Strands of Love (16 page)

Rain. The drought was over.

Sam laughed and spun in a circle with her arms wide open,
embracing the life-giving rain.

As quick as her elation came it died. There’d been nothing
in the day’s forecast about rain when she’d checked the weather station this
morning. If anything, they’d been predicting another day of dry heat. The
tapestry. Jace had told her the tapestry had first appeared to them during a
storm.

The rain came down heavier, soaking her and the ground
beneath her feet.

Sam tossed her mug aside and started running. What if the
tapestry appeared and she wasn’t with Jace and Darian. What would happen?

Legs pumping, heart racing, Sam ran as fast as she could
toward home. As the house came into view she started to yell their names.

The three men sat on the porch and watched the sky grow
darker each passing minute. “I don’t like this.” Darian paced from one end of
the porch to the other, searching for a sign of Sam.

“Wasn’t any rain in the forecast today.” Tim leaned against
the railing and stared out toward the horizon.

“It’s the tapestry.” Darian turned to his brother. Both of
them were completely dressed and had their swords strapped on. Even though he
was staying with Sam he wanted to honor his own culture one final time before
he embraced hers.

He started to remove his sword. “You should take this home
with you.”

Jace put his hand on Darian’s arm, stopping him. “No, it is
part of your heritage. Keep it and tell your sons and daughters about us.”

Darian swallowed hard. “I will.” He grabbed his brother,
hugging him tight. “I will miss you.”

“And I you.”

“Rain is coming down harder now.” Worry tinged Tim’s voice
and both brothers walked over to stand beside him. “Don’t want Sam out there if
it comes to thunder and lightning.”

“Where is she?” Jace growled. Darian knew his brother feared
he might not see Sam again before the tapestry appeared to take him home.

Then he saw her. She was a dot in the distance at first, but
she was coming fast. “There she is.”

He stepped off the porch into the driving rain with Jace
beside him. When they heard her yell their names they took off, sprinting
toward her as fast as they could. Darian reached her first, but only because
Jace held up at the last second.

“Sam. Sam.” He caught her as she threw herself into his
arms. “Are you all right?”

“You’re still here. You’re still here,” she chanted over and
over. “I was so afraid. The tapestry.” She was breathing heavily, having
obviously run a long distance.

A bolt of lightning lit up the sky. A clap of thunder
quickly followed it. “Come on. We need to get out of the storm,” Jace yelled.
He grabbed Sam’s arm and the three of them began to run toward the house.

They were almost at the porch when the air began to shimmer
in front of them. They stumbled to a halt. Darian met his brother’s gaze and
knew this was it.

The tapestry shimmered into existence before them. Darian
swallowed hard and beat down the panic welling inside him. In the distance,
Darian heard Tim’s exclamation of surprise.

Sam screamed at Tim. “Stay back.”

Darian gripped her hand and began to pull her toward the
house, but she clung to Jace’s arm and wouldn’t release him.

“You have to let him go,” he shouted.

Jace started to pry Sam’s fingers away as the design on the
tapestry began to change. “No, I can’t,” she cried.

A powerful female voice rose above the storm. Darian wasn’t
sure if he actually heard it aloud or if it was just in his head.
You must
decide now or the tapestry will decide for you
.

The sorceress. It had to be the sorceress who’d created the
tapestry.

Fear ripped at him and he tugged at Sam. “Come on. We have
to get back to the porch and away from Jace.” It was killing him to leave his
brother behind. Jace looked stoic and resigned, but Darian knew his brother
well and knew this was killing him too. But he’d survive because it was what he
did, what they both did. Sam was a lot like them in that respect.

“No,” she cried. She ripped her hand out of his and stood in
the pouring rain, hands on her hips, looking utterly magnificent. “Tim,” she
yelled over the driving rain. “Check the papers on my desk. And take care of
Arrow.”

Before Darian could figure out what she meant by that, Sam
grabbed Jace’s arm and yanked him close. Then she reached out to him. “Hurry.”

Darian locked his hand around her wrist as the wind started
swirling around them.

“You have to go,” Jace yelled at Sam.

“I know.” Darian could barely hear her voice over the din as
the world itself began to spin. It was too late. Whatever would be, would be.

Then he was ripped away from Sam’s world. He yelled her name
and Jace’s as the black voice swallowed him whole.

Jace came awake in a rush. He leapt to his feet and drew his
sword, but there was no enemy to fight, no foe to vanquish. He was back in
Javara at the lake beyond Hunter Keep where they’d taken Sam. The sun was
shining, the birds were singing and the mountains rose behind him, tall and
majestic.

He was alone.

He roared in anger and pain and dropped to his knees. His
sword slipped from his hand and fell to the ground in front of him. His brother
and Sam were gone. He was alone.

Jace swallowed hard, ignoring the tears filling his eyes. He
was home, but home had never felt so empty before. He wanted to curse the gods
even as he was grateful his brother and Sam were together. At least Darian
would be happy. It was enough. It had to be.

A low moan reached his ears and he scrambled toward the
sound. Lying on the ground was his brother. “Darian.” As much as it pained Jace
to see him, he couldn’t help but feel glad he wasn’t alone.

But did that mean Sam had been left to pick up the pieces of
her life by herself? What had the tapestry done? Was it Sam’s will that both
brothers return home?

He shook his brother’s arm. “Darian, wake.”

Darian’s eyes shot open and he rolled to his feet. Jace
slowly stood and faced his brother. “We’re home.” Darian spun in confusion.

“Yes.”

“Where is Sam?”

Jace shook his head and rubbed his thumb and forefinger over
his eyes.

Darian roared and Jace could hear his own pain echoed in his
brother’s voice. Neither of them would ever be the same again. “Why?” Darian
asked. “Why did she send us both back? It had to be her will. The tapestry
always allows the woman to decide.”

“Because she loved you both.” The tapestry shimmered in the
air, but above it the ghostly outline of a woman appeared, as wispy as morning
mist.

Both men took a step back. “The sorceress,” Darian
whispered. “I heard your voice at Sam’s home.”

“Yes.” The woman was beautiful and ageless, more mirage than
reality. “The tapestry is done with this generation. The magic has been used
too much, but there was such need that I allowed it.”

“Why? Why did you allow it if you knew Sam wouldn’t stay?”
Jace demanded.

“Jace,” Darian warned. He knew it wasn’t smart to disrespect
a powerful sorceress, but Jace didn’t care.

“It is always the woman’s choice,” the sorceress reminded
them. Then she smiled. “Live long in happiness. May you enjoy your sons and
daughters.” She faded slowly and the tapestry faded with her.

It was done.

“What did she mean by that?” Jace demanded. “Without Sam
there will be no children. I will have no other.”

He sat on the ground and stared out over the lake, oblivious
to the beauty around him. It all seemed so peaceful, so normal, so very
ordinary. This was his home and he loved it, but not even the mountains could
fill the empty hole in his soul.

Darian lowered himself to the ground beside Jace. “I would
have stayed with her. I don’t understand why she sent us both back alone.”

“I didn’t.” The familiar female voice had both men stumbling
to their feet. Just beyond them, Sam stood amid the wildflowers, her hair
windblown, her plain, white T-shirt dirty and torn.

“Sam.” Darian whispered her name as he ran to her. “Sam,” he
yelled as he lifted her into his arms and twirled her around until she was
breathlessly demanding he put her down. He quickly set her back on her feet.
“I’m so sorry,” Darian began. “I know this wasn’t what you wanted.”

“Wasn’t it?” she countered. Sam looked toward him and Jace
wanted so badly to reach for her but didn’t dare. She hadn’t wanted this. But
his heart rejoiced that she was here. He would make her love him. Love them.

This was what the sorceress had meant about enjoying their
children. She’d known Sam was here with them.

Jace frowned. If the sorceress knew about Sam then she must
have known Sam wanted to remain in her own world. “Why are you here?” he
demanded.

Sam swallowed hard, wondering if she’d made a huge mistake.
Darian seemed happy to see her. Or maybe he was happy because he was home.
Jace, on the other hand, seemed more unapproachable than ever.

“You didn’t want to be here,” Jace reminded her.

“I was afraid.” She owed them the truth. “Plus, I got so
used to doing what needed to be done and forgot to ask myself what it was I
truly wanted of life until Tim pointed it out to me.”

Feeling totally wrung out and exhausted, Sam lowered herself
to the ground. The air was so different here, fresh and slightly cool, not dry
like back in Texas. Oh God, this was her home now. There was no going back. Her
breathing quickened and both men were beside her in an instant.

“Breathe slowly, Sam,” Jace instructed. Like she wasn’t
already trying to do that. She kept her gaze locked on his and the calm she saw
there helped drive back the terror that threatened to swamp her.

When her heart dropped from a gallop to a trot and she
thought she could talk without passing out, she continued. “Home was familiar,
what I’d always done, what I was expected to do, you know?”

“I understand.” And she knew Jace did understand. He knew
what it was like to do what needed to be done, to fulfill everyone else’s
expectations.

“I started thinking about what I really want.”

“And what do you want, Sam?” Darian asked.

“I want a family, someone to love, someone who needs me. I
love to plant and watch crops grow. I love to harvest and plan for the next
season.”

“You can do that here,” Darian pointed out.

“I know.” She rubbed at a spot of dirt on the knees of her
jeans. “But do I have the first part?” That was what scared her the most now
that she’d made the leap of faith and left her home and everything she knew
behind her.

The tapestry had forced her to choose fast—almost too fast.
But she’d done the best she could, made the best choice possible for everyone,
but especially for herself.

Jace rolled to his feet, towering over her. He was a big
man. His bare torso gleamed and his shoulders and torso blocked her view of the
sun. Muscles rippled in his arms and torso as he ripped his sword from his
scabbard. The razor-sharp blade caught and reflected the sunlight. He flipped
it around in a motion so fast she gasped. But he caught the flat of the blade
and the hilt with both hands.

His expression was totally unreadable as he went down on one
knee before her and held the sword out in front of him. “You are the heart that
beats in this chest and in this home and if you would take me for husband I
will give you my love, loyalty and devotion for as long as I live. With me, you
gain the love, loyalty and devotion of my brother as well, who will be lover to
you, and would also be your husband should I die before you. In return, I ask
for your love, loyalty and devotion and any children that the gods see fit to
gift us with.”

Sam’s heart skipped a beat. She recognized the words. It was
the same pledge Darian had given her when she’d first arrived in his world.
God, was that only three days ago? It seemed like a lifetime. And in some ways
it was. The life that she knew was gone and a new one about to begin.

Darian knelt beside his brother and offered the same pledge
again.

Sam swallowed back tears. “How can I choose? I love you
both.” She whispered the words, her emotions raw and tender, but she wouldn’t
hold back, not any longer. She was determined not to be a coward.

“You love me?” Jace asked. “Us?”

She nodded and gave him a watery grin as tears seeped from
the corners of her eyes. “Yes.”

Jace tossed aside his sword and pulled her into his arms. “I
love you, Sam. No man could love you more,” he paused, “save for Darian.” He
kissed her temple and his words were fierce. “You will not regret this. I
promise you. We will make you happy.”

She held him as tightly as she could, sensing he needed the
embrace as much as she did. Then she lifted one arm and looked at Darian. He
was smiling as he joined them. The three of them sat in the beautiful field
with the water lapping at the shoreline while the flowers perfumed the air. The
moment was perfect.

Darian cupped the back of her head and drew her close for a
kiss. She let herself sink into it. Nothing else mattered but being with him
and with Jace.

Before the kiss could get too intense, Jace tugged her away
from Darian. “My turn.” Then Jace was kissing her, his tongue tangling with
hers, their breath mingling.

“We should get back to Hunter Keep. Mother will be worried.”
Darian stood and held out his hand to Sam.

Their mother. She’d forgotten all about their mother. She
took Darian’s hand and let him pull her upright. Jace rose, grabbed his sword
and sheathed it.

“But how will I chose?” That was the biggest worry she had
about this entire situation. “I can’t pick one.”

Jace rubbed his thumb over her cheek. “You can and you will.
It is a mere formality,” he reminded her. “What we do in the bedroom is our
business. We will share equally.”

“Equally. I like that.”

“I think she should marry you.” Darian pointed at his
brother. “You’re the eldest. Plus, I think you need the binding agreement more
than I do. I am content as long as I have Sam’s love.” He grinned. “And of
course hot sex.”

Sam knew Darian was right and loved him even more for the
way he put his brother’s needs above his own.

Jace frowned at his brother and then turned to her. “What is
your choice?”

“I choose you both, but I think Darian is right. I’ll marry
you.”

Jace’s lips curved into a smile and he suddenly looked like
a younger version of himself. It was as though the years and responsibilities
had melted away. Sam knew she’d made the right choice.

He lifted her in his arms and began to walk toward Hunter
Keep. Darian laughed and fell into step beside them. “Let me know when you grow
tired and I will carry Sam for a while.” Sam could hear the teasing note in
Darian’s voice and frowned at him over Jace’s shoulder.

“Never. I shall never tire of carrying Sam.” The truth of
that struck her like a bolt of lightning. Sam knew both men would love her, now
and always.

“Take me home.” She reached out a hand to Darian and linked
fingers with them as the three of them made their way home.

* * * * *

Tim snapped several pictures on his phone and prayed they’d
come out. Mary would never believe him otherwise. The wind swirled and grew
stronger until it became difficult for him to stand upright. He tucked the
phone in his pocket and linked his arm around the porch railing to keep from
being swept away by the powerful force of the wind.

Sam’s voice reached him over the growing din. “Tim. Check
the papers on my desk. And take care of Arrow.”

He tried to answer, but his voice was swallowed by a
powerful gust. The world seemed to explode and he was knocked on his ass. When
he sat up, choking on dust, the three of them were gone and so was the tapestry
that had appeared out of nowhere.

He’d seen the whole damn thing with his own two eyes and
still couldn’t quite believe what had happened. It was all true, everything Sam
and the two boys had told him.

Sam was gone. Forever.

Tim climbed to his feet and rubbed his eyes, then spit the
taste of dust from his mouth. He’d never see Sam again.

The door banged shut behind him when he entered the empty
house. His boots felt heavy on the wood floor and seemed to echo. It was as
though the house knew the last Calloway was gone for good.

He knew where the office was, had spent many an hour there
with Sam’s father and brother. There was a small pile of papers sitting on the
corner of the desk just as she’d said. He lifted them and started reading.

“Sam, what have you done?” She’d given the farm to him and
Mary with instructions to do whatever he wanted with it. The only stipulation
she made was they weren’t to sell it to George Rawlins. As if he’d give that
low-down jackass the time of day.

He plucked his phone out of his pocket and went straight to
his pictures. There were two good ones of Sam standing in the rain with Jace
and Darian on either side of them. There was no denying the love and concern he
saw in both men’s eyes.

Tim tucked his phone away and walked to a family picture
sitting on the shelf. He lifted it and rubbed his thumb over the faded images.
“Well, Cal, your little girl has grown up into a fine woman. She met a couple
of men who will take good care of her.” Felt strange to be saying such a thing.
He didn’t know how such a relationship could work, but who was he to judge.

“Sue,” he addressed Sam’s mother. “Your little girl will be
just fine.” He set the picture back on the shelf. They were all gone now.

Tim suddenly had a deep need to hold his Mary in his arms.
He pocketed the papers and walked through the house, pausing long enough to
shut off the coffeepot. He’d deal with the legalities in a few days. It would
be easy enough to spin a story about Sam running off to marry one of the Hunter
brothers. No one would wonder about her wanting to leave the backbreaking work
of farming and her family tragedies behind and start anew.

He shut the door behind him and breathed in the cooler air.
A light rain pattered gently onto the ground. It was the perfect kind of rain
for the crops. Tim foresaw a good harvest this year.

Plenty of time to figure out what he was going to do with
two farms. He would need to talk to Mary about that. He pulled the door shut
behind him and trudged to his truck. His heart was heavy. Sam was like a
daughter to him and Mary, and they would miss and mourn her. They’d never see
her children or know that she was okay.

Arrow appeared out of nowhere and twined around Tim’s feet.
He stared down at the rather large feline. “Guess you better come with me,
boy.” He lifted the large black cat and carried him to the truck. Arrow quickly
made himself at home on the passenger seat. Tim shook his head, knowing the cat
would be ruling his barn by this time tomorrow.