Her brown eyes flashed stormily as she glared up at him. "Terrance, maybe that's because you never saw me as a threat before Papa died," she said. "Now you watch every move I make as though you're afraid I'm going to cheat you or something. Why, Terrance? Why is there no trust between us anymore?"
Terrance threw his head back in a laugh, then met her steady, angry stare with his own. "You speak of trust when you've just come from the arms of a stranger?" he shouted. "You flaunted your independence in my face when you let him kiss you in front of me. Where is your self-respect, Melanie? Who knows where that man has been all these years? Why, he could be a thieving outlaw. He dresses no better. How could you have let him touch you? Or do you let all strangers paw you and I just never caught one doing it before?"
Melanie had taken all the insults that she could stand. She raised a hand and slapped her brother hard across the face. "How dare you!" she cried. "You've become even more insulting since Papa's death. Terrance, you have changed for the worsenot I!"
Terrance's eyes widened in disbelief as he rubbed his burning cheek. "Melanie, no matter what you say, I'm not going to let you get involved with Shane Brennan," he told her.
Terrance had been doing some serious thinking since they left Shane behind in the forest. It had suddenly dawned on him that Shane had appeared out of nowhere just in time to complicate everyone's lives. Josh needed to be warned! Josh would surely throw a fit when he discovered that he was now more than likely going to have to split his inheritance down the middle with a brother he had been parted from since the age of four!
And Shane was going to wreck not only Josh's plansbut Terrance's too!
He grabbed his hat. "I'm going to go warn Josh about the brother he thought was dead," he blurted out. "He deserves to be warned before Shane comes to his front door. Fair is fair."
Panic rose inside Melanie. This was not the best way to handle this as far as Shane was concerned, and since nobody had looked after his interests these past twenty-five years, she would just appoint herself! No matter how much her brother tried to insult Shane in front of her, to turn her against him, she had seen the good in Shane and would not let anything go awry for him. He was
too close to discovering his family again. She would not let her brother spoil the reunion.
And she also had to think of Jared. A shock could kill him. Terrance would not even think about that. He would more than likely storm into Jared's house with the news and cause utter confusion.
Melanie rushed to Terrance and took his hat from him as he staggered toward the door. "You're in no shape to go anywhere," she said, guiding him back into the parlor. She helped him down onto the sofa before the fireplace. "If you insist that Josh be told tonight, I can do the telling."
"Like hell . . ." Terrance growled. He tried to get up but fell back down as his wobbly legs gave way beneath him.
"If you even try to ride a horse in that condition, you'll kill yourself, Terrance," Melanie said, reaching for a blanket. She urged Terrance to stretch out on the sofa, then pulled the covering over him, up to his chin. He was so drunk she could expect him to sleep not only the night away, but most of the next day.
Melanie stepped back from the sofa and shook her head in disgust as Terrance hiccoughed crudely and then closed his eyes, snoring almost as quickly as his eyelashes locked together.
"Terrance," Melanie whispered. "What's happening between us? I love you so much. Can't you see that?"
She turned and tiptoed from the room and closed the door. She gave strict instructions to the servants that he was not to be disturbed. She
ordered another servant to ready her horse and buggy. She would make a call on Josh and Jared Brennan.
But she would not tell them anything about Shane. She was mainly going to see how Jared was. If he seemed worse, she just might have to go and get Shane tonight and take him to his father after all. As Terrance had said, fair was fair.
In her mind, it was time for someone to be fair to Shane!
Shane moved stealthily through the night, avoiding any open spaces so that he would not be seen. He was now close enough to his father's house to see shadows moving around inside. His pulse raced. Was he truly going to see his father in only a matter of moments? Had he changed much through the years? Had the years been good to him?
The sound of an approaching horse and buggy startled Shane into jumping behind a tree. His heart pounding, he watched as the buggy drew closer on the gravel road only a few feet away from him. In the moonlight, he could make out the driver. His eyes widened. It was Melanie! She was going to his father's house. Why? Was she going to tell everyone about him? Surely not. He had thought that she understood that he was not ready, that he wanted to wait until tomorrow.
But if she were not coming to his father's house for that reason, why was she?
He watched as Melanie stopped the buggy in front of the massive house and hurried up the
front steps. Breathless, he watched her knock on the door. His heart fluttered nervously as the door opened widely, and the man who greeted Melanie drew her briskly into his arms and hugged her.
Jealously inflamed Shane's insides when the man swung away from Melanie and the bright lamplight flooding from the opened door settled on his face. It was unnerving for Shane to see a man who resembled himself so much that it was like seeing his own face reflected in a pool. It had to be Josh! The man who had greeted Melanie so ambitiously was his brother Josh! Did she care for him in ways that she had shown she cared for Shane?
Were they lovers . . . ?
A gnawing ache swept through Shane at the thought that Melanie could be so deceitful. Yet, he knew her not at all! How could he expect so much of a woman he had only just met?
Disillusioned, Shane spun around and began running back in the direction of his campsite. He did not care to see any more shows of affection between his brother and the woman of his desire! Perhaps he should even leave the area tonight and not look back. Was he not foolish to have thought any good could come from having found his true family? From a woman who stole his heart away at first glance? Was it meant for him to be denied these special feelings, forever?
He broke into a mad run, blinded with anguish.
Melanie brushed Josh away and frowned up at him. "Good heavens," she scolded. "Josh, what do
you think you're doing, grabbing me like that? Surely you know that I've come to see your father, not you."
Josh stepped aside and let her storm on into the hall, then closed the door behind her. He took her shawl and handed it to a servant. Walking around her, studying her in the bright lamplight, he smiled smugly at her.
"What has happened to put the glow on your face if not my fond embrace?" he asked teasingly. "My dear, I've never seen you look so radiant. If I am the cause because I greeted you in such a fashion, I shall remember to do that every time you come for a visit."
Melanie felt a hot blush rise to her cheeks, knowing exactly what had caused her to look different. Shane! Only Shane!
Trying to throw Josh off the track, she took a step closer to him and sniffed. "Yes, just as I guessed," she said, looking up at him as smugly as he was looking at her. "Just like my brother, you've had a mite too much to drink tonight. It's causing you to imagine things."
She walked on past him, the softness of her moccasins making scarcely a sound on the hardwood floor. "I've come to see your father," she said, already headed for the sick room. "How is he?"
"The same," Josh said, catching up with her. He opened the door for her. "He seems to stay the same these days. Just hanging on."
Melanie entered a room that was dimly lighted by low-burning kerosene lamps. The aroma was
strong with medicine. The sound was that of a man fighting for every breath.
Melanie went to Jared's bedside and looked down at him. As always, her heart went out to the man who had dwindled away to mere flesh stretched tautly across bone. When his eyes opened and he saw her there, he reached a bony
hand to her and managed a smile.
"Melanie, it's so good to see you," Jared said, wheezing between words. His blue eyes were faded with time and illness. "Sit down and visit a spell. Did you do anything exciting today? Josh tells me you rode into town with him and Terrance." He laughed a throaty, scratchy laugh. "I knew ever since you were a mere sprite of a girl that you'd have spunk. You're going to give a husband fits one of these days, aren't you?"
Melanie's eyes wavered. She was immediately reminded of Shane and how she had been catapulted into feelings for him so quickly. Could anything ever truly come of it? Was Jared, without even knowing it, speaking of his own son when he made reference to a husband?
She so badly wanted to spill out the truth to this trusting, ailing man! It would be so easy to tell him that his son had returned and that he was a caring, gentle man. In only the short time Melanie had become acquainted with Shane, she knew that. She knew that she was in love with him!
If she could just share that secret with Jared, as through the years she had shared so many things with him. He had been like a second father to her.
But for now, she had to just be there for him, be
someone he could take comfort in. Tomorrow, he would have his son. Tomorrow!
Melanie eased down onto a chair beside Jared's bed. She clung to his hand and smiled at him. ''Today was special in many ways," she murmured. "But it's only girl stuff, Jared. You wouldn't be interested. Tell mehow are you feeling?"
Jared glanced up at Josh, then at Melanie. He wanted to confide in her about the will, about Shane's portion of the inheritance. But he couldn't. Josh was already aware of the stipulation and was upset over it. No sense in causing the hurt to deepen by talking about it openly to Melanie in front of him.
Tomorrow. He would tell her tomorrow. Besides Jared's lawyer, someone else had to be aware of how strongly he felt about Shane, should Shane ever come home. He could trust Melanie to see that Shane was treated fairly.
"I'm faring well enough," Jared said. "But I'm not sure how much longer I can hang on. This old ticker of mine gets weaker every day."
"You're going to live forever," Melanie said, pretending to scoff at his resignation to dying. "Just think of all the tomorrows and the surprises that each tomorrow may have in store for you. You're going to be here to enjoy them all."
Melanie and Jared exchanged warm smiles. It took a lot of willpower not to tell him the wonderful news. But she had to reserve tomorrow for Shane and Jared. It would be one of those days of special surprises that she had just promised Jared.
Josh stiffened behind them, then swung around and left the room. He went to the parlor and poured himself a shot of whiskey and swallowed it in one fast gulp. He could not get the will off his mind. Damn his father. Josh had lived in Shane's shadow forever and would still feel it on him after their father was dead!
That will would haunt him forever.
Chapter Six
Gilding the edges of clouds, the sun lazily stretched its early morning rays over fertile fields. After a restless night, Melanie was awake and eager to go to Shane. She must, before Terrance had a chance to tell Josh everything!
Stepping lightly down the stairs, she held a lacy shawl around her shoulders and peered intensely at the parlor door. It was still closed. She had gone and checked on Terrance when she first awoke, to make sure that he was still there after passing out in his drunken stupor the previous night. She had found him snoring and still sleeping. Sleeping this soundly, he would surely not awaken for several more hours.
Time. Melanie needed all the time she could get to go to Shane and get him to his father's house.
Any more interference from Terrance could easily send Shane away, perhaps never to be heard from again. Melanie could not help worrying that even Shane's one confrontation with Terrance the night before might have been enough to send him running. . . .
She had given orders to a stable hand last night to have her horse saddled and ready for travel at sunup this morning, and she had chosen a dress that would stand up under the roughness of traveling on horseback.
She had not wanted to wear the buckskin skirt and moccasins today. To look more ladylike for Shane, she had chosen a yellow cotton dress with white roses embroidered on the skirt. White, delicate lace edged the cuffs of the long sleeves and the scooped bodice. For warding off the chill of the early morning she had drawn a lace shawl around her shoulders. If not for the racket it would make, possibly awakening Terrance, she would have prefered going to Shane in her buggy.
Melanie hurried from the house and found her horse secured to a hitching rail close to the porch. After tying the end of her shawl into a neat, small bow so that it would not slip from her shoulders, she placed a foot in the stirrup and pulled herself into the saddle. Then she wheeled her horse around and rode away into the shiny mist of morning.
Shivers ran up and down Melanie's spine as the damp, cool air stung her cheeks and seeped through her light clothing. Her hair whipped around her face, then tumbled back down and
swirled around her shoulders. As she rode more quickly across the straight stretch of green land, she fought the skirt of her dress that kept fluttering up above her knees, revealing a lacy petticoat.
Then the meadow was left behind. Melanie's body strained against the slope of land as she began the steady climb upward. She held more tightly to the reins and hugged the horse's body with her legs. Her heart began to pound, knowing that in only a matter of moments she would be seeing Shane again.
Oh, Lord, why did Shane disturb her so much in ways that Josh, his twin, never had, or could? Why had she allowed it? Why couldn't she at this very moment decide not to get caught up in further feelings for Shane, somehow knowing that she would be better off for it?
"I know why I can't," she whispered, a rush of pleasure soaring through her at the thought of Shane's wild, passionate kisses. "He makes me feel more like a woman than any other man has been able to. He's awakened me to feelings that I never knew existedfeelings that I thought people never truly experienced, but only read about in books. I never want to lose these feelings. Never!"
In truth, she never wanted to lose Shane. She had to make sure that she didn't!
At the top of the hill, Melanie sank her heels into the horse's flanks and rode onward through the forest, peering ahead for any sign of Shane or his campfire. An uneasiness began to creep over her, for not only did she not see any campfire, she didn't smell any smoke. Had he left? Had she been wrong to think he had felt something special for herand proved it by the way he kissed her? Or had she been nothing but a passing fancy for him? Was he more like Josh than she had guessed?
Now upon the campsite, Melanie eased out of her saddle, numb. A keen disappointment assailing her, she looked down at the campfire that had sunk into a pile of damp coals. And though a blanket and Shane's fringed buckskin shirt still lay beside the firepit, he wasn't there.
Then Melanie's eyes were drawn to something that seemed peculiar in this setting. She tied her horse's reins to a tree, then went and knelt down on the blanket and picked up a deck of cards. She turned it over and over in her hands, studying it. They were the kind of playing cards most generally used for playing poker. She ought to know. Both Josh and Terrance were gamblers.
These cards had to be Shane's.
But he did not seem the sort to indulge in . . .
A crushing of leaves behind Melanie made her drop the cards and rise quickly to her feet. Turning, her breath was stolen away when she saw Shane walking toward her. She was engulfed with a shameless passion when she gaped openly at him. He was shirtless. His long, golden hair was dripping wet over his shoulders, and his muscled chest was sleek with water. Surely no man could be as handsome, as seductive as Shane was at this moment.
"Shane!" Melanie said, her shameful thoughts causing color to rush to her cheeks. "For a
moment I thought you had left. You have no fire"
He interrupted her. "I allowed the fire to
burn itself out last night because I feared that someone else would see it," he said stiffly. "It had already attracted too much attention."
Melanie was stung by his coldness and stiff reserve. It was not the way she had expected to be greeted by him. She wanted to ask why, yet was afraid to hear the answer. He had surely spent the long night thinking through his decision of what he should do in the light of everything he now knew about his family, and had decided it was best to move on. That meant he would place her from his mind and life as well!
A chill ran through Melanie as the damp breeze penetrated her thin cotton dress. She looked at Shane and the wetness of his hair and body, drawing her shawl more comfortably around her shoulders. "Shane, you're wet," she murmured. "Aren't you cold?"
"During my teachings as a child with the Chippewa, I was taught to practice endurance," he said, still standing stiffly, looking at Melanie with something close to contempt. "More than once my adviser put dry sunflower seeds on my wrists. These were lit at the top and I had to let them burn clear down to my skin. They hurt and made sores but if I had knocked them off or cried, I would have been called a woman."
He held his shoulders proudly squared. "In comparison, the cold air and water are no more than the sting of a tiny fly on my skin."
Melanie winced at the thought of what he must have had to endure in his lifetime. He even acted as though she were now something else he had to endure.
But why?
Last night he had behaved so differently toward her. What had caused him to change?
She couldn't stand not knowing any longer. She went to Shane and placed a gentle hand on his arm and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "What's wrong, Shane?" she blurted. "Why are you acting so distant, so cold, toward me? If I have done something wrong, I need to know."
Shane looked down at Melanie, trying to stifle the yearnings for her that were gnawing away at his heart. He had tasted her lips. He had smelled her sweetness. Even now, she smelled like roses that grew wild in the forest.
When Passion Calls Page 6