After Tex Read Online Free PDF Page B

ago. Mrs. Gomez had always fit his image of the perfect mother, such a far cry from his own that he thought she’d been conjured up straight out of a fairy tale. She was blustery and affectionate by turns, and she always had some treat in the oven.
    â€œSit, sit,” Mrs. Gomez encouraged now, waving him toward the table.
    The aroma of sugar and chocolate competed with that of the chicken stewing on the stove. Unable to resist, Jake snatched a still-warm cookie from the baking sheet, then sat as she’d asked.
    â€œHow come he gets to have a cookie before supper and I don’t?” Tess demanded.
    â€œBecause he’s a grown-up and I can’t boss him around,” the housekeeper said.
    â€œYou can’t boss me around, either,” Tess said. “I’m not your kid.”
    â€œNo, niña, but you are my responsibility, and I will see that you do right, because that is what your father would have wanted.”
    â€œSome father,” Tess muttered. “He didn’t even know I existed till I showed up here. I guess he and my mom weren’t real close.”
    Jake caught Mrs. Gomez’s helpless look and stepped in. “He was here for you when it counted, wasn’t he? He took you in, made a home for you. The last few months haven’t been so bad, have they?”
    Her bright green eyes shimmered with tears, reminding him of another little girl, another time. Tess’s lower lip trembled, but that O’Rourke chin jutted defiantly.
    â€œFat lot of good that does me now,” she declared. “He’s dead and I ain’t staying here with her.” She nodded toward the door to indicate the absent Megan, no doubt.
    â€œI will be here, too,” Mrs. Gomez promised. “We will all get along just fine.”
    â€œAnd I’ll be around,” Jake added.
    â€œOver my dead body,” Megan retorted, striding into the room and heading straight for Mrs. Gomez, who opened her arms wide to embrace her.
    â€œAh, niña, it is good to have you home, but not so good that it is under these circumstances,” the housekeeper said. She tucked a finger under Megan’s chin and looked her in the eye. “You are holding up okay? Shall I fix you some tea? I have all of your favorites—raspberry, orange spice, whatever you like.”
    Jake detected a hint of puffiness under Megan’s eyes and guessed she’d indulged in a good cry upstairs, where it could be done without witnesses. That had always been her way, ingrained in her by Tex, no doubt. Tex had been critical of emotional displays. Jake had seen Meggie swallow back tears no matter how much pain she might have been in, physical or emotional.
    â€œI’m fine,” Megan insisted. Like Jake, she reached for a cookie and bit into it, oblivious to Tess’s expression of disgust.
    â€œGeez-oh-flip, does everybody get to break rules around this place but me?” Tess demanded, scraping her chair away from the table. She shoved open the back door and disappeared into the gathering darkness.
    â€œShe does not have her coat,” Mrs. Gomez said worriedly, moving toward the hook by the door where the red, down-filled jacket hung. “It is too cold for her to be outside.”
    â€œI’ll go,” Jake said, his hand on her shoulder. “You stay here with Megan.”
    Glad of an excuse to escape the restlessness that seeing Meggie stirred in him, he grabbed Tess’s coat from the hook and flipped on an outdoor light as he went out. He spotted the child racing toward the barn, ducking into shadows. He suspected the new litter of kittens he’d heard about was at least part of the reason for her destination.
    Sure enough, he found her kneeling beside a box that had been lined with an old flannel shirt, one of Tex’s favorites, if Jake wasn’t mistaken. He wondered if it had been confiscated for this particular duty before or after his death. Jake grinned at