Hawk's Way Grooms (28 page)

Assuming you live that long.

It had been dishonest not to tell Colt all the facts before he began his courtship. But it was entirely likely that once he knew the truth, he'd hightail it in the other direction. Jenny wanted to be wooed. She wanted to fall in love with Colt, perhaps even make love with him someday. Was that so wrong?

“You're beautiful, Jenny,” Colt murmured. “I'm the envy of every man here.”

She flushed with pleasure and turned to look at him. The admiration was plain in his eyes, along with something else.

Love.

That was how she justified keeping her secret. Colt already loved her. He had nothing to lose by trying to win her love. She was the one risking everything. She was the one planning to fall in love with a man who might very well leave her in the end—as her father had left her mother—not because he didn't care, but because he cared too much.

She was glad Randy and Faith were sitting at the table, because otherwise she might have been tempted to confess everything. She was surprised to see that Hope had come along.

“Hello, girls,” Jenny said. “You're both looking very pretty tonight.”

“Thank you, Miss Wright,” they replied in unison.

The twins did look remarkably pretty, Jenny thought, but for identical twins, they also looked remarkably different. Hope wore a sophisticated strapless black sheath that was cut low enough to reveal a great deal of cleavage. Faith was dressed in a simple, V-necked powder blue dress with capped sleeves.

Hope's hair was swept up in an elegant French twist, and she wore earrings that dangled, drawing male attention to her slender throat and bare shoulders. Faith wore her straight black hair tucked behind her ears, which held tiny diamond studs.

Faith looked like the fresh-faced teenager she was, with only a hint of pink lipstick to emphasize her natural beauty. Her dark eyes glowed from within.

Hope's face was expertly made up, but she looked like a picture in a book, not a real person, and beyond the thick mascara on her lashes, Jenny saw a hint of desperation in the girl's dark eyes.

“Hope didn't have any other plans, so Faith asked if she could come along,” Randy said. “I said it'd be fine. It's okay, isn't it?”

“Sure. I'm glad you could both join us,” Jenny said as Colt seated her. She knew Randy well enough to sense he was annoyed at Hope's presence, but she was proud of him for being gracious. “Looks like there's plenty of room at the table,” she said.

“Jake asked if he could join us,” Colt said. “So I asked Buck to make sure we had a big table.”

Jenny eyed Colt speculatively, but he didn't explain why Jake had invited himself along for a celebration to which he could have only a tenuous connection.

Then Jenny looked across the table at Hope, all dressed up with no date at her side, and remembered how Hope had cornered Jake on her back porch during Huck's wake. Hope had flirted openly, but Jake hadn't seemed interested. Had Hope known Jake would be coming tonight? Was that why she'd invited herself along?

Jenny prayed the young woman hadn't developed a crush on Jake. Since his divorce five years ago, he'd been hell on women. Hope's youth might provide some protection from Jake's crude behavior, but if she pushed, Jake was likely to shove right back.

Jenny had an unsettling thought. What if Jake had arranged for Hope to be here so he could meet with her?

Once Jenny had ordered iced tea, she hid behind the menu and leaned over to ask Colt, “Did Jake say why he wanted to join us?”

Colt shrugged. “He always has a steak at Buck's on Friday night. When he realized we were coming, he asked if he could join us. Do you mind?”

“Of course not,” Jenny said. “I always liked Jake.” She'd liked him a lot better before he'd been married to Lucy Palance, a girl he'd met when they were in college. Their ten-year marriage hadn't seemed to bring much happiness to either of them. She'd often seen Jake with women over the past five years, but they weren't the kind of female a hard-working rancher married.

So Jenny was amazed when Jake showed up with a schoolteacher on his arm. Miss Amanda Carter was not only a proper lady, she was also fun-loving and pretty. She was twenty-nine and still unmarried, though she'd been pursued by all the most eligible bachelors in town. She wore a tailored cream-colored silk suit that accented her female curves. Amanda was exactly the sort of woman Jenny would have chosen as a second wife for Jake. She just wasn't the sort of woman she'd expected to find at Jake's side. Was Jake turning over a new leaf?

Jenny glanced at Hope and saw from the girl's stunned expression that she might very well have known Jake was coming tonight but hadn't expected him to show up with a date. The blood leached from her face until her eyes were like two burned spots on a sheet of parchment.

Judging from Faith's equally stricken expression, she was aware of her sister's distress. Faith had seated herself so her good hand was next to Randy, so it was necessary to reach out to Hope with her prosthesis. Jenny watched in surprise as Hope tightly gripped the metal hook for comfort, as though it were a flesh-and-blood hand.

Hope's eyes never left Jake's face. She seemed to be waiting for something.
For Jake to acknowledge her,
Jenny realized.

Jake avoided speaking directly to Hope, or even looking at her, by saying to Amanda, “You know the Butler twins.”

“I do,” Amanda said with a smile. “You both look very pretty tonight.”

“Thank you, Miss Carter,” Faith replied.

Hope said nothing. Her gaze dropped to her lap, and color—an entire rose garden of color—suddenly grew on her pale cheeks. Her jaw was clamped, and she was blinking furiously.

Jenny gave Jake a surreptitious glance to see whether he was affected by Hope's despair and caught him stealing a look at Hope from the corner of his eye. It dawned on her that Jake was very much aware of Hope, that his indifference was a calculated act. He apparently cared for Hope a great deal more than he wanted her to know. And just as apparently had decided she was too young for him.

What was it about the Whitelaw men that made them fall in love with unavailable women? Jenny wondered. She only had Colt to judge by, but if Jake was crazy enough to go through such an elaborate charade to discourage Hope, he wasn't going to be happy with a substitute bride, even one as appropriate as Miss Amanda Carter.

Jake ordered a beer for himself and Amanda, then asked if she wanted to dance to the live country and western band that played at Buck's on Friday and Saturday nights. A moment later Jake pulled Amanda into his arms and began two-stepping around the wooden dance floor. Jake was a good dancer, and Jenny was forced to admit the couple looked very much like they belonged together.

A glance at Hope revealed tight lips and narrowed eyes.

Hope had obviously gotten the message Jake had sent by bringing along Miss Carter tonight. It wasn't the gentlest setdown Jenny had ever seen a man give a woman. But it was certainly effective.

She felt sorry for Hope. And angry at Jake. This was Hope's graduation night, one of the most important nights in her life. What Jake had done was cruel, even if he'd believed it was necessary.

Colt leaned over to speak in her ear. “What's got you frowning?”

“Your brother is an idiot,” she whispered back.

“I've always thought so,” Colt agreed with a grin. “What has Jake done this time?”

“Coming here with Amanda was—”

Before she could finish, the music stopped and Jake and Amanda headed back toward the table. Jake seated Amanda next to Hope, then sat across from her.

“Thanks, Jake,” Amanda said. “That was fun.”

“You're a good dancer, Amanda,” Jake replied.

Jenny watched as Jake stole another glance at Hope. The teenager's chin had dropped to her chest, and she was twisting her paper napkin into a knot. It was small comfort to see the flash of pain in Jake's eyes.

As soon as Amanda was settled and had taken a sip of her beer, she turned to the twins and asked, “Have you girls decided yet where you're going to college?”

Jenny had expected Faith to answer, but to her amazement, it was Hope who spoke. She lifted her head until her chin jutted and her shoulders were squared. Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears, but her voice belied her agitation as she replied, “Faith and I have both been accepted at Baylor, Miss Carter.”

“Have you decided on a major yet?” Amanda inquired.

Hope's chin lifted another notch. “Animal husbandry.”

Jake choked on his beer.

“I want to learn how to put the right mare with the right stud,” Hope said, staring right at Jake. “That's so important when you want to end up with good stock, don't you agree, Mr. Whitelaw?”

Jake's eyes narrowed. “Absolutely.”

Jenny figured any second now things were going to get ugly. She opened her mouth to intervene, but Jake spoke first.

“That's why I proposed to Miss Carter tonight.”

Hope inhaled sharply.

“I didn't know you two had been seeing each other,” Jenny said to Amanda.

“I've had my eye on Jake for a long time. He's been a hard man to pin down,” Amanda said with a smile. “But he was worth the wait,” she said, leaning over to kiss Jake on the mouth.

“Congratulations,” Colt said, grinning and slapping Jake on the back. He stood up enough to lean over and kiss Amanda on the cheek. “I can always use another sister. I wish you both the very best.”

Jenny turned to see how Hope was handling this latest announcement and discovered her chair was empty. The shredded napkin lay on the empty plate where she had been.

Jenny's gaze shot to Randy, who shrugged helplessly. To Jenny's surprise, it was Faith who saved the day.

“Hope hasn't been feeling well today,” Faith said as she stood. “I think we'll wait and eat at the senior picnic later tonight. Will you excuse us, please?”

“Be careful on the—”

“I know,” Randy said, cutting Jenny off as he rose to go with Faith. “I'll drive slow. See you at the ceremony, sis. Bye, Colt. Bye, Miss Carter. Congratulations, Jake.”

Once the teenagers were gone, the empty seats at the table loomed large. Jenny searched for something to say, but could think of nothing. Jake's face looked pale, and Jenny noticed he had let go of Amanda's hand.

“You're not the only one with news, Jake,” Colt said with a smile to his older brother. “You can wish me happy, too. I've decided to resign from the Air Force and stay at the Double D with Jenny.”

Jake's lips curled in a bleak smile. “Well, little brother, looks like we're both going to settle down and live happily ever after.”

Jenny shivered as a chill of foreboding ran down her spine.

“W
HY ARE YOU SO FIDGETY
?” F
AITH
whispered.

Randy shot a glance at Faith, who was sitting next to him on the front seat of Old Nellie, then at Hope, who was sitting to Faith's right, and then back to the winding dirt road. “Guess I'm just excited about graduating.”

After what had happened at supper, he should've known Faith wouldn't go to the senior picnic without Hope. Randy was beginning to wonder if he'd ever get Faith alone.

Everyone had brought along jeans and T-shirts to change into at the rest rooms at school, because the picnic consisted of a midnight hot dog and marshmallow roast around a bonfire at the Whitelaw ranch. The Whitelaw Brats had started the tradition, and long after their youngest had graduated, Zach and Rebecca Whitelaw continued to make the site at Camp LittleHawk available for the party.

Drinking alcohol was forbidden, and couples were discouraged from wandering off into the dark. Randy figured one couple wouldn't be missed in all the excitement, and he'd made special plans for himself and Faith—if he could manage to separate her from her sister.

This year Jenny had volunteered to be one of the chaperons, along with Colt and his brother Jake. Randy supposed that meant Miss Carter would be present, too.

Too bad for Hope.

Faith had told Randy about Hope's crush on Jake. He felt sorry for her after what had happened tonight, Jake getting engaged and all, and he understood Faith didn't want to leave her twin alone at a time like this. But he was determined to have some time alone with her.

“We're here,” he announced as he pulled Old Nellie in line with two dozen other vehicles. “I've got a blanket in the bed of the pickup we can sit on,” he said to Faith.

“I'll get it,” Hope volunteered, hopping out of the truck.

Within minutes, Randy was sitting next to Faith on a blanket beside the fire—with Hope perched on Faith's left side. He racked his brain to think of a way to distract Hope. Once he found it, he had to wait almost an hour before he found a moment when Jenny was busy enough that he and Faith could escape the party without their absence being immediately detected.

“Say, Hope,” he said at last. “Why don't you see if Jake wants to roast some marshmallows? He's been standing over there all by himself with his arms crossed, just staring into the fire, ever since Miss Carter left to take care of her mother.”

He watched Hope hesitate, then rise. “All right,” she said. “I will.”

Randy waited barely long enough to see the back of Hope before he turned to Faith and said, “Would you like to take a walk with me?”

She laid her right hand in his and said, “Sure.”

He helped her to her feet and edged out of the light of the fire and into the shadows beyond. They weren't the only ones who'd decided to “take a walk.” They passed several couples standing in the dark kissing. Most lingered just outside the light from the fire. For what he had in mind, Randy wanted more distance.

“Where are we going?” Faith asked as he led her farther into the moonlit darkness.

“Just a little farther,” he said.

“It's awfully dark out here.”

Randy stopped and looked up. “There's got to be a zillion or so stars up there, and the moon's pretty full. Trust me, Faith,” he said, squeezing her hand.

She squeezed his hand back and followed without more argument. He saw the concern on her face when a glow appeared in the distance. They slid down an incline and into a gully, where he had previously set out a Coleman lantern, a blanket, and a picnic basket.

“We're here,” he announced.

“What's all this?” Faith asked, turning to look at him.

Her eyes were wide and wary, and Randy knew he was about to find out whether she really did trust him. “I wanted us to have our own party,” he said. “Do you mind?”

Her smile was slow in coming, but when it finally arrived, the muscles in his stomach unclenched. “I think it's a wonderful idea,” she said. “Won't your sister wonder what's happened to us?”

He settled onto a ring-patterned quilt that had been made by his mother and pulled Faith down beside him. “We're no farther away than a shout, if anybody really wants to find us. I just thought…I wanted some time alone with you tonight.”

“Why?”

He was gripping her right hand tightly, trying to get up the courage to say what he was feeling. “You know I like you an awful lot,” he managed.

“I like you, too, Randy.”

“I want you to be my girl,” he blurted. He could feel the heat in his face where the blood had rushed. He was tempted to look away, but he made himself face her while he waited for her answer.

“You know we're going to different colleges in the fall,” Faith said tentatively. “I'm headed for Baylor in Waco, and you'll be at Texas Tech in Lubbock. They're hours and hours apart.”

“We could each drive halfway on the weekends,” he said.

“We've never even kissed,” Faith said with a gentle smile, “and you want me to drive halfway across Texas—”

Randy leaned over and touched her lips with his. The shock was electric. He broke the kiss and stared, stunned, into her eyes. She looked equally shaken.

Faith's right hand came up to touch her lips as she searched his face. “I've never been kissed before. Is it always like that?”

“It's never been like that for me,” he said.

“It was good?”

“Better than good. Terrific,” he replied. “You want to try it again?”

“Oh, yes,” she whispered.

He moved slower this time, pressing his lips more firmly against hers, but feeling the same delicious, unbelievable shock to his senses. His heart catapulted in his chest, and his body turned rock-hard. His mouth slanted over hers, seeking more, and his tongue went searching.

She was breathing as hard as he was, and he felt her body quiver as the kiss grew into something greater than the thing it was. Their bodies remained separate, but their souls merged.

He wanted to hold her in his arms, to touch her. He reached out to encircle her waist and drew her close so he could feel her soft breasts against his chest. He was aware of her right arm around him, holding him, but she kept her left arm down and her body on that side angled away.

“Put your arms around me, sweetheart,” he whispered.

“But—”

“Please, Faith.” She had to trust him not to hurt her. He only hoped he was worthy of that trust.

Slowly, hesitantly, her arm with the prosthesis attached encircled his waist. He could feel the plastic against his back, the nudge of the metal hook at its end against his flesh. She looked up at him, searching for repugnance, for revulsion or disgust.

Randy kept his expression neutral, knowing how important it was that he accept this part of her that was no part of her. “It's okay,” he said. “I can handle it.”

She gave a shaky laugh. “I'm not sure I can.”

“It's no big deal. Just a bunch of plastic and metal you need because you don't have a hand.”

She stared at him wonderingly. “You don't mind?”

He separated their bodies, though it was the last thing he wanted to do, and slid his hands down her arms. He made himself take her hook in his left hand, while his right hand held hers. He didn't wince, though her fingernails dug into him, because he didn't want her to think he minded holding that hook.

“You've never really told me how this works,” he said, staring at the hook that lay in his open palm.

“It's myoelectric.”

In response to his confused look, she explained. “Impulses from the brain are received in receptors in the elbow of the device.”

“So you
think
this hook open and closed?”

“That's about it,” she said with a smile.

“Neat,” he said. “Now, will you put your arms around me, please, and give me another kiss.”

She grinned. “With pleasure.”

Her enthusiasm was such, that very shortly they were lying side by side on the quilt, their bodies aligned, their mouths merged. Randy was having a hard time breathing, let alone thinking, but he knew they had to stop. Faith trusted him. He had to be worthy of that trust.

He broke the kiss and pressed his face against her neck. “We have to stop, Faith.”

Her hand tangled in the hair at his nape, and he shivered at the exquisite sensations her touch provoked. She kissed his temple and whispered, “If you want, I'll be your girl.”

“Oh, God, Faith.” That provoked another deep kiss, to express his gratitude and his love. When her tongue traced the seam of his lips, he opened his mouth and let her in. And felt her become a part of him. Four years wasn't so long to wait.
Four years.
“I can't wait, Faith,” he groaned against her neck.

“I want you, too,” she confessed breathlessly.

He'd meant he couldn't wait four years to marry her, but as he looked into Faith's lambent eyes, he realized she'd mistaken his meaning. Well, he'd wanted her trust. She'd given it to him in spades. He brushed her hair back from her face with a trembling hand. “I meant—”

“There you are!” an accusing voice cried.

Randy sat bolt upright, bringing Faith with him. They found themselves staring into four disapproving faces.

 

H
OPE WAS WEARING JEANS, A CUT-OFF
T-shirt and cowboy boots, but as she marched the twenty or so feet that separated her from Jake Whitelaw, she felt naked, as though he could see through all the trappings to the vulnerable female inside.

Jake's eyes never left hers, but his grim look warned her away. She ignored it and walked up to him, carrying the unbent hanger she was using to roast marshmallows. “How about a roasted marshmallow?” she asked.

He hesitated, then said, “Sure. Why not?”

He followed her to a table that had been set up with bags of marshmallows and waited while she stuck a couple on the end of the wire hanger. “How do you like yours?” she asked as she crossed with him back to the fire.

“Hot on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside.”

“That's me,” she said softly. “Hot and soft and sweet.” She looked at him and saw the glowing embers flare.

“I warned you before to stay away,” he said. “I don't play games with little girls.”

She held the hanger over the fire, making sure the marshmallows stayed well out of the flames. “I'm not playing, Jake. And I'm not a little girl. I know exactly what I want. I want you.”

“I'm engaged to be married.”

“You don't love her. You love me. You want to touch me, to kiss me, to put yourself inside me.”

He stood behind her, close enough that she could feel the heat of him, but he didn't touch her. She felt his moist breath against her ear. “I thought you'd learned your lesson in the barn.”

Hope felt the heat on her face and was grateful she could blame it on the fire. “It seemed to me that you liked what you saw,” she said brazenly.

“Too damn much,” he muttered.

She angled her head to meet his gaze, and the heat in his eyes melted her bones. She stiffened her knees to keep them from buckling. “Don't marry her, Jake. Marry me.”

He swore under his breath, but he never took his eyes off hers.

“I'll make you a good wife. I can—”

“Shut up. Shut the hell up,” he said in a guttural voice.

“Hey there, Hope!” Colt yelled from the other side of the fire. “Your marshmallows are on fire.”

Hope jerked around and discovered the two marshmallows had been swallowed in flames. She yanked them out of the fire and blew hard to put them out, but it was too late. They were both charred beyond recognition.

“Let that be a warning,” Jake murmured in her ear. “You keep playing with fire, little girl, you're going to get burned. Go away, Hope. Get as far from me as you can.”

He moved away and left her standing alone. It was then Hope noticed that Faith and Randy were missing.

 

C
OLT TOLD HIMSELF HE MUST HAVE
misconstrued the look that passed between Hope Butler and his brother Jake before her marshmallows caught fire. He considered whether he ought to confront Jake but decided it wasn't necessary. His brother knew better than to get involved with a girl half his age, especially when he was engaged to another woman.

But he had to admit that an evening campfire in the middle of the prairie had a way of encouraging romance. Colt had fond memories of a night he and Huck and Jenny had roasted marshmallows with friends and family around a similar campfire. Mac Macready, who'd later married his eldest sister, Jewel, had sat around the campfire vying for Jewel's attentions with Gavin Talbot, who'd ended up marrying his sister Rolleen.