by Jo Goodman
“Listening!” he scoffed, raising both brows. “I don’t need to listen. I lived with her, and I know her every trick. I thought I had forewarned you not to be taken in, but it seems you would rather believe her than me.” He turned to go, but Shannon caught his arm.
“No! Wait!” Her wide violet eyes implored him. “It is not a matter of believing one or the other. I want to understand.” She saw she had his attention and she continued. “Is it true that you must apply to the church?”
“Yes. There is no other way.”
“But—”
“There is no other way.”
“Can you not see how this might upset Aurora?”
“Of course I can. It troubles me no less, yet I did not come to burden you with the matter. You have nothing to do with this, Shannon, and I won’t have Aurora make this your affair. If you leave, it will be as good as a confession that you love me. Is that what you want?”
“No. I simply want it all ended, Brandon. God help me, I want to be your wife.”
Brandon dropped his hat and gathered Shannon in a fierce embrace. “I can’t stop myself from thinking of it either,” he said softly, his mouth against her ear. “But you mustn’t let yourself think you are to blame for the divorce. It’s simply not true.”
“But my sister—”
Brandon gave her a little shake. “Don’t think of her as your sister. She doesn’t think of you in that light. Not really. She is looking for a sympathetic ear, someone who might have the opportunity to convince me she’s changed. Aurora knows Cody will have none of her, and given the chance, Martha would spit on her damask slippers. She sees in you a way to reach me through your interest in Clara. I beg you not to trust her tears, her emotions, her protests. This role she is playing now is not entirely new to me. I saw it once before.”
Shannon raised her face. For a moment her eyes were questioning, then they cleared as she remembered something he had told her. “That was when you—”
“When I bedded her,” he finished bluntly. “And six weeks later she tried to present Parker’s child as my own.”
“Then you are saying she is merely toying with me.”
“That is what I’m saying. I can’t pretend to know what is going on in her mind, but I know I don’t trust her. If she wants to remain married to me, it is not because she loves me.”
“Perhaps it is because of her daughter,” she said, realizing in all the painful confessing Aurora had done last night, she had never mentioned she still loved Brandon. “Did you tell her you would never let her see Clara?”
Brandon closed his eyes briefly, seeking patience. “No. I never said that. After the divorce, if she chooses to see Clara, she may. But don’t hope that I will ask her to settle near here. I won’t stop encouraging her to go to her parents.”
Shannon stepped out of Brandon’s arms. “How am I to deal with her, Brandon? What am I to say?”
“Say nothing. Stay away from her. I know you can manage it. You did well enough when your goal was to stay away from me.”
She caught the glimmer of a smile on his lips, but she could not be amused. “It is not at all the same thing.”
“I know,” he said. “It is difficult for you.”
“It is intolerable.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Shannon. I would not force you to accept my opinion of Aurora. You will decide that for yourself.” He picked up his discarded hat and jammed it on his head. “I pray you are not hurt too deeply when she reveals herself.” Without giving Shannon a chance to respond, he turned his back on her, reached for the reins on his mount, and led it out of the stable.
Shannon stood rooted to the spot, staring after Brandon, his profile burned into her mind’s eye long after he had disappeared from view.
“Mishannon!” Clara grabbed Shannon’s hand and tugged.
“What is it, Clara?” she answered distractedly, still thinking of Brandon’s last words. Was he correct? she wondered. Was Aurora playing some game of her own?
“Mishannon!” Clara called again, pulling on Shannon’s arm more urgently. “The kittens went to the loft. Want to see Rainbow now. You promised!”
Shannon came out of her reverie. “All right, Clara. Let’s see Rainbow.” She led the little girl to the stall at the back of the stable. The pony seemed to recognize Clara, switching its silky black tail as she stroked its nose. Clara fed Rainbow bits of dried apples and talked enthusiastically to her pony while Shannon watched and listened, amusement tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“So this is Rainbow.”
Shannon and Clara turned at once to see Aurora standing a few feet away. She was not looking at the pony or at Clara. In spite of the lightness of her tone, her eyes were resting sharply on Shannon. Aurora was dressed for riding, wearing a scarlet-laced waistcoat and a black weather skirt of heavy linen to protect against dust and water her horse might kick up. Her black cocked hat was carefully arranged on her head at a rakish angle, and the crimson plume bobbed once when she nodded a curt greeting to Shannon. The riding crop in her hand beat a tattoo against her skirt.
Still wary of her mother, Clara sidled closer to Shannon and took her hand. Shannon’s heart hammered as she realized that whatever had angered Aurora was only exacerbated by Clara’s alliance.
“Yes,” Shannon answered, giving Clara a nudge toward Aurora. “This is Rainbow. Come, Clara, show your mother your pony.” She glanced at Aurora. “I’m not very good with horses. I don’t even take Clara out in the paddock without a groom.”
“Or Brandon?”
Shannon flinched at Aurora’s stinging tone. What was wrong? This was not the same woman who had confided in her last evening. “Sometimes Mr. Fleming or Cody is there.”
Aurora gave her head a toss, her lip curled derisively. “Mr. Fleming? How provincial. Is that what you call him when you’re wrapped in his arms?”
Shannon paled. Clara, who had seen her mother had not the least interest in her or her pony, retreated to Shannon’s side, partially hiding herself in the folds of Shannon’s blue linen skirt. “Clara, go to the house,” she said.
“No, let her stay. I want her to hear what sort of woman you are, using her to find a place in her father’s affections.”
“You are mistaken.” She tried to disengage Clara from her leg, but the child refused to budge.
“Mistaken? Not likely.” The crop at Aurora’s side snapped once, then resumed its steady rhythm against her leg. “Shall I tell you what I saw as I approached the stables this morning? No. I can see by your expression that you know quite well what sight greeted me. Imagine my shock to see my own sister in my husband’s arms. I had to remove myself from the area, afraid I would be sickened by the tender scene.” She continued to fix her eyes on Shannon’s pale face. “And after being so kind to me last evening, so willing to listen as I poured out my misery. How you must have laughed!”
“No, you’re wrong.”
“What? Are you going to tell me that I cannot trust my own eyes?” She laughed without humor. “They are the only things I can trust at the folly! You have shown me that. Mayhap you would like me to think Brandon mistook us, but allow me to say I would not be so foolish as to believe that. You are naught but a spineless, whey-faced creature. Look at you! Cowering behind my daughter as if she were a shield.”
Shannon prodded Clara again, beseeching the child to move. Clara remained caught in her skirts very much like the barnacle Cody had once likened her to. “You are frightening her,” she said steadily. “Can we not speak of this at another time? There is much you don’t understand.”
“Are you denying what I saw ever happened?”
“No.”
Tears of outrage glittered in Aurora’s eyes. “How could you do this to me? How could you let me go on last night, knowing all the while you wanted my husband? What sort of woman are you?”
Shannon reached out to touch Aurora’s arm and found her hand slapped away. “Aurora, please. Let us talk in
private. There is nothing to be gained by quarreling in front of Clara.”
Aurora ignored her. “I cannot believe how you tried to deceive me, using my own daughter as an excuse to stay in my home while you coveted my husband! He doesn’t love you! He is using you to revenge himself on me. The Flemings are good at that. Didn’t you listen to anything I told you about Parker? Brandon is more than his brother’s equal when he imagines himself the injured party! He would do anything to hurt me, including seducing my own sister!” Aurora’s chin jutted forward. “Or mayhap he did not seduce you. Perhaps you did the seducing, using your resemblance to me to play on his hurt.”
“It was not that way, Aurora. You are twisting everything.”
“How dare you speak of twisting things to me! You have my daughter and you want my husband! Did you go to him last night after you solicitously put me to bed?”
Shannon was genuinely horrified by Aurora’s vulgar accusation. “No!”
“Tell me, does he call you by my name when he makes love to you?”
“Aurora! Stop it!”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” She raised her hand gripping the riding crop and slashed it viciously in Shannon’s direction.
Shannon tore Clara from her and pushed the terrified child toward the stable door. “Go to the house, Clara!” And when she hesitated, “Now!” Clara stumbled as she turned, but she followed Shannon’s order, running past the restless horses, unconcerned by their pawing and snorting. When she had cleared the stable door, Shannon faced Aurora. “Don’t ever raise your hand to me,” she said stiffly.
“Oh? And what would you do? Kill me? Tell the world it was an accident? That line of reasoning should be familiar to you.”
Shannon’s hands trembled at her sides and she clenched them into fists, as if it would stop her from giving voice to her thoughts. “Excuse me.” She turned to go.
Aurora extended her hand and the riding crop, blocking Shannon’s exit. “You’d like to kill me, wouldn’t you? How simple it would be for you to have my husband then.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, Aurora. In deference to your anger, I am going to forget this conversation ever took place.”
“Forget it! I want you to remember my every word! And I want none of your insipid, self-righteous airs! How dare you pretend to be my friend.” Aurora’s hand lifted and she snapped her riding crop across Shannon’s shoulder. “Murderess!” The crop lifted and descended again, this time striking the exposed curve of Shannon’s neck. “Whore!”
Shannon raised her hands to protect herself as Aurora prepared to strike again. The crop stung her palms. She wanted to wrest the weapon from her sister, but Aurora’s words thundered in her brain. You’d like to kill me, wouldn’t you? How simple it would be to have my husband then. It was a lie, yet it made Shannon powerless to act. She staggered backward under the force of Aurora’s next blow and fell against Rainbow. The pony pranced nervously, placing its right hoof squarely on Shannon’s foot.
She screamed.
“What the hell is going on?” Brandon roared as he and Cody ran into the stable. Martha stayed at the entrance, holding back Clara, while two of the grooms followed in Brandon’s wake.
Shannon slumped to the floor, whimpering in pain when Rainbow lifted her foot. She did not see Cody yank the riding crop from Aurora’s raised hand, nor did she know Brandon was at her side until she felt his hands on her shoulders.
“Are you all right?”
Shannon bit her lip and nodded rapidly.
“Look at me! What happened to you?”
It was Aurora who answered. “She backed into Clara’s pony and got her foot trampled.”
Brandon did not spare his wife a glance. “Shut up, Rory.” He lifted Shannon’s skirt and slipped off her shoe, pressing his fingers across the bones of her foot. He felt her wince. “It’s already swelling.” He ordered one of the grooms to remove Rainbow from the stall and the other to make an attempt to quiet the horses. “Tell me what happened, Shannon. Clara told Martha that you and Aurora were fighting.”
Shannon shook her head, trying to remove herself from the pain in her foot. “No,” she whispered. “Not fighting. She knows, Brandon. She saw you holding me.” Shannon gasped as she tried to stand.
“Sit there!”
Except for the quick glance she darted in Brandon’s direction, Shannon remained unmoving. “Aurora’s very hurt,” she said quietly. “She didn’t know half of what she was saying or doing.”
“That remains to be seen,” he gritted, standing. What Aurora saw in his eyes was enough to frighten her. She took a little step backward and found her path blocked by Cody. “You have every right to be scared, Aurora,” he said, grinding out the words.
Aurora recovered a fraction of her composure. “Don’t take that tone with me. I know what she is to you. Was I supposed to turn my head while the two of you carried on beneath my very nose?”
Brandon refused to answer her question, knowing it would lead down old roads better left untraveled. “If you wanted to confront someone, it should have been me. Did you push her?”
“No!”
Brandon looked to Shannon for verification. “Is this true, Shannon?”
“Yes.” She lifted her eyes to Aurora. “Yes, she didn’t push me. I stumbled.”
Cody sensed all was not as it should be. He held up the riding crop. “Could this have anything to do with it? Did she strike you with this?”
It was not Shannon, but Aurora, who responded. “Yes! I struck her!”
“No, Brandon!” Shannon cried out as Brandon took a menacing step toward his wife. “She was distraught! You can’t hold her responsible!”
“You’re too kind, Shannon.” He pointed to Aurora but spoke to Cody. “Get her out of here.”
Cody grimaced, disliking the task. He took Aurora by the elbow. “If you have any sense, Rory, you’ll come with me. Now.” When she hesitated a moment too long to suit him, he tightened his hold on her arm. “I swear I’ll throttle you myself.”
Aurora tore her arm loose from Cody’s grip and began walking, her head held high, her carriage stiff. Cody followed, so angry that behind her back, he mimed a wringing motion with his hands.
Brandon turned his attention back to Shannon. Ignoring her protests that she could manage on her own, he helped her to her feet, and then lifted her in his arms. “Stop arguing with me and put your arms around my neck.”
Shannon complied. The length of hair that had curled around her throat fell back, revealing the welt made by Aurora’s riding crop.
Brandon swore softly when he saw it. “Damn her! I should have let Cody use it on her.” His steps quickened and he yelled at Cody to stop Aurora.
Aurora was at the entrance to the stable, ready to brush past Martha and Clara, when Cody reached out to hold her back. The grooms stopped what they were doing as Brandon strode past them, leashed anger in his every movement.
“Brandon, please stop!” Shannon begged.
Brandon did. But he was beside Aurora by then. “I want you to see your handiwork, Rory!”
The flush of rage vanished from her cheeks as her eyes dropped to the reddened weal on Shannon’s neck. She had the grace, or perhaps the good sense, to look contrite. “Oh, Shannon, I’m sorry. I didn’t know—”
“Stop it, Aurora!” Brandon said between clenched teeth. “Shannon may believe your regrets, but I don’t. Pray my anger cools before my hands are free, else I may murder you yet.”
“Brandon!”
“Bran!”
“Papa!”
“Master Bran!”
Only the grooms were silent, exchanging glances that said they were of the same mind as the folly’s owner.
“I mean it, Aurora,” Brandon continued, oblivious to the censure of the others, “Stay away from Shannon. If you require a victim for your venomous tongue, then seek me out!”
The angry flush was back in Aurora’s pinched face. She pointed a finger at Brandon. “Yo
u’d like an excuse to kill me, wouldn’t you? Then you would be free to marry your lover!”
Brandon turned away and began walking toward the house. Shannon had her face in his shoulder, too mortified to look at Martha or Clara or Cody as they followed. Aurora was left behind, but her strident voice carried for everyone to hear.
“I won’t allow you to divorce me, Bran! I’ll find a way to stop you! If you want to be free of me, you’ll have to kill me! Just as Shannon killed her father!”
Martha clapped her hands over Clara’s ears. “I never heard such ugliness. Why you let her say those things, Master Bran?”
Brandon could feel Shannon’s tears wetting his shirt. “Not now, Martha. Take Clara to the house, and have someone prepare a place for Shannon in the drawing room. She needs to put her foot up.”
“Humph.” Martha picked up Clara and hurried along, shouting an order to Addie, who had stepped out on the verandah.
Cody came abreast of Brandon and Shannon. “Do you want me to ride for a physician? I think Samuel Page will come out to look at her.”
“No, we can care for her ourselves. I don’t think her foot is broken, merely bruised.”
Cody glanced back at the stable. Aurora was no longer at the entrance. Just when he was going to comment on that fact, she reappeared on a horse. A moment later she and the animal were tearing across the open fields. He pointed her out to Brandon. “The hell of it is, she has such a damn fine seat that I doubt it would be any use to hope she breaks her neck.”
Shannon lifted her head. “Please, just stop it,” she said tiredly, swiping at her wet face with the back of her hand. “Both of you. I don’t want to hear any more talk of breaking necks, throttling, or murder. It is stupid and vicious!”
Cody was immediately apologetic. “I’m sorry, Shannon. I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just talk, that’s all. But I don’t see why you wish to protect her from it after what she said about you and your father.”
“At least that much was true,” Shannon said.
“Shannon,” warned Brandon.
“No, he may as well know.” She gritted her teeth against the throbbing in her foot. “I killed my stepfather, Cody. Just as Aurora said. Anything my sister has ever done pales beside that.”