by Day Leclaire
“You’re right. I have wanted to tell you what I think.” Randolph’s jaw clenched, his entire body tensing in anticipation. “And with the judge as a witness, you wouldn’t dare attack me for speaking the truth.”
“Your version of the truth.” Jake corrected him mildly.
“Mine and everyone else’s in this town.” Randolph planted his palms on the tabletop. “You’re a no-good louse, Hondo, with an eye on the main chance, just like your mother. The only difference between you two is she didn’t have your luck. If the old man hadn’t been so desperate for a grandson, he’d never have taken you in.”
Jake shrugged. “Old news, Chesterfield. My grandfather made that very clear when he came for me. If he’d had any legitimate grandchildren, I’d have been left in the gutter where he found me. So what? I never wanted to go with him in the first place. If the courts hadn’t enforced his request, I’d have stayed put. At least I knew where I stood on the streets.”
“But you did come back with him. And then you rode into town intent on getting even with anyone who’d known your mother—”
The front legs of Jake’s chair crashed to the wooden floor. “I didn’t ride in, I was driven. Or should I say hog-tied and dragged, fighting every damned inch of the way? It’d be more accurate.”
“You wanted to get even because we all stood by while Chesterfield threw your mother off his land.”
Jake laughed, the sound more chilling than a bitter arctic wind. “He didn’t throw her off. Hell, he didn’t have to. All it took was a few coins chucked into the dirt and she left of her own accord, grateful for that much.”
“Nonetheless, you came back to get even because no one lifted a finger to help her. You blackened every eye that looked at you sideways and forced yourself on every woman who wandered within reach.”
Evie stood and crossed to her husband’s side. “Randolph, stop. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying. And it’s time the sweet, faithful Mrs. Hondo knew, too.” He shot Wynne a mocking look. “How do you like the truth so far?”
“Which truth? That Jake’s illegitimate?” She shrugged. “He told me. Since that’s not his fault, I can hardly hold him responsible…though apparently you do.”
“I hold him responsible for his actions since coming to town. Or doesn’t it bother you that he speaks with his fists and can’t be trusted around any decent woman?”
“If you think I’m shocked that Jake has been in a few brawls, you’re sadly mistaken. Of course he gets into fights. All you have to do is look at the man to know that you provoke him at your own risk.” Wynne smiled proudly. “He’s a natural-born warrior. That’s one of the reasons I married him.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I’m quite serious. And as far as women are concerned…I assure you, he would never force himself on anyone. He wouldn’t have to.”
A harsh laugh burst from Randolph. “I know for a fact that he’s done just that.”
“Please, don’t say more,” Evie urged her husband. “It won’t change anything.”
Wynne refused to back down. Randolph was maligning her husband, and that was one challenge she couldn’t allow to pass uncontested. Slowly rising to her feet, she flung her linen napkin onto the table as though it were a gauntlet. “Women may claim they were forced,” she informed him in clear, precise tones. “But only because they didn’t have the nerve to admit the truth.”
“And what truth is that?”
“That they allowed themselves to be seduced by the town’s black sheep.”
She’d clearly struck a chord. Hot color washed into Randolph’s face. “That’s a lie!”
Jake didn’t say a word, simply raised his wineglass in salute, the tender expression in his eyes tearing at her heart. It was all the encouragement she needed.
“It’s not a lie, but a shameful truth,” she retorted. “How many women, I wonder, who wouldn’t give my husband the time of day in public, slipped eagerly into his bed in the dead of night? Five, ten…” She glanced at Jake and lifted an eyebrow. “More?”
“It was before I knew you, elf,” he said without apology. “I hope you’re not offended.”
“I’m not the least offended. It was their loss, not mine. They only knew half the man. I intend to know the whole.”
“When’s the next Cinderella Ball?” Peter demanded. “I want a wife like her.”
“She’s lying I tell you!” The words burst from Randolph, laden with helpless fury. “She’s so hot for Hondo she’ll make up any story to protect him.” He scowled at her. “You may have been an easy tumble for him, but my wife never was!”
“Randolph!” Evie cried.
Wynne didn’t waste her breath trying to stop the fight brewing. She could tell Jake was blind to everything but the overwhelming urge to get at his cousin. Instead, she darted around the table, throwing herself at Jake to physically restrain him. His muscles bunched beneath her hands and he caught her shoulders as though he intended to force her from his path. But it was Evie’s plea that ultimately checked his threatening move toward Randolph.
“Jake, I beg you. Don’t touch him,” she whispered. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
The breath shuddered through his body as he fought to bring his anger under control. “Get out of my house, Chesterfield. Quick,” Jake warned in a low, grating voice. “And don’t come near me again for a long, long time. Otherwise you’ll pay a hard price for that crack.”
Randolph didn’t need any further encouragement. Wrapping an arm around Evie, he fled the room.
“Make sure he leaves without causing any more trouble,” Jake said to Peter. “I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
“No problem. Time I was getting home, anyway.”
Jake turned on Judge Graydon next. “Have you heard what you came for?” he demanded. “Because as far as I’m concerned, you can all go to hell. I’m not answering any more questions, and neither is my wife.”
“Easy, son,” the judge said, holding up his hands. “You and Wynne have satisfied the terms of the will. The property is legally yours.” His gray brows pulled together. “I hope for your sake, however, that Randolph is wrong.”
“Wrong about what?”
He nodded toward Wynne. “This wife of yours is good for you, Jake. You won’t find better. It’s none of my business, but I sincerely hope that this marriage is more than just a sham.”
The muscles in Jake’s jaw tightened. “You’re right. It’s none of your business. My grandfather had no call putting such an unreasonable condition in his will. You can safely assume that any loopholes I find are fair game.”
“He put that marital clause in there for your sake, my boy.”
“Bull! He did it to ensure the continuation of his line. He was obsessed with siring a dynasty.”
“Knowing Weston, that probably played a part in his decision,” Graydon conceded. “But that wasn’t the real purpose. There was another, more important reason.”
Jake’s expression turned derisive. “Yeah, right. Why don’t you tell me what his ‘real’ reason was? It ought to be good for a laugh, if nothing else.”
Graydon sighed. “He wanted to give you the one thing you’ve never had.”
That gave him pause. “And what was that?”
“Sorry, Jake. I’m not going to make it easy for you.” The judge glanced at Wynne. “Besides, if you don’t figure out the answer soon, then Weston failed and it won’t matter anyway.”
“He wanted to give me a wife?” Jake demanded in frustration. It didn’t make sense. “Legitimate children? I could have taken care of that myself. It wouldn’t have been difficult to arrange.”
“Oh, Jake,” Wynne whispered. “You don’t just buy those things.”
“No?” He gave a cynical laugh. “My grandfather spent a lifetime demonstrating just the opposite. He took great pleasure in proving you can buy anyone and everything.”
“No, not everything. And that’s what your grandfather finally did learn,” she responded quietly. Arguing with him would be fruitless, she realized then. Judging by the set of his jaw, she didn’t have a hope of altering his stance on the subject. She turned to the judge and offered her hand. “Thank you for coming. I apologize that the evening got a little heated.”
“Only to be expected.” He gathered her hand in his. “It’s been a real pleasure meeting you, my dear. I hope to see a lot more of you in future.”
“Time will tell,” she replied obliquely.
With that, the judge left. Jake shut the door behind him with pointed finality. “Quite some party you throw, Mrs. Hondo.”
“It was…interesting,” she agreed. “I suspect it will be the topic of discussion for a long time to come.”
“Around here that kind of discussion is called gossip. And I’m afraid you’re right. If we weren’t the talk of the town before, we will be now.” He thrust a hand through his hair and glanced at her speculatively. “Care for a drink? I don’t know about you, but I could sure use one.”
“Sounds perfect.”
He led the way into a very masculine library. Steelgray carpet covered the floor. At one end of the room was a sturdy rolltop desk and a massive captain’s chair, flanked on three sides by built-in bookcases. Opposite the desk, a huge stone fireplace took up the whole of one wall.
“Do you use that often?” she asked, nodding toward the hearth.
“From Christmas on, Grandfather always kept it lit.” He handed her a snifter of brandy and swept aside the wire mesh screen protecting the grate. “Care for a fire tonight?” he asked, poking at the wood staked inside. “It hasn’t gotten very cold out, yet, but I’m in the mood for one anyway.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Crossing to the switch by the door, she flipped off the overhead light so the small blaze he’d started provided the sole illumination. “Better?”
“Yeah, much.” He settled on the carpet in front of the hearth and took a healthy swallow of brandy. “Jeez, I’m glad that damn dinner is over.”
“So am I,” she said, joining him. “I’m also glad the boys weren’t here. I shudder to think what they’d have done to Randolph if they had been.”
“No worse than what I’d have done if he’d said one more word to you.”
A topic best avoided, she decided. “It’s going to seem strange tonight…having the boys gone, I mean.”
“You usually tuck them in at bedtime, don’t you?”
She nodded, confessing, “I like to sit and watch them sleep.”
“Do they remind you of your sister? What was her name? Tracy?”
“Yes.” Wynne bowed her head. “I feel closer to both her and Rob when I’m with the boys. I can…” She shrugged. “I can feel them nearby.”
“They must have thought a lot of you to leave their kids in your care.”
“They knew I loved Buster and Chick,” she answered simply. “That I’d do anything for them.”
“Even marry me.”
Her smile held a whimsical charm. “That was the easiest decision I ever made. I realized the minute we met that you were the perfect man.”
“Because I could slay dragons.” Shadows concealed his expression, but his voice held a caustic edge.
“Not just that. You were the perfect man because I—” Because I took one, look and saw you more clearly than you see yourself. Because the moment I looked into your fierce golden eyes, I fell impossibly, irrevocably in love. But she couldn’t tell him that, he wasn’t ready to hear it. So she offered the only response he’d find palatable. “I married you because we needed each other. We still do.”
“For a little longer.” His words held a grim warning.
“Jake…”
He released his breath in a gusty sigh. “Let me guess…What part of the evening do you want to hash out? The part about my grandfather? My parents? My untempered pillaging of the women in town?”
“I think we settled the issue of your pillaging, untempered or otherwise,” she replied with a quick grin.
“Thanks to your impassioned defense.”
“Don’t sound so surprised. I know what sort of man you are, even if Randolph doesn’t. I also know that it’s ridiculous to believe you’d resort to force when you could seduce any woman in town with a single look.”
His laughter sounded rusty. “It might take a little more effort than just a look.”
“Maybe.” She cast him a sidelong glance. “But one lesson on how to drive your truck would have overcome any lingering hesitation on their part.”
He shook his head, lounging on his elbow. “No way, sweetpea. You’re the only woman I’ve ever taught to drive a stick shift.” His eyes darkened. “The only woman I’d care to teach, for that matter.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” she admitted with a shy smile. She scooted closer to him, sliding her hand across his thigh. Flames leapt behind the screen, the firelight branding her pale hair with crimson streaks and flickering across the pure planes of her face. “Tell me the rest, Jake,” she urged. “Tell me quickly so it’s off your chest and we don’t have to ever refer to it again.”
“You want to hear all the gory details of my life?”
“Not really. But I suspect you need to tell them to me—for your own well-being.”
He instantly withdrew, the mental barriers slamming into place. “Why would you think that?” he asked coldly.
“It’s all right, Jake. I won’t run screaming in terror once I know your darkest secrets. I won’t turn from you in disgust or treat you with pity. And I certainly won’t sneak into your bed in the middle of the night, then pretend we’re strangers come daybreak.” She paused. “That is why you haven’t told me, isn’t it? Because you weren’t certain how I’d react.”
He sat up abruptly. “Damn you,” he whispered.
“I know,” she sympathized. “You’ve worked so hard to build up your defenses, secured every wall, made sure your fortress is totally invulnerable. Now you have this irritating wife, banging on the castle door and you have to open up and let her in.”
“I have to?”
She gave him an impish grin. “Just this once. After that, you can sling her out into the cold and simply ignore her.”
“You’re a hard woman to ignore,” he retorted.
“So you’ve said. Annoying, pesky, tenacious.”
The gold of his eyes rivaled the hot glow of the fire. “And loyal as hell. Okay, wife. You’ve heard most of the sordid details. There’s not much left to the story.” He stood and tossed another log onto the iron grate. “My parents met, fell in lust and had a summer of careless pleasure. Careless because they accidentally conceived me. When my mother found out she was pregnant, she approached my father. Sorry, he said, he’d just gotten engaged to someone else—a socially acceptable someone else—and he’d appreciate it if she’d disappear. To ensure it, my grandfather made it worth her while.”
“He paid her.”
“And thus helped cement her choice of careers.”
“Oh, Jake,” Wynne murmured.
“No pity, remember?” he bit out. “When I turned sixteen she died and I ended up on the streets. By that time, my father had also met an untimely end. His wife had never been able to bear him any children and my grandfather was desperate. Remembering the pregnant girl he’d bought off all those years ago, he came looking for me.”
“And returned to Chesterfield with a furious, resentful teenager.” It wasn’t a question.
“I sure as hell wasn’t the grandson he’d dreamt of having. I despised him for his hypocrisy and made no bones about it. In exchange for my hatred, he gave me all he possessed. Food, clothes, a roof over my head…Everything money could buy, he provided without hesitation. The one thing he asked in exchange I refused to give him.”
It only took a moment’s thought to figure out what Jake had withheld. “Your name.”
He nodded. “For years Grandfather begged
me to change it to Chesterfield. But I refused.”
She eyed him shrewdly. “It was the only way you could keep your own identity, to keep that last piece of yourself intact.”
He shrugged. “I was Jake Hondo and calling me Chesterfield wouldn’t change the circumstances surrounding my birth.”
“But you grew to love him, didn’t you, despite what he’d done to your mother?”
He ran a hand across his nape. “Yeah,” he admitted. “I did. He was a proud, lonely man who’d made a lot of mistakes in his life. And not once did he ever try to justify those mistakes or place the blame elsewhere. He just stood up and said, ‘I’m the one.’ I respected him for that, if nothing else.”
“But you didn’t stay with him, did you?”
He sighed. “I presume you’re asking about Lost Trail.”
“Yes.”
“From the minute I arrived in Chesterfield, I started working and saving so I could buy my own place.”
She nodded in perfect understanding. “That independent streak of yours—never depend on anyone or anything.”
“Something like that,” he agreed. “I got lucky. When I was in my mid-twenties, the neighboring ranch came available and I bought it. It was pitifully small compared to what my grandfather owned, but little by little I acquired the surrounding land until I had a respectable-sized spread.”
“But Dusty said you didn’t stay there, that you moved back in with your grandfather.”
“Not long after I made the purchase, the doctors discovered he had cancer.” He stared at the fire, his face an expressionless mask. “What else could I do?”
“You couldn’t have done anything else,” she informed him. “Another person might have been more callous.”
“I’m callous enough. And just so you know how callous…” He gave her a cool, direct look. “I could have brought you here after the wedding. Instead I chose to take you and the boys to Lost Trail. Care to know why?” He didn’t wait for her to answer, just gave her the hard, cold facts. “I didn’t want you to get your hopes up about staying, didn’t want you to get too comfortable living with me. That way there wouldn’t be any regrets when the time came to leave.”