Will was slumped in a chair set close to the fireplace, a crystal tumbler of whiskey in one hand. Here in this room, the lamplight and the fire kept the darkness outside the windows at bay. The wind kicked up suddenly, wailing as it passed beneath the eaves, and Jesse made a mental note to have one of his men check the shingles on the barn roof tomorrow. When the wind was strong enough, sometimes he swore it could carry off the horses.
But for right now, he had a brother to confront. Will wore jeans, a blue T-shirt and his favorite brown boots—currently propped up on the coffee table in front of him. He looked at home. Where he belonged. Fake Will had moved off the ranch to Megan’s house after their marriage and Jesse hadn’t been able to figure that one out, blaming it on Will’s grief and taking time to recover from the accident. Now, of course, it made sense.
Will lifted his glass, took a drink, then silently saluted Jesse’s entrance.
“Welcome to my gilded cage,” he said.
Jesse scowled at him and crossed the room, his steps muffled by the rugs strewn across the floor. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Will studied the amber liquid in the glass as if searching for an answer to that question. Then he gave it up and shrugged. “Hell, what could be wrong? I’m alive. Back home. Married to a woman I hardly know. Trapped.”
“Trapped.” Jesse walked closer, slapped Will’s feet off the table and sat there himself, staring at his brother. “How are you trapped?”
“Are you kidding?” He took another drink and shook his head. “I can’t even go into Royal for lunch at the diner. I’m stuck here on the ranch while that bastard Rich Lowell is off living God knows where. What about that seems right to you?”
“None of it. But you know why it’s like this. Enough people already know what’s going on,” Jesse said, voice hard and tight. “Everyone who was at your funeral knows you’re actually alive. We’ve got a lid on them, but you go strolling through Royal, the rest of the town finds out. With all the gossips around here, not to mention the media that loves to get the dirt on the top families in Royal—somehow word would reach Lowell before the cops can find him. Then he’d disappear and we’d never get his ass back to Texas.”
“Right, so the thief who tried to kill me is free to go where he wants and I’m serving jail time.” Will snorted and shook his head, taking another sip of his scotch. “He pushes me off my own damn boat in the middle of a storm and leaves me for dead. I’m in a damn coma in Mexico for months while he’s here—”
He broke off, dragged in a breath and pushed one hand through his hair. “While he’s here living my life and nobody—” he fixed a hard glare on Jesse “—not even my damn family notices that he’s an impostor?”
That last bit Jesse knew he had coming. Hell, sometimes he couldn’t believe himself that he hadn’t known the impostor wasn’t his brother. But Rich had done a damn good job of pretending to be Will. The man had not only fooled the Sanders, but the whole damn town of Royal.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t expecting a fake brother, was I?” he asked in his own defense. Pitiful and he knew it, but it was all he had. “Rich clearly had had surgery and he even explained away why his voice didn’t sound like yours. He had excuses for everything, damn it.” Jesse grabbed Will’s scotch and took a long drink. “He even fooled Mom and that’s not easy.”
“Doesn’t make me feel any better,” Will muttered, grabbing his drink back. “When I finally woke up from that damn coma, I didn’t know who I was. It took me forever to remember, all the while learning how to walk and move again and when I finally get home to my loving family, I find them burying me.”
That had been a weird day for the ages.
“Glad we didn’t. Bury you, that is.”
“Who the hell is in that urn?” Will demanded.
That question had been bugging Jesse for the last couple of weeks at least and he was no closer to getting an answer than he had been the day Will had walked into the funeral. “Could be Rich.”
“I wish,” Will muttered. “I think.”
“Could be anybody,” Jesse continued. “With what he did to you, Lowell proved he’s not afraid to murder someone. Could be one of his victims or a damn homeless man he thought no one would miss.”
“None of this seems real.”
“I know what you mean,” Jesse said. “You know they sent the urn to the FBI for DNA testing.”
“How’re they going to test ashes?” Will demanded.
“Hell if I know,” Jesse admitted. “But apparently there’s usually enough bone and teeth left that we might get lucky. Get an identification.”
Will sighed and took another sip of his drink. “Don’t know if I hope it’s Rich or not. Dead, I couldn’t beat him with my fists. Which is something I really want to do.”
“Get in line.” Jesse grabbed the glass again and took another drink.
“Get your own,” Will snarled and snatched the glass back. “You know, it won’t be him in that urn. He’s too slick to die. He’s out there. Somewhere.” He stared into his drink again, then lifted his gaze to Jesse. “Not only did Rich steal from me and damn near kill me, but he screwed with my name. My reputation. Married Megan. He made me look like an ass.”
Will looked tired, but more than that, he looked as though he’d been hanging on to a cliff’s edge for too long and his grip was slipping. Jesse could sympathize. But he couldn’t let his brother wallow, either. It was hard to accept any of this, but the sooner Will did, the sooner they could all get through this and back to normal. “What Rich did wasn’t your fault.”
“Feels like it is,” Will muttered. “It was my name he was throwing around. He got Jillian pregnant pretending to be me, then walked out on her, leaving her to try emailing me for help—the real me, before the boating accident—” Will stopped and scrubbed one hand across his face. “Which is pretty much when Rich decided I was in his way. He hit me over the head and tossed me into the ocean right after I got Jillian’s email. He must have known I’d figure it all out.”
Jesse felt for his brother. He knew what it was to have pride in your name. Your honor. Their father had taught them that if a man couldn’t be trusted, he wasn’t a man at all. But Will hadn’t actually done any of this. “And you were supposed to stop that how?”
“I don’t know.” Will shot him a hard look. “Stop using logic when I feel crappy.”
Jesse nodded sagely. “Feeling sorry for yourself, you mean.”
“Who has more right?” Will countered and jumped to his feet. Handing the scotch off to Jesse, he started pacing, shaking his head, muttering. “A man I thought was a friend stole my damn life.”
Jesse finished off his brother’s scotch in one deep swallow and relished the burn of the liquor on its way down. Setting the empty glass aside, he stared at Will and tried to get his own anger under control. Wouldn’t do a damn bit of good for both of them to be furious and powerless to do anything about it.
But nothing stirred Jesse’s temper like someone messing with his family.
“Yeah, he did,” Jesse agreed. “But that’s done now.”
“Is it?” Will spun around to glare at him. “Hell, the ramifications keep tumbling down on me like somebody knocked over a domino and a whole long line of ’em are tipping over in succession—and they’re all landing on my head.”
“I know.”
“I’ve even got a damn wife!” Will shouted, tossing both hands high. “I don’t even know Megan Phillips Sanders, but we’re married—”
“In name only,” Jesse pointed out, knowing it didn’t mean a thing because Will and Megan had to stay married—at least for the time being. They couldn’t risk gossip no matter what it cost Will. He wished to hell he could do something to fix it.
“What difference does it make?” Will shoved both hands into his jeans pockets and let his head fall back until he was sta
ring up at the beamed ceiling. “Rich married her using my name, so it’s still a legal marriage to a woman I don’t know.”
“The lawyers are working on it.”
“Well, that’s comforting,” he snarled. “And in the meantime, what the hell do I say to her?”
“Why don’t you let her do the talking? Shut up long enough for her to tell you what happened.” Jesse rattled the single ice cube in the glass. Standing up, he stared at his younger brother. “Making yourself nuts isn’t going to solve a damn thing. You know that, right? So listen to what Megan has to say.”
“Yeah, yeah, I can do that.” Nodding, Will still looked furious as he suddenly snapped. “So, did you stand up for me at my wedding?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if you were best man to a stranger pretending to be me?” His eyes glinted with banked fury.
“No. You—they got married in Reno. The family wasn’t invited.”
Eyes wide, jaw dropped, Will asked, “And you didn’t think that was weird?”
“Yeah, I did.” Jesse met temper with temper. Damned if he’d take any more guilt heaped on him. Rich had fooled everyone. Did he like admitting that he’d been had? No. But the truth was, he hadn’t been the only one fooled. “Hell, you’d been acting weird for a long time, so I wasn’t surprised. Mom was hurt, but she wasn’t shocked at the lack of an invitation, either. You cut the family out of your life, Will. You were never here. Flying all over the damn world, never showing up for work, drinking too much when you were here—”
“Yeah,” Will interrupted, eyes flashing, “but that wasn’t me.”
“Well, we didn’t know that, did we?” Jesse countered, glancing into the empty glass on the table, wishing it was full. “Rich was smart enough to make himself scarce. He didn’t spend much time in Texas and almost no time at all at the ranch...”
Will pushed both hands through his hair. “This is like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”
“What the hell do you want me to say?” The final threads of Jesse’s patience unraveled. “Rich screwed all of us over. We’ll get past it. I’m glad as hell you’re back. Sorry if everything’s not great, but you’re alive. And thinking you were dead nearly killed Mom.”
Will scowled as it looked like all the air left him.
Jesse took a breath and sighed. Voice softer, temper controlled, he said, “The whole family went through hell until you walked into your own damn funeral. If you expect me to feel sorry for you that you’re alive and have a mess to fix, then you got a long wait coming.”
Will’s gaze met Jesse’s. “Fine, but—”
“No.” Jesse braced his feet wide apart and crossed his arms over his chest. He stared at his younger brother until Will shifted uncomfortably under his steady gaze. “You had your say and you’ve had time to pull it together.”
“Yeah?” Will snorted.
“None of this is gonna be straightened out overnight.”
“It’s been two and a half weeks,” he reminded Jesse.
“You were gone nearly two years. Might take more than a few weeks to fix things.” Jesse narrowed his gaze on his brother. “So stop whining.”
Insulted, Will blurted, “I don’t whine.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Jesse said tightly. He knew his brother and sympathy wasn’t what he needed. “You don’t like being stuck on the ranch. I get it.”
“Wow.” Will nodded. “Thanks.”
He ignored the sarcasm. “But you don’t have a choice. You’ve got to keep a low profile. Don’t let anyone beyond those who were at the funeral and saw you already know you’re alive. Until we know if Rich is still alive and still pretending to be you—or if he’s the one in that damn urn...the cops are on it and they’ll find the bastard eventually.”
“Eventually,” Will repeated under his breath. “How long? A year? Two? Ten?”
Shaking his head, Jesse said, “Get over yourself. It’s not going to be that long.”
“Yeah. Hopefully not. It’s just that I feel so damn helpless,” Will admitted, his voice a low rumble. “That’s the hardest part to swallow.”
“I hear that,” Jesse said. “Felt the same way myself when I thought you were dead. Felt it again when you came home and we realized we’d been taken in by a thief and liar. Feel it now when I’m trying to talk my little brother off a damn ledge.”
A second or two passed before Will nodded. “I’m not on a ledge. I’m...okay, I’m whining. Fine. I get the message.” He frowned then. “And what’s this ‘little’ brother stuff? You’re one inch taller than me.”
“Don’t you forget it,” Jesse said with a grin. “Just like I’m the oldest.”
“Yeah.” Will nodded sagely and tipped his head to one side, pretending to study Jesse carefully. “You’ve got five years on me, and brother, it’s starting to show.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You’re getting old.”
He knew Will was riding him and it felt good to have this dynamic back again. Damned if he hadn’t missed ragging on his younger brother and having the insults tossed back at him. “I’m thirty-five, not sixty-five.”
Will shrugged. “You know what they say, once you pass thirty, it’s all downhill.”
“Then hang on,” Jesse told him, “your turn for the downhill slide starts this year.”
“Some of us handle it better.”
“Like you’ve been ‘handling’ everything else lately?” Jesse asked.
Will sighed. “Damn, you’re like a dog with a bone. I already said you’re right. I was wrong. I’ll shut up and play along. I won’t be happy about it, but I’ll do it. I’ll stop worrying Mom. I’ll suck it up and be a good prisoner until we find Rich Lowell. Then,” he said, features tightening, eyes narrowing, “I’m gonna beat that bastard so hard...”
“I’ll help you,” Jesse said.
“I know you will,” his brother said. Will took a deep breath and said, “So. Change of subject. Even I can only talk about me for so long. I saw Jillian Norris was here again today.”
“Yeah.” Jesse turned for the wet bar against the far wall. Now that the storm was over, he could use his own drink.
“She get settled into the apartment all right?”
“Yeah, I took her and the little girl over there yesterday—” He poured two fingers of scotch then walked back to refill Will’s glass, as well. “Speaking of those apartments, we’ve gotta do something there. Depressing as hell. I mean, small is one thing, but I swear it looks like every jail cell in every movie I’ve ever seen.”
“That bad?”
“I thought so.” Jesse took a drink. “I offered to get her something else, but she refused. Said it would do fine for her and Mac.”
“Then it will.”
Jesse snorted and took another drink. “You didn’t see it.”
“I’ll take your word for it. We can hire someone to fix it. Hell, if it’s that bad, we’ll get all of the apartments in that building updated.” Will walked across the room, refilled his own glass and then asked, “Back to Jillian though... Had a busy day. Interview at the TCC, new apartment, then back here to watch you give her daughter a riding lesson.”
Jesse studied the scotch as he tipped the glass from side to side, making tiny, amber waves that sloshed against the crystal. “Lucy got her a job interview at the TCC day care.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And I promised Mac she could ride a horse.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Then Lucy and Jillian went shopping and left Mac here with Mom.”
“Uh-huh.”
Irritated now, Jesse snapped, “Is there something you want to say?”
Outside, the wind howled while Will affected an innocent pose that Jesse wasn’t buying for an instant.
“No,” his brother said, taking a sip
of his scotch. “I just have plenty of extra time to study things now.”
“Is that right? And just what are you studying?”
Will shrugged. “Not studying so much as noticing. Like the fact that Jillian Norris is really hot.”
Jesse scowled at him. Like he needed Will to tell him about Jillian. Hadn’t Jesse’s dreams been full of her for the last few weeks? Didn’t he wake up every damn morning with his body hard as stone and his blood steaming just under his skin? And just why the hell was Will “noticing” her anyway?
“That woman’s legs must be a mile long,” Will mused. “And that’s just in her jeans. Can’t help wondering what she’d look like in a dress...”
To hell with a dress. Jesse wanted to know what she looked like naked. Stretched across his bed, wrapping those long legs around his hips and pulling him deep inside her.
“Then there’s her hair,” Will said. “Always caught up in that ponytail. Makes you want to see how long it is when it’s loose and hanging down her back...”
Or fisted in his hands, Jesse added silently. “Is there a point to this?” His hand tightened on the tumbler he held.
“No point.” A half smile curved Will’s mouth. “Just a couple of observations. But you know, maybe I should give her a call. Make sure she’s happy with that apartment. If it’s as bad as you say it is...”
Jesse stiffened. If anyone was going to be checking up on Jillian, it was going to be him. “Yeah, I’ll take care of it. If you’re so anxious to call a woman, call your wife. Let me worry about Jillian.”
“Uh-huh.” Will smothered a grin, but not fast enough to keep Jesse from noticing it.
“What’s so damn funny?”
“Not a thing.” His brother held up one hand in peace. “I’m just saying, she’s a gorgeous woman is all.”
Rich Rancher's Redemption Page 6