* * *
They drove through the east Texas countryside for about half an hour. Katherine enjoyed the scenery. The woods were thick with pine, cedar, native oaks, and elm. Now and then she glimpsed the graceful dogwood. In the spring it, with its glorious white or pink blossoms, would shame the towering giants that dwarfed it.
The country road narrowed and dwindled to little more than a pothole-ridden trail. The jeep bounced over the road, jarring their teeth and preventing conversation. Katherine clutched Allison to her, fearful that the baby would fly out of her arms when they hit a large bump.
Jace turned off the road and struck out across the pine-tree-dotted field that was somewhat more level. As they came to a clearing, the drilling rig came into view. Katherine was amazed by the activity and noise. The equipment required for the project was awesome.
Several of the crew stopped their work for a moment to wave to Jace as he bounded out of the jeep. He directed Katherine to stay put. He jogged to a disreputable-looking trailer whose peeling, faded gray paint was its most redeeming feature. Moments later Jace emerged wearing a hard hat and carrying another.
He shouted over the noise, “Here, put this on.”
Katherine looked at the bright yellow helmet skeptically.
“Sorry. Mr. Manning’s rules. “He winked at her and plopped the hard hat on her head. He took Allison in his arms and carried her toward the trailer.
Katherine self-consciously climbed out of the jeep carrying her purse and Allison’s diaper bag. She could feel the furtive glances directed toward her, though the roughnecks continued working with deliberation. She didn’t try to distinguish Jim Cooper. The workmen had taken on the anonymity of an army. Were her jeans too tight, she wondered in panic, remembering what Jace had told her earlier.
The hard hat seemed like a ridiculously unnecessary precaution, but Jace had often referred to the strict rules he enforced at any site he worked on.
“Back in the thirties during the big boom in Texas men needed jobs desperately. They found work in the oil fields whether they were qualified or not. The wildcatters who hired them for peanuts didn’t care about the danger involved. They were only glad to have a supply of cheap labor.
“It wasn’t until later that safety regulations were put into effect. Unfortunately, many men were killed or seriously injured in unnecessary accidents. There’s always the risk of having an accident around any derrick, but I try to lower the odds of one happening by enforcing as many safety precautions as possible.” Apparently even his wife wasn’t exempt.
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 pocked 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. “Nothing 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.