by Ginna Gray
The Dolans sat down on the sofa, and Kate and J.T. took the club chairs that sat at right angles to it. Leaning his narrow hips back against the kitchen counter, Zach folded his arms over his chest and swept them all with a narrow-eyed look, starting and ending with J.T. "So what's this all about?"
J.T. glanced at Matt, and he nodded. "Go ahead. You tell him."
"Tell me what?"
J.T. met Zach's gaze squarely. "There's just one way to say this and that's straight-out. We're here because Matt and I have reason to believe that you're our brother."
"What?" Zach shot away from the counter and faced them with his fists planted on his hips, his face tight with annoyance and suspicion. "That's a crock. What're you people trying to pull?"
"No, Zach, let him explain," Kate urged. "It's true. There's proof."
"Proof? What kind of proof can he have? You're my only family. These guys are pulling some kind of con, and you've falling for it, Sis."
"Just listen to him for a minute, Zach," she pleaded. "Please. Do it for me."
He hesitated, his mouth folded into a grim line, but finally he nodded. "All right, shoot. But I'm warning you, this had better be good."
"You're birthday is February sixth, right?"
"Yeah, but since I was supposed to come home to celebrate the day with my sister, you already knew that."
"You were born here in Houston at St. Joseph's Hospital, at a little after seven in the morning, right?"
"Yeah," he drawled warily, showing the first sign of surprise.
"And you were adopted by the Mahoneys at age two?"
"Yes, but that information is a matter of public record. I don't know yet why you went to the trouble to look it up, but it proves nothing."
"How about this? Your birth mother made two stipulations when you were given up for adoption—that you go to an Irish-American family and that you always wear around your neck a jagged piece of silver, a fragment of a medallion."
"How did you know tha—"
"It's pie-shaped and about an inch and a half long. There is some sort of symbol on the front and writing etched on the back, but not enough to make out what it says."
Zach stared at him.
The air inside the RV was suddenly thick and tingling with electricity.
"We know it's difficult to believe. Trust me, we understand exactly what you're feeling right now," Matt said, speaking up for the first time. "J.T. and I had a hard time accepting it, too, but it's true. Here, see for yourself." Reaching inside his shirt, he lifted out his medallion piece and whipped it off over his head. J.T. did the same.
Both men rose and stood in front of Zach. "See, they fit together," J.T. said, and joined his piece to Matt's to form two-thirds of a disc. "We think yours will fill in the missing section."
Zach stared at the two pieces of silver, then at Matt and J.T. Without a word, he reached inside his shirt and pulled out a chain from which dangled a pie-shaped piece of silver. He pulled the chain over his head and slipped the metal fragment between the two others.
They fit together perfectly.
"Well, I'll be damned." Zach looked at J.T., then Matt. "We're brothers?"
"Triplets actually."
"The hell you say."
Kate chuckled and shook her head. Her brother's skepticism was easy to understand. Though the three men were the same height and had the same broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped build, there the resemblance ended. Matt and J.T. did not look that much alike, but they both had dark hair and coloring and vivid blue eyes. Zach's hair was so blond it was almost white, a startling contrast to his tanned skin.
The three brothers were all ruggedly masculine, each in his own way. Matt had a harsh, street-tough look about him, and J.T. a chiseled handsomeness. Zach, however, had that weathered toughness of a Westerner—skin tanned to a leathery brown and etched with fine lines around his eyes and deeper ones running from the corners of his mouth to his nose. He had a strong, square jaw, straight nose, cheekbones sharp enough to cut and deep-set, green eyes that glittered like gems in his sun-scorched face giving him the sharp, wary look of a wolf.
"Yeah, I know. We don't look much alike, do we?" J.T. said with a chuckle. "We're fraternal triplets, not identical."
Kate looked anxiously from one man to the other, waiting for them to express some sort of emotion, but they merely continued to eye one another.
She wanted to knock their heads together and shout at them, but at the same time she ached with sadness and pity. That these three men who had begun life together, who should, by all rights, share a strong bond, now seemed unable to close the distance that time and different life paths had created was heartbreaking.
Kate glanced at Maude Ann, and she could see that the other woman was feeling just as exasperated and helpless as she. Maude Ann, however, had been dealing with Matt's and J.T.'s standoffish behavior toward each other far longer, and she had run out of patience.
"Oh, good grief," she snapped. "Don't just stand there all stoic and macho. Do something. Hug. Kiss. Slap some backs. At least shake hands. You're brothers, for pity's sake."
Matt gave his wife a stern look. When he turned back to his brothers his mouth quirked. "You'll have to excuse Maudie. She gets emotional at times."
Maude Ann threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. "I give up. You three are hopeless."
"I agree with Maude Ann. What is the matter with you men? Especially you, Zach. This is a wonderful event. You've just been reunited with your brothers. Can't you show a little enthusiasm?"
"Kate, don't push," he said in a warning voice. "Five minutes ago I didn't even know I had brothers."
She made an exasperated sound, and she and Maude Ann exchanged a commiserating look. "Fine. Be pigheaded. But at the very least shouldn't you see what the writing on that medallion says?"
"Hey, she's right," J.T. said. "I'd almost forgotten about that."
"Yeah, me, too," Matt agreed. "Let's put the pieces together over here on the table where the light is better and have a look."
The two women quickly slid onto the bench seats on either side of the table so that they could see, too.
Crowding around the end of the tiny table, their shoulders touching, the three big men bent over and each placed his medallion piece on the table, face-up. Standing in the middle, Matt put a finger of each of the three sections, slid them together and drew his hands back.
"An R with a curved line under it? What does that mean?" Maude Ann asked.
"It means the Rocking R," her husband supplied. "It's a cattle brand."
"Yeah. I've heard of that outfit," Zach murmured. "It's a big spread up in Montana."
"Turn it over. Let's see what's on the other side." Even as he spoke, J.T. flipped the silver pieces over and fitted them together again. Etched in block print was the address of the Rocking R Ranch. Beneath the address were the words Your Heritage.
"This must have been your birth mother's home," Kate said, touching her fingertip to the medallion.
"Maybe," J.T. murmured. "Or it could have been our father's, whoever he is, and she just wanted us to know."
"In that case why didn't she just give us each a medallion?" Matt growled. "Why cut one up into thirds? If J.T. hadn't accidentally spotted my piece we would probably never have known that we were related or that this place existed."
"I'd say it was a mother's desperate act. She was probably praying you would find one another when you were grown," Maude Ann said. "Knowing the Texas adoption system, they wouldn't have allowed her to give each of you a whole medallion with that information on it. Especially not thirty-three years ago."
"Yeah, well … at least now we have a place to look for some information about our mother. I, for one, want to know why the hell she gave us away." J.T. straightened and rubbed the back of his neck. "The question is, what's our next move? Do we write? Or call? Or do we all go there together?"
"Right now the only place I'm going is into the arena," Zach announced, glancin
g at the wall clock. "Bronc riding starts in less than half an hour. I gotta go see what horse I drew and check him out." He started for the door, but J.T. stopped him.
"Zach, wait. Look, we need to talk. Why don't we meet you for a late dinner after the performance? You name the place."
He hesitated, his guarded look flickering over all of them. Then he nodded. "All right. Meet me at Delgado's at ten. It's on Post Oak Lane."
* * *
"Letters and telephone calls seem too impersonal for something like this," J.T. said as he cut into his steak. "It makes it too easy for someone to fluff off your request for information. If we want to get some answers about our mother, then I vote we go to the Rocking R, all three of us together." He paused before putting the bite into his mouth and waved his knife for emphasis. "Who knows what we'll run into up there. We should present a united front."
"I don't know. Montana is a long way from here. I don't want to leave Maude Ann and the kids for too long."
"Don't worry about us. Jane and I can handle the children. You go with J.T. and Zach."
Matt started to argue, but Maude Ann put her hand on his arm and stopped him. "Darling, you know that until you learn about your mother and find out why she gave you up, you'll never be totally at peace. You want to put those dreams of yours to rest, don't you? Well, this is your chance."
"How about you, Zach?" J.T. asked. "You game?"
Watching her brother, Kate held her breath. Though the three men had exchanged bits and pieces of information about themselves over drinks and throughout the meal, most of it had been merely surface stuff—where they'd gone to school, where they'd lived, what they did for a living. None of them seemed the least inclined to touch on anything truly personal or meaningful. There was an awkward constraint between the three that they either couldn't or wouldn't try to overcome. They reminded Kate of three wary dogs, slowly circling one another.
She sighed. She loved her brother dearly, but he was intensely private and tended to put up a wall between himself and others. As close as they'd always been, there were some areas of his life that were off-limits even to her. These past four years he had become even more closed off.
Judging by J.T.'s and Matt's behavior, they were almost as cautious and untrusting.
"I guess I could forego one rodeo and make the trip. But it'll be better for me if we do it about a month from now. I'll be in that area then, and I can meet up with you in Clear Water."
"That'll work for me. How about you, Matt?"
He nodded, and they returned their attention to dinner.
Kate sighed again. At this rate they weren't ever going to connect with one another the way brothers should.
Over the remainder of the meal they made their plans and exchanged telephone numbers, but other than that the conversation remained desultory and impersonal. Kate was trying to come up with something to shake things up when a deep voice from the other side of the restaurant boomed J.T.'s name. They all looked up to see a short, bald man approach their table.
"Charlie!"
The man slapped J.T. on the back and took a soggy cigar out of his mouth. "Good to see you, Conway. It's about time you came back. When did you get in? And why didn't you let me know?"
Scraping back his chair, J.T. bolted to his feet and dropped his napkin on the table. He towered over the paunchy little man, but Kate could have sworn that he looked almost frightened. "I'm not back, Charlie. This is just a quick visit."
"You mean you're going back to that one-horse mining town? Dammit man; I got a newspaper to run. I can't hold your job at the Herald forever, you know."
"Uh, look, Charlie, this is not the time for this discussion. I'm with friends and I'd rather not—"
"Sure, sure. I didn't mean to interrupt. Just wanted to say hello." The portly man turned to leave, then looked back and jabbed his wet stogie in J.T.'s direction. "Just remember, I'm still waiting for that article on the Gold Fever scandal that you promised me."
* * *
Chapter 12
« ^ »
Kate felt all the blood drain from her face. "You're a reporter."
"No, Kate, listen to—"
"You lied to me. All this time you've been lying. You're not a novelist. You're a reporter. One of those bloodsucking muckrakers who swarmed all over our property and wouldn't give us a moment's peace. You think you have the right to poke your nose into other people's lives and print half-truths and innuendoes. It doesn't matter to you who you hurt or what you have to do to get it, just as long as you end up with a juicy story that will sell newspapers. That's really who you are, isn't it, J.T.?"
"No, Kate—"
"You wormed your way into my home under false pretenses. Even your search for Zach was secondary, wasn't it? You really came to Gold Fever to write about the scandal, didn't you? To dig up all the old dirt and point the finger at Zach and me again, never mind that he's your own brother."
J.T. winced at the bitter accusation. "No, Kate, that's not true. Give me a chance to explain, sweetheart."
The Dolans exchanged a worried look, but discreetly said nothing. Zach sat rigid, his face stony as his icy gaze bore into J.T.
J.T. dropped back into his seat and reached for Kate's hands, but she snatched them away and clasped them together in her lap. She stared at him, her eyes full of scorn and anger and hurt.
"I didn't lie to you, sweetheart, I swear. I'll admit I was a reporter, but I gave that up to do what I've always wanted to do, and that was write books. I swear I came to Gold Fever to write a novel. I have two stories roughed out already."
"You quit your job? The way that man talked it certainly didn't sound like it to me."
She watched the flash of guilt race over his face, and her last faint hope vanished.
"Well, technically, I'm on a leave of absence," he admitted ruefully, then hurried to add, "But I'm not going back to the Herald. I swear it. I just haven't told Charlie yet."
"You son of a—" Zach exploded out of his chair and extended his hand for Kate. "C'mon, Sis, let's get out of here."
J.T. put his hand on Kate's arm, but she rose with fragile dignity, refusing to look at him. He sprang up, as well. Over the top of her head he glared at his brother. "You stay out of this, Zach. This is between Kate and me."
Zach's jaw jutted. "Like hell. Periodically some sleazy journalist like you comes to Gold Fever and starts poking around. And every time something is printed about the swindle, Kate's good name and my own get dragged through the dirt. But that's not the point here. There's something you need to learn about family, brother," he sneered. "And that is they stick together. You hurt my sister, you got me to deal with."
The message came through loud and clear: they may be related by blood, but as far as Zach was concerned, Kate was his family.
"C'mon, Sis, let's go." Zach put his arm around her shoulders and started to lead her away, but Kate held back.
"No, wait. There's one thing I want to know first." She fixed J.T. with an unwavering stare. "I've never asked before. I figured it was your business, and if you wanted me to know you'd tell me, but now I'm curious. These books you're writing, what are they about?"
J.T. shifted uncomfortably. "Look, Kate, just because I'm writing a book doesn't mean it'll get published. I've never sold a manuscript before. Oh, sure, I have a few contacts in the publishing world, but that's no guarantee."
"What are the stories about, J.T.?" she persisted.
"I told you, I'm writing a novel set during the heyday of hard-rock mining."
"And the other one?"
"Kate—"
Her chin came up, and J.T. sighed. He raked a hand through his hair. "It's a fictionalized version of the what happened four years ago. But I was going to let you read it before I submitted it to a publisher," he added in a rush. "I swear I was, sweetheart. You have to believe me. I would never do anything to hurt you. Don't you know that?"
Kate felt as though she'd just been stabbed in the heart. The pain
in her chest was so awful, for a moment she couldn't speak. "But you have," she managed finally. "And the truly sad part is, you don't even seem to realize just how much."
The stricken look on J.T.'s face should have pleased her, but it didn't. The pressure in her chest was so great she felt as though she might shatter into a million little pieces at any second. She could barely muster the strength to move, but she slipped her arm through Zach's. "I'm ready to go now."
Zach paused and jabbed his forefinger at J.T. "You can forget marrying my sister, Conway. Just stay away from her. If you don't, I swear I'll break you in two."
Kate didn't know where she found the strength, but somehow she managed to put one foot in front of the other and walk away.
"Kate, wait!" J.T. started after the pair, but Maude Ann grabbed his arm.
"No, J.T., don't."
"Dammit, Maudie, let me go. I've got to stop her."
"I don't think that's a good idea right now. She's upset. They both are."
"With good reason," Matt growled, earning himself a warning look from his wife and a glare from his brother.
Maude Ann squeezed J.T.'s hand. "Give her a little while to calm down, then talk to her. Besides, you don't want to start a fight with Zach. That won't earn you any points with Kate, and that's what it will come to if you don't back off."
Every instinct J.T. possessed prodded him to ignore Maude Ann and rush after Kate, but some small part of him knew she was right. Frowning, he glanced down at his sister-in-law, then at Kate's retreating back. When she and Zach disappeared through the door, J.T.'s shoulders slumped. Sighing, he sank down onto his chair, propped his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands.
"I can't believe you didn't tell that girl the truth."
"Shut up, Matt."