The Birth Mother

by Pamela Toth

  “You’ll love it. Reno is unlike any other city in the world,” he enthused. “We’ll have a blast.”

  It was the promise of more time with him that snagged Emma’s excitement. “Sounds fun,” she said calmly, even though her insides were jumping, “but don’t you think we should eat first?”

  Her quip earned her a grin and a quick kiss. “When I’m around you, I don’t need food,” he murmured in a deep voice.

  Emma rolled her eyes and smacked him with the kitchen towel. “Here.” She handed him the potato and a paring knife. “Slice it thin. When you’re done, you can grate some cheese.”

  “Ah,” he sighed dramatically. “Foreplay.”

  Emma ignored him, but she was secretly pleased by his playfulness. It was a side to his personality he hadn’t revealed to her before. Maybe his willingness to do so now meant he realized their relationship had more going for it than just sex. Emma hoped so.

  Audra hated coming to the prison to visit Lexine nearly as much as she hated sleeping with Micky. She didn’t know which was worse, feeling his hands on her when he was awake or listening to his snoring when he wasn’t.

  Lexine had left a message that she wanted to see Audra right away. She knew better than to ignore her mother’s summons. While she waited for Lexine to appear on the other side of the glass partition, she picked at the polish on her thumbnail, ruining a ten-dollar manicure, and tried not to think about how badly she wanted a cigarette. There was a pack in her purse she could hardly wait to open the minute she got back outside.

  “Did you bring my smokes?” was the first thing Lexine asked after she had sat down opposite Audra and they’d both picked up their phone receivers.

  No “Hi, how ya been?” and no “Thanks for coming,” Audra thought. Never mind “You look good” or “I like your new earrings.”

  Lexine’s hair, she saw, was freshly styled and tinted a brighter blond than Audra’s, temporarily hiding the gray roots that usually framed Lexine’s face. Even though she patted the brassy locks with her free hand, Audra pretended not to notice.

  “Yes, I left two cartons at the desk,” she replied in as sullen a tone as she dared. “And I made that call, too.”

  Lexine glanced around and then she lowered her voice. “Has she been arrested yet?”

  Audra shrugged. “How should I know? Do I look like I’ve got a pipeline to the sheriff’s office?” Micky was getting on her nerves, she still hadn’t found the sapphire mine that was going to buy her ticket out of Montana and Lexine’s demands were a big pain. Life sucked.

  Across from her, Lexine narrowed her eyes. They were ringed with black liner, her lashes caked with the mascara Audra had brought her the last time she’d visited. Lexine hadn’t seen fit to thank her for that, either. All she’d ever given Audra was a gold locket she’d managed to lose in the woods. When Lexine had noticed she wasn’t wearing it, she’d lied and said she was having the chain fixed.

  “Are you trying to be smart with me, girl?” Lexine demanded. “I asked you a question and I want an answer.”

  Audra’s resentment must have shown on her face, because Lexine instantly changed tactics. “We’re doing this for you, sweetie.” Her voice had gone all syrupy, her expression pleading. “Now please fill Mama in on what’s been happening.”

  Damn, but Audra wished she’d never confided in Lexine. What had she been thinking to give her this much power? “I haven’t heard anything.”

  Lexine rolled her eyes, her jaws working on the gum she was chewing. “Couldn’t you call and ask?”

  Audra hated it when Lexine talked down to her. “They might recognize my voice if I call again,” she said with a sniff. “Besides, it would be all over the news if anyone got arrested. Finding that woman’s body has been the biggest thing to hit Whitehorn since, well, since you were convicted.” She hadn’t been able to resist that little dig, even though Lexine’s cheeks turned all red and blotchy. A thrill of fear shivered through Audra and her fingers tightened on the receiver as she reminded herself not to overdo it. As long as Lexine needed her to search for the sapphire mine and run errands, Audra figured she was safe. By the time Lexine realized she had no intentions of sharing the mine’s bounty, Audra would be well on the way to her new life and a new identity. Once Emma Stover was convicted of the Montgomery woman’s murder, who would listen to the rambling accusations of a lifer? Still, Lexine’s temper was unpredictable.

  “I’m sorry,” Audra murmured, attempting to look suitably contrite. “I’ll find out what I can.”

  “You do that,” Lexine replied coldly. “Otherwise I’ll have to call the sheriff myself, and who knows what I might let accidentally slip out.” Before Audra could say a word, a guard came over and bent to speak to Lexine. Without sparing another glance at Audra she hung up, shoved back her chair and followed the guard from the room.

  As Audra watched them leave, a sick feeling invaded her stomach. She’d better pray the sheriff arrested that waitress soon, before Lexine decided that Audra herself was expendable.

  Brandon could tell that the sheriff’s phone call had upset Emma, but she insisted she was fine. He’d brought her back out to the ranch after breakfast, intending to give her a riding lesson if she was willing. Instead they’d run into Garrett, Collin, and Rand Harding, the ranch manager, all seated around the kitchen table having a discussion when Brandon and Emma had walked in.

  He could tell Emma was nervous when he introduced her, but Garrett and the others quickly made her welcome. She must have recognized his grandfather and half brother from the Black Boot, but she didn’t let on. Rand remembered her from when he’d taken his wife and baby to the café for lunch. Emma had heated a bottle for them.

  Brandon was afraid they’d interrupted a private discussion, but Garrett insisted they help themselves to coffee and join the three of them at the table.

  “We’re talking strategy,” he explained to both Brandon and Emma. “That damn Jordan Baxter’s been bragging about blocking our purchase of the ranch, and we’re trying to figure out what to do next.” He tipped his head at Emma. “Begging your pardon, but the Baxters have been a thorn in our sides for a good long while.”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Brandon interjected, “considering that one of them murdered your uncle and your cousin.”

  The talk of violence must have upset Emma, who seemed to stiffen. “Who was that?” she asked.

  “A witch named Lexine,” Garrett replied. “She’s up at the women’s prison.” He shook his head. “A life sentence is better than she deserves. Woman or not, they should have strung her up.”

  Angrily, Garrett banged his fist on the table. “Jordan Baxter isn’t going to win this one,” he exclaimed. “We’ll get around him and someday this ranch will be your legacy, yours and your brothers’.”

  Brandon had tried before to explain that he’d done quite well for himself back in Nevada and didn’t need the ranch, but Garrett had refused to listen. Brandon had even thought about offering to help financially with the legal battle, but now wasn’t the time.

  “How do you like Whitehorn?” Garrett asked Emma, abruptly changing the subject.

  If she was startled by the direct question, she recovered quickly. “It’s a nice town,” she replied. “I’ve met some friendly people here.”

  Garrett asked her a few more questions about herself, things Brandon already knew. He was about to make an excuse and extricate Emma when she mentioned something that surprised him.

  “I’d like to make use of my teaching degree someday,” she said shyly in response to Garrett’s query about her job at the Hip Hop. “If I stay around, I might look into getting accredited here in Montana.”

  “I didn’t know you taught,” Brandon blurted.

  She glanced down at her hands. “Only my student teaching. After I graduated, there weren’t any openings back home, so I got a job in an insurance office.”

  “And what brings you to our state?” Garrett asked.

&
nbsp; “Now, Granddad, her reasons may be personal,” Collin chided gently. He smiled at Emma. “Don’t mind us. All we normally have to talk to is cows and each other. We get a little nosy when a real person comes around and then we forget what little manners we’ve got.” Collin glanced at Brandon. “Ain’t that right, bro?”

  “Speak for yourself,” Brandon drawled. “My manners are just fine.” He winked at Emma to let her know she was off the hook. “Aren’t they?”

  “You have lovely manners,” she assured him. “Now if I could just get you to use a fork and spoon…” Deliberately she let the sentence trail off as she shook her head sadly.

  Rand leaned forward and slapped the table with his hand. “We noticed that, too,” he said as Garrett guffawed at Emma’s teasing. “First time I’ve ever seen a slob use a finger bowl.”

  “And extend his pinkie when he drinks tea,” Collin added with a mocking gesture.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Brandon got to his feet. “If you’re going to tell family secrets, we’re out of here.” He looked down at Emma, relieved to see she was grinning. “Come on, honey, and I’ll show you the horses. They’re a lot more interesting that these jackasses.”

  “Come back anytime,” Garrett told her as she said her goodbyes. “In fact, why don’t you stay for dinner? We eat at five.”

  Emma glanced at Brandon, who had other ideas for how they’d be spending their evening. “Okay if we take a rain check?” he asked.

  “Sure thing, as long as you promise to bring her back real soon.”

  “I’ll look forward to it,” Emma said. Some of the strain Brandon had seen in her expression earlier when his grandfather had been ranting about the Baxters was back again. All that talk about murder must have reminded her of the business with the sheriff. She was probably more worried about it than she was willing to let on. Maybe Brandon could distract her once he got her away from the house and they found a little privacy. The least he could do was try.

  Seven

  “No one will bother us here. Make love with me, Emma.”

  Brandon had been showing her around the barn and the stables. Since they’d left the main house, they hadn’t run into another soul. The building they were in now was used to store a jumble of haying equipment that wouldn’t be utilized again until the end of the summer. It was quiet and cool here, the only light coming from several high windows. The faint smells of dried grass and diesel weren’t unpleasant. Rather, they added to the feeling of tranquillity.

  Off in an alcove, by itself, was a cot covered with a plaid blanket.

  Since the beginning of their tour, Brandon had been stealing kisses at every opportunity, each one longer and more intense, until it was all Emma could do to pay any attention to the animals and equipment he’d been pointing out for the past half hour.

  Now he watched her with a hooded expression, waiting for her answer. After Garrett’s comments about the destruction Lexine had wrought in the Kincaid family, Emma felt like the worst kind of fraud for setting foot on their land. Perhaps she had no right to be here, but she couldn’t walk away from Brandon as long as he professed to need her.

  “Emma?” he asked. “No one will bother us here, I promise.” Desire darkened his eyes and pulled the skin taut across his cheekbones—the same desire that bubbled through her veins like champagne. How could she deny him what they both wanted? How could she tell him about her lineage and watch the heat in his gaze turn cold with disdain?

  With a hungry sigh she melted into his arms and lifted her face for his kiss. Tonight he would leave her again, but for now he was hers and she wasn’t going to waste one precious minute regretting things she couldn’t change.

  The narrow cot hadn’t stopped Brandon from claiming her with a raw urgency that still brought a smile to Emma’s lips the next morning. She didn’t have to be at the Hip Hop for a couple of hours yet, but she wanted time to look through her cookbook for some recipes to prepare when Brandon came back. He wasn’t even gone from her twelve hours and she missed him already.

  She was sitting at the table nursing a cup of coffee and flipping through the section on casseroles when someone knocked at the door. Her first thought was that Brandon had come back, but she knew he’d left this morning for Reno. He’d already postponed that meeting once for her sake. Perhaps it was Janie at the door. Although she was careful not to encroach on Emma’s privacy, she did drop by occasionally for a cup of coffee and a visit.

  Emma pulled open the door with a smile on her face that froze when she recognized the uniformed officer standing in front of her.

  Sheriff Rawlings.

  “I’m sorry to bother you,” he said, removing his gray Stetson and smoothing his hand through his hair, “but I have a few more questions.”

  She would have liked to shut the door in his face, but she knew he was only doing his job. It happened to be her tough luck that she’d been drawn into his investigation, but that didn’t mean it would be prudent to alienate him, especially when her own landlord was one of his deputies. Eventually Emma would be cleared and she could put this episode behind her.

  “Come on in.” She stood back and held the door open wider. Then she had a sudden thought. “Are you here with the results from the DNA test?” she asked hopefully.

  He walked into the room before he turned to face her. “You sound eager to hear back on that.”

  “Of course I am. That test will prove I’ve been telling the truth. So you haven’t heard?” she asked, disappointed.

  “Not yet, but I’ve got a friend at the lab who promised to do what he could to speed things up.” He raised a warning hand. “It could still take a couple of weeks, but that’s not why I’m here.”

  “Would you like some coffee?” Emma asked. It wouldn’t hurt to be polite. She’d brewed a pot this morning instead of settling for her usual instant and there was enough left for another cup.

  The solemn set of his features relaxed. Although he didn’t actually smile, he was still attractive in a brooding way. His neatly pressed gray uniform added to his quiet air of authority. The black leather of his holster matched that of his boots. Although he wasn’t anyone she would want for an enemy, she’d heard he was scrupulously fair and honest.

  “Coffee would be nice.” He followed her into the kitchen. While she filled a mug, he hovered, declining her offer of sugar and milk.

  “Are you comfortable here?” he asked once they were seated across from each other at the table and he’d set down his hat.

  “It’s fairly compact, but I like it,” she replied, impatient to hear why he’d come. “I don’t need a lot of space.”

  “I helped Reed put in the shower stall,” he volunteered, “and I laid the carpet.”

  Emma couldn’t think of a comment, so she nodded and sipped her own lukewarm coffee. A glance at the clock told her she still had plenty of time before she needed to leave for work.

  He must have noticed the direction of her gaze. “Am I keeping you from something?”

  “No, but you said you had more questions and I’m curious about what else I could possibly tell you.”

  “Of course you are.” He set down his mug and laced his fingers together. They were long, with neatly trimmed nails. A plain gold wedding band gleamed against his dark skin. “I told you I was going to talk to Lexine and I did, but my conversation with her made me curious about something.”

  “What’s that?” What could she have told him about Emma? The two women had only seen each other that one time.

  “Before I go into it, would you mind telling me what your relationship with her is like? Do you get along?”

  Emma shrugged. “I’ve only seen her once, and that was a disaster. She’s a bitter woman, full of anger, and I guess I disappointed her when I wasn’t properly sympathetic to her hard-luck story. Frankly, I was appalled that she blamed her victims for their own murders. She got angry, we quarreled and I left. I haven’t decided whether I’ll go back or not.”

  “I’m sorr
y,” he replied, steepling his fingers. “It must have been doubly disappointing after you’d taken the trouble to find her.”

  “Yes, it was.” Emma was still struggling to let go of the loving reunion she’d fantasized about for most of her life. “When I was growing up, she refused to relinquish her rights so that I could be adopted. I always believed that meant she planned to come back for me.” Emma paused to swallow the lump that had risen into her throat. Lexine’s rejection still hurt. “I wanted to meet her and find out why she left me behind in the first place. I’d convinced myself that she had no choice.” Emma realized she was chattering, telling him more than he’d asked. Abruptly she clamped her lips together. Wasn’t that how cops tried to trip a person up, to get them talking so they said something they hadn’t intended to?

  “Who knows why a woman like Lexine acts the way she does.” There was genuine anger in the sheriff’s voice. In his career he’d probably seen plenty of families who’d been torn apart for one reason or another. “That kind of behavior is something rational people can’t figure out, because their brains don’t work in the same way as someone like hers does.”

  His comment sounded personal, as though he was well acquainted with Lexine. Was it possible that some of her crimes had touched his family, just as they had Brandon’s? Before Emma could ask, he leaned forward.

  “There’s something I probably should have told you when you were in my office,” he said in a clipped tone. “It’s no secret, but neither is it something I go around bragging about.”

  What could he be trying to say? He looked distinctly uncomfortable, but it couldn’t have anything to do with Emma. Before she’d been in his office, she’d only exchanged a few words with him at the café.

  “What is it?” she asked warily.

  He took a sip of coffee, his knuckles pale against the handle of the mug. When he set it back down, his throat worked as he swallowed. Emma braced herself, not knowing why she was suddenly fearful.

  “Lexine’s my mother, too,” he said flatly. “You’re my half sister.”