“Oh, that.” She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “It would be wise to follow your advice if you were truly a criminal, but since you didn’t do it, I don’t think that applies in this instance. Besides, if you were a criminal, you wouldn’t give me that advice.”
He couldn’t believe the casual way she disregarded any possibility of his guilt. “How do you know I didn’t do it?”
“You just didn’t.”
“Do you have any reason for your deduction, Sherlock, or are you going on good old feminine intuition?”
She jerked around and glared at him. “I don’t believe a rapist would have handled a woman as tenderly as you—as you handled me,” she said, her voice tapering off into a whisper, and the color surged back into her face. Mortified by the stupid way she continued to blush, she slapped her palms to her face in an effort to hide the betraying color.
Wolf clenched his teeth, partly because she was white and therefore not for him, partly because she was so damned innocent, and partly because he wanted so fiercely to touch her that his entire body ached. “Don’t build any dreams because I kissed you Saturday,” he said harshly. “I’ve been too long without a woman, and I’m—”
“Horny?” she supplied.
He was staggered by the incongruity of that word coming from her prim mouth. “What?”
“Horny,” she said again. “I’ve heard some of my students say it. It means—”
“I know what it means!”
“Oh. Well, is that what you were? Still are, for all I know.”
He wanted to laugh. The urge almost overpowered him, but he changed the sound into a cough. “Yeah, I still am.”
She looked sympathetic. “I understand that can be quite a problem.”
“It’s hard on a guy.”
It took a moment, but then her eyes widened, and before she could stop herself, her gaze had slid down his body. Instantly she jerked her head back up. “Oh. I see. I mean—I understand.”
The need to touch her was suddenly so strong that he had to give into it, had to touch her in even the smallest way. He put his hands on her shoulders, savoring her softness, the delicacy of her joints under his palms. “I don’t think you do understand. You can’t associate with me and still work in this town. At best, you’d be treated like a leper, or a slut. You would probably lose your job.”
At that, she pressed her lips together, and a militant light came into her eyes. “I’d like to see someone try to fire me for associating with a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen. I refuse to pretend I don’t know you.”
“There’s knowing, and there’s knowing. It would be bad enough for you to be friends with me. Sleeping with me would make your life here impossible.”
He felt her stiffen under his hands. “I don’t believe I’ve asked to sleep with you,” she said, but the color rose in her face again. She hadn’t actually said the words, but he knew she certainly had thought about what it would be like.
“You asked, all right, but you’re so damned innocent you didn’t realize what you were doing,” he muttered. “I could crawl on top of you right now, sweetheart, and I’d do it if you had any real idea of what you’re asking for. But the last thing I want is to have some prissy little Anglo screaming ‘rape’ at me. Believe me, an Indian doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt.”
“I wouldn’t do anything like that!”
He smiled grimly. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before. I’m probably the only man who has ever kissed you, and you think you’d like more, don’t you? But sex isn’t pretty and romantic, it’s hot and sweaty, and you probably wouldn’t like the first time at all. So do me a favor and find some other guinea pig. I have enough troubles without adding you to the list.”
Mary jerked away from him, pressing her lips firmly together and blinking her eyes as fast as she could to keep the tears from falling. Not for anything would she let him make her cry.
“I’m sorry I gave you that impression,” she said, her voice stifled but even. “It’s true I’ve never been kissed before, but I’m sure you aren’t surprised by that. I’m obviously not Miss America material. If my—my response was out of line, I apologize. It won’t happen again.” She turned briskly to the cabinet. “The coffee is ready. How do you take yours?”
A muscle jerked in his jaw, and he grabbed his hat. “Forget the coffee,” he muttered as he jammed the hat on his head and reached for his gloves.
She didn’t look at him. “Very well. Goodbye, Mr. Mackenzie.”
Wolf slammed out the door, and Mary stood there with an empty coffee cup in her hand. If it really was goodbye, she didn’t know how she would be able to stand it.
Chapter Four
Mary wasn’t weak-willed, and she refused to give into the desolation that filled her every time she thought of that horrible day. During the days she prodded, cajoled and enticed her students toward knowledge; at night she watched Joe devour the facts she spread before him. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable, and he not only caught up with the students in her regular classes, he passed them.
She had written her letters to the Wyoming members of Congress, and had also written to a friend for all the information she could find on the Air Force Academy. When the package came, she gave it to Joe and watched his eyes take on that fiercely intent, enthralled look he got whenever he thought of flying. Working with Joe was a joy; her only problem was that he reminded her so strongly of his father.
It wasn’t that she missed Wolf; how could she miss someone she had seen only twice? He hadn’t imbedded himself in her daily routine so that her life seemed empty without him. But while she had been with him, she had felt more vividly alive than she ever had before. With Wolf, she hadn’t been Mary Potter, old maid, she had been Mary Potter, woman. His intense masculinity had reached parts of her that she hadn’t known existed, bringing to life dormant yearnings and emotions. She argued with herself that what she felt was plain old garden-variety lust, but that didn’t stop the ache she felt whenever she thought of him. Even worse was her humiliation because her inexperience had been so obvious, and now she knew he thought of her as a sex-starved old maid.
It was April before the inevitable happened and word got out that Joe Mackenzie was spending a lot of time at the new teacher’s house. At first Mary wasn’t aware of the rumor flying through the town, though the kids in her classes had been watching her strangely, and there had been a lot of whispering. Sharon Wycliffe and Dottie Lancaster, the other two teachers, also took to giving her odd looks and whispering to each other. It didn’t take Mary long to decide that the secret was no longer secret, but she went about her business with a serene smile. She had already received a favorable letter from a senator, signaling his interest in Joe, and despite her own arguments for caution, her spirits were high.
The school board’s regular meeting was scheduled for the third week in April. The afternoon of the meeting, Sharon, with elaborate casualness, asked Mary if she planned to attend. Mary looked at her in surprise. “Of course. I thought all of us were expected to attend on a regular basis.”
“Well, yes. It’s just that—I thought—”
“You thought I would avoid the meeting now that everyone knows I’ve been teaching Joe Mackenzie?” Mary asked directly.
Sharon’s mouth fell open. “What?” Her voice was weak.
“You didn’t know? Well, it isn’t an earth-shattering secret.” She shrugged. “Joe thought people would be upset if I tutored him, so I haven’t said anything. From the way everyone has been acting, I thought the cat was out of the bag.”
“I think it was the wrong cat,” Sharon admitted sheepishly. “His truck was seen at your house at night and people—um—got the wrong idea.”
Mary felt blank. “What wrong idea?”
“Well, he’s big for his age and all.”
Still Mary didn’t understand, until Sharon blushed hotly. Then comprehension burst on her brain like a flash, and horror filled her, followed swiftly by anger.
“They think I’m having an affair with a sixteen-year-old boy?” Her voice rose with each word.
“It was late at night when his truck was seen,” Sharon added, looking miserable.
“Joe leaves promptly at nine o’clock. Someone’s idea of ‘late’ differs from mine.” Mary stood and began shoving papers into her tote, her nostrils flaring, her cheeks white. The awful thing was that she had to simmer until seven o’clock that night, but she didn’t think waiting would cool her temper. If anything, pressure would build. She felt savage, not only because her reputation had been impugned, but because Joe had also been attacked. He was trying desperately to make his dreams come true, and people were trying to tear him down. She wasn’t a hen fussing with one chick; she was a tigress with one cub, and that cub had been threatened. It didn’t matter that the cub was seven inches taller than she and outweighed her by almost eighty pounds; Joe, for all his unusual maturity, was still young and vulnerable. The father had disdained her protection, but there was no power on earth that could stop her from defending the son.
Evidently word had spread, because the school board meeting was unusually crowded that night. There were six members of the board: Mr. Hearst, who owned the general store; Francie Beecham, an eighty-one-year-old former teacher; Walton Is by, the bank president; Harlon Keschel, who owned the combination drugstore/hamburger joint; Eli Baugh, a local rancher whose daughter, Jackie, was in Mary’s class; and Cicely Karr, who owned the service station. All of the board members were solid members of the small community, all of them property owners, and all of them except Francie Beecham had stony faces.
The board meeting was held in Dottie’s classroom, and extra desks were brought from Mary’s classroom so there would be enough seats for everyone, an indication of how many people felt it necessary to attend. Mary was certain that at least one parent of each of her students was present. As she entered the room, every eye turned toward her. The women looked indignant; the men looked both hostile and speculative, and that made Mary even angrier. What right did they have to look down on her for her supposed sins, while at the same time they were wondering about the details?
Leaning against the wall was a tall man in a khaki deputy sheriff’s uniform, watching her with narrowed eyes, and she wondered if they meant to have her arrested for sexual misconduct. It was ridiculous! If she had looked anything other than exactly what she was, a slight, mousy old maid, their suspicions would at least have made more sense. She poked an errant strand of hair back into the knot at the back of her head, sat down and folded her arms, intending to let them make the first move.
Walton Is by cleared his throat and called the meeting to order, no doubt feeling the importance of his position with so many people present to watch the proceedings. Mary drummed her fingers on her arm. The board went through the routine of its normal business, and suddenly she decided she wasn’t going to wait. The best defense, she’d read, was an attack.
When the normal business was finished, Mr. Is by cleared his throat again, and Mary took it as a signal that they were about to get down to the real purpose of the meeting. She rose to her feet and said clearly, “Mr. Is by, before you continue, I have an announcement to make.”
He looked startled, and his florid face turned even redder. “This is—uh, well, irregular, Miss Potter.”
“It’s also important.” She kept her voice at the level she used when lecturing and turned so she could see the entire room. The deputy straightened from his position against the wall as everyone’s attention locked on her like a magnet to a steel bar. “I’m certified to tutor pupils privately, and the credits they earn in private lessons are as legitimate as those earned in a public classroom. For the past month, I’ve been tutoring Joe Mackenzie in my home—”
“I’ll just bet you have,” someone muttered, and Mary’s eyes flashed.
“Who said that?” she demanded crisply. “It was incredibly vulgar.”
The room fell silent.
“When I saw Joe Mackenzie’s school records, I was outraged that a student of his intelligence had quit school. Perhaps none of you know it, but he was at the top of his class. I contacted him and persuaded him to take lessons to catch up to his classmates, and in one month he has not only caught them, he has surpassed them. I have also been in contact with Senator Allard, who has expressed an interest in Joe. Joe’s strong academic standing has made him a candidate for recommendation to the Air Force Academy. He’s an honor to the community, and I know all of you will give him your support.”
She was gratified to see the stunned looks in the room and sat down with the cool poise Aunt Ardith had tirelessly drummed into her. Only rabble got into brawls, Aunt Ardith had said; a lady could make her point in other ways.
Whispers rustled through the room as people put their heads together, and Mr. Is by shuffled the three sheets of paper in front of him as he searched for something to say. The other members of the board put their heads together, too.
She looked around the room, and a shadow in the hall beyond the open door caught her attention. It was only a slight movement; if she hadn’t looked at precisely that second, she would have missed it. As it was, it took her a moment to make out the outline of a tall man, and her skin tingled. Wolf. He was out in the hall, listening. It was the first time she had seen him since the day he’d come to her house, and even though all she could see was a darker outline against the shadows, her heart began to pound.
Mr. Is by cleared his throat, and the murmuring in the room settled down. “That is good news, Miss Potter,” he began. “However, we don’t think you’ve given the best appearance as an example to our young people—”
“Speak for yourself, Walton,” Francie Beecham said testily, her voice cracking with old age.
Mary stood again. “In precisely what way have I given the wrong appearance?”
“It doesn’t look right to have that boy in your house all hours of the night!” Mr. Hearst snapped.
“Joe leaves my home at exactly nine o’clock, after three hours of lessons. What is your definition of ‘all hours of the night’? However, if the board doesn’t approve of the location, I take it all are agreed that the schoolhouse will be used for night classes? I have no objection to moving the lessons here.”
Mr. Is by, who was at heart a good-natured soul, looked harassed. The board members put their heads together again.
After a minute of heated consultation, they looked up again. Harlon Keschel wiped his perspiring face with a handkerchief. Francie Beecham looked outraged. This time it was Cicely Karr who spoke. “Miss Potter, this is a difficult situation. The odds against Joe Mackenzie being accepted into the Air Force Academy are high, I’m sure you’ll admit, and the truth is that we don’t approve of your spending so much time alone with him.”
Mary’s chin lifted. “Why is that?”
“Because you’re a newcomer to this area, I’m sure you don’t understand the way things are around here. The Mackenzies have a bad reputation, and we fear for your safety if you continue to associate with the boy.”
“Mrs. Karr, that’s hogwash,” Mary replied with inelegant candor. Aunt Ardith wouldn’t have approved. She thought of Wolf standing out in the hallway listening to these people slandering both him and his son, and she could almost feel the heat of his temper. He wouldn’t let it hurt him, but it hurt her to know he was hearing it.
“Wolf Mackenzie helped me out of a dangerous situation when my car broke down and I was stranded in the snow. He was kind and considerate, and refused payment for repairing my car. Joe Mackenzie is an outstanding student who works hard on their ranch, doesn’t drink or carouse—” she hoped that was true “—and has never been anything but respectful. I consider both of them my friends.”
In the hallway, the man standing in the shadows knotted his fists. Damn the little fool, didn’t she know this would probably cost her her job? He knew that if he stepped into that room all the hostility would instantly be focused on him, and he star
ted to move, to draw their attention away from her, when he heard her speaking again. Didn’t she know when to shut up?
“I would be as concerned if any of your children dropped out of school. I can’t bear to see a young person give up on the future. Ladies and gentlemen, I was hired to teach. I intend to do that to the best of my ability. All of you are good people. Would any of you want me to give up if it were your child?”
Several people looked away and cleared their throats. Cicely Karr merely raised her chin. “You’re sidestepping the point, Miss Potter. This isn’t one of our children. This is Joe Mackenzie. He’s…he’s—”
“Half Indian?” Mary supplied, lifting her brow in question.
“Well, yes. That’s part of it. The other part is his father—”
“What about his father?”
Wolf had to stifle a curse, and he started to step forward again when Mary asked scornfully, “Are you concerned because of his prison sentence?”
“That’s cause enough, I should think!”
“Should you? Why?”
“Cicely, sit down and hush,” Francie Beecham snapped. “The girl has a point, and I agree. If you start trying to think at this stage of your life, it could bring on hot flashes.”
Just for a moment there was stunned silence in the room; then it exploded in thunderous laughter. Rough ranchers and their hard-working wives held their stomachs as they bent double, tears running down their faces. Mr. Is by turned so red his face was almost purple; then he burst into a great whooping laugh that sounded like a hysterical crane laying eggs, or so Cicely Karr told him. Her face was red, too, from anger. Big Eli Baugh actually rolled out of his chair, he was laughing so hard. Cicely grabbed his hat from the back of his chair and hit him over the head with it. He continued to howl with laughter as he protected his head with his arms.
“You can buy your motor oil from some other place from now on!” Cicely roared at Mr. Baugh, continuing to bash him with his hat. “And your gas! Don’t you or any of your hands set foot on my property again!”