Tangled Hearts

by Barbara McMahon

  “Nope. Was it the cop?”

  “I'll know once I talk to Josh. How's Shannon doing?”

  Her new sister in law was already pregnant and both she and her brother were delighted.

  “Good, want to talk to her?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Brianna told some of the situation to Shannon, with the warning not to tell Jase. Then asked about how the early stages of pregnancy were going. Except for morning sickness, Shannon was feeling great.

  When their conversation ended, Brianna debated going back to the living room with Jake, but was too frustrated with Jake’s refusal to answer her question. She knew she could question him from now until the cows came home, and if he chose not to respond, he wouldn’t.

  “There are always ways to find things out, Mr. Hotshot Detective. You are not the only one who can interrogate people. If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out from the source.”

  She tried Josh again. No answer. Where was he?

  Jake drove the next morning, placed a police emblem on his dash and parked in her slot at the college. He walked her to class and sat in the back, alternating watching Brianna and the students.

  When class was over, the students filed out. A young man entered the room and went to where Brianna was packing up her papers.

  “Can I talk to you, professor?” the man asked.

  “What's up?” she asked.

  Jake came to the front of the room and stood to one side—alert and ready, but not interfering.

  “I uh, thought, I uh, would get a better grade. I aced the midterm and the final. Did I uh, miss any assignments or something? I uh, got a C and I really expected an A.”

  She glanced at Jake. “Which class?”

  “Calculus, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Umm, my friend Janey Howell did better than a C, too.”

  “You're Jim Smithers, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Did you hear my grade book was stolen?”

  He nodded. “Does that mean nothing can be changed?”

  “No, it means something is definitely wrong and you might be the clue to what it is. Do you have time to come to my office?”

  “Sure.” He glanced at Jake.

  “He'll come, too,” Brianna said.

  She pulled up the grades for last fall's calculus class. Slowly she reviewed the grades again, trying to picture each student, trying to remember what the grades have been.

  “I have my tests if you want to see them,” Jim said, pulling a bunch out of his backpack and offered them.

  Brianna reviewed them quickly remembering how well this student had grasped the class.

  “Who is Margaret Albert?”

  “That's Peggy,” Jim said.

  Wait a minute. This is wrong. Peggy Albert failed the course. Yet this printout shows a C. I know she failed because she’s on a scholarship and I hated to have to give a failing grade, but she didn’t do the work and failed all the tests. Her final exam score was higher than anything she’d done all year, but not enough to raise the grade.”

  “So three students that you can remember now have different grades. Two lower than you remember, one higher,” Jake summarized, looking over her shoulder.

  She nodded, studying the lists. “Why didn't I see this yesterday?” Frustrated not to have her grade book, she tried to recall what each student had earned. Shaking her head in defeat, she looked up. “That’s the best I can do. Where are the lists I sent into administration?”

  “According to the woman I talked with in Administration, they keep them for a week after they send the grades out, then toss them. The theory is the professors still have the list of grades if any conflicts arise.”

  “Well, the college would be swamped with paper if it kept every piece,” she said reasonably.

  He stood and took the list she’d marked. “I’ll give these to Don. He can start checking. We’ll start with these two girls.”

  “Neither are as tall as I am. I can’t see either one as the person on the stairs.”

  “I’ll let you know if we turn anything up.” He sketched her a small salute and headed for the elevators.

  She smiled at Jimmy. “I'll make sure we correct this. I don't know what happened or how, but I can correct your grade. I appreciate your coming forward.”

  “Thank you, Professor.” He nodded his head and left.

  Could those two girls, with help, have changed the grades? What other classes might be affected?

  She called the administration office and discussed the situation with one of the women who could help her. Satisfied all was being done, Brianna called her friend Susan. She had a brother to see.

  The sun hovered on the horizon by the time Susan and Brianna turned onto the long road that led to the Rafter C.

  Jase had convinced her he truly hadn't a clue who Jake was.

  That left Josh. Suspecting her bossy brother had interfered when he had no business being involved, she decided to confront him face-to-face rather than try to nail him down over the phone.

  She didn't want to drive, so enlisted her friend Susan.

  It had been several months since she’d been home and she felt the same surge of homecoming and delight she always felt when on the Rafter C.

  You could take the girl off the ranch, but you couldn’t take the ranch out of the girl. No matter how much she enjoyed teaching, she always felt at home here. Suddenly she was anxious for summer to return. She usually spent a few weeks in July riding, helping with the chores, renewing herself.

  Josh was out when they arrived. It would be dark in another hour. He’d be back by then. Susan had visited before, and knew the layout of the house. She parked in back and they entered through the kitchen.

  Brianna shook her head at the mess on the counters and in the sink. Since their former housekeeper had left to care of her invalid mother, Josh had not been able to keep a replacement.

  And if anyone needed someone else to do housekeeping chores, it was her brother!

  Susan giggled. “Typical bachelor, right? I can clean up.”

  “My family, my mess,” Brianna said.

  “You sit. Your wrist isn't fully healed and you need to stay off the foot as much as you can.

  “Tell me more about Jake,” Susan invited as she began running warm water into the sink. She'd been Brianna's confident when Jake had stopped coming around and wanted to know all the latest now.

  “Brianna! I didn’t know you were coming.”

  Josh entered the kitchen two hours later. Tall and lean, he looked tired and dusty. Shedding his shearling jacket and cowboy hat, he gave his sister a quick hug, and greeted Susan. When he glanced around the kitchen, his face lit up in a genuine smile.

  “Thanks for cleaning up. And—” he drew in a deep breath “—from the tantalizing aroma coming from the oven, I’d say I’m more than glad you two came by. What did you fix?”

  “Susan made meat loaf. You didn’t have anything else. When are you going to get another housekeeper?”

  “I’m working on it. Is it my fault none of the ones the local agency sends out will stay? Who wants to come to work on a remote ranch in the dead of winter? The last one only left a couple of days ago. I’ll get someone soon. What’s the occasion for the visit? What’s happened? How did you get hurt?” he asked, spotting the support on her ankle.

  “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you over dinner.” And get a few answers in exchange!

  Chapter Ten

  They fell into a familiar routine. Susan served up dinner; Josh handed the silverware to Brianna to set the table. He brought the plates to the table from the kitchen. It reminded Brianna of evenings when she was growing up after her parents had died.

  For so long it had just been Josh, Jase and her. The three against the world.

  She didn’t want her brother to have done anything that would alter their relationship. Glancing at Josh, she hesitated, then decided to withhold her questions until after they ate. No sense in ruining the meal Susa
n had prepared. Time enough for indigestion when they were finished.

  As they began to eat, she explained how she had hurt her ankle.

  “And the police haven’t found out who did it yet?” he said, scowling.

  She smiled at his expression, it was so similar to Jake’s. While her brother had the same fair hair and light eyes that she had, his features were rugged and masculine. And he was just as quick to jump to her defense as Jake.

  “They’re working on it. They think they’ll find the man soon.”

  “You should move back home until they do,” he said firmly.

  Susan looked at him. “No.”

  “My home's in Texarkana these days,” Brianna said, trying to keep the sudden annoyance under control. She wasn't Josh’s baby sister anymore—she was all grown up.

  “Someone should be watching out for you.”

  “Get real. I'll look after myself.”

  “Don't seem to have done such a great job,” he said, looking at her ankle.

  Where had she gone wrong that she gave the men in her life the impression she couldn't take care of herself? Did all sisters go through this? she wondered.

  “Someone's looking out for me,” she replied.

  “Someone special.” Susan said with a grin.

  Josh looked between them. “Someone new?” he asked, putting down his fork to study his sister.

  “No. No one special. Actually, no one at all.”

  “What do you mean?” He pushed away his empty plate and stared at her, puzzled.

  “I mean, I haven’t been seeing anyone at all in more than two years.”

  “Oops,” Susan said. She picked up her plate and Brianna's empty one, stacking them and heading for the kitchen. “I'll just see to these,” she muttered leaving the brother and sister staring at each other.

  Josh leaned back in his chair, his eyes never leaving hers. “Two years?”

  “Uh-huh. Two years. Shall I tell you about it?” she said, her voice deceptively calm. She leaned forward, anger staining her cheeks, her eyes flashing blue fire. “Two years, one month, and twenty-three days. But who’s counting?”

  “Brianna—” He began frowning.

  “Two years ago, I was dating a wonderful man. I was crazy about him. Absolutely head over heels in love. I’d never been in love before, but I knew it was the real thing. I love him. I loved him then, I love him now. Came here for Thanksgiving that year and then—nothing. He never called me again. When I called him, he didn't return my calls, or brushed me off.”

  Josh looked uncomfortable.

  Ruthlessly she continued, not giving him a chance to say a word. “I never knew why. So we stopped seeing each other. I could've dated other men, but I didn’t care to spend my time with anyone else. I didn’t want to date. I didn’t want to search for another man to fall in love with. It would never be the same. I love Jake Morgan. I loved him then, I love him now. I will love him until the day I die.”

  “Oh, God,” Josh said, rubbing his hand over his face, meeting his sister’s eyes again, as if compelled to do so.

  “Right. I’ve been desperately unhappy for a long time, Josh. And you know what? I just found out something that leads me to suspect you had something to do with that unhappiness.”

  She wanted to throw something to relieve the escalating tension. She stared at her brother, willing him to refute her charge. Willing him to say he hadn’t a clue what she was talking about.

  He stared at his sister for a long moment. “I meant it for the best,” he said at last.

  “Whose best? Yours? Certainly not mine.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. She'd so hoped she was wrong, that neither of her brothers had done anything so horrible.

  “Josh, I have been desperately unhappy for two years! I tried to hide it so you and Jase wouldn’t worry. There was nothing you could do, so I thought. Now I want to know exactly what happened. What did you do? And why?”

  She took a deep breath, trying to calm the raging turmoil. What had her brother done?

  “Brianna, the man’s a cop. You know how dangerous that kind of life is?”

  “You don’t like him because he’s a cop?”

  “It’s a dangerous career. I want someone better for you. Someone who would show up each night after work, not someone to worry about every day.”

  “Is being a cop more dangerous than being a cowboy? More dangerous than a rodeo rider? Give me a break. It’s not any more dangerous than a lot of professions. What am I supposed to do? Wait for a man who has a perfectly safe job, huh, Josh? And then make sure he never leaves the house in case a car careens out of control and kills him?” she asked sarcastically.

  Their parents had been killed in just such a manner.

  “What did you do, Josh? Besides ruin my chance for happiness. I want to know what you did.”

  He shoved back his chair and paced over to the window, leaning his hands on the sill and gazing out into the dark yard.

  “Not that much. If he'd cared for you, he'd have told me to go to hell and gone on seeing you. I called him and he backed off.”

  “I want to know what you told him.”

  She was feeling sick. Her brother had warned Jake off. She still couldn’t believe it.

  “I told him to stay away from my baby sister. That’s what.”

  Josh slammed his hand down on the sill and turned.

  “Someone has to watch out for you. You're too easy to take advantage of. You have a lot of money behind you. This ranch does very well. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t some fortune hunting opportunist looking for a free ride. Cops don’t make a lot of money.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  She stood and limped over until she faced Josh. Angrily she poked his chest with her index finger, afraid she would lose all self-control.

  “Just because Jeannie tried to take you for all you had doesn’t mean everyone else in the world is cut from the same cloth. Just because your fiancée was a gold digger doesn’t mean any man who was interested in me would be. Damn you, how dare you interfere with my life?”

  “I dared because I was worried about you.”

  “I’m a grown woman, perfectly capable of choosing my own path in life. I don’t need or want any interference from my brother. Just because you were born a couple of years before me doesn’t give you any rights over me, now or in the future. It’s none of your business whom I see, whom I date or whom I marry. You got that clear, cowboy?” She poked his chest again.

  He captured her finger and moved it away. “I did it for you, to protect you.”

  She snatched her hand away. “I don’t know why you ever thought you had the right to interfere in my life, but you were not doing it for me. I don’t need your protection! Was it a power trip or just jealousy that your sister found someone special and you were alone? Or were you just lashing out wherever you could because of Jeannie?”

  He stared at her. “Leave Jeannie out of it. She had nothing to do with it. I thought you and Tom Bolton might make a go of it,” he retorted. “He’s got his own spread now. You and he were always close. At least I know he’s not some fortune hunter.”

  “Tom and I were friends when we were in high school. I haven’t seen him in years. In case it escapes your attention, my life is now in Texarkana at the college. Maybe one day in Austin at the university there, but I would no more want to marry a rancher than I would want to be one.”

  The enormity of what her brother had done was almost too much to grasp.

  “Did you tell Jake I was seeing someone else?”

  Josh gritted his teeth, his jaw muscles jumped. “I told him you were practically engaged to a man you’d known all your life. I told him you might be having a fling with him, but when the time came to marry, he wasn’t even in the running.”

  She took a deep breath, the hurt almost too deep to bear. She'd expected support from her brothers, not betrayal. “You stay out of my life from now on, is that clear? I don’t want to see you again.
I don’t want to talk to you for a long time. Stay out of my life!”

  She snatched her hand away and stomped over to the coat rack. Yanking her jacket down, she donned it and turned.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know your feelings went so deep,” he said, his expression contrite and sincere.

  “Sorry isn’t good enough, Josh. You never asked, did you? You just took charge and tried to run my life. I have spent the past two years alone. Maybe I’ll spend the rest of my life alone because of your blasted interference. Stay away from me from now on!”

  She ran in to the kitchen.

  “We're leaving,” she told Susan.

  “Right now?” Her friend was startled. Though she had to hear the yelling voices.

  “Exactly right now!” Brianna said.

  Josh came into the kitchen. “No, don't go. Not like this. Talk to me Brianna. Let me see what I can do to make it right.”

  “You stay out of my life!'

  “I'll get my coat.” Susan said quietly.

  Susan drove toward Texarkana, glancing once or twice at her friend. “Want to talk about it?”

  “Not yet, I'm so angry I could spit nails!” Brianna replied. “Sorry to put you through this. You're a good friend.”

  “Yep, so remember that when you need someone to vent to.”

  Brianna nodded. Then despite her earlier words, she began to tell Susan all she'd discovered.

  Ending with, “I can't believe my own brother would do such a thing to me.”

  Susan glanced at her again. “You're kidding, right? Your brothers have tried to run your life since your folks died. Just because you're all grown up doesn't mean they recognize that. Be glad it wasn't worse.”

  “I don't' see how it could be worse.”

  “Me either, but I bet it could be”

  Brianna laughed at that. It didn't diminish her anger, but it did give her a second's respite from the churning adrenaline.

  She wasn’t sure how she was going to handle Jake, but she would set him straight on a few things the next time she saw him.