“Can I come and watch?”
On purpose, Luke tossed Aaron a bale more forcefully than necessary, catching him off guard. He staggered back, landing on his ass on a bale a few feet behind him.
Luke shot him a grin. “Sorry, no pain in the ass kid brothers allowed. You’ll have to find another source of entertainment.”
The meeting never happened, however, neither did the wedding. When Luke made a special trip home at lunch to check on the pretty young woman he’d left warm and sleepy in his bed, she was gone, her horse conspicuously missing from her stall. In the kitchen, he found the mess she’d left, her only message of goodbye.
And he couldn’t hardly blame her, not after he read Frannie Winthrop’s ridiculous note, which was barely decipherable while covered with frosting. What he’d managed to make out had made him livid, like Wisteria apparently, though he wasn’t quite so constrained in his response, hurling the cake, plate and all, out in the backyard.
Although she hadn’t come out and said it, the implications of an arrangement between him and Frannie—which in truth was ludicrous and a bold-faced lie—would not have been lost on Wisteria. No doubt she’d believed every twisted word and that was the reason she’d fled. Cursing mad at the Winthrop girl’s manipulation, he went after Wisteria determined to explain, although he had no idea where to look. On the road to town, he ran into the Winthrops and made it clear, in no ambiguous terms, that there never was, nor would there ever be an arrangement of any kind, in particular nuptials, between them.
Days’ worth of searching turned up no leads, although Luke came across her brother Slim in nearby Rawlings. The unfeeling bastard seemed unconcerned, confident she could fend for herself.
“Pa taught her how to ride, hunt, and survive in the wilderness. I’m a half-breed, my mother full-blooded Shoshone, and Rose is still better at all that shit than me.” Luke soon lost his patience with Slim Turner, who blasted him in the face with fumes of cheap whiskey when he shoved him against the wall of the saloon he was pickling himself in.
“Where would she go? Other family, friends? Dammit, man, she’s out there on her own.”
Heath, who’d accompanied him, said in his ear, “If you kill him, brother, he won’t be able to tell you anything. Let up.”
Luke’s hands loosened marginally, enough for the man to take a deeply inhaled breath.
“Where would she go?” he repeated.
“South to Denver,” he choked. “Though I don’t know for sure. There ain’t no family there, no home to go to, and Rose never had any close friends that I know of. She hung close to home with pa.”
“What about Skeens? Would she go to him?”
“Not likely. She doesn’t care much for him neither. ‘Sides, he left town right after the trial. Heading for California, I hear.”
When Luke released him, Slim slumped to the floor, his hand at his throat as he gasped for air.
“What now?” Heath asked, following Luke to the door.
“I’m heading to Denver.” As they walked outside, Luke’s worried eyes turned south, scanning the mountain range that spanned northern Colorado and directly to the west. The peaks of the Medicine Bow mountain range were already dusted white from an early snowfall and gray clouds dipping low overhead signaled that more was on the way. He hoped her brother was telling him true and that Wisteria had the skills to manage on her own.
Sadly and to Luke’s utter frustration, his search of Denver and the surrounding towns turned up empty as well. He returned home to Laramie a month later, alone and in a foul temper, his usual good-natured, easy humor and quick smile having vanished as surely as the woman he’d planned to wed.
Chapter Five
Looking out the parlor window, across the rambling porch to the gorgeous mountains beyond, Jenny Jackson heaved a long sigh.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” her husband asked solicitously. “Is your breakfast not to your liking? We can have them fetch you something else.” He glanced around for their waitress.
Jenny reached across and curled her fingers around Heath’s firmly muscled forearm and squeezed. “No, honey. The food is delicious as always. I was simply thinking how swiftly this wedding trip has flown by. Do we really have to head back tomorrow?”
“Afraid so,” he nodded, forking up a large mouthful of The Inn’s melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk biscuits, which had been liberally doused with creamy white-peppered gravy with large pieces of pork sausage mixed in. Add to this three poached eggs, two rashers of bacon, and a steamy bowl of cinnamon-infused apple dumplings; this had been Heath’s standard morning fare the entire week they’d been in Manitou Springs. Nestled at the base of Pike’s Peak near Denver, she and Heath had spent the past eight days enjoying time together away from the demands of the ranch and her brother Will; although she loved him dearly, he could be nearly as demanding as the entire herd of cattle on Silverbend Ranch. An exaggeration, to be true; still, as she waited for Heath and his men to finish building the house he’d promised when they’d wed, the cramped cabin the three of them shared had seemed to grow smaller, especially with a nine-year-old in residence with a newly married couple.
So she cherished every private moment of the past eight days with her handsome and extremely affectionate husband. The trip was the fulfillment of another promise he’d made back in the fall with the impending snows making travel then impossible.
Reaching for his coffee cup, Heath took a healthy swig before he explained why they couldn’t have an extended honeymoon. “If it weren’t calving season, we’d stay another week, Jenny. But Luke and pa have their hands full as it is; I’d never hear the end of it if I stuck them with my share of the work while we cavorted in the mineral springs.”
She sighed once more, this time closing her eyes. “Ah, yes, the springs, I think they were the best part.” As the spa was home to several warm and naturally carbonated mineral springs, she and Heath had partaken of the relaxing waters every day they’d been there.
“While I enjoyed them too, I’m thinking something else was the best part.”
She blinked up at him. Over the past week, they’d not only dined on delicious gourmet food every day, they had ridden in the beauty of springtime in the mountains, explored the small but rapidly growing town, enjoyed the wide porches and spectacular mountain views. Other than that, they’d been in bed making love. The grin on his face told her he’d watched with amusement as she sorted through all that. She refused to discuss it in a public dining room and a well-appointed inn.
Ignoring his inappropriate remark, Jenny backtracked a bit in the conversation—heading home to Laramie. “Don’t think I’m not grateful to your brother and father for picking up in your absence for an entire week, but it seems no time is a good time on a cattle ranch.”
He gripped her hand and squeezed. “True enough; if it’s not calving season, it’s haying time, or we’re battling blizzards.”
“Or fighting rustlers,” she countered.
“Or claim jumpers blowing holes in our land.”
“Or boarding trains bound for Omaha to foil the schemes of evil uncles who want to rob your wife and her young brother blind!”
He shook his head. Lifting her hand to his lips, he pressed a tender kiss to the backs of her fingers. “Considering our beginning, darlin’, we sorely needed this trip.”
“I’ll second that, and how, honey.”
That made Heath grin. As he released her to pick up his coffee and take another swig, he nodded at her barely touched plate. “How about you eat up, wife? I want to make the most of our last day here. I thought we’d mount up and head back to that high meadow we came across a few days ago. They’re packing a basket for us to have a private picnic there.”
“Heath,” she laughed, staring at his empty plate that had once been mounded high with an enormous amount of food. “Where on earth will you put another bite?”
“I’m a hardworking man, I’ll have you know. It takes a lot of grub to keep me going.”
&n
bsp; “You haven’t done a minute of work all week,” she challenged with a smile.
“Jenny, you’ve worked me harder on this wedding trip than I do in a week’s worth of haying.” He waggled his eyebrows while giving her a lascivious look.
Heat flooded her cheeks as she peeked around to see who might have heard. Seeing everyone else occupied with their meal or conversation, she leaned forward. “Heath, please! Someone will overhear your inappropriate remarks.”
His rich dark caramel eyes gleamed as he grinned at her, her scolding not deterring him one bit, although he lowered his voice when he continued. “It’s an hour at a slow trot back to the meadow; once there the day is ours. They’re including a blanket with our picnic so we can take a nap until lunchtime or indulge in other horizontal pursuits if you’d rather. Although we did quite well while vertical the other day, thanks to those stout red maples with the very accommodating wide trunks. I did spy a nice white oak with a low branch we might like to try, it was the perfect height for me to bend you over and—”
He stopped when her linen napkin hit him square in the face. If he didn’t have the other patrons’ attention before, he did now as he burst into laughter. Heath’s amusement reduced to a low chuckle when he saw her crimson face. Rising, he rounded the table and bent near her ear, his hand curling around her nape, squeezing gently as he whispered, “Sweetheart, I can’t resist teasing, especially when no one could hear me above the din in this room. It’s packed.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Finish your meal while I check on the readiness of our horses and lunch basket.”
She nodded as she picked up her fork, rolling her eyes at his back as he walked off. Though she loved him to death, his bawdy humor at the most inopportune times kept her in a near perpetual blush, the rogue. When she resumed eating, she noted her coffee had cooled. Twisting in her chair, she searched for one of the serving girls. She saw a dark-haired young woman standing by a large coffee urn behind a high counter where she was filling cups with the steaming hot brew. Jenny raised her hand to signal her as she turned and placed two more china cups on the tray she was loading.
The girl looked up right as Jenny waved. Instant recognition flew between the two, Jenny unable to forget the most unusual violet-blue eyes she’d ever seen, or the woman who had saved her from her reprehensible uncle. Shocked at her presence, Jenny jumped to her feet.
“Wisteria?”
The other woman paled, appearing incapable of movement or words, such was her surprise. Jenny took a step toward her. Her movement seemed to break the spell because Wisteria suddenly whirled and bolted away.
Jenny was after her in an instant. “Please, wait.” She’d made it to the doorway where she’d seen Wisteria disappear when Heath moved past her.
“Stay here,” he ordered over his shoulder.
That didn’t slow Jenny down at all as she rushed after the two of them. She was out the back door and taking the steps down to the yard when she saw Heath catch up with her. With his hand around her upper arm, he spun her back around to face him.
Jenny gasped, focusing in on the other woman’s enormous belly. Wisteria appeared ready to give birth at any minute. She also noticed that she was petrified, her face having leeched of color, her trembling hands cradling her protruding belly protectively. Rushing to join them, Jenny was the first to say anything.
“Oh, honey, don’t be afraid. We’ve all been so worried about you.”
“More like frantic,” Heath corrected, his eyes wide with shock. “Luke searched for you for a month.”
Guilt and anger shadowed her face as she looked from Heath, who wore a fiercely intimidating scowl, to Jenny, who tried to hide her surprise by being open and friendly. It didn’t work as the scared girl struggled, fighting the unbreakable hold on her arm.
“Stop glowering, you’re frightening her.”
Her husband ignored her admonition and asked the question that was foremost in her mind as well. “Are you carrying my brother’s child?”
“Heath!” she cried, pushing at his shoulder to get him to stop, but he didn’t budge except to throw Jenny an annoyed glare.
“I thought I told you to wait inside.”
“And I thought I told you to stop scowling at her like an angry bear. You’re not going to get the answers you’re seeking if you scare her off.”
“Jenny,” he warned.
“Heath!” she returned, without backing down.
“Please, don’t argue on my account. I’ll answer your question. I have a few months yet before I’m due, so it couldn’t be your brother’s child, could it?”
Jenny’s eyes shot to her swollen belly, strongly doubting that was the case, though she bit her lip and remained quiet. Heath, who was clearly in a mood and less subtle in his skepticism, arched a brow in disbelief. Wisteria read their reactions correctly and went on to explain with hands splayed across her strained blouse as if she could hide behind them. “The doctor says I’m big because of my stature. Not enough up-and-down room so I’m spreading out. I fear what I’ll look like in August when I’m due.”
“I realize this is hardly my business,” Jenny began with quiet concern, “still, you did so much for me, I feel I must ask. Are you going to be okay, after the baby comes, I mean?” She stepped closer as she offered, “Maybe there’s something we can do to help.” Heath grunted beside her. She ignored him. “However will you make it on your own, honey?”
“I’m not alone,” Wisteria explained, her cheeks becoming flushed as she looked away, certainly embarrassed by the entire conversation. “I live with my husband not far from here.”
“Husband?” Heath echoed, in question.
“Yes. I was married not long after leaving Laramie.”
She had no more than said it before a man dressed in a suit came to the door. His glance took in Jenny briefly before settling on Heath. “Is there a problem here, sir?” he asked stiffly, although his tone was polite.
“No,” Heath replied. “Miss Turner is an acquaintance.”
“Turner? You mean Mrs. Skeens, don’t you?”
“Skeens? As in Jarrett Skeens?” Heath immediately questioned, while Jenny murmured softly with sympathy, “Oh, honey.”
“It’s all right, Jenny,” she murmured low. “He’s not all bad.” But Wisteria didn’t appear to believe her own claim as she glanced at Jenny briefly, before her eyes darted away.
Puzzled over this interaction, the man—obviously Wisteria’s boss—turned to her and said, “You have customers calling, Mrs. Skeens. I’m afraid your reunion will have to wait until after work.”
At her nod, the man bustled away.
“So, your time with Luke was what?” Heath inquired abruptly. “A last fling before the nuptials?”
“Heath!” Jenny choked out in surprise, while Wisteria answered with equal shock.
“He told you about that?”
“The Jacksons are all very close,” Jenny attempted to explain. “Luke told Aaron the very day you disappeared that he intended to—”
“No need to get into that, Jenny,” Heath cut in, casting a narrow-eyed look of warning her way. He offered instead, “Suffice it to say, we needed an explanation why he was tearing the territory apart searching for you.”
“Are you going to tell him about finding me here?”
“Do you have to ask, woman? Or didn’t you hear when I said he searched for you for a month?”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, “though I never asked him to do that. We barely knew each other. Tell him I thank him for his concern, but he needn’t worry about me anymore. I’m sure he has enough on his plate with a new wife and all.”
“Wife?” Jenny repeated in surprise. “Is that why you left so suddenly and married that awful Jarrett Skeens who you said you despised? Oh, Wisteria,” she ended on a concerned breath.
Wisteria glanced down at her hands. “Think of me what you will. I’m not the sort to stand by and be the other woman.”
“Explain that r
emark, if you please.” Heath waited for her response; however, she shook her head, saying nothing more. “Luke would have done the honorable thing by you, but you ran.”
“We can’t know that for sure, now can we? Be that as it may, this is not your concern, Mr. Jackson. Luke is aware of why I left.”
“Yes,” Heath replied with a smirk. “Won’t he be surprised to find out that you left a nice, warm, comfortable Jackson bed to hop into another with a claim-jumping, trespassing thief?” He fixed his stare on her burgeoning belly, ill-concealed despite her full skirt. “And by my calculations,” he added hollowly, “you didn’t waste any time doing it.”
“Heath Jackson!” Jenny gasped, appalled at his hard and exceedingly frank words. Pain rippled across Wisteria’s soft features in a flash, and even though she tried to mask them, Jenny saw her blink back the tears that had formed in her violet eyes. “That was cruel, husband. What’s gotten into you?” Jenny saw the anger in his set features and knew he was coming to the defense of his younger brother, although his words were like a fist in her own gut, so she could only imagine Wisteria’s reaction.
“I need to get back to work,” she said softly.
Jenny looked back to Wisteria. Her face had grown tight as had her hands on her belly, but she remained quiet, a far cry from the wild, hot-headed young woman who’d brazenly stood up to Judge Wilson a few months past. Jenny couldn’t help wonder what had happened to her. For that matter, what had come over Heath; he wasn’t ordinarily this blunt, or this rude, especially to a woman. He must know more about what went on between Wisteria and Luke than he’d told her.
Wisely, for the sake of the visibly distraught woman, she redirected the conversation. “We understand, Wisteria. I wish you the best with the baby, that he or she will be healthy and you’ll all be very happy.” She stepped forward and gave her a warm hug. “I can’t ever thank you enough for what you did for me. If you ever need anything, well, you know where to find me in Laramie.”
Wisteria nodded, turning to leave, then at the last moment swung back to Heath. “My horse,” she began tentatively.
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