“I know, kitten,” he said. He pulled her close to him. “We’ll figure it out, I promise we will.” He tipped her face and gently kissed her, before letting go. “Now, off to bed with you—before I can no longer let you go.”
Kat grinned at him, stepped up on her tiptoes, kissing him softly, heard him groan, then scooted up the tree to the balcony.
Just before she went back in through her window, she felt eyes on her. She glanced up to see a sad, old man, staring back at her, as she slipped into her room. They both stood, motionless, as they stared back at each other. And Kat knew, then, what he’d been thinking—observing the young man, who loved her, as he headed back to the livery stable. She knew he wanted Kid to let her go.
Kat watched him leave the window, taking himself off to bed.
“That’s never going to happen, grandfather or no,” she said out loud.
So why didn’t that feel like truth? Why did it feel like she were only trying to deceive herself? She gazed across the grounds at where Kid stood, still watching her. And she knew—even he had his doubts....
Kat looked away. She could easily see that he knew their future sat on the edge of a cliff, just as well as she did.
Why? It wasn’t like her grandfather had control over her. Nothing could prevent her from going home. Could it? Then, why couldn’t she shake the feeling that something existed here—stronger than her will.
Late the next afternoon, Kat had started for the livery, when she saw a young man limping across the grounds. He was dressed in a fancy coat and pants, with a scarf-like thing tied around his neck, in much the same manner as her cousin. He also walked with a walking stick—but his had an ornate lion sculpture on the handle.
She stared at him—she couldn’t seem to help it.
He came toward her, holding out his hand. She allowed him to take hers, confused. She looked down at his hand. Though still very young, he had a nasty scar sticking out from the ruffles on his sleeves, near his thumb. The wrinkled skin looked like an old burn.
“Who are you?” she asked bluntly.
He grinned at her in a way that completely disarmed her. “Why I’m George, Ethan’s brother.”
She blanched, realizing—and his grin grew wider. “He didn’t tell you about me, did he?” He shrugged. “No matter. I’m the dirty secret. The skeleton hidden in his closet.”
Kat found, she liked him instantly. She couldn’t help it. He had an easy smile and gentle manner.
He took her hand, tucked it in his arm, walking her across the grounds. “Don’t worry, cousin,” he said. “I got over my brother’s disdain of me—long ago.”
Kat laughed with him. “I know what you mean,” she said. “I got over the way people viewed me a long time ago too.”
Halting, he turned, grinning at her. “The wild child,” he said, teasing. “I heard. Does my cousin know you wield a menacing knife?”
Kat’s mouth fell open. “No.” Her gaze narrowed on him. “How is it that you know?”
He laughed. “I saw you take it out at the livery, yesterday.”
Kat flushed. “But I had to lift up my….”
He smiled at her.
She shook her finger at him. “That’s very ungentlemanly of you,” she said, reminding herself he couldn’t be more than twenty-years-old.
He still grinned, unrepentant. “I’m a gimp. I limp. I accept gifts of beauty, wherever I can find them.”
Kat shook her head at him. But he had a bit of charisma, for a young man, and she found it difficult to stay mad at him.
He took her hand, once more tucking it in his arm, and continued along the grounds with her. She couldn’t help but take in his attire, as they walked. He took great pains with his wardrobe, even more so than his brother. His coat had fancy embroidery, sewn all over, and his cuffs were ironed to perfection. The lion on his cane looked to be sculpted from pure gold.
How odd, she thought. He’d been limping when she’d first spotted him, but she noticed he took great care not to do so, too much, now—at least not to the degree he had been—and she had to wonder what it cost him to pull that off.
As they walked, he told her about the history of her grandfather’s estate. He told her of the Cherokee Nation and how the people had been driven from their lands. And he told her of how her grandfather had managed to keep his daughter from being driven with them—but apparently, not so, her grandmother.
Kat had lived with another tribe as a child, so she was surprised by this. She felt disoriented—a feeling she’d come to realize she’d felt a lot lately, since coming here. She guessed that she shouldn’t be too surprised. She had an idea it had to do with finding out everything she’d believed, her entire life, had been a lie.
Kat walked easily alongside George, and for once, she enjoyed her afternoon. She wondered why Ethan would want to hide his brother. She glanced up at him. She couldn’t imagine that he’d be ashamed of him. George was smart and funny. He had a keen mind and great wit. Ethan should be proud of him, not pretending he didn’t exist.
And she planned to tell him that the next time she saw him.
He took her on a complete tour of her grandfather’s estates, and she found herself smiling, even laughing, for much of the afternoon. She completely enjoyed herself, without guilt. She needed the break from her worries, and she knew it. She wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, for providing it. She’d take the small moments of joy, where she could find them—and be thankful for the small breaks from her homesickness—and her fears.
When he finished with his makeshift tour, George brought her back to the manor and left her standing on the wraparound porch, gently squeezing her hand. He gave her a smile and headed down the steps, telling her he’d be back in the morning.
She looked forward to it.
Chapter Twelve
Grandfather Clock
Kat stared at the grandfather clock standing in the hall. Made of some dark cherry wood and ornate metal, it shone beautiful. Kat didn’t know of such things, but she wished she could turn back the hands of time, the way she’d seen the servant do on that clock.
She’d been here more than a week, and she still hadn’t figured out an answer to how to solve her problem. Ethan had been right. Her grandfather had arranged for her to be tutored, grooming her—as he put it—for marrying his right hand man, Liam, so he could take over all of his hard work.
Kat had seen George every single day. In fact, she spent most of her time with him. He was funny and engaging, and he helped her to not be so sad. On the other hand, she didn’t get to see much of Kid or Jake, at all. Someone had gone to great lengths to keep them busy with her grandfather’s horses—taking advantage of their knowledge. But Kat didn’t like the ease with which they’d been so easily separated.
She knew her grandfather knew of Kid, but she’d also been told that he’d simply waived their relationship off, as though he could wave away any problem that came his way. She found it odd that he didn’t come to tell her so himself. She didn’t understand why a grandfather, who had been waiting all these years for her to be found, never seemed to manage to show himself to her at all—other than those first couple of days. He seemed to run his household from behind some kind of hidden curtain.
She reckoned he’d always been able to run people this way—so he probably didn’t know any other way. But she didn’t understand what made him think he could mess with her life this way? What made him think he could make choices for other people in such a manner?
Kat had never witnessed such a thing. Oh, sure, there were similar practices, even amongst her mother’s people. But even the Chief, a powerful man who stood at the head of the tribe, would at least consult his daughter to learn what she desired, so she would have happiness.
How could her grandfather not even think to ask her if she would find any joy in a union with Liam? Sure, he was handsome. But even her grandfather had to know that life held a lot more in store for someone—than what sat on the surfac
e.
Kat headed down the stairs and through the large, ornate doors, leading outside.
She didn’t know how she would be able to tell him that she would never marry Liam. Sometimes she thought their blood relationship had been the only thing her grandfather wanted from her—that passing on his bloodlines, through the man he held in such esteem, had been his only real reason for wanting her brought home—so he could give his favorite man all his possessions.
Worse, the dreams had taken over her every sleeping moment. In them, she always saw a blond, curly haired child running and laughing, while an equally blond, curly haired man held his arms out to her. And that man wasn’t her grandfather.
Kat had realized the child might be her. But, now, she realized the man might have been her grandfather—many years before. Or—he might have been her true father.
She also dreamed of a woman—and it seemed as though she were fighting with someone. She seemed angry or hurt—and she appeared to feel threatened. Kat had even remembered her saying she would leave and never return.
George visited daily, and she’d begun to half look forward to the distraction he provided—yet she also had visits with Ethan that she seemed to half dread, though she could come up with no solid reason for doing so, other than the fact that she didn’t quite trust him, and she wasn’t sure why. She suspected it might be due to his continued insinuations that she not be allowed to marry Kid.
Seeing her grandfather caused her to keep getting these flashes, like glimpses of her grandfather’s blond, curly hair, but she’d no understanding of the memories that came with. She felt unnerved that the girl—was her—that she really had been the child in her dreams.
Her cousin, Ethan, seemed friendly, even a bit flirtatious, but kind. He still made her uncomfortable, though, given what she’d learned. And she’d no idea why he acted like he were in charge of her grandfather’s estates.
He reminded her, again, that he had his own. He had no need for what belonged to her. He didn’t seem a bit concerned that her grandfather had also put in his will to leave half of his holdings to Liam. Why should he? He had more than enough work to handle.
Kat still hadn’t been completely convinced. Why would he be okay with her grandfather raising a boy who wasn’t even related to him—and then to give him everything he owned—over giving all of this to his own kin.
But none of that mattered to Kat. She had no interest in living here permanently—or marrying Liam—although Ethan insisted that her grandfather intended for her to do so. Kat wanted none of this. Money meant nothing to her.
As Kat walked around her grandfather’s estate, she watched the different people going this way and that, always on the go, always heading somewhere. Their lives, here, so much different than anything she’d ever known.
She just wanted to go home.
She scanned the grounds for Kid. She lived for the moments when she got to see him, now. He’d become her anchor to home. He reminded her that this was all just a nightmare, she’d been caught up in at the moment. But Kid would never leave here without her.
She knew she couldn’t endure this place, for any length of time. She needed to figure out who’d actually been the one to try and kill her—because no one had owned up to that part of the puzzle. But she also needed to figure out if someone, here, had had a reason to have her killed.
Once she’d figured those two things out, then she needed to level with her grandfather—and go home.
Kat found Kid at the only place that seemed a little bit like home—the livery stable. Her grandfather had some beautiful horses, she noticed. She’d already took to walking out there, and she wished she could work with the horses, with Kid and Jake, but every time she’d brought this up with Ethan, he’d told her that her grandfather had other plans for her.
This infuriated her. How dare anyone think they could make plans for her. And why couldn’t her grandfather come and tell her this himself?
Kat felt frozen—paralyzed. She’d never had a problem making her own decisions. Now—suddenly—she found herself letting her grandfather make all of her decisions for her—decisions she’d never have made for herself.
She found herself out-of-sorts—frustrated and down. She couldn’t understand why she’d allow an old man, she barely remembered, to just up and make all of her choices for her. And she couldn’t help but wonder if this paralysis had really started after she’d arrived here.
Hadn’t she been about to run from Kid back in Cheyenne?
She realized, she’d been feeling stuck for some time. She had to acknowledge, then, she’d begun feeling this way, petrified, motionless, for some time now. And she couldn’t exactly blame her grandfather. Sighing, she realized she wouldn’t get herself unstuck from her current situation—until she figured out why she’d begun to feel stuck in the first place.
That afternoon, she’d gone for a walk, as had quickly become her habit, late in the afternoon, when she found Kid standing at a tall fence, eyeing a stallion.
As she came up beside him, he hauled her into his arms, swinging her around. He turned to look at the stallion through the fence, then glanced back at her. “Could you imagine such a magnificent animal out West?” he asked her.
She laughed, then sobered when she realized he’d been serious. “He’d never survive the West. We need horses with stamina and endurance.”
He had turned to watch the stallion again, but now Kid turned and smiled at her. “Don’t let his beauty fool you,” he said, turning now to watch her. “I’ve found that beautiful things sometimes have a strength that would surprise you.”
She glanced across the ground, but turned and eyed him when he said that. “Did you just pay me a compliment?”
Kid grinned at her. “Would you accept a compliment if I did?”
She froze, growing serious now. “Look at us,” she said. “We’ve only been here a few days—and already it’s changed us.”
Kid frowned at her. “Is that what you’re afraid of,” he asked, “that you will lose yourself here?”
She nodded. “Aren’t you?”
He shook his head. “I cannot be bought, kitten,” he said, “and neither can you.”
She smiled at him. “That’s what I love about you,” she said, coming up on her toes to kiss him, as she put her arms around his waist.
“Oh, yeah?” he coaxed.
She grinned. “You know who you are,” she said.
He reached down and smoothed a stray curl behind her ear. “So do you, kitten,” he said.
They both noticed her uncle, walking with Ethan, at the same time and broke apart as they came around the corner. Even though she didn’t think they’d seen her kissing Kid, Kat had a strange sensation curl in the base of her spine.
Her cousin seemed to pay no mind to anything, but her uncle eyed them, with hard, dark eyes.
“Isn’t he a beauty?” Ethan said, eyeing the black stallion.
Kid nodded, his attention easily drawn back to the amazing stallion. At that moment, the stallion tossed his head, as if he knew they were talking about him.
“What breed is he?” Kat asked.
“He is an American Quarter Horse,” Kid said. “They’re well known for their cutting and roping abilities,” he said.
Kat’s brow shot up. “What on earth would they need with a horse like that?” she asked.
Kid grinned at her. “They wouldn’t. But they’d planned to bring these horses out West, where they would be needed.”
Kid grinned, and Kat knew he had just such an idea rolling around in his head, from the first moment he’d laid eyes on him. After all, he was the one raising horses on his share of the land.
Looking over at a colt, they’d brought out from the stables, then, Kid turned to look at her.
“This is his colt,” he said. “We’re taking him home with us.”
Kat grinned, impressed as she watched the colt. Kat knew Hawk would approve. She couldn’t wait to see his reaction.
>
A pain hit her square in the middle of her stomach.
She had to wonder if, when the colt went home, she’d get to go home, too? Would she get to see how Hawk reacted to this colt? Would she ever see Mandy again?
Kat spun around and headed toward the manor. She could feel Kid watching her as she walked away, but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t turn back to meet his gaze. She felt completely overwhelmed. She’d never been hit by such a wave of sadness in all the bad she’d witnessed before.
She had to find a way to return home—the alternative, too hard to face.
When she reached the manor, she raced up the stairs to her room. She didn’t remember ever climbing into bed and facing the wall, but she did so now. She just felt sad. And that sadness sat like a weight in her chest.
Darkness had descended, like shadows stretching across her room, by the time she roused herself enough to go downstairs. Whatever had gone wrong with her lately, she’d better hurry up and figure it out, she thought.
At least, one thing had become clear in all of this. Now that she’d faced the real fear of living her life without Kid—she couldn’t imagine what she’d been thinking to put off their wedding. She couldn’t imagine what had made her feel so afraid of being his wife.
She’d give anything to have back the moment she’d delayed their wedding. Because, now that she had to face the idea of him returning to Cheyenne without her—she knew with sudden clarity—she never wanted to live her life—not knowing what it would be like to be Kid’s wife.
Yet, she still felt stuck.
For the second time that day, she realized she wouldn’t stop feeling that way—until she figured out why she’d felt that way in the first place. Surely she didn’t think her grandfather had any real control over her?
Kat shook her head as she moved toward the stairs, finding herself moving automatically toward the dining room, where the rest of the household would expect to find her.
She wouldn’t figure out what had made her feel caught like a wolf in a cage—until she figured out what had made her feel that way to begin with. And maybe when she had figured that out, she’d be able to face her grandfather—to tell him the truth about how she felt—so she could return home.
Dark Warrior: Kid (Dark Cloth Series Book 2) Page 9