by Starla Kaye
"He is a handsome man, your husband."
Jennie turned abruptly toward the young woman who had spoken with such admiration. She found a breath-taking redhead standing only a few feet away. Jealousy spiraled through her and her tone was less than friendly as she said, "Yes, my husband is."
The beauty smiled, her green eyes sparkling in amusement. "You've no need to feel threatened by me. Daniel isn't the Braddock I've set my sight on winning." She gave Jennie a conspiratorial look. "It's Adam who I want."
Adam? Then she remembered her husband talking about the mayor's annoying daughter who had been chasing after his brother for over a year. Jennie had found Daniel's disgust amusing and she grinned now in pleasure. "You must be Faith Paddington. Daniel mentioned you."
Faith laughed, softly and full of delight. "I bet he has. He, Caleb and Ben have banded together to keep me from hurting Adam. As if I would ever do that. I love the dear, stubborn man. Impossible as he can be at times."
Jennie had only met Adam once, when he'd stopped by the ranch the day after she'd arrived. He had given her a fairly cold welcome, apparently not believing she could make his brother happy. He hadn't said as much, but she'd sensed it. She hadn't met Caleb and Ben, the twins, yet, but it was obvious that they weren't overjoyed about her being here either. Even though she was pretty disgusted with the Braddock brothers, she was envious of the tight bond between them. They truly cared about one another. She'd never had that experience in her life. Her parents had always cared more about each other and their place in society than about her. She had been a pretty daughter to show off and hopefully one day she would gain them more attention when she made a "good" marriage. She had and she hadn't, as far as that went. But she didn't want to think about that problem now.
"I don't know what you see in Adam, but--"
Faith went on the defensive. "He's been hurt badly. Surely Daniel told you about what happened."
Jennie blinked in surprise at the other woman's reaction. "Actually Daniel hasn't said much about any of his brothers." Thinking about that, she felt a little hurt about the fact that he didn't share information about his family with her. In truth, they hadn't talked about anything personal other than what needed to be shared when they made love. All he'd talked about these last couple of days was attempting to teach her about cooking or about how to saddle a horse. Both things he didn't think she could master.
"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said anything," Faith apologized. "My father is always telling me to mind my own business."
"You've done nothing wrong. But if you're uncomfortable with telling me about whatever happened to Adam, I'll ask Daniel." Maybe she could talk to him on the ride home.
The very person they were talking about stepped out of the building labeled "Dryfork Barber Shop" next to the mercantile. Adam glanced in their direction and immediately frowned. He hesitated, and then walked toward them. He was tall like Daniel, but leaner. His hair was a shade or two darker brown with a curl that fell forward over his pinched brow. His brown-eyed gaze shifted down to several sheets of paper in Faith's hand that Jennie hadn't noticed before.
"Are you still putting out flyers about that picnic you ladies planned for this weekend? The one your father, as mayor, refused to allow?" his tone echoed with disapproval, his expression tight. He tried to take them from her hand.
Faith pulled them out of his reach and took a step back. "He's being a stodgy old fool about this. There is no harm in the town having a picnic." She nodded at Jennie and smiled in challenge. "And now it is even more important that we have it, to welcome Daniel's wife to town."
He glowered at Jennie as if this were all her fault. "I suppose you expected some kind of fancy party to celebrate your arrival here. This isn't the East. People will welcome you as they meet you."
His gruffly spoken words threaded with anger caught her off-guard. Jennie gaped at him, feeling her cheeks heat in embarrassment. Even more so when she noticed several women stopping on the boardwalk across the street at his loudly stated comment.
Ignoring her, he shook his head in irritation and continued his tirade now leveled again at poor Faith. "Everyone knows there's been talk of the Walton Gang causing trouble just south of here. Getting drunk, harassing people in the towns, shooting the places up. We don't want word spreading about a celebration here. We don't want them coming here to cause trouble. No picnic!"
Jennie's heart pounded in hurt and anger, but she'd recovered enough to protest, "I do not expect a 'fancy party.' I just want to be accepted, nothing more. But clearly you have a problem with that, which should be kept private...between you, me and Daniel. Not aired out in public." She nodded toward the women across the road, clearly listening now.
He had the grace to look flustered. Good. But she stormed on, confused. "Why hasn't someone stopped this gang? Why aren't they in jail?"
His broad chest puffed up again beneath his white shirt, something deep inside him still defensive and unwilling to back down. "Do you think we're all stupid just because we live on the frontier?" he growled. "They've been locked up, more than once. But some slick judge is in their pocket. They get off with barely a slap on the wrist."
Before Jennie could respond, he turned his focus back to Faith. "None of the men in town want to chance them being drawn here to Dryfork for any reason. Your father is right on this decision. And you need to stop pestering people about this. He said 'no' and he meant it."
Faith's eyes watered in humiliation. She crumpled the papers in her hand. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Jennie recognized the same expression she'd witnessed on Daniel's face when he'd warned her that he was going to spank her. This Braddock brother sorely wanted to put a hand to Faith's bottom. Luckily for her they weren't married. Well, Jennie wasn't married to him either, and she had never been so angry. She went toe-to-toe with her brother-in-law, cocked her head back to look up at him. "Leave her alone! Can't you see how you've embarrassed her? Can't you see how you've hurt her?" She punched him in the chest with a finger. "Leave. Her.Alone."
"You've no right to speak to me that way," Adam growled and swatted her finger away. He almost looked like he would strike her, but he stood rigid in anger.
A shudder of unease swept through her. Was he truly a violent man? Then she saw a tear slip from one of Faith's eyes and fury replaced her caution. She couldn't back down now, not even as she realized a number of other people had stopped nearby out of curiosity. "You made her cry," she accused and finger-punched him again, pleased when he looked warily at Faith.
Heavy footsteps pounded down the wooden boardwalk behind her. Fury sizzled in the air. She heard grumbled statements about letting him through. She drew in her husband's familiar scent even before he stopped behind her and pulled her away from his brother.
"Jennie Braddock, I haven't left you alone five minutes and already you're into trouble." His grip on her shoulders made her wince and she wriggled free.
"This isn't my fault," she protested, hurt pinching her heart. "It's your brother who made this scene. He's got some kind of grudge against the world, me in particular. But that's beside the point. He's unhappy and he doesn't want anyone else to be happy either."
To her disgust a tear trickled down her cheek. She swiped it away and looked back at a frowning Adam. "Whatever happened in your past is over and done with. Get beyond it. Quit making everyone as unhappy as you are."
She glanced at her scowling husband and saw an unspoken warning in his narrowed eyes. Her buttocks clenched and unclenched. Drat! Resigned, she looked back to Adam. "I'll pay for this later, I'm sure. But I am not apologizing to you. It's clear you don't like me, don't want me here, and would rather I take the first stage back east. Something my own husband has mentioned more than once. I'm not leaving." She swallowed hard and added, "Yet."
When she faced her husband once more, she saw shock and possible hurt pass through his expression before frustration replaced it. Shaking her head in disappointment, she said to Faith, "Ho
pefully we'll meet again under better circumstances." She admitted sadly, "I've never been on a private picnic or to a town picnic. It might have been nice."
With that said she pulled courage around her and started marching toward the livery stable. "I believe it's time we go home, Daniel. I'll come back another day to make my purchases."
Behind her Daniel followed in silence, a silence that promised she was going to pay for her public outburst just as she'd told Adam. And she heard Faith finally speak up for herself and lay into Adam for being a fool. No matter how he started to defend himself, Faith verbally tore off a piece of his hide. It made Jennie smile. She and Faith would become friends...for as long as Jennie stayed in Dryfork. The uncertainty of how long she could stay was thoroughly depressing. Adam didn't want her here. She still hadn't even met Caleb or Ben. And Daniel... well, she didn't want to think about him right now. She'd made a serious scene on the boardwalk and quite a few people had stopped to witness it. No, he wasn't going to like that one bit.
* * *
What the hell am I supposed to do now? Daniel strode briskly down the dirt road after his wife, small dust clouds spiraling upward at her brisk steps. He tried not to notice the many townspeople who had managed to come outside and watch the incident between his brother and Jennie. That damn picnic! The women in the area were all up in arms because they wanted to have a get together where everyone could have some plain old fun and share good food. It wasn't a bad idea, but the timing was wrong. Damn Walton Gang! But neither he nor any of the men in town wanted to take a chance on drawing the gang into their midst. The gang was becoming rowdier, bolder and more dangerous as time went along. Someone was going to get killed sooner or later and he sure as hell didn't want that happening in his town.
Her voice raised in frustration, he listened to Faith telling Adam off behind him. He'd seen her tears and had been upset with his brother, too, just as Jennie had been. What was going on with him? He was getting more crotchety every day. Daniel needed to sit down with him and make Adam tell him what his problem was now. Maybe he needed to get Caleb and Ben involved, too. But right now his problem was Jennie. He needed to deal with her first. He just didn't know how, although he suspected that she believed he intended to warm her bottom over the unseemly public display. But he wasn't sure. His brother was largely at fault...and they would have a word or two about it later.
Jennie sat stiffly beside him on the buckboard's seat as they rode out of town. She held her hands clasped in her lap. One small shoe tapped in annoyance beneath her long skirt. Daniel let her stew for a spell, unsure how he wanted to proceed on the subject. Finally she couldn't hold her irritation in any longer and he braced for the release of her temper. And his pretty little wife did have a temper. He'd observed it a few times when he'd courted her, and he'd warned her at the time to be careful about controlling it.
"He started it," she huffed, facing him. "I know he's your brother, but..."
Daniel gripped the reins and tried to keep a grip on his own temper. "I'm not taking sides against either of you. Adam is my brother, yes. But you are my wife. You are both important to me. And I sure as hell would like the two of you to get along."
She brushed at some dust on her skirt. "I don't know how to do it, Daniel. You saw how he was when he came to the ranch the other day. Surely you heard the coldness toward me in his voice."
He had and that was another issue he needed to talk to his brother about, in private. "You have to be patient with him. We all have to."
"Faith told me as much." She blew out a frustrated breath. "But why? She said something had happened to Adam to make him this way, but she wouldn't explain. She said you should tell me."
The subject was a tough one to discuss, but he supposed she needed to understand. Maybe then she could find a way to deal with Adam. He looked down the dirt road and took a second for the pain of it all to wash over him. She needed to know some of their history first.
"When we all came out here together, we bought a ranch...a good-sized one. Ben now runs it for all of us. The place is on the other side of Dryfork, closer to Dodge City." He guided the wagon over a deep rut in the road. "It didn't take over a year for us to all find our own paths. Caleb, Ben's twin, took up preaching in Camden, a town about a couple hours west of here. I stayed at our family ranch a while longer and then became sheriff here. I bought my small ranch a year later."
He glanced in her direction, saw how avidly she was listening. And he realized he should have told her some of this before now. Why hadn't he? Had he believed she wouldn't stay around long and not wanted to get into any of this? Feeling guilty, he put a hand on her thigh and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry. I should have told you some of this before now."
She seemed surprised at his admission. "Yes, I do feel rather left out." She worried her lower lip and glanced down at her lap. "I haven't felt very welcome here. The issues with Adam. Not meeting Ben or Caleb or Seth."
He squeezed her leg again. "All of it's my fault, and I'll take care of the situation." He looked at the road once more. "You won't meet Seth for a while. He went to California a couple of years ago, to find gold. We rarely hear from him." And that worried Daniel. As the oldest brother, he felt responsible for them all.
He shoved the problem of Seth aside for now. "Adam became a soldier at Fort Dodge not long after we came here. He got married, too, soon after that. Meredith didn't like him being gone so much, off on patrols watching over the Indians that used to be around these parts. They argued a lot when he was home."
"Adam was married?" Jennie questioned quietly.
Daniel didn't like even thinking about those times. His brother had been stuck in a miserable marriage with a woman he never should have married to begin with. After a few minutes, he continued, "Meredith ended up getting with child about the same time she was talking to Adam about leaving him, about going home to her folks in Virginia." He gritted his teeth to get past the memory of how frustrated Adam had felt then: elated about having a child, worried his wife would leave him and take the baby with her. "Adam was off on patrol when Meredith went into labor early. She lost the baby and bled to death."
"Oh no," Jennie gasped. "Poor Adam."
He glanced at her, noted the tears for his brother in her eyes, and felt relieved to have shared this tragedy with her. "Adam was almost inconsolable when he got back and found out what had happened. He quit soldiering and took to drinking away the pain. We almost lost him, too. It's been a tough couple of years for him getting over that and trying to come to terms with his life now."
"I understand his pain," she said and then straightened to look at him with determination. "But I stand by what I told him. He needs to get over what happened. He needs to stop focusing on his losses and making everyone around him unhappy because he is unhappy."
"You're right, but you can't force someone to be happy." He held her gaze and narrowed his eyes. "You need to leave him alone."
"That's just foolish," she countered. "Clearly you and your other brothers have been letting Adam wallow in his misery for too long. He needs someone--or some people--to nudge him back to getting on with his life. Like Faith. Or me."
Daniel frowned at the spark of challenge in her eyes. "The two of you need to let him be. I mean it, Jennie. Don't push my brother. He's still hurting."
She huffed and focused on the road ahead. He was certain she had no intention of listening to him on this subject. Maybe she was right about nudging Adam out of his present grouchy state, but he didn't want to take the chance of just making his brother mad. No, it was best to leave him alone, to be there when Adam needed him.
"You best be listening to me, Jennie. Leave Adam alone."
* * *
Two days later Daniel walked into the house carrying a switch.
Chapter Three
Daniel clutched the switch so tightly it hurt his hand. Not as much as it would soon sting his wife's bottom. He was so upset with her he could hardly think straight. He prob
ably should wait to punish her until later when his anger had simmered down a bit, but he had his job to get back to and this couldn't wait.
Jennie had gone against him, just as he'd almost known she would. The independent female had a mind of her own. She'd pretty much always done as she'd pleased while growing up, facing little as far as consequences went when she caused trouble of one kind or another. Yes, she'd told him her father would sometimes burn her ears with a lecture. It wasn't the same as getting your butt burned, which tended to make a person pay more attention the next time they thought about disobeying someone. He believed in lessoning a butt. And his saucy wife was about to get a good lesson.
He drew in a calming breath that helped a little, but didn't sway him from what he intended to do. Pulling open the door, he strode into the house. When he didn't find his wife in the room that made up most of the house, he called out, "Jennifer!"
"What are you doing back so soon?" Jennie called back, sounding both surprised and irritated. "Don't you have a town to look after? At least that's what you're always telling me."
She hadn't bothered to come out of the bedroom to see him, which annoyed him. The irritation in her tone worried him, too. What the heck was she up to in there? He strode in her direction, grinding his jaw. He really didn't have much time to spend here. The mayor had called a special meeting of the town council about this damn picnic mess that continued to be a problem. He was expected to be there. So he had exactly a half hour to get this unpleasant chore done and hightail it back to the Tumbleweed Saloon where all town council meetings were held. Fortunately his ranch was just outside of town.
"Jennifer Braddock, we've got some business to take care of and I don't have much time."
He walked into the bedroom and gaped in shock. Where there had been six pegs for his clothes before he left this morning and two trunks holding hers, now a line of sturdy nails wrapped around the room. And she stood scowling, holding a hammer in one hand and holding up her other obviously aching hand, blowing on a rapidly swelling thumb. He hurried toward her with a frown. "What the hell did you do? Bang your thumb with the hammer?"