The Bride Backfire (4 page)

“It's too late for what, exactly?” Amazing how blue her eyes could look against the red of her hair—especially when she widened them like that.

It's too late for a lot of things.
Adam blocked that line of thought before it could lead him anywhere worth regretting. He swiftly considered his options once again before arriving at the same conclusion.

When the wrath of the Specks hadn't descended upon them, Pa'd begun to stew about what devious schemes they must be hatching in retaliation for the cow skull and threat Larry left the night before. Larry's lack of concern, however, sparked a different suspicion in Adam—a suspicion confirmed when he'd run into Opal.

Larry didn't obey Pa last night and leave the “message” on the Speck doorstep. He'd done something worse, added an aspect yet to be discovered but sure to provoke fury the likes of which Pa never intended. And Pa'd slept in the room Adam usually shared with Larry to make sure Adam didn't follow Larry and interfere, ruining his initial plan.

So now Adam stared down a fork in the road likely to skewer him. Slink home without finding and fixing whatever Larry had done ... or enlist Opal's help. That those blue eyes were wide with worry somehow made the choice easier. For as long as he'd been cooling Grogan tempers, Adam had known Opal did the same within the walls of the Speck farm.

“It's too late for me to go back now. There's something I have to do.” He drew a deep breath and took a step of faith. “And I could use your help.”

“How do we fix it?” Resignation added a grim set to her mouth, darkening the cornflower blue of her gaze and sending a surge of shame through Adam's chest.

We Grogans did that. She doesn't even know what the problem is this time. Just knows it needs to be fixed. And she's the one saddled with it because she's willing to keep a lid on her temper for the sake of her family.

Suddenly his irritation swung right back to the Specks for making Opal shoulder the heavy burden of peacekeeper. Didn't they know it was the man's job to protect, not the other way around? That half the task lay in keeping the weight of worry away from their women?

“Yesterday we found one of our milking cows dead, eyes cloudy, froth around her nose and mouth. Same as has been going on for the past couple of years.”

“We aren't poisoning your cattle!” Fire leapt to life in her cheeks. “The Grogans aren't the only family affected by whatever's happening. We've lost three cows to the same thing!”

“Be that as it may—”

“There's no ‘may be' about it, Adam Grogan.” She flung an arm wide, pointing back toward his farm. “Take your accusations and your uncertainties back where you came from. I can't help you with imaginary issues.”

Had he just credited her with keeping a lid on her temper? Adam shook his head and tried again. “Fine. Be that as it
is,
” he stressed the word, only continuing after her grudging nod, “Pa believes otherwise.”

“You want me to warn my family,” Opal surmised. “Done.”

“It can't be solved so easily this time.” Adam let out a long breath. “Pa sent Larry with a warning of his own last night.”

“What warning?” Every line of her body tensed.

“In spite of my best efforts, he sent my brother to put the skull in front of your house with a note inside.”

“He'd dare breach the boundary again?” The angry red in her cheeks ebbed, drained by fear. “In bad blood?”

“When your family didn't respond, Pa decided you're all hatching a plot.” One look at Opal's face right now would've convinced him otherwise, but Adam didn't have that luxury. “I figure Larry didn't follow orders exactly.”

“They're going to kill each other.” The realization robbed even her voice of its power, leaving nothing but a whisper.

“Not if I can find his message first.” Adam reached a hand toward her shoulder to steady her, but she jerked back.

“Oh, we'll find it.” Determination returned the strength to her words. “What do you think your brother planned?”

“Impossible to know for sure, but whatever he thinks would rile your family the most.” Adam rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought maybe he'd put the skull in the barn, near your cattle, but it's not there.”

“I would've found it when I did the milking,” Opal agreed. “Perhaps he unearthed some sense and put it near your boundary line, where a warning would do good to someone about to trespass?”

“Checked there before I came over,” he admitted. “Not that I held out any hope.”

“Not near the house or the barn, nor the yard. I already slopped the hogs and gathered eggs, so I would've seen it.”

“What would be the worst thing he could threaten?” Here's what kept tripping Adam up. The worst aspect of Pa's plan was to threaten the home—Opal's domain. By coming close to her, the move would have been unignorable. Because anyone with a lick of sense could see that Opal was—

Gone?

He watched for a moment as she hightailed it, hiking up her skirts enough to show trim ankles encased in her work boots as she practically flew over the ground. His reflexes kicked in a moment later and he raced to catch up. Somewhere in the back of his mind he hoped none of the Speck men saw him chasing full tilt after Opal.

So why did he want nothing more than to catch her?

Please, no. Oh Lord, please.
Opal prayed as she sprinted for her apiary.
Don't let Larry have done anything to my bees!

She burst through the small grove of cottonwoods to the clearing housing her apiary and skidded to a halt. A swift scan showed nothing wrong. Rows of white frame hives, raised above the ground, stretched before her. No acrid tinge of smoke, no angry drone of outrage greeted her ears, no swarms blanketed the air above.

More importantly, though, was what she could hear. The happy hum of busy workers shimmered in the wind, the same welcome she'd received for years.
Mama's legacy is safe.

“Bees?” Adam stood beside her, the only unfamiliar element in the tiny world she'd overseen since childhood. “I hadn't thought of Larry putting the message anywhere your brothers or father wouldn't find it first.”

“Perhaps that's the point? He knows I wouldn't show them, and your Pa would grapple with the lack of response.” She moved among the hives as she spoke, checking to ensure no damage had been done she couldn't see from far away. Now that she'd calmed, she acknowledged that the only thing Larry would've done to destroy the apiary—set it ablaze—would have been detected long ago. Larry didn't know enough about bees to do anything else.

And making the mistakes of his grandfather should be too foolhardy for the greatest of numskulls. But what better to reignite a generations-old feud than fire the rage of such memories?

“Then why bring it at all?” Frustration sounded in Adam's deep voice—far closer than she anticipated. He'd followed her amongst the hives.

He's not afraid of the bees.
Opal kept her face turned so he wouldn't see her surprise. Since his grandfather died of a bee sting, the feud had started in earnest.
I thought all Grogans were leery of bees—yet another reason a coward like Larry wouldn't set fire to the hives. He wouldn't risk an angry swarm.
The thought comforted her.

“There.” Opal spotted the off-white of the fresh skull, not yet bleached by the elements, resting by the hive closest to Grogan property.
Surprising, Larry came this close.

“Larry's afraid of bees.” Adam didn't bother to hide his astonishment as he picked up the thing. Beneath it lay a curled up strip of parchment.

Opal snatched it before he had a chance and didn't let him get out the protest she could see forming. “I need to know what it says so we can decide what to tell my family. Letting your father stew will just make things worse.”

In large, easily legible script, the note read:

NEXT TIME WE LOSE A COW, WE TAKE A SPECK IN PAYMENT.

Opal choked back her rage, narrowing her eyes to make out the addition beneath it.

In underlined, slashing strokes, someone had added a second sentence.

And I got my eye on your only heifer!

She crushed the thin leather in her hand, vowing to burn it before any of her family ever laid eyes on it. Larry knew she'd never show it to them, all right.

“There's nothing I can say to apologize for this.” Adam stood as though braced for her anger, hands behind his back. “I heard what Pa planned to write and never wanted you to see it.”

“Thank you for warning me.” Opal kept a death grip on the message. “I'll tell Pa about your cow and that your pa says the next death will be the end of any peace.”

“Larry's trying to end it long before then.” Adam peered at her, but for the first time Opal couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. “I'm still not sure why he put it here.”

“To show he wasn't afraid of anything ... not even the bees?” The suggestion didn't sound convincing, but it was the best she could do at the moment. The knowledge of Larry's perfidy, the extent he'd go to in an effort to show her he'd accept no rejection, stole her wits.
If he'd put this message near the house and Pa saw it ...
She thought she might be sick.

“Opal?” Did she hear concern in Adam's voice? “What is it?”

“Nothing.” But she answered too quickly—Opal knew it as soon as his dark eyes narrowed.

He gave her a long, searching look she forced herself to meet even while she tried to slip the evil note into her pocket. “Oh no, you don't.” Adam snagged her wrist, the sudden warmth spreading up her arm making her gasp.

The moment of hesitation cost her dearly as his other hand cupped her balled fist, coaxing her fingers open. She resisted, knowing she made no match for his strength but refusing to give an inch.

“What did he write?” He stood there, his hand grasping hers, not pulling or forcing anything, the warmth of his hold matching the concern on his features. “Larry added something to the message, didn't he?”

She felt herself give the barest hint of a nod before she could guard against him. Opal lifted her chin. “Not that it matters.”

“Yes, it does.” His already-square jaw hardened. “Give it to me.”

“No.” The order restored her as nothing else could, making her tug her wrist. To her surprise, she slid from his grasp easily.

Not stopping to consider the differences between Adam and his brother, Opal took the opportunity to shove the note deep into her apron pocket. “I think it's best if you go home now. Tell your father you made sure we'd gotten the message. I'll take care of the rest.”

At his nod, she turned to make her way back to the house, where her cook fire could consume the evidence of this morning.
If only it could take away the memory.

The sigh she bit back turned into a stifled scream as a strong arm snaked around her waist.

I'll deal with the guilt later,
Adam promised himself as he refused to let go. While Opal squawked and thrashed—managing to kick him in the shin and elbow him in the gut—he plucked the note from her apron pocket. He'd already started to let go by the time she smashed the back of her head into his chin, sending pain streaking up his jaw.

I deserved that,
he reminded himself.

“You deserved that!” The echo sounded suspiciously feminine, an idea confirmed when Opal added, “Stop wincing those big brown eyes of yours and give that back!”

“Big brown eyes?” Affronted enough to speak in spite of his jaw, Adam hoisted the note out of her reach. He'd never been so glad of his height as now, when the little firebrand hopped and still missed her goal by a solid two inches. “What am I, a cow?”

“I can think of less flattering comparisons, if you like.” Her mutter wrangled a chuckle out of him as she abandoned the indignity of hopping and crossed her arms.

The chuckle died a swift death as he read Larry's addition to Pa's already awful statement. And reread it. Twice. “I'll kill him.”

“Haven't there been enough death threats?” A glint of humor peeked behind the weariness underscoring Opal's words.

It only fueled his rage, making his stomach churn in a sour frenzy as he looked at the woman before him. This brave woman his brother threatened to kill. This woman who, by protecting her family, also protected Larry from the consequences of his actions.

The crunching
pop
of his knuckles told him he'd balled his hands into fists. “Only a coward threatens a woman.”
And I wondered why Larry put it by the apiary. I should have known. If he breaks down Opal, scares her badly enough, he'll get the fight he wants.

“Don't bait me, Grogan.” Opal tilted her head. “We're both trying to avoid conflict, so don't make it easy to speak my mind about your brother.”

“Who says there'd be conflict?” His growl did nothing to vent his ire. “Just about now we're probably a matched set.”

“You can never be sure.” Caution replaced humor. “But if you go against Larry, the blame lands right back on me.”

“That's not...” Try as he might, he couldn't find a way to finish his denial.

“True?” She gave an exasperated huff as she tried to finish his sentence. “You know they'll say I turned you against him. Or were you going to say ‘fair'? What about this feud is fair? Or even sane?”

“I don't like it.” Larry deserved the walloping of a lifetime, and Adam itched to deliver it.

“Huh.” Opal raised a brow. “Not that anyone asked, or that it's for me to say, but I always figured you were the Grogan who put aside what he wanted for the good of the family.”

Her assessment caught him off guard, leaving him silent for a long moment. “So that's what you think?”
And what does it mean to you, Opal Speck? That I'm a pushover or that I'm the better man?

“Yep.” She didn't give him another word on the subject.

“Maybe I think you're the same way.”

“I should've known we'd come full circle.” Opal rolled her eyes, but a small grin played around her lips. “So now that you've gotten back to your ‘may be's,' you better get home.”

“Yep.” He didn't let his own smile free until she turned and started walking away. And still, he watched her go until she stopped and looked over her shoulder.

“And, Adam?”

“What, Opal?”

“Never come back.” With that, she disappeared into the trees.

“Stay away from her.” Adam's harsh growl raised the hairs on the back of Lucinda Grogan's neck.

Who?
She lifted her hand from the door but shuffled a few inches closer—the better to hear her sons' conversation. The glower on her eldest son's face when he'd stormed past the house moments earlier didn't bode well.

“Who?” Larry's slightly nasal tones seeped through the doorframe. “And why should I?”

Don't antagonize your brother.
Lucinda swallowed the admonishment. Her middle son sounded defensive, which meant Larry already had a fair idea what—no, make that who—Adam warned him against.
Not good. And it's a woman. The only way this could possibly get any worse would be if Adam named—

“Opal Speck.”

The terse syllables hammered at Lucinda's temples.
No, no, no ...
She rested her forehead against the door, mind too full of dire possibilities to hold upright anymore. The drag of dismay cost her Larry's response, but years of raising him left her with more than headaches. Lucinda knew her son well enough to guess he'd denied or evaded the blunt confrontation.

“Don't try to sidestep this.” Dark determination emphasized Adam's warning. Never before had he sounded so filled with scarcely contained rage.

Lucinda wondered whether Larry would be wise enough to realize it and drop whatever game he played this time.
Probably not.
Which meant she'd need to corner him once Adam finished.

“You've got us mixed up, Adam.
I'm
not the Grogan who avoids issues or ignores things. That's your domain.”

Fool!
Lucinda gritted her teeth. If it weren't for Adam's level head, she'd have lost her husband or the fool running his mouth right now a hundred times over.

“No, Larry.” Booted steps crossed the room. “
You're
the shame to our family name.”

Her hand closed around the doorknob before Lucinda caught herself. No matter Larry's flaws, Adam hadn't earned the right to denounce him on behalf of the family. Especially not after she'd almost lost her middle son to that terrible accident two years ago.
Am I the only one who remembers how blessed we are to still have him?

“Because I'd rather claim an angry bison than a coward who threatens a woman.” Fury seethed through Adam's words, scalding away Lucinda's indignation.

Larry threatened Opal?
The bite of shame galled her.
Well, she must have done something to provoke him! What did that vile little Speck gal do this time?

“Cowards wait and do nothing. I'm a man of action.”

“Leaving a death threat aimed at the only female in the Speck family? Making sure she'd be the one to find it, when she's alone? That's the action you're so proud of?” A muffled popping tattled of knuckles being cracked.

Adam's mistaken. Larry hates the Specks for his accident but wouldn't target Opal.
Lucinda tried to swallow but found her mouth too dry.
I raised gentlemen! Please, Lord. Let me have that much.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Fear turned Larry the coward Adam called him.

“When nothing happened, I figured you didn't follow the plan. I went over there and ran into Opal. We found the message. If I hadn't read what you wrote on the bottom myself I wouldn't have believed it.”

“Then you know it only said I have my eye on her.” The whine destroyed Lucinda's last hope.

“Don't even think about it. And know that the only reason you're still standing is she spoke up against me giving you the walloping you so richly deserve—didn't want things to get any worse.”

“No need to get your nose out of joint, Adam. She's grown into a fine woman, and there's nothing wrong with me making a claim—” The sick
thud
of fist on flesh punctuated Larry's mutter before his groan filled the air.

Stomach churning, Lucinda couldn't be sure what sickened her more, that Larry lusted after Opal Speck, that her son would be so vulgar—even though it was just to bait Adam, she was certain—or that her sons were fighting each other.

“If I catch you so much as looking her way, I'll truss you up and deliver you to her pa myself.”

Oh no, you won't, Adam Neil Grogan!
Lucinda took a shallow breath.
It won't come to that.
Because no matter how awful things were, one truth stood above everything else....

Opal Speck is the one to blame, and she'll be the one to pay. I'll make sure of that!

“I won't allow it.” Adam stared at the broken stretch of fence Larry should have mended last week, at the imprints in the softening spring earth, and resisted the urge to throw his hat on the ground.

After all he'd done to keep the peace this week, one wandering dairy cow could destroy them. When Willa confided to him that Marla didn't show up for milking, he assumed she'd gotten lost, maybe stuck in a mud hole. Instead, the oblivious animal ambled right into Speck territory!

Which left him precious few options, and not a single one of them any he'd jump at. Going after the beast constituted trespassing—right on the heels of threats flying thick.

Memories of the day the Speck men came on Grogan land pushed to the front of his memory.
Fences and family—best keep an eye on both of yours, isn't that what Speck warned?
Adam surveyed the ruined fence, fingered the threat still in his pocket, and knew he'd failed on both counts.

“Never come back.”
Opal's advice from the day before echoed in his thoughts, making the decision simple. Sure, she'd said to stay away, but losing Marla paved the way for Larry to accuse the Specks of thievery. Which made as a good a pretext as any to come after Opal.

“I won't allow it,” he repeated, following Marla's tracks until they petered out in the growing grass. An hour later, he'd searched every boundary line, forced to admit he needed to go deeper.

Another hour slipped away under the strain of fruitless searching while trying to find cover where none existed. Typically, Adam loved the rolling flatlands of the prairie, but today he'd trade his back teeth for a forest.

He'd have to check the homestead. The sun scaled the sky, inching toward noon—and dinnertime. Ma's sharp eyes wouldn't miss his absence, but more pressing stood the knowledge that the Speck men would soon converge near the place he suspected he'd find Marla.

Hours overdue for milking and feeding, she still hadn't gravitated toward home. Lately, it seemed the worst possibility proved reality, so he'd believe the contrary cow might have headed for the familiar sounds and scents of another barn. He could no longer avoid entering the hub of the Speck farm.

Adam moved stealthily closer to the barn until he pressed against its side. He edged to the corner and peered in the direction of the house, scanning for Specks on the horizon. The thought drew a grin until something moved by the well.

Opal.
Stepping out of the house to fetch some water, she hadn't bothered with the bonnet usually shielding her from the sun. Now its rays played upon the burnished red of her hair, adding glints of gold with joyous abandon until she seemed a living flame. No wonder the sun thrilled to claim her.

“Drop the gun and keep quiet.” A firm prod with the blunt end of a shotgun punctuated the hissed order. “Opal shouldn't be involved if Pa decides to kill you.”