The River Widow(30)

Despite not getting to see the attorney, at least she had spotted Jesse and halted in time. She’d outfoxed the fox that had been hunting her. There was a quiet sense of having, for once, beaten the Branches. She felt relieved.

Only she shouldn’t have.

At dinner that night, over meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and canned sweet peas, Mabel asked Daisy, “How was your trip to town?”

The girl shrugged. “We didn’t do nothing.”

“We didn’t do anything,” Adah corrected softly in a whisper.

“We didn’t do anything,” Daisy repeated.

The sound of a utensil dropping made Adah jump in her seat. “You telling that girl what to say?” Buck fired.

Adah looked over the table at him. “No, I’m just teaching her how to say things the correct way.”

“The correct way is the way I tell her.” He glared at Daisy. “We don’t talk no New York City ’round here. You say ‘we didn’t do nothing’ like us farmers do.”

Daisy said, “We didn’t do nothing.”

Adah wiped her lips with her napkin and gazed down at Daisy. “In truth, we did do some things. We looked in the store windows and posted notes, remember?”

Daisy shrugged. “But we didn’t get to see the man.”

“What man?” Buck barked.

Adah reluctantly moved her gaze up and into the steaming face of her father-in-law.

Daisy answered, “A man to help us go back to our old house.”

Something came over Adah now, a stone cloak. Each second dragged. Outside the sun winked down beyond the horizon, and the daylight dimmed.

“Going back to your old house?” Jesse nearly shouted, pinning Adah with his eyes. “Like I already told you, put that idea right out of your head. That ain’t going to happen.”

Jesse’s threat chilled her, but Buck spent long moments simply staring Adah down, as if he could peer into her soul and see her sin as plain as day. He stabbed his fork into the meatloaf and broke off a bite-sized piece, then shoved it into his smug mouth. The intimidation in his unblinking eyes and wickedness in his voice dried Adah’s throat. “Well, this sure is a strange development, ain’t it? We give you a home, despite us being pretty sure you’re the best damn liar in the county and a killer to boot, and you wanna leave here with Daisy?”

Adah hated being reminded that she was kept. And now caught. Thoughts flailing, she said, “When I talked to Daisy about living in our old house, I was talking about the past. She’s confused.”

Buck guffawed, leaning forward in his chair as he chewed and then spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “The only person confused here is you if you think you can cross us and get away with it. Not after what you already done. You wanna leave here, go on ahead. Go on and git lost. Take off for Californy, like so many other idiots have done, like they’re going to be starting over fresh. Or drown yourself in the river, that’s what should’ve happened anyways. Or turn yourself back into a fortune-telling witch. Fine by us. But don’t you go getting any ideas about that girl there.”

“How dare you?” said Mabel, who was now clenching her hands together down in her lap. “I didn’t think it could get any worse!”

Buck rocked forward in the chair and pointed his fork at Adah. “Lookee here. You gone and upset the missus, the lady of this house. And you done made me mad. You done made another big mistake.” The skin over his eyes lowered in a scowl. “So listen up and listen good. From now on, you ain’t taking that girl anywhere, not even to town.” He pushed back his plate. “Come to think of it, you don’t have no business in town, neither. You can conduct your laundering business on foot around here. You walk around and knock on the doors of these here country homes. You hear me?”

Adah nodded. She had hoped for something better, but now it was exactly as she had once foreseen.

“You got all that?” Jesse asked.

Adah nodded once again, fighting the urge to shoot off a retort, her angst growing and pressing against her ribs.

Buck addressed Mabel now. “Manfred Drucker is back in town.” Adah breathed out a sigh of relief. At least Buck was changing the subject.

Mabel’s eyebrows rose. “That so?”

“Yep,” Buck said. “I ran into him in town and filled him in. He’s gonna be coming by here real soon. Then me and him is gonna have us a nice little chat.” Now he stared at Adah. “Yep, Manfred Drucker is a big shot in the sheriff’s department and an old friend of mine. His father died over there in some home in Louisville, and he was out of town when they done found Lester. But now he’s back, and he and I have some talking to do.”

Adah worked hard to remain devoid of expression, as a creeping sensation claimed her. She might still be discovered somehow, some way, especially if Buck had a buddy in law enforcement, most likely a corrupt one, too.

“What’s for dessert?” Buck asked Mabel, but his eyes never left Adah. His nose sprouted tiny red veins.

“Chess pie,” she answered. “I’ll go fetch it.”

“Not yet. You just stay over there for a spell, resting in your chair,” said Buck to Mabel, looking at Adah like a cat ready to pounce. “I done lost my appetite . . . for pie.”

And so began Adah’s true imprisonment. Even with Jesse tailing her earlier today, she should have taken her chances and headed out of town. Once she’d spotted him, she might have been able to lose him. At least then she and Daisy would’ve had a chance.