Wedding at Cardwell Ranch

by B. J Daniels

  The only reason he could come up with was that she was at Dana’s with the kids and didn’t want to be disturbed. But she would have taken his calls. She would have wanted to know how Austin was doing.

  He tried Dana and was relieved when at least she answered. “I’m looking for Allie. Have you seen her?”

  “Not yet. I talked to her earlier. I told her to take a nice hot, long bath and relax, then come over for a sleepover.” He could hear Dana let out a surprised sound. “I didn’t realize it was so late. She should have been here by now.”

  “Her calls are going straight to voice mail.”

  “I’m sure she’s just running late...” Dana sounded worried. “How is Austin?”

  “He’s out of surgery. The doctor said he should make it. I left Hayes and Laramie in Houston.”

  “Where are you now?”

  “On my way to Allie’s cabin. If you hear from her, will you please call me?”

  He disconnected and drove as fast as he could through the winding narrow canyon. Something was wrong. Dana felt it, too. He prayed that Allie was all right. But feared she wasn’t.

  Realizing his greatest fear, he called Drew’s number. When he’d heard the part Allie’s brother-in-law had played in gaslighting her, he’d wanted to punch Drew again. He didn’t trust the man, sensed he was a lot like Nick had been; another reason to hate the bastard.

  But Jackson also worried that Drew might have killed Nick. The problem was motive. He wouldn’t benefit from his brother’s death since Nick had changed his beneficiaries on his insurance policy. Or was there something else Drew wanted more than money?

  It came to him in a flash. Allie. If he had her, he would also have Nick’s money and Nick’s life.

  Drew answered on the third ring. “What?” He sounded drunk.

  Jackson’s pulse jumped. “Have you seen Allie?”

  “Who the hell is this?”

  “Jackson Cardwell.” He heard Drew’s sneer even on the phone.

  “What do you want? Just call to rub it in? Well, you haven’t got Allie yet so I wouldn’t go counting your chickens—”

  His heart was pounding like a war drum. “Is she with you?”

  Drew laughed. “She’s having a sleepover but not with me. Not yet.”

  “She isn’t at the sleepover. When did you see her?”

  Finally picking up on Jackson’s concern, he said, “She was with my sister at the cabin.”

  Jackson frowned. “Your sister?”

  “They both think I killed Nick. But Sarah had more of a motive than I do. She hated Nick, especially since he’d been trying to get Mother to kick her out. Sarah might look sweet, but I have a scar from when we were kids. She hit me with a tire iron. A tire iron! Can you believe that?”

  Jackson saw the turnoff ahead. As he took it, his headlights flashed on the cabin down the road. There were three vehicles parked out front. Nick’s black pickup. Allie’s van. Sarah’s pearl-white SUV.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I don’t understand,” Allie said. “Why would you kill your brother?”

  Sarah smiled. “Sweet, lovable Nickie? You of all people know what he was like. You had to know the way he talked about me.”

  Allie couldn’t deny it. “He was cruel and insensitive, but—”

  “He was trying to get Mother to kick me out without a cent!” Her face reddened with anger. “I gave up my life to take care of her and Nickie is in her ear telling her I am nothing but a parasite and that if she ever wants to see me get married, she has to kick me out and force me to make it on my own. Can you believe that?”

  She could. Nick was often worried about any money that would be coming to him via his mother. He was afraid Sarah would get the lion’s share because his mother felt sorry for her.

  “He was jealous,” Allie said. “He was afraid you were becoming her favorite just because she depends on you so much.”

  Sarah laughed. “Her favorite? She can’t stand the sight of me. She’d marry me off in a heartbeat if she could find someone to take me off her hands.”

  “That isn’t true. You know she would be lost without you.” With a start, Allie realized that Mildred was going to get a chance to see what life was like without Sarah once Sarah went to prison. That is, unless she got away with murdering Nick. With Allie out of the way, Sarah just might.

  “I still can’t believe you killed him,” Allie said as she searched her mind for anything within reach of where she was standing that she could use to defend herself. Something dawned on her. “How did you get my gun?”

  “Mother had sent me to your cabin to see if you still had that pink sweater she gave you for Christmas. You never wore it and it was driving her crazy. I told her pink didn’t look good on you, but she got it on sale... You know how she is.”

  Oh yes, she knew. That ugly pink sweater. Allie had put the gun under it behind the shoe boxes.

  “When I found the gun, I took it. I was thinking I would try to scare Nick. After all, we have the same genes. He should have known I could be as heartless as him. But Nick had always underestimated me. I tried to talk to him, but he went off on women, you in particular.”

  Allie blinked in surprise. “Me?”

  “He said some women needed to be kept in their place and that you thought you were going to leave him and take his child. He had news for you. He laughed, saying how you’d been stealing small amounts of his money thinking he wouldn’t notice but he was on to you. He’d given you a few days to think about what you were doing, but when he came back there were going to be big changes. He was going to take you in hand. He said, ‘I’ll kill her before I’ll let her leave me.’ Then he told me to get out of his way and took off up the trail.”

  So Nick hadn’t been promising to change, she thought. He was going to change her when he got back. Allie felt sick to her stomach, imagining what Nick would have been like if he had ever returned home to find her packing to leave him.

  “His parting shot was to yell back at me. ‘You big fat ugly pig. Go home to your mommy because when I get back your butt is out of that guesthouse.’ Then he laughed and disappeared into the trees.”

  “Oh, Sarah, I’m so sorry. Nick was horrible. If you tell the police all of this—and I will back you up—I’m sure they will—”

  “Will what? Let me go? You can’t be that naive. I’ll go to prison.”

  Allie had a crazy thought that prison would be preferable to living with Mildred Taylor.

  “No, Allie, there is another way. You are the only one who knows what I did.”

  “If you kill me, they’ll eventually catch you and since this will be cold-blooded murder, you will never get out of prison. Don’t throw your life away because of Nick.”

  “I’m going to make you a deal,” Sarah said. “I will spare your daughter if you do what I say.”

  “What? You would hurt Natalie?” Allie’s terror ramped up as she realized this was a woman who felt no remorse for killing her own brother. Nor would she feel any for killing her sister-in-law now. That she could even think of hurting Natalie...

  “Do you know why I look like I do?” Sarah asked. “I made myself fat after my mother’s first divorce when I was just a little older than Natalie.” She stepped closer, making Allie take a step back. “My stepfather thought I was adorable and couldn’t keep his hands off me. My other stepfathers were just as bad until I gained enough weight that, like my mother, they only had contempt for me.”

  Allie couldn’t hold back the tears. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

  “No one did. My mother knew, though.” Her eyebrow shot up. “That surprises you?” She laughed. “You really have no idea what Mother Taylor is capable of doing or why she dotes on her granddaughter. This latest husband is divorcing her, but there will be a
nother husband, one who will think your little Natalie is adorable. Think about that. You do what I say and I will make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to Nat.”

  Allie was too stunned almost to breathe. What was Sarah saying?

  “That’s right, Mother Taylor needs Natalie,” her sister-in-law said. “Now you can either take this gun and shoot yourself or I will shoot you. But if I have to do it, I will probably get caught as you say and go to prison. Imagine what will happen to Natalie without me here to protect her. Oh, and don’t even think about turning the gun on me because trust me I will take you with me and Natalie will have a new grandpa, one who will adore her.”

  Allie couldn’t bear the choice Sarah was demanding she make. “Natalie needs me,” she pleaded as she looked at the .45 her sister-in-law held out to her.

  “She needs me more. Just imagine the danger Natalie would have been in if I hadn’t warned you.”

  “Don’t you think I suspected something was wrong at that house? I didn’t like Natalie going there. I didn’t trust your family.”

  “With good reason as it turns out. You have good mothering instincts. I wonder what my life would have been like if I’d had a good mother?”

  Allie’s heart went out to her even though the woman was determined she would die tonight. “I’m so sorry. Sarah, but we don’t have to do this. I won’t tell the police about the dent in the pickup.”

  “You’re too honest. Every time you saw me, we would both know.” She shook her head. “One day you would have to clear your conscience. You know what would happen to me if I went to prison. No, this is the best way. Think of your daughter.”

  How could she think of anything else? That’s when she heard the vehicle approaching.

  Sarah got a strange look on her face as she cocked her head at the sound of the motor roaring up into the yard. “This has to end now,” she said.

  Allie couldn’t imagine who had just driven up. Dana and the kids? She couldn’t take the chance that someone else would walk into this.

  She grabbed for the gun.

  * * *

  JACKSON HIT THE door running. He told himself he was going to look like a damned fool barging in like this. But all his instincts told him something was very wrong.

  As he burst through the door, he saw Allie and Sarah. Then he saw the gun they were struggling over.

  The sound of the report in the tiny cabin was deafening. Jackson jumped between them going for the gun that Sarah still gripped in her hands. The silence after the gunshot was shattered as Allie began to scream.

  Jackson fought to get the gun out of Sarah’s hands. She was stronger than she looked. Her eyes were wide. She smiled at him as she managed to pull the trigger a second time.

  The second silence after the gunshot was much louder.

  “Allie, are you hit?” Jackson cried as he wrenched the gun from Sarah’s hand.

  She looked at him, tears in her eyes, and shook her head.

  For a moment all three of them stood there, then Sarah fell to her knees, Allie dropping to the floor with her, to take the woman in her arms.

  “She killed herself,” Allie said to Jackson. “She could have killed me, but she turned the gun on herself.” Still holding Sarah, Allie began to cry.

  Jackson pulled out the phone, tapped in 911 and asked for an ambulance and the marshal, but one look at Sarah and he also asked for the coroner.

  Epilogue

  Be careful who you marry—including the family you marry into. That had been Jackson’s mother’s advice when he’d married Juliet. He hadn’t listened. But Allie’s in-laws made Juliet’s look like a dream family.

  “If you want to file charges,” Marshal Hud Savage was saying. “You can get your mother-in-law for trespassing, vandalism, criminal mischief...but as far as the gaslighting...”

  “I don’t want to file charges,” Allie said. “The real harm she’s done... Well, there isn’t a law against it, at least not for Mildred. And like you said, no way to prove it. How is Mildred?”

  After what Allie had told him, Jackson hoped the woman was going through her own private hell. She deserved much worse.

  “She’s shocked, devastated, but knowing Mildred, she’ll bounce back,” Hud said. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay. I’m just glad it’s over.”

  Jackson could see the weight of all this on her. He wanted to scoop her and Natalie up and take them far away from this mess. But he knew the timing was all wrong. Allie had to deal with this before she would be free of Nick and his family.

  “I did talk to the psychic Belinda took you to,” Hud said. “She claims she didn’t know what was planned. Mildred had given her a recording of Nick’s voice that had been digitally altered with Drew helping with any extra words that were needed. She alleges she was as shocked as anyone when Nick said what he did.”

  “I believe her,” Allie said.

  “As for who shot your horse up in the mountains...” Hud rubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve arrested Drew for that. I can’t hold him for long without evidence, but he does own a .22 caliber rifle and he did have access to the ranch.”

  “So that whole family gets off scot-free?” Jackson demanded.

  Hud raised a brow. “I wouldn’t say scot-free. I’d love to throw the book at Mildred and Drew, believe me. But neither will see jail time I’m afraid. Their justice will have to come when they meet their maker.” Hud shook his head and turned to Jackson. “I heard Austin is recovering fine.”

  “It was touch and go for a while, but he’s tough. The doctor said he will be released from the hospital in a week or so, but he is looking at weeks if not months before he can go back to work. He might actually get up to Montana to see the Texas Boys Barbecue joint before the grand opening.”

  “I suppose you’re headed back to Texas then?” Hud asked. “Dana said Ford will be starting kindergarten his year?”

  Jackson nodded. “I suppose I need to get a few things sorted out fairly soon.”

  * * *

  ALLIE COULDN’T FACE the cabin. She had nothing but bad memories there. So she’d been so relieved when Dana had insisted she and Natalie stay in one of the cabins. All but one of them was now free since Laramie had gone back to Texas, and Hayes and McKenzie had bought a ranch down the highway with a large house that they were remodeling. Only Jackson and Ford were still in their cabin, not that Ford spent much time there since he was having so much fun with his cousins.

  The same with Natalie. Allie hardly saw her over the next few days. She’d gotten through the funerals of Sarah and a second one for Nick. Mildred had tried to make her feel guilty about Sarah’s death. But when Mildred started insisting that Natalie come stay with her, Allie had finally had to explain to her mother-in-law that she wouldn’t be seeing Nat and why.

  Of course Mildred denied everything, insisting Sarah had been a liar and blamed everything on her poor mother.

  “We’re done,” Allie said. “No matter what I decide to do in the future, you’re not going to be a part of my life or Natalie’s.”

  “I’ll take you to court, I’ll...” Mildred had burst into tears. “How can you be so cruel to me? It’s because you have all my Nickie’s money now. I can’t hold my head up in this canyon anymore, my husband is divorcing me, Drew is selling out and leaving... Where am I supposed to go?”

  “I don’t care as long as I never have to see you.” Allie had walked away from her and hadn’t looked back.

  “I don’t want Nick’s insurance money,” she’d told Dana the day she and Natalie had moved into one of the ranch cabins.

  “Use just what you need and put the rest away for Natalie. Who knows what a good education will cost by the time Nat goes to college? Then put that family behind you.”

  But it was her own fami
ly that Allie was struggling to put behind her, she thought as she saw Megan drive up in the ranch yard. Megan had been calling her almost every day. She hadn’t wanted to talk to her. She didn’t want to now, but she knew she had to deal with it, no matter how painful it was.

  Stepping out on the porch, she watched her half sister get out of the car. Natalie, who’d been playing with the kids, saw her aunt and ran to her. Allie watched Megan hug Natalie to her and felt a lump form in her throat.

  “We can talk out here,” she told Megan as Natalie went to join her friends.

  Allie took a seat on the porch swing. Megan remained standing. Allie saw that she’d been crying.

  “I used to ask about you when I was little,” Megan said. “I’d seen photographs of you and you were so pretty.” She let out a chuckle. “I was so jealous of your green eyes and your dimples. I remember asking Dad why I got brown eyes and no holes in my cheeks.”

  Allie said nothing, just letting her talk, but her heart ached as she listened.

  “I always wanted to be you,” Megan said. “Dad wouldn’t talk about your mother, so that made me all the more curious about what had happened to her. When I found out... I was half afraid when I met you, but then you were so sweet. And Natalie—” she waved a hand through the air, her face splitting into a huge smile “—I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. But I guess I was looking for cracks in your sanity even before Nick was killed and Mildred began telling me things. I’m sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

  Allie had thought that what she couldn’t do was ever trust Megan again, especially with Natalie. But as she looked at her stepsister, she knew she had to for Natalie’s sake. She rose from the chair and stepped to her sister to pull her into her arms.

  They both began to cry, hugging each other tightly. There was something to this family thing, Allie thought. They might not be related by blood, but Allie couldn’t cut Megan out of their lives, no matter where the future led them.

  * * *