by B. J Daniels
Pepper couldn’t hold back the laugh. “Enid?”
“Fine. If not Enid then definitely Brand and the others.”
“Oh, Virginia, must you always come back to this?” Behind her, Pepper heard Brand and Worth come up the hall. They were carrying their overnight bags. Apparently they were all leaving.
What surprised her was how hollow that made her feel. She didn’t want them to go. She realized how incongruous that was since she still believed one of them was an accomplice to murder.
“I’ll let you say goodbye to your brothers,” Pepper said and, cane tapping, went down the hall where she found Enid eavesdropping. She stopped next to the elderly housekeeper, who didn’t seem the least bit upset about being caught.
Even though she knew what would be said about her and how much it would hurt, Pepper stayed there by Enid to listen. “Why did she get us back here?” Virginia demanded in her shrill voice. “She really can’t believe that one of us had something to do with Trace’s death.”
“I don’t know,” Brand said and sighed. “Maybe she needs us.”
Worth swore. “A little late, don’t you think?”
“He’s right, Mother never needed anyone but Trace,” Virginia said, close to tears.
“I think you’re smart to leave,” Brand said, always the sensible one. “Being here just seems to bring back all those old resentments.”
Pepper could almost hear her daughter bristle.
“Don’t pretend I’m the only one who can’t forgive Mother.”
“Virginia, I really don’t want to get into this,” Brand said. “I have one son recovering from gunshot wounds and another in a coma. I’m much more concerned about the future than I am the past.”
“At least you have children,” Virginia spat.
In the silence that followed Pepper could hear what none of them could bring themselves to say. Pepper knew they were all thinking about the child Virginia had given birth to and lost.
“Virginia,” Brand said, clearly trying to be diplomatic. “You didn’t have anything to do with Trace’s—”
“Is that what you think? That I had something to do with killing him?” Virginia let out a laugh.
“You knew the woman who confessed to killing him.”
“So did you. So did Worth and Angus, not to mention Enid and Alfred. Who said it had to be one of us?”
“She’s right,” Worth spoke up. “Alfred might be dead, but Enid doesn’t appear to be going anywhere and any fool can see that something is going on between Enid and Mother. If I had to guess I’d say blackmail. I wouldn’t put it past Enid for an instant.”
Beside Pepper, Enid let out a snort and whispered, “I never liked that boy.”
“I’m sure it will all sort itself out,” Brand said. “Who says the woman didn’t lie about one of us being involved?”
“Oh, that is so like you, Brand,” Virginia snapped. “You always just put your head into the sand and pretend everything is fine. Sort itself out. In other words, you’re not going to do a damned thing, are you?”
“What would you like me to do? I can’t change Mother and I can’t change the past. What is it you want me to do, Virginia? Just tell me and I’ll do it.”
Virginia was crying again.
Pepper heard Worth and Brand start down the hall. She and Enid hurriedly took the servants’ stairs to the kitchen.
“Mother?” Brand called when they reached the front entry.
Pepper came out of the kitchen to tell her sons goodbye. Virginia joined them, sans suitcase. Apparently she’d changed her mind about leaving.
“Are you coming back for the wedding at Christmas?” Pepper asked them after she’d given her sons both awkward hugs.
Worth merely nodded, expressing what Pepper knew to be true of him. He would come back if the others did.
It was as if he didn’t have a mind of his own and never had. She sighed inwardly.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to have the wedding here?” Virginia asked. “I know McCall’s the sheriff and her fiancé is some kind of law enforcement, but they aren’t bulletproof and Winchester Ranch doesn’t seem to be the safest place.”
Pepper ignored her as she looked to Brand. The others would do whatever he did. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized just how much this meant to her to have them all here. Sentiment aside, there was still a murderer among them. If it was on her last dying breath, she would know which one it was.
“I’ll be here,” Brand said as if he had a bad feeling he’d better come home for Christmas this year.
RAINE HAD JUST PICKED UP her VW bug at the garage when Cordell drove up in his brother’s pickup. It was one of those Montana summer days, not a cloud in the brilliant blue sky, the sun bright and warm, the breeze scented with freshly mown grass.
She watched him from the shade of the building as he climbed out, still taken aback that this gorgeous man loved her.
Raine realized for the first time she wasn’t worried about the future. For sixteen years, she’d lived with the knowledge that there were people out there who would kill her if they knew who she really was. She hadn’t been able to forget for even a minute that she was Emily Frank, the victim of child abductors.
But as Cordell Winchester came toward her, she realized she was Raine Chandler, a woman who could finally dream of a happily ever after.
“Hi, beautiful,” Cordell said now as he took her in his arms and kissed her. He held her tight and she could tell he didn’t like even a temporary separation. But he had to take care of his brother and she had to discuss with Marias selling her half of their investigative business in California.
Last night, lying out on a blanket under the Montana midnight sky, Cordell had asked her to marry him. She’d told him it was too soon. He’d argued that some things you just knew for certain and this was something he just knew and more time together wouldn’t change his mind.
So she’d made him a deal. They would get married when Cyrus was able to be the best man at the wedding. Cordell’s eyes had filled with tears. He’d started to ask but what if Cyrus never—
Raine had stopped him. “That’s the deal,” she’d said. In the meantime, they would take care of business and see each other as often as they could.
“Promise me I’ll see you in Colorado soon,” Cordell said now as the kiss ended.
She gazed into his dark eyes, felt her heart fill to overflowing with love for this man, and whispered back, “I promise.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5673-0
TWELVE-GAUGE GUARDIAN
Copyright © 2010 by Barbara Heinlein
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†Whitehorse, Montana
†Whitehorse, Montana
†Whitehorse, Montana
†Whitehorse, Montana
†Whitehorse, Montana
†Whitehorse, Montana
†Whitehorse, Montana
*Whitehorse, Montan
a: The Corbetts
*Whitehorse, Montana: The Corbetts
*Whitehorse, Montana: The Corbetts
*Whitehorse, Montana: The Corbetts
*Whitehorse, Montana: The Corbetts
**Whitehorse, Montana: Winchester Ranch
**Whitehorse, Montana: Winchester Ranch
**Whitehorse, Montana: Winchester Ranch
