Ramsey took a sip of coffee. “I take it you’re serious about Pam Novak.”
Dillon smiled as he grabbed his coat off the rack. “Yes, and I intend to marry her.”
Dillon did get stuck at the Denver airport due to the snowstorm, and it was noon the next day before he arrived in Gamble. He was upset that he still hadn’t been able to reach Pam. He hadn’t spoken to her since last Friday and here it was Friday again.
Once he arrived in Gamble he went straight to Lester Gadling’s office, deciding to let the man explain things before going to see Pam to let her know what he’d learned. He got to Gadling’s office only to discover he was out to lunch, so Dillon waited.
It was close to three o’clock before Gadling returned and, when the secretary told him Dillon had been waiting for him, he looked at him nervously before asking if he had an appointment.
“No, I don’t, but I need to talk to you about Sam Novak.”
“What about Sam Novak?”
Dillon didn’t like the fact the secretary was sitting there all ears. “I prefer talking to you about this privately,” he said.
Gadling seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he asked, “And what relation are you to the Novak family?”
“A friend.”
Moments later Dillon followed Gadling into his office and as soon as the door closed behind them, the lawyer asked nervously, “And what is it you want to know?”
Dillon didn’t hesitate. “I want to know why you’ve led Pam to believe she owes a balance on her mortgage. I know she doesn’t, so you better have a good answer for me, Mr. Gadling. And I want to know what happened to those payments she’s been making to you every month.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” the man said.
Dillon gave him the smile that all his family members knew meant business. “No, you don’t have to tell me anything. I can always call the state attorney’s office to let them know about attorney fraud.”
That got Gadling’s attention. He went around his desk and to Dillon’s surprise pulled out a bottle of scotch, filled a shot glass and gulped the liquid down. “I didn’t want to lie. It was Fletcher Mallard’s idea. I am being blackmailed.”
Dillon stared at the man for a long time and then sat in the chair in front of Gadling’s desk. “I think you need to start at the beginning.”
The man began talking and Dillon listened. Every so often Dillon’s hands would clench into fists at how Mallard had manipulated both Gadling and Pam to get what he wanted. Pam actually thought Fletcher Mallard had come to her rescue, not knowing he had orchestrated the entire situation.
“So, there you have it. Mallard was so obsessed with marrying Pamela Novak he would have done anything to have her at his mercy.”
Dillon’s jaw twitched. “I’m going over to the Novaks’ and bringing Pam back here. I want you to tell her everything that you’ve told me.”
The man seemed surprised at his request. “That might be hard to do.”
Dillon leaned forward. He refused to accept any excuse from the man. “And just why might that be hard, Gadling?”
“Because she and Mallard are getting married today. In fact, the wedding is probably taking place as we speak.”
Eleven
“P lease, Pammie, you don’t have to marry him,” Paige said with tears in her eyes.
“And why didn’t you want to talk to Dillon when he called this week?” Nadia asked. “Why couldn’t we pick up the phone when caller ID said it was him?”
Pam closed her eyes and looked across the room at Jill who hadn’t said anything but whose eyes were narrowed. She then looked at Iris who looked just as upset. “Listen you guys, this is my wedding day.”
She then turned her attention to Paige. “And I do have to marry him. You don’t understand now but one day you will.
“The reason I didn’t want to talk to Dillon this week is rather complicated, but I had my reasons,” she said to Nadia.
She ignored Jill’s undignified snort. “Come on, Reverend Atwater just arrived and we need to get this over with.”
Pam glanced over at Iris, glad her friend had kept her mouth shut for once. Iris had been giving Pam an earful all morning. “Well, how do I look?” Pam twirled around the middle of the room in the new dress she had bought earlier in the week.
“Too damn good for that asshole,” Iris said under her breath; however, Pam’s sisters heard the comment. Pam frowned when her sisters fought to hold back their giggles.
“Okay, ladies, let’s go,” she said to everyone. “The minister is waiting.”
Dillon didn’t give a damn if he was going over the speed limit as he raced his rented car to the Novaks’ place. Gadling’s news that a wedding was going on and that Pam was the bride had sent him running to his car and tearing out of town at breakneck speed. It was a wonder the sheriff was not on his tail.
He had tried calling Pam before leaving Gadling’s office but evidently someone had taken the damn phone off the hook.
He let out a deep breath when he finally pulled into her driveway and saw three cars parked in front of the house. He recognized the one belonging to Mallard but not the other two.
He had barely switched off the ignition before he was opening the car door and leaping out. At this point he cared less if he was late and she had already married Mallard. If that was the case then she would become a kidnapped bride, a feat a Westmoreland was gifted in crafting.
The minister’s words floated over Pam, but her thoughts were on Paige. That morning, Pam had found her baby sister sitting on the side of the house crying. Paige was unhappy because today Pam would be marrying Fetcher Mallard. And Pam knew her other two sisters felt the same way.
Her father’s death had left all three of her sisters in her care and at that very minute Pam realized their happiness meant more to her than anything else. And if marrying Fletcher was causing them this much distress then there was no way she could go through with it.
Reverend Atwater’s words then rang out. “If any man can show just cause why these two people shouldn’t lawfully wed, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”
She opened her mouth to put an end to the ceremony, knowing she couldn’t let it continue, when a male voice boomed from the doorway of her home, loud and clear. “I can show just cause!”
Pam swung around and her heart literally jumped in her chest when she saw Dillon standing there with a fierce frown on his face. He was moving quickly toward her.
“What is he doing here?” Fletcher asked loudly through clenched teeth.
“Looks like he’s coming for Pammie,” Paige said smartly with a huge smile on her face, clapping her hands with glee.
Pam could only stare at Dillon, too shocked to move or say anything.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Fletcher said, coming to stand in front of Pam, blocking Dillon’s way.
A smile curved Dillon lips when he looked down at Fletcher. “What does it look like? I’m stopping the wedding. So move aside, I need to talk to Pam.”
“I’m not moving,” Fletcher snapped.
The curve in Dillon’s lips widened. “I have no problem in moving you, trust me.”
“Gentlemen, please,” the minister was saying.
It was then that Pam found her voice. She moved around Fletcher to stand in front of Dillon. She met his gaze. “Dillon, what are you doing here?”
She saw the intense look in his eyes. “I asked you to trust me to come up with an alternative.”
Pam’s eyes narrowed. “I did until I called Sunday night and she answered the phone.”
He raised a confused brow. “She who?”
“You tell me.”
“Look, Westmoreland, I don’t know why you’re here but you’re interrupting our wedding,” Fletcher said in an irritated tone.
Dillon shifted his gaze from Pam to Fletcher and glared at the man. “There won’t be a wedding.” He then glanced back over at Pam and said,
“We need to talk privately.”
Pam stared at him for a moment and then took a step back. “No, we don’t.”
“If she doesn’t want to talk to you, I do,” Iris said. When Dillon glanced over at her, Iris smiled. “I’m Iris, Pam’s best friend.”
When Pam shot her best friend a glare, Iris shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, what can I say? He’s a cutie.”
Dillon shifted his gaze back to Pam. “We do need to talk, Pam,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you don’t want to talk in private then I can very well say what I want right here. Fletcher and Lester Gadling lied to you. There is no balance owed on this house or land. Your father did have the necessary insurance to pay it off. Fletcher was blackmailing Gadling to claim otherwise. And those monthly payments you made on the loan were going to Mallard.”
“That’s a lie!” Fletcher said loudly. “How dare you come here spouting lies!”
“It is not a lie. Pam can verify everything I’ve said with Gadling. You weren’t counting on her finding out the truth until after the two of you were already married, and by then you were hoping she would be so beholden to you that it wouldn’t matter.”
Pam turned to Fletcher, shocked at Dillon’s allegations. “Is that true, Fletcher?”
Fletcher reached out and grabbed her hand. “Pamela, sweetheart. Please understand. I did it to give you all the things you deserve. I had to get you to marry me some way.”
She angrily shook his hand off her and took a step back. The expression on her face was one of total rage. “You deliberately lied to me. Just to get me to marry you?”
“Yes, but—”
“Please leave, Fletcher, and don’t come back.”
He looked at her and then shifted his gaze to Dillon before moving it back to Pam. “Don’t hold out for Westmoreland to marry you, if that’s what you’re thinking about doing,” he snarled. “Remember that article I showed you? The one from the Denver Post. He already has a woman back in Denver, so I’m the best catch around these parts. When you want to renew our relationship, call me.” He then turned and angrily stalked out of the house.
“Pam, we need to talk,” Dillon said once the door had closed behind Fletcher.
She glanced up at him and narrowed her gaze. Placing her arms across her own chest, she said, “No.”
His lips curved into a dimpled yet predatory smile and Pam had the good sense to step back. But she wasn’t quick enough. Dillon reached out and swept her off her feet and into his arms.
“Put me down, Dillon!”
He gazed down into her angry face. “No. You are going to listen to what I have to say.”
He then glanced at the minister’s shocked expression before smiling at Pam’s sisters and Iris. “Excuse us for a moment. We need to discuss something in private.”
Ignoring Pam’s struggles, he headed toward the kitchen and closed the door behind them.
“Put me down, Dillon!”
“Certainly,” he said, sitting down in a chair and keeping her pinned to his lap. He looked down at her. “It seems I need to get a few things straight. First, that picture Fletcher was referring to that was in the Denver Post was about a date I had agreed to months ago. The woman, Belinda Harper, is the sheriff’s sister. I owed him a favor for all the times he’s helped me keep Bane out of jail.”
When she didn’t say anything, just continued to glare at him, he continued. “And the woman who answered my phone Sunday night was my cousin Megan. She stayed over at my place until Monday. In fact, I left her there to catch my flight into Laramie to check on things at Gloversville Bank.”
Now, that got her attention. He watched as she lifted a brow. “She’s your cousin?”
“Yes, I told you I have three female younger cousins. Megan, Gemma and Bailey.”
He paused and added, “I would have gotten back to Gamble sooner, but we had trouble with Bane again, which I had to return to Denver to take care of. And then there was that blasted snowstorm that hit Denver. I got stuck at the airport.”
Pam held his gaze. “You were trying to get back?” she asked as if still uncertain.
“Just as soon as I could. I made you a promise that I intended to keep. And then once I discovered the loan was actually paid off, I tried to call several times.”
She glanced away, to look out of her secret window, before returning her gaze to his. “I didn’t have anything to say to you. I wouldn’t let my sisters answer your call.”
“Because you thought I was involved with someone else.” He’d made a statement rather than asked a question.
“Yes.”
“And why did the thought of another woman bother you, Pam?”
She shrugged the feminine shoulders he loved so much. “It just did.”
He leaned in closer. “Do you know what I think?” Before she could respond, he said, “I think it bothered you because you realized something. Those times that we made love, I made you mine. And you know something else you might as well go ahead and accept?”
“What?” she asked tersely.
“That I love you.”
She blinked. “You love me?”
“Very much. I fell in love with you the moment I set eyes on you. And I want to marry you for all the right reasons. I want us, the Westmorelands and the Novaks, to be a family.”
She hesitated, searched his gaze for the truth in his words. He could tell from her expression the moment she found them. A smile touched her lips. “I think Jay and Raphel would have liked that.”
“So will you marry me? And I might as well warn you, marrying me means getting fourteen others.”
She grinned. “I don’t mind because marrying me means you’ll get four. Oh, and there’s Iris. She’s like my sister.”
A deep smile touched his lips. “The more the merrier. And I might as well warn you about my fifteen Atlanta Westmoreland cousins.”
“Like you said, the more the merrier,” she said, shifting in his embrace to wrap her arms around his neck. “I love you, too.”
He leaned in closer as his gaze zeroed in on her lips. He kissed her there, slowly at first, then a little more hungrily. And when his tongue began dueling with hers, he almost forgot where the two of them were. He pulled away from her mouth and stood with her in his arms. He then placed her on her feet.
“I think we need to let everyone know there will be a wedding after all, but not today. We will set a date when we can get all the Westmorelands in one place.”
He then leaned in closer to whisper, “I’m staying at the hotel in Rosebud tonight. Do you want to come spend some time with me later?”
A satisfied smile touched her lips. “Umm, I would love to. You give. I take. No regrets.”
He chuckled as he pulled her into his arms. “Yes. No regrets.”
Epilogue
P am glanced down at her wedding ring. It looked perfect on her hand. She then glanced up at her husband of ten minutes and smiled before looking around the huge, beautifully decorated ballroom at the Denver hotel. She and Dillon had decided to have a Christmas wedding and everything had turned out perfectly.
Her sisters were talking to some of Dillon’s brothers and cousins and seemed to be in a very happy and festive mood. She couldn’t yet distinguish which were Dillon’s brothers and which ones were his cousins, since they all looked a lot alike. Even those who had traveled all the way from Atlanta. He had introduced everyone, but she was still a little fuzzy on names and faces.
And yet she had become immediate friends with Megan, Gemma and Bailey. They simply adored their oldest cousin and let her know they were more than pleased with the woman he had chosen as his wife. And then there were the wives of the Atlanta Westmorelands, with whom she was forming lasting friendships. Last night during the rehearsal dinner she had held in her arms the newest member of the Westmoreland clan, four-month-old Jaren.
There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Dillon’s cousin Jared Westmoreland and his wife, Dana, were proud of t
heir beautiful baby girl. While holding the baby Pam had glanced up and met Dillon’s gaze, and from the look he’d given her, she had a feeling that he wasn’t planning on wasting any time giving her a child of her own to hold.
“Ready for our first dance, Mrs. Westmoreland?” Dillon asked, whirling her around to face him, and bringing her thoughts back to the present.
She laughed. “As ready as I’ll ever be, Mr. Westmoreland.”
And then he pulled her into his arms as they glided around the dance floor. Her sisters were beaming happily and that made her feel good. They had been overjoyed to hear about her wedding plans. She and Dillon had wanted a small affair but with all those Westmorelands that was impossible.
They would live in Gamble until the end of the school year, and then once Jill left for college, Pam and her sisters would move into Dillon’s home in Denver. Paige and Nadia didn’t have any problems with moving and looked forward to making new friends. The house in Gamble would be a second home for them. Pam would be turning the day-to-day operations of the drama academy over to the very capable hands of Cindy Ruffin.
After a few moments a deep male voice said, “May I cut in?”
Pam glanced up into the face of the one cousin she remembered well, because he was a nationally known motorcycle-racing star, Thorn Westmoreland.
“Just for now,” Dillon said jokingly, handing her over to his cousin. After Thorn, she remained on the dance floor through several more songs as each of Dillon’s male cousins got a chance to twirl her around.
Finally, she found herself back in her husband’s arms for a slow number. They would be catching a plane later that day to Miami, where they would set sail on a cruise to the Bahamas.
He pulled her tight into his arms and whispered, “At last,” before lowering his head and latching on to her mouth, not caring that they had a ballroom filled with guests. When he finally released her mouth, she couldn’t help but chuckle throatily. “That was naughty.”
“No, sweetheart,” he said, brushing his knuckles gently against her cheek. “That was this Westmoreland’s way. Get used to it.”
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