The Wade Dynasty

by Carole Mortimer

  Lesli lay back against the pillows of the double bed when Brenna entered the room a few minutes later. The half of the bed that Grant usually occupied was smooth and unruffled. The dinner tray lay untouched on the bedside table, the food growing cold.

  ‘Lesli…’

  ‘I should never have allowed myself to be talked into coming back here,’ Lesli suddenly choked, tears streaming down her face. ‘Now I’ll never get away!’

  Brenna sat down on the bed beside her. ‘This isn’t a prison, Lesli.’

  ‘Isn’t it?’ her sister retorted in a hard voice. ‘How can you say that when you couldn’t wait to leave?’

  ‘But you’re married to Grant.’

  ‘And you should have been married to Nathan,’ her sister claimed.

  Brenna swallowed hard. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Grant and I knew you’d spent the night with Nathan before you left last year,’ Lesli explained huskily. ‘Grant challenged Nathan about it, and he said the two of you were going to be married.’

  Brenna shook her head dazedly. ‘You’ve never mentioned that you knew before.’

  ‘Nathan asked us not to, because you would have been embarrassed, I suppose. But don’t you see, Brenna?’ she reasoned desperately. ‘You more than anyone must be able to understand why I want a divorce.’

  ‘A divorce!’ Brenna repeated astoundedly, standing up. ‘Lesli?’

  ‘Grant doesn’t love me,’ her sister stated flatly.

  ‘But do you love him?’ she probed gently.

  Lesli’s mouth tightened even more. ‘Not any more.’

  She actually sounded as if she meant it, Brenna realised. How could a love as deep as the one Lesli had always had for Grant die so suddenly—and so completely?

  ‘Lesli, you’re carrying his child!’

  ‘My child,’ her sister contradicted. ‘It’s in my body, so it belongs to me.’

  ‘But it’s part of Grant,’ Brenna reason.

  ‘I’ll try and forget that.’ Lesli sank down under the bedclothes. ‘Could you take this tray away; I’d like to get some sleep now.’

  ‘You haven’t eaten anything,’ said Brenna worriedly.

  ‘I don’t want it.’

  ‘Lesli—’ Brenna broke off as her sister turned the other way, biting her bottom lip as her sister’s pain became her own.

  ‘Brenna,’ Lesli stopped her at the door. ‘Make sure Grant realises he isn’t welcome in this room any more,’ she rasped.

  Brenna sighed. ‘Don’t you think you should be the one to tell him that?’

  ‘No,’ her sister muttered. ‘I don’t even want to see him.’

  ‘Darling, you can’t stay in here for ever, and—’

  ‘I don’t want to see him!’

  With a last worried look at her sister’s averted face Brenna quietly left the room. How did you tell a man he wasn’t welcome in the bed he had shared with Lesli for the last four years?

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Grant told her harshly as Brenna haltingly tried to tell him that, minutes later in the study where he sat behind the desk in the swivel oak chair that was rather like the old-fashioned type the sheriff always had in cowboy films. ‘I haven’t been able to sleep in that bed since she left, and it seems even more unwelcoming now that she’s back!’

  Brenna’s fingers were laced together in her lap. ‘Grant, Lesli seems to have the idea that you no longer love her, and—’

  ‘That’s a damned lie,’ he grated. ‘Of course I love her!’

  She moistened her lips. ‘If you’ve had an affair—’

  ‘Is that what Lesli said I’ve done?’ he attacked fiercely. ‘My God, I don’t even look at other women, let alone go to bed with them!’ He stood up forcefully.

  ‘Calm down, Grant,’ she sighed wearily. An affair was obviously not the reason for their conflict. ‘Lesli hasn’t told me anything. Neither of you has, that’s why I’m stumbling around in the dark trying to make sense of this!’

  His expression became defensive. ‘This isn’t really any of your business, is it? You and Nathan both keep sticking your nose in, and it’s nothing to do with either of you. Lesli and I will work this out on our own.’

  ‘How?’ she questioned tautly. ‘Lesli won’t even agree to talk to you, and you seem just as stubborn!’

  ‘That doesn’t mean we need you and Nathan—’

  ‘What about the baby?’ Brenna cut in coldly. ‘Where does that fit into all this?’

  ‘It’s our baby and—’

  ‘Lesli says it’s hers,’ she sighed. ‘And when she divorces you—’

  ‘Divorce!’ All the colour left his face as he stood up noisily. ‘She isn’t divorcing me!’

  ‘She says she is,’ Brenna frowned.

  ‘Like hell she is!’ Grant grated harshly. ‘I’ll divorce her first!’

  It occurred to Brenna at that moment that Grant wasn’t talking very logically; it also occurred to her that it might have something to do with the half empty bottle of whisky beside him on the desk. Grant was drunk! She had never seen any of the Wade men drink more than a couple of glasses of wine with their meal, and a few bottles of alcohol were usually only kept in the house for guests. Any guest wanting whisky in the near future was going to be out of luck!

  Brenna stood up. ‘Maybe we’d better talk when you’re—feeling better—’

  ‘Not drunk, you mean.’ Grant slumped back into the chair, putting his feet up on the desk. ‘There will be no divorce, Brenna, not now or ever,’ he spoke with finality. ‘Lesli will come to her senses eventually.’

  She wasn’t so sure of that, and a frown marred her brow as she waited in the lounge for Nathan to finish his calls and come down for dinner; Mindy had already been in twice, given a disgusted snort that her dinner was being kept waiting, and left again.

  Nathan looked unperturbed when he joined Brenna a short time later, having changed into fitted beige trousers and a brown and beige striped shirt. ‘Has Mindy got to the slamming door stage yet?’ he grimaced.

  ‘Not yet. But—’

  ‘Oh, we’re all right, then,’ he said confidently, pulling out the chair opposite his that had always been Brenna’s place at the dining-table and pressing the buzzer for Mindy to begin serving their meal. ‘I know, I’m dicing with death,’ he shrugged as Brenna pulled a face. ‘Better attack than defence.’

  He grinned up at Mindy as she served their meal, and before the elderly woman left to get their main course he had even managed to coax a smile out of her.

  ‘You always were her favourite,’ Brenna said disgustedly.

  ‘I was always the one who had to find ways of getting back into her good graces,’ he corrected. ‘It was either learn how to charm her or spend half my life in my bedroom.’

  Charm. Yes, for a man who never used it he certainly knew how to get around Mindy. The housekeeper was actually laughing by the time she served them coffee in the lounge.

  ‘Right,’ Nathan sobered once he and Brenna were alone. ‘What’s happening between Lesli and Grant?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Brenna sighed. ‘She’s pretending to sleep—or she just might not be pretending; she seemed very tired. And Grant is drunk—’

  ‘Out cold,’ Nathan corrected gruffly. ‘I put him to bed in one of the guest rooms.’

  ‘That’s why you were so late down?’ Brenna frowned.

  He nodded. ‘There’d be hell to pay if Mindy had found him.’

  Brenna stood up to pace the room. ‘I don’t understand what’s wrong with them. Lesli says Grant doesn’t love her, but I’m sure he does. She—she seems hard—hardened. It’s hard to describe.’

  ‘I’ve seen it for myself. It’s as if she’s willing herself not to love him,’ he frowned.

  ‘He says he hasn’t had an affair.’

  ‘I know damn well he hasn’t,’ Nathan rasped, his eyes narrowed. ‘And if Lesli says otherwise—’

  ‘She doesn’t,’ she shook her head. ‘Nathan, we have to do something or�
��or I’m afraid it will be too late.’

  ‘Meaning?’ he prompted harshly, his expression hardening as she told him about both Grant and Lesli mentioning divorce. ‘Young idiots!’ he grated. ‘Don’t they realise that once that word gets taken seriously everything else gets distorted?’

  ‘I don’t think they care,’ Brenna sighed. ‘Not at the moment, anyway.’

  ‘Then we’ll have to make sure they’re given time to care,’ he scowled.

  It was strange how the two of them were working together, even becoming friends in their common cause to save Grant and Lesli’s marriage. It was so long since she had felt even half this close to Nathan; she had forgotten how good it felt.

  He glanced at his watch. ‘Grant is going to be out until the morning. Lesli will probably be asleep until then, so I have a little time to work something out. I have to go, I have an appointment in the city.’

  ‘Now?’ she frowned her surprise.

  ‘Half an hour ago, actually, but never mind. You probably feel like an early night yourself. I’ll give all this some thought while I’m out.’ He stood up.

  He was gone so fast Brenna was just left with a blur of expensive aftershave, and she was slowly drinking her coffee when Mindy came in to clear away.

  ‘Has Nathan gone out?’ The older woman frowned at his absence.

  ‘He said he had an appointment in town,’ Brenna explained with a smile.

  ‘I should have known,’ Mindy said indulgently. ‘I expect he’s gone to see Dee.’

  ‘Dee?’ Brenna repeated with a feigned lack of interest.

  ‘Dee Wallace,’ the housekeeper explained. ‘She owns a boutique in the city. The two of them have been seeing each other for several months now.’

  The fact that Mindy took such care to tell her that made her wonder if the other woman could also know of the night she had spent with Nathan last year. It was a possibility, she acknowledged. Mindy was the housekeeper, and she seemed to know most of what went on in the household. But Mindy needn’t have worried about warning her off Nathan; the two of them might be trying to keep Lesli and Grant together, but she wasn’t silly enough to see anything else between them. She hadn’t been even that naïve a first time, let alone a second!

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘COME on, sleepyhead,’ a deep voice tormented. ‘No one stays in bed after six o’clock here!’

  Brenna gave a groan, clutching the sheet to her breasts as she rolled over to blink up at Nathan. ‘I’ve always hated the way you’re so disgustingly cheerful this time of morning,’ she scowled, smoothing back the tangle of her hair. ‘It’s indecent!’ Especially considering she knew he hadn’t returned to the ranch by the time she had fallen asleep five hours ago! Maybe he had just returned?

  His hair was still damp from taking a shower, his checked shirt partly unbuttoned, his denims even more faded and snug-fitting than the ones he had worn in London. If anything was indecent this morning it was the sensuality he oozed!

  ‘What do you want?’ she asked crossly, fixing him with a glowering glare as he snorted scornfully at the provocation of that remark. ‘And no crude remarks, thank you,’ she snapped. ‘I’m not in the mood for them.’

  Nathan’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at her, and Brenna was struck by the realisation that he had smiled more in the last few days than she had seen for a long time. ‘The sun’s up, the horses are saddled,’ he drawled. ‘And I thought you might like to escape the tension in the house for an hour or so.’

  ‘How are they both this morning?’ she frowned.

  ‘Lesli is still sleeping, and Grant is walking around as if the sound of an eggshell breaking would be like a rocket going off inside his head,’ he revealed ruefully. ‘I think it’s best to stay away from him for at least a couple of hours.’

  ‘And how is your head?’ Brenna arched black brows.

  ‘Mine?’ he frowned. ‘You know I rarely touch the stuff.’

  She avoided his eyes. ‘Mindy said you were out with—a friend, yesterday evening,’ she revealed huskily. ‘You can’t have had much sleep.’

  ‘Enough,’ he rasped tautly. ‘And Mindy talks too damned much.’ His eyes were darkened with displeasure.

  ‘I think she was warning me off,’ her derisive tone mocked the necessity of that. ‘Everyone in the household seems to know about that night we spent together,’ she added awkwardly, not sure what his reaction was going to be to its being such public knowledge.

  ‘Then they must also have realised it was a mistake,’ he said harshly. ‘Now are you coming for that ride or not?’ His eyes were steely slits.

  ‘I am,’ she nodded abruptly. ‘I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he said jeeringly. ‘I didn’t intend waiting here for you.’

  He made her feel about ten years old! Probably Dee Wallace was one of the sophisticated women he usually dated, a woman who enjoyed a physical relationship with him without hesitation or embarrassment, who thought nothing of sharing the intimacy of nakedness with him. He had succeeded in making her feel gauche and immature.

  But she forgot all that once she was up on Samson’s back. He was a beautiful pure black gelding, a gift from her mother and Patrick on her sixteenth birthday. The gentle giant, she had dubbed him the first time she rode him, and so he had become Samson. He had whinnied in recognition as soon as she walked into the stable, seeming pleased to have her up on his back after such a long absence.

  ‘I’ve been keeping him exercised for you.’ Nathan steadied his stallion down to a walk beside Samson as they left the stables, although his beautiful chestnut animal obviously wanted to gallop off across the meadows. ‘I knew you would be back.’

  Brenna glanced up at him sharply. ‘I’m only here for as long as Lesli needs me.’

  ‘If that were true you would never have left in the first place!’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ she frowned.

  ‘Do you have any idea what a blow it was to Lesli when you decided to stay on in London instead of coming back here?’ he grated.

  ‘I had to break away some time,’ she snapped, for once the beauty of the herd of prize Herefords, with their beautiful short red and white coats, lost on her. Patrick had spent years perfecting his herd of beef cattle, and though Brenna abhorred their fate she had to admit they were truly beautiful animals.

  ‘If you had married and gone away I think Lesli could have accepted it,’ rasped Nathan. ‘But just not coming home…’

  She flushed at his accusation. ‘I had my own life to live. I’ve never liked what this ranch stood for, you know that.’ She hoped her lack of conviction wasn’t as apparent to him as it was to her. She did hate ranching cattle for beef, but just being back here in the foothills of Calgary, with the Rockies in the distance, the air so clean and fresh, made her wonder why she had thought she didn’t belong here. She belonged here just as much as she did in England!

  ‘Back to that again,’ Nathan sighed. ‘We were talking about the way you let Lesli down.’

  ‘I didn’t,’ she claimed indignantly. ‘I had to leave the family some time; it seemed like the right time.’

  ‘You and Lesli were always so much closer than just sisters.’ His hat was pulled low, his eyes narrowed against the bright sun.

  ‘She has Grant now,’ Brenna told him firmly. ‘At least, she did.’ Her face clouded.

  ‘She still does,’ he grated.

  ‘What are we going to do about them, Nathan?’ she appealed.

  ‘As long as we can keep them both here we have nothing to worry about. I telephoned Lesli’s doctor this morning, and he—’

  ‘This morning?’ she echoed in surprise.

  ‘He’s a friend,’ Nathan said in amusement.

  ‘He would need to be,’ she grimaced; it was only six-thirty now!

  ‘We were at college together,’ he drawled. ‘He’s going to see her this morning, and I’m hoping I can persuade him to take her into
hospital for a few days. Don’t look so worried,’ he hastened to assure her as she paled. ‘I’m sure nothing is wrong, but a few days’ rest wouldn’t hurt her, and it would give her breathing space without being as drastic as running away again or asking Grant for a divorce.’

  ‘You had time to think of this last night?’ she queried cynically, enjoying the gentle breeze that ruffled the tendrils of hair at her nape that had escaped being pushed beneath her cream hat.

  Nathan gave her an icy look. ‘I don’t know what Mindy told you—’

  ‘Enough,’ she taunted.

  ‘It sounds like too damned much to me,’ he glared. ‘She may have been with the family thirty years—’

  ‘She’s part of the family, Nathan,’ Brenna laughed. ‘And you’ll never shut her up. If you tried to stop her she’d just look at you with hurt in her eyes and you’d feel awful.’

  He sighed. ‘You’re probably right,’ he agreed. ‘But Dee is only a friend, and I don’t like Mindy speculating that there’s more to it than that.’

  Mindy wasn’t the type to speculate, and they both knew it. Brenna knew she should have felt relieved that Nathan had a steady girl-friend he was serious about, and yet it was hard to imagine Nathan bringing another woman to the ranch as his wife. But he would eventually marry, he was too sensual a man to go through life alone, and he had become bored with the challenge of a lot of different relationships years ago. And at thirty-six she doubted he would wait much longer before marrying. Maybe it was dog-in-manger of her considering she didn’t want him for herself, but she truly couldn’t imagine any other woman as his wife.

  ‘Do you think your doctor friend will go for admitting Lesli?’ she changed the subject.

  ‘I think so,’ he nodded. ‘Just for a rest.’

  ‘And is Lesli going to accept it, do you think?’ she asked with a grimace for her sister’s co-operation.

  ‘I get the impression she’d do anything to get out of the house and away from Grant,’ he scowled.