Page 46 of Adam's Rising

Clara Mae allowed the shotgun to rest at her side, but then jutted her chin toward Adam. “Come on up here, boy.” She turned and stomped into the foyer, kicking off her boots. “Give ’em an inch, they want the acre,” she grumbled beneath her breath as she pounded up the steps.

Rusty shook his head then pointed a finger at his temple, rotating it to indicate Clara Mae was crazy.

Adam covered his mouth to keep from laughing, and Rusty side-eyed him, but then winked.

When Clara Mae went inside ahead of them, Rusty turned back to him. “She’s actually not a mean old gal. As you’d imagine, running a ranch full of misfits requires her to be tough.”

Adam lifted his hands in surrender. “Clara Mae’s totally cool! I met her years ago with my dad. That’s why I came here… because my parents died.” Adam had confided in Rusty about Claire, but no way was he gonna bring up what happened with the drug dealers. He could kick himself for even bringing it up with Claire. He’d been slap-happy was his best excuse. He seriously needed to get some sleep tonight.

Rusty tilted his head. “Who was your dad?”

Adam gulped. Again, he’d probably said too much. If Clara Mae wanted the other hands to know who he was, she would have told them.

The door above them swung open. “You young’uns coming? I ain’t got all night.”

Rusty turned back to him. “Like you said…totally cool, but don’t cross that woman.” He tromped up the steps.

Adam kept up with him. No way would he fall behind, bringing out Clara Mae’s ire any more than it already was.

Three people had called him smart in the last few days, but Adam disagreed. If he had the sense God gave a goose — as his mother often said about the Belgarde men — he would have accepted Claire’s request to go out… after he’d cleared it with Clara Mae, and after he’d gotten more than a few hours of sleep.

Adam hung his head as he walked into the woman’s house.

Clara Mae pulled out a chair at the head of the table. “Don’t you come in here lookin’ like a whooped dog. I ain’t even whooped you yet. Let me turn my snake gun on ya an’ you’ll knowwhooped. Sit down at the end there, an’ act like a man. Tell me why you disrespected me the very next day after I allowed you on my ranch.”

Rusty walked past Clara Mae into the kitchen but turned back and did the finger rolling again.

“Rusty!” Clara Mae barked. “I gotta mirror right in front of me. You wanna get on my bad side next?” She turned in the seat, raising a hand at him. “Last I recall, this young man asked for your permission, and you saw fit to break my ranch rule — as if you haven’t broken that rule harder than anyone ever has.” She swung back to Adam. “Don’t think ’cause Rusty said it was all right for you to go out with one ofmycustomers that you ain’t in trouble.”

The room fell silent for only a moment before Rusty said, “Coffee, Clara Mae?”

Clara Mae shifted her eyes upward. “Is the pope Catholic?”

Adam bit down on his lip so he wouldn’t laugh. His father thought his mother was tough on him. He couldn’t imagine Clara Mae as a mother or wife. Then again, he’d seen Clara Mae’s soft side with him and Peter, and even his father.

Clara Mae drummed her fingers on the table. “So… Tell me, boy. What’s the deal with you and Claire?”

“No deal, Ma’am. We’ve just known each other since kindergarten.”

“Don’t you mean you knew her since she was in kindergarten? You would have been in second grade when Claire started school. Tell me, when you were in high school, were you messing around with a girl in grade school?”

Rusty choked. “Clara Mae, he’s just a kid.”

Clara Mae drilled Adam. “I asked you a question, boy. What’s your relationship with Claire.”

“I’m in love with her, Ma’am. I’ve been in love with her as long as I can remember.”

The woman sighed. “Are you now? And pray tell, what do you plan to tell Esmerelda?”

“Esme… Lala,” he remembered. Until Clara Mae had referred to Thomas’s girlfriend as Esmerelda, Adam had never heard her called that before. But Thomas hadn’t seen Lala in nearly two years, so why did everyone refer to her as his girlfriend? “Last I heard, Lala is dating Roger.”

Rusty choked on his own breath again.

Clara Mae cleared her throat. “Listen, kid. Esmerelda’s a bit… spoiled. Her daddy — herrealdaddy — he’s kind of a big deal where she comes from. Her mother sent her up here when her stepfather threatened to send her to a home for troubled teens, or worse, her real father’s home.” She sighed. “The girl’s okay and all, if you know how to handle her, but… You don’t want to get on her bad side because she’sDaddy’s little girl, and he don’t know anything other than buying his daughter’s affections.” Clara Mae lowered her body across the table. “Remember when I told you that when you and your dad came visiting a couple of years back?”

Adam leaned back as far as the chair allowed. Now he understood Clara Mae’s comment yesterdaynot to mess around with that girl. “You did.”

She lowered her gaze and gave a faint shake of her head. “All I’m sayin’ is that before you bring Claire into this, you need to make certain that Esmerelda understands.”

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