Hawk's Way Grooms

by Joan Johnston

  Jenny gave him a shy look from beneath lowered lashes. “If you insist.”

  “I do. Are you ready to face the world as a couple?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Jenny said with a determined smile. “Let’s go.”

  “Do you realize this is our first date?” Colt said as he opened the passenger door to the classic red Ford Mustang convertible he’d been storing at his parents’ ranch while he was overseas.

  Jenny smiled up at him as she slid into the black leather bucket seat. “This is certainly the right car for it. How about putting the top down?”

  “You wouldn’t mind?”

  “I’d love it,” Jenny said. And she did. The night was warm, and the sky was filled with a million stars. She found herself laughing as her hair whipped around her face, making it impossible to see. “I should have brought a scarf,” she said.

  “Look in the glove compartment,” Colt said.

  She opened the glove compartment and found a small turquoise silk scarf. “This is mine!”

  He shot her a sheepish grin. “I found it in the car after Huck borrowed it.”

  “I remember when I lost this,” she said as she tied back her hair at her nape. “Huck said it must have blown off. But I was sure I’d taken it off when we—” Jenny stopped herself.

  “Yeah. That’s what I figured, too,” Colt said. He shot her a quick look. “You have no idea how much agony I suffered thinking about the two of you in the back seat of this car.”

  Jenny was grateful for the darkness that prevented Colt from seeing her blush. “Maybe I can make it up to you,” she said.

  Colt turned to stare at her. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” His eyes looked hungry, and she felt both frightened and exhilarated at the prospect of joining Colt in the back seat of his Mustang.

  A blaring horn brought them both to their senses.

  “Watch out!” she cried.

  Colt yanked the wheel to avoid the car coming from the opposite direction, overcompensated and went off the road. He hit the brakes, and the Mustang skidded to a halt on the dirt and gravel shoulder.

  “Are you all right?” Colt asked.

  Jenny was trembling, the result of too much adrenaline. “That was close,” she said with a small laugh.

  “Yeah. Too close. We could’ve been killed. And I would’ve missed getting to kiss you in the back seat of this car.” Colt opened his door, trotted around the front of the car, then opened her door. “Out,” he ordered.

  “Colt, it’s the middle of nowhere. What are you doing?”

  “We’re taking a little trip down memory lane.” Once she was out of the seat, he pushed it forward, making a space for her to slip into the back seat. “Get in.”

  Jenny slid into the back seat and scooted over to make room for Colt, who stepped in behind her. Before she had a chance to think, Colt slid one arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. With his eyes on hers, with their lips only an inch apart, he slowly tugged the scarf from her hair and sieved his fingers into her hair.

  “I love you, Jenny. I want to hold you and kiss you and make love to you until I can’t see straight.”

  “Oh, Colt.”

  Huck had never said such things, even though Jenny had always wished he would. Maybe it was because they’d become sweethearts at such a young age. Maybe it was because Huck hadn’t known how much she needed to hear them said.

  She couldn’t honestly tell Colt she loved him, or even that she was ready yet to make love to him. But she returned the favor of asking out loud for what she wanted.

  “I want to kiss you, too,” she said. She put her hand at his nape and urged his mouth down to hers, feeling the desire shoot through her as his mouth captured hers.

  “I want to touch you,” he murmured against her lips.

  She suddenly felt shy, like an innocent who’d never been touched. She reached for his hand and brought it to her breast. She moaned in her throat as his hand closed around her breast and his forefinger and thumb rolled her nipple. “Ohmigod,” she gasped.

  How could she feel so much? How could she need so much? There was something more she wanted. “I want to touch you,” she murmured.

  Colt made a guttural sound in his throat as his hand left her breast and reached for her hand, guiding it toward his mouth. He kissed her palm, then pressed it against his cheek.

  His skin felt soft and smooth after his shave and smelled of piney woods. She found the scar on his chin with her fingertips first, then with her lips. Her hand slid down Colt’s throat to his chest, where she felt his heart thudding under her hand.

  He held his breath as her hand moved lower, past his belt until she reached the hardness and heat between his legs. He stilled as she tentatively touched, tracing the shape of him, learning the feel of him. He groaned, then grabbed her wrist to stop her exploration.

  “I love the way you kiss and touch,” he said. “But the first time we make love, I want enough privacy to know we’re not going to be disturbed for a good long while. We’re already ten minutes late for supper at Buck’s Steakhouse.”

  Jenny managed a crooked smile. “At least I know I have a great deal to look forward to.”

  Colt laughed. “Come on. Let me help you out of here.”

  “Wait.”

  Colt paused halfway out of the back seat. “What’s the matter?”

  She grinned. “You’re going to have to help me find my scarf.”

  Colt laughed, kissed her quickly on the mouth, then pulled the scarf from his jeans pocket and gave it back to her.

  It took them only five minutes after they were on the road to reach Buck’s Steakhouse. To Jenny’s surprise, Colt curved his arm possessively around her waist as he led her inside. She knew he didn’t give a damn what people thought. He never had. But she’d lived here for more than fifteen years as Huck’s girl. She couldn’t help feeling a little trepidation as they stepped inside the restaurant.

  She hadn’t overestimated the effect their appearance arm-in-arm would have on their friends and neighbors. Curious eyes focused on them as she and Colt followed the waitress to their table. Jenny shivered. It felt like a caterpillar was crawling on her skin.

  “Ignore them,” Colt whispered in her ear. “They’ll get used to it.”

  Jenny wasn’t so sure. They might get used to seeing her with Colt, but people in small Texas towns had very long memories. When she and Colt were old and gray, her name would still be linked with Huck’s when it came up in conversation.

  Assuming you live that long.

  It had been dishonest not to tell Colt all the facts before he began his courtship. But it was entirely likely that once he knew the truth, he’d hightail it in the other direction. Jenny wanted to be wooed. She wanted to fall in love with Colt, perhaps even make love with him someday. Was that so wrong?

  “You’re beautiful, Jenny,” Colt murmured. “I’m the envy of every man here.”

  She flushed with pleasure and turned to look at him. The admiration was plain in his eyes, along with something else.

  Love.

  That was how she justified keeping her secret. Colt already loved her. He had nothing to lose by trying to win her love. She was the one risking everything. She was the one planning to fall in love with a man who might very well leave her in the end—as her father had left her mother—not because he didn’t care, but because he cared too much.

  She was glad Randy and Faith were sitting at the table, because otherwise she might have been tempted to confess everything. She was surprised to see that Hope had come along.

  “Hello, girls,” Jenny said. “You’re both looking very pretty tonight.”

  “Thank you, Miss Wright,” they replied in unison.

  The twins did look remarkably pretty, Jenny thought, but for identical twins, they also looked remarkably different. Hope wore a sophisticated strapless black sheath that was cut low enough to reveal a great deal of cleavage. Faith was dressed in a simple, V-nec
ked powder blue dress with capped sleeves.

  Hope’s hair was swept up in an elegant French twist, and she wore earrings that dangled, drawing male attention to her slender throat and bare shoulders. Faith wore her straight black hair tucked behind her ears, which held tiny diamond studs.

  Faith looked like the fresh-faced teenager she was, with only a hint of pink lipstick to emphasize her natural beauty. Her dark eyes glowed from within.

  Hope’s face was expertly made up, but she looked like a picture in a book, not a real person, and beyond the thick mascara on her lashes, Jenny saw a hint of desperation in the girl’s dark eyes.

  “Hope didn’t have any other plans, so Faith asked if she could come along,” Randy said. “I said it’d be fine. It’s okay, isn’t it?”

  “Sure. I’m glad you could both join us,” Jenny said as Colt seated her. She knew Randy well enough to sense he was annoyed at Hope’s presence, but she was proud of him for being gracious. “Looks like there’s plenty of room at the table,” she said.

  “Jake asked if he could join us,” Colt said. “So I asked Buck to make sure we had a big table.”

  Jenny eyed Colt speculatively, but he didn’t explain why Jake had invited himself along for a celebration to which he could have only a tenuous connection.

  Then Jenny looked across the table at Hope, all dressed up with no date at her side, and remembered how Hope had cornered Jake on her back porch during Huck’s wake. Hope had flirted openly, but Jake hadn’t seemed interested. Had Hope known Jake would be coming tonight? Was that why she’d invited herself along?

  Jenny prayed the young woman hadn’t developed a crush on Jake. Since his divorce five years ago, he’d been hell on women. Hope’s youth might provide some protection from Jake’s crude behavior, but if she pushed, Jake was likely to shove right back.

  Jenny had an unsettling thought. What if Jake had arranged for Hope to be here so he could meet with her?

  Once Jenny had ordered iced tea, she hid behind the menu and leaned over to ask Colt, “Did Jake say why he wanted to join us?”

  Colt shrugged. “He always has a steak at Buck’s on Friday night. When he realized we were coming, he asked if he could join us. Do you mind?”

  “Of course not,” Jenny said. “I always liked Jake.” She’d liked him a lot better before he’d been married to Lucy Palance, a girl he’d met when they were in college. Their ten-year marriage hadn’t seemed to bring much happiness to either of them. She’d often seen Jake with women over the past five years, but they weren’t the kind of female a hard-working rancher married.

  So Jenny was amazed when Jake showed up with a schoolteacher on his arm. Miss Amanda Carter was not only a proper lady, she was also fun-loving and pretty. She was twenty-nine and still unmarried, though she’d been pursued by all the most eligible bachelors in town. She wore a tailored cream-colored silk suit that accented her female curves. Amanda was exactly the sort of woman Jenny would have chosen as a second wife for Jake. She just wasn’t the sort of woman she’d expected to find at Jake’s side. Was Jake turning over a new leaf?

  Jenny glanced at Hope and saw from the girl’s stunned expression that she might very well have known Jake was coming tonight but hadn’t expected him to show up with a date. The blood leached from her face until her eyes were like two burned spots on a sheet of parchment.

  Judging from Faith’s equally stricken expression, she was aware of her sister’s distress. Faith had seated herself so her good hand was next to Randy, so it was necessary to reach out to Hope with her prosthesis. Jenny watched in surprise as Hope tightly gripped the metal hook for comfort, as though it were a flesh-and-blood hand.

  Hope’s eyes never left Jake’s face. She seemed to be waiting for something. For Jake to acknowledge her, Jenny realized.

  Jake avoided speaking directly to Hope, or even looking at her, by saying to Amanda, “You know the Butler twins.”

  “I do,” Amanda said with a smile. “You both look very pretty tonight.”

  “Thank you, Miss Carter,” Faith replied.

  Hope said nothing. Her gaze dropped to her lap, and color—an entire rose garden of color—suddenly grew on her pale cheeks. Her jaw was clamped, and she was blinking furiously.

  Jenny gave Jake a surreptitious glance to see whether he was affected by Hope’s despair and caught him stealing a look at Hope from the corner of his eye. It dawned on her that Jake was very much aware of Hope, that his indifference was a calculated act. He apparently cared for Hope a great deal more than he wanted her to know. And just as apparently had decided she was too young for him.

  What was it about the Whitelaw men that made them fall in love with unavailable women? Jenny wondered. She only had Colt to judge by, but if Jake was crazy enough to go through such an elaborate charade to discourage Hope, he wasn’t going to be happy with a substitute bride, even one as appropriate as Miss Amanda Carter.

  Jake ordered a beer for himself and Amanda, then asked if she wanted to dance to the live country and western band that played at Buck’s on Friday and Saturday nights. A moment later Jake pulled Amanda into his arms and began two-stepping around the wooden dance floor. Jake was a good dancer, and Jenny was forced to admit the couple looked very much like they belonged together.

  A glance at Hope revealed tight lips and narrowed eyes.

  Hope had obviously gotten the message Jake had sent by bringing along Miss Carter tonight. It wasn’t the gentlest setdown Jenny had ever seen a man give a woman. But it was certainly effective.

  She felt sorry for Hope. And angry at Jake. This was Hope’s graduation night, one of the most important nights in her life. What Jake had done was cruel, even if he’d believed it was necessary.

  Colt leaned over to speak in her ear. “What’s got you frowning?”

  “Your brother is an idiot,” she whispered back.

  “I’ve always thought so,” Colt agreed with a grin. “What has Jake done this time?”

  “Coming here with Amanda was—”

  Before she could finish, the music stopped and Jake and Amanda headed back toward the table. Jake seated Amanda next to Hope, then sat across from her.

  “Thanks, Jake,” Amanda said. “That was fun.”

  “You’re a good dancer, Amanda,” Jake replied.

  Jenny watched as Jake stole another glance at Hope. The teenager’s chin had dropped to her chest, and she was twisting her paper napkin into a knot. It was small comfort to see the flash of pain in Jake’s eyes.

  As soon as Amanda was settled and had taken a sip of her beer, she turned to the twins and asked, “Have you girls decided yet where you’re going to college?”

  Jenny had expected Faith to answer, but to her amazement, it was Hope who spoke. She lifted her head until her chin jutted and her shoulders were squared. Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears, but her voice belied her agitation as she replied, “Faith and I have both been accepted at Baylor, Miss Carter.”

  “Have you decided on a major yet?” Amanda inquired.

  Hope’s chin lifted another notch. “Animal husbandry.”

  Jake choked on his beer.

  “I want to learn how to put the right mare with the right stud,” Hope said, staring right at Jake. “That’s so important when you want to end up with good stock, don’t you agree, Mr. Whitelaw?”

  Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Absolutely.”

  Jenny figured any second now things were going to get ugly. She opened her mouth to intervene, but Jake spoke first.

  “That’s why I proposed to Miss Carter tonight.”

  Hope inhaled sharply.

  “I didn’t know you two had been seeing each other,” Jenny said to Amanda.

  “I’ve had my eye on Jake for a long time. He’s been a hard man to pin down,” Amanda said with a smile. “But he was worth the wait,” she said, leaning over to kiss Jake on the mouth.

  “Congratulations,” Colt said, grinning and slapping Jake on the back. He stood up enough to lean over and
kiss Amanda on the cheek. “I can always use another sister. I wish you both the very best.”

  Jenny turned to see how Hope was handling this latest announcement and discovered her chair was empty. The shredded napkin lay on the empty plate where she had been.

  Jenny’s gaze shot to Randy, who shrugged helplessly. To Jenny’s surprise, it was Faith who saved the day.

  “Hope hasn’t been feeling well today,” Faith said as she stood. “I think we’ll wait and eat at the senior picnic later tonight. Will you excuse us, please?”

  “Be careful on the—”

  “I know,” Randy said, cutting Jenny off as he rose to go with Faith. “I’ll drive slow. See you at the ceremony, sis. Bye, Colt. Bye, Miss Carter. Congratulations, Jake.”

  Once the teenagers were gone, the empty seats at the table loomed large. Jenny searched for something to say, but could think of nothing. Jake’s face looked pale, and Jenny noticed he had let go of Amanda’s hand.

  “You’re not the only one with news, Jake,” Colt said with a smile to his older brother. “You can wish me happy, too. I’ve decided to resign from the Air Force and stay at the Double D with Jenny.”

  Jake’s lips curled in a bleak smile. “Well, little brother, looks like we’re both going to settle down and live happily ever after.”

  Jenny shivered as a chill of foreboding ran down her spine.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “WHY ARE YOU SO FIDGETY?” FAITH whispered.

  Randy shot a glance at Faith, who was sitting next to him on the front seat of Old Nellie, then at Hope, who was sitting to Faith’s right, and then back to the winding dirt road. “Guess I’m just excited about graduating.”

  After what had happened at supper, he should’ve known Faith wouldn’t go to the senior picnic without Hope. Randy was beginning to wonder if he’d ever get Faith alone.

  Everyone had brought along jeans and T-shirts to change into at the rest rooms at school, because the picnic consisted of a midnight hot dog and marshmallow roast around a bonfire at the Whitelaw ranch. The Whitelaw Brats had started the tradition, and long after their youngest had graduated, Zach and Rebecca Whitelaw continued to make the site at Camp LittleHawk available for the party.