Blackstone's Bride (24 page)

Jarrod grabbed the front of his shirt and shoved him against the opposite wall. “Maybe I didn’t make it clear. The kids are staying with me. It’d be best for everyone if you’d go back where you came from and forgot about them.”

Donovan looked him straight in the eye without flinching. “How come you never did anything for them before, Blackstone? You got more money than God. If they were in bad shape, you coulda helped out.”

Jarrod knew he was right. Maybe he’d never wanted to see that things hadn’t worked out for Sally and her kids. Maybe that’s why he’d never gone to see her, using the ranch as an excuse. He tightened his grip on Donovan’s shirt.

“What about you? How come you’re just showing up?”

His voice rose.

“Jarrod,” Abby said, pulling on his arm. He hardly felt her touch as the rage squeezed out rational thought. “Let him go, Jarrod. This won’t solve anything.”

Rafe Donovan swallowed hard. Other than that, he didn’t show fear. It made Jarrod madder when he found something to respect in the man.

“Your wife’s right, Blackstone. It’s late. Guess I was wrong to spring this on ya the way I did. I’d best go. We’ll talk again in the morning.”

Abby tightened her grip on Jarrod’s upper arm. “I think that would be best, Mr. Donovan.”

Jarrod dropped his hands from the man’s shirt, not bothering to correct the man’s mistake about him and Abby. “Don’t bother to come back in the morning. We won’t be here.”

“You’d best be talkin’ in anger, mister.” Donovan’s eyes narrowed on him.

“I’m tellin’ you not to waste your time.” Jarrod’s gaze never left the other man’s. “There’s nothing more to say. I’ve got a ranch to run. So do you. I suggest you get back to it.”

Donovan continued to stare at Jarrod. “I’ll go when I get what I came for. Ma’am.” He nodded to Abby. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said to Jarrod. Then he turned and walked away.

Fists clenched at his sides, Jarrod watched him go. “Have the kids ready to travel just before first light.”

“But, Jarrod—”

He glared at her. “Do it.”

Abby finished washing up the supper dishes. She looked through the kitchen window and felt a tug at her heart when she looked at Jarrod. It had been two days since his run-in with Rafe Donovan. He’d been out there on the porch for over an hour, just rocking in that chair.

Now he sat forward, hands on his knees, giving her a clear view of his back. His strong shoulders, the ripple of muscles beneath the material pulled tightly across them, the broad expanse tapering to his narrow waist—the sight never failed to stir her blood and steal her breath away. What’s he thinking? she wondered.

He’d hardly said anything to her since they’d returned to the ranch. She knew he’d directed the hands to keep their eyes open for Rafe Donovan. If the man showed up, she wasn’t sure what they were supposed to do. The anger, worry, and danger she saw in Jarrod’s face made her wonder if he’d ordered the man shot on sight.

Abby couldn’t find it in her heart to fault him. One of the reasons he mattered so much to her was that he’d truly become a father to the children. That meant protecting them, which was what he believed he was doing.

She sighed, hoping the kids knew how lucky they were.

Abby wondered if things would be different for her now if her own father had been able to stay and hold the family together. Could she have stayed at the Blackstone Ranch and given in to the longings she felt for Jarrod? She shook her head. Things were what they were. She’d carried her dream around for too long. It was pointless to wish for something that couldn’t be.

She set her cloth over the dishes drying on the drain-board and went outside. The sun hadn’t gone down, but it wouldn’t be long. Deep shadows crept closer to the porch. A pleasant breeze cooled her cheeks, which were warm from cooking and cleaning up.

Abby sighed and brushed the wisps of hair back from her face as she took the chair next to Jarrod. A small round table separated them. Still, she could smell the masculine scent of the soap he’d used to wash up before supper. In the weeks she’d been there, that smell had come to remind her of Jarrod. It never failed to stir the fluttering in her stomach.

She looked at him, deep in thought. “Jarrod? Sooner or later you have to talk about this.”

He drew in a big breath. “Why? It’s over as far as I’m concerned.”

She noticed he didn’t ask what “this” was. Rafe Donovan was on his mind whether he would admit it or not. And whether he wanted to or not, they were going to air what they were both thinking. “It’s not over as far as he’s concerned.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“The man came from New Mexico. You think he’s going to turn around and go home because you say so?”

“If he knows what’s good for him, he will.” He looked at her, and she flinched at the intensity of his gaze. But someone had to make him see that not only was it probable the man wouldn’t give up, there was another issue to consider.

“Have you thought about what’s good for the children? The fact that they might want to know him?”

“I have always thought about what’s best for them. Have you considered the fact that the man might be up to something?”

“What?”

“Money. Reed Donovan was after it when he came sniffing around Sally. My father disinherited her. But her children stand to gain. Maybe he wants to get his hands on Blackstone land through them. What makes you think Rafe is any different from his brother?”

“Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt.”

“You’re too trusting, Abby.”

“You’re too skeptical, Jarrod.”

The ghost of a smile hovered on his lips for a moment, then vanished. “I wish I could see only the good in people like you do, but I can’t. I don’t trust him. And I don’t understand why you want me to give him a chance.”

“Because he’s blood kin to them. They have a right to get to know their father’s family. Maybe they have a need to know.”

“No good can come of it,” he snapped.

“You can’t be sure of that. From what you told me, it sounds like he’s a decent man.”

“If he was telling the truth.”

“Don’t sell your sister short, Jarrod.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Sally was a Blackstone. That tells me she was nobody’s fool. She would never have picked a man that she didn’t see some good in.” She sighed. “What she didn’t see was that his weakness overshadowed the good. But Rafe Donovan has given you no reason to believe he’s a good-for-nothing. He came a long way for those children.”

“Doesn’t that make you wonder why?” He stood and walked to the railing, leaning a shoulder against the support post. “He has a ranch to run. He left it to come after his brother’s children. He’s after something besides the kids.”

“You don’t know that.” She decided to try another way
to get through to him. “Have you talked to the children about this?”

“No.”

“Maybe they want to get to know him.”

“They’re kids. They don’t know what they want.”

“What if they resent you someday for keeping them from family?” she asked.

His eyes narrowed. “Having kin around doesn’t make life perfect, Abby.”

“I never said it does. It’s just that closing your mind to possibilities can come back to haunt you. Could you live with their resentment if you deny them this opportunity, Jarrod?”

She felt his hesitation.

He scowled at her. “There’s not much I could refuse them.”

Abby thought he was weakening. “If he’s like his brother, they’ll see through him. He won’t be able to hide it.”

“Reed hid it from Sally.”

“She was in love with him. They were both young. Give Rafe a chance to show his true colors. Just think about it.”

“All right. If I decide there’s some merit in what you say, I’ll talk to the children and see what they want. If they agree, he can see them. If they don’t want any part of him, that’s how it’s going to be. Will that make you happy, Abby?”

“It’s not a question of my happiness, but what’s best for the children. I just think they need family.”

“I think that depends on who the family is.” He looked out into the darkness that had descended while they’d talked. “There’s one thing I won’t change my mind about.”

“What’s that?”

“He’s not taking those kids off Blackstone land, Abby. Not ever.”

In the kitchen, huddling beneath the open window, Lily put her finger to her lips to shush the others when Jarrod stopped talking. He’d been acting funny ever since they’d
come back from town. Abby too. Every time she asked what was wrong, they’d said nothing. They were lying. Lily knew it was to protect them. But she’d learned from living with Mama and Papa, when he’d been there, it was better to know what you were facing. She hated surprises, and if Abby and Uncle Jarrod wouldn’t tell them anything, then they’d darn well have to find out on their own.

She motioned for them to follow her upstairs. When they were safely in her room with the door closed, she looked at them.

“What do you think, Tom?” she asked.

Katie threw herself on the bed and rested her chin in her hands. “Is this a family meeting, Lily?”

Tom glared at her. “Of course it is. What’d you think, knothead?”

Katie stuck her lip out. “We haven’t had one in a long time. I was just askin’, Tom. You shouldn’t be so mean.”

Lily noticed that Oliver stuck his thumb in his mouth. She hadn’t seen him do that since Uncle Jarrod told him cowboys didn’t. She didn’t like the way things were going. Not at all.

She looked at her oldest brother. “Do you think Abby’s right and we should give him a chance? You remember what Pa was like, same as I do. What if he’s that way too?”

Lily had heard all the excuses for her father’s behavior—bad luck, liquor, couldn’t handle the responsibility of so many children. All she knew was that she’d been happy since they’d come to live with Uncle Jarrod. But not before that. Not even with Mama, although she still missed her all the time.

“Abby thinks we should get to know him.” Katie looked from her sister to her brother.

“She’s not always right,” Lily said.

“That’s fer dang sure,” Tom agreed.

Katie sniffed. “You just don’t like Abby, Tom. Right from the start you didn’t. You wouldn’t go along with anything she said.”

“Katie’s right, Tom,” Lily said. “You haven’t taken to
Abby same as the rest of us. But I like her. Right from the start I did.”

“Better than Mama?” he shot back.

“Of course not. I’d give anything if Mama was still here. But she’s not, and no amount of wishing will make it so. Besides, that doesn’t mean we can’t like Abby. Even if this time I think she’s wrong. I don’t want any part of Pa’s side of the family.”

Tom shot her a grateful look and nodded. “Me neither, Lil. So what do we do?”

That was a good question, Lily thought. When Uncle Jarrod had said that he’d never let the man take them off Blackstone land, it had made her feel like she finally belonged. The feeling was so big it had filled her up inside with happiness.

She looked around at all of them. “It’s easy. Uncle Jarrod said he would ask us what we wanted to do. We’ll tell him we don’t want to see Rafe Donovan, and he won’t make us. Simple.”

“What if Abby pushes?” Tom asked. “She’s got a bee in her bonnet about family. Uncle Jarrod listens to her more often than not.”

“If that happens, I think we shouldn’t do anything.” Lily folded her arms over her chest and waited.

“What?” Tom cried. “We gotta decide somethin’. Else why’d you call this family meeting?”

“Yes, why, Lily?” Katie wanted to know. “We always figure out a plan.”

Lily paced to the door then back to the bed and turned to look at her brother. “This time I think the plan is to do nothing.”

“Why, Lil?”

“Uncle Jarrod said he’d never let that man take us off Blackstone land. So he won’t. I don’t think we have to have a plan. Except for all of us to agree that we don’t want anything to do with that man. Right, Katie?”

“I don’t know him, Lily. How can I tell if I don’t want to meet him?”

Katie liked everyone and couldn’t remember how bad
things had been with their father. They had to make sure she would go along.

“Do you want to leave Uncle Jarrod?” Tom asked harshly.

“No,” Katie said in a small voice. “I love him.”

“All right, then,” Lily said. “When Uncle Jarrod asks, we’ll tell him we don’t want anything to do with that man.”

“Kidnapping?” Abby stared at Sheriff Zachary Magruder with Rafe Donovan beside him. “Jarrod did no such thing.”

“He says different, Abby. I have to check it out.”

Abby looked at the other man, politely standing on the front porch with his hat in his hand, almost the same way she’d last seen him a week ago. “You know that’s not the way it happened.”

“I don’t want to think so, ma’am. But he took the kids out of town—”

“He took them home,” she said coldly.

Donovan shrugged. “Doesn’t matter what words you use, he took the kids out of town without so much as a by-your-leave. When I tried to talk to him on the ranch, I was met with guns. This was the only way.”

“Does Jarrod know you’re here?” she asked the sheriff.

He nodded. “We ran into him up in San Augustine Canyon. He said to meet him here.”

“Then come in.” She opened the door wide and allowed them entrance. “If you’ll make yourselves comfortable in the living room, I’ll put on some coffee.”

“Thanks, Abby,” Zach said as she shut the door. “I’m sure this is just a simple misunderstanding we can clear up quickly.”

She nodded doubtfully, then left them in the front room and went to the kitchen. She had just put the pot on the iron stove when Jarrod walked in the back door.

“Lord, I’m glad to see you,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me he’d shown up before this?”

He stood in the center of the room, boots braced apart, as he stared at her. “The kids said they wanted no part of
him. Slim and Dusty sent him packing. There was no reason for you to know.”

He’d shut her out. For the first time, Abby felt like the employee she was. She should have known better than to listen to Jarrod. On Tom’s birthday he had told her to let tomorrow take care of itself. She’d done that. She’d let herself mother the children and begin to feel a part of this family. A reminder that she was nothing more than an outsider was what she got for her efforts.