Bourbon & Branch Water (11 page)

He gave her some hope for something
good as they parted. “I’ll call you regarding rescheduling, Miss Stillwater. We
can arrange something.”

A thrill ran through her. His eyes
said that there would be more to the conversation than business.

Chapter 6

Stormy put her hair up in a loose
ponytail and eyed her reflection in her bedroom mirror. Was there something
wrong with her? Some personality fault that was too big to overcome, maybe?
Maybe she’d totally misinterpreted Jeff’s parting words. It had been nearly
three days since they’d parted at his office, and he hadn’t called. She’d
considered calling him maybe twenty times during those hours, but she always held
back, feeling uncertain. If he didn’t want her, she wasn’t going to be the
needy one. No one wanted to be rejected like that. Still, maybe a call would be
a good idea. She needed the closure of a final personal conversation. They
still had business matters to resolve, but that was different.

She picked up her cell phone and
her finger was poised over it, ready to dial, when it began to ring. Gasping
with surprise, she bobbled the phone in her hands for a moment, and then brought
it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Hi, babe, it’s Jeff.”

“Oh! Jeff.”

He laughed. “That almost sounded
like, ‘Jeff who?’“

She gave him a polite and shaky
chuckle. “Oh, I know who you are.”

“I hope so! Listen, I’m sorry I
haven’t called. I had to fly to Reno for a few days on business. I wanted to
get together but I certainly couldn’t do it from there.”

“Oh.”

“Hmm. Someone is unhappy with me.”

Should she confess her
disappointment? Wouldn’t that put her at a disadvantage? Oh heck, this wasn’t a
contest. Honesty was the best way to protect
herself
because he’d either accept her the way she was or it would end here and now. “I,
um, thought you’d call sooner. I was going to call you, but…I didn’t want to
intrude.”

Jeff sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t consider
about how you might think I’d lost interest. We’d left things pretty tight and
together. It won’t happen again. I’ll call you daily.”

That was reassuring, but she didn’t
want to be demanding. She hated that in women she knew, expecting their
boyfriends to kowtow to their every wish. “It’s okay, it was silly of me.”

“No, it’s not okay.” He paused. “I
was hoping we could get together tonight. I can come out toward Fire Gorge so
that you don’t have to make the trip to Vegas again.”

She’d been helping her mother cook
dinner a few minutes before his call. It would be rude to drop everything and
go out on a date. “I can’t.”

“Oh. I wish you’d let me make it up
to you, baby. I really am sorry.”

Stormy wanted to reassure him that
she wasn’t being churlish, and she needed to get off the phone. Her mother was
calling her from the kitchen. “Okay, you can come to my mama’s house.” She gave
him the address. “I have to go.”

“I’ll see you soon, Stormy.”

After they hung up, Stormy slapped
her forehead. They hadn’t set a time! Who knows when he’d arrive! And, how would
she get away from her mother and little sister. She wasn’t ready to introduce
them to Jeff. Jeff was her secret indulgence. Maybe she should call him back
and cancel. Her mother yelled for her again.

Stormy deliberated for a few
seconds, put her phone down and quickly went to the kitchen.

“Sorry, Mama.”

“I need you to make the tortilla
dough. I have to get the chicken ready for the oven.”

“Okay.” She started working with
the
masa
harina
. “Um, Mama,
I have a date tonight. I can’t stick around after dinner.”

“Oh! You should have told me
earlier. I’d have made a dinner that didn’t take so long to cook.”

“I just made the date.” The flour
and water were gluey together. She added more
masa
.

“Did you invite him for dinner? We’ll
have plenty.”

“No. I kind of forgot.”

“Stormy… Is something wrong?”

Her mother was too perceptive.
Stormy quickly pasted a smile on her face, “of course not.”

“Go call him. Invite him to dinner.
I want to meet this man who has my daughter all flustered.” Her mother salted
the bird and put it in the roasting pan, her plump brown hands working
efficiently. It was pleasant working with her mother, side by side again. She’d
missed the softness of the older woman, the warm hugs, and the shared laughter.
It had been hard being so far from home through college and law school. At the
same time, Stormy had gotten used to having her own apartment, a life separate
from family and family obligations. It had only been four months since she’d
moved back home, but she needed a place in Fire Gorge or a rental house on the
reservation. She was
twenty eight
and it was wrong for
her to live at her mother’s house, even though her mother welcomed her with
open arms.

But should she take Mama’s advice
and call Jeff? It was akin to a commitment to invite him to meet her family. Of
course, he’d already met them briefly at the wedding. That hadn’t been as
personal as a family meal. And her little sister, Alberta, would tease her
about it for weeks afterward.

“Go,” Juanita told her. It was the
woman’s “obey your mother” voice. “Call him.”

Stormy put down the ball of
tortilla dough and wiped her hands. “Okay.”

Jeff answered on the second ring. “Hey
babe, what’s up?”

“Hi, Jeff, I...where are you?”

“At home, finishing up a few things
before I head out.”

“Um…my mother wants you to come to
dinner.”

He chuckled. “Oh, she does, hmm?
But Stormy doesn’t want me to. I can hear it in your voice.”

“It’s awkward. My mother doesn’t
know about you.”

“I’d like to get to know your
family better.”

He sounded sincere and
Stormy’s
heart warmed a bit. It was a signal that he cared
about her. She had to put her insecurities aside, though they continued to
plague her. Maybe it would be okay. “If you’re sure.”

“Most certainly. I’ll grab a bottle
of wine from the wine cooler and head over.”

“Dinner won’t be ready for an hour
and a half or so.”

“Plenty of time for me to get
there.”

Stormy sighed. The evening was
going to be a fiasco. Her mother would ask a million questions, her sister
would stare at the gorgeous man who sat across the table. At nineteen, Alberta
knew a great guy when she met one.

“It’s going to be okay, Stormy,”
Jeff said into the silence.

“Of course, drive safely.”

She hung up and hurried back into
the kitchen before she could agonize over it anymore.

* * *

Fortunately, Jeff had only been
home from work for a few minutes before
Stormy’s
invitation to dinner. He was still dressed in his suit, though he’d discarded
his tie. He didn’t want to be too formal for a family dinner, so he left it
off, smoothed his unruly hair and went to his wine cooler to pick out some
wine.
White or red?
He’d neglected to ask what was
being served. Deciding on prudence, he grabbed one of each and hurried out the
door. It was about an hour to
Stormy’s
house and he
didn’t want to be late. It might take him a while to find the place.

Vegas
was
a congested nightmare but he made it to the reservation in reasonable time. As
expected, it took him a few extra minutes to locate her house. Even with GPS
the reservation had quite a serpentine layout and
Stormy’s
house was among a wide section of tract homes.

Jeff was nervous, which was quite
unusual for him. He usually had a handle on things, but this was different. He’d
met
Stormy’s
mother before, but it had been a brief
handshake and little more. Although the round little woman had seemed kind,
Jeff knew it was a different situation when a date came to call. Hopefully, he’d
make a good impression. It occurred to him that he didn’t know who was going to
be at the dinner. Stormy had three brothers and a sister. All the brothers had
homes of their own, if he remembered correctly, but
Stormy’s
sister was a teenager, so maybe she’d be there. Of course, teenagers liked to
be with their friends most of the time, so maybe she wouldn’t. Whatever, he was
going to be on his best behavior. This was important, a milestone. Stormy meant
a great deal to him and he didn’t want to botch this.

The days were growing shorter as
fall progressed, so the porch light was already on. He rang the doorbell, and
waited.

A minute later, Alberta answered
the door. “Hey,” she said.

“Hey yourself,” he replied with a
smile.

She stood there, light spilling out
around her from the house, creating a bright halo around her dark head. After a
few moments, Jeff wondered if she was going to invite him in.

“Is he here?” came an older woman’s
voice. Jeff realized it was
Stormy’s
mother.

“Oh!” Alberta, a bit flustered,
opened the door wider. “I’m sorry. Come in.”

“Thank you.”

She stepped aside and Jeff entered
the warm and colorful room. Mexican and Paiute woven tapestries covered the
cushy furniture and decorated the walls and matching rugs were scattered on the
wood floor. There was a modest TV in the living room, overflowing bookshelves,
and Jeff glimpsed a dining room toward the back. It was a friendly room, one of
comfort and family values.

Juanita Stillwater was waiting for
him, a smile on her face. Her apron was tidy, and her floral dress was attractive.
Stormy looked like her in some respects, but Juanita’s hair had gray streaks
and she was quite plump. They had the same dark chocolate brown eyes and easy
smile.

“Welcome,” she said.

Stormy rushed out of the kitchen.
She wore a subtle, black, white and red dress that set off her long black hair
perfectly, but her feet were bare, with bright red toenails. She practically
skidded to a stop near her mother. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He smiled and she seemed to
relax a tiny bit, though her eyes were unsure.

Juanita looked from Jeff to Stormy
and back again. “I remember your face from the wedding, but I’m sorry, I don’t
recall your name.”

“This is Jeff, Mama. Jeff…uh...Hammond.”

Jeff shot her a look, but she bit
her lip and implored him with her eyes not to give her away. He realized that
she was covering for the fact that they were involved as adversaries on the
same case and her mother was part of the community, a community that would be
justifiably dismayed about the association.

“Ah, of course, now I remember,”
Juanita
said. “I’m glad you were able to join us Jeff.
Please come in.”

He offered the wine. “I brought a
little vino. I didn’t know which would work best, so I brought both white and
red.”

Stormy’s
mother smiled and took the wine. “Thank you! I’ll go open it.”

Alberta closed the door with a
thud, and Stormy jumped.

“You’re beautiful,” he told her,
trying to put her at ease. “Do I get a hug?”

She seemed to come to her senses. “Oh!
Yes!”

Her hug was shy and tentative,
uncomfortable. “Hey,” he whispered in her ear. “It’ll be okay.”

She groaned softly, squeezed him
once, and finally stepped away.

Alberta gaped by the door until her
mother called her. She took one more look at Jeff and left them alone.

“Dinner will be another few
minutes. Would you like to sit down?”

“Sure.”

Stormy pointed to the couch. “That’s
the most comfortable spot.”

He grinned at her. She was being
thoughtful, but Jeff was particularly happy about sitting there. It meant
Stormy could sit next to him. He’d like her snuggled up against him, her
breasts pressing against his arm. Whoa. He put that train of thought out of his
head firmly. This was not about falling all over her like a ravening beast.
This was about family.

“Mama! Do you need help?” Stormy
was still standing behind him.

“No. You stay there and entertain
our guest.”

“
Heh
,”
Stormy said.

Jeff patted the space next to him. “Sit.
Calm down.”

She squeezed her eyes tight then looked
heavenward. A moment later, she took the seat he’d indicated, but kept
carefully away from him. Jeff wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You’re too
nervous, baby. Your mom doesn’t seem hostile. Why are you so upset?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s because
we’ve been so focused on sex and not much else. I’m not entirely sure what to
say to you or what we’ll talk about over dinner. Sometimes, I feel like I
hardly know you.”

“Hmm, well, you know I don’t wear
boxer-briefs. Isn’t that enough?”

She laughed and it sounded genuine.
“Stop.”

“You don’t want to have a sense of
humor tonight?”

“You might make me snort my wine.”

It was Jeff’s turn to laugh. “I
might at that.”

Their conversation was opened and
now all Jeff had to do was
draw
Stormy out a bit. Soon
enough she relaxed. Unfortunately, as Alberta came into the living room to tell
them that dinner was on the table, Stormy tightened up again.

“You’ve seen me eat,” he whispered
to her. “I promise I won’t pick my nose at the table.”

Stormy giggled and her shoulders
relaxed somewhat. “Come on.”

Dinner was delicious. There was
roast rosemary chicken, fresh tortillas with butter, salad, and green beans.
Jeff ate with gusto. He also made conversation with
Stormy’s
mother, and drew Stormy into the conversation. Alberta continued to stare and
make monosyllabic responses to anything directed toward her. Jeff caught Stormy
frowning at her little sister and diffused the situation with a friendly
comment that made them all laugh.