by Cora Seton
Jack slid out of bed, pulled on his sweatpants and went to the door. Out in the hall, he paused, but the house was quiet. When he opened Alice’s door, she was sitting up, her covers wrapped around her.
Her shoulders were bare, as usual. He liked that Alice slept nude.
“You need to work on that signal,” he said as he shut the door behind him, but when she lifted the covers, he forgot everything else. Without thinking through the consequences, he shucked off his sweatpants and joined her under them. Alice came into his embrace with a sigh, and for a moment, Jack lost himself in the feel of her.
He was hard, and she was all soft curves and silky skin. Jack cradled her head, found her mouth with his own and kissed her thoroughly, until every fiber of his body strained to get closer to her.
It would be so easy. A shift of his hips, a thrust. He could bury himself inside Alice where he belonged.
But not yet.
Tonight was all about her.
He gently rolled her on her back and moved to position himself between her thighs, fighting against the instinct to push inside. Instead, he shifted lower and took his time exploring her breasts with his hands. Their soft smoothness felt good against the rough skin of his palms, and when he bent to take one of her nipples into his mouth, Alice groaned and arched, bringing herself closer.
His thorough but slow investigation of her body soon had her urging him on. Her fingers dug into his skin, her breathing became rapid, and when he slid lower still, exploring the core of her with his tongue, she tangled her fingers in his hair and held on.
Jack took his time bringing her to a fever pitch, and when she came, her soft cries made it all the harder for him to restrain the desire that coursed through him. When she finally sank back against the mattress, breathing hard, all the tension in her melting away, he moved back up to cover her, stealing a kiss.
“What about you?” she said.
“Another time. You need to sleep. Today’s a big day.”
“How come you’re so… wonderful… at night and such a pain in the ass during the day?” she complained, turning on her side and snuggling into her pillow.
Jack slipped out from under the covers, aching from his hardness but determined to let her sleep. He pulled the covers over Alice. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I’m trying the best I can.”
“Do better. And stop spying on me,” she commanded and yawned.
He dropped a kiss on her head and left, once again spending quite a bit of time with himself before he was finally able to drop off to sleep. He hadn’t made so much use of his right hand since he’d been a teenager.
It was worth it, he told himself. Someday soon Alice would be his, and he’d make up for lost time.
The morning came all too soon.
“Lake,” the General said when they mustered in his office after breakfast.
“All quiet on the western front, sir,” Brian said smartly.
“O’Riley?”
“Ditto, sir.”
“Powell.”
“Everything’s good, sir.”
“Sanders.”
“Been keeping an eye on the surveillance system. So far, so good, sir. No one’s come onto the ranch we don’t know.”
Jack thought the General hesitated before moving on to the women. Was he bracing himself?
“Cass?”
“Wye and I are cleaning the bathrooms today. Good times.”
A muscle worked in the General’s jaw. “Alice?”
“I’m exhausted, and I don’t have time for this.” She sounded cheerful, though. Jack hoped he’d contributed to her good mood.
“Sadie.”
“Fucking fabulous.”
“That’s fucking fabulous, sir, Soldier!” the General barked.
Sadie cocked an eyebrow, and Jack steeled himself for what was to come. She didn’t disappoint.
“You know what isn’t fucking fabulous? The way you turned your back on this land—when it was your wife’s deal with it that kept you safe all these years. Mom never once stepped foot off Two Willows. And when she died, you couldn’t even do a drive-by of the ranch?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Like hell I don’t. I did it, too. So did we all. None of us have left Two Willows in eleven years without making sure one of our sisters was going to be at home. We gave up our freedom for your safety. What did we get in return? Nothing!”
“You didn’t keep me safe.” The General slapped his hand down on his leg. “Look at me, all busted up.”
Alice stiffened by Jack’s side, and Jack reached for her hand. Squeezed it.
“That was an accident,” Sadie said, “and it makes no difference. Two Willows was part of Mom. When you turned your back on it, you turned your back on her.”
“I turned my back on it because it was part of her. I couldn’t stand to be so close—and so far—” The General broke off. “You think I wanted to stay away?” His voice cracked, and the room became silent.
Sadie’s face was a study of pain. “Two Willows is part of me, too,” she said. “It’s part of all of us. When you turned your back on it, you turned your back on us. You left us. I nearly—I nearly gave up. The garden started dying. The hedge started dying.”
The General straightened and scanned her face as if looking for more information. “The hedge is dying?”
“Not anymore. Not since Connor came. He helped me… find my way.”
“So I did one thing right at least.”
Sadie huffed out a breath, but Connor put his arm around her shoulders. “I didn’t do anything but hang around you. You did all the work.”
“Couldn’t have done it without you,” she told him.
The General observed them with approval. “You’re right; Amelia did love this land and everything that grew on it, including the five of you.”
“But you hate it here,” Sadie said.
The General shook his head. “No. I don’t hate it. I just… hate that she’s gone.”
Sadie seemed to digest that. When she spoke, her voice was unsteady.
“I hate that, too.”
A moment passed. The General cleared his throat. Nodded at Sadie. “At least we agree on something.”
“Is there anything else here you don’t hate?”
“Sadie.” The General reached for her. Jack held his breath. When Sadie moved toward her father, finally taking the hand he offered, Jack’s throat tightened in sympathy with father and daughter’s anguish. “I don’t hate… I… You’re my girl. You’re all my girls.” He gripped her hand tightly. When he released it, Sadie’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. She stepped back into her place. The General cleared his throat several times.
“Jo? Report.”
“Everything’s fucking fantabulous,” Jo said, and the tension cleared. Jack let his shoulders relax.
The General straightened again. “Where’s that Wyoming woman?”
Myers looked up, as if interested to know the answer, too.
“She’s at an appointment in town. Another job interview,” Cass said.
“Make sure she comes back,” the General said.
“Don’t worry, she’s coming back.” Cass sighed. “I don’t think she’s going to stick around in Chance Creek much longer, though. Not unless she finds a good job.”
“She’ll stick around,” the General said darkly.
“Good,” Myers said. “I mean… goodbye,” he stammered. “I mean… everybody’s dismissed.”
The General looked at him curiously. “Since when do you give the orders around here, Corporal?”
“Since it’s time for your physical training, sir. Everyone out.”
An hour later Jack was staring at the implacable green wall where the maze’s entrance should have been when he heard footsteps. He turned to see Jo approaching from the direction of the stable. Champ and Isobel followed her, like usual.
When he turned back, the entrance was open again.
“I thought you’d be with the other men doing chores,” Jo said as she approached, shaking him from his thoughts. “Something wrong?”
“I have… other things to work on.” He kept an eye on the entrance, wondering if he darted forward if he’d be able to make it in. Would the maze close up if Jo was here to witness it? He decided not to chance it.
“Your spy stuff?”
Jack turned to face her. “Surveillance. It’s important work. Don’t you want to know if someone’s sneaking up on the ranch?”
“What I really want to know is why you’re so keen to get out of mucking stalls. This is a ranch, Jack. If you’re going to marry Alice, you’d better be willing to help out.”
“I’m willing to help out. It’s just—” Time to face the music, he guessed. “Look, I haven’t mentioned this to anyone else but Alice, but—it’s been a while since I did much ranching. I’m… rusty.”
“How rusty?” She cocked her head, waiting for his answer.
“Like… I haven’t been on a ranch since I was seven rusty.”
“Oh, wow.” Jo straightened. “Got it. Well, in that case, you’re going to need some practice.”
“Guess I will. As soon as I’ve made sure Two Willows is safe.”
“Not good enough, Soldier. Come on. Let’s get started.”
Alice wasn’t sure whether to be worried or grateful that Landon didn’t call until mid-afternoon. She was sure he was sending her a message: if she could brush him off, he could brush her off, too. She’d spent the morning racing to make some last-minute changes to the gowns, beginning to second guess all her decisions as a creeping sense of dread sprouted in her gut, soon blossoming to full-on panic.
She thought he’d have called first thing, and as the hours passed she’d grown edgier and edgier, until her fingers shook when she tried to make her trademark tiny stitches. Will had arrived at breakfast time to take another look at the pipes, which were still banging. While Corporal Myers stood grimly by replenishing a cup of coffee for the General, the plumber told them he had several ideas about how to fix the problem, but that it might take a few more return visits. He and Corporal Myers had both perked up when Wyoming came into the kitchen.
Alice’s growing sense of impending doom was preventing her from getting any helpful flashes about anyone’s future, however. She was as curious as Cass seemed to be about how the Will–Wyoming–Corporal Myers triangle would turn out but couldn’t get a read on the situation at all.
Back in her studio, she fussed with the gowns until the phone finally buzzed. She was proudest of the lace that edged the bodice and the sleeves of the lilac gown. She’d had to call in some favors to find the authentic, period-accurate edging. As far as she was concerned, it made the dress.
She braced herself when she answered Landon’s call. “Good afternoon.” That sounded too stilted. “How is Chance Creek treating you?” That sounded far too breezy.
She was really batting a thousand.
“Chance Creek is treating me fine,” Landon said, his warm baritone soothing her worries. He didn’t sound angry. Maybe she’d read too much into things last night. “How has it been treating you?”
“Good. In fact, really good. I’m ready to show you the gowns.”
“Glad to hear it. When should we meet?”
“Any time.”
“I have an errand to run, but I’ll be back at my motel in an hour.”
Alice realized her mistake. The last thing she wanted was to end up alone with Landon in his motel room. What was the alternative? He’d made it clear he didn’t want to come back to the ranch, and she’d volunteered early on to bring the gowns to him—before she’d realized what kind of man he was.
“Landon—”
“Is there another problem?” His slight emphasis on “another” stopped her from suggesting a different venue.
“No. I’ll be there.”
“Good.” Landon cut the call.
Alice heaved a sigh of frustration. What was wrong with her? She was acting like a schoolgirl. She needed to get this situation in hand.
“Is your boyfriend coming over?”
Alice jumped when Jack spoke behind her.
“He’s not my boyfriend. And he’s not coming here. I’m going to him.”
“He wants to be your boyfriend.”
She wished she could deny it. “I think he does,” she admitted. “I’ve made it clear that’s not going to happen.”
“You need to be more direct.”
Alice remembered Jack had listened to the whole conversation at the restaurant—and on their ride home, if she was right. “You’d better not be planting bugs in here.”
Jack held up his hands. “I’m just talking.”
She doubted that.
“Your sister sure put me through the wringer today.”
“Which sister?” Alice turned back to the lilac gown, arranging and rearranging the folds of its full skirt, making sure it was perfect.
“Jo. Decided to make a rancher out of me.”
Alice had to laugh. “I’ll bet.” She glanced at Jack, and when she took in his answering smile, her stomach gave a little flip. Now that was a man.
She caught herself. That was a snooping, interfering man.
“I listened in on your conversation because I was worried about you.”
A flash of intuition caught her off guard. She saw a girl dressed in foreign clothes. Sand stretching in every direction.
“You were in the desert,” she said.
Jack stilled. “I was. That’s classified, though. Did your dad tell you?”
Alice made a big deal of scanning the workshop. “You see the General anywhere?”
“You could have talked to him any time.”
“You’ve been there every time I’ve talked to him so far.”
“I don’t buy that you’re psychic, Alice. I’m sorry; but I don’t believe in that kind of thing.”
“Then we’re even. I don’t believe in snooping into other people’s business. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready to go see my boyfriend.” She turned back to the business of peeling the dress off the dummy and a moment later heard Jack’s tread going down the stairs. She couldn’t say why she felt let down that he hadn’t risen to her teasing, but she did.
Chapter Eleven
‡
Jack was reeling from Alice’s revelations as he walked to the house. How on earth had she known he’d been in the desert last time he was overseas?
Or was that just another lucky guess?
He bumped into Wye on the back porch. She was just returning from an errand, her arms full of groceries. Jack took them from her and followed her inside.
“I’m beginning to feel like I live here,” she said, taking the groceries from Jack and unloading them.
“I think Cass likes having you here. We all do,” he hastened to add. “Especially Corporal Myers.”
“Emerson? He just sees me as a fellow outsider, that’s all.”
Jack didn’t think that was all, but he let it slide. “Emerson?”
“That’s Corporal Myers’s first name. You all should know that by now; he’s living with you, too.”
“I don’t suppose you could do me a favor.” He took several boxes of pasta and put them away in the pantry.
“Depends on what it is. I don’t want to spy on anyone.”
Cass must have been talking about him. Or maybe Alice. “Not spy. More like chaperone.”
“I’m intrigued.”
He appreciated Wyoming’s sunny disposition and the fact she had a good head on her shoulders. As far as he was concerned, she was a welcome addition to the offbeat Reed clan. “Alice is about to bring her gowns to Landon’s motel room to show him. Something about that guy is rubbing me the wrong way. I can’t go with her—although I do plan to be close by. I’m wondering if you would. Maybe you could volunteer to help carry the dresses.”
Wyoming thought this over as she put away several cans
of beans. “I’m not going to force her to bring me, but I will offer. If she takes me up on it, I’d be glad to help. Otherwise I’ll come along with you and stay close.”
“Okay. With everything that’s happened at Two Willows—”
“I get it, Jack.” Wyoming caught his gaze and held it. “I agree with you, too. I don’t think Alice should go alone.”
“And I don’t think you should put Wyoming in danger,” Corporal Myers—Emerson, Jack corrected himself—said from the doorway. “Maybe I should go with Alice.”
“She’s not going to let you go with her either. You’re the General’s man,” Jack said, recovering from surprise that Emerson had managed to sneak up on them.
“I’m my own man,” Emerson countered.
“Jack’s right. I need to be the one to ask, and I’ll be fine,” Wyoming said.
“I’ll come with you then,” Emerson said to Jack.
“The more the merrier. One more thing, Wye.”
“What’s that?”
“How do you feel about wearing a wire?”
“Yes,” Alice said, “I’d love it if you came along.” When Wyoming had wandered into her studio, bored because Cass was busy with some task she couldn’t share, Alice had almost been annoyed at the interruption. Now she was anything but.
Here was her solution to the problem of Landon’s libido. He wouldn’t hit on her with Wyoming present.
“I’ll be your assistant,” Wyoming said. “This is probably my one chance to get a glimpse of a real movie producer up close. I’ll be quiet as a mouse, I swear. I’ll just hold up the dresses when you say to.”
“That’ll be perfect. Go ahead and speak up as much as you want if he gets…” Alice trailed off, suddenly embarrassed.
“If he gets…?” Wyoming echoed.
“Landon’s been making plays for me. He wants more than a business deal.”
“Ugh. I mean… unless you want it to be more than a business deal, too.”
“Not at all. He’s handsome in his own way. He’s successful, obviously, but other than that we have nothing in common.”
“Other than your love of movies.”
Alice hesitated. “Right.”
“That wasn’t very convincing.” Wyoming touched a piece of blue silk that lay on the nearest table.