Redemption

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Colt blinked a few times before pulling his gaze away from Jessie’s startled face. He quickly regained his thoughts and he looked at Dean, who wasn’t known for being the smartest of the bunch.

“Dean,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head. “Didn’t your Ma ever teach you manners?”

Dean looked between then for a few seconds before realization dawned on him. His eyes widened and his face turned a shade of red that Colt hadn’t seen on a man before.

“Oh, then she isn’t…” The man’s statement remained unfinished as he shuffled his feet and looked at Jessie.

Colt shook his head once more. “No,” he mouthed.

Dean winced. “I’m real sorry ma’am. I really do feel like an idiot.”

Jessie crossed her arms and set her jaw. “I’m sure you do. Boot leather doesn’t taste very good, does it?”

Dean stared at her, clearly not comprehending what her words implied.

“Just get back to work, Dean. You‘re lucky that you‘re not a smart one or I‘d be obliged to pummel you.” Colt shoved the man by the shoulder and he walked off.

Colt turned to Jessie, not quite sure what to say. She looked at him and it was clear that her pride was wounded and that confounded arm moved to wrap around her stomach and tried to conceal what she thought was there.

“He’s the idiot around here, you know. He doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about,” Colt told her.

She nodded but didn’t say anything. She took her measuring tape and pulled it across the width of the window frame.

“Can you write down some numbers for me?” She asked finally.

Colt was silent for a moment. How could she go on like nothing had happened? He knew how shy and self-conscious she was about her weight, and a virtual stranger had just pointed it out. Wasn’t this the time that women typically began to cry?

“Sure,” he finally croaked out.

She handed him a piece of paper and a pencil. While she told him numbers, he jotted down and they moved to the next window. They did the same thing on every window of the house until she had the measurements of all the windows. Colt handed the paper over to her and waited while she inspected it. Her eyes rolled to the ceiling.

“This is completely backwards, Colt,” she said.

Colt’s heart stopped for a second. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll go back through and redo them myself.”

A smile broke out across her face. “I’m just kidding. You did good.”

Col let out a whoosh of breath. “Don’t scare me like that.”

She giggled. “You should have seen your face.”
He shook his head as they walked - and hobbled - toward the front door. A shrill whistle came from a group of cowboys taking a break in the room the kitchen was to be placed in.

Colt turned and hollered back at them. “Would y’all get back to work? I don’t pay you to sit around and whistle like a bunch a’ birds.”

He ushered Jessie out the front door and shook his head. “It would appear like these boys ain’t had a lick of raising.”

Jessie shrugged. “It’s not like they’ve had a woman around to practice on. It seems that Mrs. Slade keeps her distance from them all.”

He helped her up into the wagon and climbed up beside her.