James Bravo's Shotgun Bride

by Christine Rimmer

  Her smile was like the sun slipping out from behind a dark cloud. “I won’t. Now that you’re coming with me, I’ll feel like I have a lawyer of my own.”

  “Because you do.” And he kissed her again, but slowly that time, savoring the taste of her, loving the way her breath hitched and she wrapped her arms around his neck and slid her fingers up into his hair.

  When he lifted his head, she looked up at him with eyes full of stars. “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “For working so hard to convince me that everything will be all right.”

  “It will be.” One way or another, he would make sure of that. She got up and held down her hand. He took it and stood. “What’s for dinner?”

  “Leftovers. Let’s go in. I’ll cut up the salad and you can set the table.”

  * * *

  James made sure Addie arrived at the lawyer’s office at five minutes of ten on Monday morning.

  A secretary ushered them into a small conference room, where a blue folder waited with Addie’s name on it. James pulled back the chair for her and she sat, her hands in her lap, looking down at the folder as though she feared it might bite.

  James took the chair beside her and leaned close. He was just about to have a look in that folder to see what this was all about when Brandon’s attorney appeared in the doorway.

  “Good morning.”

  “David,” Addie said with a nod. She introduced James. He reached across and shook hands with the other lawyer, whose last name was Pearson. Pearson sat down, too. He had a blue folder of his own.

  Addie shifted nervously. James leaned into her and rested his arm on the back of her chair. She sent him a wobbly smile and then faced the other lawyer. “Okay, David. Will you please tell me now what this is about?”

  Pearson opened his folder. James reached over and opened the one in front of Addie. It was Brandon Hall’s will.

  Brandon’s lawyer explained, “I’m sorry to have made this such a mystery, but Brandon wanted it that way.”

  Addie sent James another glance, confusion in her eyes. Then she asked Pearson, “But why?”

  “A week before his death, Brandon sent for me.”

  “Because...?”

  “He said he wanted a change to his will and he didn’t want you to know about it until three full months had passed after his death.”

  “Three months. That would’ve been Saturday,” Addie said softly, wonderingly. “He died three months ago this past Saturday.”

  “That’s right.”

  She made a frustrated sound. “I just don’t get it.”

  James leaned even closer and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “Let him explain.”

  She gulped and sighed. “Sorry, David. Go on.”

  Pearson said, “Brandon told me that he wanted you provided for, but the most you were willing to accept from him was the health insurance trust he arranged for you and your family and any children you might have. He said that every time he tried to tell you he was leaving you a large monetary bequest as well, you became upset and said absolutely not.”

  “The insurance fund alone is so generous,” she insisted. “More than enough. I let him talk me into that. I refused to accept more until we knew for certain that there was going to be a baby. And then he died suddenly. We had thought he had at least a few months left...”

  David Pearson asked gently, “So there is a child?”

  “I’m pregnant, yes.”

  He looked from Addie to James and back to Addie again. “Brandon Hall’s child?”

  Addie let out a laugh that sounded a lot like a sob. “It’s a long story. But yes, I’m having Brandon’s baby. And James and I got married a little over a month ago.”

  Pearson said, “It’s unfortunate that Brandon didn’t live to know he would be a father. But the child’s existence has no effect on the will in front of you. The bequest is to you, Addie. Brandon Hall was adamant that you should be provided for, child or no. The document before you takes care of that. He told me he knew that you would be upset enough at his death. He didn’t want to have you confronted right away with the fact that he’d left you a large sum of money, which you had insisted you didn’t want. His wish was to give you time after his death to grieve and accept his passing before springing this bequest on you.”

  Addie bent her head. “Oh, this is just so...Brandon.” Tears clogged her voice, frustration, too. And love. She really had loved Brandon Hall. James sucked in a slow breath and reminded himself that he would not be jealous of a dead man who had only wanted to make sure she was taken care of after he was gone.

  Pearson said, “If you’ll turn to page five, you’ll see that the bequest is a generous one and that the inheritance taxes are already paid.” When Addie just sat there staring at the open folder, James turned the pages for her.

  At the sight of all those zeroes, Addie cried, “Oh, James...” She groped for his hand. He gave it and she held on tight. “Is this really happening?”

  “Yes, it is,” said Brandon’s lawyer. David Pearson was smiling.

  Addie said, “I think I maybe need to pinch myself.” She turned those big golden eyes on James. “Sometimes I...” She gulped. “Oh, it’s silly. Never mind.”

  “It’s all right,” he coaxed. “Go ahead. You can say it.”

  “Well, especially since PawPaw’s heart attack, I’ve been so worried about all that could go wrong.”

  “I know...” He gave her hand a squeeze.

  “We’ve always managed all right, PawPaw and me. We really have. But the hard truth is that we’re getting by month to month. There’s not a whole lot left over for emergencies. Even knowing that we had the cost of PawPaw’s medical care covered, I still worried constantly the whole time he was in the hospital. I kept telling myself not to freak out about all the orders I wasn’t filling, about owners moving their horses elsewhere because I wasn’t there to take care of them.”

  “I know,” he said again, though there’d been no need for her to worry. Saintly Brandon Hall wasn’t the only one who would see to it that she was taken care of no matter what. Whatever happened in the end between him and Addie, he would have made certain that she and Levi and the baby had everything they needed to get by.

  And wait a minute...

  What exactly was he feeling here?

  Pissed off.

  Yeah. That was it. He felt pissed off—angry at a dead man who’d done nothing but see to the future well-being of someone he cared about.

  That was pretty damn small of him.

  And it got worse. He was not only pissed off at Brandon Hall’s generosity; he’d actually been counting on Addie’s sketchy finances, at least a little, hadn’t he? He’d been counting on all he could offer her that she didn’t have, counting on her needing to turn to him for help whenever things got tight.

  He hadn’t admitted that to himself until right now because he’d never needed to admit it. Until right now, it had only been a simple fact: she didn’t have a lot of money and he had plenty and of course he would help her in any way he could.

  But now the truth came way too clear.

  She wasn’t going to need James to take care of her. Brandon Hall had left her enough that she could take care of herself and her family in style. As of today, Addie could say goodbye to worrying about how to make ends meet.

  Thanks to Brandon Hall and his millions, she would never want for anything again.

  Chapter Eleven

  Addie left the lawyer’s office with her copy of Brandon’s will and a check so big she felt kind of faint every time she looked at it. She sat in the passenger seat of James’s quad cab clutching the blue folder with the check paper-clipped inside it and wondered if this was all just a dream.

  “Let’s stop for lunch
and celebrate,” James offered before he started up the truck.

  “I couldn’t eat a bite. Not until this check is safely in my bank.”

  “Straight to the bank, then?”

  “Um, yes, if that’s all right? It’s Ames Bank and Trust.” Of which Dalton Ames, Clara’s husband, just happened to be president.

  “Dalton’s bank.” James echoed her thoughts.

  “Yes. And I would like to go to my own branch, the one in Justice Creek. It’s been our bank since PawPaw was young.”

  “That’s a lot of money...”

  “Oh, no kidding.” She thought of all those zeros again and tried not to hyperventilate. “So what? You have a suggestion?”

  He nodded. “Why don’t you let me call Dalton and he can tell us if it’s better to go to the main branch here in Denver for this—kind of give the bank a heads-up?”

  “That’s a good idea.” She gave him a grateful smile. “Yes, please. Call Dalton.”

  He used the car’s speakerphone to make the call. As it turned out, Dalton Ames was right there in Denver that day. He said he would meet them at the main branch.

  James drove them over there and Clara’s husband took them into his fancy office and personally put her giant check into savings for her. It didn’t take long. Dalton promised she’d have access to her money within a few days. She left with a handful of pamphlets offering her various investment opportunities.

  When they were back in the quad cab, she said, “Now. Let me take you to lunch. Pick the place. Money is no object.”

  “Big spender, huh?” he teased.

  “Oh, you bet. Steak? How about steak?”

  “I know just the place.”

  He took her to the legendary Buckhorn Exchange, where the red walls were covered in mounted big game, the tables had old-timey checked cloths and you could get not only prime aged beef, but also buffalo, elk and alligator tail. The Buckhorn Exchange had fabulous steaks and double-chocolate rocky road brownies for dessert and for the first time in her life, she didn’t even blink when she got a look at the check, just handed over her credit card and added a generous tip.

  On the way home, she started thinking about all those investment brochures from the bank. “James?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You told me once that you do asset protection.”

  “That’s right. I’m in business and family law.”

  “But I mean...that money I just put in the bank is one wonkin’ asset.”

  “It certainly is.”

  She glanced over at him. He was watching the road, his profile looking sterner, more serious than usual. “What’s the matter?”

  He turned and gave her a quick, warm smile before focusing on his driving again. “Not a thing.”

  Did she believe him? It seemed something had been bothering him. She decided not to pressure him and returned to the subject at hand. “Ahem. Will you help me to figure out the smart things to do with all the money? Will you be my lawyer for real? Advise me, you know, so I don’t mess up and lose it all?”

  He laughed then, a low, sexy sound that made her want to reach out and touch him—run her fingers up into his thick hair and wrap a possessive hand around the nape of his neck. “Addie, you’re much too frugal to go throwing your money away.”

  “But you hear about it all the time. How people who don’t have much get a windfall and they go kind of crazy and it’s all gone in the blink of an eye.”

  He looked her way again, his blue gaze steady. Calm. Oh, she did love that about him. That calm at the center of him, like a cool blue pond in some secret mountain glen. It always reassured her, made her feel that no matter how rough things could get, with James around, it would all work out in the end.

  Don’t leave me, she thought and tried not to let her yearning show on her face. Don’t ever go.

  But of course, he would go. And she would let him go. Gracefully. Without making any big scenes.

  “We’ll talk about it,” he said and put his attention back on the road. “Discuss possible investments and your comfort level with risk.”

  “Risk?” She wrinkled up her nose at the word. “James, I don’t like risk.”

  “Well, then, it will be pretty simple. Savings accounts, savings bonds, CDs, the kinds of investments that are very secure but pay small dividends.”

  “I don’t need big dividends and I like that word, secure.”

  “Okay, then. You can take your time about it. No need to rush into anything.”

  “There is one thing I keep thinking about.”

  “Say it.”

  “Well, I’m at three months now, with the baby. Riding horses from the second trimester on can be dangerous. So I’m thinking maybe it’s time I hired someone to help with the animals and to handle some of the chores around Red Hill.”

  “Addie Anne, you could get yourself an army of hired hands.”

  She grinned at him. “No, really. I think for now just one will do.”

  He drove her back to the ranch, dropped her off and then went on into town to check in at his office. Moose came running out to greet her. She dropped to a crouch and hugged him good and tight and whispered, “Oh, Moosey. We’re rich. Do you believe it?” The dog panted and wagged his tail as though the happy news pleased him no end. “Come on. Let’s go tell PawPaw.”

  But when she went inside and knocked on Levi’s door, he called out in his grouchiest voice, “Is the house on fire?”

  “No, PawPaw. I just want to—”

  “I don’t care what you want, Addie Anne. I want to be left alone.”

  “Well, fine. Be like that.” She’d tell the old meanie the big news later. As she turned from the door, it opened and Lola came out, closing it quietly behind her.

  Addie asked, “What’s put a bug in his butt, anyway?”

  Lola’s composed smile did not reach her eyes. “I told him this morning that Friday will be my last day taking care of him. He’s doing so well, Addie. Even his chest has finally stopped hurting. He can walk a good distance at a steady clip.” Addie knew Lola was right. Over the weekend, he’d helped her out in the garden. He’d been managing light chores for over a week now. “He’s eating well and off the pain meds,” said Lola. “He really doesn’t need a nurse anymore.”

  Levi’s bad attitude suddenly made perfect sense. “He’s upset that you’re leaving.”

  “He’s become...somewhat attached, that’s all.”

  Addie wanted to hug the older woman—and why shouldn’t she? She reached out. Lola didn’t turn away. She stepped forward and for a moment they held on tight. Addie felt the tears itching at the back of her throat. It was stacking up to be a pretty emotional day. “You know, I think I’ve become attached, too. I don’t want you to go, either.”

  Lola gave a shrug, the movement both sad and resigned. “I’ll miss you both. And that handsome husband of yours.” Moose, at Addie’s feet, let out a whine. Lola patted his head. “And you, too, Moosey. I’ll miss you, too.” She met Addie’s eyes again. “But that’s the nature of my job. Just when I feel as though I’m part of the family, it’s time to move on.”

  * * *

  Levi refused to come out of his room for the rest of the day. When James got home, Addie told him that Lola was leaving at the end of the week and that Levi was angry about it.

  They put the dinner on the table and then she had James go in and tell Levi and Lola that the food was ready. Addie expected her grandfather to go right on sulking, to refuse to come to dinner like a naughty five-year-old.

  But he came to the table.

  Too bad that when he got there, he made them all wish he’d just stayed in his room. He was awful. He ignored his meal. Folding his arms across his chest, he glared at Lola.

  Lola was amazing about it. She
smiled sweetly back at him and appeared to enjoy her trout, green beans and salad enormously. Addie guessed it was all an act, but still. She admired the nurse all the more for not giving her grandfather the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to her.

  Finally, when all that surly glaring didn’t work, Levi took his rudeness to a whole new level. “Give me that sweet smile all you want to, Lo, I know you’re scared.” Lo? PawPaw called Lola Lo? That was kind of...intimate. Addie zipped a glance at James. He looked as bewildered as she felt. Levi went on. “You aren’t really the heartless bitch you keep pretending to be.”

  Addie gasped. “PawPaw. What is the matter with you?”

  Before he could answer, Lola let out a cry, jumped to her feet and threw down her napkin. “That does it, Lee. That simply takes the cake.”

  Addie whipped her head toward James again and mouthed, Lee? Wide-eyed, James shook his head, his surprise a match for hers.

  PawPaw stared up at Lola, a hot smirk on his thin lips. “What? Don’t tell me. For once you’re actually going to admit how you feel?”

  Lola sucked in a hard breath. And then, her face flaming red, all her usual cool composure fled, she cried, “You petulant, spoiled old fool. I could...could... Oh, you just make me want to throw back my head and shout this house down!” And with that, she turned and fled through the family room.

  “Lo! Lo, you get back here!” Levi jumped to his feet, fast as he ever had before his heart attack. He took right off after her.

  Addie asked James, “What is going on?”

  “Hell if I know.”

  They got up simultaneously and trailed after Levi and Lola.

  From down the short hall to the master suite, Addie heard Lola cry, “No! No, Levi, this is wrong. It’s so unprofessional...”

  And her grandfather came right back with “You’re done, remember? You’re not my nurse anymore.”

  “But I—”

  “Shh, Lo. It’s all right. I know I’ve been an ass. But I couldn’t make you listen.”

  “Lee, I can’t—”

  “Yeah. Yeah, you can. Please don’t fight it anymore. I love you, sweetheart. And I promise you, we’re gonna make it work, gonna find the happiness we both deserve. Lo, it’s gonna be all right...”