Taming of Jessi Rose (29 page)

“What are you gentlemen planning for this already hot day?” Jessi asked, looking around at them. Even though it was still early morning, the heat had gotten out of bed early too.

Griff answered, “Soon as Joth is done with his lesson, the four of us are going to ride out to the range. Joth said you wanted to take a look at the cows today and see how they're faring with the drought.”

She did, but the injury to her hand prevented her from holding reins. She'd have to stay behind.

“Preacher, what are you doing today?” she aked.

The green-eyed man in black told her, “I'm going to Austin. May be the sheriff there can give me some more information on that Eula Grimes. I'll be back in a few days.”

He went off to pack.

All the men left shortly afterward, and once they were gone, Jessi went back into the house and reveled in the silence.

She was in the kitchen reading the newspaper when Griff's contingent returned later that afternoon. Setting aside the edition of the
Freeman
, published in New York by the great Black newspaper man T. Thomas Fortune, Jessi went to hear the report on her cows.

“They're doing fine. Aunt Jessi,” Joth said, as the men trooped in. “Some of the big cows are a little scrawny, but they still have enough grass and water.”

“Good. How're the new calves holding up?”.

“Two were with their mamas and we found one dead.”

Jessi sighed with resignation. She couldn't afford any deaths in her small herd, not if she wanted to rebuild the numbers. With the price of beef falling every day, the future did not look bright. Last year's drought had already wiped out many of the small ranchers, and Jessi did not want the Claytons to be next.

The Twins rode off for town to visit the bath house so they could get all spruced up for Auntie's mortgage-burning party. They'd be back tomorrow. Joth went out to see to Buttercup, which left Jessi and Griffin alone in the kitchen.

“That Joth knows an awful lot about cows,” Griffin told Jessi as he poured himself a glass of lemonade and took a seat at the kitchen table. “Told me all about Coronado bringing the first cattle to Texas.”

“Yep, around 1541, if I remember Gillie's lessons correctly. He and his men didn't want to starve while they were exploring, so they brought livestock. Some of the cattle escaped and that gave birth to the great wild herds of longhorns.”

“He talked about cattle drives and imported Brahma
bulls from India. I knew about yearlings, but I'd never heard cows called longs, shorts, tail ends, or scabs. The Twins and I learned a lot from that boy today.”

“He's been around cattle all his life. He's bound to have picked up some knowledge.”

“Well, thanks to Joth, I now know that shorts are calves over one year old, but short of two. Longs are two years old, but not yet three, and Tails and Scabs are about the same.”

“Yes. They're all the calves who aren't yearlings yet.”

“I was very impressed.” Griff declared again. “Very impressed, and I told him so.”

Jessi was pleased to hear Griff sing Joth's praises; her nephew was very special to her also.

Griffin spied the paper on the table. He picked it up and began glancing through it. “Anything new back in the States?”

“Back in the States” was the phrase most Texans used when referring to the states back east.

Jessi began placing dishes in the sink for washing. “The
Freeman
's publisher, Mr. Fortune, is wanting to form what he's calling an Afro-American League. He says we Black folks need an agency to protect us from all the violence going on, especially the people in the South.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Griffin replied, as he continued to leaf through the newspaper. “I don't think the men of the race fought in the war just so they could be killed on the way to the polls by a bunch of illiterate Democrats dressed in sheets.”

Jessi didn't think so either.

He went silent a moment as he read on. “Did you see this notice about the new colleges?”

“No. Where are they?”

“It doesn't say exactly, but they're named: Kentucky
State College, Florida A & M, and Central State College. That's good news.”

“It certainly is. The race needs schools of higher education. Anything else I missed in there?”

“Some kluxers paid a visit to a Black church up in Denison. When the church folks refused to be intimidated, the kluxers left. It seems that the White citizens were just as outraged as the Blacks were.”

“There are some good people out there.”

“Yes, there are.” He set the paper down and said, “Those colleges aren't the only good news. You gave some people some pretty good news yourself today by returning those mortgages.”

“Yes, but it was your idea. You deserve all the credit.”

“Just trying to impress a certain lady I know.”

Jessi walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “You have succeeded.”

Griff stood and wrapped his arms around her. “I've been real proud of you.”

She savored how good it felt to have him hold her close this way. “And why is that?”

“Because of the way you handled those deeds. Some of those folks haven't been nice to you.”

“
Most
of those folks haven't been nice to me,” she cracked.

“I know, but you were gracious and kind.”

“I'll bet you didn't think I had it in me.”

He looked down into her eyes. “They might've thought that, but I know better. You
are
gracious and kind, not to mention magnificent and beautiful.”

“You're prejudiced.”

“I am that.”

Later, after supper, Jessi stood in the door and watched Griffin and Joth play marbles out in the corral. They were too far away for their conversation to be
heard, but Jessi could see Griffin giving her nephew pointers on shooting angles and the positioning of his body. Griff may have learned some things about cows from Joth today, but Joth was learning from Griffin, too—like how to be a good man, and the many ways to look adversity in the eye and not blink. If Jessi had her way, Joth would also learn how to be a caring husband, because she'd decided she would marry Griffin Blake, she just hadn't told him so yet. How could she not love a man who'd given her sunsets?

That evening, after hearing Joth recite his prayers, Jessi sat on the edge of his bed, listening to his last words of the day. She told him, “Griffin and the Twins were pretty bowled over by how much you knew about cattle.”

“Were they?” His eyes were shining.

“Yes, they were. You're going to be a fine rancher someday.”

He just grinned.

Jessi touched his face tenderly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yep.”

“How would you feel if Griffin and I got married?”

“Will I have to live somewhere else?”

Confused by the question, Jessi replied, “No. Why would you think that?”

“Because when Reggie Becker got a new pa, his mama made Reggie go live with his grandmother up in Dallas.”

Jessi knew that Reggie was one of Joth's classmates, but knew nothing about his family or their situation. “You won't have to move away, I promise. Griff and I both would miss you dearly if you weren't here.”

“Would you?”

“Extremely.”

He went silent a moment, then said softly, “I've been real lonely since Gramps died.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

“But Griff's starting to fix that.”

“I'm glad.”

“He's a lot of fun, Aunt Jessi. He calls you the Governor.”

Jessi laughed. “Does he, now?”

“Yep, and he asked my permission to court you.”

Jessi went still. “He did?”

“He said since I was the only Clayton male, he had to ask me.”

That Griffin would be so caring as to seek permission from Joth made Jessi's heart full indeed. “And what did you say?” she asked him softly.

“I asked him would he be nice to you, and when he said yes, I said yes, too. Did I say the right thing?”

“Yes, darling, you did, and you asked a real fine question, too.”

“Are you crying. Aunt Jessi?”

She nodded. “A little bit, but they're happy tears.”

“Does this mean you and Griff will have to kiss?”

“Yep, we
have
to, it's part of the rules.”

“Ugh! Mollie tried to kiss me at school one day, and I told her I'd make her eat a lizard if she ever tried it again.”

Jessi's tears spilled onto her cheeks as she laughed at that, and she wiped them away. “It's time for you to get to sleep.”

She leaned down and gave him a tender kiss on the brow. “Good night, Jotham Clayton. May all your dreams be good ones.”

He gave her a strong hug and said, “Good night. Aunt Jessi.”

Jessi found Griffin out on the front porch watching the first act of the evening's sunset. “So, I'm known as
the Governor, am I?” she asked, standing above him with a hand on her hip and a smile on her face.

He looked up and laughed. “He told you? Wait until I see that boy. Doesn't he know that when you talk man to man you don't tell the womenfolk?”

“Guess not,” she chuckled, as she took a seat beside him.

“What other beans did he spill?”

“That you asked his permission to court me.”

Her serious tone made him turn to look into her eyes.

“Yes, I did. This will affect his life too. I wanted to make sure it was all right. Does he approve? I know he told me he did, but he'd tell you the real truth.”

“He does, as long as we don't make him move away.”

“What?”

After Jessi explained she said, “I reassured him that we couldn't live without him and he seemed much more at ease after that. He said you're a lot of fun, and that you're fixing the parts of him that have been sad since my father's death.”

Griffin was touched by the words, Jessi could see it in his face and hear it in his voice as he said, “He's a fine boy. It'll be my honor to watch him grow up and be a fine man.”

“You're a very fine man yourself, Griffin Blake.”

“But not fine enough to marry?”

“Finer.”

He searched her eyes. “What's that mean?”

“It means, will you marry me? And don't you dare laugh,” she added quickly.

He studied her closely. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“I'd like to wait until Darcy's out of our lives. We shouldn't have to split the watch on our wedding night.”

He fought hard to contain his excitement. “I'd really prefer it be sooner, but you're right. Let's get rid of Darcy first.”

Jessi also needed time to gather her courage; the story of Bob Winston had yet to be told.

He put his arm around her waist and drew her close. “I'm glad you said yes.”

“So am I. I love you, Griffin.”

He kissed her softly. “I love you too, boss lady.”

They cuddled close and sat that way in silence until the sun went down and the night crept in.

 

A few days later, Jessi's hand had healed enough to handle reins, so she and Joth went to town that morning to see Gillie. Joth needed to see her about getting information on Juan Cortinas for his school essay, and Jessi needed her talented mentor to make her a wedding dress.

Gillie was surprised, to say the least, not by the news of the marriage but by Jessi's request. “
You
want a dress? You, who will probably go to your grave in a pair of denims?”

“Yes, Gillie, I do. Granted, I've not been real partial to dresses lately, but Griffin and I are getting married. I have to do what's appropriate.”

“Since when? Jotham, your aunt was such a mischief maker she used to put snakes in my handbag.”

Joth had a tale to beat that. “Ross McCoy painted Mr. Trent's chair one morning and when Mr. Trent sat down the whole bottom of his trousers were bright red. When Ross's daddy got through with him, he couldn't sit in school for three whole days.”

Jessi, who was in the process of leafing through some of Gillie's dress sketches, shook her head at the story.

“So, Joth, what do you need to know about Señor Cortinas? You and I can talk while your Aunt Jessi looks at the sketches.”

“Who was he?”

“Well, his full name was Juan Nepomunceno Cortinas and he was the son of a very wealthy Mexican family. His friends called him Cheno.”

Joth nodded. “I know that part. The Twins call Griffin Cheno. They said they named him after Señor Cortinas.”

“Really?”

“Yep. They said it was because Griffin has a red beard and likes to help people too.”

“Well, that certainly describes Señor Cortinas. Some folks called him the Mexican Robin Hood. Now, let's see if I remember the story. It began back in '59, if my memory is correct, and as I said before, the Cortinases were large landholders down on the border. They were ranchers just like the Claytons.”

Joth smiled.

“One day, Cheno went into Brownsville for his morning coffee and saw the sheriff trying to arrest one of the Cortinases' former servants.”

“Why?”

“The servant was drunk.”

“Oh.”

“Cheno didn't mind that the sheriff was trying to arrest the drunk, but he thought the sheriff was being a little abusive.”

“What's abusive?”

“It means the sheriff was being too rough.”

“I understand. So what did Cheno do?”

“He tried to talk to the sheriff, but the sheriff cursed him.”

“That wasn't very nice,” Jessi offered, looking up.

“Cheno didn't think so either, and he got mad and shot the sheriff in the arm and dragged the servant up behind him on his horse and galloped away.”