Promises Reveal (40 page)

“Who the hell said we were burying the son of a bitch?” Asa growled.

“I did,” Dorothy called from the kitchen. “It’s indecent to leave dead bodies hanging about.”

“Heck, Dorothy, you ever seen Bull?” Brad called. “It’d take two days just to dig a hole big enough.”

“If you’re too lazy to dig a grave then I guess you’ll have to settle this without killing anyone.”

Which had been the point she wanted delivered. Asa sighed. “You’re a hard woman, Dorothy.”

“Just keeping you boys on the straight and narrow. I’m going to make some coffee. It’ll be ready shortly.”

Cougar shook his head. “The woman’s worse than a conscience.”

“So if we can’t kill him, what are we going to do with him?” Jackson asked.

“Make him wish he was dead.”

That wasn’t going to be enough for Brad, and he suspected not enough for Gray. Speaking of which . . . “Where’s Gray?”

“Repairing his pride after a trip to the woodshed,” Clint answered.

Brad went cold inside. He’d had more than a few of those in his youth. “How badly is he hurt?”

Clint snapped straight. “What the hell kind of question is that?”

He was stepping in it every way he turned, but Brad couldn’t let it go. “The kid stepped between Evie and a bullet. I’d be more than a bit put out if you hurt him.”

“You’d be even more put out if he got himself killed,” Jackson interjected.

“Shut up, Jackson.”

“No need to get upset, Rev.” Cougar sighed, casting a worried glance at the kitchen. “Clint doesn’t have it in him to lay a hand on the kid.”

Brad had seen Clint gut men without batting an eye. “Uh-huh.”

“The kid’s had enough trouble,” Clint offered. “Beating him wouldn’t make any difference.”

“See,” Cougar waved his hand. “Gone soft.”

“So what did you do?”

Clint glared.

Jackson laughed. “Damn near talked his ear off. It’s a wonder the kid didn’t beg for a beating just to get out from under all the guilt Clint piled on.”

“He could have gotten Brenna and Evie killed. He’s not as strong as he thinks he is.”

“Not to mention risking himself,” Dorothy said, bringing in a tray with six coffee mugs.

Brad rose and took the tray from her.

“Thank you.”

“Where do you want it?”

“The parlor’s fine. You need to rein that boy in. He needs to learn it’s not only him against the world. He’s got family to depend on now.”

“Why are you putting this on me? I’m not his father.”

“Because, not being his father, your opinion will hold weight. And”—she paused to wipe her hands on her apron—“because it’s your responsibility.”

“How so?”

She snapped her apron straight, glaring at him as if he’d just insulted her intelligence. “Because you’re family, too.”

He could only stare as she headed back to the kitchen.

Asa took the tray from Brad and led the few steps to the parlor. “Didn’t you know?”

He shook his head, the words flowing through him, sinking past his horror to the longing he’d never managed to kill off.
Family.
Dorothy thought he was family?

Putting the coffee on the parlor table, Asa sighed. “I probably should have warned you, having firsthand experience and all with their sneaky, claiming ways—”

Brad turned to Cougar, anger burning a cold hole in his gut. The likes of him could never be family. “You told Dorothy you claimed me?”

Cougar shrugged and picked up one of the cups. “You pretty much sealed your fate the day you turned against your gang and saved our asses.”

“I would have done that for anyone given the same circumstances.” He didn’t hold with murder.

“But you did it for us,” Clint said, helping himself to a cup.

“What the hell is she going to do when the truth about what I am comes out?”

It was Jackson who answered. “Whatever she feels is right.”

Shit. “You had no right.”

No right to make him vulnerable, no right to set Dorothy up for hurt. No right to create that shimmer in his long-dead dream.

“We feel differently.”

“And all that matters is what you feel?”

Cougar smiled, eying Brad’s clenched fists with something akin to anticipation. “In this case, Rev, pretty much.”

“You two can discuss your differences later,” Asa interrupted. “Right now, we have bigger fish to fry.”

Brad not only planned on discussing it, he intended on finishing it, his plan to simply walk away when this was over was now dead in the water. Cougar had efficiently nipped that in the bud.

He glanced out the window to the night beyond.

As usual, there was no answer.

“What’s the plan for the evening?” Jackson asked, shaking his head when Asa offered him a cup. “Are we letting Bull live or not?”

Brad grabbed the cup out of his hand, not wincing when the hot liquid splashed over his fingers, taking the small punishment for what it was, an incremental prelude to the hell the rest of his life was going to be when the events that had been brewing the last few months came to a head. “I don’t know what the rest of you have planned, but I’m going to kill that worthless son of a bitch Bull, and then I’m going to get Brenda.”

 
BRENNA WENT STIFF as a board in Evie’s arms when Doc and Jenna entered the room. Evie pretended not to notice, just smiled at them from where she sat on the bed. “Thank goodness you’re here, Doc. Brenna is about to expire from hunger.”

“Well, it would be a real shame to lose such a fine young lady for want of such a simple cure.”

Brenna frowned at him as if there was an insult couched in the compliment. “Gray says I’m pretty.”

As a shield, it was a pitiful one, but Brenna threw it out like it was made of granite. Everyone had to believe someone, and Brenna obviously believed Gray.

“Yes. He does.” Jenna limped in, patting a fussing Bri’s back. “He told me you were beautiful.”

“You’re his mother.”

“Yes, I am.”

Her frown deepened. “He loves you.”

Jenna smiled gently. “Thank you for telling me. Sometimes, I’m not sure.”

Brenna folded her arms across her chest, her lips pressing flat. “He can’t love me.”

“Why not?” Doc asked, opening his bag.

“My father doesn’t like anyone to love me.”

It was the second time she’d said that. Hearing it twice didn’t make it any more comfortable. “I’m sure that’s not true,” Evie interjected.

Brenna watched Doc with growing apprehension. Evie could feel it spread through her small body. Over Doc’s flyaway hair, she looked helplessly to Jenna. Jenna knew children, knew how to deal with them. Evie didn’t. Doc approached the bed.

“Now, let’s see what we have here.”

Brenna shrieked and tried to climb Evie’s shoulder. Jenna laid her hand on Doc’s arm. As if he needed any more incentive to stop.

“Brenna,” she coaxed. “Look at me.”

With obvious fear, the little girl did so. “Gray sent me to make sure you were safe, and to make sure no one hurt you. He said you’d know you could trust me.”

Because Gray trusted her. Evie watched, feeling as if an important something she’d missed out on her entire life was finally taking shape, making sense.

Her lower lip trembled. “Why didn’t he come himself?”

“He got in trouble for fighting.”

Brenna’s little fists bunched on Evie’s shoulder. “Did his daddy hurt him bad?”

Jenna handed Bri to Doc before sitting down on the side of the bed, creating a haven for Brenna between them. “Oh no, pumpkin. There’s nothing in this world that could make Clint hurt Gray. He loves him as much as he loves me.”

Clearly Brenna didn’t believe that, exposing the why in a harsh truth. “My Daddy hurts my momma.”

Jenna’s eyes filled with tears. She reached, as if to touch the little girl, and then pulled her hand back. “I’m sorry. He shouldn’t do that.”

Brenna’s chin quivered. “We had to run away.”

And for her bravery, Brenna’s mother had landed locked in a saloon with Bull as her client. Evie’s soul burned at the unfairness.

She’d been sheltered from the reality that made Brad so passionate about women, but she understood now.

“That was very brave of your momma to take you away.”

Brenna slipped away from Evie. Hugging her knees, she rocked back and forth. “Yes, it was.”

With a slow, careful motion, Jenna smoothed Brenna’s hair back off her pale face. “Where’s your mother now?”

“In a room.”

“Do you know where this room is?” Doc asked, nudging Jenna aside.

Brenna’s eyes went wide as he leaned over and probed the back of her head.

She nodded.

“Good. Then I want you to whisper it to Jenna real quiet-like, while I check out the lump you have here.”

She licked her lips and winced when he hit a sensitive spot.

“Sorry.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” he asked.

“Why do I have to whisper it?”

“Because as soon as we’re done here, Jenna is going to whisper it to Clint, Cougar, Asa, Reverend Brad, and Jackson.”

“Oh.”

“They’re big men with mean tempers and they don’t like people who hurt women and children.”

“Will they help my mother?”

“Yes.”

“Even if she’s a bad woman?”

Evie gasped. She hadn’t thought the little girl knew. Doc tipped Brenna’s face up, his gaze skimming the bruise before meeting her gaze. “There’s no such thing.”

“That’s not what people say.”

“People say a lot of stupid things. It doesn’t make them true.”

Clearly Brenna didn’t know what to believe, as clearly as she didn’t know who to cling to. Her father was a bastard, her mother imprisoned, and all she had were strangers around her. Her face crumpled. “I want Gray.”

“Why?” Jenna asked, her voice incredibly soft.

She shook her head, dislodging the tears filling her eyes. “He promised he’d be here.”

For a moment, Evie thought Brenna would bolt.

Jenna didn’t give her the opportunity. With a sob that mirrored the pain the little girl held inside, she gathered Brenna in her arms, cradling her against her chest. Her cheek dropped to the little girl’s bright hair, tears ran down her face, and she promised, “Then we’ll get him just as soon as Doc is done.”

Brenna didn’t fight, just accepted Jenna’s hug with a tense expectancy. “Why?”

“McKinnelys don’t break their word.”

Soft as a sigh, Brenna offered up her last defense. “He claimed me.”

Just as softly, Jenna whispered back, “Thank God.”

And for Evie—watching Jenna hold Brenna as though she would never let her go, accepting the child’s boundaries and offering her love anyway—that elusive truth that always evaded her and left her feeling like an outsider always looking in shone just as brightly as the light reflecting off Jenna’s blonde hair. It didn’t matter what the world said, it only mattered what those close to you thought, and she’d always been surrounded by people who’d accepted her for who she was. She just hadn’t allowed herself to see it. The way she hadn’t allowed herself to see the truth in her marriage. Because she was afraid if she gave her trust along with her love, it would go away, the way her father’s love had, for reasons she couldn’t understand. And all she’d be left holding in the aftermath would be that horrible debilitating ache of failure.

“Evie, you okay?”

She wiped the tears from her eyes and managed a smile for Doc. “Yes. I think I am.”

HE CAME TO her in the dark, hungry and wanting, back from his hunt for Bull, his plan to save Brenda. The dip of the mattress preceded the urgency of his embrace. Still groggy from sleep, Evie snuggled into Brad’s chest. “What happened?”

“Bull’s dead.”

She could only think of one thing that would have him holding her this tightly, as if he wanted to pull her into his skin. “You killed him?”

His fingers went to work on the buttons of her nightgown. “No, somebody else beat me to it.” The first button opened without a qualm, but the second put up a fight. “Why do you wear these things?”

“To keep me decent.”

“Who wants you decent?”

Smiling, she pushed his hair off his face. “Certainly not you.”

The grin that greeted her quip was strained. Something was wrong. There was only one thing she could think of. And it made her uneasy. “What about Brenda?”

“She’s safe.”

“Out of the Pleasure Emporium?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“The less you know, the better.”

“For your information, ignorance is not bliss.”