Worth The Price (Hart's Fall, Montana) (22 page)

In no time at all he was standing outside the entrance of Frank Prescott’s colonial style house. The silver car in the driveway gave him all the encouragement he needed to rap his fist against the door. “No more games, Danika. Open the door.”

Met with silence, he decided to wait another minute before knocking again. He was on the verge of knocking again and possibly relinquishing more of his pride, his fist stayed in mid-air, stilted as she padded from the side of the house. A fresh burst of autumn wind followed in her wake, whipping the tight dark curls about her face, which appeared fuller and more glowing than the last time he had seen her

“What are you doing here?”

He grappled for something to say as his eyes drank her in. She was wearing skin-tight jeans and a white, button-down shirt that clung to her frame and outlined the firm roundness of her belly. Her breasts, once pert little mounds able to fit sweetly inside his palms, filled out the material and looked to be more than a handful. His penis twitched inside his briefs. He swallowed hard and bit back a dose of bitterness. His own damn wife and he couldn’t lay a single hand on her to find out what other delights her ripening body had to offer.

“Were you banging on the door? I heard it all the way from in the garden.”

He stared at her for a second longer until he found his voice. Recalling his anger at her dismissal of him and the money she had sent, Brandon snatched the folded check out of his pocket. He shoved it into her hand. “I don’t want a damn thing from you.”

She pushed a twisted lock of hair away from her lips. “You’ve already made that clear.” She fingered the paper. “This check. It’s a tiny fraction in comparison to what I owe you, but—”

“Owe me? You think I want my wife making payments to me in the form of cash? If I wanted payment from you,
Cailín
, you can rest assured money would be the last thing on my mind.”

Her chin tilted in defiance. “If memory serves me correctly, I gave you that every night, in the daytime too and it made no difference.”

He inched closer to her, testing the waters of her patience and any affection she might still hold for him. “I miss you. It’s lonely on the ranch without you.”

“You have Finn and the other cattle dogs.”

He let out a scornful laugh. “I deserve that. But it doesn’t change how I feel. I miss you beside me, Danika. Sometimes I hear your voice inside our bedroom then I wake up and realize it was a dream‌—‌that you’re not on the ranch with me. I want to hear the sound of your voice every day, you laughing, teasing me, letting me touch you and feeling your response beneath me and on top of me when we’re in bed together.”

She closed her eyes. “Please don’t say anymore.”

He pressed his lips to her brows. “What do you want from me, baby? Tell me and I’ll do it.”

“What do I want from you?” she cried, twisting away from him. “I want your promise you’ll drop the charges. More than that, I’ve told you I love you and you threw it back in my face. You didn’t care, then. Why should it be any different now? Nothing’s changed, Brandon. Nothing at all.”

“Why can’t you accept that I want you?” he asked, steering clear of her request. “You’re the only woman I care about. The only woman I want to be with.”

She folded her arms across her middle. “I want more than that, Brandon. It
has
to be more than just wanting me. That’s superficial. Lust doesn’t keep two people together forever.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re the one who chose to leave. That’s what’s keeping us apart.”

“You don’t understand at all. One day you’ll find someone to fall in love with and then you’ll understand how I’m feeling right now.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Then I feel sorry for you. Love isn’t something that is wrong or something to be afraid of.” Out of nowhere, she held his hand and laid it on her stomach. “What about our baby, Brandon? It will be as much a part of you as me. Will you deny our child the love of a father? Will you deny our child the opportunity to know his or her grandfather?”

He lifted his hand from her stomach, annoyed that his father-in-law had once again entered into their conversation “Don’t send me any more checks. I’m letting you know right now they’ll make it as far as my rubbish bin.”

“I want to pay you back.”

“And I’m telling to keep your money. I don’t want it.”

“Is that like how you don’t really want me?” He made it halfway down the driveway then stiffened, stopping dead in his tracks as her voice rose. “You think I don’t miss you? I too, have a heart, Brandon, and for those few precious months we were together, it beat only for you. So don’t you dare think I’m being spiteful. As much as it hurts, I’m only trying to do what’s best. What’s best for everyone. It’s not fair or wise for me to stay at the ranch regardless of your decisions. I won’t be the one to hold you back.”

“Hold me back from what?” He spun around and bore down on her. “I wake up and spend my days among the cattle and with my workers. In between everything else I do, I think of you. I’m always thinking about you. Don’t mention any other females, because we both know that’s out of the question for me.”

“Is that why you were so quick to give me the money? Did you think you had to buy me, Brandon?”

The tick in his jaw grew stronger. “What else could I have done? Show up on Prescott’s doorstep, after he humiliated me in front of the entire town because I wasn’t able to take my eyes off you fast enough for him not to know every goddamn thing that was going on inside my head about his precious daughter. Or better yet, maybe I should have cornered you on Main Street and watched those pretty brown eyes recoil in horror because I dared to invite you to dinner?”

Her features froze, like a deer caught in the headlights. “Humiliated you? Brandon I’m so sorry. It seems like I’m forever apologizing for something my father’s done, and me like a dimwit rolling around in ignorance. You’re so wrong, though. I would have appreciated it if you’d been straightforward with me from the beginning. No games or ultimatums. Neither of us is perfect, Brandon. On the inside
and
out. For a lot of people I’m not exactly the definition of a prime catch either. I’ll never be a bombshell with curves to kill. Some people actually think my skin color is too dark. How can I change something like that? And of course I’m a lousy cook.” Her lips widened into a tepid smile. “You’ve tasted my culinary concoctions. You know what I mean. You can’t change who you are and neither can I. We’re just two normal people, despite what’s on the outside. You say you’re attracted to me and I’m attracted to you, too. In fact it’s because of my feelings for you, how strong they are, that I can’t live with you and pretend it doesn’t hurt that you don’t feel the same way.”

“It’s not just physical.”

“Then what else could it be?”

His chest tightened. Now was his chance to be honest, tell Danika he loved her. He opened his mouth to do so, but the words refused to come.

She shook her head slowly as a sardonic smile met her lips. “Can’t even bring yourself to whisper a beautiful lie, can you?”

Lie?
He wished he could tell her the truth; exactly what she deserved to hear. Instead, he was too cowardly to trust his feelings. In desperation, Brandon held onto her hand and cradled it within his own. “Will you come home if I promise to be civil to your father and not say a word against him?”

She allowed her hand to slip from his grasp. “That alone won’t change my mind. I’m sorry.” With those words she gave him her back and strode toward the garden. Brandon stared after her retreating form. It was that day in May all over again, with her one step away from leaving his living room, without accepting the offer he’d laid in front of her. Only this time Danika wasn’t the one drowning in desperation.

Worth the Price

It was three weeks later and Danika felt the walls of her composure crumbling a measure with each passing day. She didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to keep her distance from the Bar S. She hadn’t lied to Brandon about missing him. Seeing him on her doorsteps had been piercing and left her raw with disappointment. Oh, she knew he desired her still. The longing in his eyes told her as much, except Brandon was unable to tell her the one thing she wanted to hear from him. The only words she needed to hear to feel secure if their marriage had a shot of working. A marriage which she didn’t have the heart to dissolve.

The more time spent apart from him, the more she questioned and stripped apart her decision to the bare bones. Was she being selfish by not giving in to him? She had been willing to marry Brandon for his money. Essentially she had married a man she didn’t love and had known beforehand he hadn’t loved her in return. And now, because her emotions had evolved and matured into love and her husband’s hadn’t, she was willing to bolt and deny her child a father.

On some days it was too overwhelming for her to think about, coupled with her fear that the telephone would ring from her father’s attorney saying that the men her father had hired would be found to name him. She was just grateful it seemed Brandon had yet to repeat the confession to the authorities. But little by little she was being worn down. Terrified of the stress and the effect it might have on her pregnancy, Danika did everything within reason to keep her mind off Brandon. Afternoons and weekends were designated for volunteering at the women’s shelter, which was nearing completion.

That also meant she would be thrust into contact with him next week at the grand opening party. On one hand, she hoped he would perform as expected and ignore the invitation. But deep inside, there was a part of her‌—‌the same part compelling her to continue wearing his ring‌—‌that prayed he would show up.

“Take a break, kiddo.”

She was knocked out of her reverie by Beth Ann, who came to stand beside her. The older woman winked and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I don’t want that husband of yours to complain I’m working you to death.”

Danika plastered on a smile. Beth Ann, busy woman that she was, had no idea of their estrangement or the drama surrounding her father. It became even more transparent as Beth Ann spoke, much to Danika’s chagrin. “It’s a good thing you snatched him up when you did, isn’t it?”

Danika frowned.
Snatched him up?
She loved her husband to death, but she had to wonder about her boss’s statement because Brandon’s looks and temperament didn’t exactly endear him to most of the women in Hart’s Fall…or anywhere, she suspected.

“I think quite a few women around here are starting to take notice of him. I mean, if you think about it, that scar on his face is a bit dashing, isn’t it? Not nearly so…unpleasant after you look at it for a while.” Beth Ann giggled like a sappy teenager, to Danika’s annoyance. “Not that you have anything to worry about. Lucky girl, you. Any fool can tell Sharpe is madly in love with you whenever he mentions your name.”

“Brandon was here?” She’d assumed his volunteer efforts had ceased around the same time as their separation.

“Of course. Not every day, as I’m sure you know, but now and then he stops by to lend a hand. He’s already contributed so much with that donation he made.”

When her boss progressed into discussions revolving around the upcoming party, Danika had to clamp her mouth to refrain from asking specifics of the one topic of interest to her‌—‌the women who had been flirting with her husband. With much difficulty she was able to keep her foot outside of her mouth.

“Beth Ann,” Danika began, “I hope you don’t mind if I call it a day. I’m feeling a bit drained these days.” Total lie, but at this point she didn’t care. Her hand came to rest on her stomach for added emphasis to her deceit. “I’ll stop by tomorrow and see what else needs to be done for the celebration.”

On her way out, she couldn’t help but steal glances at the women milling about. Could Brandon be attracted to any of them? Perhaps the strawberry-blonde who was arranging the tables in the eating hall. Or the curvy brunette with way more breasts than she had, in her second trimester. Did they too look at Brandon and think dashing instead of… Danika hung her head in reproach. She needed to stop. It was irrelevant what any of those women thought of him. Right or wrong, Brandon was still hers.

Poised behind the steering wheel of her car, she admitted to herself she was being irrational. But how else was she to react? Beth Ann’s revelation had dredged all of her worries up to the surface. It was far too late to ignore them. Danika revved the engine into drive and sped down the street with one direction in sight.

She arrived on the Bar S, hopped out of the car and sprinted toward the corral. Aside from two calves pacing their enclosure, the sole person present was Clint.

“Hey…”

She held up a hand. “Not now. Where’s Brandon?”

“He ain’t here,” the foreman said. “Went out with Austin Hart. They’re talking to that marshal the Cattle Raisers Association’s got on the case.”

Danika slowed to a stop. “He’s not here?” She cast her gaze around the ranch, seeking confirmation of her own. She was unsure if she should weep with relief or cry.