Page 16

While Sonny was at the barn, Maggie was on the phone talking to Pearl, reassuring her over and over that she was okay.

“I just need a few days to get healed up and I’ll be back at the Rose, I promise,” Maggie said.

“Darla and Cheryl have picked up the slack, and Davey is a big help. I’m not worried about the Yellow Rose. I’m just worried about you.”

“Well don’t,” Maggie said. “Sonny’s already on that job.”

“I know, but you’re my girl, and today I thought I’d lost you,” Pearl said.

Maggie was silent a moment before she answered. “I know, Pearl, but Sonny went through the same thing you did. Even as he was tracking me, he didn’t know if I was alive or dead. He’s still dealing with the same thing you are. I knew I was alive, and I knew Sonny would be using that tracker he put on our phones. I just trusted he’d get to me in time.”

Pearl sighed. “I didn’t think about that. He really loves you, doesn’t he?”

“To the moon and back,” Maggie said. “Gotta go. Sonny is stalling the mares now, because he wants to keep an eye on them until they foal and then he’s coming to get me.”

“Where are you going?” Pearl asked.

“Outside to watch the sunset. It’s our thing.”

Pearl chuckled. “You and your sunsets. Then is there anything I can make for you two to eat?”

“I can’t swallow much of anything right now without a lot of pain, so he’s stocked up on soups and ice cream and soft stuff. Don’t worry about us and food. He’s a pretty good cook.”

“Okay, but call if you need anything. I love you, girl,” Pearl said.

“Love you, too. Take care,” Maggie said, then got up to put her shoes on just as Sonny came in the back door.

He paused to grab one of his jackets. “The wind has laid, but it’s a little chilly. Put this on, darlin’, and we’ll get more of your own clothes tomorrow.”

She slipped her arms into his jacket, then he turned her around and fastened the snaps for her, because he knew her hands were still sore.

“Ready to watch the light show?” he asked.

“I’m ready for anything with you,” Maggie said.

He led her out into the front yard then stood behind her, holding her close. The utter trust and faith she had in him was inspiring and humbling. Her presence in his life was the anchor to a stability he’d never known. He would die to keep her safe, and today, he’d come close to killing a man to get her back.

They stood in solemn wonder, like two people at a graveside, watching the sun’s last performance of the day, and then watched for the first star of the night to appear.

“There it is!” Sonny said, pointing west and low to the horizon.

“So bright, and so very far away,” Maggie said, then she turned within his arms, and laid her cheek on his chest. “With you is my heaven on earth.”

“Ah, Magnolia, you are my healer, and so easy to love. You’re shivering. I need to get you inside.”

***

Later, as Sonny was tucking her into his bed, he realized that while they’d made love here, they’d never spent a night together, but this would soon be their normal routine. The thought of lying beside this woman, with her little feet against the backs of his legs, or her head pillowed on his chest made him ache to be with her.

“Are you comfortable, honey?” he asked.

“Yes, just so tired.”

“I’m going to lock up. Be right back,” he said, then smiled. Her eyes were already closing.

He went back to the front of the house to check the locks and turn out the lights, then stood for a few moments at a window, looking for more than the night shadows. Satisfied that all was well, he hurried back and eased into bed, then turned onto his side to face her, just watching her sleep.

Her sleep was restless, but he understood why. When she suddenly jerked and rolled over onto her side, he reached out and pulled her close against him, and as he did, he heard her sigh.

As she relaxed, curling up within his embrace, he whispered in her ear. “Love you forever.”

Then he closed his eyes.

***

It was past daybreak when Maggie opened her eyes and saw Sonny watching her.

He smiled. “You sleep like a baby, curled up with the covers pulled tight beneath your chin. Your eyelashes flutter when you dream. You smiled once in your sleep. And you cried once, too.”

Her eyes widened. “Did you even bother to close your eyes last night?” she asked.

He slid his arm beneath her neck and pulled her close. She could hear his heartbeat, and the rumble of his voice against her ear.

“I tried. Emotionally, I think I’m still on guard duty.”

She raised up on one elbow, then kissed him. “Make love to me, Sonny.”

He groaned. “I want to, but I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”

“I already hurt. Only you can make me fly.”

They made love in the quiet of the morning. With all the passion of young love and intention until they both lost control and the blood-rush rolled through them. It was like flying, but without a parachute, and knowing when they landed, it would be in each other’s arms.

***

Sonny went to tend to the mares, leaving Maggie with a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee. It tasted good, but she was having to swallow it in small bites. The muscles in her neck were so sore, and the bruises looked awful. They would fade, and her throat would heal, and life would move on. She poured a little more milk on her cereal to thin it, after that it went down easier, and as she ate, remembered Emmit in this kitchen, and thought he would be overjoyed, knowing they were together.

She finally finished her cereal, rinsed the dishes, and put them in the dishwasher, then went to find her shoes. They were going to her house to pack some clothes, and see Pearl.

Maggie missed being at the Rose. It wasn’t just her job, it was also like a social club, where she saw people she knew every day, and the ones she didn’t know kept it fresh, and they became new faces to paint. The thought of coming home to Sonny every evening, instead of to her little house alone, seemed too good to be true. Then she heard his footsteps on the back porch, finished tying her shoes, and got up.

He came in smiling, bringing fresh air and an energy that permeated the room.

“Are the mares okay?” she asked.

“Doing good, and apparently pleased to be in their stalls. I think they have a ways to go, but I know I don’t want them foaling in the pasture and me worrying about more coyotes.”

Maggie stood up and pointed to the chair she’d just vacated, then picked up the hairbrush she’d brought into the kitchen.

“Sit. One braid or two?”

He grinned. “Yes, ma’am, and one. I could get used to this.”

She stood behind him and began brushing out the tangles, then separating his hair into three parts before beginning the braid. Her wrists were still sore, but her fingers were quick and nimble, weaving the three strands together in no time, then fastening the end with an elastic hair tie.

“So, my beautiful man, I am done. Let that West Texas wind blow for all it’s worth, but it’s not going to mess with that braid.”

He stood up, smiling at her audacity to challenge the wind. “Are you ready to go to your house now?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Do you have a suitcase?” he asked.

She frowned. “Only a duffel bag. I have collected more clothing since than what I first brought with me.”

“I’ll get mine,” he said, and went to his bedroom to pull it out from beneath the bed, then they headed out the door, locking it as they went.

The drive into town was short. He pulled up to her house and helped her out, then grabbed the suitcases as she led the way inside.

Maggie pointed at her bed. “If you will put your suitcase there and open it for me, I’ll start packing.”

“Where’s your bag?” he asked.

“Top shelf of the closet.”

“I’ll get it down for you and then I’m going to get out of your way so you can pack. Take all the time you need. I’m not going any farther than your living room, okay?” Sonny said.

Her heart skipped. If he ventured anywhere near the spare bedroom, he would find the paintings. All of them, even the one of him.

But when she didn’t move, he saw the look on her face. “Anything wrong?”

“No, but there’s something you don’t know about me. Something nobody knows, and you’re going to see it…all of it.”

“Are you ashamed of it?” he asked.

“No! God no! But it’s been the only part of me that I was ever proud of, and I was always afraid to share for fear someone would pull the veil off my eyes and reveal them as junk.”

“Then you will show me, or I won’t see them at all.”

She sighed, then took him by the hand and walked him back through the living room and down the hall to the other bedroom. The door was ajar. She pushed it open and walked in.

But Sonny hadn’t moved. He was standing in the doorway with a look of awe on his face. “You painted these.”

“Yes.”

“My God, Magnolia. They are magnificent! The sunsets! The scenes from the Rose. The three old cowboys in the corner. Pearl with that look on her face. The little boy scooting that toy horse back and forth across a table. That old woman…alone.”

Then she pulled the cloth from a canvas still on the easel, and saw Sonny’s expression lose all emotion.

“This is how you see me?”

She shrugged. “I paint what I see. This is who you are. A beautiful man with a soul in shadows. Please don’t be upset with me.”

He just shook his head and wrapped her in his arms. “Your work is magnificent, but you have given me a gift beyond anything you could have known. I do not see even the smallest trace of my father in that face. Because of this, I no longer have to live my life believing that’s how people see me.”

Maggie didn’t talk. She just held him until his world stopped spinning. Then when he finally let her go, he began sifting through the canvases stacked against the walls, exclaiming over one, and then another, and another.

“There are dozens and dozens of art galleries in Arizona. I know someone there. Please let me contact him for you. Let me take a few photos of your work and email them to him. If he reacts like I think he will, would you be willing to talk to him?”

She was in shock. “You mean…as in sell? I never thought them good enough to show anyone, let alone imagine money being spent to own one.”

“Just let me try. Will you let me do that for you?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Sure, but don’t be disappointed when you get rejected.”

He kissed her. “Go pack. I’ll be in here taking pictures. Let me know when you’re finished, and I’ll carry them out.”

Maggie left in a daze, trying to take in all of what Sonny had said, and then chastised herself for daring to hope.

But Sonny was hoping enough for both of them, and taking pictures right and left, even the one of him. When he finally stepped out and went back to the living room, he could hear Maggie in the other room, banging drawers and doors as she packed up her clothes.

Knowing she’d do better without him hovering, he sat down on the sofa, then started looking at the photos he’d taken, still marveling at the skill of her art.

Later, he was about to go in and check on Maggie when his phone rang. One glance and his heart skipped. It was Matt Reddick.

“Hello?”

“Sonny, this is Matt. I have some info on Zane. The reason he didn’t show up with your father is because he got himself arrested in Boise City. He’s serving a six-month sentence in their jail for pickpocketing. You’re good to go.”

“Thank you for this. It takes a load off my mind.”

“Of course. Have you heard anything from the Texas state police about giving statements?”

“Not yet,” Sonny said.

“Well, I know for a fact they’re coming because they have to collect the DNA evidence the nurses took for them when you brought Maggie to the ER. Mostly, the scrapings they took from beneath her fingernails. I mean, we all know he did it, and there were about eight officers who witnessed you taking Maggie out of his truck, but they’re just covering the bases.”

“We’re here whenever they show,” he said. “And thank you again.”

“Any time,” Matt said, and hung up.

As Sonny leaned back in the easy chair, he heard Maggie talking. At first, he thought she was on the phone, and then he realized she was talking to herself.

“What’s the matter with you, Magnolia? Keeping these raggedy drawers. You know you’re not going to wear them again. Might as well go buck-naked.”

He burst out laughing, and Maggie’s conversation came to an abrupt halt.

“Sonny?”

He was still chuckling. “Yeah?”

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, just checking,” she muttered.

He was instantly on his feet and back in her room. “Don’t be mad. You are my joy, but your sense of humor is one of the best things about you…that and how freakin’ beautiful you are.”

She grinned. “Okay then,” and threw the pair of panties at him that she’d been fussing about.

He caught a glimpse of pink as the wisps of nylon fell to the floor. He picked them up and started grinning again. “Looks like you failed to outrun a bobcat.”

Maggie sighed. “Ruined a good pair of slacks in the process, too.”

“If it’s not too personal, what were you doing?” he asked.

“Reliving my youth. There’s an old storm cellar out back with a piece of tin nailed over the door to protect the wood. It looked like a good place to slide. But it wasn’t. I sacrificed more than underwear and pants to that slide. Had scratches on my butt cheeks, too. I ate standing up for a week.”

Sonny was laughing again. “No more rusty slides for you, pretty lady. I’ll buy you a slide if you’ll promise not to go the rusty route again.”

“Dude… I’ve given up slides for sunsets, and I’m ready to go, except for the paintings. Pearl doesn’t know about them, but I’ll just say I still have some things in the house and will get them out later.”

“That issue is quite likely going to be dealt with for you, so I’ve got your bags. Now we go see Pearl.”

***

The Yellow Rose was in the lull between breakfast customers and customers who came for lunch. The last two diners were on their way out the door when Maggie and Sonny walked in.

Pearl was sitting at a table with her coffee, and Darla and Cheryl were sweeping up crumbs and Davey was banging something in the kitchen when Sonny and Maggie walked in.

“Maggie!” Pearl cried, and ran to meet her. “Oh honey! I’m so sorry for what happened. Sonny Bluejacket, you are a wonder,” and then she hugged them both. “Come sit. Can I get either of you something to drink?”

Sonny shook his head. “Not for me, thanks.”

“My usual,” Maggie said, and sat in the chair Sonny pulled out for her. Pearl put the glass of Pepsi in front of her, lovingly stroking the back of Maggie’s head before she sat back down.

Maggie took a sip of the cold drink and winced as it slid down her throat. But the taste was just what she’d wanted. As soon as they were settled, Pearl had to inspect all of Maggie’s injuries, from the cut on her lip where Walker had jammed the handful of napkins in her mouth, to the purple bruises on her neck, wrists, and ankles.

“Were you so scared?” Pearl asked.

Maggie sighed. “At first, I was just mad. It was scary afterward. But I was awake and knew that as long as he kept driving, I’d stay alive. And time was all Sonny needed to find me.”

“Lord,” Pearl said, and glanced at Sonny, then down at the raw and swollen knuckles on his hands. “I would have given anything to have seen that fight. You saved my girl.”

Sonny looked at Maggie, at the tears welling in her eyes. “I love her, Pearl…with every breath I take.”

Pearl patted his hands. “I know and I’m happy for the both of you. So, what happens next?”

“We both have yet to give statements, and then I think we’re done. There’s no way for Walker to plead not guilty and waste a court trial on the obvious. but I know he’s going to be charged with aggravated kidnapping, which is a class A felony, and at his age, will most likely spend the rest of his life in a Texas prison.”

“Pearl, some of my things are still at the house. I have to figure out where to put them at the ranch, but I should be ready to get back to work in a few days. For sure as soon as my ankles and wrists aren’t so sore,” Maggie said.

Pearl nodded. “Your things are fine where they are. Move at your leisure, and we’re ready for you when you’re ready for us.”

“Customers,” Darla said, pointing to two cars pulling off the highway and into the parking lot.

Pearl got up, reluctant to go back to work. “Chicken and dumplings are on the special today. How about I send some home with you? The dumplings are soft and warm, and the chicken is tender. Shouldn’t be too hard to swallow.”

“We’ll gratefully take some with us,” Sonny said. “I can cook, but not at that level of goodness.”

Pearl beamed. “I’ll get some ready for you right now.”

Maggie took another sip of her drink, then set it aside. She was hurting and just wanted to go back to the ranch and lie down.

Sonny saw the misery on her face. “This was too much, too soon. Home we go,” he said.

Maggie nodded. Home was Sonny. Her iron butterfly man.

***

The next four days became the time of settling in.

On the first day, two people from the prosecutor’s office arrived. One officer to film the statements being made, and another one for questioning. They took the statements separately and began with Maggie, so Sonny went outside to the back porch, then meandered farther to the corral. When they went out to get him, they saw him riding bareback in the corral.

“He can’t sit still for long,” Maggie said. “That’s Fancy Dancer, his Appaloosa.”

One officer pointed. “He’s riding without a saddle.”

“He’s also riding without a bridle,” Maggie said, and waved at him.

He pulled Dancer to a stop with a tug on his mane, and then slid off and gave him a pat on the backside and headed to the house.

Unconcerned with the police presence, Sonny was all about Maggie.

“Are you okay, darlin’?”

“I’m fine, but I’m going to lie down for a while, okay?”

“I’ve got you,” he said, picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, put a pillow under her feet, then covered her with a blanket, with both officers following.

“What’s the pillow for?” one asked.

Sonny saw the man frowning, so he pulled the covers up from her feet and pushed up the legs of her sweats. The raw places on her ankles were clearly visible.

“Did she not tell you he tied her up?”

“Well, yes, but…”

He sighed. “Honey, push the sleeves of your sweatshirt up a bit, too,” so she did.

Her wrists were even worse.

“He used bungee cords. Wrapped them so tight she lost feeling in her feet and hands, and rode that way for nearly two hours. The covers rub her ankles. I put a pillow under them because it’s soft, and because I thought for two hours she was dead, and because…”

He stopped and took a breath, remembering Walker beating him and Charlie just because he was hung over and mean, then beating them for crying. Big boys don’t cry, was always his excuse.

Maggie knew in those moments he was a lifetime away, and took his hand.

“Sonny, it’s okay. I’m okay. Go do your thing so they can finish and go home.” She pointed at the man who’d filmed her statement. “Today is his wife’s birthday. This is probably the last place he wants to be.”

Sonny tucked her into bed and closed the bedroom door, then led the way back into the living room, answered their questions, laid all of his good luck in knowing she’d been kidnapped onto the tracker app on his phone, explained how Pearl had called him, worried about Maggie disappearing, and how she became his go-between, notifying the Briscoe County sheriff to track the GPS on his phone, because he was using it to track Maggie, and when they found him, they would find her and her abductor, too.

And they asked a question he was expecting, knowing he would still have no answer.

“Why is there so much bad blood between you and your father? What happened?”

“I never knew, and I barely know him. I was five years old when he walked out on us. I had no bond to him, or with him. He was a shadow in our lives. He beat my older brother and me all the time before. We were glad to see him go. We grew up, learning of his escapades from time to time, but they weren’t part of our lives because neither was he. It was only after I started rodeoing…riding bulls, that he showed up and began hassling me. Showing up dead drunk at events and wanting someone to take his picture like they were taking mine, telling them that I got my skills from him. But people knew different. He’d never sat a bronc or a bull in his life. I was a top gun on the circuit for years until I got stomped getting off. Died twice on the operating table, and yet I’m here. The last thing he said to me before I left Oklahoma was that I should have died in the arena, so you tell me. I think he’s just plain evil.”

As they were finishing up and going through their notes, the officer doing the questioning paused.

“Out of curiosity, why, after you had pounded him to a pulp, did you cut off his braids and throw them away?”

“In our culture, if a person loses a limb, or has something removed from their body, it is kept in some way, to be buried with them when they finally pass, so that they are whole again. Cutting off his braids, then throwing them away was the ultimate insult. He will not be whole when he is laid to rest.”

Both men looked at Sonny with a different level of respect, then packed up and drove away, leaving Sonny trying not to dwell on the past as he went to check on Maggie.

Seeing her in his bed still felt like a gift he didn’t deserve. He thought of what he could be doing, then discarded it all and eased down on the bed beside her, closed his eyes, and fell asleep to the soft sounds of her breathing.

***

Days passed as Maggie healed. She was getting antsy to go back to work and Sonny knew it, but it wasn’t until he got a call from the art dealer in Santa Fe that he knew her world was about to change.

***

Maggie had gone to town, promising she was only going to see Pearl, and pick up a couple of things in the pharmacy. It was her first trip on her own since the attack, but it felt good to be in her own car, making decisions and taking care of business without bothering Sonny to do for her, and she’d left Sonny in the arena with the big bay, putting him through the paces of competition reining. He was fast. He was powerful, and Sonny said that horse could come to a sliding halt in a shorter span of time than any other horse he’d ridden.

***

Sonny had just taken the big bay through all of the stops, turns and pivots, and was riding him back to the stable to unsaddle and brush down when his cell phone rang.

He glanced at it, thinking he’d let it go to voicemail until he saw who it was, and pulled the bay to a halt to answer.

“Hello.”

“Sonny, this is Max Andros. I was on a little buying trip, and just returned to find this email from you. All I have to say is, oh my God, to the photos you sent.”

Sonny wanted to shout with joy. Instead, he played it cool.

“I know! Right? There’s a whole room full of them in the little house where she’d been living. First time I walked into that room, I couldn’t find the breath to speak.”

“That portrait of you. Did you sit for that?”

“No. I didn’t even know she’d done it.”

“Those sunsets…those paintings in that little café…are those places real?”

“Yes. In the panhandle of West Texas, those sunsets happen daily. I’ve seen a few of them myself, having recently moved here. And that café and those diners in those paintings are real as it gets. Your twenty-six-year-old artist is a waitress there, and those are customers. Some regulars. Some just passing through.”

“Twenty-six? Jesus, Sonny! What’s her name?”

“Magnolia Brennen, soon to be Bluejacket.”

Max laughed. “You’re marrying her? Good move! She’s going to put you in the money and herself on the map in the art world. Have you shown these to any other dealers yet?”

“No. She didn’t think they were any good. Nobody knows she paints, except me, and now you.”

“Where did she train?” Max asked.

“She’s self-taught, is all I know,” Sonny said.

“I have to see these. If they’re as good as they look, will she let me take some? I want to splash her and her work all over the art world and be the first to do it. She’s going to be as famous as Andrew Wyeth became. Her work has more motion and color than Wyeth, but the same empathy and solitude, the same kind of emotion. How do I get to where she’s at?”

“Crossroads, where we live, and where the Yellow Rose exists, is about an hour south of Amarillo, and you already know it’s a straight shot from Santa Fe to Amarillo. If you want to meet her, and see her work, let me know. I’ll break it to her gently.”

Max chuckled. “She’s really that na?ve about her work?”

“When you grow up in foster care, being bounced from one family to another, there will be few people in that life bragging on you, or cheering you on. What she’s accomplished, she’s done on her own.”

“I’ll check my schedule and then I’ll text you to confirm, but let your little lady know that I’m going to make her famous. And if you don’t have a studio on that ranch for her to paint in, then start building one. And thank you for the opportunity. She’s going to be a feather in my cap, as well.”

“So, if I tell her all this and get her hopes up, and then you back out, be prepared to see me on your doorstep.”

Max laughed. “It’s for real, and I don’t make enemies of friends. I still have photos of you riding bulls in the Western art section of my gallery, and you know it because you get your share of every sale by direct deposit.”

“Just making sure. She means the world to me, and I don’t want her hurt.”

“Of course, of course. I’ll be in touch. Now go tell your Magnolia that I said she’s amazing.”

“Thanks, Max. Talk to you soon,” Sonny said, then rode the bay on into the stable, unsaddled him, then took him out into the corral for fresh water and a brush down, before turning him out in the pasture.