Man of Honor, A

by Tina Leonard

  She took her puppy from him. The concern in his voice was clear despite the angry tone.

  "I didn't mean to worry you. I left a note on the kitchen counter." More softly, she said, "I just needed to get away for a while."

  He studied her, his expression concerned, but he remained silent. That he didn't further press his point told her that he knew why she needed a moment away. Emotions were running hot between them, and if they weren't careful, the anger, fear and tension could boil out of control.

  Where it would lead, Tessa didn't think either of them was ready to find out.

  "What's this?" he asked quietly, his gaze reluctantly leaving Tessa. He moved toward the bassinet, and she felt sudden heat rushing into herface.

  "A gift from Nan for the baby."

  His gaze met hers and Tessa lowered her eyelids, a hundred different thoughts and emotions assailing her. The bassinet was the first visible herald of the expected infant - and it put Tessa's situation in concrete terms that could no longer be ignored.

  "Very pretty," he told Nan. "Although maybe too feminine for a boy."

  Nan laughed at him. "You sound like a father."

  Tessa started, but Cord smiled ruefully. "I sound like an uncle. It is my nephew."

  "Well, have no fear. Cord." Nan patted his shoulder. "White is for boys and girls, and when we know the sex, I intend to sew on blue or pink bows, whatever we find to be the case." "Might as well get started with the blue. Save you time when the little fellow arrives,"

  Cord stated, his tone decisive.

  "Cord!" Tessa was completely shocked by his insistence that the child would be a boy. She had never thought of it as anything more than a baby; she had shaken her head during the ultrasound when asked if she wanted to know the sex. Yet Cord sounded like an enthusiastic expectant father - which he wasn't.

  "It's probably a girl. And then Nan would have to take off the blue and start all over," she pointed out, perversely wanting to be at odds with his excitement for a boy.

  "I think blue is fine whichever sex." His gaze met Tessa's, softer than it had been earlier when they'd talked about Hunt. "I'm sure she or he will have your blue eyes, so it'll be a nice match. You look pretty in blue."

  She stared at him. The Cord of not an hour ago, angry and vengeful, might never have been. Yet she had glimpsed the shadow.

  And then she knew. She didn't want to talk about the baby in specific terms because she was caught between having Hunt's child and falling in love with Cord. It didn't matter how much he might look forward to the child; she simply couldn't make herself believe that he would really want to raise his brother's child. No doubt it had a lot to do with the fact that Hester had despised raising a child she hadn't wanted, a child of a man who had deserted her.

  The long-buried bitter memories made her shudder inside. The moment she'd felt secure with Cord, thought she knew him well enough to relax her wall of caution, he had changed on her.

  "I'm ready to walk back. Nan. Do you have the scissors you need?" She kept her gaze steady on Cord, determined not to let her guard down again. There was no way she'd make the same mistake twice of not knowing the depth of the man her heart wanted. Foolish heart.

  "Sure do." She cheerily went to a basket and selected a pair of sharp scissors. "I'm ready if you two are."

  Tessa walked past Cord into the hallway. She didn't wait for either of them to walk with her. He could say all the kind things he wanted about the color of her eyes or anything else, but her heart was encased in steel. For now, it was the only way she could survive.

  When she saw the sheriff standing in the field between the two houses, obviously waiting for them, she knew keeping her heart in steel was now a vital fact of her existence.

  "I was wondering if you could think of any reason someone would park a vehicle down by the creek that runs through the woods?" Sheriff Grimes asked.

  Cord frowned, his arm going around Tessa's shoulders. He'd seen her halt at the sheriff's question, her whole body tightening with returning fear.

  "No, I don't. I'd like to take a look at it, though."

  "Well, it's not there any longer. But it was there, and we got a good set of tire treads, thanks to the snow keeping the ground moist. I'm just wondering if it has anything to do with the trespassers you claimed squatted in your tree house."

  "I couldn't tell you." He met the sheriffs gaze, keeping his voice even and calm. The last thing he wanted was for Tessa to be frightened over old tire tracks.

  "Could be joyriding kids mud dogging I guess."

  "Didn't look like there was room for many 360s."

  "Kids sneaking a smoke, then."

  Sheriff Grimes scratched his head.

  "That would explain why the car was parked so far back from the road. Too far back to be seen, but that would also explain why someone used your tree house as a guest room. From there they could have seen the house, at least with binoculars, during the daytime."

  "I can't help you. Sheriff." He moved to get the women inside the house. "I've told you all I know."

  The sheriff followed them to the doorway. "I don't think so, Mr. Greer. I have a few questions for your, uh..Miss Draper."

  Tessa was under enough strain as it was. Cord knew the questions had to be answered if the colonel's killers were to be found, but he doubted the tenacious sheriff was up to the challenge of flushing out international assassins. He sighed, gesturing to the study inside the back door. "Come in."

  Tessa glanced at him a little wildly, the dark circles under her eyes clearly highlighted by the gray light coming through the large windows of his office. He shook his head, willing her to stay calm.

  "I'll just get some supper going," Nan said, excusing herself from the room.

  "Do you mind if I stay?" Cord asked.

  "Makes no difference to me."

  Tessa thanked him with her eyes. Cord nodded, trying to let her know everything was going to be fine.

  He hoped it was.

  "Miss Draper, it would help me if I knew when the last time you saw Hunt was."

  "July."

  "No time since? Have you had letters, phone calls?"

  She shook her head.

  "Sheriff, what would that matter? She said she hasn't seen my brother."

  "I just have to believe that someone knew he might be around or they wouldn't have sent a trained assassin to this neck of the woods. We don't have many of those running around in Crookseye."

  "With the military base nearby, we don't know what the hell we have," Cord said testily.

  "Am I to assume from your questioning that none of us are any longer under suspicion?"

  "For now." The sheriff leaned against a paneled wall. "Are you afraid. Miss Draper?"

  Tessa's expression was one of wary astonishment. "I certainly am not eager to end up like the colonel. "

  The sheriff nodded. "Your haircut looks nice."

  She frowned at him, not saying a word.

  "Did you cut your hair because you're afraid? And you wanted to look different? Quite a change, I'm thinking, when your hair was so pretty before. So...unique."

  "Why would I need to look different?" she demanded.

  "I'm only asking. Miss Draper. None of the pieces are really fitting together for me. Criminals hiding out in the woods, a military officer mysteriously dead, a missing brother whom nobody seems to know much about - except we know you've seen him recently enough for him to father your child."

  "Sheriff," Cord growled, "does this have a point?"

  "Yeah, I guess it does. I'm thinking to myself, I'd be afraid if I were Miss Draper. I'd probably go somewhere else until things cooled off. But she's living with the brother, which is strange enough, except that maybe there's some brotherly duty involved."

  "Sheriff, I'm still waiting to hear the point of all this," Cord reiterated. Tessa's face was ashen as she glanced at him.

  "I don't know." The sheriff scratched his head. "I think you folks are hiding something from me. Su
pposing it's the missing brother who was holed up in the woods, I ask myself, 'cause

  he's A.W.O.L.. With Miss Draper being here, I see he can still visit the mother and the child. So the colonel shows up and gets himself finished off by an assailant - and now I'm starting to wonder about the brother. Maybe he didn't want to be found by the military. And maybe

  that's why you sawed and burned up the tree house, so there'd be no trace. No fingerprints. Nada. "

  "You are so far off," Cord said through a clenched jaw, "that you might as well be on another planet. That was my brother's mentor who died, a man who shaped much of what he is, which is a good man. He loved Tessa, but they broke up and she hasn't seen him since, so any further questions on that subject are a complete waste of time."

  "If he's such a good man, why isn't he stepping up to be the father of his child? Or is he and you're just not saying?"

  Tessa stared at him. "I have not seen him. He doesn't know about the baby because I have no way of getting word to him. As Cord said, you are way off base. And, Sheriff," she finished softly, " I'm just as afraid that your bungling may endanger me as anything else. Should you stumble on something concrete, please don't hesitate to let me know." She tossed a glance at Cord. "I'm going to get some cooking lessons from Nan."

  She left the room, her face drawn and her mouth taut. Cord shook his head.

  "I've got to agree with her. You're not making us feel any safer. Isn't that your sworn duty, to protect and serve?"

  The sheriffs eyes crackled with sarcasm.

  "Somebody around here is not telling the truth, Mr. Greer, which makes my job damn difficult. The way it looks to me, if the colonel didn't come out here to meet up with your brother, he came out here to get your help. And got helped to his grave instead."

  "Can't help you do your job, Sheriff."

  "Forgive me if I say that I suspect you of being less than candid." The sheriff put his hat on his head. "Which leads me to think you're not that worried about the colonel's

  killer being found. Next time I talk to you, I have a good idea it will be at the police station."

  Tessa hovered in the hall, listening to the sheriff question Cord and Cord's terse answers. Her heart beat hard, fast. If she'd ever thought she was afraid before, the sheriffs visit brought the taste of fear fully to her senses. The question about her haircut was startling

  and bizarre. Not once had she thought about disguising herself. But now that the sheriff had asked about it, a possible way out of their predicament leaped into her mind. She and Cord needed a disguise.

  Chapter Thirteen

  "Supper!" Nan called from the kitchen.

  Tessa took a deep breath. The three of them seated themselves at the dinner table to eat the fried chicken Nan had prepared.

  Tessa hesitated, her stomach too tight to eat. A disguise, a cover, would be protection - but could she make herself suggest it to Cord?

  There was danger all around, but mostly in her heart.

  The stereo played in the background, set to a country-and-western station, loud enough to cover the quiet conversation at the dinner table. She knew Cord wanted to be part of her baby's life; as his wife, she could refuse to reveal what Cord had told her about Hunt's

  earlier visit. It would protect Cord and Hunt and save her baby from the humiliation of bearing only his mother's last name.

  She took the plunge. "We need just as much protection from the law as we do from those thugs who might still be lurking nearby," she told Cord.

  "Matrimonial subterfuge would be a disguise of a different kind. I'm very afraid of the sheriff. I'm afraid he'll lock you up on some bogus charge - and then God only knows what might happen.”

  Cord's fork paused in midair. His eyes focused on her, intense and wary.

  "Matrimonial subterfuge?"

  "Yes." She swallowed, suddenly more nervous than ever. Her stomach rolled and knotted, so she put down her fork, any remaining appetite shot. She had to convince him that her plan was a serious option to consider. And maybe their only option.

  "A matrimonial subterfuge would ensure that legally I would never have to reveal anything that would implicate you. The sheriff is getting close. He's sure Hunt has been around." She glanced at Nan with sudden dismay, realizing she'd just made Nan an accessory with her

  slip.

  "Damn," Nan said instantly, reaching to pat her ear with her palm. "My hearing aid just went out again. If you folks will excuse me, I think I'll go out on the back porch and have a smoke."

  Tessa sent Nan a grateful look for understanding their need for privacy. After she left the room, Tessa looked at Cord for his reaction.

  "I'm assuming you're suggesting we remain platonic."

  Tessa nodded, her heartbeat thundering in her throat. She couldn't get any closer to Cord emotionally than she already was. Marriage would be a stopgap measure in the rapidly growing problems they faced. But Cord's sudden lust for vengeance worried her, too. As did the light contractions she'd been experiencing recently, which had intensified

  during the past few days. She'd chalked it up to the fear and uncertainty engulfing her, but she truly believed that if the baby stayed inside her for another month, it would be a miracle.

  Cord studied this suddenly calm, determined woman. She was pale and yet seemed utterly sure of what she was proposing.

  "This maneuver would be to keep the law from questioning you about what I know about Hunt?"

  "I think it would be best for him. And for you. Ultimately, then, for my child and me."

  He admired her continuing loyalty to Hunt, but it also stirred jealousy in a secret cavern in his soul he didn't want to investigate.

  "I'm afraid that the next cockamamy theory the sheriff will offer is that you killed the colonel because you were trying to protect Hunt for some reason."

  His anger at the situation rose quickly to the surface. "Ridiculous."

  "The sheriff is a loose cannon. What do you do when there's a loose cannon around? You take cover."

  He drummed the table. "And you? Is the only benefit to you my last name?"

  "I'm not sure," she said softly, her eyes dimming. "I think there's much more than that."

  His heart beat rapidly, bringing pain to his chest. He could never tell her the depth of his feelings for her, especially not while she acted half-scared of him now. There was a definite bridge she'd burned between them to keep him from crossing into her life. But he wanted her. And the wanting went far deeper than matrimonial camouflage.

  "There's a huge hole in this plan. I don't think I can be married to you and not ever want marital relations. I can be a father to your child, I can give you my name, I can emotionally and financially support you, but there's no way I could live under the same roof with you as husband and wife and not touch you. But thanks for the offer.

  I'm just not that much of a hero. Although I do appreciate your trying to do the honorable thing by Hunt and me." His mouth twisted with a grim smile. "Once you didn't want to have the honorable thing done by you. Now I understand how you felt."

  He saw her swallow nervously. The idea of being in a physical relationship with him was clearly something either she couldn't, or wouldn't, handle. Forcing her to suffer wasn't his idea of how to treat a woman.

  Pushing his chair back from the table. Cord nodded at her.

  "No doubt there's a better way to bluff the sheriff than what you're suggesting."

  She folded her hands in her lap, her full, pretty lips unsmiling. Cord would have given anything to have her face light up with one of her heart-stealing smiles.

  "I'm only suggesting you protect me so that I never have to contradict anything you say. You don't know how far the sheriff is determined to go to make you admit what he already suspects. Until his mind is turned in another direction, he's going to stay focused on you." She searched his face with unblinking perusal. "And I'm suggesting you protect me by giving my child a father and a name. I think this is a fair trade."
/>
  Maybe it was. It just wasn't the way he wanted her. And he didn't know if he could settle for less.

  "I'm going down to the barn," he said abruptly. "Since it's dark, I wish you'd stay in the house with Nan and Ellie."

  She reached out to touch his forearm and something like lightning

  sizzled across his consciousness. "Cord, I couldn't stand it if you went to jail for hampering an investigation. The sheriff worries me. Really worries me."

  Maybe Tessa was thinking straighter than he was. Maybe her idea to outwit Grimes was a good one. His pride stood in the way of his seeing clearly because he so badly wished Tessa would see him as a real husband, a lover, a friend.

  But at least you'd have her, an eager inner voice prompted. Under your roof for good is a step closer to having her forever. It wasn't heroic. It was wrong to take advantage of a woman in such a stressful situation. Tessa was definitely under stress. They all were. And the predicament facing them wasn't going away any time soon.

  "I feel like I'm about to step on a land mine the sheriff is planting," Tessa whispered.

  "Eventually, he's going to compare our stories and it won't look good for any of us."

  His heart heavy, he jammed on his black Stetson, then pulled on shearling-lined gloves and a jacket. He didn't want to do it. The hell he'd been living in - wanting Tessa and not having a chance of her ever being his - would ignite the burning to a roaring inferno inside him.

  Yet the other actors in the drama were playing very rough. His soul shattering, he admitted it was time to put aside what couldn't be and concentrate on keeping Tessa safe.

  "I'll drive you to Doc McPherson's tomorrow," he said, his voice resigned. "And then we'll go to the courthouse for a license."

  "We won't be able to marry for seventy-two hours. We need to move more quickly."

  He stared at her, the ground falling away from his boots. "What are you suggesting?"

  "A minute is an hour during an investigation. In that amount of time, a lot could change for the worse. We need to get out of the sheriff’s pocket. I suggest we cross the border into Mexico and get married there."