To Love a Stranger

by Connie Mason

  “You mean there’s nothing you can do to stop an illegal lynching? It’s a travesty of justice!” Zoey’s voice was shaking so, she could barely speak.

  “There is something I can do,” Chad said, his voice dull with resignation. “Ryan, go into town for the preacher.”

  Ryan paled. “You can’t!”

  “Do—as—I—say, Ryan.” The words were drawn out, hard and distinct.

  Ryan could tell from Chad’s implacable tone and hardened features that his brother was utterly committed to this folly. Nothing he could do or say would change Chad’s mind. Still, he had to try. “Are you sure, Chad?”

  “Get going, Ryan.”

  Ryan slammed out the door. Chad waited until Ryan was on his way to the barn for his horse before saying, “Don’t expect me to live with my little bride, Doolittle. I wouldn’t insult my brothers by bringing her into our home. I’ll give her my name and the money you want, but nothing else. If you don’t agree to my terms, then the hell with you both.”

  Hal eyed Chad narrowly, then turned to his sister. “Is that agreeable to you, Cora Lee?”

  As if she was startled to be included in the decision, Cora Lee’s head rose sharply. “Is it my choice to make, Hal?”

  “Of course, dear.” His voice held a hint of menace. “Just make sure you say the right thing. You can’t have Pierce. But Chad is a Delaney, too. And a better choice in some ways. Your baby will still be a Delaney.”

  “You’re as corrupt as your brother, Cora Lee,” Zoey charged. “Everyone in this room knows Pierce would never beat a woman.” What she didn’t say was that there was a very real possibility that Pierce was the father of Cora Lee’s baby. Try as she might, Zoey couldn’t help thinking that Pierce could have seduced Cora Lee. He was so good at it.

  “Well, sister,” Hal prodded, “will you accept Chad’s terms and have him in place of Pierce?”

  Cora Lee peeped at Chad through lowered lids. His fierce visage frightened her. She’d be perfectly happy not to have to live with such an angry man, not that she could blame Chad for being angry. Hal was like that sometimes, but he kept his brutality under control, except when … She shook her head, fearing to allow those unpleasant thoughts into her mind. If she refused to acknowledge them, she could almost believe Pierce Delaney really was the father of her child.

  “I don’t mind if Chad doesn’t want to live with me. My baby will still have the Delaney name.” She looked hopefully at Hal, as if seeking his approval. He gave it to her, blessing her with his smile.

  “Very well, we’ll just all sit here and wait for the preacher. Miz Delaney and Ryan can act as witnesses, and I’ll give my sister away in Pa’s absence.”

  “What does your father think about this mess?” Chad asked curiously. “He can’t help but notice Cora Lee is increasing.”

  “The old man is too feeble to think anything,” Hal sneered. “He believes what we tell him. I mentioned today before we left that Cora Lee will soon have a husband for her child, and that seemed to satisfy him.”

  “Pretty sure of yourself, weren’t you?”

  “Damn right! I know how you Delaneys stick together. One way or another, Cora Lee was going to bear the Delaney name. And you’d be wise to let her keep it. Once Cora Lee drops her brat, you might find some use for her.”

  “If Pierce’s life didn’t hang in the balance, I’d throw you both out of here,” Chad growled. His temper dangled by a slim thread. He was nearly driven to madness and didn’t know how long he could keep his fists out of Hal’s face.

  Trying to defuse the explosive atmosphere, Zoey urged Chad to sit down and relax. It would be a good two hours or better before Ryan returned with the preacher.

  “Chores waiting for me,” Chad said, heading for the door. “See to our guests, Zoey.”

  “Don’t get no ideas about lighting out of here,” Hal called after him.

  “He’s not going anywhere as long as his brother’s life is at stake,” Zoey said. “I’ll get us some coffee while we’re waiting.”

  Two hours later, Ryan returned with Reverend Purdy, a short, balding man with small, beady eyes and a bulbous nose. They were accompanied by another man.

  Reverend Purdy was expected, Riley Reed was not.

  “I wanted Reed to hear the truth about Pierce, so I brought him along to hear what Cora Lee had to say,” Ryan said as he ushered the men into the house.

  “Not until after the wedding,” Hal reminded him. “Shall we get on with it, Reverend?”

  “Where’s the groom?” Reverend Purdy asked, casting about anxiously. Ryan Delaney had paid him hard cash to comply with his odd request, and he wasn’t about to lose more money than he’d seen in a good long time. He had no idea why Cora Lee was changing brothers in midstream, so to speak, but he wasn’t being paid to ask questions. His job was saving souls, even if in his estimation those souls were beyond redemption.

  “Right here, Reverend,” Chad said, stepping into the parlor. “Shall we begin?”

  Reverend Purdy took one look at Chad’s fierce countenance and the color drained from his face. He cleared his throat noisily. “If you and your bride will step in front of the fireplace, I’ll begin immediately. Who are the witnesses?”

  “Here,” Ryan said, stepping forward. “Zoey and I will act as witnesses.”

  “And I’ll give the bride away,” Hal added.

  It was over in five minutes. Chad repeated his vows in cold, clipped words. Cora Lee’s voice trembled but didn’t falter as she spoke her vows.

  The papers were duly signed and witnessed. Reverend Purdy made a hasty departure, richer by a hundred dollars.

  “Now that the wedding is over, what in the hell is this all about?” Reed asked. “I know I wasn’t dragged out here for a celebration. This has all the makings of a shotgun wedding. Do I have the wrong brother in jail?”

  “Sit down, Reed,” Chad invited. “My little bride has something she wants to get off her chest. Go ahead and tell him, darling.”

  Cora Lee sent a look of such terror at Chad that Zoey almost felt sorry for her.

  “Go ahead, Cora Lee,” Hal urged, “you’re married now. It’s all right to tell the truth.”

  For a moment Cora Lee looked confused. “The truth, Hal?”

  “You know,” Hal rasped. “Just tell Reed what we talked about earlier. Just before Chad so gallantly offered for your hand.”

  Chad gave an inelegant snort.

  “Pierce didn’t do those things I accused him of,” Cora Lee said, looking to Hal for support. Then she proceeded to tell Reed the story Hal had concocted about the man who raped and beat her, and why she’d made up the story about Pierce. “I was so ashamed,” she said as she ended her fabrication. “Being raped and beaten by a strange man must have done something to my mind. And … and I fancied Pierce.”

  Hal added, “We came here to tell Chad and Ryan about Cora Lee’s mistake, and Chad admitted to having a fondness for Cora Lee. He asked her to marry him and she accepted.”

  “If you think I believe that cock-and-bull story, you’re crazier than I thought,” Reed hooted.

  “You have no choice,” Ryan said. “Cora Lee will tell her story before the judge if she has to. Hanging judge or not, Judge Walters won’t hang an innocent man, and you know it. We’ll all go to town together and set Pierce free.”

  “The townspeople ain’t gonna like it,” Reed warned. “Hell, I don’t like it. I’ve waited a long time to bring Pierce Delaney down.”

  “You and Hal are the ones who riled the townspeople,” Chad charged. “Their attitude will change once Cora Lee recants her story.”

  Cora Lee paled. “Do I have to?”

  “Yes,” Zoey said remorselessly. “If it comes to that.”

  Reed fumed in impotent rage. He shouldn’t have waited so long to lynch Pierce. Unfortunately some of his own men had balked at hanging him. And the townspeople were beginning to tire of hearing Hal rant on and on about how Pierce had seduced Cora Lee.
Hell, some of the same men who had raised a ruckus about the affair had done their own share of seducing and beating in their time. That’s why he’d planned on having a secret lynching tonight. Nothing had happened the way it was supposed to. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Delaney was in cahoots with the Devil.

  “Are you ready to ride, Reed?” Chad asked. The harshness of his voice warned Reed to do as Chad ordered or suffer the consequences. The Delaney boys weren’t to be fooled around with when their dander was up.

  Zoey’s heart sang with joy as she rode to town. Pierce is free, Pierce is free, over and over the refrain repeated itself in her head and heart. She lamented the method by which his freedom had been gained, and Chad had her full sympathy. But she still couldn’t help rejoicing. Even if it meant she’d no longer have a reason to remain in Dry Gulch.

  Pierce didn’t want a wife, and she wouldn’t burden him with one. She had spoken with the lawyer the day before, and after listening to her rather unusual story, he had agreed to prepare divorce papers to present to the judge. This surprising turn of events convinced Zoey to submit to Pierce’s wishes and leave within the next day or two. Since Pierce wanted the divorce so badly, he could deal with it himself.

  Zoey’s thoughts were still in a turmoil when they reached town. They rode directly to the jailhouse and waited for Reed to produce the key that would release Pierce.

  Pierce looked out the barred window of the jail, and a frisson of apprehension slid down his spine when he saw his family gathered outside the jailhouse. “What is this all about?” he asked, his eyes finding Zoey among the strange assortment of people that included the Doolittles and Riley Reed. “Has the judge arrived? Or is this a lynching party?”

  Zoey gave him a brilliant smile, and Pierce was astounded by the inner radiance flowing through her. Something had happened. Something that made Zoey beam with happiness. Then his gaze sought Chad’s and his heart plummeted to his feet. Pierce knew his brother as well as he knew himself, and Chad’s expression wasn’t one that gave him a great deal of confidence. He looked at Ryan and thought it strange that both his brothers were scowling at a time when Zoey appeared nearly overcome with joy.

  “You’re free, Pierce,” Chad said as he waited for Reed to unlock the door. When Reed appeared reluctant to put the key to the lock, Chad shoved him aside, placed the key into the rusty padlock, and turned it himself.

  Pierce stepped through the door, blinking in the bright sunlight. “Will someone explain what’s going on?”

  Hoping to avoid a nasty scene when Pierce learned what Chad had done, Zoey stepped forward and pulled him toward the horse they had brought for him. A crowd of curious bystanders had already begun to gather around the jailhouse.

  “Wait until we get home,” Zoey said, eyeing the crowd nervously.

  Pierce balked. He didn’t like being put off. Something was afoot and he wasn’t sure he was going to like it. His gaze fell on Hal and Cora Lee, and he pulled from Zoey’s grasp. “What are they doing here?”

  Hal shoved through the crowd, dragging his sister with him. He stopped when he reached Pierce. “Congratulate my sister, Pierce,” he said, clearly gloating. “She and your brother Chad were married today. Cora Lee was so happy she suddenly recalled that you weren’t responsible for her condition. You can thank her for your freedom.”

  Pierce whirled on Chad, his face a mask of rage. “Are you crazy? What made you do such a damfool thing?”

  Chad faced his furious brother squarely. “I did it for you. They were planning to lynch you before the judge arrived, and I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”

  “So you married a scheming bitch in exchange for my life.”

  “You would have done the same for me.”

  “Is there nothing a woman won’t do to get what she wants?” Pierce charged harshly. He looked directly at Zoey, including her in his condemnation of the fair sex.

  With sinking heart, Zoey felt the searing heat of his gaze and the animosity it reflected. It was almost as if Pierce blamed her for Chad’s unfortunate predicament.

  Stifling a sob, she turned away from the dark hostility of Pierce’s resentment. Without uttering a word in her defense, she mounted up and rode off toward the Delaney ranch. Perhaps she could pack and be gone before Pierce arrived home, saving him the trouble of throwing her out.

  Chapter 13

  Pierce watched Zoey leave but made no move to follow. He was surrounded by people. People who two days ago were clamoring for his death were now congratulating him for escaping the hangman. Through it all Pierce remained unresponsive, his fists clenched at his sides, skewering the Doolittles with a look so filled with animosity that Hal instantly bit off his taunting words.

  Finally Ryan worked his way to Pierce. “Let’s go home, Pierce.”

  “What about Chad? He isn’t planning to honeymoon with Cora Lee, is he?” His words were cold, clipped, mocking. “I hope he doesn’t think he’s going to escape my wrath. You’re as crazy as he is for letting him sacrifice himself for me.”

  “I couldn’t stop him, Pierce. You know Chad. Once he makes his mind up about something, nothing is going to change it. Chad will be along soon. He has some business to conduct with Hal Doolittle. As for Cora Lee, her living arrangements will remain the same. Everyone knows the marriage is a farce. She’ll continue to live at her place, and Chad will remain home with us.”

  “All marriages are a farce,” Pierce claimed. “Nothing in life so far has shown me differently. Let’s get the hell out of here. I’m dirty, hungry, and …”

  “You want to see Zoey,” Ryan supplied. “Wonder why she took off like she did. Did you say something to upset her?”

  “You don’t know a damn thing about my marriage,” Pierce said as he and Ryan walked to where their horses were tethered.

  “Zoey told us everything. Chad questioned her when she arrived at the house. She must love you a great deal to follow you like she did. She saved your life, brother.”

  Both men mounted up. “She’s been amply repaid,” Pierce bit out as he put his heels to his horse’s flanks. “Love has nothing to do with Zoey and me.”

  Ryan wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t given to maudlin sentiments, but in his opinion Zoey had displayed more than normal concern for Pierce. She had gone out of her way to help him, and when pushed, had admitted she loved him. He wondered if his brother had considered the possiblity that Zoey could be carrying his child.

  Pierce’s thoughts ran the gamut of his emotions. He was angry at Chad and enraged at Cora Lee. The entire female population consisted of connivers and schemers. Cora Lee had tried to seduce him before but he had ignored her. He’d always considered her a bitch, but he never would have suspected her of the kind of duplicity in which she was involved. Cora Lee wasn’t smart, or sly enough to hatch this kind of plot on her own. But Hal was. Suddenly Pierce reined in sharply.

  “What is it?” Ryan asked, reining in beside Pierce. “Why did you stop?”

  “How much money did Doolittle demand from Chad? Marrying off his pregnant sister to a Delaney wouldn’t be enough for him. How much, Ryan?”

  Pierce was too perceptive by half, Ryan reflected. He’d dig and dig until he had every last detail. “Five thousand dollars. That’s why Chad stayed in town, to get the money for Hal.”

  Pierce said nothing; his expression spoke for him. Kneeing his horse, he sped off down the road, leaving Ryan in his dust.

  Riding at breakneck speed, Pierce cursed at the pace at which his life was unraveling. It wasn’t enough that his own life had become a living hell, he had to drag Chad down with him. He blamed himself for Chad’s marriage to a woman carrying another man’s child. A woman Chad didn’t love, didn’t even like.

  That thought brought another. Zoey wasn’t like Cora Lee, or any of the other women in his past. He actually liked Zoey. He had come to understand and even to sympathize with Zoey’s need for a husband. Zoey loved her land as fiercely as he loved his. Despite being coerc
ed into an unwanted marriage, he felt he had repaid his debt above and beyond the call of duty. Then she had followed him and risked her life to prevent the vigilantes from lynching him. If he had to trust one woman, it would be Zoey.

  In a roundabout way, Chad’s forced marriage to Cora Lee had reaffirmed for Pierce what women were capable of and all but destroyed the fragile trust that had been building between himself and Zoey. Once again he’d learned that no woman was worthy of trust. Yet he couldn’t deny that he’d wanted Zoey from the moment he’d awakened in her house and seen her bending over him. He’d vowed then he’d have her, and on his terms.

  God, he could almost feel her sweet breasts in his hands, her body undulating against his, her moist lips begging for his kisses. He loved the way her denims hugged her sweet little bottom, her long, long legs, and her rounded hips. She had given him her virginity and asked nothing in return. But not even all those inducements could hold him in a marriage he didn’t want.

  Perhaps Zoey would remarry once their divorce was granted, he reflected, grimacing at the thought. Zoey was a beautiful, giving woman, one whom any man would consider a prize. Any man but Pierce Delaney.

  Pierce reached the ranch house, bringing his mount to a prancing halt at the front door. He was immediately surrounded by a dozen hands, all talking at once, offering their congratulations and slapping him on the back. No one made mention of the wedding that took place that day, but everyone was aware that one had occurred. Ryan reined in beside Pierce and sent the hands about their chores. The brothers walked into the house together and headed for the kitchen.

  * * *

  Zoey heard the door slam and a shudder went through her. Pierce was home. She wanted to run downstairs and throw herself into his arms, but instead continued folding and packing her meager belongings into her saddlebags. It was time for her to leave. But oh, how she hated to leave with Chad’s life in such a muddle. She knew Pierce would hold himself responsible for Chad’s predicament, and she wanted to be here to offer comfort. But Pierce didn’t want her and she wouldn’t add to his woes by staying where she wasn’t wanted. She wasn’t part of this family and never would be.