Read Online The Harder They Fall by Doreen Owens Malek - Free Book Online Page B

row houses slumped toward one another in an attitude of resignation, their sloping roofs missing tarpaper tiles and their front porches sagging with the weight of disappointment and poverty. The streets were littered with rubbish, beer cans and broken toys abandoned by the skinny, dirty children chasing one another through scrubby empty lots sparkling with broken glass. Maria punched the door locks as they passed a gang of toughs drinking on a street corner and Helene shivered, glad that it was broad daylight.
    “Here it is,” Maria said quietly, slowing as they passed a wood frame two-story building, its paint faded and peeling past the point of color identification. Its side was propped against a filthy brick structure next to it, which was boarded up but still sported a rusted metal sign that proclaimed Tyson Chemicals. The porch of the house was crumbling; slats from its splintered latticework were lying about on the cracked pavement and an entire step was missing. A plastic tricycle, its rear wheel dangling crazily, was overturned in a patch of weeds to the left of the front walk.
    “This is where Chris lived?” Helene asked, swallowing.
    “Yes. It was not quite as bad then. The neighborhood has degenerated a bit more since, but I’m sure this gives you an idea of what his childhood was like.”
    “He went from this to the Homestead?” Helene asked.
    Maria nodded.
    “That must have been quite a shock.”
    “I sometimes think he hasn’t recovered from it yet,” Maria answered, turning at the corner and heading back toward the shopping district, gunning the motor slightly.
    “All right,” Helene said, gazing out the window at their improving surroundings . “I understand that he had a tough life before he found his father and was accepted into the Murdock family. But why does he have to take it out on me?”
    “Because he wants you, maybe more than anything else he’s wanted in his life, but he’s afraid to want—don’t you see that? He spent the early part of his life never getting what he wanted. And to make matters worse, when he met you, Helene, you belonged to his brother.”
    “Martin is dead,” Helene said dully.
    “Yes, but think of the guilt involved! His brother, who took him in and helped him and accepted him as a member of the family—he’s going to take that brother’s girl? Not likely. Even now, it’s eating at him all the time. I can see it.”
    “Has he said any of this to you?”
    “Of course not. Talking is not his thing.”
    “Tell me about it,” Helene said dryly. She looked over at the older woman. “Maria, I know you mean well, but I think you’re dead wrong about his feelings for me. He treats me like a pariah—he hasn’t spoken to me since... well, a good while. He seems very determined to pretend I don’t exist.”
    “He’s lonely,” Maria said.
    “I can see why.”
    “I’ve watched women pursuing him for years,” Maria said, “ever since he came to the ranch, in fact. That Ginny Porter and a pack of others before her. He can’t trust anybody enough to form a relationship. You’ve come the closest.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding,” Helene said, rolling her eyes.
    “He asked you to marry him, didn’t he?”
    “He did that for the baby!” Helene retorted.
    “He did that for himself,” Maria replied, slowing up for a red light. “I’m not saying he isn’t interested in the child, but it was also the perfect excuse to bring you here.”
    “Why are you telling me all this now?” Helene asked, still unconvinced.
    “I can see what’s happening between the two of you and I’m so afraid that you’ll give up on him and leave,” Maria replied.
    Helene said nothing. She had certainly been thinking about it.
    “Look,” Maria said, giving the car gas when the light turned green, “the rodeo is Saturday. Were you planning to go?”
    “I didn’t think Chris would want me there,” Helene replied quietly, shrugging.
    “Come with me,” Maria