“Is she beautiful?” she asked in a hollow little voice.
Jake longed to say Emily had jowls like a hound and constantly drooled. “Yes, she’s pretty.” He knew those words would cut, but he was finished with lies. “She’s a lovely woman and a lovely person. You’d like her, I think.” He clenched his teeth, then sighed. “But I don’t love her. I love you. I can’t even remember exactly what she looks like.”
“D-does she wear flounces and ruffles and lacy petticoats?”
Jake knew he was on dangerous ground. Indigo felt inferior to women like that. “I’ve never seen her petticoats.”
She fastened bruised- looking blue eyes on his. “You say she comes from an acceptable family. You’re—You’re rich, aren’t you? The house you told me about that day in the hayloft, the one that’s so big your family can get lost in it, is a very fine house, isn’t it? A rich man’s house?”
Jake thought of his home and the many elegant rooms. He could lose her over this. And for what? His life in Portland? He couldn’t settle for that now. For years, he had thought poverty was what he had experienced as a child. Now he realized the most wealthy of men could be starving. Here in Wolf’s Landing he had found things money could never buy—love, loyalty, laughter, intrinsic honesty, purity of heart. The most priceless of all, of course, was the girl standing before him. How in God’s name would he live without her now that he had discovered how beautifully sweet life could really be?
“Yes, it’s a rich man’s house,” he admitted hoarsely. “Except for one room—my office.” He searched her gaze. “It’s probably the only room there that you’d love. It is the only one I love. Everything’s handmade and simple.” He swallowed. “I’m wealthy. I can buy just about anything I want.” With a shrug of one shoulder, he said, “A seven-hundred-dollar wife, a three- hundred-dollar wolf pup. Everything else I ever bought didn’t mean squat to me. So I had my office to hide in, and I filled it with pictures of all the things my money couldn’t buy. Mountains and trees and clear streams. I grew up in this kind of world, and I missed it. I first began to realize that the day we had the picnic at the Geunther Place.”
She rubbed her arms as if she was cold. There was a stricken look in her eyes. “You should be married to a lady, someone you can be proud of when you introduce her to your family. A woman from an acceptable family.”
Jake heaved a sigh. Raking a trembling hand through his hair, he said, “Actually, I’m far more worried about being proud when you realize the kind of life I’ve led. I can take you anywhere and be proud of you, Indigo. But I can’t hold my head very high knowing what my father has done. It sullies everything I ever believed myself to be. You’re so worried about being good enough for me? Honey, the truth is, I’m the one who doesn’t measure up.”
“I’m not married to anyone in your family but you,” she replied softly. “Another’s sins aren’t yours.”
Jake felt the first stirrings of hope.
She licked her lips. “I think you should go speak to my father. He deserves to know everything you’ve just told me.”
Jake tried to imagine Hunter’s reaction. “Before I do that, I have to know where I stand with you, Indigo. What if he throws me out on my ear?”
With an aching sadness, her gaze clung to his. “I will pray that doesn’t happen. But if it does—” She looked at the soot on her hands, then lifted them in supplication. “If you truly love me and want me as I am, then I—”
“Oh, I want you,” he assured her in a ragged voice. “I want you, Indigo.”
Tears sparkled in her eyes. “Then I’m willing to say you’ve been a very stupid man and start again with no lies between us.”
Jake couldn’t quite believe he had convinced her so easily. He? The man whose tongue got tied into knots around one-syllable words? He slowly rose from the settee. “And if your father tells me to get the hell out of his house and the mine?”
Her mouth quivered. “I think you will find my father listens with his heart and that he hears more than words. He will look into you, if you will let him, as I have, and he will see the goodness shining through all the lies you have told.”
Jake remembered how she had looked into his eyes when he entered the house, the naked feeling. “What else did you see within me, besides some goodness?” he asked softly.
Her eyes turned cloudy. “I think you know. You looked back this time and opened yourself up so I could see.”
Jake’s throat felt tight. “You must have seen love then. And fear, because I was scared to death of losing you.” He moved slowly toward her. “And sorrow, because I wish I’d been honest from the first. I’ll never lie to you again. I swear it.”
She gave an almost imperceptible nod.
“And I’ll write Emily tonight. You can read the letter and mail it yourself. Will you forgive me?”
Her reply was to walk into his waiting arms.
Chapter 23
INDIGO WAS IN THE KITCHEN TRYING TO wash the soot from her hands and face when she heard the front door open. A deep voice boomed, “Well, I’m here, dammit. So where’s my welcome?”
Though she hadn’t expected Jake to conclude his talk with her father and come back so quickly, the voice sounded like his, and the tall, dark man she glimpsed through the kitchen doorway looked like him.
“In here,” she called back. “I’m covered with soap!”
She leaned over the washbasin and rubbed at her face. “I’m trying to get the black off.” She rinsed, then groped for the towel. After dabbing her eyes, she squinted at the blurry, broad-shouldered figure in the doorway. “What did he say?”
“The only he I’ve talked to said Jake Rand lived here,” a rich voice replied. “Have I just done the unforgivable and walked into the wrong house?”
Indigo blinked and tried to focus. The darkly handsome face grinning back at her didn’t belong to her husband. She slowly straightened and blinked again. He looked very like Jake, so much so that they might have passed for twins.
“Oh. . . . No, you’ve got the right house.” She felt heat rising up her neck and prayed she had all the soot washed off her face. “You must be Jeremy.”
He snapped his fingers, leveled a finger at her, and gave her a wink. “You have me at a distinct disadvantage, and when it comes to a lovely young lady, I can’t have that. Who are you?”
In all her worst imaginings, she had never once considered that Jake wouldn’t be present to introduce her to Jeremy when he arrived. She didn’t have the nerve to mention their marriage and face his brother’s disapproval alone. “I’m Indigo.”
His dark eyes traveled slowly over her and warmed with appreciation. “Indigo? . . .” He inclined his head, urging her to complete the introduction.
“Wolf is my maiden name,” she squeaked. “Indigo Wolf.”
“Ah, your father owns the mine where Jake works.” He flexed his broad shoulders and straightened. His blue chambray shirt looked off-the-shelf new, unlike the earth-stained blue wool Jake was wearing. “And you’re here doing . . .” He glanced around the doorway at the hearth. “Housework?”
That was true enough. “Yes,” she replied, relieved that he had come up with the explanation. “Housework, yes.”
His twinkling eyes slid back to her. Pointing to his cheek, he said, “You missed a spot.”
Indigo rubbed. “I, um, suppose you’re looking for Jake.” She realized how stupid that sounded and gave a nervous laugh. “But of course you’re looking for Jake or you wouldn’t be at our house.” Her heart did a flip. “His house.”
With a slight smile, he studied her for a moment. “Do you know where he is?”
“He went to see my father. He should be right home. I mean, back—he should be right back.” She wiped her hands on her pants. “Would you, um, like some coffee? I can put some on. And I’ve got some cake. Do you like chocolate?”
“I love chocolate.” He lifted an eyebrow. “You do the cooking here, too?”
Indigo tur
ned toward the stove and realized she’d have to lay a fire. She glanced down at the black smudges on the sleeves of her work shirt. Jake was accustomed to her wearing the stained work leathers when she did grimy chores, but what would Jeremy think? She looked like a pig that had been routing in dirt. This was her worst nightmare. It would have been bad enough to meet Jake’s relatives when she was at her best. “I—yes, I do both the cooking and the cleaning.”
A growl from Sonny made Jeremy turn. Indigo darted over and reached past his leg to capture the wolf cub by his scruff. “He’s not used to strangers.” She straightened and hugged the puppy close. “I’ll, um—if you’ll let me by, I’ll go lock him in the bedroom. He bites, I’m afraid.”
Jeremy stepped back. Indigo darted past him. Once she gained the bedroom, she took a frantic look in the mirror above the bureau and cringed. Scrubbing at her smudged cheek with one hand, she jerked open a drawer with the other and dragged out a clean leather top. She changed in record time, then smoothed her hair. Not good, but better, she decided.
Jeremy was sitting at the table when she returned to the kitchen. His gaze settled on her clean blouse, and his expression turned quizzical. Indigo winced. She hadn’t stopped to think how it would look if she reappeared in a clean garment.
Jeremy’s dark eyes lifted to hers. “Are you living here with my brother, Indigo?”
She fixed horrified eyes on him. “Not exactly, no. Sort of, though. Not the way—that is to say, there’s nothing improper about it.”
“What does your husband say about that?” He watched her carefully. “You did say Wolf is your maiden name, so I assume you’re married?”
Indigo gulped and sent up a frantic prayer that Jake would come back. “My husband, he, um, doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t mind, I mean.” Another nervous laugh erupted from her. “He wouldn’t have it any other way . . . really.”
Jeremy nodded. “I see,” he said, his tone implying that he didn’t see at all.
Indigo retreated a step. “I think I’m going to just run along.” She waggled her fingers at the front door.
A muscle in Jeremy’s jaw began to tick. Indigo had seen that same look on Jake’s face when he was becoming angry. “It was a pleasure meeting you,” he said.
“Yes, a pleasure. Meeting you, I mean, not me.” She laughed again. “Jake should be here any second. If you wait right there, you can’t miss him.”
Turning, Indigo made a beeline for the door, her one thought to get out of there and not come back until Jake got home. Just as she touched the latch, it swung open and Jake walked in. Unaware that they had company, he looped an arm around her waist and lifted her feet off the floor to swing her around.
“Your father’s the most understanding man I’ve ever met,” he said warmly. “I feel like a thousand pounds have been lifted off my shoulders.” He slid his free hand to her bottom and bent his head to kiss her. “God, honey, you feel so damned good. After what I just went through, I want to hold you and never let go.”
“Jake, we have—don’t.” She arched away, in a panic to keep his hands in polite places. “Stop it. Your—” Her eyes flew wide when she felt his hand slip under the waistband of her britches. “Jake, please, your—stop it!”
“Stop it? That has an echo in it,” he said huskily, bending his head to nibble on her neck. “Give me two seconds, and I’ll have you begging me not to.” A floorboard creaked. He broke off and stiffened. As he looked up, he said, “Jeremy!”
Indigo squeezed her eyes closed. It was the only option when her new brother- in-law was standing less than ten feet away watching her husband slowly draw his hand out of her pants.
“The feeling’s mutual,” Jeremy said icily. “Surprise, surprise.”
Jake kept his arm clamped around Indigo’s waist. “Have you met Indigo?”
Jeremy’s eyes sliced toward her. “Yes.”
“And she explained.”
“I believe I understand the situation, yes,” Jeremy replied.
Indigo clutched the front of Jake’s shirt and gave a wild shake of her head. “He doesn’t.”
Jake’s mouth twitched as he looked back at his brother. “Do I see a glint in your eye, Jer?”
Jeremy propped a shoulder against the doorframe and flashed Indigo a smile. “We’ll discuss it as soon as the lady leaves.”
“She isn’t leaving,” Jake answered with a mischievous grin. “She lives here. Jeremy, I’d like you to meet—”
“I don’t believe my own eyes,” Jeremy bit out. Glancing apologetically at Indigo, he said, “Excuse me. Could you give me and my brother a private moment?”
Jake tightened his arm around Indigo’s waist. “Jeremy, before you say anything more you might later regret, I think you ought to know that Indigo is my wife.”
“That’s no excuse,” Jeremy shot back. “I can’t believe that you, of all people—after all the times you’ve given me hell? What is this, Jake? And with a girl her age? With the daughter of the man you supposedly came here to—” He broke off. “What did you just say?”
“Indigo is my wife.”
A flush crept up Jeremy’s dark neck. He slid a glance at Indigo, then looked back at Jake.
Jake chuckled. “Indigo, this is your new brother- in-law, Jeremy. He sometimes appears to have rocks between his ears, but he’s not a bad sort once you get to know him.”
In an agony of dread, Indigo watched Jeremy’s face for his reaction. After initial surprise, his mouth turned up in a grin. “Are you serious? Your wife? You went and got married?”
Jake nodded.
“That’s unforgivable. How could you get married without any of us here?” Jeremy walked slowly toward them, his gaze fixed on Indigo. His eyes lit up with laughter. “Why didn’t you just tell me, Indigo? I thought—” He raked a hand through his hair. The habit reminded Indigo of Jake, and some of her nervousness fled. “I thought my brother—well, it’s obvious what I thought. I was ready to kill him.”
“Or die trying,” Jake amended.
Jeremy ignored that and took Indigo by the shoulders to draw her from Jake’s side to get a good look at her.
“Well?” Jake asked proudly. “What do you think of her?”
Jeremy’s gaze warmed. “My only question is, where did you find her? She doesn’t have a sister, does she?”
Jake chuckled. “No such luck.”
Jeremy winked at Indigo. “Did he warn you what kind of a family you were marrying into?” He turned a meaningful glance on Jake. “Does she know what scoundrels we are?”
Jake nodded. “She knows everything, Jeremy.”
Jeremy bent and kissed Indigo’s cheek. “Jake, she’s lovely. Leave it to you to find the most beautiful girl in Oregon and marry her before I could even get a shot at her.” He straightened and stepped back. “Welcome to our family. Right now it’s lacking a bit in respectability. But hopefully, Jake and I are going to rectify that.”
Indigo moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll get the fire laid and put on coffee and start dinner.”
Indigo heard Jake speak softly to Jeremy. A moment later, he came up behind her in the kitchen and grasped her shoulders. “Honey, are you okay?”
“Relieved,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what to say when he walked in. Without you for moral support, I was afraid to tell him we were married. And then I—”
“No, I mean okay otherwise.” His dark eyes searched hers. “Just now, when you walked in here, it looked like you were a little stiff.”
Color flooded her face. “Oh, that. It’s nothing.”
He tucked in his chin and gave her a mock scowl. “Nothing? Honey, are you sore? From—”
She clamped a hand over his lips and shot a worried glance toward the sitting room. “It’s nothing,” she whispered. “It’ll go away.”
He steered her toward the table. “Sit. I’ll take care of the coffee and dinner. What you need is a nice long soak in a hot tub.” He pressed her down in a chair. “Don’t argue.�
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“Be quiet,” she squeaked.
He gave her a quick kiss and turned toward the stove. “Come on in, Jer. It looks like we’re cooking tonight. Indigo’s feeling a little poorly.”
Indigo winced, and her flush deepened. Jake noted the painful red creeping to her hairline and grinned.
Jeremy came into the kitchen. “You’re not feeling well?”
Jake laid wood in the stove, struck a lucifer, and lit the fire. “She’s just a little sore,” he explained, sliding a mischievous glance at his wife. “Yesterday, she engaged in some unaccustomed activity and overdid a bit.”
Jeremy slid a curious glance from Jake’s twinkling gaze to Indigo’s scarlet countenance. He took a chair and smiled. “The best cure for that is more of the same.”
Indigo bent her head and scratched at a nonexistent spot on the tablecloth.
“Now there’s a thought,” Jake said with a chuckle. He turned to the dish board with the coffeepot and pulled out the crock of freshly ground beans. “So, Jer, have there been any new developments since your letter?”
Jeremy glanced toward Indigo. “I can speak freely?”
Jake set the coffeepot over the heat and gave a relieved sigh. “Yes, thank God. Indigo is aware of everything.”
Jeremy settled back in his chair. “Father’s behind it. I’m certain of it.”
Jake turned from the stove, his expression suddenly grim. “You sound mighty certain.”
Jeremy nodded. “Unhappily so. I found record of three bank drafts Father made, all to Hank Sample. In each case, the draw was made about a week before there was trouble here. That’s too much to be coincidence. Hank hired someone here to do the dirty work. He used those draws to make the payoffs.”
Jake leaned a hip against the dish board and folded his arms. His expression darkened. “I still can’t believe it.”
Indigo Blue Page 34
