Sinful (19 page)

“Goodbye, Dad. If we’re going to use family relationships
as weapons against each other, you should know that so long as Eve isn’t welcome in your home, Brooke and Sawyer won’t be coming there, either.”

“How dare you threaten me! Go! Get out of my sight.”

Connor rose and left.

E
VE SHOWED UP
at the bedroom door, Molly’s diary in hand, her face bleached of blood. “She knew.”

Connor dropped the book he was reading as he lay in bed. “Knew what?”

“About us.”

He sat up. “Impossible.”

Eve sank onto the bed, opened the diary, and began reading.

I know Eve likes Connor but I like him more. He’s so dreamy!!! His eyes are bluer than blue and I want to brush back that lock of hair that falls on his forehead so bad!!! Eve’s so beautiful and amazing she can have any boy she wants. But not Connor. He’s mine!!! It’s a good thing his name is Flynn or I’d have no chance, because I can tell Connor likes Eve, too. He’s always watching her with this goofy look on his face. She has no clue, thank goodness!!!

Eve met Connor’s gaze. His face was flushed, probably because of that “goofy look” comment. “Did you watch me in high school?”

He nodded. “I told you I liked you.”

“This sounds like more than that.”

“What do you want me to say?”

Eve turned to another bookmarked page in the diary and began reading again.

Connor is taking ME to the Sadie Hawkins dance!!! It was sort of a nasty trick to get Eve to ask for me. I bet Connor thought she was going to ask him to go with her. Too bad!!! This is my chance to show him how nice I am, and I plan to make the most of it. Connor Flynn won’t know what hit him. I love him!!! Soon he’ll be mine forever. Sorry, Eve, but you had your chances. Your fault if you didn’t take them.

“This doesn’t sound like the woman I knew,” Connor said, shaking his head. “Molly was never a conniving person. She was always generous and giving.”

“Absolutely,” Eve agreed. “Except, obviously, where you were concerned.”

She turned to a third marked passage. “This was written years later. She was cleaning out boxes and apparently found her diary and wrote a final entry.”

I can see why I was so worried about Eve loving Connor—and Connor loving Eve—when they were teenagers. All these years later, the sparks still fly whenever they’re in the same room together. I trust them both implicitly. Neither of them would ever betray me. But I feel guilty knowing that I may be the reason they aren’t spending their lives
together as a couple. Maybe they would never have gotten past the feud between their families, but they manage to coexist just fine in my home. Which leads me to believe that if I hadn’t been in the way, true love might have won out. I’m so sorry, Eve, for stealing the man you loved. I know that’s why you’re still single. You’re so careful to hide your feelings whenever Connor’s around. That’s how I know they still exist.

And Connor, my dearest love, I know you love me, but I wonder if you would have married me if you weren’t afraid you might die before you had a son or daughter to leave behind. I took advantage of the love you both had for me to take what I wanted—and needed—from each of you, which meant your own desperate desires remained unrequited.

I hope someday both of you can forgive me. I’m so sorry I came between you. If the day ever comes when I’m no longer here, I hope you find your way to each other.

Eve’s throat was so swollen with emotion that she barely managed to finish reading the last sentence. She looked up to find Connor’s eyes glistening with tears. When he blinked, one slid down his cheek.

“She never said a word,” he said. “I had no idea she knew I had feelings for you.”

“Or that I felt that way about you.” Eve set the diary on the end table and crawled across the bed toward Connor.

He opened his arms and the two of them lay together, holding one another close.

Eve swallowed over the knot of guilt in her throat. “She hoped
we
could forgive
her
.”

She heard Connor struggle to swallow back more tears before he said, “Yeah.”

“How could she stand it?” Eve wondered.

“She loved us both. And she knew we loved her.”

Eve was silent for a long while, remembering all the times she’d visited her friend when Connor was home on leave. All the times she’d coveted him while her best friend had stood by and watched. And
known
. The sorrow she felt was unbearable.

“Do you suppose we were fated to be together?” Connor asked.

Eve shrugged. “The fates can’t want us together very badly or they wouldn’t be doing such a great job of shoving us apart.”

“It does look like the odds are stacked against us,” Connor agreed.

“I don’t want to take the job in Nevada,” Eve said, her face hidden against Connor’s throat. “I just don’t think I have any other choice.”

She put her fingertips against Connor’s lips to still his protest. “I called the editor today and told her I’d take the job.”

She felt Connor’s arms tighten around her, as though he could keep her close, when they both knew that in thirty days she’d be gone. For a couple of weeks. Or maybe a couple of months. And maybe again and again and again.

Eve’s heart hurt. “I don’t want to go,” she said, her throat aching.

“And I don’t want you to go.”

The lovemaking that followed began with tender
kisses and soft, reverent touches. But the knowledge that, just when the truth of their longtime love had been revealed, it might be the beginning of the end of their lives together, turned their caresses into desperate touches and transformed soft forays into demanding explorations. Until they were both clutching at naked flesh as though to hold on forever to the final moment of exultation.

Eve was still gasping for breath when she rolled away from Connor into a tight ball of misery. He slung his arm possessively across her body, pulling her close.

“We still have a month to come up with some way to keep you here,” he said fiercely.

“You never told me the result of your talk with your father. Is there any hope—”

“He’s revoking the trust,” Connor said flatly.

“Then all hope is lost.”

He leaned up on his elbow and shifted her onto her back so he could look into her eyes. “That doesn’t sound like the indomitable woman I know. And love.”

Eve’s heart skipped a beat. They might have felt love for each other all their lives, but the words had never been spoken. Until now.

She searched his beautiful blue eyes for the truth. “Do you love me?”

“More than…” He didn’t finish the sentence. He cleared his throat and said, “More than I ever imagined it was possible to love someone.”

Eve was glad he hadn’t said he loved her more than Molly. A comparison wasn’t possible. They were two completely different women, both of whom had loved him. And both of whom he’d loved back.

“What are we going to do, Connor?”

He turned out the light, then lay back down, easing her head onto his chest so she could hear the strong beat of his heart. “We’ll figure out something.”

Eve was almost asleep when she realized she hadn’t returned the gift he’d given her. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, “I love you, too.”

She heard a gurgle as he swallowed hard, but he said nothing. Eve hoped she had the chance to repeat those words many times in the years to come. Right now, their problems seemed insurmountable. She had to leave. And he might lose his ranch. And there seemed no way to avoid the separation that would result.

Eve slid her arm across Connor’s chest and snuggled close. She would put her mind to work overnight. Maybe it would come up with a solution by morning.

“W
HERE THE HELL
is my daughter?”

Eve stared through the screen door at the madman standing on the back porch. His eyes were bloodshot, black stubble shadowed his cheeks, and his face looked haggard. She shoved the door open and said, “Pippa’s missing?”

“You know damn well she is!” Matt retorted. “She told me she was going shopping in town, but she never came home last night.”

Eve arched a brow. “And from that you concluded that I had something to do with her disappearance?”

“You know goddamn well you and those bratty sisters of yours—”

“That’s quite enough swearing for one conversation,” Eve said as she joined him on the back porch, letting the screen door slam behind her. “I’ve got two impressionable kids sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast.”

“Where’s Connor?” Matt said, looking beyond her shoulder.

“He left early for town, which is where you should be if you’re looking for Pippa.”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you know?”

“What you just told me! If Pippa went to town, that’s probably where she is.”

“I’ve been all over Jackson. Twice. She isn’t there,” Connor said. “Those sisters of yours swore up and down they had nothing to do with her being gone, but I don’t believe them for one minute.”

Eve could see Matt was crazy with worry.

He pulled his Stetson off and ran an agitated hand through his hair, then put the hat back on and tugged it low on his forehead. “You’re my last resort.”

Eve hesitated, then said, “Do you think Pippa might have taken off because you want her to give up her baby?”

Matt’s jaw dropped. “How the hell—”

Eve opened her mouth to cut him off, but he’d already cut himself off. “I accidentally overheard the two of you talking,” she admitted. “Your daughter seemed as determined to keep her baby as you were that she should give it up.”

“The choice is hers. But raising a baby isn’t kid stuff. It’s hard work. I should know, I—” He cut himself off again.

That was the second time Matt had let Eve catch a glimpse of his life. It was hard to imagine him as a teenager raising a little girl on his own. What had happened to Pippa’s mother? He still hadn’t said a word about why he’d gone so far away or stayed gone for so long.

“Why do you think my sisters or I had something to do with the fact that Pippa’s missing?” Eve asked.

“How about Taylor’s threat to make me sorry I ever came here?” Matt said. “I should have thrown the twins out on their fannies last week when they let
King’s Tennessee Walker stallion into the pasture with my quarter horse brood mares.”

“They did
what
?” Eve said, aghast.

“Not that they admitted to it. God knows how many mares that stud covered before I got him out of there. That means I’ll be waiting a year for some very expensive quarter horse mares to deliver their mixed-breed foals before they’re any use to me. Not only that, I have to wait to see how many mares are pregnant before I can breed the rest of them. I gave those two hellions a good piece of my mind and a warning that if they tried another stunt like that they wouldn’t have to wait a year to find themselves without a roof over their heads.”

“So you think they’ve graduated to kidnapping?” Eve said doubtfully.

Matt met her gaze with bleak eyes. “I think they resent me enough to do anything.”

Eve shook her head. “They wouldn’t hurt Pippa.”

“No. But they might help her run away again. Did they know she was pregnant?”

“I didn’t tell them.”

“A paragon,” he muttered.

“Look, I’ll be glad to ask Taylor and Vick if they know anything. But I think you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

“What did I do that was so bad?” he murmured. “Why would she run away?”

Matt was asking questions to the air, but Eve took the opportunity to answer them. “Maybe Pippa wants some time on her own to think. When she’s ready to come home, she will.” Eve hesitated, then added, “Unless you believe there’s a chance of foul play.”

A couple of young girls had gone missing in the past around Jackson and been found murdered, but that villain had been caught. Still, that didn’t mean there weren’t other crazy people out there. When she saw the sudden dread in Matt’s eyes, Eve was sorry she’d mentioned the possibility that someone had taken his daughter against her will. Most likely Pippa was all right, but Matt would likely suffer the torment of the damned until he knew for sure.

“The sheriff’s office won’t do anything because she’s considered an adult,” Matt said.

“Maybe Pippa will call you once she’s settled, wherever that turns out to be.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“Because she knows I’ll come get her and bring her home,” Matt said through tight jaws. “Like I did the last time.”

“From what I overheard, the circumstances then were vastly different from what they are now,” Eve said.

Matt rubbed a hand across his nape. “How much did you hear?”

“That she ran off with a man who lied to her about the fact that he was married.”

“A lot of ringers—that’s an Australian cowboy—leave their families behind in the city, and that’s what this lowlife did. He pretended to be free and single—and in love with Pippa—and she was innocent enough to fall for him.

“I should have sent her off to boarding school in Brisbane or Sydney so she wouldn’t have been so lonely, but I…”

He turned his back to her, and Eve saw him surreptitiously swipe at his eyes.

Eve had filled in the rest of his sentence.
Would have missed her too much
. Clearly Matt had gone through a great deal to keep his daughter and raise her, and he’d wanted to extend her childhood as long as possible. But like so many choices parents had to make, this one had backfired.

Eve didn’t want to feel sorry for Matt, not after the ruthless way he’d shoved her horses off the ranch. But he was clearly a man at the end of his rope. “When was the last time you had something to eat?”

He turned back around and said, “I need to keep looking.”

“At least stop long enough to have a cup of coffee,” she urged.

He pulled his hat off and turned it in his hands while he considered what to do next. At last he said, “All right.”

Eve was surprised he’d accepted her offer, but he was so antsy she pulled open the screen door and held it for him to enter before he could change his mind.

When the screen door squeaked, Brooke turned to look and yelled, “It’s Uncle Matt!”

“Hi, Uncle Matt!” Sawyer called out.

Eve turned to Matt, her brow raised, and said, “When did you meet Connor’s kids?”

“I stopped by the Lucky 7 when they were visiting there and Aiden introduced me.” He ruffled Sawyer’s hair and pulled one of Brooke’s pigtails. “Hi, kiddos.”

“We’re not kiddos,” Sawyer said. “We’re kids.”

“I stand corrected,” Matt said as he turned around
a kitchen chair on the opposite side of the table and straddled it.

Eve hurried to pour him a cup of coffee. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Black is fine.”

Eve set the coffee in front of him, then collected her cup of tea and sat at the end of the table.

“Did you come to see Daddy?” Brooke asked.

“I’m looking for my daughter, Pippa.”

“She’s not here,” Brooke said. “Uncle Brian said she was going to live with Uncle Devon.”

Matt bolted out of his seat. “What?”

Brooke took one look at Matt’s ferocious expression and shot an anxious glance at Eve, who’d also come out of her chair. “Did I say something wrong?” the little girl asked.

Eve crossed to lay a reassuring hand on Brooke’s shoulder. “No, sweetie. It’s fine.”

“Where did you hear that?” Matt asked.

“When we were leaving church last week. Uncle Aiden said Uncle Devon should keep his nose out of other people’s business, but Uncle Brian said Uncle Devon could do whatever he wants, ’cause he’s a big boy.”

Eve was astonished at how much Brooke had remembered of a conversation she’d apparently overheard in passing. The Flynn brothers obviously hadn’t taken account of the fact that little pitchers have very big ears.

Eve glanced at Matt and said, “It looks like you’re accusing the wrong relatives of absconding with your daughter.”

Matt was shaking his head, his brow furrowed. “Why sneak around? Why not say something to me?”

“Maybe because Pippa doesn’t want to be yanked back home?” Eve suggested.

Matt made a face, conceding the truth of what she’d said.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

Matt’s shoulders slumped and he sighed. “I don’t know.”

He headed for the door, too self-absorbed even to say goodbye to the kids, and Eve followed him.

She turned back before she stepped outside to say, “When you’re finished, put your dishes in the sink and go play. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Outside in the sunlight, Matt’s face looked even more ravaged at this new betrayal. “Where the hell does Devon live?”

Eve shook her head. “I’m not sure. He’s got a place in the mountains, I think. You have to believe that Devon only offered Pippa a place to stay out of the goodness of his heart. Of all the Flynns, he’s the one who’s gotten into the least trouble. She’ll be safe there. Maybe you should leave well enough alone.”

“She’s my daughter.”

“She’s twenty. That’s plenty old enough to know her own mind.”

“I didn’t ask for your advice.”

“You’re going to get it anyway. Let her be. You know where she is. You know she’s safe. Give her time and space. Let her decide if she wants to come back home.”

“How do I know she’s really there?”

“I’ll ask Connor to find out and let you know.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“I’d do that for her.”

“Good enough. Make it soon.”

She nodded. “As soon as Connor gets back I’ll have him find out what he can.”

“Thank you. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, let me know.”

Eve couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. “You’ve done quite enough. I don’t think—” She interrupted herself and stared at him speculatively. “As a matter of fact, there is something you can do.”

“What?”

“I’d like to hold an event at Kingdom Come.”

Matt arched a brow. “I’m listening.”

Ever since Angus had issued his ultimatum to Connor, and Connor had refused to have their marriage annulled, Eve had been thinking about ways Safe Haven could be funded. She would have her earnings from the
National Geographic
shoot, of course, to throw into the pot, but in order to do the most good, Connor was going to need a lot more money.

She was very aware that they lived in one of the wealthiest counties in the country. Seasonal folks wouldn’t be back until the summer, but there were plenty of ranchers and businessmen who lived here year-round who might be willing to donate money to help maintain a ranch dedicated to providing R&R for veterans.

“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Connor lost his funding for Safe Haven.”

“I heard Angus threatened to cut off his trust fund. I didn’t know he’d actually done it.”

“He did,” Eve said curtly. “In order for this ranch to continue to provide free services to veterans, we’re going to need to raise a lot of money. I want to hold an old-fashioned barbecue at Kingdom Come and invite as many folks as possible to come and make a contribution.”

Matt looked skeptical. “You think that will do the job?”

“Leah’s setting up a Safe Haven website where people across the country can make donations, and I’ve gotten an agreement from
National Geographic
to mention that vets are working with a herd of wild mustangs at Safe Haven, along with the website URL where people can contribute. We’ll probably need another function, maybe a picnic, later in the summer when more of the out-of-town folks are here. But I’d like to hold that event here, so people can meet a few veterans and see Safe Haven in operation.”

“Why didn’t Connor say something to me about all this?”

Eve flushed. “Connor doesn’t know I’ve set all this up.”

Matt raised a brow. “I see. An event is going to tie up operations at Kingdom Come for at least a day, maybe more.”

“I guess it will.”

He eyed her speculatively. “But it’s for a good cause.”

“So you wouldn’t do it for me, but you’ll do it for the vets?”

“I’m doing it for both.”

Eve was surprised Matt was willing to help now, when he wasn’t before. But maybe he was learning
that she wasn’t who he’d thought in the beginning, just as she was learning the same about him.

“Goodbye, Matt. Connor will be in touch.”

He put a finger to the brim of his Stetson, then turned and walked wearily away, as though the weight of the world lay on his shoulders.

As he reached his pickup Eve called after him, “Be sure to apologize to my sisters.”

He held up his middle finger and said, “When hell freezes over!”