Jenny (4 page)

She had heard what had happened at his wedding
and knew he could use some real kindness right now.
"Getting falling-down drunk isn't going to help anything, but talking about what's bothering you might."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "I already tried talking."

"You did?"

Cole nodded. "I went to the hotel to talk to Jenny,
but it was no use."

"What do you mean?" Fernada frowned.

"She doesn't want to marry me."

She shook her head in confusion. "You're a man
in a million, Cole Randall. A woman would have to
be crazy not to want to marry you."

11 'Crazy Jenny' -I like the sound of that." His
words were sarcastic and slightly slurred.

"What did she say when you went to see her?
Maybe she was just having wedding jitters. Maybe
she'll have second thoughts and come around."

"I don't think so. I told her I thought we could
work it out, but she said no."

"Maybe Jenny just needs some time to think about

"We've been engaged for months now. She's had
plenty of time to think about it." His growing anger
was clearly evident in his tone.

"Well, if you want my advice, I think you should
go see her again and try once more. Maybe if you
took her some flowers or candy? You should try to
sweet-talk her, you know court her a little bit woo
her."

Cole looked up, and, for the first time that night,
his expression was slightly hopeful. Someone was offering him a plan of action. "You think that might
make a difference?"

"You still love her and want to marry her, don't
you?" Fernada asked insightfully.

He paused, the pain of Jenny's earlier rejection still
sharp. "Yes," he answered slowly.

"Then you need to go to her and try one more time.
Don't give up if you really love her. True love is
worth fighting for."

Cole drew a deep breath and looked a bit unsure
as he set his glass back down on the table. "But she
said she didn't want me."

"I don't believe that for a minute. Think about it.
What were her exact words? Did she really say, 'I
don't want you, Cole'?"

In his mind, he carefully went over the conversation, and he realized Fernada was right.

"No, she said, `I don't want this,' "he repeated
slowly.

"So she didn't say, `I don't love you, Cole'?"

No.

"All right, then all you have to do is figure out what
`this' meant. Go to her and ask her. If she's the
woman you love, the woman you want to spend the
rest of your life with, then try again. Convince her
that she can't live without you."

He finally managed to smile for the first time since
he'd come into the saloon. "Thanks, Fernada." He
shoved the glass of whiskey aside and stood up.

"Good luck, Cole."

He nodded and started toward the hotel. It might
be the wee hours of the morning, but he didn't care. He loved Jenny, and he was going to find her and tell
her that. He was going to convince her to marry him,
and then he was going to spend the rest of his life
loving her, just as he'd planned that morning when
he'd gotten ready for the wedding.

That morning seemed very long ago now. He'd
been excited, eagerly anticipating the night to come,
never suspecting for a moment that it would end like
this. But that didn't matter now. Cole knew Fernada
was right-anything worth having was worth fighting
for.

Cole started down the street toward the hotel where
Jenny was staying; then he remembered a house a few
blocks over that had a flower garden in the front yard.
Since it was late and very dark, he didn't think the
owner would miss a few flowers. As quietly as he
could, he raided the garden, picking only the fullest,
sweetest-smelling blossoms. Jenny deserved the best.
Bouquet in hand, Cole headed for the hotel.

There was no one at the front desk when Cole entered. Not that it mattered nothing was going to stop
him now. He was a determined man. He was going
to Jenny, and he was going to convince her to marry
him. He crossed the lobby and took the stairs two at
a time like an eager schoolboy. Cole stopped before
her hotel room door, clutching the flowers in one
hand, and knocked.

He waited.

No response.

He knocked again, believing her to be asleep. His
anticipation grew.

When he heard no one moving around inside the
room, he knocked one more time and called out,
"Jenny. It's Cole. I need to talk to you again. It's
important."

He waited.

No response.

Cole frowned. He was a bit angry and a bit worried,
and he wasn't sure which emotion was more prominent. He'd known that persuading her to talk with him
again might not be easy, but he hadn't fancied having
to break down the door to get the chance. The way
he was feeling right now, breaking down the door
wasn't out of the realm of possibility, but he really
didn't want to face her if he was angry. He wanted
the opportunity to woo her to sweep her off her
feet to convince her that he could make her happy
forever.

"Jenny?" he repeated as he knocked, a little harder
than last.

Still nothing.

"Damn it, Jenny-"

His patience about at an end, Cole was set to pound
on the door one last, loud time when he heard a door
open across the hall behind him.

"Hey, cowboy! Just in case you're so damned slow
that you ain't figured it out yet, she ain't there!" the
grouchy, sleepy man snarled at him.

"What?" Cole glanced over his shoulder in irritation.

"They checked out hours ago. They're long gone."

"She left?" He was stunned.

"What are you, deaf along with dumb?" the man
snapped. "She's gone. Now get the hell outta here so
I can get some sleep." He turned back inside his room
and slammed his door.

Cole stood there, flowers in hand, staring at the
man's closed door.

Jenny was gone?

She 'd checked out hours ago?

He tried the doorknob to her room and found the
door unlocked. He stepped inside and stared around
himself. The room was dark and deserted. There was
no sign of Jenny anywhere. She truly had gone.

Cole stalked out of the room and started back down
the hall to the stairs. He wanted to find the clerk so
he could ask him where Jenny had gone. He was startled to find the clerk on his way up.

"Sir, were you the one making all that noise?"

"What's it to you?"

"It's the middle of the night. You have to be quiet,"
the clerk told Cole, growing a bit nervous when he
noticed his black scowl. It was his job to keep things
peaceful in the hotel at night, but this cowboy looked
more than a little like a troublemaker.

"I'll quiet down when I find Miss Sullivan. Where
is she?" Cole demanded, his stance and tone threatening.

"Oh, they're gone, sir," the clerk said a bit nervously, realizing that wasn't the news the cowboy
wanted to hear. "The Sullivans and Mrs. Anderson
checked out quite a while ago."

"Where did Miss Sullivan go?"

"I heard them talking about taking the late train out
of town."

Cole brushed past the clerk on the stairs and
stormed from the hotel, a man on a mission. He made
his way to the railroad station and woke up the clerk
there, who'd been dozing behind the counter. The answers Cole got from him were the ones he'd feared.

Jenny and her aunt had boarded the late train to
Denver.

Jenny was gone.

Cole turned his back on the man and walked away,
disappearing into the night. He stopped in the middle
of the dark, deserted street and stood in silence as he
faced the reality of what had happened.

There would be no chance to win Jenny back.

What he'd thought was going to be the most wonderful day of his life had turned into a living nightmare-hell on Earth.

Jenny had never really loved him.

It was over.

Cole's heart hardened against the pain that stabbed
at him. He realized with awful clarity just how vulnerable loving someone had made him. He vowed
then and there never to allow himself to care so
deeply for any woman again.

Cole glanced down at the flowers he held, still
clutched in his hand.

Without emotion, he dropped them into the dirt.

He walked away into the darkness, a solitary man.

Two Years Later

Cole sat across the desk from Andrew Marsden, staring at the lawyer, his expression dark. "Are you serious?"

"Very." Marsden nodded solemnly. "Paul Sullivan
spelled it out in detail for me last year when we updated his will."

Cole swore under his breath. The last two days had
been hell for him. It had been terrible enough when
he'd learned that Paul had been killed in a riding accident. The funeral had been held yesterday, with the
burial in the small family graveyard out at the ranch.
Now he'd been summoned to the lawyer's office in
town and informed that he'd been appointed the executor of Paul's estate. The news came as a complete shock. Cole's gaze was piercing in its intensity as he
asked, "Why did he want me?"

"He trusted you," the lawyer said simply.

Cole fell silent. It was true that he and Paul had
remained close friends even though Paul had never
become his father-in-law. They had worked together
to build up their herds after the bad winter the year
before, but he'd never expected anything like this.

"Surely Paul had family some relative who could
do this."

"There's only Jenny and his widowed sister, Evelyn. I believe you met her when..." Marsden stopped
awkwardly, not wanting to bring up the subject of
Cole's almost-marriage to Paul's daughter. Their
planned nuptials had been the talk of the town at the
time. Then, when the wedding had been called off at
the last minute, the news had been fodder for the town
gossips for weeks.

"Yes, I met her," Cole said tersely.

"Paul loved his daughter and sister, but he told me
at the time we were going over the will that if anyone
could keep the Lazy S going, it was you. He knew
what a smart businessman you were. He respected
what you'd done with the Branding Iron, how you've
turned it into a show place." Andrew paused and
smiled sadly. "I still remember him bragging about
how you'd made it through the blizzard that winter
with the fewest losses of all the ranchers in the area."
"I was lucky."

"No, you were smart, and Paul knew it. He thought the world of you." Andrew spoke with intensity,
wanting Cole to realize how important Paul's choice
had been to him.

Cole was touched by the sentiment. Paul had been
a good neighbor and a good friend. "What do I have
to do?"

"According to what Paul directed in the will,
you're to run the Lazy S until Jenny turns twentyfive, until she marries, or until the ranch is sold,
whichever comes first."

"Does Jenny know about any of this?"

"No. He did not tell her about the change in the
will."

Cole's expression darkened even more at that news.
He could just imagine how Jenny was going to react.
They hadn't seen each other since their wedding day.
She'd gone East and stayed there, and that had been
fine with him. Now, however, thanks to Paul, they
were going to be forced to deal with each other again.

"Or until it's sold, you say?" he repeated.

"That's right."

Cole nodded, hoping he'd get lucky and she'd sell
the place. Hell, he was tempted to buy it himself.
"Have you heard anything more from her?"

"No, I haven't heard anything new. You know
Louis Hayden, the foreman at the Lazy S, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, Louie's the one who wired Jenny about
Paul's death the day they found him. He received a message back from her saying that she was on her
way home. From what I understand, she could possibly be here tomorrow, depending on connections. I
don't think Louie's heard anything more from her
since that first telegram, but you might want to check
with him and see. In fact, it would be good if you
could just step in and take over at the ranch right now.
I'm sure the men are concerned about what's going
to happen next. You could set their minds at ease."

"I'll head back out there today. Did Paul have
enough cash set aside to meet payroll?" If he was
going to reassure the ranch hands, he wanted to be
certain of his facts.

"From what I understand, he has some money in
the bank to cover expenses."

"Good."

"As soon as Jenny gets back in town, we'll set up
a meeting for the official reading of the will."

"Thanks, Andrew."

Cole stood to go. They shook hands, and he left
the office. His mood was black as he contemplated
what to do next. He had told the lawyer that he was
going to ride out to the Lazy S, and he would, eventually, but first, right now, he needed a good stiff
drink. It didn't matter that it was only ten o'clock in
the morning. He strode toward the High Time Saloon.