Kevin rolled his eyes. “I don’t sound like that.”
Jackson hid his grin again. “My mistake.”
Melinda Sue squirmed in Tony’s arms. “I want to get down.”
It wasn’t hard to tell why. She’d spotted Gray on the porch. He stood there as he always did, with that aura around him that most people shied away from. Not Melinda Sue, though. She did slow down when she got within four feet, walking until she got a bit closer, and then she just stopped and stared at him.
He folded his arms across his chest and stared back. He was obviously intent on intimidating the child. She studied him, tilting her head to the side. He tilted his head back, looking down his nose at her arrogance. Undeterred, she put her hands on her hips and took a couple steps closer, smudged dress, cockeyed pigtails, and all. They stared like that for a good thirty seconds. It was Melinda Sue who put an end to the competition. With a nod of her head she declared, “I like you.”
Gray raised his eyebrows, mustering even more disdain. He might as well have saved himself the effort. Ignoring all of his body language, she ascended the stairs and squared off toe to toe, and then, to Gray’s shock, she hugged him. He unfolded his arms, whether to push her away or hug her wasn’t clear. In the end he just stood there, arms out, and got hugged.
That was more than Brenna could stand. Brenna had laid claim to Gray ever since they’d met behind the saloon a year back. Ignoring Gray’s shake of his head, she came closer and demanded, “Stop that!”
If the red of Brenna’s hair showed her temper, the tone of her voice declared war.
Melinda Sue blinked her big blue eyes up at Gray. “Are you going to let her hurt me?”
Gray blinked and frowned at Brenna. “No.”
“Can I hurt her?”
This time the “no” was stronger. Melinda Sue pouted. Gray finally figured out what to do with his arms. He gave her a quick hug. Brenna scowled.
Jackson chuckled and whispered in Mimi’s ear. “That is not going to be the last time two girls fight over that boy.”
She nodded.
Though he was too far away to hear the whisper, Clint was obviously of the same mind. “We’re going to have our hands full over the next few years.”
Gray untangled himself from Melinda Sue. She was not pleased. Her lower lip puffed out. Declaring, “I didn’t want to be your friend anyway,” she stomped off.
Watching her, Clint grinned. “And so are you.”
Jenna saved the day. “Melinda Sue, do you by any chance like butter cookies?”
Melinda Sue stopped. “Cookies?”
Jenna nodded. “I just happen to have a very special plate of cookies saved just for you.”
Her expression cleared. “Just for me?”
Jenna nodded. “Just for you, and I even have some nice milk in the cold box to go with them.”
Melinda Sue’s smile broke out. “I love cookies.”
Jenna held out her hand. Melinda Sue took it without a bit of hesitation.
“Then why don’t you come with me? Today, we’ll let the boys do the work while we go have a snack.”
Over her shoulder, Melinda Sue stuck her tongue out at Kevin and Tony, who just rolled their eyes. Brenna seemed content to have Melinda Sue gone, whereas Gray just shook his head and observed, “That one gets her way too much.”
“Keeping her contained is kind of like trying to harness a tornado,” Jackson agreed. Little Lady stopped at the hitching post. The boys grabbed the reins.
“Are you ready to get down?” he asked Mimi, who contentedly snuggled against him.
Mimi’s head nodded yes, but her body said no. Somewhere over the course of their short ride, the curves of her body had melted into the planes of his, as if they were one. Not only did it feel good, it felt right. In the past he’d had an abstract idea of what it would be like to have a woman greet him the way Jenna and Mara greeted their husbands. How it would feel to have somebody light up like Elizabeth did when she saw Asa. To have someone to verbally spar with the way Brad did with his Evie. And now he knew. He hadn’t even been close.
“You’re going to have to let go.”
She sighed. “You’re so bossy.”
He grinned and kicked his foot out of the stirrup. “Hold on to my arm.”
“See. Bossy.”
“I see.” He saw the fullness of her breasts straining the bodice of her favorite blue dress. He saw the smudges under her eyes that spoke of lack of sleep. He saw the pallor of her skin and the concern clinging to the edges of her smile.
“What do you see?” she asked as he lowered her to the ground.
“I see that you were worried about me.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Maybe a little.”
He grinned at the grudging admission, slung his leg over the saddle, and hopped off. As soon as his boots hit the ground, he said, “Maybe more than a little.”
Elijah, who’d been trailing behind and observing, as was his wont, pulled his horse up to the post and dismounted in time to hear Clint tease, “Young love.”
Elijah snorted. “Is that what we’re calling it?”
Mimi blushed a bright red.
“No one said anything about love,” Jackson retorted. If possible Mimi’s blush deepened.
With a wave of his hand, Clint indicated the two of them. “That’s because no one felt the need to state the obvious.”
Elijah laughed.
Mimi groaned.
And Jackson sighed. That cat was neatly out of the bag. Jamming his hat down on his head, he grabbed Mimi’s hand and all but dragged her up the steps. “I want a cookie.”
* * *
• • •
Mimi tried the cookies. She also tried the ham dinner that Jenna had prepared. And now, sitting around the McKinnleys’ dining room table, she was adding a cup of coffee to the mix in an effort to calm her nerves. None of her efforts succeeded. With the children around they hadn’t had any time at all to talk about what had happened with the kidnappers. And she knew from the looks that the men were exchanging that something else had gone on out there. Something bigger than the kidnappers being dead. If they didn’t tell her soon, she was going to explode.
“Can you tell me again why we’re waiting for Asa?”
“Because Elizabeth will want to be in on this,” Jackson explained.
“And,” Clint pointed out dryly, “he’s not giving us a choice.”
“And we need the Rev,” Elijah said, adding cream to his coffee. “We definitely need the Rev.”
“Why?” Why, why, why? The question repeated in her mind. “Are you trying to drive me crazy?”
Jackson’s hand sought hers under the table. “I told you, you have nothing to worry about.” Lacing his fingers between hers, he squeezed gently. She wanted to take comfort from that, but she couldn’t. It was like they all were part of an exclusive club complete with its own special language. And she wasn’t a member.
“I understand all of you have been together for a long time and you’ve built up this big understanding of how you all work, but I’ve only known you all for three weeks, and, trust me, that’s not enough time for that much faith.”
Jackson had the gall to cock an eyebrow at her. “You’re breaking my heart.”
She dug her fingers threateningly into his hand. “If I had a rug beater in hand right now . . .”
“You’d do what?”
She sighed and relented. “I’d have the cleanest darn house in town.”
And he might have a dent in his head.
Jenna shook her head while Clint just sat over there smiling. Through the window, Mimi could see Elijah outside smoking. At the other end, Jenna clucked her tongue. “You’re as bad as Melinda Sue.”
Sitting back in her chair, she grumbled, “Well, just how long does it take to ge
t here?”
“Asa and Elizabeth do have the baby.”
“And Evie can’t make it anywhere on time to save her life.”
Clint nodded. “That’s true. And the Rev isn’t much better. Hell, the man was literally late for his own funeral.”
“How is that even possible?”
“You’ve got to know the Rev.”
The knowing looks the group shared only made her feel more the outsider. Which just irritated her more. Tapping her fingers on the table, she muttered, “So you’re telling me I’ve just got to be patient?”
“It is a virtue.”
She cut Jackson a glare. “You can say that all you want; it’s still not going to make it one of mine.”
“Not all surprises are bad,” Jenna pointed out.
“Well, this one had better be a doozy.”
* * *
• • •
Finally, they were all here, minus Cougar and Mara. Even if there hadn’t been complications with her pregnancy, Mara was just too far along to be risking bouncing around in a buckboard by night. The children were all in bed, and to avoid the chance of being overheard, they all moved out to the front yard. Clint had built a fire to keep the bugs away. It was rather cozy sitting on the chairs that were set up outside, watching the fire dance and listening to it crackle. It might even have been romantic except for the fact that anxiety was eating her up from the inside out.
Asa finally broke the silence. “Just how well did you know your husband?” he asked.
“About five minutes ago I would’ve answered ‘Too well,’ but from the tone of your voice I think the correct response would be ‘Not well enough.’”
Brad tipped his hat back. “I did some research. He is an interesting man. He wasn’t overly educated, but his belief that everybody was out to get him made him highly skilled in some areas. That code that encrypts the names in his book is pretty sophisticated. But that he chose to protect that information in a box in his house was pretty careless.”
“What do mean you did research?”
“My father was a prominent minister back East. He has connections with a lot of people. He sent me a telegraph.”
Mimi shrugged. “I didn’t know much about his business life. He sometimes had parties at the house that I hosted, but I don’t know what he did when he left the house.”
“Apparently,” Brad said, “your husband spent a lot of time keeping tabs on a lot of people with the intent of blackmailing them.”
“These men are very powerful,” Jackson added.
Mimi nodded. “That makes sense. Mac could leave the house with an insurmountable problem and be back two hours later with it solved. What always struck me about that was how unemotional he was about the problems when they happened and when they were solved.”
“As I said, very powerful men.”
Brad turned his coffee cup. “Normally, it would be a mistake to blackmail so many powerful men. Except Mac was smart enough to stagger his demands. He seemed to have a knack for knowing how to get what he wanted without ever applying too much pressure.
“Sort of like a mild bout of gout,” Brad elaborated.
Mimi laughed along with everyone else. When the laughter ended, however, the stress came back. “All I want to know is whether his contacts can reach out here.”
“They could, but that won’t be a problem.”
“Why not?”
Asa pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. “He left you an inheritance.”
The paper rustled in the breeze. Reality hit in a paralyzing rush. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t reach for it. “He is really dead? You’re sure?”
Elijah’s deep drawl blended with the roaring in her ears. “Not many who mess with what’s Jackson’s live to regret it.”
“Jackson?”
“Oh, my Lord, catch her!” Jenna cried.
The world tilted and she was pitching into the roaring black. Just as suddenly it righted and she was pulled up close to a hard chest. “Come here, honey.”
Jackson. Thank goodness. Something to hold on to. Beneath her cheek, she could hear the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. She placed her hand over it, anchoring herself through touch and sound. Closing her eyes, she breathed in his scent.
“Jackson.” Forcing her eyes open, Mimi clutched his arm and asked again.
“Yes.”
She looked into his eyes. The truth was always in Jackson’s eyes. “Spell it out for me.”
“He’s dead. I killed him.”
“Why?”
“Because of what he did to you and the children. Because he needed it.”
The roaring started to subside. Mac was dead. Truly dead. Licking her lips, she whispered, “Thank you.” And then, “I’m free.”
His fingers in a steeple, Brad looked at her. “Not quite.”
It didn’t really matter what new thing they’d dreamed up to complicate this issue. Nothing could be as bad as Mac. “I’m not going to let you rain on my happiness. Mac is dead. It’s time to throw a party.”
“Not yet.”
Asa handed her the paper. She opened it up, the letters and numbers on it meaning nothing to her. “I don’t understand what this is.”
“That”—he pointed to the code—“is the key to your freedom. Without that, you’d never be safe.”
“All right. But how do I use it?”
“With that key we can decipher all the names in that book. And with the names we can return whatever he’s holding over these people to the rightful owners.”
“They’re words on a page—how can we return them?”
“First off, anonymously. Nobody knows who you are. Nobody knows who’s read that book. And that’s important. That’s why the children are here. Because if one word of this gets out, and anyone in the book does find out who we are, they might decide to take protective measures.”
“You mean kill us?”
Would it ever end?
“They’ll have to go through me to get to you,” Jackson said.
She patted his hand absently, her mind spinning. “You do realize, when you say that, it’s not a comfort? I don’t want you dead.”
“Good to know.”
“I don’t know how you can joke in the middle of all this. You do realize by coming here I signed your death warrant?”
Elijah shook his head. “Ma’am, those Easterners? They have to get to the end of a very long line. We haven’t exactly been slackers when it comes to collecting enemies.”
“So what is the plan?” She knew them well enough to know they had a plan.
It was Brad who answered. “We’re going to take the key and the book and decode all the names. And we’ll rip out the pages in that book and send them anonymously to the owners with the message saying that Mac is dead and it’s over.”
“They can consider it an early Christmas present.”
“A very early Christmas present.”
“I’m sure it will be appreciated.”
“Why can’t we just let it alone and not do anything?” Mimi asked. “Burn the book and move on.”
“Because those men know the information is out there. It’s only logical that Mac kept some sort of record. They’re going to want to control that information once they know of Mac’s death.”
“And most on that list have the money and influence to hunt anyone down.”
“The best chance you’ve got is to give them back what’s theirs and hand them their lives back. Make it clear that’s what’s happening and keep an eye out.”
“What if they aren’t satisfied?” Mimi asked, not really wanting the answer.
“Then we’ll deal with them,” Elijah said with chilling dispassion.
“But I don’t think it will come to that. Businessmen understand a good deal.�
�
“Are you all right with this, Mimi?” Jenna asked. “After all, this is your life.”
She weighed her options. “Yes.”
Jackson’s thumb brushed her lips in a parody of a kiss. Tingles raced down her spine. She wished the others gone.
“It’s settled, then?” Asa asked.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.”
“Well, now, since that’s settled,” the Reverend said, “I’d like to discuss something else.” Everyone looked at him. Mimi was the only one foolish enough to ask, “What?”
The Rev lounged back in his chair, looking for all the world like a lean, basking lion. Making a temple of his fingers, he considered Mimi and Jackson. “I’d like to talk about you and Jackson continuing to live in sin.”
Mimi’s stomach did a flip-flop. Jackson’s thumb stilled. Her “I don’t know what you mean” was weak even to her own ears.
In contrast, Jackson’s “That’s none of your business, Rev” was cold and hard.
The Rev just smiled. “I can’t rightly do that, Jackson. I’ve been approached by the good ladies of the town. They’re worried about the children.”
It was the nightmare of her life. The one that wouldn’t go away. Mimi clenched her hands together. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. In the eyes of the church, maybe she’d sinned, but in her heart, absolutely not.
Jenna stood up. “Brad, you stop this.”
Elijah tossed his cigarette into the fire. “I didn’t think immortal souls were your realm of expertise, Rev.”
Jackson put his hand over hers. His thumb drew calming circles on the back. Mimi was grateful for the support.
Brad cocked an eyebrow at him. The blond hair falling over his brow gave him a distinctly unpreacherly look. “Just like in any profession, a man has to know it from all angles.”
Jackson cocked his head. “And you’ve got sin covered?”
“I’m a married man. These days you’d have to ask my wife how well my sin is doing.”
Everyone turned to Evie. She threw up her hands.
“You know I can’t answer a question like that! I’m a preacher’s wife.”
Promises Decide Page 25