The Horseman's Heritage

by Jacki Bentley

  "I swear to God, Ashley, you have two seconds to give me the answer I want or...."

  Ashley was surprised to silence by the fierce look on his face.

  She almost laughed, but caught herself. Not a wise idea. He didn't look like a man should look when he proposed marriage.

  "One,” he began, counting.

  "Reese, this thick-headed pushiness of yours is what got us in this quagmire in the first place! ‘I won't have children with you,’ you said. Now you're saying, ‘Give me an answer now.’ Hmmh! Who the hell do you think you are?"

  That shocked him speechless a moment.

  "Ashley, I swear, if you don't give me the answer I want, I'll spend every damned dime I have to take Amanda, my child, away from you."

  Ashley gasped in shock.

  He would not go that far, would he? Ashley's anger flashed to a raging fire.

  "Okay, then, Rancher, you think you handle it? A bath every day, shop for her clothes ... feed her. Let her wake you up all night long.” Her voice wavered, tears blurring her vision for the second time in twenty-four hours. “Kiss and hug her goodnight every night.” She swiped at the tears with her hands.

  "Ash. Oh, God, I did not mean that. I didn't. I would not take our child away from you.” He held out his large hand in a placating gesture. “Come here. Please. I just want to fix everything."

  "You're making things worse instead,” she whispered, tears falling.

  "Honey...” he started again.

  "No...” the word was muffled around the lump in her throat. She managed to find her purse, her hand closed on its strap seconds before his larger one.

  She pulled free.

  That was the only move Reese made to stop her.

  With fear-induced insight, Reese damn well knew he'd pushed Ashley too far. He should've given her more time. Shouldn't have demanded. He watched her straighten her small shoulders and walk out the kitchen door. One day he would kidnap the woman and lock her up for the rest of her life. Hell, he could really turn into a damn stalker, if he weren't careful. Scared the hell out of him.

  "Ashley, wait a minute. It was just an empty threat, darlin'."

  She half turned toward him. “But you did say it."

  He knew what she meant. That he'd made the threat at all was hurtful. He dropped his gaze to the floor tiles, ashamed. He felt about an inch tall. His heart pounded. She was going to leave him.

  "Wait. Look, Ashley, do you have your set of SUV keys with you?"

  "What?” She turned once again to look at him, puzzled.

  He sighed, hating to have to ask this of her. “Your set of keys? I locked mine in the truck."

  "Why?"

  "An old college partying trick,” he smiled sheepishly. “I planned to get drunk, but I didn't plan to risk driving the truck into anyone's path.

  "I see,” she said, sniffing back the tears so she could find the set of keys in her purse.

  * * * *

  Ashley drove for a while, sorting things out in her mind. She was angry with Reese.

  Where did they go from here? She feared he could take Mandy away, in spite of his assurances he'd made the threat in anger and had quickly taken the words back.

  Her heart hurt. She wondered if she could she trust him in this. The man he'd become recently had morphed back to his more autocratic, alpha nature.

  She missed the softer man.

  When she walked in her house a few minutes later, Reese's family was eating breakfast.

  Reese stood at the window looking out toward the back yard. He didn't turn around.

  "Ashley and I are getting married Saturday as planned,” he stated, his voice cold and bleak, daring her to refute his bold claim.

  "Is that true, Ashley? Is that what you want?” his mother asked.

  Finally he turned around, and his eyes burned Ashley as he willed her to say something.

  "Yes, it's true,” she agreed.

  On some level, Reese was aware that the ‘yes’ was a delayed answer to his proposal. Relief cut through his frustrated anger. He felt damn sneaky, but he could breathe freely again. The first relaxed breath he'd taken this morning. He didn't deserve it. This beautiful, stubborn woman had led him on quite a chase.

  Her eyes promised retribution soon, but for now her polite façade was for his family.

  Or, hell, maybe she was responding to his threat to take Mandy back to Texas. She seemed so subdued. That was not what he wanted.

  * * * *

  Union church was beautiful on her wedding day, quiet and peaceful with its shining wooden boards and beams facing the sun, a contrast to the undercurrent of emotion that flowed between Ashley and her groom.

  Her family was here, as was Reese's. His brother and some of Reese's friends had flown up from Texas to share the day with them. His sister, Lori sat stiffly in the last pew, by the entry door, dressed in Goth black, her jewelry symbolic of the supernatural, her eyes haunted. Lori seemed to be on the alert, as if guarding them from harm. Ashley wasn't sure why she came to that conclusion.

  A few of Ashley's good friends and coworkers from Braxton also sprinkled through the crowd.

  The fragile truce between her and Reese held through the minister's solemnly spoken words, held until the kiss at the end of the beautiful ceremony.

  Reese's lips, stiff and hard, crushed Ashley's.

  For a moment, she imagined that strong emotion caused his roughness, but discarded the idea partly formed. She pushed a bit against his shoulders.

  Arrogantly, he controlled the kiss, taking everything and not giving a centimeter. The pure sexuality of it incongruous in the sanctuary.

  Angry, Ashley took a small, secretive nip from his sexy lower lip.

  "Ow,” he muttered. He pulled away and eyed her warily. His eyes reflected his surprise at her action. She saw arousal there in his dark look, as well.

  She held his gaze and whispered, “This is the beginning.” With that she boldly recaptured his lips with hers, coaxing a response.

  He brought his hands to her hair, caressing. Reese seemed less certain of himself now. Less in control. Good.

  She'd bet he had some notion of showing her that he was in control. Or some similar primitive male idea.

  He should know she would not follow him so meekly into this new adventure.

  Beside them, Clay acting as best man, cleared his throat in an obvious attempt to get their attention back to the wedding formality.

  "Do you mean to keep to the traditional wedding day words?” Reese demanded, for her ears only.

  Once again surprised, she watched him. “Of course. “I said, ‘I do', didn't I?” She turned toward their guests with a smile as if there were no power struggle between them.

  Then Ashley looked sideways under her lashes at her new husband. She hadn't premeditated taking control of the kiss just now. It happened. Perhaps she should apologize. But until his arrogant kiss, she'd been pretending it was all a dream wedding, as it should have been. The wedding she'd always wanted with this man. Then he'd kissed her in that rough, macho male way and she'd lost the rein on her temper.

  She eyed him with some sense of wariness and awe. He was magnificent in the black suit he wore. The fabric emphasized the width of his shoulders. Black added a look of mystery to his features. The stark whiteness of his shirt contrasted beautifully with his skin.

  "Wish we could skip the reception,” he said. His words sounded harsh and impatient but his smile was broad, all for show.

  "There is no need to stay longer than a token visit,” she offered.

  When they were together four years ago, they rarely argued, being far too civilized to fight. With Mandy around, these past few weeks had left little opportunity to even talk. But this wasn't the communicating Aunt Pelly had advised she do.

  Standing next to the sassy, beautiful woman, Reese counted himself damned lucky. She could've refused to share her child with him and sent his grouchy hide back to Texas. He knew her to be strong enough to say n
o to him from past experience.

  * * * *

  As the wedding celebration continued, Reese watched Ashley laugh at some corny joke Clay told her.

  He found himself wondering what Ashley would gain in this hasty marriage. She'd already faced the future with no husband and a child without her father's name and fared just fine. Those things didn't frighten her. Did she love him as much as he loved her? Oh, he loved her alright. He'd told himself a zillion times in the past years that he didn't love her anymore. But he'd faced the stark truth just now when the snappy little thing bit his lip and proceeded to take control of the kiss, blinding him with passion. If it were any other woman in the world, he'd have the confidence to ask her if she returned his feelings and damn the consequences. He hated insecurity. It was damn unmanly.

  He should ask her why she'd agreed to marry him anyway.

  Hell, with any other woman in the world it wouldn't matter so much.

  "Good to have you back in the family, Ashley,” Clay Caldwell said. “Dance with your new brother-in-law?"

  "Sure,” she agreed.

  As they danced, Clay said, “You're good for him."

  "I am?"

  "He looks ten years younger, even with that predatory snarl thing going there."

  She laughed at the apt description.

  "Big Brother needs you to soften his edges. Don't ever forget it. Try to hang onto that idea when he ticks you off so bad you can't see straight."

  She laughed. “Oh, I don't know about that. He left me alone a very long time.” She hadn't meant to reveal that much.

  "Yeah, he did. Stubborn as the meanest rodeo bull. But he finally came to his senses. That's all that matters in the end."

  "I certainly hope you're right."

  "Well, better not risk a second turn around the dance floor...” he said, laughing and escorted her back to her new husband.

  "Say, he told you about the Peacewatcher thing, right?"

  She laughed. “I've had fair warning."

  "You seem to take it well."

  "My family has similar stories of gifted individuals over the years."

  "Ah, I see. That makes everything make sense then."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I recently took some time to read the old Peacewatcher book. You two should read it, too. Might make your lives easier."

  With that cryptic pronouncement, he took her back to Reese. Lori was at his side. She held out a gift for Ashley. “This will keep you safe,” she said simply. Ashley opened the package and found a sterling silver cross.

  "Matters will be a bit rough for you two for a while. I love you and want you to remember you will get through this.” Lori's words sounded certain but her eyes were veiled with worry.

  "Thanks, Sis,” Reese said and hugged her close.

  When the siblings stepped apart, Ashley held her arms open for a hug, too. “I'll take care of him,” she whispered for Lori's ears only. Lori nodded and her expression brightened.

  * * * *

  "Where are we going?” Ashley asked as they crossed a bridge over the Olentangy River, then turned northward.

  She knew where she was, the orientation, but not the destination. She hadn't been in on the planning of this trip.

  No answer came for what seemed a long time. She just looked outward, watching the rural scenery give way to a major highway.

  "Mandy needs us close.” Her work also prevented a vacation honeymoon for now. Not to mention the issues unresolved between them.

  Suddenly, she recognized the route they were traveling, the same route they'd taken to reach the house that Reese and Mandy had found. The house she'd found him in a few days ago. For long minutes, Ashley watched the scenery pass by before he condescended to answer her simple and clearly worded question.

  "The house.” The words left him as though they'd escaped without his permission.

  She turned in her seat to face him.

  "There's nothing there, no heat, no phone—nothing. Nothing but a little food and the bedroom set we took over.” She spoke slowly, enunciating clearly as she did when explaining the complexities of life to Mandy.

  Her new husband's eyes left the road long enough to glare at her.

  Forcing her chin upward, she glared right back at him.

  In the early days of their acquaintance, he'd once told her he admired her surprising spunk. That he'd thought her timid at first. Ashley needed spunk right now more than she had the day the ski-masked intruder had appeared in her path at Braxton.

  "At least you can't complain the farmhouse was redecorated without consulting you."

  "Good. Fine with me. That decorator gal ruined your nice old ranch house in Texas, by the way."

  "Huh,” he said.

  "Keep that skinny, redheaded, old girlfriend of yours away from my new house.” Ashley almost clapped her hand to her mouth. She hoped he'd missed that last tidbit where she claimed his house as hers, too.

  His sharp eyes narrowed like a hawk spotting a chicken from high in the sky. The man never missed much in any negotiation.

  And that was exactly how Ashley saw this situation. A negotiation. A test of wills, battle lines drawn for the next few days, days alone without the outside world to act as a buffer between herself and the most stubborn male in the universe, a male who'd suddenly graduated from lover status to husband. A negotiation for how they would proceed with their lives.

  She suspected he had some archaic, preconceived notions for how things would work. Ashley certainly had some predetermined ideas of her own. Perhaps even some lofty expectations that would prove unrealistic. She'd held her dreams of love and marriage in the cotton wool dormancy too long. She required some power in the relationship if it was to work.

  "She wasn't a girlfriend,” he refuted.

  "She darned sure thought she would be,” she fired back.

  "Maybe,” he conceded.

  "Bet on it,” she said, using his words on him.

  "She knew about you. That I had a woman."

  "Yes, she did. But she saw me as no threat. Just a mousy, egghead scientist girl. A gnat to be swatted away.” She waved a hand.

  "Hah!” Reese laughed.

  "Is that what you think, too?” She crossed her arms at her chest in defense.

  "Of course I don't, darlin'."

  "She kept telling me how mismatched we were."

  "The hell she did. That was inexcusable. I'm sorry, Ash. I didn't know she overstepped her boundaries like that."

  Ashley shrugged as if it had not bothered her and turned her head back to the window and looked out into the growing darkness beyond the cool glass. She felt the warmth of a tear spill from her eye and roll down her cheek. She rubbed it away with the back of her hand. What had she expected? If they were an ordinary newly married couple, perhaps he would have stopped the car, take her in his arms and kiss her now.

  This was her wedding day, darn it, white satin gown, the smell of flowers, hopeful music and the comfort of family gathered thing.

  She glanced at Reese and found him concentrating on the road with serious intensity, his dark brows furrowed. She thought she saw a trace of guilt as his eyes turned for a moment from the road ahead, then back again.

  Was he regretting he'd pushed her into marriage so quickly? Maybe he should.

  But she'd fallen right in with his plans of her own will.

  * * * *

  The crisp, cold air of early fall filled the old house. The chill caused Reese to question his impulsive decision to bring his new wife here.

  He'd been angry with her, a deep, slow-burning anger, when he made the plans for their token honeymoon—for the benefit of family and not the traditional romantic reason. But he didn't want Ashley to be uncomfortable. And she was. Shivering, her small body shook with teeth-chattering tremors.

  "Cold?"

  She stared at him a moment.

  "Dumb question, huh?"

  "A little,” she admitted, grinning.

  He took
off his tux jacket and wrapped it around her slender shoulders.

  She gave him a polite smile, damn her.

  His stomach twisted with a soft feeling for her. God, he didn't want to love her. Not after she'd kept his precious daughter a secret from him for four damn years. He'd known after losing a son, he would not be entirely rational with a second child. He'd be even worse than a crazy mama hen now.

  Forcing himself to turn, he stalked out the door. Needed to find something to keep them both warm.

  Ashley sighed, watching Reese turn and stride off down the hallway to the stairs. She heard the back door close seconds later.

  "Men,” she said in disgust for the whole gender. She would've refused to accept his coat if she'd known he intended to go outside, darn it all.

  She headed for the bedroom with the big fireplace. The bay-windowed room where they had made love on the hard, polished floor, and where she'd found him and his whisky bottle a few days ago. They'd had a bedroom suite of furniture sent out since. An old, cherry wood set that had been in her family generations.

  She ran her fingers across the dresser top. She'd forgotten the detail of the workmanship, the almost other worldly carvings. Grandmother Wilson had used it until her death at ninety-two.

  Turning from her contemplation of the old bed set, she found some firewood for the fireplace stored in a discreet, built in firebox to the left side of the fireplace. Some wise former owner had left supplies for a fire. She set to work.

  * * * *

  Outside, Reese stormed around the old Amish-built barn that sat back behind the house looking for something, anything to burn to keep them warm. The workmanship of the old hand-hewn beams and the characteristic heart-shaped owl holes in the eve of the gable end wall were wasted on him tonight.

  After climbing the ladder to the loft, he found some bales of clean, bright wheat straw. The shining, smooth yellow stems were tightly bound by grass ties.

  But no firewood anywhere.

  What had he been thinking to forget warmth, the most basic necessity a man could provide his wife?

  When he returned to the house, to his surprise, he found Ashley had started a fire.

  The cozy crackling sound was as welcome as its warmth.