"Your hair's beautiful, Jessica," he said finally into the lengthening silence. "I've wanted to touch it like this since I first saw you."
"Thank you, Storm. Storm?"
"What, pretty lady?"
"Can I ask you a couple questions?"
The brush froze for an instant in her hair, making Jessica regret her words. She sighed in relief when Storm began pulling it through her hair again and spoke.
"You can ask anything you want, Jessica. I'll answer any question you have, I promise."
Jessica stared into the firelight for a moment before she said, "I...I'd at least like to know your last name, Storm," she finally forced out.
The brush hesitated slightly again and she heard Storm sigh behind her — then a soft chuckle.
"Why, Jessica Callaghan," he said. "You mean to tell me you've just made wild, passionate love with a man who's last name you don't even know?"
Jessica gave a snort and jumped to her feet. "Why...why, you...."
Storm let out a loud guffaw and held his arms out. "Come here, pretty lady," he said, immediately defusing her embarrassment. "I like you better in my arms."
"Well, I just don't know about that," Jessica said saucily, placing her fists on her hips. "I think maybe we should get to know each other a lot better before I crawl onto your lap again, don't you?"
Storm gave a growl and reached for her. She managed to dance a step away before her foot tangled in the comforter at her feet and she started to fall. A pair of arms caught her and the next thing she knew he held her close to his side, the firelight warming her back.
"Storm, you're going to hurt your shoulder if you keep this up."
"It's healing fine, pretty lady. Exercise will help me work the twinges out of it. Besides, we have to see what we can do about getting to know each other better, right?"
Jessica wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her deeply. When his lips left hers and started down her neck, she pulled herself back with a gasp and shook her head.
"You...you promised to answer me."
Storm buried his face against her neck for a second, then gave a regretful sigh and raised his head. Brushing the hair from the side of her face as he gazed down at her, he steeled himself for the disgust he would soon see in her gold-flecked eyes.
"My last name's Baker, Jessica," he said quietly.
"Baker?" Jessica asked in astonishment. To Storm's relief, he saw puzzlement rather than revulsion on her face as she continued, "You don't look like your brothers."
"I don't look like Idalee, either," he agreed, "and she's Harlin and David's half-sister."
Jessica pulled herself up and curled her legs under her. Crossing her arms under her breasts, she waited silently for Storm to continue.
"Oh, hell," Storm grumbled. He sat up beside Jessica and pulled her around between his legs, facing the fireplace.
"I can't think when I look at you sitting there like that, pretty lady," he explained when she tried to turn around in his arms. "Maybe this will be better." When Jessica sighed in compliance and snuggled back against him, he stifled a groan.
Jessica laughed softly and scrambled to her feet. She sat down in the chair and urged him around to lay his head on her knee. "Is this better?" she asked as she stroked his hair.
"Guess it'll have to do," Storm said with a grunt.
"Storm, tell me the rest," she insisted. "Why, Idalee doesn't look any more like Harlin and David than you do. What's the reason everyone looks so different, except for David and Harlin?"
Storm settled his head more comfortably against her thigh and absentmindedly stroked her slender calf as he stared in the fire, sorting through the memories tumbling into his mind.
"There's a reason, Jessica," he finally said. "You've probably already figured it out. Charles Baker adopted me."
"Who were your original parents?"
Storm drew in a tortured breath and forced the words past his lips. "I don't know, Jessica. Oh, I knew at a young age that the people I was living with weren't my parents. The old man, Jack Wilson, got drunk enough times and told me so, even though he made me use his last name. Mary tried to protect me, but he wasn't much easier on her when he was on the bottle. I don't know how he ever held onto his job at the Lazy B, unless it was because Charles felt sorry for Mary and me."
"Storm, he didn't beat you?"
Storm nodded against her knee. "Jack said he had to make sure he followed the Bible's teaching. You know, spare the rod and spoil the child."
"Oh no," Jessica breathed.
"I thought about killing him, do you know that, Jessica? Even at five years old, I'd lie in my bed at night and think up ways I could kill him."
"Oh, God, Storm. What...what happened?"
Storm stiffened under her fingers and his hand gripped her calf almost painfully before he realized what he was doing and released his hold.
"Mary died with the fever," he finally said. "She hadn't ever been very strong, and I think I remember her losing a couple babies. At least, she was in bed a long while at different times. Charles sent Fiona over to help out those times and Jack didn't dare interfere."
"Fiona?"
"She was Charles's housekeeper. Or at least, that's the story they gave out. After I went to live in the house, it didn't take me long to realize that Charles visited over at Fiona's place a lot of times late in the evenings. She lived about a mile away — never stayed at the ranch past dark."
"But his wife....?"
"Harlin and David's mother died shortly after David was born — David's about the same age as me. I asked Charles about his wife once, but all he would tell me was that we all make mistakes in our younger days. He loved Fiona, though. You could tell it when they were together."
"And your father...I mean...." Jessica shook her head in confusion. Which one would Storm call father — Jack Wilson or Charles Baker? Or maybe the mysterious man who had physically fathered him? "Uh...I mean, Jack, the man you lived with before Charles adopted you. What happened to him?"
"I never knew for certain, but I think Charles bought Jack off. The adoption was legal, anyway. I remember us going to court, and Jack rode out of town afterwards. I never saw him again."
"Were you happy with Charles Baker, Storm?"
The silence drug out as Storm thought about the years he had lived on the Lazy B. His pride would never allow him to tell his adopted father why accidents seemed to follow him around. No sooner would one bruise heal on his body than another one would form. There were even a couple broken bones over the years.
Until the day he finally realized he outweighed his adopted brothers and left them both lying bleeding on the floor of the line shack they had followed him to.
But despite the fact that Charles at times shook his head over Storm's clumsiness, he had treated Storm as his own. He couldn't even seem to hide his preference at spending time with a growing boy who didn't carry his blood, instead of his own sons.
"Yes, Jessica," he said at last. "At times I was happy. I cared deeply for Charles and I even dreamed of running the spread with him some day. Harlin never had an interest in the land at all, and he went back East to school as soon as he was old enough. David made a pretense of learning how to run the ranch, and it must have worked. When Charles was killed, his Will left the ranch to David. The other holdings he had built up, one of them the bank, went to Harlin, and Harlin's expanded them until he owns most of the town."
"Oh, Storm. How could he have cut you out completely, after going to the trouble of making the adoption legal? And you still haven't told me how Idalee fits in."
The coffee bubbled over into the fire, sending hissing steam up from the coals. Storm jumped up and grabbed a towel to pull the hook holding the pot aside and set the pot on the table before he faced Jessica again.
Chapter 17
"Haven't you guessed that, too, Jessica?" he asked. "Idalee is Fiona and Charles's daughter. I'll admit, I was as surprised as Idy when we found out Charles had cu
t us both completely out. But the Will was dated only a couple years before Charles died."
"Now wait a minute. Idalee's name is Morgan. She told me so herself."
Storm picked up two cups from the shelf and filled them. After Jessica took her cup, he sat down at her feet again.
"She uses her mother's maiden name, Jessica," he said as he waited for his coffee to cool enough to drink. "Charles made the doctor list him as father on Idy's birth certificate, though, and I guess Harlin was afraid Idy might use that birth certificate to try to break the Will. Anyway, he made a deal with her. He paid her — gave her money he thought she was going to use to leave town — in return for her written agreement not to make any claim against Charles's estate."
"But Idalee didn't leave town."
"No," Storm said with a hard laugh. "Idy's got spunk, she has. She had Elias buy the house on the edge of town for her under the pretense of turning it into a restaurant. She and Elias had always been close, ever since Elias came to work at the Lazy B as a cook for a while and they got to know each other. But Idalee had other plans for the house. You know what she did with it. She's never said why exactly, but I think she must have some idea of rubbing David and Harlin's noses in what she does and daring them to run her off."
"But what about you, Storm? Good lord, you must have worked with Charles at the Lazy B for at least twenty years."
"Twenty-two," Storm admitted. "Since I was five, like I said. I'm twenty-eight now, but the last year I haven't been near the Lazy B. Oh, Harlin offered me almost the same deal he made Idy, except that I had to legally change my name back to Wilson. I turned him down flat. And, for a while, I thought about fighting Harlin and David for what was mine, but I couldn't get over the hurt of what Charles had done."
Jessica set her coffee down and slipped out of the chair. Placing one arm around Storm's waist, she took his cup in her other hand and set it beside her own.
"Storm, that's enough for one night. This is hurting you too much to talk about." She snuggled her head against his shoulder, momentarily forgetting his wound. Feeling him wince under her cheek, she quickly straightened.
"Oh. We better change...."
Storm dropped a kiss on her lips, stilling her words. "I told you, the wound's not bothering me, Jessica. At least, not that much. And neither is talking to you. In fact, it's making me feel a whole lot better. I haven't talked to anyone about this in years. Idalee knows the story, of course, but it's not something we discuss."
Jessica scooted around and laid her head down in his lap. Despite what he said, his shoulder had to be hurting and at least this way she could be close to him. She pulled his hand onto her stomach and covered it with her own.
"Then tell me what happened to Charles and Fiona, Storm. How did they die? I assume Fiona's dead, too, from what you've been saying."
"They died together," Storm said after a moment. "I guess they would have wanted it that way, but it was such a damned waste. We never found out who shot them."
"Shot them? Oh, Storm."
Storm continued as though he hadn't heard her. "I don't know why Charles decided to get involved in the bank, either, but he bought it up when he heard it was having some problems. People in town were afraid they might lose their savings and started a run on it. Someone rode out to the ranch to tell him, and when he got back he told us he now owned the bank. He seemed to enjoy running it, too, because he went into town almost every day.
"David and I were running the ranch jointly by then, but it wasn't going smoothly. We had different ideas about how things should be done, and Charles always seemed to take my side. He and David argued violently about it at times in the evenings. I tried to stay out of it, but I knew what was going on. Harlin came back from school about that time, but he moved into town when Charles asked him if he wanted to learn the banking business."
When he fell silent, Jessica looked up to see him staring into the fire. "You...you said they were shot, Storm," she reminded him, somehow sensing he needed to purge himself of the rest of the tale.
"They were going to be married the next day," Storm said quietly. "Charles never told me why she had refused to legalize their relationship all those years, but Fiona was a pretty independent woman — Idy's a lot like her. Anyway, Fiona finally gave in."
Storm glanced at Jessica. "He was so damned happy, Jessica. I'd never seen him so elated. Fiona didn't go into town much, since I imagine you can guess how the women there treated her. Charles insisted she have a new dress made for the wedding, though, and she went in with Charles that afternoon for a final fitting and to pick it up. They never got home that evening and we found them when we went out to search. He had covered her with his own body, but someone had stood over them and made sure they were both dead."
Jessica's eyes filled with tears and she gulped back a sob. "He must have loved her so very much," she said around the lump in her throat.
Storm straightened his legs out and laid down beside her, gathering her against him. "He did, Jessica. The way I love you. I do, you know, my darlin' pretty lady. I would lay down my life for you in a minute if anyone tried to hurt you. You don't know how hard I wish things could be different."
Jessica sobbed aloud, this time for a different reason. The tears spilled from her eyes and she tried to bury her face against his chest to hide them.
Storm cupped her face and wiped a callused thumb on the corner of her eye. "Jessica? I'm sorry. If I'd thought my telling you how I feel would make you cry, I'd have...."
"Oh, hush, Storm Baker," she said as she placed her index finger on his lips. "Can't you tell the difference between a woman crying from sadness and one crying from happiness? I love you, too. I've already told you that. But I thought...Pr...."
"Don't think, Jessica darling," he said as he lowered his head. "Just let me love you again. Please. I love you and need you so much."
He stopped with his lips a bare inch from hers. "Unless...Jessica, I don't want to hurt you."
"The only way you could hurt me would be to not love me again, Storm," she said as she closed the distance separating them.
Storm glanced at Jessica the next morning while he led Spirit toward the cave's entrance. She still sat curled up in the middle of the comforter, dressed only in his shirt and socks.
When she sensed his eyes on her, Jessica glared briefly at him. After an instant, she tilted her chin up in stubborn defiance and turned her head aside.
He busied himself for a few minutes removing supplies from the shelf by the table and storing them in his saddlebags. After he dumped the coffee beans into a cloth sack and pulled the drawstring, he looked down at the table. Jessica's breakfast of biscuits and bacon remained untouched on her plate. He really should have waited until after she ate before he told her his plans, he guessed, but who would have thought such stubbornness lay under that pretty exterior?
Storm picked up the plate and crossed the room. Kneeling in front of her, he offered the plate to her.
"You're going to have to eat something before we leave, Jessica. It's a long ride to the next town with a train stop, and you'll get mighty hungry before we get there."
Jessica grabbed the plate and set it down by her side. She recrossed her arms under her breasts and stared over his shoulder, refusing to speak.
The go to hell look on Jessica's face flared Storm's temper and he rose over her.
"You're going to eat before we leave, damn it! And then you're going to get dressed or I'll put your clothes on you myself."
"I'm not going anywhere near a train stop!"
"You're going if I have to tie you on that horse," Storm gritted. "It's too dangerous for you to stay with me."
"I'm not leaving until I find what I came here for. Maybe you can hogtie me and carry me out of here, but I don't think you'll have the guts to show your face in town."
"I can always go in as Jedidiah," Storm reminded her.
Jessica's mind searched frantically for another argument. "You...you'd h
ave to ride right up to the station with me. Someone might recognize your horse."
"I guess I'll just have to take that chance then, won't I? You obviously won't go on your own."
"Don't you dare try to make me feel guilty, Storm! Besides, by the time we get to the next closest town, my face will probably be on those wanted posters right along with yours. Even if Mr. Baker isn't dead, you don't think he's going to let an attack on him go unavenged, do you?"
"All the more reason for you to get out of here until we can get this mess straightened out, Jessica. You don't have a chance in hell of finding any land around her right now. Or any time in the near future, either. Harlin and David are determined to own this entire county. They've even tried to make Tobias sell out to them, just because his ranch borders on the edge of the Lazy B."
The mutinous pout returned to Jessica's lips and her chin rose an inch higher. "What if I'm not looking for land?"
"I don't give a damn what you're looking for, Jessica. Don't you see what a mess you've gotten yourself into by helping me? Once you get back to Wyoming, you'll be safe for a while."
Safe, but in debt to Ned for my ranch, Jessica thought. Maybe she should tell Storm about the gold. She had to find it. Part of Ned and Mattie's life savings were at risk now, too.
"I'm sure you've got friends back there," Storm said, breaking into her thoughts. "Maybe even a smart lawyer, who can clear you of this mess."
A contemplating look filled Jessica's face. "As a matter of fact," she mused, "I do." She scrambled up and laid a hand on Storm's arm, tilting her face up to him. "Come with me, Storm. I do know someone. He's the attorney I use and he also handles criminal cases. He'll help you, too."
And maybe Frederick could find a way to forestall Olson's foreclosure, if her delay in finding the gold made her miss her next payment. She probably should have gone to see Frederick before she left Wyoming, instead of allowing her pride to keep her from admitting to her friends how desperate her money situation was. Right now, though, Storm's plight seemed more important even than holding on to her ranch.
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