Cal’s heart stopped beating—but, oh, how his father’s must have beaten for Susannah! Holding the delicate page in hand, Cal couldn’t breathe. The rumors were true. His father and Susannah. Cal reached for another letter. He couldn’t stop. Even if he wanted, he couldn’t stop from reading on.
Gerald, you floor me. You have no idea how you carry me with your wit and intelligence! Every day is more fun than before. How could a girl ever be so lucky as to share your heart? And your soul? My word, but I am blessed. Truly. How did I get so lucky as to win your affection? It doesn’t seem real. It seems like a fantasy. My friends are filled with envy and I pray for them. They could only wish for a man like you to entertain and delight them. Looking forward to our picnic this weekend. Susannah
Sorting through a few more, Cal was mesmerized.
My Dearest Girl, your lips are a succulent aphrodisiac. Pardon my saying it but I can’t help myself when I’m around you. Your green eyes ensnare me, your golden hair is like spun silk from the heavens. This afternoon by the falls was incredible. It will live inside me forever. You are my sustenance, the very beat of my heart, the breath of my lungs. I find I can only think of you...
Cal sifted through letter after letter from his father, transfixed by the words inscribed, words that tied a knot in his heart. I want us to be together. I want our lives forever entwined. I understand it will be hard. I know your father is a difficult man, but I am fortified by your love. With you by my side, we can overcome any and all odds...
Cal dropped letters in hand to his lap, his gaze glazing over as he stared into the blackness. Dark corners of the attic felt like an abyss of secrets, crevices where lies and love hid from sight. His father and Susannah. Had they been lovers? Did Delaney know the extent of their relationship?
Compelled to find the truth, Cal continued to read. He read until his heart began to break. My Girl... You cannot let your brother stand in the way of true love. You cannot let his arrogance prevail. We are meant to be together. In time he will come to accept it. Yes, he is your blood, but I am your soul. We are destined to be together as one. Please do not dismay. We will work through this challenge and grow stronger for it. There is nothing we cannot overcome.
My Dearest Gerald, I cannot go with you. I cannot ignore Ernie’s wishes. You know where I would be without him. You know the pain he has suffered on my behalf. I cannot disappoint him. It would be disrespect of the mightiest regard. I worry for your safety. He has promised to kill you and I have no doubt that he means it. You know I care for you. Deeply. I love you, Gerald. You will always have a special place in my heart. But I cannot go against my brother’s wishes. I will not. Nor can I ask you to stand in harm’s way on my behalf. I pray for your understanding.
Susannah, You have ripped the heart from my body. I can only believe you are of weak mind at the moment to do such a thing and I pray you regain your strength. Every day I watch you, I pray for you. I want you to know that I am here for you. I will never forsake you. There has been and never will be another woman in this world for me. I will wait for you. I will be strong enough for the both of us and I will wait for you.
Gerald, You must let go. You deserve better than me. You were right. I am weak, unworthy. You deserve a woman who is strong enough to stand by your side through life’s storms. It pains me to see you sullen and alone. I understand you are angry, yet you must find your love with another. I have.
According to the dates, it was the last letter from Susannah, the last private correspondence between them. Cal ached. For his father, for a young woman who felt afraid to step clear of her brother’s protective shield, the heartbreak they both must have suffered...
Neatly folding the letter, Cal slid it back in place. A crushing sensation overcame him. Obviously he should conceal the letters once again. He should hide them from sight as they were hidden by his father. But something inside him resisted. His mother was renegotiating the past. She was waging old battles on new terrain because of what lay in the pages of these letters. Cal settled a weary gaze on the open box. Should he broach the subject with his father? Should he implore him to work through these issues his mother?
Cal felt guilty for the mere knowledge, but clearly he had stumbled upon the lynchpin. These letters, this relationship, lay at the core of his mother’s struggle. If his father would work through them with her, show his mother half the devotion he had to Susannah, perhaps she would reconsider her pursuit of false justice.
But as soon as Cal thought it, he realized there was no way to bridge this divide. If his mother had ever laid eyes on this correspondence, she would forever be doubtful.
Meticulously, Cal replaced the letters in the box as he had found them. Annie and Emily were waiting for him. Right now, he needed to find Beau and enlist his help to load the crate of guns into his truck. Collecting the shoe-box size container of letters, Cal rose. There would be time enough to decide later. A man could only put out so many fires at once.
Chapter Twelve
Three o’clock in the afternoon, Jeremiah sat at the bar hunched over his third drink and contemplated his next step. The boys were impatient, continuing to make noise about getting their money. He’d told them he had a plan, but the two fools wouldn’t listen. Money. We want our money. Money he didn’t have. Because Delaney had carved out the entire site of gold and taken it for herself, making him look like a two-timing liar for promising it to the guys in the first place. The stolen pendants were chump-change in comparison.
The thought cut like rot-gut whiskey. She had no right to take it all. Ladd Springs was his land, not hers. Throwing back another swallow of alcohol, he clenched his jaw against the strong fire of liquid as it snaked down his throat. More than take his money, her theft had put him in a bad position with his boys. If he didn’t deliver the goods, no telling what those guys would do. He couldn’t trust them to wait. Hell, he couldn’t trust them period. Lifting his glass, he held it before his lips and stared into the amber-brown liquid glowing against the backdrop of light. It was time to get serious. Time to up the ante.
Finishing his drink, Jeremiah tossed a fifty onto the bar, grabbed his keys and walked out. Shouldn’t be too hard to cause the hotel a little grief. According to Billy, the robbery had been easy. Almost too easy. As he walked out into the bright sunshine, the overhead sun warmed his face, felt like an iron to his hair. Hottest damn time of the day. Sliding on a pair of sunglasses, Jeremiah adjusted his vision from the dark interior of Billy’s Bar as he took off for his truck.
The robbery had been simple because of a lack of experience and naiveté in the people involved. Delaney and her rich husband had hired a bunch of hicks to work at the hotel, and if the main lobby was staffed by neophytes, it made sense that the stables would be too. And the stables were where Delaney’s heart dwelled. Jeremiah smiled to himself. Pressing the key fob, Jeremiah popped open his door lock. He’d known her a long time and if she had a weak spot that would be it. Her horses.
But first things first. He had to get back to his motel and shower. Lady Luck had delivered a sweet piece flesh in his lap and he was looking forward to learning the reason why. Not that he much cared much about why the lovely Ms. Devane had called, only that she had. Jack’s “friend” was as hot as they came and if she wanted to hook up, Jeremiah wasn’t about to say no. He’d never been with a South American before and couldn’t wait to get his hands on her deeply browned skin, kiss those big luscious lips... Desire surged in his loins as salacious images peppered his mind. Oh yes, he was definitely looking forward to getting his hands on Jillian Devane and he wasn’t about to be late. Whiskey Joe’s, five o’clock sharp.
“Take the Appaloosa,” Delaney told the stable hand. “The trail ride leaves in an hour and they’re one short.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the young man said. Turning on his boot heel, he went to round up the horse.
Last minute sign-ups were nothing new for trail rides. The minute guests heard a ride was heading out, they wanted
in. Delaney smiled as she headed back to her office. Just like she thought, her horses were turning out to be the star attraction for guests. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with these gorgeous animals? She chuckled. Stinky, but gorgeous.
“Hello, Delaney.”
Delaney stopped mid-stride, jerking her head toward the voice. Jillian Devane.
“So this is where you spend your time all day?”
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, glancing over Jillian’s attire, thigh-high boots and leather miniskirt. She most assuredly wasn’t dressed to ride.
“I came to look around.”
Delaney smacked her hands to her hips and said flatly, “You’re not welcome here.”
Jillian smiled. “Are you this rude to all your guests?”
Struck by a drift of sweet feed from the buckets behind her, buckets that needed to be delivered to the barn, Delaney steeled her posture. “When they’re here to cause trouble, I am.”
With a roll of her eyes, Jillian said, “So paranoid. Do you see strangers outside your windows, too?”
“The question stands,” Delaney replied, growing agitated by the woman’s presumptive air. If Jillian thought she was going to waltz in here and cause Delaney and her staff grief, she was mistaken. They had work to do and this woman wasn’t going to stand in their way.
“You are so rough,” Jillian returned haughtily. “Your clothes are torn, you don’t bother to improve your looks with makeup or any effort to your hair... What does Nick see in you?”
“Apparently enough to put a ring on my finger—something he chose not to do with you.”
Anger flashed in her eyes but Jillian remained calm. Drawing her expensive designer purse close, she snipped, “You think you’ve won, don’t you? You think because he married you that I have become nothing to him.” She smiled, loathing dripping from her gaze. “Well, you’re wrong. Nick and I will be together again.”
“In your dreams.”
“Did you know he asked me out for drinks the other night?” Pausing only briefly, Jillian added, “Doesn’t matter. Once you’re out of the picture, we will find our way back to one another. It’s only a matter of time,” she said, glancing around the stables as though she were sizing them up.
Or casing the place.
Intuition curled up her spine. Slightly unnerved by the women’s audacity, Delaney pitched back, “One problem. I’m in the picture. For good. Stuff that in your field of dreams. Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
Jillian raked a hot glance over Delaney and sniped, “Temporary inconvenience. Nothing but a nuisance obstacle I can remove without effort.”
Delaney was about to tell Jillian exactly what she thought when the woman’s phone rang. She watched as Jillian withdrew it from her oversized bag, strolling off with a girlish wave of her fingers. But not before Delaney heard the word, amorzhino.
“Yes?”
“Jillian. It’s Jack.”
“Hello, amorzhino.”
Now she was talking, he mused. Jack hadn’t cared for the fact that when he showed up for their last rendezvous, Jillian had been working her second drink of the night, the first of which she drank alone or more likely, with someone. Could that someone have been Jeremiah?
Jeremiah was supposed to hook up with him tonight to go over their revenge plan against Delaney, but he’d backed out at the last minute. Said something unexpected came up. Jack didn’t give a crap about his unexpected business unless it involved the man moving in on his woman. Jillian was his score and he didn’t care to share. “Let’s say I show you a good time in Chattanooga,” Jack said with practiced ease. “You up for it?”
“Not tonight, darling. My schedule is booked.”
Booked? What the hell could she be doing? It’s not like she knew anyone in town, and those she did know had no interest in spending time with her. Which begged the question once again, why was she here?
Only it was a question Jack didn’t care to ask. He wasn’t concerned with the why as much as the where and the when. “No problem. Tomorrow works for me.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied throatily, “but this whole weekend is bad. Maybe next week?”
“Since when did a Sunday in this town become so exciting?” he asked.
Jillian laughed softly. “Next week. You will still be ready and willing, no?”
Jack didn’t like to beg. Worse, he didn’t like it when a woman made him feel like he was begging. Made him look desperate. But hell... After the other night who could blame him? “Fine. Sure. Monday?”
Jillian laughed again. “Maybe Monday.”
As Jack hung up the phone, his gut tightened. Ladd better not be two-timing him. As he pulled Jeremiah’s card from his wallet, it occurred to Jack that he should have taken the card Jeremiah gave Jillian when he had the chance. It would have ensured no contact between them.
Jack’s instincts hummed. It was too coincidental that Jillian and Jeremiah both had plans tonight, plans that didn’t include him. Envisioning the two of them cozied up over drinks settled it. Maybe catching them in the act would ice their libidos, huh? Maybe walking in on them would put them on notice that he was a man not to mess with. It wasn’t like there were a ton of places they could go, leaving him a good chance at running into them. Shoving the card back into his wallet, he made the decision. He would pay a visit to some of the more popular establishments in town and see for himself. Something was luring Jillian away. Time to find out what that “something” could be.
Pulled up to the granite center island of their new kitchen, Nick Harris stretched out his legs. His lower back ached, his head hurt. He was angry over learning Jillian had tried to goad Delaney this afternoon. “I’m throwing her out.”
“You can’t,” Delaney objected. Standing beneath the overhead recessed lighting, she wiped down a stainless steel pot and placed it alongside the cast iron pan she’d used to cook the cornbread. They’d designed the home together but this space was Delaney’s favorite, claiming the kitchen was the gathering place, the heart of any home. It’s why she insisted on the expansive island, the host of chairs lining it on three sides. “If you do, then she’ll think she’s won.”
“She hasn’t won anything, but I’ll be damned if she scores any more points.”
“It was no big deal. She’s a vindictive woman who knows she’s been beaten. I, for one, refuse to let her get to me.”
Nick cocked a brow. “Not that I’m upset to hear the change of heart but why? I thought you didn’t want Jillian anywhere near the hotel.” Or him for that matter, but Nick wasn’t about to salt that wound. Jillian was taunting Delaney and Nick didn’t like it. Allowing it to continue was a show of weakness.
Setting her hands to the counter, Delaney dropped her weight into them with a heavy sigh. “Isn’t there a saying, it’s better to keep your friends close and your enemies closer?”
“Not in my book. Keep your friends close, your woman closer and put your enemies out of business.”
“Jeremiah is the one I’m concerned about. Have you been able to put the two together with the money? Do we know if she paid his casino debt?”
Nick shook his head. Pushing off from the island, he stood. “We can’t prove it was her. Malcolm looked into it and the money came from here.”
“Here?” Delaney straightened. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Cash transaction. It doesn’t rule Jillian out completely, but it does open the door to your ex.”
Delaney gaped at him. “You think Jack had something to do with bringing Jeremiah onto the scene?”
“It’s a possibility.” Nick walked over to her and took her hand. Delaney allowed herself to be led to the sofa. Leather furniture was arranged beneath a massive overhead chandelier, exposed beams criss-crossed above, interior walls revealed genuine log construction, this was his favorite spot—other than their master suite. Heavy wood tables and shaggy floor carpets made the room feel solid, warm and comfortable. Easing down, Nic
k guided his wife onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her narrow waist. Her cabbage and onions and cornbread might count as comfort food, but this was his. The last thing he wanted to be discussing was their exes but facts were facts—these warranting his urgent attention. Squeezing her to him, Nick said, “Jack knows the players. He would know the connection better than anyone. Someone paid Jeremiah’s marker, someone with a reason to see him set loose. You have a better idea?”
Leaning into him, Delaney dropped her head onto his shoulder. “I wish I did. The thought of Jack and Jeremiah teaming up is almost worse than Jillian and Jeremiah.”
“Triple J for triple jinx.”
Chapter Thirteen
Consumed with thoughts of his father’s letters, Jeremiah’s unexpected visit and his daughter Emily, Cal Foster knew what he had to do. With his gun collection secured and stowed away in his new home, he had to prepare himself for what came next. If Jeremiah set foot on his property again, it would be his last visit. If he caused trouble anywhere else, Cal would see him put in jail. It was a man’s job to defend his homestead, his family and it was a job he took to heart.
Heart. Cal’s ached for his father. He hadn’t seen him while at the house retrieving his gun collection. Thankfully, he hadn’t seen his mother either. Cal wasn’t sure he could look either of them in them eye without divulging that he knew. Susannah Ladd had been Gerald Foster’s greatest love. She had been his first, his strongest, and from what the letters implied, his only true love. It broke Cal’s heart to think his mother knew, to think she felt second-best all these years. But if she had ever laid eyes on those letters there would be no doubt in her mind.
Losing Ladd Page 10