Arizona Embrace (53 page)

“That’s when she told me about the men she had cheated and killed. It was horrible. It made me sick to my stomach, but that only made her madder. That’s when she told me she killed Jeb. She had Lyman do it. He’d been shadowing Jeb for weeks just waiting for the perfect opportunity.”

“Why was she poisoning the Judge?”

“She
hated
him. How could she, especially after he’s been so good to me! Sometimes he treated me better than he treated Jeb. Sometimes he treated me better than my own mother did.”

“I’m sure your mother loved you,” Victoria said.

“No, she didn’t. She told me so. She only wanted me because the Judge is leaving everything to me.”

“Not your mother?”

“No, but she would be my guardian until I’m eighteen. She had to kill the Judge before my birthday if she was to control the money.”

“And once the money was safely yours, you knew she might poison you because she would then inherit everything,” Trinity suggested.

Kirby hung his head.

“Good God, Trinity, she wouldn’t do anything like that!” Victoria exclaimed. “Not to her own son.”

“My father was a cattle buyer from Chicago” Kirby explained. “He promised to marry Mother and take her back with him. She hated me because I represented the man who’d deserted her.”

“How was she poisoning the Judge?” Victoria asked.

“She put arsenic in his coffee.”

“But she drank the same coffee,” Victoria said.

“She kept a special tin for him. Said it was better for bis heart. She kept it behind the lard tin and forbade anyone to touch it. I found it last night and threw it out.”

Victoria blanched.

“I put some coffee from that tin in the coffee container yesterday. I’d used all mere was in the container to make some for the Judge and myself.”

All three hurried to the kitchen. The container was empty.

“She drank the Judge’s coffee,” Victoria said, shock and horror reducing her voice to a barely audible thread. “I poisoned her.”

Victoria fainted.

“The Judge will make a full recovery,” Doctor Roundtree told Trinity and Victoria a few days later. “Apparently she had been giving him small doses over a long period of time.”

“How much of this is going to come out?” Trinity inquired. The doctor looked to Victoria.

“Nothing,” Victoria said. “Don’t frown at me. You were ready to make a compromise a few days ago. Well, everyone else is ready now. The Judge doesn’t want a scandal about Jeb or his wife. There’s also Kirby to consider.”

“Don’t try to convince me. Just tell me what you’ve decided to do.”

“I discussed it with the Judge and Kirby,” Victoria said, making sure he knew it wasn’t her doing alone, “and they agreed everyone will be told Myra died of heart trouble, probably from shock that one of the Tumbling T hands had attempted to kill me.”

“And that’s all?”

“That’s all.”

“I feel sorry for the judge, but you know, I feel sorriest for Kirby. He has nowhere to go.”

“Not exactly.”

Trinity’s eyebrows went up. “I gather you’ve been busier than I thought.”

“No, I just suggested the obvious.”

“Apparently I’m not clever enough to see the obvious. Enlighten me.”

“Kirby idolizes the Judge. He always has. And the Judge depends heavily on Kirby. He’s said time and time again he doesn’t know what he’d do without him.”

“So you told the Judge to marry Kirby.”

Victoria threw a pillow at Trinity. “I suggested he legally adopt Kirby. Kirby has been a Blazer in name; now hell be one in his heart.” Trinity just stared at her. “They’re both without a family. They’ve lived together for eight years. They’ve grown to be very fond of each other. It only makes sense.”

“You think it’ll work?”

“Don’t you?”

“Yes. It sounds like the perfect solution.”

Victoria landed in his lap to collect her kiss of congratulations. She collected several more for good measure.

“Now what plans do you have for me?” Trinity gleefully asked.

“I suggest you marry me as quickly as you can. The Judge has agreed to officiate, and Uncle Grant will give me away.”

“You little …”

Victoria put her finger to his lips. “Be careful what you say. I’ll remember it forever.”

“… darling,” Trinity finished. “Would this afternoon be soon enough?”

“Perfect. The hotel parlor is just the right size, and the Judge can be here any time after noon.”

“Any more orders?”

“I think Ben ought to be your best man, and you ought to wear black. It makes you look so mysterious.”

“It’s also the death of my freedom.”

Victoria gave him several mock scratches on the face and a very real punch to the middle. “You are a horrible man. You deserve to be married to a managing female.”

“What are you going to wear? It’s impossible to get a dress made by this afternoon.”

Victoria giggled. “I’m going to wear that awful skirt and blouse I wore for the first week on the trail. You kidnapped me in it. Now you can marry me in it.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

“Sydney!”

“Sydney Carlin Attmore,” Trinity said.

“Sydney,” Victoria repeated in accents of loathing. “You can’t seriously expect me to call you by that sickening name.”

“My mother did.”

“I don’t care. I couldn’t do it and keep a straight face.”

“You should try being named Sydney.”

“You’re no more a
Sydney
man I’m a
Petunia,”
Victoria declared. “What would our sons think? Trinity at least has character. But Sydney!”

“Then call me Trinity.”

“But it’s not your name!”

“I don’t care. You can call me George, Frank, even Attmore. I won’t care as long as you call me something.”

Victoria laughed. “I’ll call you Trinity. You might be used to being called Tom, Dick, or Harry, but I can’t think of you as anyone but Trinity. What were some of your other names?”

“Tom, Dick, and Harry.”

“I’m serious. I want to know.”

“Maybe I’ll tell you someday, but not now.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to forget that part of my life. There’s not much there to be proud of.”

“I think there is. There are probably a lot of things you don’t want to remember just now, but they won’t bother you so much a few years from now.”

“Probably not.”

“Anyway, I don’t want you to wait until you forget too much.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. I guess it’s because there’s a little bit of you in each of those names. I want to know everything about you. Maybe someday I’ll go to all the places you’ve been and collect the bits.”

“Some of the bits aren’t very pleasant.”

“I didn’t expect they would be, but I don’t want to miss a single one.”

The only bits that count are here, right now. The others belong to somebody I tried to be but never was.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Hmmmm. Sounds like a man trying to hide his secrets. I wonder if I should talk to Ben. I’ll bet he knows some real juicy bits.”

“You’re the only juicy bit I have any interest in.” Trinity picked her up and deposited her on the bed.

“Trinity you can’t mean to …”

“I certainly do.”

“But we’re getting married in less than an hour.”

“What better way to celebrate our union.”

“People usually wait until
after the
ceremony for this celebration.”

“Before and after is better.”

Victoria gave up. She didn’t mind letting him have things his way … as long as his way was her way as well.

About the Author

Leigh Greenwood is the award-winning author of over fifty books, many of which have appeared on the USA Today bestseller list. Leigh lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Please visit his website at
http://www.leigh-greenwood.com/
.