The Calamity Janes

“Not a flaw,” he agreed. “Just boring.” He glanced toward the ballfield where Lauren and Cassie were hamming it up in the outfield. “Now, take your friend Lauren. She obviously knows how to enjoy herself.”

The observation rankled, possibly because it implied that he approved of Lauren more than he approved of Emma. She found it extremely exasperating that it mattered to her whom he preferred.

“Don’t let her fool you,” she said tightly. “She’s a very smart woman.”

“Did I say she wasn’t? You don’t have to hide your brains to have fun.”

The remark hit a little too close to what Lauren had said to her. Emma was getting tired of everyone suggesting that she was leading a dull, predictable life.

“I enjoy myself, Mr. Hamilton. Maybe it’s just that you don’t amuse me.”

His grin spread. “Then I’ll have to work on that. Good luck with the game,” he added, then stood up and sauntered off.

Emma stared after him, once again feeling more off-kilter than she had in years. It was definitely a good thing she was going back to Denver first thing tomorrow. She wasn’t sure she wanted to discover how effective Ford Hamilton could be once he set his mind to charming her.

Emma Rogers was pretty much an aggravating pain in the butt, Ford concluded as he went off to find friendlier company. Even so, he couldn’t deny that she intrigued him—not as a woman, he quickly assured himself, but as a person. There was a distinction, though he was having difficulty pinning that down at the moment.

At any rate, even while he sat with the men as they took their turn at bat, his gaze kept straying to Emma, noting the intensity of her expression as she watched her players perform in the field. Suddenly an image of her in his bed, just as intent on their lovemaking, swept through his mind. Heat climbed up his neck at the improbable but thoroughly erotic fantasy.

“What’s going on, buddy? You look a little flushed,” Ryan Taylor said, amusement threading through his voice.

Ford forced his attention away from Emma and glanced at the sheriff. “It’s hot out here.”

“Maybe so, but I’ll bet it’s not half as hot as wherever your head was. Thinking about our Emma, were you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I hardly know the woman. And what I do know doesn’t recommend her. She’s an annoying, stuffy know-it-all.”

Ryan’s grin spread. “Some men would find that challenging.”

“Not me.”

“Too bad. She could use a man who’s not afraid of her intellect, maybe even one who’s perceptive enough to see through to her vulnerability.”

“Emma, vulnerable? I don’t think so.”

“Like I said, it takes a certain amount of perception to see past that tough facade. I guess I misjudged you. I thought you might be used to digging below the surface to see what a person is really like.”

The comment hit its mark. “Well, it hardly matters whether I am or I’m not. She’s definitely not inclined to let me get close enough to find out. Besides, she’s heading back to Denver any day now. In fact, based on what she said at the dance last night, I thought she’d be on the road first thing this morning.”

“Were you disappointed to find her still here today?”

Ford scowled. “It didn’t matter to me one way or the other.”

Ryan chuckled. “Yeah, I can see that.” His expression suddenly sobered. He paused, as if he were choosing his words with care. “By the way,” he began finally, “Teddy says he got a picture of that little scene with Sue Ellen and Donny last night. You don’t intend to use it, do you?”

“No,” Ford said without hesitation. “Domestic disputes don’t warrant coverage.”

“Glad to hear it,” Ryan said, looking relieved. “Sue Ellen doesn’t need to have her troubles plastered all over the newspaper. She has a tough enough life as it is.”

“If that’s the case, why haven’t you arrested Donny?”

“She won’t press charges,” Ryan said with evident frustration. “My hands are tied, unless I catch him in the act of hurting her. Believe me, I’m just itching to slap the man with assault charges. He needs help, and he sure as hell won’t get it as long as she keeps making excuses for him. It makes me sick to see how he humiliates her over and over again. Sue Ellen was one of the most outgoing kids in our class. She participated in every activity. She always had a smile on her face. Now she barely sets foot out of the house, and I can’t tell you the last time I saw her smile.”

“I noticed they didn’t come today,” Ford said.

Ryan’s expression turned grim. “Probably because she has bruises she’s trying to hide and he’s out on the sofa with a hangover.”

Ford shuddered at the sheriff’s matter-of-fact description. “Even around here, there must be places she could go for help.”

“She won’t leave. I’ve tried. Hell, half the town has tried at one time or another, but Sue Ellen believes with everything in her that Donny loves her and that he’ll change. Personally, I don’t see it happening. Their marriage is a tragedy waiting to happen. The one blessing in all of this is that they’ve never had kids, so there are no innocent victims suffering because she refuses to get out.”

A shadow fell over them. Ford looked up, surprised to see Emma standing there.

“Are you talking about Sue Ellen?” she asked Ryan, carefully avoiding Ford’s gaze.

Ryan nodded. “Any ideas on how to get her out of there?”

“None,” she said.

Ford was startled by her helpless, frustrated expression. For the first time, he saw a hint of that vulnerability Ryan had been talking about.

“Maybe you could talk to her,” Ryan suggested. “She always admired you, Emma, and you are an attorney. You could give her some hard truths about the odds of Donny ever changing.”

Emma shook her head. “I’m sure she’s been told the statistics a hundred times, and just doesn’t want to believe them. She wants to believe that he’s the exception, that if she’s loyal enough and patient enough, he’ll stop hurting her.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to get through to her,” Ryan coaxed. “Do it as a favor to me.”

“Okay, I will. I’ll do it for you. I’ll call her,” Emma promised. “I just hope the fact that she’s even talking to me doesn’t set Donny off. It could, you know.”

“I think it’s a chance worth taking,” Ryan told her. “Thankfully I don’t run across a lot of domestic violence around here, so I’m no expert, but I think the tensions are escalating dangerously.”

Emma sighed. “I hope you’re wrong about that.”

“You really care about Sue Ellen Carter, don’t you?” Ford said, letting his surprise show.

Emma finally looked at him. “Of course. She’s an old friend,” she said matter-of-factly. “In Winding River, friends stick together.”

“And in Denver?” he taunted. “What do friends do there?”

The question seemed to disconcert her. “The same thing, I suppose.”

Her reply was more telling than she realized. In that instant, Ford realized that despite all of the close friends in evidence at the reunion, Emma Rogers was quite possibly one of the loneliest people he’d ever met. And to his very sincere regret, in some gallant, knight-in-shining-armor fantasy, he wanted to change that.

The news that Cassie’s mother had breast cancer threw Emma’s already shattered timetable into chaos. There was no way she could abandon her childhood friend right now. Thanks to faxes and the availability of overnight couriers, she could stay on the job and remain right here in Winding River for a few more days until they knew how the surgery was going to go.

Making those arrangements and lending support to Cassie pushed all thoughts of Sue Ellen temporarily out of Emma’s mind. It was several days later when she remembered her promise to Ryan and set aside time to call Sue Ellen. Maybe it was for the best that she’d waited, Emma told herself as she dialed Sue Ellen’s number. Donny would surely be back at work, which would make it easier for them to talk without him influencing what Sue Ellen said or fueling her reluctance to talk at all.

The phone rang and rang without even an answering machine picking up. Since everyone in town had told her that Sue Ellen rarely left the house anymore, Emma left Caitlyn with her grandfather for another riding lesson and drove into town.