin’. That boy took up with him real quick and if it weren’t fer Jonah’s tracking skills we might not have found ya.”
Joe swallowed and glanced back over at Jonah and Clayton. Jonah was awake now but he wasn’t looking at she and Reb. Instead he was staring down at his son, who was wrapped in his arms.
Joe felt angry then. Jonah had no right to that boy. No claim to him. He had given that away when he had tossed her letter into the fire and all but called her a whore.
“Wake up, cowpoke.” Joe called out as she limped over and shook the boy’s leg, avoiding Jonah’s gaze. “We gotta get a move on.”
Clayton woke up quickly and jumped to his feet as if he’d been shot out of a cannon. “Mama! Mama!” he exclaimed as he threw his arms around her waist. Joe patted him on the back. “I was so worried ‘bout ya but Jonah he knew just what to do. He cleaned yer leg and put some medicine on it… it stunk real bad!”
“I’m just fine now, cowpoke. No need to worry ‘bout yer mama.” Joe assured the boy. She was more relieved than she had ever been before to know that he was okay and hadn’t gotten lost or hurt after she’d been taken. She only wondered whether or not Jonah had seen the similarities between himself and his son… Did he realize now that Joe had been telling the truth? And just how stupid did that make him feel?
“We gotta get camp cleaned up and get out of here.” Jonah stated as he got to his feet and swiped the dirt off the back of his pants. “I’d like to get y’all home today….”
“We don’t need no more help from you, Jonah. Ya can just go on back to doin’ whatever the hell it is ya’ve been doin’ fer the last five years.” Joe snapped and this earned her a sharp look from Clayton.
Jonah’s face was unreadable as he stared hard at her and then he shook his head. “I promised the boy that I would get y’all home safe and I intend to keep my word.”
Joe snorted and turned her back to Jonah as he began to clean up the camp. Who was he trying to fool by pretending to be noble and honorable? At one time Joe had thought he was the best man she knew but then he had turned his back on his own son and shown his true colors.
“Mama, are you mad at Jonah?” Clayton asked with a puzzled line between his eyes. “I know them stories are ‘bout you and him…. You love him don’t you?”
“Jonah has a big mouth!” Joe grumbled, saying the last two words much louder than was necessary and earning a grunt from that broad shouldered, tall, handsome man currently rolling up the blankets, and a chuckle from the one-eyed slightly lazy man lounging against a tree. “And no, I don’t love Jonah. I haven’t loved him in a really long time. It’s just me and you, cowpoke. That’s all we need.”
Jonah threw his saddlebags over his shoulder and moved closer to Joe. His posture clearly meant to intimidate her. Joe threw her hair back and met his gaze full force.
“I told the boy I was going to be a part of his life now so that’s what I intend to do.” He stated firmly. Joe opened her mouth to speak but Jonah beat her to it. “Whether you like it or not.”
“What the devil is that supposed to mean!?” Joe demanded as she stuck her finger in his chest. “Ya might as well just walk away , Jonah. Yer good at that and it would save the boy a hell of a lotta disappointment later.”
Anger flashed in Jonah’s gray eyes and he swatted her hand away. “I think you’re forgetting who left who, Joe.” He spat.
“Because you said you didn’t love me, you overgrown knuckleheaded idiot.”
“Maybe I changed my mind. Of course you tucked tail and ran so that I couldn’t have found you even if I’d wanted to.”
“Don’t pretend ya wanted to!” Joe exclaimed. “Why you just went on about yer life as purty as you please, called me a mistake and never looked back!”
Joe saw confusion fill Jonah’s eyes and he shook his head. “I never called you a mistake.” he assured her and then he swallowed hard. “And I did look back. I looked back every single goddamned day. You’re the one who took everything away from me….”
Before Joe could respond and let Jonah know that he wasn’t fooling her with all that sappy talk, Reb pushed his way between them. “Alright, you two, I think this is a conversation to save fer another time.” He warned. Joe glanced down at Clayton who appeared more than a little confused and mad as he looked back and forth between she and Jonah.
Joe shook her head and laid her hand on her sons shoulder before looking at Reb. “I’ve said all I care to say to that man. I don’t reckon I got another word to say to him.”
Jonah’s eyes narrowed. “Oh I got plenty of words I still wanna say to you.” he assured her and Joe’s breath caught in her chest when she saw that fiery passion that had always been in his eyes when he’d looked at her. She realized, with irritation, that the same passion was probably in her own eyes. Passion had never been their problem.
Joe limped off to relieve natures call and she was faintly aware of Jonah going back to packing up the camp. Faintly she heard Clayton say, “Jonah saved my mama and she never even said thank you.”
“Sometimes grown-ups forget.” Reb replied with a chuckle.
“I’ll tell her that next time she goes to whoop my butt fer not usin’ my manners.”
***
“Reb, you said Bart took off last night… where the devil did he go? He weren’t exactly in the shape to be ridin’ off.” Joe said nearly an hour later as they made their way across the rocky terrain. Joe hadn’t been happy when Clayton had insisted on riding double with Jonah on Copper. She had wanted the boy to use a horse of his own. She wanted him to be independent. She didn’t want him getting too used to having Jonah around because that damn man was leaving, either on horseback or in a box, just as soon as they got back to the cabin.
“He just snuck off, Joe. I ain’t got a clue where to or what fer. I was busy helping Jonah tend to your leg.”
Joe was worried about Bart. Was he okay? “Should we go try to find him? Maybe his brain was addled and….”
“If I see that bastard again he’ll have an addled brain alright.” Jonah cut in and Joe heard Clayton gasp.
“Hey, don’t you call my Uncle Bart names!” he scolded. “He brings us stuff.” Joe saw a look of sadness come over Jonah’s face and then his jaw hardened. “That better be all he does for you and your mama.” He warned pointedly as he glared over at Joe.
Joe said nothing, merely stared straight ahead and chewed on her nail. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing she’d had no man but him. If he thought her a whore, and she knew he did, then she would let him. She was sure Jonah had been no saint.
“Oh he does lots fer us.” Clayton countered. “He says I needed him since my pa is dead.”
This time Joe quickly looked over at Jonah and the hurt she saw on his face picked at those walls she’d built so high around her heart. What had he expected for her to tell the boy? That his father simply didn’t want him?
“Your Uncle Bart and I were pretty good damn friends for a while. Now and then we addle each other brains just to show how much we care so since he’s been there so much for you and your mama, I’ll addle his brain real good in order to tell him thanks.”
Clayton rolled his eyes and Joe watched him lean against Jonah’s chest as Jonah’s arm slipped around him to secure his body in place. Part of her took some sort of comfort in the sight.. Part of her melted at the image that her son and his father painted together on that horse… And then part of her wanted to jerk that boy right off that saddle and away from the man who did not deserve him.
***
Jonah was fuming. More than fuming....He felt like smacking Joe right in the jaw which was surprising since he had never been the type to be violent toward women. All day she’d been acting like he was the one who had done something wrong. As if it was him that should feel sorry for their past. Well he did feel sorry. He was sorry that he’d let her go but she had more to be sorry for than he did. She had taken his son and never even told him about the boy! At least Jonah had tried to find her, he had tried to make up for the past… Joe couldn’t say the same.
And now it was nearing sunset and becoming obvious that they’d have to camp another night. The going hadn’t been as fast as Jonah had hoped it would be. While Joe hadn’t voiced a word of complaint, Jonah had been able to read the pain on her face and she’d gotten more pale as the day had went on so he had purposely kept a slower pace to make it easier on her without damaging her pride. Why he gave a shit about the woman’s pride he had no idea. She hadn’t offered so much as a thank you to him for risking his life to save hers… not that he had really expected her to. Joe had never been the type to express gratitude.
And then there was Clayton who had been telling him stories about Uncle Bart all day, ever since Joe had brought the man up that morning.
Apparently Bart had been around every year on the boy’s birthday and he came for Christmas too. He’d been around when Clayton was learning to walk and had even bought him the pony that he loved so much.
If Jonah heard one more positive thing about that lying bastard, he was certain that his head was going to blow. The explosion would not be any worse if someone shoved a lit stick of dynamite in his ear and took off running.
“And then there was the time Uncle Bart….”
Boom!
“Alright, I reckon right here’s as good enough place as any to camp.” Jonah interrupted the boy as he quickly pulled Copper to a stop and slid out of the saddle. He helped Clayton off the big horse and then immediately headed off over a hill.
“Hey!” Reb called out. “We still got a good hour before we need to make camp. What’re we stoppin’ fer?”
Jonah turned and threw his hands in the air. “I’m tired.”
“No yer not.” Reb countered, though Jonah could tell by the amusement on his face that the one-eyed bastard knew damn well why they had stopped. Jonah wondered if maybe Reb was really his friend after all. Only an enemy would get so much enjoyment from another person’s misery.
“Copper’s tired.” Jonah amended with a shrug, purposefully keeping his gaze away from Joe as she hopped off the mare he’d stolen for her. He hadn’t received a thank you for that either and horse robbery was a hanging offense.
“He don’t look tired.” Clayton insisted as he patted the big horse’s neck. Jonah clenched his jaw tightly.
“Copper!” he called out and the stallion’s head turned to face him, his ears swiveling. “Are you tired, boy?”
Jonah could hear Clayton and Reb laughing as the horse tossed his head several times in agreement. Then Copper walked off slowly and began nibbling lazily at a few green blades of grass.
“I can’t wait to have a horse just like that!” Clayton exclaimed, his voice bouncing as he hopped up and down. Jonah just sighed, bit his tongue to avoid saying, ‘tell Uncle Bart to get you one’, and then he turned away from them all.
“Reb, make camp, I’m gonna have a look around.”