Indigo Blue (44 page)

“Wolf is my maiden name,” she squeaked. “Indigo Wolf.”

“Ah, your father owns the mine where Jake works.” He flexed his broad shoulders and straightened. His blue chambray shirt looked off-the-shelf new, unlike the earth-stained blue wool Jake was wearing. “And you’re here doing . . .” He glanced around the doorway at the hearth. “Housework?”

That was true enough. “Yes,” she replied, relieved that he had come up with the explanation. “Housework, yes.”

His twinkling eyes slid back to her. Pointing to his cheek, he said, “You missed a spot.”

Indigo rubbed. “I, um, suppose you’re looking for Jake.” She realized how stupid that sounded and gave a nervous laugh. “But of course you’re looking for Jake or you wouldn’t be at our house.” Her heart did a flip. “His house.”

With a slight smile, he studied her for a moment. “Do you know where he is?”

“He went to see my father. He should be right home. I mean, back—he should be right back.” She wiped her hands on her pants. “Would you, um, like some coffee? I can put some on. And I’ve got some cake. Do you like chocolate?”

“I love chocolate.” He lifted an eyebrow. “You do the cooking here, too?”

Indigo turned toward the stove and realized she’d have to lay a fire. She glanced down at the black smudges on the sleeves of her work shirt. Jake was accustomed to her wearing the stained work leathers when she did grimy chores, but what would Jeremy think? She looked like a pig that had been routing in dirt. This was her worst nightmare. It would have been bad enough to meet Jake’s relatives when she was at her best. “I—yes, I do both the cooking and the cleaning.”

A growl from Sonny made Jeremy turn. Indigo darted over and reached past his leg to capture the wolf cub by his scruff. “He’s not used to strangers.” She straightened and hugged the puppy close. “I’ll, um—if you’ll let me by, I’ll go lock him in the bedroom. He bites, I’m afraid.”

Jeremy stepped back. Indigo darted past him. Once she gained the bedroom, she took a frantic look in the mirror above the bureau and cringed. Scrubbing at her smudged cheek with one hand, she jerked open a drawer with the other and dragged out a clean leather top. She changed in record time, then smoothed her hair. Not good, but better, she decided.

Jeremy was sitting at the table when she returned to the kitchen. His gaze settled on her clean blouse, and his expression turned quizzical. Indigo winced. She hadn’t stopped to think how it would look if she reappeared in a clean garment.

Jeremy’s dark eyes lifted to hers. “Are you living here with my brother, Indigo?”

She fixed horrified eyes on him. “Not exactly, no. Sort of, though. Not the way—that is to say, there’s nothing improper about it.”

“What does your husband say about that?” He watched her carefully. “You did say Wolf is your maiden name, so I assume you’re married?”

Indigo gulped and sent up a frantic prayer that Jake would come back. “My husband, he, um, doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t mind, I mean.” Another nervous laugh erupted from her. “He wouldn’t have it any other way . . . really.”

Jeremy nodded. “I see,” he said, his tone implying that he didn’t see at all.

Indigo retreated a step. “I think I’m going to just run along.” She waggled her fingers at the front door.

A muscle in Jeremy’s jaw began to tick. Indigo had seen that same look on Jake’s face when he was becoming angry. “It was a pleasure meeting you,” he said.

“Yes, a pleasure. Meeting you, I mean, not me.” She laughed again. “Jake should be here any second. If you wait right there, you can’t miss him.”

Turning, Indigo made a beeline for the door, her one thought to get out of there and not come back until Jake got home. Just as she touched the latch, it swung open and Jake walked in. Unaware that they had company, he looped an arm around her waist and lifted her feet off the floor to swing her around.

“Your father’s the most understanding man I’ve ever met,” he said warmly. “I feel like a thousand pounds have been lifted off my shoulders.” He slid his free hand to her bottom and bent his head to kiss her. “God, honey, you feel so damned good. After what I just went through, I want to hold you and never let go.”

“Jake, we have—don’t.” She arched away, in a panic to keep his hands in polite places. “Stop it. Your—” Her eyes flew wide when she felt his hand slip under the waistband of her britches. “Jake, please, your—stop it!”

“Stop it? That has an echo in it,” he said huskily, bending his head to nibble on her neck. “Give me two seconds, and I’ll have you begging me not to.” A floorboard creaked. He broke off and stiffened. As he looked up, he said, “Jeremy!”

Indigo squeezed her eyes closed. It was the only option when her new brother- in-law was standing less than ten feet away watching her husband slowly draw his hand out of her pants.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Jeremy said icily. “Surprise, surprise.”

Jake kept his arm clamped around Indigo’s waist. “Have you met Indigo?”

Jeremy’s eyes sliced toward her. “Yes.”

“And she explained.”

“I believe I understand the situation, yes,” Jeremy replied.

Indigo clutched the front of Jake’s shirt and gave a wild shake of her head. “He doesn’t.”

Jake’s mouth twitched as he looked back at his brother. “Do I see a glint in your eye, Jer?”

Jeremy propped a shoulder against the doorframe and flashed Indigo a smile. “We’ll discuss it as soon as the lady leaves.”

“She isn’t leaving,” Jake answered with a mischievous grin. “She lives here. Jeremy, I’d like you to meet—”

“I don’t believe my own eyes,” Jeremy bit out. Glancing apologetically at Indigo, he said, “Excuse me. Could you give me and my brother a private moment?”

Jake tightened his arm around Indigo’s waist. “Jeremy, before you say anything more you might later regret, I think you ought to know that Indigo is my wife.”

“That’s no excuse,” Jeremy shot back. “I can’t believe that you, of all people—after all the times you’ve given
me
hell? What is this, Jake? And with a girl her age? With the daughter of the man you supposedly came here to—” He broke off. “What did you just say?”

“Indigo is my wife.”

A flush crept up Jeremy’s dark neck. He slid a glance at Indigo, then looked back at Jake.

Jake chuckled. “Indigo, this is your new brother- in-law, Jeremy. He sometimes appears to have rocks between his ears, but he’s not a bad sort once you get to know him.”

In an agony of dread, Indigo watched Jeremy’s face for his reaction. After initial surprise, his mouth turned up in a grin. “Are you serious? Your wife? You went and got married?”

Jake nodded.

“That’s unforgivable. How could you get married without any of us here?” Jeremy walked slowly toward them, his gaze fixed on Indigo. His eyes lit up with laughter. “Why didn’t you just tell me, Indigo? I thought—” He raked a hand through his hair. The habit reminded Indigo of Jake, and some of her nervousness fled. “I thought my brother—well, it’s obvious what I thought. I was ready to kill him.”

“Or die trying,” Jake amended.

Jeremy ignored that and took Indigo by the shoulders to draw her from Jake’s side to get a good look at her.

“Well?” Jake asked proudly. “What do you think of her?”

Jeremy’s gaze warmed. “My only question is, where did you find her? She doesn’t have a sister, does she?”

Jake chuckled. “No such luck.”

Jeremy winked at Indigo. “Did he warn you what kind of a family you were marrying into?” He turned a meaningful glance on Jake. “Does she know what scoundrels we are?”

Jake nodded. “She knows everything, Jeremy.”

Jeremy bent and kissed Indigo’s cheek. “Jake, she’s lovely. Leave it to you to find the most beautiful girl in Oregon and marry her before I could even get a shot at her.” He straightened and stepped back. “Welcome to our family. Right now it’s lacking a bit in respectability. But hopefully, Jake and I are going to rectify that.”

Indigo moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll get the fire laid and put on coffee and start dinner.”

Indigo heard Jake speak softly to Jeremy. A moment later, he came up behind her in the kitchen and grasped her shoulders. “Honey, are you okay?”

“Relieved,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what to say when he walked in. Without you for moral support, I was afraid to tell him we were married. And then I—”

“No, I mean okay otherwise.” His dark eyes searched hers. “Just now, when you walked in here, it looked like you were a little stiff.”

Color flooded her face. “Oh, that. It’s nothing.”

He tucked in his chin and gave her a mock scowl. “Nothing? Honey, are you sore? From—”

She clamped a hand over his lips and shot a worried glance toward the sitting room. “It’s nothing,” she whispered. “It’ll go away.”

He steered her toward the table. “Sit. I’ll take care of the coffee and dinner. What you need is a nice long soak in a hot tub.” He pressed her down in a chair. “Don’t argue.”

“Be quiet,” she squeaked.

He gave her a quick kiss and turned toward the stove. “Come on in, Jer. It looks like we’re cooking tonight. Indigo’s feeling a little poorly.”

Indigo winced, and her flush deepened. Jake noted the painful red creeping to her hairline and grinned.

Jeremy came into the kitchen. “You’re not feeling well?”

Jake laid wood in the stove, struck a lucifer, and lit the fire. “She’s just a little sore,” he explained, sliding a mischievous glance at his wife. “Yesterday, she engaged in some unaccustomed activity and overdid a bit.”

Jeremy slid a curious glance from Jake’s twinkling gaze to Indigo’s scarlet countenance. He took a chair and smiled. “The best cure for that is more of the same.”

Indigo bent her head and scratched at a nonexistent spot on the tablecloth.

“Now there’s a thought,” Jake said with a chuckle. He turned to the dish board with the coffeepot and pulled out the crock of freshly ground beans. “So, Jer, have there been any new developments since your letter?”

Jeremy glanced toward Indigo. “I can speak freely?”

Jake set the coffeepot over the heat and gave a relieved sigh. “Yes, thank God. Indigo is aware of everything.”

Jeremy settled back in his chair. “Father’s behind it. I’m certain of it.”

Jake turned from the stove, his expression suddenly grim. “You sound mighty certain.”

Jeremy nodded. “Unhappily so. I found record of three bank drafts Father made, all to Hank Sample. In each case, the draw was made about a week before there was trouble here. That’s too much to be coincidence. Hank hired someone here to do the dirty work. He used those draws to make the payoffs.”

Jake leaned a hip against the dish board and folded his arms. His expression darkened. “I still can’t believe it.”

“Believe it,” Jeremy said softly. He propped a boot on his knee and studied the heel for a long moment. “That’s not the worst of it.” He lifted a solemn gaze to Jake’s. “Another draw was made five days ago.”

Jake stiffened. “So you think we should be expecting more trouble?”

“If I’m correct in my suspicions, yes, and I believe I am. If things go according to schedule, we can expect something to happen the day after tomorrow, maybe the next day.”

Indigo glanced up at Jake, her eyes filled with alarm. “Another cave-in, do you think?”

“There’s no telling.” Jake scratched his jaw. “We should start watching the mines tomorrow night then.” He shot Jeremy a look. “Each time before, the tunnels were sabotaged the night prior to the accident. It’d be my guess our man will stick to the same methods, since they’ve worked well. You couldn’t find any information that hinted at who their contact here might be?”

Jeremy shook his head. “Father’s too smart to leave written evidence of that sort. I’d guess it’s all been handled by verbal agreement, payoff in cash so it can never be proved.” He turned to regard Indigo. “You can’t know how sorry I am—about what happened to your father and everything. What must you think?”

“I think it’s very good of you to try to stop it,” she said softly. “And I pity your father. He must be an unhappy man.”

The coffeepot began to boil. Jake moved it off to the side so it wouldn’t spill over. To Jeremy, he said, “Are you up to some midnight vigils? I think we should watch both mines, just in case. If we can catch the bastard messing around at either site, we can get all the proof we need to confront Father.”

Jeremy nodded. “And then what, Jake?”

A tight feeling spread through Jake’s chest. He had never particularly liked his father, but the blood ties were there, and he couldn’t help but care. It hurt to think of bringing about the old man’s downfall. Then again, Jake couldn’t forget the harm done to Hunter Wolf and his family and countless others.

Not to mention his mother. . . . In a way, maybe it was fitting that her sons should destroy the man who had so callously destroyed her. Jake looked at Indigo. His wife. Now that he had lain with her, he felt a thousand times more protective. Never, he vowed, never in a thousand years would he repeat his father’s mistakes. Nothing would ever be so important to him that he would jeopardize Indigo’s well-being.

Dragging his mind back to Jeremy’s question, Jake replied, “I don’t know, Jeremy. I can’t think that far ahead yet. Let’s get the evidence, then worry about what to do with it. Retributions must be made—that’s a certainty. Beyond that, we’ll have to decide.”

Jeremy pressed his lips together, his face drawn. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He took a bracing breath. “So what’s the plan, you watch one mine and me the other?”

Jake nodded.

Indigo straightened. “I want to go, too. Three pairs of eyes are better than two.”

Jake looked over at her. Without any hesitation whatsoever, he said, “Absolutely not.”

Indigo stiffened. Jake’s stern tone brooked no argument, but this was far too important to let slide. “Jake, my father’s whole life is on the line. Everything we’ve worked years to build. If you’re worried about the danger, please don’t. It’s my risk and my decision.”