Hawk's Way: Garth

by Joan Johnston

  It came to her in a flash, so obvious that she wondered why she hadn’t suspected it before.

  Apparently, Garth’s mother had been unfaithful to his father. Faron had been the result. And Garth had never trusted another woman to be any more faithful than his mother.

  At least now she knew what she was up against.

  If he can’t let go of the past, whatever it was that made him the way he is, he’ll be useless to himself and everybody else.

  Candy felt overwhelmed by her sudden knowledge. How was she going to change Garth’s lifetime of distrust? What could she possibly do to convince him that she would never be unfaithful to him? It just wasn’t possible.

  She remembered the last of Garth’s warnings when he had told her how to tame the big stud.

  You be careful. That beast is dangerous. He’ll destroy you if he can.

  Candy turned into Garth’s arms. She felt them close tight around her. At least for now he was hers, and she was his. She would hold him with the only ropes she had. Somehow, someday, she would find a way to reach him. She was sure of it. She would start tomorrow with that black beast in the corral and prove it could be done.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Candy had won several battles with the savage black stallion, but she was losing the war. No matter how hard she tried, the animal refused to trust her. Her failure left her feeling desolate because she had tied all her hopes for a life with Garth to her success with the incorrigible stallion. They were both turning out to be unbelievably stubborn males.

  She had gotten only so far with Garth and no farther. She couldn’t explain it exactly, but it seemed like the more they made love, the more distant he became. Not that he desired her any less. In fact, their loving sometimes seemed almost desperately passionate, as though they had only these moments, these very few moments, to love each other.

  And maybe this summer would be all they ever had together.

  Candy held out the sugar to the black again. “Come here, you big beastie. Come here and take what I’m offering you. Everything is going to be all right. No one’s ever going to hurt you again.”

  The black horse stomped a hoof and shook his head.

  “You don’t believe me, do you?” She slumped against the corral. “Neither does he. He doesn’t trust me any more now than he did the day I came here. He wants me. But he doesn’t trust me.”

  Garth’s family was due to start arriving any day and Candy hadn’t yet made up her mind what she was going to do. She couldn’t bear to have Garth’s family think she was just another one of the women moving through his life. Yet he had given her no encouragement to think that she would ever play a continuing role in his future.

  She stepped onto the bottom rail of the corral and leaned over, holding out her hand with the cube of sugar in it. The stallion neighed and stood his ground.

  “Come here, you bullheaded mule,” she crooned to him.

  The horse took two steps forward and stopped.

  “That’s it, you willful devil,” she purred. “Come and get it.”

  Suddenly she felt Garth’s dark, brooding gaze on her. She turned to face him and lost her balance. He caught her as she fell.

  The stallion raced back to the other side of the corral.

  “Dammit, Garth! I almost had him,” she exploded. She tried to wrench herself from his grasp, but he refused to let her go.

  “Whoa, there, girl! I came to tell you Jesse and Honey are here with their kids. I thought you might like to come and meet them.”

  Candy took one look down at the ragged jeans and dirty shirt she had been working in all day and groaned. “Look at me. I’m a mess.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Garth tightened his arms around her. “You look fine to me,” he whispered.

  She shivered at the feel of his warm breath against her face. “You’d think I looked fine no matter what I was wearing—or wasn’t wearing. I wish you’d reminded me they were coming today, Garth. I wanted to make a good impression on your family.”

  “Why bother? They’ll be leaving in a few days anyway.” He brushed her long blond hair out of the way and kissed her nape.

  Candy hid her face against Garth’s chest. How dense could a man be? If she married him she would certainly be seeing his family more than just this once! But that was the problem. Garth apparently didn’t see a future that included her.

  “Hello there.”

  Candy jerked herself from Garth’s embrace at the sound of a deep male voice. Her face flushed scarlet as she turned to face a man she realized must be Garth’s brother. She crossed her arms protectively around herself. “H-hello.”

  “I’m Jesse. You must be Candy Baylor. Garth was telling us about you.”

  Candy shot a glance at Garth. Exactly what had he been saying? She took the hand Jesse offered and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Jesse.”

  She compared Jesse to his brother and noted Jesse’s skin was a darker bronze, his features broader, blunter. He had the same thick black hair as Garth, the same dark eyes—only Jesse’s seemed more remote.

  Garth reached out to put a hand back around her shoulder, but she stepped out of his way.

  “I have to go change,” she said. “It’s getting on toward time for supper.”

  She hurried past them and headed for the kitchen door.

  Candy took one step inside the house and froze. It looked like an army had invaded. There was a collection of baby furniture stuck in corners and baby paraphernalia littered the counters and table. She should have realized the kitchen was the very place where everyone would congregate. To her dismay not only did she find Honey there, but Tate and her husband, Adam, as well.

  She recognized Jesse’s wife, Honey, right away because Garth had said she had long, curly blond hair and striking blue eyes. Tate was a delicate version of her brothers, with short-cropped black hair and friendly hazel eyes. Blond-haired, blue-eyed Adam was clearly no Whitelaw.

  Candy opened her mouth and shut it again, unsure where to start.

  Charlie stepped into the breach. “All you folks, this here is Candy Baylor. She’s workin’ at Hawk’s Way this summer, learnin’ all about cuttin’ horses. Candy, these folks are Jesse and his wife, Honey, and Tate and her husband, Adam. Them babies in the cribs is Lauren and Brett. Honey and Jesse’s two boys, Jack and Jonathan, are upstairs. You’ll meet them later.”

  Candy shook hands with the men, and despite the condition of her work clothes, got a hug from each of the women. She resisted the urge to go look at the babies. “It’s nice to meet you all,” she said. “I hope you’ll excuse me. I need to clean up a little.”

  “Sure,” Tate said. “Hurry back down. I want to hear what my big brother has been doing all summer.”

  “Giving orders,” Candy muttered.

  “What was that?” Tate asked.

  Honey rescued Candy from having to reply by putting a hand on her shoulder and heading her in the direction of the door. “Go on and change. We’ll still be here when you get back.”

  Candy took her time in the shower. By the time she got back downstairs, dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a Western shirt—the same thing the two women in the kitchen had been wearing—everyone had resettled in the parlor. Apparently the two boys were still playing upstairs.

  Honey was sitting in Jesse’s lap on a chair in front of the fireplace. Adam and Tate were sitting close beside each other on the couch. Garth was standing with an arm resting on the thick pine mantel above the stone fireplace. They were discussing—arguing—the merits of two brands of horse feed.

  It wasn’t the adults who interested her. Like a lodestone, Candy approached the antique cradles in the corner that held the two babies. She tucked Brett’s blanket around him, then tentatively reached down to caress the black curls on Lauren’s head.

  “Go ahead and pick her up,” Honey said. “She won’t bite.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?” Candy asked.

  Honey didn’t answ
er, just got up and crossed to the cradle. She picked up her daughter and laid her in Candy’s arms. “Be sure to support her head.”

  “What if I drop her?”

  “You won’t,” Honey said as she settled herself back in Jesse’s lap.

  Candy had always loved babies. Maybe it was because she had never had any brothers or sisters of her own. Unfortunately, she had come into very little contact with small children during her twenty years. She was fascinated by Lauren’s tiny fingers and her equally tiny fingernails. She laughed when the baby grasped her hand.

  “She’s so strong!”

  Candy looked up and found herself staring straight into Garth’s dark eyes. She didn’t know when he had crossed from the hearth. She hadn’t heard him coming. But then, she had been totally involved with investigating the baby.

  Garth felt his stomach fall all the way to his toes at the sight of Candy with a child in her arms. She looked so…maternal. He had never planned to have a wife, and he would never bring a child into the world without the benefit of marriage. He had long ago resigned himself to the fact that he would never have children. He had settled for the idea of standing on the sidelines, of being a fond uncle.

  Now he could see how he had cheated himself all these years. Of the joy of having his own child. Of the opportunity of sharing that bliss with a woman he loved. It hurt. Lord, it hurt.

  His jaw tightened. He might never feel the joy of having his own child, but he would likewise never be destroyed by the pain of a woman’s betrayal. He could survive the former, but not the latter.

  “Do you want to hold her?” Candy asked.

  The hell of it was, he did. “Sure,” he said.

  Candy laid the baby in his arms. To her surprise Garth seemed perfectly comfortable. “You look like you’ve done this before.”

  He shot a glance over his shoulder at Tate. “I put a diaper or two on my sister over the years.”

  Tate blushed. “Good grief, Garth. Do you have to remind me of that?”

  “I somehow can’t imagine you diapering a baby,” Candy said to Garth with a grin.

  “Mom died when Tate was born,” he said in a harsh voice. “Dad fell apart and Charlie was busy with Jesse and Faron. That left me.”

  There was a long silence.

  “I didn’t know,” Candy said. “That must have been hard on you.”

  Garth laid the baby back in the crib and returned to his place by the mantel. “She kept me up a few nights. But it was worth it.”

  Candy saw the look Garth exchanged with Tate. There was love there, and concern. Love for family wasn’t the same as romantic love, but she couldn’t help feeling optimistic. Surely there must be a way to convince Garth that loving a woman didn’t have to end in disaster.

  The sound of footsteps in the foyer alerted them to the fact that someone else had arrived.

  “That’ll be Faron,” Garth said. “We’re in the parlor, Faron,” he called to his brother.

  Candy took her time looking at the third Whitelaw brother. She had met Faron before but saw him differently now that she knew he had a different father than the other Whitelaw men. His eyes were an unusual gray-green color. He had black hair, like the rest of the Whitelaws, but his facial features were more refined. He was unbelievably handsome.

  Faron wasn’t alone. He had two women with him, an arm around each of them. “This is my grandmother, Madelyn Prescott,” he said. “I call her Maddy.”

  The younger woman with Faron, an elegantly tall blonde with stunning violet eyes, was clearly uncomfortable. The woman seemed on the verge of fleeing the room. Faron introduced her as his stepmother, Belinda Prescott.

  “That’s the ugly stepmother?” Jesse whispered. His wife elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up. That saved Candy the trouble of kicking him.

  Obviously the whole family knew of Faron’s illegitimate birth. But it was clear there was something else going on between him and his beautiful young stepmother.

  Garth spoke first in what had become a very awkward situation. “I’m pleased to meet you, Belinda.”

  Candy knew Garth well enough by now to hear the sneer in his voice. It was plain what he thought of the beautiful young woman who had married a rich man old enough to be her father. Not much.

  Candy couldn’t stand it. She reached out and grasped Belinda’s hand.

  “Hi. I’m Candice—Candy Baylor. I guess you and I are the only two people here who aren’t family.” She smiled, giving Belinda the welcome Garth hadn’t.

  “I’m working at Hawk’s Way this summer, and I can imagine how you must feel, meeting this rowdy bunch for the first time.”

  “They are a little overwhelming,” Belinda said.

  Candy watched as Faron stepped up and put his arm around Belinda to support her. He reached out his hand to Candy and said, “I don’t know if you remember me.”

  “Of course I remember you,” Candy said. “Last time I was here with my father you yanked my braids at the breakfast table.”

  Faron grinned. “Guilty. Was that only three years ago? You’ve grown a little since then.”

  The longer Garth watched his brother flirting with Candy, the more irritated he got. Faron was a man who loved women. And they loved him. Garth wasn’t about to let Faron work his wiles on Candy. “I think it’s time you showed Maddy and Belinda where they’ll be staying,” he said.

  The moment the three latest arrivals headed upstairs, Garth turned to Candy and said, “You come with me. There’s a mare due to foal in the next day or so that needs to be checked.”

  Candy was furious that Garth had ordered her to come with him like some hired hand rather than asking her if she wanted to go. Besides, this was the first she had heard about a foaling mare. She wasn’t sure Garth hadn’t made the whole thing up to get her out of the room. Candy would have argued if Garth’s brother and sister and their spouses hadn’t been sitting there with ears perked up listening.

  “All right,” she said. Once they were out of earshot she planned to give Garth a good piece of her mind. But Garth was striding so fast it was all she could do to keep up with him.

  The instant they reached the barn, Garth turned on her. “What the hell did you think you were doing in there?”

  Candy was completely taken aback by his attack. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the way you were flirting with Faron.”

  “Flirting with—”

  “He’s right, though, you have grown up a lot in three years. I’ve noticed the difference myself. You’re not a kid anymore, are you?”

  He grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head, then backed her up against the rough wooden wall, grinding his hips against hers. To Candy’s surprise, he was aroused. To her utter horror, his violent actions caused a rush of desire to flood her body.

  He put both of her wrists in one hand, then reached down to free the snap on her jeans. He unzipped them and yanked them down past her buttocks, then freed himself.

  “Garth, I don’t—”

  “You belong to me. No one else. You’re mine!”

  He punctuated the word by thrusting inside her. Candy’s body undulated to accommodate his intrusion. His mouth found hers and his tongue forced its way inside. There was nothing gentle about his lovemaking. It was hard and fast and desperate as it had never been before.

  It was rough, but it wasn’t rape. Because Candy participated wholeheartedly in everything he did. She sucked his tongue into her mouth and parried with her own. She arched her body into his, forcing him to give and give until at last he cried out in exultation. Her own body shuddered in response.

  He released her hands at last and pulled her tight against him. He hid his face at her throat. They were both panting with exhaustion, and if either had tried to move they both would have fallen. At last he let her go.

  Candy felt bereft when he turned his back on her. She heard his zipper and realized that only the tails of her shirt kept her decent. She t
urned away to tuck in her shirt and rearrange her jeans. What must he think of her? She had been totally wanton!

  Garth shoved all ten fingers through his hair. He had never lost control like that with a woman. Never! He dared a glance at Candy and saw that her lips were swollen, her face flushed. He felt his body responding at the sight and swore loud and long.

  Candy’s face suddenly bleached white. She knew Garth was wishing she had never come here. She knew he was going to send her away right now, today. And she knew she would go rather than face his family when he felt about her the way he obviously did. “I guess you want me out of here,” she said.

  “There’s a mare that needs looking after,” he said. “Unless you’re ready to quit and go home.”

  Candy could hardly believe her ears. There actually was a foaling mare! And he wasn’t sending her away. “I’m not a quitter,” she said. There were things that needed to be said about his irrational fear of Faron’s charm, about the way he had made violent love to her. But she knew now there would be time enough later to say them. “Let’s go see about that mare.”

  The pregnant mare had been separated from the other animals at the far end of the barn. In the later stages of the birth she would lie down, but right now she was restlessly pacing the stall.

  “Is this the first time she’s foaled?” Candy asked.

  Garth shook his head. “Second. She had some difficulty the first time, but got through it all right. I have the vet on call in case she has trouble again, but I’m not expecting it.”

  Garth stepped into the stall and talked soothingly to the mare. “Easy there, Starlight. You’re going to be fine. Take it easy, girl.” As he ran his hands over the mare’s sides he called to Candy. “Come in here a minute.”

  Candy walked quietly—if not calmly—up beside him.

  “Put your hand here.”

  She did as he asked.

  “What do you feel?”

  Candy’s brows rose in surprise. “Contractions.”

  Garth nodded. “Right. I don’t like the fact she’s so restless. I think I’ll stay with her tonight. The company might calm her down.”