Mercy (Beartooth, Montana)
Page 28
But what if Pam had lied not just to Tiffany, but to Frank? Nettie wouldn’t put it past the woman.
The answer was in this envelope.
Nettie stared at it. Would knowing Tiffany’s true paternity make it any easier on Frank? She doubted it. But if she was right, maybe one day...
Moving toward the kettle on the stove, Nettie began to steam the envelope open. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to know the truth. What did it matter now?
The glue began to loosen. She slowly pried the envelope open, then lifted out the report.
* * *
IT TOOK ROURKE a few weeks to finish up things in Seattle and get back to Beartooth. The ranch the Realtor showed him was too small. He had changed his mind about what he was looking for.
After a few days of searching, they found the perfect one. He didn’t hesitate, even though his future was up in the air right now. As he walked around the property, he told himself that Callie would come back one day.
In the meantime, he would have to build a house, one that faced the Crazy Mountains, but the size and location of the ranch were exactly what he wanted and needed. Until he got the house built, he could live in the cabin that was already on the land.
Thanks to his parents, he had plenty of money to return to the cowboy he’d been. Come spring, he would plant hay and alfalfa. He would start off running a couple hundred head of cattle and see how it went.
Once the paperwork was all signed, he finally drove into Beartooth to the Branding Iron Café. He hadn’t been in since his return. He’d needed time to adjust to Callie being gone.
He hoped that Kate had heard from her, though. He’d told himself to forget her, but it was impossible. Callie had changed his life. He wasn’t the same man. He’d fallen in love, and it had made him see everything differently.
Instead of Callie’s old pickup, there was a newer-model SUV parked next to the apartment stairs at the back. Not that he was surprised. She’d been leaving the last time he’d seen her. By now she could be anywhere.
The bell tinkled, and Kate called from the kitchen, “Have a seat. I’ll be right with you.”
Rourke took his usual table. He thought of the first time he’d sat here. Like today, all he’d wanted was to see Caligrace Westfield. At the sound of footfalls, he looked up to see her come out of the café kitchen.
His heart leaped to his throat. He couldn’t breathe. She hadn’t left? Or she’d left and come back? It didn’t matter; he’d never been so happy to see anyone in his life. He realized that must be her SUV parked outside.
He was hit again with the same blindsided feeling he’d had the first time he’d seen her. What was it about this woman? It was all he could do not to jump up and take her in his arms.
* * *
CALLIE WALKED TOWARD Rourke’s table, remembering the first time she’d seen him sitting there. She’d felt wary, as if she’d known even then that he was dangerous. She just hadn’t known how dangerous.
The cowboy had stolen her heart.
She set down a glass of ice water, handed him a menu and began to pour his coffee without a word.
“Hi,” he said, sounding nervous. “I’m Rourke Kincaid. I just bought a ranch to the east of here. I’m going to be running a few hundred head of cattle for starters. Need to build a house. I was wondering if you could tell me where I could get some good Thai food around here.”
Callie met his gaze. “Rourke Kincaid, huh.” She couldn’t help but smile.
“Want me to tell you what else I’m thinking about?” he asked.
She shook her head. “You’re thinking about going to Saddlestring Lake tonight since it might be the last time before winter sets in. You’re thinking of bringing a couple of cold beers—no glasses—and a blanket.”
He cocked his head and grinned. “A blanket? You’re amazing. That was exactly what I was thinking. I don’t know what you’re thinking, though, but I never make love on the first date.”
“Then we’d better get those first two dates over with before tonight.”
“Whatever you say.” Rourke pulled her down into his lap.
Callie closed her eyes as he kissed her, reveling in the sensation of finally feeling as if she’d found where she should be always.
“I thought you were a U.S. marshal,” she said when the kiss ended and he let her go.
“I don’t know where you heard that.” He grinned. “I’ve always been a cowboy.”
Callie looked into his dark eyes. He was the most handsome man she’d ever known. “In that case, welcome to Beartooth, cowboy.”
“It’s good to be back.”
She stared into the future, seeing nothing and yet seeing everything. She and Rourke. A wedding. Children. A ranch with a view of the Crazy Mountains. She’d never dreamed it was for her, but now realized she’d never wanted anything more.
All of it would be a surprise. Her second sight hadn’t come back, not that she could ever read Rourke anyway. She would have the rest of her life to get to know the man she’d fallen in love with. She couldn’t wait.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from ATONEMENT by B.J. Daniels.
“Fans of Western romantic suspense will relish Daniels’s tale of clandestine love played out in a small town on the Great Plains.”
—Booklist on Unforgiven
If you loved Mercy, don’t miss Unforgiven, Forsaken, Redemption and Atonement by USA TODAY bestselling author B.J. Daniels.
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Rescue at Cardwell Ranch
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CHAPTER ONE
FROM THE MIDDLE of the corral, Dillon Lawson tugged gently on the halter rope, urging the filly in a circle. She was a beauty and he couldn’t help feeling a sense of pride in her. The filly was smart, too. He’d known that the moment he’d looked into her eyes after she was born.
He’d named her Bright Beauty, struck dumb by the miracle of birth and the courage he’d seen in the foal as she’d stumbled to her feet for the first time.
Now as she trotted the tight circle around him, he could feel her gaze on him. The breeze lifted her red mane and she seemed to prance as if wanting to please him.
His heart swelled. His father wouldn’t have approved of the way he’d gentled her. Burt Lawson “broke” his horses, the same way he’d tried to break his sons. The thought brought with it fresh pain. For whatever reason, their father had always been meaner to Ethan. It was why Dillon had spent years trying to protect his brother—only to fail him in the end.
Not even this beautiful Montana spring day or the filly he’d nurtured since birth could keep his mind off his brother—and the upcoming one-year anniversary of Ethan’s death. Dillon wasn’t sure what was worse, the guilt that he’d let his brother down or the grief of having lost the last member of his family.
“Ethan!”
With his mind on his brother, Dillon thought he’d only imagined the voice. He looked over, surprised to see a woman he didn’t recognize at the corral fence. He lived so far out of town he seldom had strangers come in off the highway. Nor had he heard anyone
drive up. He did a quick glance to the yard. No vehicle. Where had she come from?
His gaze returned to the woman. She’d climbed up the corral fence and now clung to the top rail. A mass of curly dark hair floated around a face dominated by huge blue eyes. That was all he was able to take in before she spoke again.
“Ethan.” She said the name like a curse. He’d thought he must have heard her wrong the first time she’d said his brother’s name. This time he heard anger in that one painful word. Anger and disappointment.
A chill ran the length of his spine.
She thought he was his brother.
That realization came like a kick to his gut. He slowed the filly to a stop and pushed back his Western straw hat. A warm sun slipped toward the west, making the breeze that blew down from the Crazy Mountains suddenly feel cold. The snow-fed breeze was a reminder that this was Montana in the spring and, like life, it could change at a moment’s notice.
Dropping the halter rope, he took off his hat and, stepping toward her, tried to clear his throat. A lump had lodged there. If this woman had mistaken him for Ethan, then she must not know about his death.
As he drew closer, the woman’s eyes narrowed. Her anger confused him. But then again, who knew what his brother had been up to before he died? Ethan had always attracted trouble like a magnet to metal, and Dillon had known little about his brother’s life the past few years. That was the way Ethan had wanted it.
He was within a few feet of her when he saw her eyes fill with tears, then all the color suddenly bled from her face. She teetered on the corral railing for a moment before starting to slump backward in a faint.
Dillon took two long strides, bounded over the corral fence and managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Holding her in his arms, he looked down at her and felt his eyes widen.
The woman was pregnant. Very pregnant.
Her thick lashes fluttered. Those big blue eyes opened and zeroed in on him.
The roundhouse slap she gave him was hard and did more than surprise him.
“You bastard.”
“You’ve made a mistake,” Dillon said.
“The mistake was ever falling for you.”
He shook his head sadly. “I’m not who you think I am.”
“You’re telling me? Put me down.”
Dillon did as she’d ordered and watched her struggle to get her feet under herself. Seeing him had been a shock for her, that much was clear. And yet she’d come here looking for him, as if...
He frowned as he tried to make sense of this. Ethan had been dead a year tomorrow. Why would she think he was Ethan? Not to mention... He stared at her swollen belly. The woman looked as if she might deliver that baby at any moment.
“You knew my brother?” he asked suspiciously.
She had dropped her large shoulder bag. She now bent to pick it up from the dirt before turning to glare at him. “I just want my money,” she said as she slung the bag over her right shoulder.
“Your money? Are you talking about the insurance money?” The check had come only a few days ago. Apparently his brother had taken out a half-million-dollar policy on himself and made Dillon the beneficiary. Ethan had always been full of surprises. This woman was apparently another one.
“Insurance? Is that what you call it? Just give me what’s mine and I’m out of your hair for good,” she said, and glanced toward the mountains as if she couldn’t bear looking at him any longer.
Sweetgrass County was rimmed with snowcapped mountain peaks, making some people think it was paradise. Dillon was one of those people. The moment he’d seen the Crazy Mountains, he’d known this was where he wanted to settle—rather than the logging town in western Montana where they’d grown up. His brother, Ethan, had hightailed it the moment he turned eighteen and apparently had never looked back.
When her gaze returned to his, Dillon saw that she hadn’t been admiring the breathtaking Montana scenery. She’d apparently been trying to tamp down her anger—and failing.
“Why don’t we go into the house?” he suggested. “I think we can settle this easy enough. Just let me get the halter rope off my horse—”
“If you think you can sweet-talk me, you’re dead wrong. And you sure as the devil aren’t seducing me. Not again.” Her hand went to her stomach and he felt his heart drop.
She wasn’t really going to try to convince him that she was carrying Ethan’s baby, was she? He’d never been the brightest kid in school, but this one was a math no-brainer. Even if the woman did look as if she could give birth any moment, his brother had been gone twelve months tomorrow.
“Look, I’m not sure what your story is, but that baby you’re carrying? It isn’t—”
“If you dare say it isn’t yours...” Her right hand dipped into her shoulder bag. An instant later he was staring down the barrel of a .45.
Copyright © 2014 by Barbara Heinlein
ISBN-13: 9781460338452
Mercy
Copyright © 2014 by Barbara Heinlein
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