"From my Irish grandfather." Miss Kimbrough glanced at Jared. "Please call me Healy."
Jared shook his head in amazement. His ma was a charmer. He could tell already that Miss Kimbrough had finally relaxed. Healy, rather, the name she'd asked him to use. Or should he call her Mrs. Givens? Cursing, he spat at a rock.
Up ahead, the house came into view, a large structure, the original section log and the later additions part timber, with two floors and a wrap-around porch. He’d never wondered before how the place might look to strangers. Now he studied it, trying to see everything through Healy's eyes. He didn't plan on doing much fretting over folks’ opinions. He’d simply been struck with curiosity about how she saw it.
Dropping back beside the buggy, he said, "There's the house."
He heard their visitor's soft gasp. "Oh! It's wonderful. Cynara said it was nice. I hope I can live in a home just like it someday."
Her words boosted his pride, and he opened his mouth. "Marry the right man and maybe you will."
Hell-sakes. He hoped she didn't take that as a proposal. Wait a minute, he didn’t need to propose to her—they were already married. Except, they weren't. What a muddle she'd gotten him into.
Scowling, he reined in at the hitching post, dismounted and hooked the reins over the rail. Healy stood in the wagon, trying to see how to get down. He took her by the waist and lifted her to the ground, wishing he dared to hold her closer, then cursing himself for the wayward thought.
"Thank you." She brushed at her clothes again. "Do I look presentable?"
Jared ran his gaze over her from one end to the other and nodded. She appeared more than satisfactory. In fact, he couldn't recall seeing a prettier woman. He remembered the feel of his hands on her waist and the temptation he'd felt to hold her close.
"I hope your brothers feel the same way. And Cynara. I can't wait to see her."
"She’ll be thrilled." Ma, joining them, hurried to the front door.
Inside, Jared waited while Ma and their guest hung up their shawls and hats, noting that Healy had thick auburn hair as he'd guessed at the hotel. He wouldn't have minded running his hands through her silky looking hair. Forcing his thoughts away from her, he peeked in the great room which proved empty. When the women joined him on the threshold, he stepped back, letting them enter first.
"What a beautiful room," Healy said, her gaze darting everywhere. "Are the bedrooms upstairs?"
"Yes."
A burst of laughter came from the kitchen. Raising his voice, Jared called out, "Ho! Where is everyone? Got company here."
Cynara emerged first, her arms filled with Gage, who patted her face and babbled. Dressed in a simple calico dress covered by an apron, she came to a dead halt in the dining room on seeing her sister. "Healy!"
Cynara sat Gage on the floor and put her hands to her pale face, moisture springing to her eyes. "Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. I-I don't believe this. Healy!"
Six-month-old Gage, a grin on his little face, slapped his hands on the hardwood floor and, using elbows and knees, propelled himself toward the newcomer. Jared couldn't believe his eyes. None of the triplets had tried to crawl before. The baby must be taken with Healy.
Barclay came from the kitchen."What's going on?"
Jared watched closely to see how their guest would react to what most folks considered the handsomest of the Givens brothers. His hair and mustache had been groomed to perfection, his sack coat and trousers clean and unwrinkled. To his surprise, she paid more attention to Gage, and her expression resembled shock more than surprise.
"Barclay!" Cynara cried. "Look, it’s Healy. She’s here."
"Well, well."Barclay grinned, his gaze going from the newcomer to the baby on the floor. "Looks like Gage is excited to see her."
"Gracious," Ma said. "When did he start doing that?"
"I have no idea." Cynara hurried forward as if to grab the baby, then stopped. "I don't believe this. One of them is finally crawling. After a fashion, anyway."
At last, the boy reached Healy filled his little hands with her skirts and tried to pull himself up.
"My goodness." Healy picked up the baby but without a smile. In fact, she appeared troubled, almost as if she didn't like children."Who is this? Not a niece or nephew. My sister would have let me know about that."Hanging onto her, Gage nestled his head under her chin and stuck a thumb into his mouth, content as could be.
“No.” Cynara laughed.“Well, yes, I guess you could say that. Barclay and I adopted him.”
Healy’s eyes widened. “Adopted?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen him move so fast.” Cynara took hold of Barclay’s arm, drawing him closer. “Healy, I want you to meet my husband, Barclay Givens. You’ve met Jared and Julia, I see. Chase is in the kitchen.”
Barclay called over his shoulder, “Chase, bring Vella and Connor out here and meet Cynara’s sister.”
Wearing his famous smile that tended to convince folks to go along with him, Barclay went to Healy and embraced her. "This is a pleasant surprise. Welcome to our home, Healy."
"Thank you. I can't tell you how glad I am to be here." Healy wiped at her suddenly moist eyes with an embroidered hanky pulled from her dusty sleeve. Gage immediately snatched it from her and stuffed it in his mouth.
"How did you get here?" Cynara asked. "And why didn't you let us know you were coming? Oh, there's so much I want to know. I've waited and waited for a letter, ever since you left for that teaching job in St. Louis."
"It’s a long story," Healy glanced at Jared, her eyes grayish as if troubled. Did she fear he'd insist on hearing her tale now?
Melanie might not be as attractive, but she was honest, something Jared couldn't say about any woman claiming to be his wife. Regardless of the confusion over names and the rumor Healy had caused, he felt convinced she hadn't been totally truthful yet.
"Yes." Cynara’s eyes softened with understanding."And you must be tired."
Chase entered the room dangling one baby over his shoulder and holding another against his chest, both children the same size as Gage.
"Here you are." Cynara took one of the infants from him. "Healy, this is Chase, the youngest brother. The babies are Connor and Vella."
"And they're all yours?" Healy's expression reflected shock.
"Yes, they're triplets." Ma relieved Chase of his remaining burden. "Vella here is the only girl. Isn't she adorable?"
"Did you adopt them all, Cynara?" Healy tried to give Gage to Jared, but the baby would have none of it.
Cynara laughed. "Yes. Someday, though, when Jared and Chase find wives, they'll take Gage and Vella."
"But they live here?"Healy asked hesitantly. "All the time?"
"Yes. Of course, they do." Cynara appeared worried and confused now. "Healy, are you all right?"
"No." She shoved the baby at Jared, giving him no choice but to take him, and stepped back. "I'm sorry. I must leave. Now."
Uh-oh. Here it comes—the truth! Jared clung to Gage and waited for the explosion.
"What are you talking about?" Cynara waved her arms in bafflement.
Healy's hands went into action, double-time. "I shouldn't have come here. I-I didn't know there were babies here. I need to leave. Jared, could you please take me back to town?"
Those big eyes of hers appealed to him, and he wanted to do whatever she needed just to make her happy. But… Whoa, how'd she gain control over him this way? "I'm not going to take you anywhere until you tell us what's going on."
"Healy," Barclay said. "Are you in trouble?"
Tears dangled from her lower lashes and her mouth turned down. Jared ignored the urge to take her into his arms and console her. She'd brought trouble to High Mountain. He knew it. He simply didn't know what kind of trouble. "Tell us the truth, Healy."
"Oh, Cynara." She rushed over to her sister and grabbed her hands."I'm so sorry."
Cynara slid an arm around her. "What is it, honey? We can help you, whatever it is."
&nb
sp; "No. It's too dangerous." Healy pushed away and reached for her satchel."I should have known I couldn't be safe here without putting all of you in peril."
"Stop badgering her," Ma ordered in her mother's voice. "She looks ready to collapse."
"Yes. Let's calm down here," Barclay said. "Sit, Healy, and tell us what the problem is. We want to help."
Healy shook her head but allowed Cynara to lead her to the couch. "I can't. I don't know where to begin. You won't want me in your family once I tell you."
Pushing her down, Cynara sat next to her. "Start at the beginning."
Jared pulled a chair closer and lowered himself onto the padded needlepoint seat. He put Gage on the floor, then leaned forward, his forearms braced on his thighs, eager to hear what Healy had to say. Gurgling, Gage immediately propelled himself to her. Cynara picked him up, but he insisted on sitting in Healy's lap. The others in the room found seats as well.
"All right, Healy," Barclay said, sitting. "Begin, and don't leave anything out."
She studied each of them, as did Jared. He hoped she saw the lack of condemnation on their faces that he did. Cynara sat next to her and held her hand. Julia kissed her on the forehead and sat on her other side.
"I've made a huge mistake," Healy began." Two of them. And I don't want any of you to pay for them. That's why I need to leave."
"What kind of mistake?" Chase asked, playing peek-a-boo with Vella on the floor.
Healy's face paled. "A man is trying to kill me."
Chapter Two
Jared's entire body jerked at that announcement. This added up to more than trouble. Situations didn't come more dire. Tense now, he leaned forward to hear better.
"Almost a year ago," Healy began, "I moved from Ohio to St. Louis to work at a private school for girls. Unfortunately, I arrived too late. They'd hired someone else."
"Oh, Healy." Cynara hugged her. "I'm so sorry."
"The owner of the school, Mr. Skelly Bernard—" Gloom filled her face at the mention of that name "—felt sorry for me and secured me a position as a waitress in his hotel."
"No wonder you didn't get my letters," Cynara interrupted. "I sent them to that school."
"Yes, that explains it." Healy nodded. "Meeting Mr. Bernard proved fortunate. He's handsome, wealthy, influential—" she paused, and a visible shudder passed over her body "—and evil, clear through. But I didn't see that until recently. At first, I found him charming, sophisticated and attentive. He courted me for five months. I can't explain why. I'm a waitress, nothing special."
Jared almost rolled his eyes. Had she no mirror?
"Two weeks ago, we became engaged."She paused as if expecting congratulations. Or condolences for being foolish. Jared wanted to offer the latter but didn't. She had enough on her plate, and he suspected she knew the truth anyway.
"I fell for the wrong man." She drew a handkerchief from inside her sleeve cuff and dabbed at her eyes. "At first I didn't want to believe how wrong I'd been about him."
"Why, Healy?" Cynara asked. "Was he cruel to you?"
"Not to me, although often grumpy and demanding. But I witnessed a few incidents with the hotel staff. He's quite rude to them. Once, when I visited the school with him, he slapped a student so hard she flew across the room. When I ran to her, he told me to stay out of it. Then he dragged me out of there. A few days later, he nearly engaged in fisticuffs with a male customer who demeaned the quality of his hotel's service."
"My goodness," Cynara muttered. "The man's a brute."
Jared silently agreed. Healy had indeed gotten herself into a pickle. Jared feared they might receive a visit from this Skelly fellow.
"The reason I ran away is because I overheard Mr. Bernard talking to the chief of police about a man named Obermeier, who had been a business partner. I don't know what kind of business. I fear it might not have been legal. They decided Obermeier had to 'go.' The next morning, the newspaper ran a story about the man being found drowned in the harbor. Chief of Police McCurdle pronounced it an accidental drowning." Healy used her hands to tell her story as if any of them could understand.
"You mean they murdered the partner?" Chase asked.
"What else could I believe?" Healy answered. "The following day, I came upon Mr. Bernard and Chief McCurdle talking in the hallway. Their voices were hushed but I did catch a few words. Mr. Bernard said, 'Pay Vinnie to leave town. If he won't, we'll have to deal with him the way we did with Obermeier.'"
"How long ago did this happen, Healy?" Barclay asked.
"Two days before I left. The next morning, Skelly went to Kansas City on business. I sent a message to the hotel claiming illness and didn't want to be disturbed for a few days. That night I sneaked out my window and went to the train station."
Her voice grew hoarse and she stopped. "May I have some water?"
"Of course." Cynara jumped up.
"I'll get it." Jared beat her to the kitchen. He needed to get away for a moment and let his heart rate settle. The woman's situation far exceeded what he'd expected. She'd given no hint of this back at the hotel when he'd first met her. Or on the way home. All she'd said was, I'm in trouble.
He filled a glass with water and carried it back to the great room. He didn't want to miss anything. "Here you are."
She accepted the glass and took a long drink. What lousy hosts they'd been, not even offering her food or a drink.
Healy set the water down, cleared her throat and began again. "I bought a ticket for Indianapolis, then paid a young woman to buy me passage to San Francisco. That was a ruse." She paused as if to make sure they understood."I boarded the California-bound locomotive, and disembarked in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since there are no trains in Montana, which I found unbelievable, I took a stage to Cutthroat. When I leave here, I'll resume my trip to California, except to Los Angeles."
"All that to avoid being followed or found by this Skelly man?" Cynara said. "You must be terrified of him, and I can understand why. Did he threaten to kill you?"
"I didn't give him the chance." Healy drank again. "I left."
"Why in thunder didn't you go to the police?" Jared spat.
"The chief and Skelly were in cahoots." She cocked her head. "Didn't I say that?"
"Yes, you did." Barclay ruffled his mustache with a finger. "You handled your departure very cleverly, Healy. Are you sure there's no way Skelly will figure out where you are?"
"I-I hope not." As usual, Healy's hands danced in the air as she spoke. "I don't think so."
"You told no one where you were going?" Jared asked.
Her gaze became fixed as she thought. "Only the girl who bought the ticket for me, and she doesn't know who I am."
Jared felt a little sick inside. Not only was Healy in danger, she'd brought the threat here to High Mountain. For all they knew, the entire town could be in peril. Hadn't she considered that? If they were smart, they'd kick her out, here and now.
Except the Givenses didn't send women out to defend themselves against danger. They protected them instead. Particularly family.
"Don't worry." Her gaze leveled on him as if she'd heard his earlier opinions. "I'll be leaving tomorrow."
Jared wanted to feel relieved, but fear overruled common sense. The thought of her leaving frightened him more than her staying. Once she left, they'd have no way to check on her and know she was all right. Anything could happen to a pretty young woman traveling alone.
"No. You won't, Healy." Barclay handed Connor to Cynara and stood. "You're a part of this family now, and we don't turn our backs on family who need help. You'll stay here, and we'll protect you."
Jared had anticipated this. Neither his brothers nor the ranch hands would choose to abandon a family member in distress. Especially, a woman. Women were to be protected, and, if related, that went double. To run from danger went against Barclay's nature—one of the attributes Jared loved about his brother. Much as he preferred avoiding trouble, this time he couldn't.
"Are we all agreed?"
Barclay focused on his brothers. "Jared, you look troubled."
He blew out a breath. "If I'm honest, I'd have to admit I'm put out with Healy for bringing possible danger to High Mountain. Barclay's right, though. We can't let her leave. She needs to be where she's safe."
"But I might not be safe for long." Healy waved her hands with more enthusiasm. "And I'll be putting all of you in danger. What about the babies? I can't jeopardize them. No, I must leave."
Barclay went into contemplation mode, one hand in a pocket, the other cupping his chin. "If I understood correctly, Healy, you left the same day Skelly departed for Kansas City. How long will he be gone?"
"A week. Possibly two," she said.
"And your journey here took you how long?" he asked.
"Three very long days," she answered.
"Perfect timing." Barclay slapped his hand on the table in approval."Unless someone wired him that you were missing, Skelly won't know you're gone until he arrives home. We have a bit of time to prepare and plan our defense, should he track you here."
"We have the ranch hands to consider," Chase said.
Healy groaned.
"I'll tell you what." Barclay held up a hand to halt Oysters who had stepped into the dining room, probably to announce supper. In his middle years, the cook had gray streaks in his long hair and mustache. He'd been with the family for decades.
"After supper," Barclay continued, "I'll have the hands gather in the yard. I'll introduce Healy, explain her story and ask them if they want to fight or run."
Jared swore under his breath. "You know damned well the men are too loyal to leave us in the lurch."
"Yes, Lord bless them. But they deserve to meet Healy and see what they're fighting for."
Jared snorted at that. His brother intended to use Healy's beauty to convince the men.
Barclay turned back to the cook. "Oysters, this young lady is Cynara's sister. She'll be living here indefinitely. I assume supper's ready?"
"Yes sir. I'll set an extry plate," Oysters drawled and vanished into his domain.
Cynara stood, holding Connor. "We eat in the kitchen except when company comes. You're family."
Jared (Bachelors And Babies Book 7) Page 2