The Adventurous Bride

by Molly Liholm

  Now he wondered exactly how Meg would keep Reid occupied. Was she letting him kiss her, touch her? Had the cowboy taken her to the barn in time-honored Western tradition, planning on making love to her in the hay? Adam peered into the darkness but couldn’t see anything.

  Telling himself he was acting the part of the jealous lover, just as they’d planned earlier in the afternoon, Adam opened the glass doors and stepped out into the shadows. Quelling the urge to search for Meg, he headed to the west of the house and counted windows until he was in front of Reid’s office. The window slid open easily and he climbed inside.

  This room was all dark wood and included two sets of antlers on either side of the fireplace. From their age, Adam could tell they were hunting trophies of one of Reid’s ancestors. Reid had a very nice collection of western art on the walls and first editions of Zane Grey and Louis Lamour. “Cowboys.” Adam snorted and wondered if the Liberty L earned enough to sustain Reid’s expensive hobby of collecting rare books.

  In the desk Adam found the account ledgers and began to read. The ranch had experienced both windfalls and setbacks. He hadn’t expected to find anything different; a lot of profit would have looked far too suspicious. He put the ledger back in the desk drawer, stopped and looked around the room, considering what he should do next. He could turn on Reid’s computer and try to break into files, but what exactly did he expect to find here? That was the question Meg had asked him, and he had told her he just wanted to take a look around, to get a sense of Reid.

  Of course, that was only half of the truth. He wanted to sit in Reid’s chair, in Reid’s office, and discover if he felt anything. To see if his skin prickled or alarm bells went off. He leaned back in the rich leather chair, letting himself be enfolded by the buttery softness. Closing his eyes, he smelled leather, smoke and something that he assumed was horse. He was letting himself drift, imagining Reid working here, when he experienced a sharp jolt through his system. All of his senses screamed that something was terribly wrong. Opening his eyes, he saw Reid and a very pale Meg standing in the doorway.

  “I suspected I would find you here,” Reid said coolly as he stepped inside, pulling Meg in with him.

  Adam stood casually and shrugged, determined to get him and Meg out of this difficult situation and away from the Liberty L as soon as possible. “You’ll have to forgive me. My journalist instincts got the better of me. I got a little too curious after the house tour,” Adam began, but Reid held up a callused hand.

  “No need for explanation. I know all about you.” He stepped farther into the room and closed the door behind him. He smiled coldly. “Just the three of us. Now we’ll have a real opportunity to talk.”

  7

  REID’S FACE WAS HARD, his eyes narrow, as he pulled Meg along with him. “You shouldn’t be in my private office. I don’t like anyone being in here, not even my sister.”

  Trying to look innocent and friendly, Adam took a step toward Reid, his palms open. If the cowboy didn’t take his big paw off Meg’s arm soon, he would make him. He must have shown something of his thoughts on his face, for Meg frowned at him. He relaxed his expression and tried again. “My reporter’s curiosity got the better of me. I’ve always found that a man’s office reveals a lot about himself. As a writer, I haven’t come across a successful rancher and I wanted to get a better sense of the man behind this impressive operation.”

  Reid looked unconvinced. “Then you could have asked me.”

  “I apologize. Acting on my reporter’s instinct is a bad habit of mine.”

  Reid looked at the desk that held the account ledger that Adam had placed back in the drawer. “Did you find anything of interest?”

  Adam felt heat color his cheeks and was glad that he looked embarrassed. “I only took a very quick look.”

  “Then, if you knew anything about ranching, you’d know that despite the amount of land and livestock we have on it, survival is always our ambition. The Liberty L looks impressive, but we’ve also experienced a lot of bad fortune with weather and animal disease.” Finally Reid let go of Meg, as if ashamed of what he was revealing. “As much as I don’t like to admit it, Gloria’s tourist business has helped out the finances of the ranch quite a bit.”

  Meg touched Reid’s arm, concern on her lovely face, and then stopped as if she didn’t know what to say. She turned to Adam. “Perhaps we should call this a night,” she said in cool tones.

  Then once again she grasped Reid’s hand. “I’m sorry, Reid. I never thought Adam would betray your trust like this. I’m embarrassed.” Her cheeks bloomed a pretty pink as she shot another glance at Adam. “Believe me, as his former fiancée, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind tonight. I’ll understand if this changes our plans for tomorrow.”

  Reid looked at their clasped hands. “No, I’d like some time for us to be together. Alone.” He glanced at Adam meaningfully. “I’ll pick you up at six.”

  “Good.” She smiled at him. “I’m looking forward to our date.” She leaned up and brushed her lips against his cheek.

  Reid smiled. “I’m looking forward to our date as well.” He opened the door, ushering Meg out and leaving Adam to follow them. Adam felt like an idiot for being caught snooping through Reid’s office. Nor did he like the look that Meg had shot him or the fact that she had a date with Reid tomorrow night. He seemed to have blown it completely.

  Reid kept his hand on the small of Meg’s back as the trio made their way to the front hallway. Reid stopped by the big front door. “I’ll go tell Freddie you two are ready to leave.”

  Meg waited until Reid was out of sight and then she punched Adam in the arm.

  He cradled his arm—the one that had been nicked by a knife in the ambush—and scowled at her. What did Meg think she was up to? “That hurt!”

  Meg’s cheeks flushed as she glared at him. “Not as much as you’re going to hurt when I get through with you. What kind of investigative reporter are you? You asked me to keep Reid busy so you could look around and get a sense of the ranch. I didn’t expect for us to find you in his office, sitting calm as day at his desk with your boots up! Woodward and Bernstein didn’t get caught. My God, Mike Wallace is old and he doesn’t get caught.”

  To his dismay, Adam found his body reacting to Meg’s anger. All he could think of was how passionate she would be in bed. Why couldn’t he be attracted to Gloria? “Keep your voice down—Reid might overhear us.”

  “It’s kind of late to be cautious now,” Meg grumbled, but she quieted. She shot him a couple of dirty looks and muttered under her breath. Adam tried to ignore her scent as he considered his next steps. Eventually, Freddie joined them, looking a little puzzled, especially at the cool exchange of good-nights that were made between the two men.

  Back in the Jeep on the road to Sedona, Freddie broke the silence. “Well, that was even more interesting than I had expected.” He turned to Adam. “What happened between the two of you? Did Reid challenge you to a gunfight at high noon on Main Street?”

  Adam kept his eyes on the road and shrugged. He was still cursing himself for letting Reid discover him in the office. “Not quite. But Reid wasn’t happy about me being in town to try to win back Meg.”

  “Oh, right.” Freddie didn’t sound convinced. “Funny, I thought it was something else.”

  Adam decided he needed to follow another lead in his investigation or he wouldn’t get anywhere. He would gamble on Freddie. “I also thought the ring you made Meg was an original.”

  Freddie sat up straight, studying Adam through narrowed eyes. “It is one of my original designs. I don’t make only one ring—that would be economic suicide. I take it you’ve seen my design before?”

  Taking one hand off the wheel, Adam reached into his pocket, pulled out Kelly’s picture and passed it to Freddie. “Do you recognize her? She had the same ring as Meg.”

  Freddie studied the image and then was quiet for a minute, before he said, “This is Kelly Smith.”

  He
turned to Adam. “Adam Smith. Are you related?”

  “I’m her brother.”

  “Then please tell me if she’s all right,” he demanded.

  “She’s doing okay.” Adam eyed Freddie suspiciously. “Why?”

  Freddie let out a breath. “Let me explain. I made the ring for Kelly several months ago. She came into my shop frequently to check on its progress and we became friends. But I was worried about her. Kelly was scared of the man she was with.”

  This was the information Adam needed. Plus, it showed that his instincts were right. Kelly was in trouble because of a man. “She told you this?”

  “Not in so many words.” Freddie shrugged elegantly. “Women confide in me. I like the female sex and seem to understand their concerns better than most men. Or maybe I’m just willing to talk about feelings. Whatever it is, I’m popular with women.”

  “That’s true,” Meg interjected. “Freddie is one of the few straight men who have a lot of women friends.”

  Freddie looked off into the distance as if searching for the right words. “Kelly and I struck up a conversation the first time she came into my store, and, well, I kind of fell for her. She was looking for a special ring, so I offered to make one. I knew she’d have to come back to the store to check on its progress and to have it sized. Well, she didn’t need to return nearly as many times as I asked her to, but I was looking for a way to spend more time with her.

  “Kelly liked me, I could tell that. And if there hadn’t been some other man in her life, I would have had a chance. But whoever Kelly was involved with frightened her.”

  “Frightened her? How do you know?”

  Freddie considered his words. “Because she wouldn’t even tell me who he was. From the beginning I knew she was worried about something, but it took several conversations before she confided in me, and then she told me only the barest details. From what I was able to gather, she was traveling through Sedona, intending to stay only a day or two—she wanted to commune with the vortexes and try to get her psychic karma back in shape—when she met this man. She said that in the beginning everything was wonderful. That the first time she saw him she felt this curious tingle, a sensation like everything was right.” Adam shifted uncomfortably. “Kelly got all starry-eyed when she talked about how they fell in love. Love at first sight for both of them, she claimed. He treated her well and she moved in with him almost immediately. I’m not sure what happened next, but I got the feeling that Kelly began to wonder where all his money was coming from. One day she came in very frightened and silent. She wouldn’t tell me what was happening—but, well, she sort of said goodbye.”

  “That was the last time you saw her? How long ago was that?”

  “It was six months ago. I saw her twice more, but she remained distant. She certainly didn’t share any confidences. The last time, she picked up her ring. Then she disappeared. I asked around town about her, but she hadn’t made any other friends here. Abby knew Kelly, but she, too, didn’t know much about her. Abby was worried about her as well.”

  “You sound like you cared for Kelly a lot,” Meg noted.

  “I did. I think I fell a little in love with her. I offered to help her with whatever kind of trouble she was in, but she wouldn’t confide in me. Then she was gone and I haven’t forgotten her.”

  Adam considered Freddie’s words. The man had given him the best information he’d gotten about Kelly so far, and it sounded as if Freddie had cared about Kelly a great deal. Freddie had more character than Adam had suspected. More than he would have likely given the man credit for.

  First he had to make sure that Freddie’s story was accurate. If only Abigail Milton would return! Tomorrow Adam would check into Freddie’s background and ask more questions about him around town. Someone else was bound to have made friends with Kelly—Kelly always made friends so easily—and might have a better sense of who the man Kelly had been in love with was.

  At least, for the first time, Adam knew he was on the right track.

  MEG COULDN’T BELIEVE she had been so wrong about Adam.

  The man hadn’t been the least bit open with her. Adam had never mentioned a word about his sister, Kelly. Before dinner he’d disappeared into his room to make phone calls. He’d tried to utilize Abby’s computer, but she’d included passwords and other security measures so that he hadn’t been able to access any information. Only out of sheer frustration he had actually asked for Meg’s help so that he could take a quick survey through the ranch house.

  She’d never imagined that Adam would be so foolish as to be sitting behind Reid’s desk when they walked into his office. Meg had tried her best to delay Reid, but he hadn’t been interested in a long walk in the moonlight or flirting on the patio. Instead, Reid had been anxious to find Adam. She had to wonder why. Was it more than jealousy? It must be. Reid hadn’t taken the clearly offered opportunity to romance her.

  Then again, Reid was a very private man and he must not have liked having a well-known journalist snooping around his house.

  Meg sighed. She was getting a headache from all this round-and-round thinking. Certainly putting all these clues together was much more difficult than Jessica Fletcher made it look!

  Which led her back to Adam again. Meg had foolishly believed that he’d told her the important details of the case. That he was willing to work with her. But he’d never breathed a word about his sister. Kelly was the real reason he had come to Sedona, the reason he was willing to risk his life. She’d thought he was a dedicated journalist who didn’t like someone threatening him. But it turned out he had very personal reasons he’d never shared with her.

  They dropped Freddie off at his shop—he had an apartment in back—and then Adam parked in front of The Gateway. Meg unlocked the door and stepped inside. How she loved this store with its shelves of treasures. The books and the dreams. All her silly dreams. She felt like they were being crushed.

  “Kelly is your sister and she’s the real reason you’re investigating these false computer identities.”

  “Yes,” Adam said.

  “Were you going to tell me about her?”

  “There was no need.”

  “No need!” She whirled on him, anger threatening to take over, but she pushed it back down. “No need to keep me informed because you don’t see us as partners.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  His words hurt her so much, Meg thought she might cry. Here she was feeling everything a woman could feel for a man, and he wanted nothing to do with her. Oh, he’d told her that, but she hadn’t really believed him. Was she making the same mistakes she’d made with Max?

  The negative signals had been apparent in her relationship with Max, but she had thought that they would get past them. That once they were married there would be more passion. Was this the same situation in reverse?

  She and Adam had lots of passion—she knew that Adam wanted to make love to her—but she’d assumed they had more.

  From the first moment she’d seen Adam he had felt so right. She’d been positive that he’d experienced the same overwhelming emotions. She’d realized he was more conservative and less likely to act on emotion and intuition than her, but she’d believed he would try. It turned out he wasn’t willing to try at all.

  Adam would like the old New York Meg. The woman who was always rational, logical and lived by her well-calculated plans. But she was tired of being that women; it wasn’t who she really was deep down. She’d changed—and she’d thought her feelings for Adam were part of those changes. Including becoming a woman who was willing to be more adventurous in love.

  The old Meg had been willing to settle for reliable, practical Max.

  The new Meg wanted passion and thrills and adventure—everything she could find with Adam. But he didn’t seem to think or feel the same way at all.

  She had backed herself into a corner she could see no way out of.

  “We’re not partners,” she repeated, surprised at how firm her wor
ds sounded when she felt so numb inside.

  “Don’t get me wrong, you’ve been of help, but—”

  “You prefer to work alone. You don’t really believe I can help you.”

  “No. That’s not what I meant. Meg, you’re twisting my meaning.”

  “I don’t think so. I think I’m finally hearing you for the first time. I don’t know why it took me so long, except that I really didn’t want to believe you thought so little of me.”

  “Meg—”

  “No.” Meg held up her hand, cutting him off. “I think it’s better if we end this conversation here before you say something else I’ll regret.”

  “GOOD MORNING,” Adam said almost hesitantly when he walked into the kitchen the next morning. He had spent far too much of last evening thinking about Meg and how hurt she had looked. Which was ridiculous. He was only trying to spare them both pain. The chemistry between them was potent and, well, he had to admit he kind of liked her, but being together would only be disaster.

  Other than his ex-wife, he’d stayed away from women like Meg and, as a result, had been bored on every date. He’d tried to establish relationships with several successful, rational women and his interest in his love life had slowly died. No, Meg thrilled and attracted him more than any woman ever had. Therefore, he planned to stay as far away from her as possible. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t apologize for his rude behavior last night.

  But he didn’t plan to tell her how he felt about her, how much he wanted her. “I wanted to apologize for my words last night. I’m afraid I said more than I meant.”

  “So now you think I’m capable of running my own life successfully?” Meg waited a minute and then smiled crookedly. “I didn’t think so. I had time last night to think about us...and, well, if you don’t want to explore what there could be between us, then I’m certainly not going to force you.”