Johnny burst into the kitchen, ending the conversation.
Dressed, but with his hair mussed, Johnny clambered onto his chair. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Nothing until you wash up and comb your hair,” Kit said, turning her back to Jake once more.
The boy grumbled.
“Have your father help you,” she added.
Johnny grabbed Jake’s hand and pulled him toward the lean-to where the pump and basin were. Torn between his wife and his son, Jake gave in to Johnny’s urging.
Ten minutes later, fresh-shaven and with spirits lifted by Johnny’s playful antics, Jake sat at the table. Kit laid plates covered with fried pork and eggs in front of him and Johnny, and a bowl of biscuits along with pale butter and orange marmalade in the center of the oilcloth-covered table. She remained standing, drinking a cup of coffee.
Jake frowned. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I’m not hungry,” she replied.
Unable to penetrate Kit’s icy facade, Jake ate the meal she’d prepared. Johnny finished first and asked to be excused to go outside to play with Toby. After he’d gone, Jake stood and refilled his coffee cup. Kit cleared the table, sliding the dishes into a pan of soapy water.
“I have to go to Red Cliff for a couple days,” he announced.
She jerked her head up, her eyes wide. Quickly lowering her gaze, she turned back to the sink. “Why?”
“I have a client up there who needs me to do some work for him,” Jake replied.
“What kind of work?”
Puzzled by the uncharacteristic sarcasm in her voice, he considered how to respond. Keeping his tone neutral, he said, “He wants me to translate some business contracts into English. He wants to know what he’s signing.”
“Oh.”
She continued washing the dishes, ignoring him.
Jake sighed, set his cup down, and stepped behind Kit. He laid his hands on her shoulders lightly, turning her around to face him.
She pressed her damp palms against his shirt front, and kept her gaze aimed at his chest. “I have work to do.”
Jake disregarded her halfhearted attempt to escape. “And I want to say good-bye to my wife.”
With his forefinger, he raised her chin and kissed her. Her lips remained stiff. He drew his tongue across their velvety softness, and a primal moan rose from her throat as she crushed his shirt between her curled fingers. Like a morning glory at sunrise, she eased open her mouth.
He pulled away before he succumbed to his burgeoning desire. Taking a shaky breath, Jake marveled at Kit’s ability to excite him. If only his heart hadn’t gotten involved, he could’ve finished what he’d begun without his conscience nagging him.
“I have to go,” Jake said softly.
Kit turned away, but not before he saw the glisten of unshed tears.
“Good-bye,” she said, her strong voice contrasting with the sadness he’d glimpsed.
He stared at her bowed neck. Although Kit was angry and hurt, the physical attraction between them couldn’t be denied. If he wanted, he could seduce her into bed, but she would hate him even more afterward. And Jake was no longer satisfied with just her body; he wanted her heart and soul.
“I love you,” he said, his throat aching with need.
Kit froze, but remained mute. He waited, hoping she’d acknowledge his declaration and reiterate her love. The silence expanded, threatening to choke him.
Without another word, Jake strode out of the kitchen and up to the bedroom. After throwing some clothes into his saddlebags, he went downstairs. Pausing, he debated whether to try to talk to Kit one more time. Although he didn’t want to leave, he figured a couple of days apart might make Kit more willing to listen. He hurried out of the house and down to the barn.
As he saddled a piebald mare, Johnny joined him. “Where’re you going, Pa?”
Jake tightened the cinch and dropped the stirrup into place. Facing his son, he said, “I have to go away for a couple days.”
“Are you goin’ to hunt down an outlaw?” Johnny asked, his eyes saucer-wide.
Jake smiled and shook his head. “I’m not a bounty hunter anymore, Johnny. I’m a lawyer.”
The boy’s eyebrows knitted in question. “What does a lawyer do?”
“Lawyers write contracts and wills, and they go to court to defend their clients.”
Johnny’s frown deepened. “That sounds boring.”
Jake hunkered down, putting himself at eye level with his son. “Maybe, but it’s a lot safer. And I won’t be gone from home as often.”
“What’re your stories goin’ to be about now?”
“I don’t think there are going to be any more adventures.” Disappointment filled Johnny’s eyes. “Does that bother you?”
Johnny shrugged. “I dunno.”
“If I kept on bounty hunting, I’d have to be gone a lot. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“I guess not.”
Jake studied his son’s long face and tried to imagine what it would be like to learn your father is a famous hero, only to have him hang up his guns. He took hold of Johnny’s arms. “I need you to do something for me.”
Johnny canted his head. “What?”
“I want you to take care of your mother. I won’t be here to do it, so I’m counting on you. Can you do that for me?”
The boy nodded somberly. “Yes, sir.”
Jake gathered his son close and hugged him, and Johnny wrapped his arms around Jake’s neck. “I’m going to miss you, Pa.”
“I’ll miss you, too, but I won’t be gone long.”
He released Johnny and stood. “You be good, and go to bed when your ma tells you to. And do your chores without fussing. All right?”
“I will.”
With Johnny walking beside him, Jake led his horse out of the musky barn and mounted with fluid ease. “Bye, Johnny.”
Johnny lifted his hand in farewell. “Bye, Pa.”
Jake urged the mare into motion, and called back, “I’m counting on you, son.”
With one last wistful glance at the house, Jake rode toward the training corrals on the other side of the grove of aspens. Both Charlie and Ethan were with the horses, and Jake stopped near the pen where Charlie worked.
The dark man led the yearling he’d been training toward Jake. “Goin’ somewheres?”
Jake nodded. “Red Cliff. I’ll be home day after tomorrow.”
Charlie narrowed his eyes. “Lawyer work?”
Annoyed by his unspoken accusation, Jake clenched his teeth to bite back a sarcastic reply. “Yes.” Jake dragged in a deep, calming breath. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an eye out for strangers.”
Charlie’s broad brow notched upward.
Jake shifted his weight in the saddle, the leather creaking beneath him. “If anyone comes looking for me, he might not care who he hurts to get what he wants.”
Ethan joined them. “You finally leaving?”
“Before you start celebrating, I’ll be back.”
The half-breed angled a glare at him. “Seems to me Miz Thornton and Johnny’s better off without you.”
Jake rested his forearm on the saddlehorn and leaned down, hoping to intimidate the younger man. “That’s Mrs. Cordell.”
Ethan’s posture tensed.
“He’s right, Ethan,” Charlie said reluctantly. He looked up at Jake. “We’ll keep an eye out Not because you said so, but because we don’t want nobody hurtin’ Johnny or Kit Nobody.”
Feeling as welcome as an atheist at a church picnic, Jake straightened. “I understand. No need to tell Kit. She’d only worry.”
Charlie studied Jake a moment, and his features eased. “We won’t be tellin’ her.”
Grateful, Jake nodded and wheeled the mare around to ride away. Although he wished he could be angry with Charlie and Ethan, he couldn’t blame them for their protectiveness. He was the interloper, the outsider who’d disrupted Kit and Johnny’s lives. But he was tired of
being alone. He wanted the past put behind him.
He wanted a future with his wife and son.
Kit pitched another forkful of straw into the wagon. With a groan, she straightened to take a break from the mindless task of cleaning out the stalls. She massaged her lower back and tipped her head from one side to the other to ease the muscles in her neck.
Even though she was exhausted from too little sleep the last few nights, she pushed her body to the breaking point. By working so hard, Kit hoped she wouldn’t have time to think of Jake. The physical labor, however, left her mind free to do as it pleased. And it wanted to dwell on Jake.
I love you.
His parting words drifted across her thoughts for the thousandth time since Jake had left. With all her heart she wanted to believe he spoke the truth, but the timing seemed contrived. Was it only another lie to get what he wanted?
Johnny entered the barn, Toby at his heels. “I think Jasper is all healed,” the boy announced.
Kit gazed at her son, seeing Jake’s chiseled features etched in the boy’s face. Her heart lurched. In spite of her bitter disappointment over Jake’s betrayal, she couldn’t stop loving him, no matter how hard she tried.
She forced a smile for Johnny’s sake. “I guess that means we’d better go let him join his cousins.”
Leaving a disgruntled Toby locked in the barn, they went to the other building where the injured animals were kept.
“Can you lift one end of the cage?” Kit asked.
“I’m almost six years old,” came his indignant reply.
A genuine grin claimed her lips. “That’s right. Three more weeks and you’ll be all grown up.”
“Almost,” Johnny amended solemnly.
She and Johnny carried Jasper’s cage to the edge of the woods.
“Would you like to let him go?” she asked.
Johnny kicked at the damp soil, and shook his head. “Naw.”
Concern brought a frown to her face. Normally, he’d have been eager to do a grown-up job. “Are you sure?”
“You can do it.”
She pressed her lips together. Something was bothering him. He was always resistant to releasing one of his “pets,” but his reluctance seemed rooted in something more this time.
She stepped behind the cage, then bent over the top of it to undo the latch. She swung the door open and stepped back beside Johnny.
Sliding her hands in her pockets, she watched the raccoon take its first step toward freedom. Sniffing the ground, then the air, Jasper glanced back at her and Johnny. With a blink of his masked eyes, Jasper ambled off into the brush.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” Johnny asked with a husky voice.
“I don’t think so, sweetheart. He has a life out there in the wilds.”
Kit noticed her son had turned his attention to the road leading to the ranch. Abruptly realizing what worried him, she clenched her jaw. She’d been so absorbed in self-pity, she’d failed to see how Jake’s departure had affected Johnny. “Don’t worry, your father will come back.”
“He’s been gone two whole days.”
Her heart tightened at the anguish in his words. As hurt as she was by Jake’s underhanded possession of the ranch, she, too, wanted him back safe and sound. She knelt down in front of Johnny. “This is his home, sweetheart. Besides, he loves you. He would never leave you.”
“I miss him.” Her son’s plaintive tone shafted an arrow of pain through Kit’s chest.
“So do I.” The truth slipped past her defenses. It didn’t matter what he’d done, she loved him. When he returned, she’d listen to his explanation and give him a chance to prove his parting words.
“Let’s go back to the house. It’s time to get supper on,” Kit said, pushing to her feet.
Vertigo assailed her for a moment, and she placed a hand to her temple. She needed a good night’s sleep.
After they put away the empty cage, Johnny let Toby out, and she left the two of them romping around the yard. Kit retrieved a basket of potatoes from the root cellar and sat on the porch to clean them for supper.
While her hands were busy, her mind strayed to Jake. This time she didn’t fight the image of his endearing smile or twinkling eyes. She wouldn’t have been so stubborn, but her pride had been wounded. In the space of less than an hour, she’d professed her love and learned of his deception. Although at first she’d felt angry at his betrayal, now guilt had set in. She’d been a hypocrite. She’d railed at Jake for his silent lie, yet she still carried the secret of T. K. Thorne.
Kit looked around at the leafing trees and the greening grass as if a cloud had lifted. For the first time since Jake had left, she admitted to herself that she missed him with a soul-yearning intensity.
A horse and rider came into view on the road, and Kit’s heart did a somersault.
The sorrel animal the person rode dashed her hopes that it was Jake returning home. Shading her eyes against the setting sun, she watched the visitor approach. As he came into the yard, she recognized the pinstriped suit and black bowler perched on his head. David Preston.
He was the last person she wanted to see. Kit stood and positioned herself at the top of the porch stairs. Preston slid from the saddle and wrapped the leather reins around the hitching post. Fastidiously brushing the dust from his expensive jacket, he walked toward her.
“Good afternoon, my dear Kit,” he greeted in a snake oil salesman’s voice.
She nodded, keeping her revulsion hidden. “What brings you out here, David?”
“I heard Cordell was out of town.”
A shiver shimmied down her spine, and she fought the urge to wrap her arms around her waist. “So?”
Impatience flickered across his aquiline face. “So I thought I’d come out and check on you.”
“No need to worry about me. I’ve got Charlie and Ethan.”
He scowled. “Someone needs to be protecting you from them.”
Kit’s temper simmered. “I trust them with my life. And Johnny’s.”
“I heard that the brat is Cordell’s. Is that true?”
She boiled at his description of Johnny. “Yes.”
He grimaced with distaste. “So you and Cordell were more than old friends. And here I thought the nasty rumors about you were nothing more than jealous prattle.”
Not bothering to correct his assumption, she laughed. “The thing that you can’t believe is that I chose him over you.”
He mounted the stairs, his menacing steps forcing her to retreat a few feet. “I would’ve given you respectability, a life where you didn’t have to work like a common ranch hand.”
She shook her head, the first shiver of fear crawling down her spine. “You’ve never understood me, David. I chose this ranch, and I chose Charlie and Ethan to work for me. I never cared about respectability.”
His blue eyes seemed lit from within by a dangerous gleam. His searing gaze slid across her chest and down her legs, then back to her face.
“I’ve been more than patient with you, Kit. You owe me for that.”
Kit reminded herself that he had been her friend. He wouldn’t hurt her. “I don’t owe you anything, David. We were friends. Anything more was your imagination.”
He advanced with the stealth of a predatory beast. She struggled to remain in place and not give in to the urge to withdraw from his intimidation.
“You would’ve been mine if Cordell’s horse hadn’t stumbled when I pulled the trigger.” He ground out the words between clenched teeth.
The impact of his statement staggered her. She stared at him, mouth agape. “You shot Jake?”
“I did it for you, Kit. I knew you would fall for his shallow charms if I didn’t save you. For five years I’ve waited for you.” His face twisted into an ugly bitter mask. “Then Cordell shows up, and you can’t wait to crawl under him again and spread your legs.”
Preston grabbed her unexpectedly, his fetid breath washing across her, and Kit fought a wave of nausea. St
umbling back, she struggled to free herself from his iron grasp. His fingertips bit into her arms as he shoved her across the porch, pinning her against the door.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Kit demanded, her knees quaking.
“Taking what should’ve been mine.” He crushed her lips beneath his. A scream crawled up Kit’s throat, but was blocked by Preston’s cruel ravishment. She tried to wriggle out of his clutches but was defeated by the unexpected hard muscle camouflaged beneath his fashionable clothing.
She kicked at his shins and was rewarded with a grunt of pain. He ended the violent kiss, and Kit gasped for air. The heavy odors of printers ink and damp wool threatened to suffocate her.
“We’re going to go in to the house and you’re going to give me what you gave Cordell.”
“Go to hell,” she spat.
“If you don’t, that boy of yours and Cordell’s will have an untimely accident. If I can get the drop on the great Jake Cordell, can you imagine how easy it would be for me to kill your bastard?”
Cold terror iced her heart and she ceased struggling, although her muscles remained taut. “No! You wouldn’t!”
“That’ll be up to you, my sweet.” Preston chained her wrists in one hand. “Let’s go inside where we can be more comfortable.”
Kit’s frantic gaze searched the corrals for any sign of her hired men. She didn’t see them, and hysteria threatened to undo her fragile thread of control.
“They won’t be coming to your rescue. You see, I stopped by to let them know I was going to visit my good friend Kit,” Preston said, guessing her thoughts.
Her eyes flashed to his smug smile. Below the fine-spun veneer of civilization lay a perverted sense of propriety. She had to remain calm, and pray she’d be able to escape before he could …
Preston shoved her into the house, wrenching her right arm behind her painfully. Her gaze darted about in search of a weapon. Helpless, she watched him remove his black bowler and hang it on a wall peg as if he were a welcome visitor. The stench of his imported hair oil struck her nostrils, and she gagged.
He propelled her toward the stairs. She stumbled, her hip slamming against the baluster. Preston bent her arm behind her back again. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she staggered up the steps.
Maureen McKade Page 29