“So by turning the badlands into a thriving theater and business district,” Duke said, “Stone not only gets rich but gets the fame and glory for instituting the project, and possibly upstages his brother.”
“It makes sense. His brother is running for senator, a position once held by their father. Maybe the judge is feeling pressured to measure up to his brother’s success.” Cuvier shrugged. “I don’t know what’s driving him, but I’m going to make him answer for his crimes.” Cuvier crossed to Faith. “I’m sorry I disregarded your mother’s letter, but I never knew when she was being sincere. Every time I believed her, she would do something to tear my heart out. I thought she was lying about Stone because she knew I admired him, and that the letter was a ploy by my father to get me back to Chicago.”
Faith sighed and handed the letter to him. She didn’t blame Cuvier for being suspicious of her mother’s motives; all her life, Faith herself hadn’t known her mother’s thoughts or feelings about anything.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” her father said, his voice filled with remorse. “I let my pride and my pain blind me to a truth I didn’t want to see. Despite your mother’s coldness, I sensed her love, and I sensed you were my daughter. But I didn’t want to know for sure, because with your mother’s constant rejection, I couldn’t bear to have a daughter in my life I wasn’t free to love.”
His honest confession didn’t ease her pain or the years of heartache she’d suffered from being fatherless, but it finally satisfied her question of why he hadn’t come to see her. Steven Cuvier was too easily controlled by others, but he seemed a decent and sincere man. That was far better than the man she’d imagined him to be. And she could forgive him.
“I know it’s too late for me to be a proper father to you, but would you consider letting me come see you from time to time?” A mix of hope and fear filled his eyes. “I can understand if you object, but I hope you’ll allow me the chance to get to know you.”
Her whole life, she’d longed to hear those words from her father. To hear them now was both healing and wounding. It was too late for her to sit on her father’s lap like Cora did with Duke, to feel secure and comforted in his arms. But it wasn’t too late to befriend a man she’d been missing all her life.
She extended her hands to him. “I’ve always kept a place for you in my heart, and I can make a place for you in my life.”
As Faith received her first hug from her father, Duke felt as choked by emotion as he had at his own father’s funeral. It shamed him to think he’d taken so much for granted.
He thought about the times his dad had taken him fishing or swimming or hunting, or even when they cleaned the barn or worked the mill together. His dad had been always there, always taking care of him, until he grew too ill. Only now, as Duke witnessed Faith’s pain, could he understand just how blessed he was—and how right she was. It was easy to choose between right and wrong when you had respectable and loving parents providing for you.
And maybe that’s what his father meant when he said a man had to live with his actions and be able to face himself in the mirror. Maybe he wasn’t talking about the laws and rules Duke had built his life on. Maybe he’d meant that a man should make choices he could live with, that each man had to decide for himself what was important, what was worth fighting for, and set his own standards. And the only true direction for Duke was to love and protect his family.
Chapter Thirty-five
Adam was alone in his bed, scared about everything. Duke and Faith had been home a week, and whatever Duke did to get Cora back had got his face all scratched up. His shoulder was real sore so he’d probably had to fight somebody. Duke warned them all to be vigilant, to watch out for Stone. He even had his brothers and Pat, Cyrus, and Doc Milton keeping an eye on them.
If Adam had muscles like Duke, he would have beaten Judge Stone until he couldn’t move, but the man had kicked him so hard and so fast, Adam’s head exploded with black dots that swallowed him up. He was still having bad dreams about the judge coming to take Cora away.
A lawyer named Steven Cuvier had arrived this morning from Syracuse. He’d told Faith he got a big offer on the brothel property right away and just needed her and Duke to sign the deed so he could close the sale then he could transfer a lot of money to the bank for them. Adam thought Faith would be happy, but she’d cried real hard, like when their mother died. When the lawyer hugged her, Duke didn’t say anything about the man being familiar with her. And the man was odd. He seemed too friendly, like he was family or something, and he kept giving Adam a sad look, like Adam was going to die or something. He was even staying the night in the guest room.
Everything was confusing. And scary.
Duke said the judge might try something sneaky. So he’d told his brothers the truth about Faith and their mother’s brothel. Faith worried they would hate her, but Duke’s mother had come the next evening and talked to her in the kitchen for a long time. Then she’d hugged Faith in the foyer and told her she was a strong woman. Adam didn’t know why she said that, but it seemed to make Faith happy.
Adam wanted to learn how to use a gun, but Duke said no, that he was only supposed to run for help if Stone showed up. Duke didn’t trust him. He didn’t say that, but Adam knew it was true. He hadn’t been able to stop the judge from taking Cora, so Duke didn’t trust him to protect their family. Adam promised he could do better with a gun, but Duke had only yelled at him. Then later, he’d said he was sorry for yelling, and that he just wanted Adam to get help and keep himself safe if something happened.
But Duke was disappointed in him; Adam could tell. And it made his throat ache so bad he could hardly breathe. He buried his face in his pillow. He was weak and stupid. And scared of everything.
Morning light shone outside his window when he opened his eyes and heard people arguing. His bedroom was above the kitchen, and he could smell coffee and hear the rumble of tense voices.
A jolt of fear sat him up in bed. What if it was the judge!
He threw off the covers, pulled on his trousers, then crept downstairs as fast as he could. They were in the kitchen, and he heard Duke’s voice as he tiptoed across the foyer and through the dining room. If Duke was in there, maybe everything was all right.
“I think the boy should know, but I’ll leave this up to you, Faith.” The lawyer’s voice made Adam pause outside the kitchen door.
“Since you can’t step in now, I think it will hurt him and just make matters worse,” she said.
“The boy has a right to know.” Duke sounded frustrated.
“I’m not denying his right.” She sounded ready to cry. “But what purpose will it serve? It’s been too long. This will just confuse him.”
“I think it will answer some of his questions,” Duke argued.
“What if it doesn’t?” she demanded, her anger surprising Adam. Faith never got angry. “What if it just hurts him? What if it reminds him of all the years his father wasn’t around for him? That’s not useful, Duke. Even if he has a right to know, it won’t serve him.”
“If it were me,” Duke said, “I’d want to know.”
“Well, it’s not you. It’s Adam, and I’ve been caring for him since he was born. I’m not going to hurt him with this.”
Adam was already shaking from jumping out of bed, but his stomach got real queasy. They were talking about him. And his father.
Duke huffed out a breath like he was mad. “It hurts him every day to not know who his father is.”
“What makes you an authority?” she asked. “You never spent a day of your childhood wondering about a man who wasn’t there. Adam has spent his whole life that way, and nothing’s going to change. Is it?”
“I don’t know,” the lawyer said.
His answer confused Adam. Why would Faith ask the lawyer that question? Did the lawyer know who his father was?
“I’m willing to try, but I don’t think I can be the kind of father Adam needs. I can’t be here all the
time, and he wouldn’t want to leave you, so...”
Adam’s stomach felt like it dropped to his ankles. That lawyer man was his father? That skinny, big-eyed, sharp-talking man with the fancy suit was his father? No wonder he’d been looking at Adam so strangely last night. Was he here to take Adam home with him?
He didn’t want to go anywhere with the man. Is that what Duke was saying? That Adam had to go with his real father? Is that why Faith sounded like she was going to cry?
Well, he wasn’t going.
Adam shoved the kitchen door open and glared at the surprised lawyer. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t care who you are. I don’t need a father!” Tears choked him and he ran to the foyer. He grabbed Duke’s heavy hunting coat off the hall tree and a pair of muddy boots by the door, then bolted outside. If they couldn’t find him, they couldn’t make him go anywhere with that man.
He ran barefoot and bare-chested across the frost-covered yard then followed the creek. Sniffling and huffing, he stopped to stuff his freezing feet into the cold boots. He laced them tight, but they were still too big because they were Duke’s boots. Shivering, he pulled Duke’s coat on and buttoned it clear to the collar. He backhanded his eyes, and trudged down the rocky gorge. Why didn’t Duke want him around?
“Adam!”
He looked up and saw Rebecca standing on the creek bank with one of her horses. She smiled and waved at him, but he ducked his head and ran into the trees. He didn’t want her to see him crying.
He walked until he was at the place Duke kept his boat, then he ducked beneath the branches of the pine trees. Duke’s boat was still there, turned upside down to keep the rain and snow out.
He sat on the hull and looked up to the tree tops. No warming shafts of sunlight filled his private cathedral, just a cold gloomy darkness that made him cry.
He didn’t lie anymore. And he’d only stolen that brush for Faith. He’d done everything Duke asked of him. Why did they want to send him away?
Cora called Duke Daddy.
Why couldn’t Adam call him Dad?
Why didn’t Duke want to be his father?
No matter how hard he tried to hold back his tears, they just flooded out of his eyes and made his nose run. He scrubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes.
It was stupid to cry. He was just a cry-baby. Maybe that’s why Duke didn’t want to be his dad. Maybe he thought Adam was too old to have a dad. Or maybe Duke was ashamed of him because Adam’s mother was a prostitute. But Faith had the same mother, so that didn’t make any sense.
Nothing made any sense.
Why would that lawyer man want to be his father now? Had Duke found him? How did the lawyer know about the brothel? But after a minute of thinking, Adam realized that if the lawyer really was his father, he must have been one of his mother’s guests. So that’s how he knew about the brothel. And the judge had been a guest, too, so maybe the men were friends. Or maybe they hated each other because they both had liked Adam’s mother.
His mother was the cause of all of this. If she hadn’t been a prostitute, none of this would have happened. And Adam wouldn’t have met Duke Grayson.
A surge of tears burned his eyes, but Adam didn’t care. It hurt not to be wanted.
It hadn’t mattered so much before he met Duke, but now he liked having a man to show him how to build things, and to take him fishing in a boat, and to tell him about riding a sled off the barn roof. That stupid lawyer probably didn’t know any of those things. And he wasn’t half the man Duke was; Adam could tell just by looking at him.
“Adam?”
Rebecca’s worried call jerked his head up. He scrubbed his face on Duke’s coat sleeves, but didn’t answer.
The tree limbs lifted and she stepped inside. “I found you,” she said, but her smile died the instant she looked at his face. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
He was hurt worse than he’d ever been in his life, but he shook his head. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he got dirt in his eyes, but Duke’s words about being truthful rang in his ears. “I can’t see you anymore.”
A sick look crossed her face. “Why?”
“Because you have a good father, and it’s not right for me to cause problems between the two of you.”
“My dad’s too protective.”
“You’re lucky to have a dad like that.”
“I know, but he’s still too protective.”
Maybe he was. Adam wouldn’t know. His own father hadn’t cared enough to even let him know his name.
“Did something happen to you?” she asked, sitting on the boat hull beside him.
“I met my father this morning.”
Her eyes widened and she gave him a beaming smile that almost made him cry again, because this was the last time they would meet like this. “That’s wonderful!”
“It’s terrible. He’s a lawyer from Syracuse.”
“But you thought he was in prison. Isn’t this good news?”
“If he was in prison, he wouldn’t have been able to come see me. A lawyer could. If he wanted to.”
“Oh...”
He watched her smile fade and knew she was starting to understand it was better not knowing, because then he could believe anything he wanted. He could make excuses for the man. But now, the only excuse was that the lawyer didn’t care.
“Have you ever wondered what your life would be like without your dad?” he asked.
“Once. When I was thinking about my first mother, I wondered what it would have been like if she hadn’t given me to my dad. But it made me sad, so I quit thinking about it.”
“Well, all those hugs he gives you would be gone if you lived with your first mother. He wouldn’t be there to catch you when you let go of the grapevine swing in the gorge. You wouldn’t clean the livery with him, or ride horses together. He wouldn’t pull you into a wrestling match on the lawn with your brothers and tickle you.” He shrugged. “All the things he says to you, and all the things he does for you would be gone. You might not even know his name or what his voice sounds like.”
“That would be awful.” She pressed her hands to her stomach as if she felt sick. “Oh, Adam, I never really understood what it was like for you.”
“I didn’t know what it was like for you either,” he admitted. “That’s why I can’t see you like this anymore. It’s causing trouble for you. Your dad is the kind of father I wish I had, and you’re lucky to have him.”
“Why does that mean we can’t see each other?”
“I want Duke to be my dad, but he won’t want to be if I’m betraying his brother and sneaking off to see his niece.”
“But... we aren’t doing anything wrong.”
“Yes, we are. Just being here together goes against your father’s wishes.” Duke wouldn’t take advantage of a girl or sneak around. Neither would Rebecca’s father. Adam wanted to be like them. He wanted to make Duke proud, and make him want to be his father. “I’m going to stay away like your dad asked.”
“You aren’t going to meet me anymore?”
He shook his head. “I’m not going to walk you to school either.” He couldn’t, because it would just tempt him to sneak off with her again.
Tears filled her eyes and she stared at him as if he’d just slapped her. “I thought you liked me.”
His feelings went way beyond liking, and that’s why he wouldn’t see her anymore and cause problems for her and her father. Rebecca needed her dad more than she needed Adam. “We’re cousins now. Rebecca.”
“No, we’re not!” she said. “We aren’t even related. You said that yourself.”
He wanted to hug her and tell her he was sorry, but it would just hurt her more because he had to honor Duke and her father. “We can still be friends.”
She was crying as she slid off the boat. “I have friends, Adam. I don’t need another one.” She ducked beneath the limbs and out of sight, but he heard her crying as she ran up the path that led out of the gorge.
He knew he’d done the right thing, but it felt wrong.
Shivering, and feeling as miserable as he’d ever felt, Adam crawled under the boat. He wasn’t going home until the lawyer left tomorrow. The boat smelled of wood and fish and winter air, but it kept the wind off Adam’s neck. His stomach growled, but he burrowed in Duke’s too-big coat and closed his eyes. If he slept, he wouldn’t feel hungry. He wouldn’t feel cold. He wouldn’t hurt.
Minutes or hours passed; he didn’t know how long he huddled beneath the boat, but someone or something startled him awake. Maybe it was Duke, who cared enough to come looking for him. Maybe it was Rebecca coming to tempt him to change his mind.
Adam braced his shoulders against the hull and lifted the boat, but when he came face-to-face with Nicholas Archer, he knew he was in trouble.
Chapter Thirty-six
Duke knew Adam was upset, but when the boy didn’t return by lunchtime, he went looking for him. His first stop was Radford’s house, because Rebecca was Adam’s only friend. But when Radford realized Rebecca was missing, he jumped to conclusions and blamed Adam.
Duke helped Radford scour the gorge. They found Rebecca’s gelding tied to a tree, but they couldn’t find her anywhere.
“Where could she be?” A sick look washed through Radford’s face, leaving him gray and drawn.
“We haven’t checked Mother’s house yet.”
Radford bolted for the trees. Duke sprinted behind him, his gut twisted with worry. Fueled by panic, they threw open the door and raced into their mother’s house, breathing hard, praying harder.
Rebecca sat on the sofa, sobbing on her grandmother’s shoulder.
“Thank God!” Radford knelt by the sofa. “Are you hurt, Rebecca?”
“She’s nursing a broken heart,” their mother said, stroking Rebecca’s disheveled hair.
“A what?” Radford looked as confused as Duke felt. “Where have you been, Rebecca?”
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