Redemption (27 page)

At the sound of a vehicle coming up the road, he watched from the open door of the hayloft as a red pickup came roaring up into the yard in a cloud of dust.

“Kate?”

* * *

K
ATE CLIMBED OUT
of the pickup as dust settled around it. She could see Jack silhouetted in the doorway of the barn hayloft. He was leaning against the doorjamb, that cocky way he had about him when he wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.

She herself didn’t know. All the way out here, she’d questioned what she was doing. For years she’d prided herself on not needing anyone else in her life. Then Claude had come into the café that day and turned her life upside down.

“Out sightseeing?” Jack asked as she climbed up into the loft. It smelled warm like a summer day, the rich scent of dried hay in the air.

Jack narrowed his eyes, intelligence and curiosity at war with each other in all that blue, as she closed the distance between them.

“I was looking for you,” she said, realizing how true that was, and not just today. Maybe she’d been looking for Jack French her whole life and just hadn’t known it. The question was: What was she going to do about it now?

“Looking for me, huh? Well, it seems you’ve found me.” He was waiting for her to make the first move, practically daring her to. Challenge shone in his eyes as she stopped just inches from him.

“Somethin’ on your mind?” he asked, the low timbre of his voice like a caress across her skin.

Kate met his gaze. For the first time, she saw the flecks of gold in that sea of blue. His gaze invited her in for more than a quick dip.

She placed a palm on his chest, thought she felt his heart beating like a war drum beneath the cool feel of his Western shirt, but it could have been her own pulse she felt. All she’d thought about on the way out here was being in Jack’s arms. She tried not to question it—didn’t want to believe that she was running scared and had run to him out of fear.

But maybe that was easier to admit than her coming here out of a burning desire she was tired of fighting. Rocking forward onto the toes of her boots, she leaned into him to brush her lips across his.

His eyes locked with hers. “You sure you want to go down this trail?” he asked, his voice husky and low.

* * *

T
HE MOMENT SHE LOOKED
into his eyes, Jack knew he was lost. He caught Kate’s hand and dragged her to him as he drew back into the cool dark of the hayloft. Her soft, supple and lush body collided with his. He cupped her face in his hands, his gaze still locked with hers, and kissed her the way he’d been wanting to for too long.

Her lips opened to his, a soft moan escaping her mouth. He’d never wanted a woman the way he did her. This had been a long time coming, as if it had been written in the stars that they would end up here.

“Kate,” he whispered as he drew back to look into that amazing face of hers. When his gaze lighted again on her eyes, he saw desire burning like an open flame that caught him up in its fire.

He swung her up into his arms and carried her over to a pile of hay. They both tumbled into it, tearing at each other’s clothing in a need to free themselves of everything between them.

The snaps sung on her Western shirt as he jerked it open. He slipped the hook on the front of her bra, her full breasts filling his hands. He bent to run his tongue over the hard, dark pink points. She moaned beneath him, and he let out a groan of his own as his mouth returned to hers.

She rolled them both over so she was on top and pulled off his shirt, then pressed her warm palms to his chest, her eyes locked with his. He reached for the buttons on her jeans and she wiggled out of them. Her fingers went to the buttons of his jeans, and within pulse-pounding seconds they were both naked in a bed of their discarded clothing atop the hay pile.

They made love with a wild, uninhibited passion. Breathlessly collapsing in the bed of hay. Jack lay beside her. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was so beautiful and so complicated. She’d given herself to him, but as intimate as they’d been, he realized he knew little more about her.

He ran a finger along her scar and felt her tense. Bending over, he traced it with kisses. A sound like a sob came from her, more powerful than any sound he’d ever heard. He thought his heart would burst.

She drew him up so they were at eye level again. She opened her lips, but then closed them again.

“You don’t have to tell me,” he whispered.

“I gave someone part of my liver.”

He felt his eyes widen in surprise. “Whoa. That’s amazing.”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Yes, it was. It must have been someone you cared an awful lot about.”

She said nothing, but tears suddenly filled her eyes. He drew her to him, holding her.

“From the first time I met you, I’ve thought you were an incredible woman. You just keep surprising me.”

“Don’t, Jack.” She drew away, turning her back to him as she picked up her shirt and shrugged it on.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not the woman you think I am,” she said, her back still to him.

“Kate.” He touched her shoulder, pulling her down next to him. “I like whoever you are. But isn’t it time you were honest with me?”

* * *

T
EARS BLURRED HER
eyes. Kate had told herself that she just needed to get Jack out of her system. She’d actually believed that once she gave herself to him, she could walk away. She willed herself not to cry, but Jack’s passion and tenderness was her undoing. Just moments before, the way he’d touched her scar, lowering his head to gently kiss his way across her abdomen. A shudder of desire raced through her already heated blood. The man could be so tough and yet so gentle. So infuriating and yet so...lovable.

She pulled away from him. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

He propped himself up on one elbow. “I’m listening.”

Kate licked her lips, tried to still her pounding heart. She knew she should have told him the moment she saw him. But confessing had been the last thing on her mind when she’d seen him in the hayloft door.

“This is about the dead man, isn’t it?” he said.

She met his gaze and slowly nodded. “The sheriff identified the man. His name is Darrell Ackermann.”

Jack stared at her. “
Ackermann?
A relative of Cullen Ackermann?” She could see him putting it all together. He let out a curse and sat up. “What are you telling me?”

“I didn’t kill him over the gold, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said quickly.

“But that’s what this is all about. The map. The gold.” He shook his head. “I thought all the Ackermann boys were dead.”

“Apparently three of them survived.” She swallowed. “And the daughter.”

His eyes widened. “Kate?”

“Darrell Ackermann was kind of my stepbrother.”

Jack was shaking his head. “How is that possible?”

“I was born on the compound. My mother was the woman everyone calls Teeny Ackermann, only she and Cullen were never married and Cullen wasn’t my father.” She nodded at his confusion. “My father got me out right before the compound was stormed thirty years ago. He sent me to a couple he knew who desperately wanted a child. I was adopted but that’s all I knew...until recently.”

* * *

J
ACK DIDN’T KNOW
what to think. He stared at her in disbelief as all the pieces of the puzzle that was Kate LaFond tried to fall into place in his head—but refused to fit.

“You said Cullen wasn’t your father?”

She shook her head. “Claude Durham was.”

Another piece of puzzle dropped into place. The café.

“And the scar?”

“I gave part of my liver to Claude. I was a perfect match. But it was too late. I couldn’t save him.”

“And he gave you his café and the map.”

She nodded.

The pieces were coming together faster than the speed of light, making his head hurt. He thought about the note someone had left her at the café. Another chunk of puzzle slid in. “But now people know who you are.”

“Loralee Clark recognized me. She knew my mother. She gave the sheriff a photograph of me when I was a baby. I look like my mother did when she was young. Apparently few people ever saw her, though, since Cullen Ackermann and his sons kept her a prisoner up in that hollow.”

“But Loralee didn’t leave you the note at the café, so someone else knows who you are and why you’re here.”

She nodded. “They think I can find the gold. One of them must have seen my mother making the map.”

“That would be my guess. So what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t have a choice. I have to find the gold.”

With a curse Jack got to his feet and pulled on his jeans. He heard her rise and follow him to the open door of the hayloft. He flinched when she put a hand on his bare back, and she withdrew it.

“I wanted to tell you—”

He spun on her. “How many secrets do you have? I feel as if I’ve just brushed the surface.” He met her gaze. “Were you ever going to tell me the truth? Don’t answer that. We both know the only reason you told me is that everyone else in the county must know by now.” He swore again. “That’s why you came out here, that’s why you...” He motioned toward the hay where they’d lain entwined only minutes before.

“No, that’s not true.”

He brushed her protest aside. “All of this has only been about the gold.”

“You’re wrong, Jack.” But her words lacked conviction and they both knew it.

“No, you’re willing to risk everything for the gold, and anyone who gets in your way better look out.” He shook his head. “Why can’t you just be satisfied with what you have?”

“Because I’m not like you,” she snapped. “I go after what I want.” He saw that she regretted the words the moment they were out. But it was too late. He knew for certain now that she saw him as nothing but a saddle bum.

With a disgusted shake of his head, he stepped past her to finish dressing and then he climbed down from the hayloft and headed for his pickup.

“Jack—”

He didn’t look back. He couldn’t.

CHAPTER TWENTY

W
HEN
F
RANK CALLED
T
IFFANY
, to his surprise, she said she would like to ride later. So that afternoon he saddled their horses and the two of them had taken a long ride. She took to riding well and even smiled a few times.

He thought they might talk on the ride, but the afternoon was so beautiful and his attempts at conversation were met with sullenness, so he gave up and just enjoyed the ride.

Tiffany was a mystery to him. Her moods seemed to change in an instant. The things he thought would make her happy seldom did. And while she enjoyed the horseback ride, even though she didn’t say it, as soon as it was over she wanted to go home.

“I thought we could go into Big Timber for pizza,” he said.

“I don’t like pizza.” She said it as if he should have known that.

What kid didn’t like pizza?

“We could get a burger. A tofu burger or one of those mushroom things that are supposed to taste like a burger,” he added quickly, remembering that she was a vegetarian. Probably also her mother’s idea, since Pam knew he raised beef.

Tiffany gave a hard shake of her head. “I’m tired. I want to go home.”

“Where is home?” he asked.

She shot him a look that said she was too smart to fall for that.

“Is it so hard for you to understand that I want to talk to your mother?”

“You don’t want to
talk
to her. You want to
yell
at her. Or maybe even arrest her.”

“On what charge?”

She shrugged and looked away. “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“I’ll bet.”

“See,” she said. “You do want to yell at her.”

He let it drop. But it ate at him. He could understand Tiffany wanting to protect her mother. It was another thing for Pam not to have the guts to talk to him.

He thought of friends who’d gone through divorces. The kids often took the side of the mother. The fathers just got the blame, the bills and the attitude. Frank had often asked them why they didn’t fight back, tell the kids what was really going on, but they’d just thrown their hands up and said, “What would be the point? My ex would turn it around to make me look like the bad guy. Even if she didn’t, the kids wouldn’t believe it. They feel sorry for their mother, protective, and believe me, my ex plays the helpless act like a pro.”

Frank had seen that what usually happened was the ex-wife remarried, the kids came around and it all ended okay. So maybe he’d been right about keeping his mouth shut, just enjoying his daughter and letting bygones be bygones.

But just the thought of Pam getting away with what she’d done...

He wanted to tell Tiffany that he was a reasonable man and it was ridiculous for her mother to act as if he was dangerous.

But she might have a point.

* * *

A
FTER HIS FIGHT
with Kate, Jack drove back to town, parked outside his cabin and sat, too shaken to get out of his truck. The lovemaking had been incredible. He’d never felt anything near what he felt with Kate.

Which made it so much worse that she’d used him. All this had always been about the gold and nothing else. He thought again of her naked in his arms. Now he knew how far the woman would go to get what she wanted.

He couldn’t face the empty cabin, and in the mood he was in there was a good chance he could find himself in trouble if he went down to the Range Rider. He could feel that brawling French blood of his just itching for a fight.

But he could no more keep his boots from heading down that hill to the bar than he could quit thinking about making love with Kate.

He’d made a point of avoiding the bar since he’d gotten out of prison, except on those few occasions when he had met with Carson. But this evening, he felt the need for the cool darkness of the bar, and a cold beer sounded good right now. And if anyone else in town was looking for a fight, then he would gladly oblige.

He wondered as he walked down to the bar if Kate had ever been honest with him about anything. Certainly not about him or what she was doing in Beartooth.