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.In her agitation, Hannah took it.“Eat,” Mim admonished.“I don’t want to eat! I want to know about Ernie!”“Good,” Mim praised her, but she didn’t tell her anything.“Mim—”“Eat,” she insisted.“Then we’ll talk.Eat!” she said again when Hannah was about to protest.“I’m an old woman.I didn’t walk all this way over wet ground in a freezing wind to have you not eat the best breakfast you’ll find from here to Dallas.And while you’re eating, you can think.”“About what?” Hannah said, taking a bite of toast in spite of herself.“John Ernest,” Mim said pointedly.And she got up from the table and moved her chair closer to the stove, sitting quietly while Hannah picked over her food all she was going to.“So,” she said when Hannah reluctantly dragged her chair over to join her.“What are you going to do about John Ernest?”Hannah frowned.She could see well enough where Ernie had gotten his penchant for not working up to something.“Nothing,” she said flatly.“Why not?”“He loves Elizabeth.”“Yes,” Mim agreed.“So what are you going to do about John Ernest?” she repeated.“Mim—”“What are you going to do about him?”“I’m not going to do anything, for God’s sake! He loves Elizabeth!”“And so you’ll just give up.”“Mim,” Hannah said in exasperation, “I … don’t have a choice.Elizabeth is—” She didn’t go on.“What is she, Hannah? Tell me.”Hannah looked into Mim’s dark eyes.She didn’t want to be in the conversation, but she answered anyway.“Beautiful.Wild.Fiery.No man’s ever going to tame her, but they all want to try.I can’t compete with her.”“A man needs a certain fire in the woman he loves, Hannah, but that fire should warm his heart, not destroy him.John Ernest has had nothing but pain from Elizabeth.And she’s about to hurt him again—by making you run away and leave him.”“Mim, you don’t understand! I did the wrong thing.I knew about Ernie and Elizabeth.I knew she counted on him, and he told me the first night we met that he’d wanted to marry her.I pretended it didn’t matter.I let myself get—”“He loves you,” Mim interrupted.“He hasn’t said so,” Hannah countered.“He hasn’t said so?” Mim asked incredulously.“Then what am I doing here? What is he doing calling me after midnight and telling me to come over and talk to you as soon as I can? He’s got his hands full with Elizabeth, and he’s worried to death you don’t understand—which I’m thinking you don’t.Do you love John Ernest, or don’t you?”“Yes!” Hannah cried, her eyes filling with tears.“Yes—”“Then I’m going to give you a piece of advice, Hannah.I’m going to tell you what you’ll have to put up with if you stay with him.Yes, he’ll help Elizabeth if she comes asking.And he’ll help anybody else who comes asking, too.If he needs to, he’ll take your last dime to get some down-on-his-luck cowboy out of jail.And then, while you’re being all mad about that, he’ll be gone all night because he’s driving that same rounder a couple hundred miles so he can see his children.And if that’s not bad enough, he’ll expect you to drop everything and go with him.You’re going to have strangers sitting at your supper table and sleeping on your couch at all hours.It’s not that he’s weak or that he lets people take advantage of him.It’s just the way he is.His idea of taking you out on the town will be some hole-in-the-wall where you have to eat standing up and the waitresses wear hair curlers—because the people there are decent and hardworking and the conversation, not necessarily the food, is good.”Hannah suddenly grinned, thinking of the Starlight Café.“I’ve almost been there already.”“See?” Mim said.“He likes people, Hannah, and he doesn’t care what they’ve got or what they can do for him.He’s never met a stranger in his life, and if you love him, you’ll have to put up with it, because you’ll never change him.If you can’t do that, then I want you to leave him here and now.Don’t hurt him, because he’s had enough of that.He’s a good man, for all his troubles with drink, and he needs you, but if you love him and you want to stay with him, you’re going to have to trust him to take care of his problem with Elizabeth himself.You can’t help him with it—except to wait while he does it and not add to his troubles.He’s got a lot to settle with her, and he knows he’s going to have to settle it if the two of you are going anywhere together.You have to just—love him, Hannah.And you have to wait.”“I’m not very good at waiting.”“So John Ernest told me.”“What is that supposed to mean?”“I don’t know,” Mim assured her.“He didn’t have time to talk much.He only said that you let go of things that hurt you, and he thinks it’s got something to do with Jake.”“Oh, he did,” Hannah said a bit testily.“Yes.He said that.And he said to tell you that he’d wrapped you in chains …” Mim frowned.“Now I can’t remember.” She thought for a moment.“Light …”“Chains as light as gossamer,” Hannah said quietly, looking away.“Yes.I guess he thought you’d understand what that meant.”Hannah didn’t reply.She understood, not that it mattered [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.In her agitation, Hannah took it.“Eat,” Mim admonished.“I don’t want to eat! I want to know about Ernie!”“Good,” Mim praised her, but she didn’t tell her anything.“Mim—”“Eat,” she insisted.“Then we’ll talk.Eat!” she said again when Hannah was about to protest.“I’m an old woman.I didn’t walk all this way over wet ground in a freezing wind to have you not eat the best breakfast you’ll find from here to Dallas.And while you’re eating, you can think.”“About what?” Hannah said, taking a bite of toast in spite of herself.“John Ernest,” Mim said pointedly.And she got up from the table and moved her chair closer to the stove, sitting quietly while Hannah picked over her food all she was going to.“So,” she said when Hannah reluctantly dragged her chair over to join her.“What are you going to do about John Ernest?”Hannah frowned.She could see well enough where Ernie had gotten his penchant for not working up to something.“Nothing,” she said flatly.“Why not?”“He loves Elizabeth.”“Yes,” Mim agreed.“So what are you going to do about John Ernest?” she repeated.“Mim—”“What are you going to do about him?”“I’m not going to do anything, for God’s sake! He loves Elizabeth!”“And so you’ll just give up.”“Mim,” Hannah said in exasperation, “I … don’t have a choice.Elizabeth is—” She didn’t go on.“What is she, Hannah? Tell me.”Hannah looked into Mim’s dark eyes.She didn’t want to be in the conversation, but she answered anyway.“Beautiful.Wild.Fiery.No man’s ever going to tame her, but they all want to try.I can’t compete with her.”“A man needs a certain fire in the woman he loves, Hannah, but that fire should warm his heart, not destroy him.John Ernest has had nothing but pain from Elizabeth.And she’s about to hurt him again—by making you run away and leave him.”“Mim, you don’t understand! I did the wrong thing.I knew about Ernie and Elizabeth.I knew she counted on him, and he told me the first night we met that he’d wanted to marry her.I pretended it didn’t matter.I let myself get—”“He loves you,” Mim interrupted.“He hasn’t said so,” Hannah countered.“He hasn’t said so?” Mim asked incredulously.“Then what am I doing here? What is he doing calling me after midnight and telling me to come over and talk to you as soon as I can? He’s got his hands full with Elizabeth, and he’s worried to death you don’t understand—which I’m thinking you don’t.Do you love John Ernest, or don’t you?”“Yes!” Hannah cried, her eyes filling with tears.“Yes—”“Then I’m going to give you a piece of advice, Hannah.I’m going to tell you what you’ll have to put up with if you stay with him.Yes, he’ll help Elizabeth if she comes asking.And he’ll help anybody else who comes asking, too.If he needs to, he’ll take your last dime to get some down-on-his-luck cowboy out of jail.And then, while you’re being all mad about that, he’ll be gone all night because he’s driving that same rounder a couple hundred miles so he can see his children.And if that’s not bad enough, he’ll expect you to drop everything and go with him.You’re going to have strangers sitting at your supper table and sleeping on your couch at all hours.It’s not that he’s weak or that he lets people take advantage of him.It’s just the way he is.His idea of taking you out on the town will be some hole-in-the-wall where you have to eat standing up and the waitresses wear hair curlers—because the people there are decent and hardworking and the conversation, not necessarily the food, is good.”Hannah suddenly grinned, thinking of the Starlight Café.“I’ve almost been there already.”“See?” Mim said.“He likes people, Hannah, and he doesn’t care what they’ve got or what they can do for him.He’s never met a stranger in his life, and if you love him, you’ll have to put up with it, because you’ll never change him.If you can’t do that, then I want you to leave him here and now.Don’t hurt him, because he’s had enough of that.He’s a good man, for all his troubles with drink, and he needs you, but if you love him and you want to stay with him, you’re going to have to trust him to take care of his problem with Elizabeth himself.You can’t help him with it—except to wait while he does it and not add to his troubles.He’s got a lot to settle with her, and he knows he’s going to have to settle it if the two of you are going anywhere together.You have to just—love him, Hannah.And you have to wait.”“I’m not very good at waiting.”“So John Ernest told me.”“What is that supposed to mean?”“I don’t know,” Mim assured her.“He didn’t have time to talk much.He only said that you let go of things that hurt you, and he thinks it’s got something to do with Jake.”“Oh, he did,” Hannah said a bit testily.“Yes.He said that.And he said to tell you that he’d wrapped you in chains …” Mim frowned.“Now I can’t remember.” She thought for a moment.“Light …”“Chains as light as gossamer,” Hannah said quietly, looking away.“Yes.I guess he thought you’d understand what that meant.”Hannah didn’t reply.She understood, not that it mattered [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]