The Taming of Billy Jones Read online

  "Woo?"

  "Yeah, Woo. She's a pain in the ass, but we won't hold it against her, okay?"

  "Tay."

  Billy turned onto Main Street

  , headed north, toward the café. Jesse laid his head against his shoulder and sighed, "Da."

  Billy felt something absolutely terrific right then. A kind of swelling sweetness in his chest, a pressure at the back of the eyes. A father's job wasn't easy. But it did have its rewards.

  He was feeling so good that he passed up the chance to say something provoking to his two favorite battleaxes, Nellie and Linda Lou, who gave him a wide berth as he and Jesse met up with them just beyond the North Magdalene Garage.

  Jesse huddled closer. The wind did have a bite to it. Billy started walking faster, hoping Jesse wouldn't end up with the sniffles – and give Prue more to criticize.

  They were just approaching the shop called Wish-book that Evie Riggins owned when they heard the scream. Startled, Jesse pulled back. "Da?"

  Right then, a chair came flying through the window of the Hole in the Wall across the street.

  Jesse whipped his head toward the sound. "Wha'?"

  "Hell if I know," Billy replied.

  Now there were shouts coming from the bar and the sounds of things crashing, of wood splintering. Another chair came through the window, followed by a second scream.

  And then Jared Jones flew headfirst through the double doors. He fell across the sidewalk, faceup. After that, he didn't move. Eden shoved through the doors after her husband. At the sight of him lying there, out cold, she gave a cry of dismay and dropped to her knees at his side.

  From beyond the shattered window of the bar, the crashing and splintering continued.

  Right then, Evie Riggins stuck her head out of her shop. "What's going on? Should I call Jack?" Billy must have frowned, because she started to explain, "Jack Roper, he's Olivia's husband and he works as a—"

  "Never mind. I know who Jack is."

  "Should I call him?"

  "You better – and an ambulance, too. And will you hold my kid? I think they need some help over there." Evie held out her arms. Billy passed Jesse over. "Thanks," he said over his shoulder as he took off across the street.

  When he reached the opposite sidewalk, he paused to ask Eden, "How is he?"

  Just then Jared groaned. "He's coming to, I think," Eden said. With great care, she lifted his head and cradled it in her lap.

  "Evie's calling the ambulance."

  "Good."

  More furniture went flying beyond the double doors. Something hit them. Hard. Shaking his head, Billy started forward.

  "Be careful," Eden warned.

  Billy pushed through the doors. Inside, he saw a lot of broken furniture – and Sam Fletcher, backing Oggie toward the corner where the upright piano stood.

  Oggie had both hands up, and for once he looked worried. "Now, Sam. Now, listen—"

  "I'll kill you," Sam growled. "I'll wring your neck like a chicken. I'll—"

  "Hey, Sam!" Billy called.

  Sam didn't so much as pause. He seized the old man by his grimy red suspenders and lifted him right off the ground. Then he started to shake him. Oggie's head wobbled back and forth like the head of one of those silly little dogs people put on their dashboards. Pitiful bleating sounds came out of his mouth.

  With a sigh, Billy grabbed a chair. He move swiftly up behind Sam and brought the chair down hard across Sam's shoulders. The chair broke apart.

  Sam grunted – and let go of Oggie. He turned on Billy.

  Billy put up both hands. "Look. Let me explain. I was just trying to get your attent—" That was as far as he got. Sam delivered a swift right cross, followed by a doozy of a left hook to Billy's jaw. Then he picked Billy up and threw him across the room.

  Billy landed against the bar, hard. A jolting numbness went out from his lower back, the actual point of impact. His jaw had no feeling in it and the room spun in circles.

  Meanwhile, across the room, Oggie had managed to get out of the corner. Now, he backed and dodged, alternately pleading and arguing with Sam, who advanced on him, silent and determined as the grim reaper himself, picking up chairs and tables and tossing them aside just as fast as Oggie could push them in his way.

  Billy knew he had to do something, and fast. With a grunt at the effort, he reeled to his feet – and headed for the storeroom in back.

  He found what he needed right away, thank God. A nice big jar of maraschino cherries. He staggered back into the main part of the bar, where luck was with him. Sam was facing the other way. He was busy dangling Oggie against the wall by the suspenders again.

  Billy rushed up on Sam, hefted the cherries high – and brought them down squarely on top of Sam's head. The jar shattered. Red syrup and cherries splattered and flew.

  Sam froze, releasing Oggie, who slid down the wall. Sam started to turn. Billy knew he was a dead man.

  Sam got around, his blue eyes twin points of blue ice. "You…"

  And that was as far as he got, because he went down. He just dropped, hitting the floor with a sound like a thunderclap.

  Oggie and Billy looked at each other. And then they heard the siren coming.

  * * *

  Prudence heard the siren, too. It sounded to her as if it came from Main Street

  . She almost walked over to investigate. But then the siren stopped and she told herself it was nothing, after all.

  By five, Billy and Jesse had yet to return and it was pouring rain. Prudence had done the laundry, mopped the kitchen floor and fiddled with her résumé for a while. And she was worried. They'd been gone for two hours. What in the world could they be doing?

  Lots of things, her wiser self answered. In a small town so thick with Joneses, Billy could have found any number of places to get in out of the rain.

  But then again, he hadn't even taken an extra diaper. Jesse would certainly have needed changing by now. The little sweetheart had a mild diaper rash already. Having to sit around in a wet diaper would be bound to aggravate the condition. And if Billy had put him on a toilet in a public rest room, Prudence thought she might just buy a pistol and shoot the man.

  And Jesse usually had a snack of fruit or graham crackers and juice sometime around four. Four was long past. Had Billy given him anything? And if he had, was it good, healthful food? She could just see Billy now, offering candy and soda pop in place of something with nutritional value.

  She was staring out the front window again, trying to decide whether or not to make a few phone calls, when a light-colored van pulled up in front of the gate. Prudence recognized the vehicle immediately; it belonged to Evie Riggins.

  Evie got out, went around to the back and took Jesse from the car seat there. Prudence had the door open for them as Evie ran up the steps, in a hurry to get out of the driving rain.

  "He needs changing," Evie said as she handed Jesse over. "I keep some spares over at the store, but they're smalls, for Stephen." Stephen was her baby. He'd been born about a month and a half before.

  "Where's Billy?"

  Evie let out a big sigh. "Long story."

  "Tell me."

  "Tange, Tange!" Jesse demanded.

  Prudence kissed his rain-damp cheek. "I will, sweetie. Right away." She started for the stairs.

  "I have to get back to the shop and close up," Evie said. "I left Tawny there with Stephen." Tawny was her sister-in-law. "And it isn't fair to ask her to watch the baby and the store."

  "Don't you dare leave until you tell me something about what is going on," Prudence commanded over her shoulder as she reached the foot of the stairs.

  "Billy should be here soon. He'll explain everything. I really have to—"

  Though Jesse was squirming, Prudence turned and faced Evie once more. "Just tell me what it's all about."

  Evie shook her head. But then she said in a rush, "All right. Sam got so mad at Oggie, he came after him at the Hole in the Wall. Jared stepped in. Sam knocked Jared ou
t cold with a bottle of Glenlivet and then threw him in the street."

  Prudence thought of the siren she'd heard over an hour before. It must have been the ambulance, coming for Jared. "Is Jared all right?"

  "He'll be fine, after the swelling goes down and the headache passes."

  "But why did Sam get so angry at Oggie?"

  "It's a long story. And I do have to go now."

  "But what does Billy have to do with this?"

  "He and Jesse were walking up Main Street

  when the problem started, so he ended up getting mixed up in it, too."

  "Is he—?"

  "He's fine."

  Prudence realized that poor Evie was looking at her pleadingly. "All right, I know. You have to go. Thanks for looking out for Jesse."

  "I was glad to do it. And Billy knows the whole story. As soon as he gets out of jail, he'll tell you all about it."

  "He's in jail?"

  "Relax. It's nothing serious. Jack just put him and Sam in there until he can check with Eden and make sure she doesn't want to press charges."

  "Press charges? For what?"

  "Prudence…"

  "I know, I know. You have to go."

  * * *

  Before Jack Roper locked Billy and Sam in the small holding cell at the North Magdalene Sheriff's Substation, he allowed them to clean up a little.

  "'Preciate this," Billy said to Jack as he washed the cherry syrup off his face and neck.

  "No problem," said Jack.

  Sam said nothing. He rinsed himself off and went into the cell.

  There were two skinny cots in there, one against each of the cinder block side walls. Sam dropped to one, on the far end, so he was facing the back wall with its one tiny barred window way up high. He closed his eyes and didn't say another word. Billy stood in the middle of the room for a minute, then wandered over and took the other cot, stretching out on it, groaning a little at the pain in his poor, abused back.

  Fifteen minutes crawled past, and then the door to the main room of the station swung open. Billy sat up, hoping it would be Jack to tell them that Eden had said they could go.

  But instead of Jack, it was Oggie.

  Slowly, his expression bleak, Oggie hobbled toward the cell. When he got there, he stood huffing for a moment, as if the walk from the door had completely tuckered him out. He peered through the bars at Sam, waiting for the big man to turn. But Sam didn't move.

  "Sam?" For once in his life, Oggie sounded subdued. "Sam, would you talk to me, please?"

  Sam still refused to turn. He didn't so much as move. Oggie cleared his throat. "Well. I'm here to say goodbye, is all. I'm here to say, I only done and said what I thought was right. For you and for Delilah. Because she is my blood and you are as good as blood to me." He waited. Even Billy thought he was damn pitiful. But Sam remained facing the wall, as still as a stone.

  Oggie continued, "Yes, I know I have been wrong. I have spoken out of line. And for that I sincerely apologize." He waited some more. Still no response from Sam. "So I have come to tell you I am leaving town, taking off for God-knows-where. I can't say when I'll be back – or if I'll be back, to tell you true."

  With a heavy sigh, Oggie looked at Billy. "Goodbye," he said, all the sadness the world could hold in his tiny black eyes. "You look after our Prudence and that little boy."

  Though Billy seriously doubted Prue would welcome being looked after by him, he nodded anyway. He'd learned his lesson about arguing with Oggie. It never turned out to be worth it in the end.

  With slumped shoulders and halting steps, the old man departed.

  Once the door had closed behind him, Sam moved around to face the center of the cell. He leaned his head back on the cinder block wall and let out a long, sad groan.

  Billy said, "You all right?"

  Sam shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Nothin' matters. Nothin' matters a damn. Not anymore."

  Billy had the feeling that Sam wanted to talk. And why the hell not, thought Billy. He had the time. "Tell me about it."

  Sam lifted his head and looked hard at Billy. "You really want to know?"

  Billy nodded. That was all it took. Sam launched into his tale of woe.

  * * *

  Chapter 10

  « ^ »

  At ten past seven, Billy sauntered into the upstairs bathroom, where Prudence was giving Jesse his bath. Prudence let out a shriek when she happened to glance over her shoulder and there he was, leaning in the door to the hall, wearing sunglasses and a straw cowboy hat. His shirt and jeans were streaked with some kind of pinkish stain.

  "Billy! You scared me."

  Billy was grinning his best killer grin. He had a big bruise on his chin and a cut on his lip. "Found my hat." He tapped the brim. "And my shades."

  "Well. Good. I guess." Actually she hadn't even realized he'd lost them.

  In the tub, Jesse bounced up and down, clapping his hands and chortling in glee. "Da! Da!"

  Billy pushed away from the door frame and entered the bathroom. He took off the hat and the sunglasses and set them on the sink counter. In addition to the bruise on his chin and the cut on his lip, he had a bandage on his forehead and a purple bump high on his cheekbone. With the sunglasses off, she could see that both of his eyes were clear and bright.

  He hadn't been drinking.

  Prudence realized then that she'd been worrying, subconsciously, all afternoon. She'd feared that maybe he'd show up drunk again – and she'd have to make the bleak choice between giving him another chance and asking him to leave. But here he was, after all. Still on the straight and narrow. Still sticking to their agreement.

  He blew out a breath. "Yeah, all right, I'm a mess. But Jared's worse, from what I've heard."

  "What about Oggie?"

  "Not a scratch on him."

  "Evie told me a little of what happened, when she brought Jesse home. Was anyone seriously hurt?"

  "Aside from Sam's broken heart, I'd say no. "

  "Sam's broken heart?"

  Billy nodded. "Delilah left him."

  Prudence let out a small sound of dismay. "But why?" She didn't know either Delilah or her husband that well yet, but Oggie was always insisting that each of his kids had married well and forever.

  Billy just shook his head. "The poor sucker."

  He knelt beside Prudence and splashed Jesse playfully. Jesse giggled in delight. Prudence watched them. Billy smelled like sweat and dirt and something sweet, almost syrupy. She couldn't quite put her finger on what.

  Jesse's giggles faded. He leaned toward his father. "Boo-boos," he said, his little face gone solemn. He reached out to touch Billy's chin.

  Billy chuckled. "You bet, lotsa boo-boos." He pulled back then, and rolled up his sleeves. "But your dad is tough." He fished around in the water until he came up with the soap. "Let's finish this bath."

  Prudence watched him for a moment, as he soaped up the washcloth. He looked so battered – and so pleased with himself. Jesse splashed water at him and giggled. Prudence canted back on her toes and then pushed herself to her feet.

  Father and child stopped soaping and splashing to gaze up at her.

  "Woo?"

  "Where you goin'?"

  "I think you two can handle this job alone."

  * * *

  He came to find her in the living room after he put Jesse to bed.

  "Seven fifty-nine," she said. "I think it's some kind of record."

  He stood just beyond the coffee table, in the center of the room. He almost looked nervous. "I smell like a hard-ridden horse. I could really use a shower."

  She felt her face coloring a little, as if he'd said something terribly intimate. "Oh. Well, I…"

  "If I cleaned up quick, would you still be here … you know, to talk?"

  "Certainly. Of course. Go right ahead."

  He was back in ten minutes, his hair still shiny with water, wearing a clean pair of jeans and a soft-looking shirt with the sleeves rolled to just below his elbows. The ban
dage on his forehead was gone.

  "That's a nasty gash," she said.

  "It's nothing." He went over to the stereo and put a CD in the cartridge. It was something classical and soothing, with piano and strings. He adjusted the volume, then came and sat on the sofa with her, not so close as he had last night, but close enough that she could smell his clean, just-showered scent.

  He really was an attractive man. Attractive in the way of someone totally comfortable in his physical body. Maybe that was what Randi – and all those other women – had seen in him. His naturalness. His ability to live right in the moment. He did what he wanted to do, and he enjoyed every second of it.

  He was smiling at her strangely. "Have I got soap on my nose?"

  She realized she was staring and laughed, a nervous laugh. "No, of course not. I'm just … anxious to hear what happened."

  The strange smile was still there. "You could have called Eden and got the story from her."

  "Well, I know. But I didn't want to bother her. With Jared injured and all the uproar, I figured she wouldn't need me calling up to ask what was going on. And besides, I knew I could ask you. As soon as you got home. So what happened?"

  "Well, like I said, Delilah left Sam. I guess things have been pretty rough between the two of them lately."

  "Because?"

  "They want a kid."

  "But they can't have one?"

  "I don't know if they can't. It just ain't happening. Sam says they've been to two different fertility clinics. He says he wouldn't even explain to another man the things he went through there – or what he and Delilah have been through at home. Making love by thermometer, Sam calls it."

  "Sam was the one who told you all this?"

  "Yeah, while we were waiting in the jail. The deal is, the doctors haven't found anything wrong with either Sam or Delilah, but Delilah's never managed to get pregnant and both of them are in their forties now. It's put a big strain on their marriage. Especially in a small town like this one, where too many people pay too much attention to other people's business. Sam told me that in the last year or so, it's gotten pretty damn close to unbearable. Delilah can't walk down Main Street

  without someone stopping her to ask if she and Sam are ever going to produce a little bundle of joy."