The Bachelor Takes a Wife

by Jackie Merritt

  Laura eventually calmed down, got control of her emotions and began speaking. “I had a crush on Sebastian Wescott for years and years. He never knew I was alive, but I still fantasized about him. I know it was silly, but I couldn’t help myself.” Laura sighed. “Then about six months ago his half brother, Dorian Brady, came to Royal. Do you know Sebastian and Dorian?”

  “I’ve met them, yes.” Dorian Brady? That man who had insisted on an introduction at the ball? “Please go on.”

  “Dorian’s very handsome with his chestnut brown hair and silver-gray eyes. He began paying attention to me, and I was flattered. I mean, he looked so much like Sebastian and I…I guess I was a fool for falling for his line…but he was so charming and I was so lonely and frustrated over Sebastian never noticing me. I began seeing Dorian. For a while it was nice between us, but then one night he told me that he was going to come into the diner quite late. He asked me to seat him in a back booth, bring him some food and then go about my business. He…he slipped out the back door, unnoticed by anyone else in the place, and…and I think he must have killed Mr. Chambers. He made me swear to tell anyone who asked that he’d never left the diner, and I’ve done that, Andrea. I’ve lied to the police and to Sebastian’s friends who keep asking me.”

  Andrea whispered, “Are you sure he did it?”

  “I’m pretty sure. He’s got a terrible temper. He’s a dangerous man, and…and I’m scared to death of him.”

  Andrea was so unnerved she could barely think. But one question suddenly formed clear as glass in her stunned brain. “Sebastian’s friends?” she repeated slowly, and then added, “Who are?”

  “Members of the Cattleman’s Club. It’s a very close-knit society. They made Dorian a member, so I can’t say anything to them, because then he’d know!”

  Keith was involved in that investigation, she knew it now. It was the reason he’d been so concerned about her having anything to do with Laura.

  It hurt to learn there were facets to Keith she knew nothing about; she’d been so positive of knowing Keith through and through now. But this secret involvement, this secret society wearing the face of an ordinary club for men…he could have told her about it, couldn’t he? Didn’t he trust her?

  “Why…why would Dorian kill Eric?” Andrea asked in a choked voice. “Did he tell you that?”

  “He’s rambled on about it several times, but I kind of pieced it together for myself. Mr. Chambers was an accountant at Wescott Oil. Dorian said he had Mr. Chambers in his back pocket. I think Dorian talked him into accessing some computer accounts and moving money around to make it look like Sebastian was stealing from the company. I know Dorian was trying to get Sebastian in trouble. He’s told me often enough how he resents Sebastian because he was never acknowledged by their father and Sebastian was the apple of Jack Wescott’s eye. I think Eric Chambers threatened to go to Sebastian because Dorian was furious with him.”

  “I see,” Andrea murmured, and then made a decision. “Laura, I hate saying this but you might be in terrible danger. If Dorian killed Eric then he could be planning the same fate for you.”

  “I know. I’ve been half-crazy ever since it happened.” Laura’s eyes filled again. “Andrea, I didn’t know Dorian was planning murder that night. I thought he was merely going to do something to get back at Sebastian.”

  “And you couldn’t help resenting Sebastian because he never noticed you as a woman.”

  “It was so stupid.”

  “Well, we’re not always sensible and smart, are we? Laura, do you want my advice?”

  “Yes. I…I’m afraid to go to the police on my own.”

  “You need a good lawyer. I’m going to call one and set up a meeting for you.”

  Laura looked downcast, but she nodded. “All right.”

  Andrea left the kitchen and hurried to the den, where she looked up a telephone number and dialed it. In minutes she had permission to bring Laura to the lawyer’s office immediately. She put down the phone without calling Keith.

  Returning to the kitchen, she picked up her purse from the counter and said, “Let’s go, Laura. You need to get this awful mess straightened out, once and for all.”

  Laura got to her feet. “Do you think I’ll have to go to jail?”

  “I don’t know. I hope not, but I simply do not know. Do you still want to see that lawyer?”

  Laura nodded. “I have to do something. I can’t live like this anymore. Let’s go.”

  Andrea was back home in thirty minutes. She’d left Laura in capable, sympathetic hands, and now she knew she should talk to Keith and let him know that she didn’t like being deliberately left out of what appeared to be an important part of his life. Yes, he was a businessman, but he was also a…a what? A private investigator, a soldier of fortune, damn it, what?

  She paced and stewed and shed a few tears and asked herself how she could ever trust him again. And she’d just learned to trust him! Did he love her or didn’t he? After this it was very easy to think that his “in love” behavior was an act to gain possession of his child.

  She had to call him. There was too much bottled up inside her to go on like this. She punched out his cell number and he answered on the first ring again.

  “Are you okay?” he asked right out of the starting gate.

  She got right to the heart of it. “Keith, are you involved in the investigation of Eric Chamber’s murder?”

  Keith’s heart sank. “Andy, where are you?”

  “Home. Alone.” She quickly and in a razor-sharp voice related what had taken place with Laura. “I’m not very happy right now, Keith. You’ve been lying to me.”

  “No, honey, no! I never lied, I just omitted some things because of a vow of silence.”

  “A vow of silence! What in hell is that club, a branch of the CIA?”

  “I swear I was going to tell you everything after we were married.”

  “Meaning I’m not trustworthy now?”

  “Andy, please don’t take it like that. I was just trying to do what was best for all concerned.”

  “Well, I don’t mind admitting that I’m a little disappointed in you, Keith. Oh, my God, what’s that noise?”

  “Andrea, I hear it. What is it?”

  “I think…it sounded like shattering glass! Keith, I think someone’s in the house! I didn’t set the alarm when I got home!”

  “Get out of the house, now! I’m on my way!” The phone went dead. Andrea had hung up, or someone had hung up for her. “Someone’s in Andrea’s house! It’s probably Dorian!” he yelled as he slammed down the phone.

  Everyone jumped up and followed him outside, where they piled into cars and left the club’s parking lot with their tires squealing. Keith drove with a murderous rage pumping adrenaline through his system. Somehow he’d gotten ahead of the pack in his SUV, though they weren’t far behind him. But he increased the distance by skidding around corners and driving like a maniac, swearing he would kill Dorian if he had harmed Andrea.

  Andrea found herself looking down the barrel of a gun. It was in the right hand of Dorian Brady. He’d been on Laura’s trail all day, and he’d figured out that she’d told Andrea everything. Well, if he thought she was going to weep and whimper, he had another thought coming.

  “You can’t kill the whole town, Dorian,” she said in the steadiest voice she could manage. “Laura is talking to a lawyer right now, and then he will talk to the police and it will go on and on, ad infinitum. Your goose is cooked, face it.”

  “You meddling busybody,” he hissed. “Forever passing out cards with your phone number so women who deserve exactly what they’re getting from men can call you and lap up your sickeningly sweet sympathy.”

  “Oh, you’re going straight to the penitentiary, mister, and that’s what you deserve!”

  “Not before I make sure you never ruin another man’s life, you bitch!” Dorian straightened his right arm and took aim, and Andrea shut her eyes, for she could already feel the red-h
ot bullet ripping through her flesh.

  Only, instead of a gunshot, she heard a loud thud and a yelp. Her eyes flew open; Keith had Dorian down on the floor and was using him for a punching bag. The gun had slid under a chair.

  Andrea was afraid that Keith was going to kill Dorian, the way he was punching him. “No, Keith, don’t! Stop, you’re going too far!”

  “He was going to shoot you!” Keith said through furiously clenched teeth.

  “But he didn’t, and I don’t want you killing him! Please, just stop.”

  Keith’s head dropped forward for a moment, then he climbed off Dorian and staggered to his feet. He put his arms around Andrea. “Thank God I got here in time.”

  Dorian was bloodied and beaten, and he knew what was in store for him. Moving cautiously and slowly he scooted over until he could reach his gun under the chair.

  Then he stumbled to his feet, with the gun. “Stay where you are or I’ll kill you both.”

  Andrea could feel Keith stiffen. “I knew I should have knocked you cold,” he said angrily.

  “I’m not going to jail for this. Don’t do anything stupid and force me to shoot you.” Dorian darted from the room just seconds before the arrival of the rest of the Cattleman’s Club posse.

  “It’s Dorian, just as we suspected. He went out the back way,” Keith announced, and all of them ran through the house. Just as they reached the door with the shattered glass window, they heard a gunshot.

  Stunned, they peered outside and saw Dorian on the ground near the pool. “He shot himself,” Keith announced. “I’m sorry, Sebastian.”

  “It’s probably best, Keith,” Sebastian said soberly. “Sad and unnecessary, but best, considering his criminal behavior.”

  They trooped over to the body, made sure Dorian didn’t still have a pulse and then returned to the house. Keith phoned for the police.

  The rest of the day was a nightmare. A number of police cars, an ambulance, the coroner’s vehicle and even a fire truck had answered Keith’s 911 call.

  “There goes the neighborhood,” Keith said dryly when everyone had finally departed.

  Andrea tried to smile, but it simply wasn’t in her. However evil Dorian Brady had been, he’d still been a human being and he’d killed himself in her backyard. She would not easily get over today’s devastating events, she knew.

  Keith made sure the doors were locked and the security system armed for Andrea’s benefit. She truly looked as though she couldn’t take one more scare, not even a small one. Then he returned to the living room, sat next to her on the sofa and pulled her into his arms.

  “Try to relax and forget,” he murmured, his lips in her hair. “It’s over and done with.”

  She snuggled closer to him. “I feel safe with you.”

  “Good. Andy…” He held her all during his explanation of the Cattleman’s Club involvement in secret missions to save innocent people’s lives. “But you have to understand that what we do is not for publication, sweetheart.”

  “I’m sorry I got all upset when Laura told me about the club. Dorian must have told her. Anyhow, I won’t breathe a word of it, but is that, uh, practice going to continue? I mean, anytime you’re not at home should I worry that you might be off on some dangerous mission?”

  Keith laughed. “Of course not.” What other answer could he give her? Yes, my love, it’s entirely possible that when I’m off on some supposed business trip, I’m really up to my eyeballs in a covert mission. No, he couldn’t lay that on her now, not after all she’d gone through today. And he would never, ever do or say anything that might endanger the safety of the baby in her body.

  “Then I can count on you to let me know if another…if another Dorian enters the picture, and you’re involved and you might be in danger?”

  “You were the one in danger today, Andy,” he said gently. “Not me. Are you going to continue your work for New Hope?”

  “I’d…like to.”

  “I feel exactly the same about what I’ve been doing.”

  They hugged each other tightly for a long time. They were both committed to helping less fortunate people than themselves, and neither could ask the other to stop.

  “How much time do you need to plan a wedding?” Keith asked softly.

  Andrea’s pulse quickened. “A formal wedding or a simple affair?”

  “Which do you prefer?”

  “Simple.” Her face was against his chest and she could hear the beating of his heart.

  “Then let’s do it as soon as the big day can be arranged.”

  “Oh, Keith!” She adjusted her position on the sofa so she could throw her arms around his neck. “I love you so much!”

  “Honey, uh, I just have one request. I’d like to hold a reception…after the ceremony, of course…at the club. Can you deal with that?”

  “If you can deal with my friends, I can deal with yours.”

  “Then we have no problem.” Keith’s eyes were suddenly misty. “Oh, Andy, we should have always been together. Why did I let you get away in college?”

  “Far more important than that question is what made you start chasing me again after so many years. I think it was because we hadn’t slept together before. I was the one that got away and you couldn’t stand it.”

  “But you didn’t really get away, did you? It just took me a lot longer to nail you than it should have.”

  Andrea slugged him a good one on his arm. “You toad!”

  Keith grinned. “Come here, sweetheart, and show me how much you love me.”

  Sighing happily, she did exactly that.

  Two weeks later the local newspaper reported the wedding. Along with photographs of the bride and groom, there was an article. It read:

  Keith Owens, sole owner and operator of Owens Techware Company, and Andrea O’Rourke, nursery-school teacher and volunteer for numerous charities, were married in a private ceremony yesterday. A reception was held at the Texas Cattleman’s Club immediately after, and it was indeed a splendid event.

  The new Mrs. Owens was radiant in a white on white, ankle-length gown and Mr. Owens wore a pale gray Western-cut suit. An extremely handsome couple, they greeted hundreds of guests as they arrived at the club with a gift of a wrist corsage of white orchids for the ladies and an orchid boutonniere for the gentlemen.

  Dinner was served buffet-style and consisted of baron of beef, barbecued ribs, turkey, ham, delightful and delicious salads and side dishes, and last but far from least a number of Mexican favorites, such as enchiladas and tamales. An excellent champagne was served throughout the reception.

  Some of the guests, to name a few, were Sterling and Susan Churchill, Blake and Joselyn Hunt, Aaron and Pamela Black, Dakota and Kathy Lewis, William and Diana Bradford and Sebastian and Susan Wescott. All in all it was a grand affair and it appeared that everyone had a marvelous time.

  Before saying good-night to everyone, the groom announced that he was whisking his bride to the Bahamas for a romantic honeymoon, after which he said they would return to Royal to plan the construction of their new home.

  Congratulations and best wishes to Royal’s newest married couple, Keith and Andrea Owens!

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Jackie Merritt for her contribution to the TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: THE LAST BACHELOR series.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-0059-3

  THE BACHELOR TAKES A WIFE

  Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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