Love Beyond Reason(34)

Jace now stood on the steps of the trailer and held the door for Katherine. When she glanced up at him, he smiled broadly. One would actually think he was proud of me, she thought.

"Katherine, meet Billy Jenkins. He's mean and grouchy, bullheaded, coarse, and totally without scruples, but we're used to him."

Katherine took off the hard hat and looked at the man Jace had introduced to her in that unorthodox way. Billy was older than the other men. She wondered if Jace had assigned him duties in the trailer in deference to his age.

Billy's sparse hair was gray and frizzy. His complexion was like a piece of dry, brown leather stretched over his facial bones. Deep lines etched his face like a roadmap. Bowed legs and a stocky torso made him appear even shorter in stature than he was.

He looked Katherine up and down several times. His perusal wasn't lewd, just appreciative. "I want to know how a sweet, pretty little thing like you got hitched up with a goddamn slant-holer like him." He indicated Jace with an impertinent jerk of his small, round head.

The insult referred to someone who drilled diagonally into another well. During the boom, this was a heinous crime, and the culprit was considered to be the lowest of creatures.

From behind her Katherine heard Jace's deep, rumbling chuckle. "Are you just going to stand there insulting me, or are you going to get us something to drink?"

"Get it your own self. I want to see the baby."

Katherine knew the source of their bantering was a mutual affection. Billy stepped up to Jace and took Allison out of his arms. The baby immediately reached for the red handkerchief in Billy's shirt pocket and the old man laughed gleefully.

"That's a girl. You know who your friends are, don't you? You stick with old Billy, and you'll have fun. Yes, you will. Let's go over here and see something pretty." Billy carried the mesmerized Allison to his littered desk, speaking to her in dulcet tones.

Katherine and Jace laughed. "No- thing will make a fool out of someone as quickly as a baby," Jace said. He looked down at Katherine and winked. "Except maybe a beautiful woman. I thought I might be forced to defend your honor when Billy got a good look at you."

"I was flattered," she smiled. "I think he's a perfect gentleman," she said primly.

"What! That old reprobate? You glare at me every time I use language like he just did."

"Yes, but that's different."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not married to him. I'm married to you."

He looked at her sternly, though the corners of his mouth twitched with suppressed mirth. "That's right and don't you ever forget it," he growled.

They both laughed, and, impulsively, he reached out and hugged her close. Katherine was still breathless from the quick, tight embrace when he opened a rusted refrigerator and took out two cold drinks. Allison was happy sitting in Billy's lap and basking in his ardent attention.

"Come over here," Jace said. "I want to make you a proposition." He gestured to a desk at the end of the trailer.

She followed him through the narrow confines, and he offered her the chair behind the desk. By comparison, it made Billy's desk look neat. It was covered with charts, maps, and diagrams. She could only guess at what they represented, but was curious as to the proposition he had mentioned.

He reached over her shoulder and picked up a sheet of paper. Katherine supposed that some sort of message could be deci- phered from the bold, slanted scrawl. "I got this memo from Willoughby. He's the owner of Sunglow. I've referred to him." At her nod, he went on.

"It seems that Willoughby is concerned about the current reputation of the oil companies. Windfall profits and all that. He's resolved to do something about Sunglow's public image. He managed to swing a deal with several television stations in the larger markets of Texas and Oklahoma – Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Oklahoma City among others. Sunglow will provide maintenance service and gasoline for all their news cars, mobile units, and the like in exchange for commercial time."

He took a drink of his soda and asked, "Are you following? Feel free to interrupt. It took me a while to digest it."

"Yes, I follow you, but—"

"Here comes the part that involves you. He needs someone to write the commercials. I recommended you."

Katherine stared up at him stunned. "Me!" she shrieked. "Jace, I don't know anything about—"

"Oil? You don't have to. What Willoughby wants is public-service-type commercials taken from the consumer's point of view. He wants to put forth the idea that Sunglow is concerned about the energy situation and is taking steps to rectify it and at the same time keep a tight rein on the price of gasoline. We need our reputation improved. You've had experience in public relations. You've written press releases. This'll be a snap."

"Is Sunglow really doing that though? I couldn't lie."

He looked almost pained before saying, "Katherine, I wouldn't ask you to lie. Do you think I'd be affiliated with a company that was fleecing the public?"

She looked away from him. "No." She gnawed the inside of her cheek, trying to think. It was such a fantastic opportunity! She could barely contain her excitement, yet, at the same time, there was so much to consider.

"I don't think I could work here," she mused aloud.