“That would be awful.” She pressed her hands to her stomach as if she felt sick. “Oh, Adam, I never really understood what it was like for you.”
“I didn’t know what it was like for you either,” he admitted. “That’s why I can’t see you like this anymore. It’s causing trouble for you. Your dad is the kind of father I wish I had, and you’re lucky to have him.”
“Why does that mean we can’t see each other?”
“I want Duke to be my dad, but he won’t want to be if I’m betraying his brother and sneaking off to see his niece.”
“But… we aren’t doing anything wrong.”
“Yes, we are. Just being here together goes against your father’s wishes. An honorable man wouldn’t do that. I don’t want to be like those men who came to my mom’s brothel. But when we’re alone like this. I want to do things like Patrick and Iris were doing.” He felt stupid confessing something so personal, but Duke wouldn’t take advantage of a girl or sneak around. Neither would Rebecca’s father. Adam wanted to be like them. He wanted to make Duke proud, and make him want to be his father. “I’m not going to do those things to you. I’m going to stay away like your dad asked.”
“You aren’t going to meet me anymore?”
He shook his head. “I’m not going to walk you to school either.” He couldn’t, because it would just tempt him to sneak off with her again.
Tears filled her eyes and she stared at him as if he’d just slapped her. “I thought you liked me.”
His feelings went way beyond liking, and that’s why he wouldn’t see her anymore and cause problems for her and her father. Rebecca needed her dad more than she needed Adam. “We’re cousins now. Rebecca.”
“No, we’re not!” she said. “We aren’t even related. You said that yourself.”
He wanted to hug her and tell her he was sorry, but it would just hurt her more because he had to honor Duke and her father. “We can still be friends.”
She was crying as she slid off the boat. “I have friends, Adam. I don’t need another one.” She ducked beneath the limbs and out of sight, but he heard her crying as she ran up the path that led out of the gorge.
He knew he’d done the right thing, but it felt wrong.
Shivering, and feeling as miserable as he’d ever felt, Adam crawled under the boat. He wasn’t going home until the lawyer left tomorrow. The boat smelled of wood and fish and winter air, but it kept the wind off Adam’s neck. His stomach growled, but he burrowed in Duke’s too-big coat and closed his eyes. If he slept, he wouldn’t feel hungry. He wouldn’t feel cold. He wouldn’t hurt.
Minutes or hours passed; he didn’t know how long he huddled beneath the boat, but someone or something startled him awake. Maybe it was Duke, who cared enough to come looking for him. Maybe it was Rebecca coming to tempt him to change his mind.
Adam braced his shoulders against the hull and lifted the boat, but when he came face-to-face with Nicholas Archer, he knew he was in trouble.
Chapter Thirty-seven
*
DUKE KNEW ADAM was upset, but when the boy didn’t return by lunchtime, he went looking for him. His first stop was Radford’s house, because Rebecca was Adam’s only friend. But when Radford realized Rebecca was missing, he jumped to conclusions and blamed Adam.
Duke helped Radford scour the gorge. They found Rebecca’s gelding tied to a tree, but they couldn’t find her anywhere.
“Where could she be?” A sick look washed through Radford’s face, leaving him gray and drawn.
“We haven’t checked Mother’s house yet.”
Radford bolted for the trees. Duke sprinted behind him, his gut twisted with worry. Fueled by panic, they threw open the door and raced into their mother’s house, breathing hard, praying harder.
Rebecca sat on the sofa, sobbing her heart out on her grandmother’s shoulder.
“Thank God!” Radford knelt by the sofa. “Are you hurt, Rebecca?”
“She’s nursing a broken heart,” their mother said, stroking Rebecca’s disheveled hair.
“A what?” Radford looked as confused as Duke felt. “Where have you been, Rebecca?”
She cowered in her grandmother’s arms. “In the g-gorge.”
“Doing what?”
“Riding.”
“How? You left the gelding tied to a tree. You’ve been gone for hours!”
“I n-needed to talk to grandma.”
“Why didn’t you bring the gelding with you?”
“I don’t know.” Rebecca buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
Radford scraped his hair back with both hands and looked at their mother. “What is going on here?”
“Your daughter is suffering her first broken heart, Radford. And you’re not helping.”
“A broken heart from what?” he demanded.
Rebecca didn’t answer.
Duke still didn’t know where Adam was, and it worried him. The boy had been gone all day. He was half-dressed, and probably starving by now. “Rebecca, have you seen Adam?”
She nodded and cast a worried look at her father.
Radford gaped at her. “Were you with him today?”
“Y-yes.”
Radford rose to his feet, fire burning in his eyes. “If that boy did anything to my daughter, I’ll wring his neck.”
“That boy is practically my son, Radford. You’re the one who’s hurting Rebecca, not Adam.”
Radford grabbed the front of Duke’s jacket and jerked him toward Rebecca. “Look at her. I didn’t cause those tears. Now you keep Adam away from her!”
Furious at being manhandled, Duke shoved Radford back a step, but Radford didn’t let go. “Your daughter is growing up, and you’d better accept it.”
“This has nothing to do with her growing up. It’s her sneaking around with Adam I can’t accept. And I’m telling you for the last time, I won’t stand for it.”
Duke clamped his hands over Radford’s fists. “Well, I won’t stand for your unwarranted accusations. Adam has suffered enough unjust treatment, and I won’t stand aside and let anyone, be it some crazy judge or my own brother, do any more harm to that boy. Now take your hands off me.”
“Stop this!” Their mother shot to her feet. “Both of you!”
Duke faced Radford glare for glare. “I’m sick of you pointing the finger at Adam every time you lose track of your daughter.”
Radford’s eyes flashed. “Until Adam came around, Rebecca didn’t run off. She was hurt once because I wasn’t vigilant enough. If that makes me overprotective, too bad. She’s my first concern. And if your son hurts her again, I’ll go through you and anybody else to put a stop to it.”
“Radford!” Nancy Grayson clutched her son’s arm and gave it a hard shake. “What has gotten into you?”
“I’ve had enough,” he said, and Duke knew he meant it.
But Duke had reached his own limit. Adam would never hurt Rebecca, and the boy shouldn’t get blamed because Rebecca was showing some backbone. He wrenched Radford’s hands off his jacket then knelt in front of the girl. “I’m sorry about what just happened here,” he said, wishing he would have controlled his temper for her sake. “Where did you see Adam?”
“By your b-boat,” she said, her face awash in tears.
“Thanks, Sprite.” He hugged her then stood and faced his brother. “What are you going to do when some father tells you that your son isn’t good enough for his daughter?”
*
THE SOUND OF Adam crying pierced Duke’s heart. He lifted the branches out of his way and ducked into the small clearing.
Pine needles stuck out of Adam’s hair and his head was bleeding. Duke knelt beside the boy.
“What happened here?”
“I hit my head on the boat when Nicholas shoved me.”
“Nicholas Archer?” Duke saw scuffle marks in the pine needles. “What was he doing here?”
Adam held up a jewelry box. “This was in the boat. I think he wanted it, but when he
saw me, he shoved me hard and ran off.” Adam’s eyes filled with tears and he hung his head. “I tried to stop him, but I blacked out a little when my head hit the boat.”
“It’s okay, Adam. I’ll go see Nicholas about this.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to stop the judge from taking Cora,” he said.
“It wasn’t your job to stop him. He’s a grown man, Adam, and more than twice your size.”
“I’ll learn how to fight better. I promise. Just p-please don’t make me go with that lawyer.” He knuckled his tears away. “I’m pretty sure I could make a good son if you could teach me to fight and stuff.”
Duke had held back tears under some of the most difficult times of his life, but seeing a young boy begging to be loved shredded his control. Choked by emotion, he pulled the skinny, shivering youth into his arms.
“I’m the one who needs to apologize,” he said, forcing the words from his tight throat. “I’ve pushed too hard and expected too much. You’re a good boy, Adam. The only one here who needs to prove himself is me.”
*
AFTER ADAM CHANGED and ate two bowls of soup, he went with Duke, Judge Barker, and Sheriff Phelps to Wayne Archer’s house. Even with so many men on his side, Adam felt nervous.
Wayne Archer denied any knowledge of the stolen ring. But Nicholas Archer shocked everyone by saying his sister Melissa was behind the theft.
His father gaped at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Melissa’s been following Adam and Rebecca around since he moved to town.”
Adam knew that, and he hated it, but he’d figured it was a dumb girl thing to spy on people.
“That has nothing to do with stealing a diamond ring,” his dad said. “Nor does it explain why you’re getting blamed for hitting this young man.”
Nicholas winced and looked at Adam. “I’m sorry about that. I just wanted to get the ring back and return it so nobody got in trouble. I didn’t know you’d get hurt when I shoved you.”
Duke looked like he wanted to question Nicholas, but he let Sheriff Phelps do it.
“How did you know the ring was there if you didn’t take it?” Sheriff Phelps asked.
“I read Melissa’s diary.” He glanced at his father. “The way she followed Adam around made me wonder what she was up to. I thought maybe… I was just trying to look out for her. I didn’t know she was being an idiot until I read her diary. She took the parasol from the apothecary and left it at Rebecca’s house, hoping Rebecca would get blamed for stealing it. She was jealous that Adam liked Rebecca.”
All the men looked at Adam, making his face burn. Girls were so stupid.
“Did she take the fishing rod?” Duke asked, apparently wanting to clear up the whole mess.
Nicholas nodded. “When she found out Adam got blamed for taking the parasol, she took Dad’s fishing rod and hid it in your boat. She knew where you kept it because she’d been following Adam around.”
“How long have you known about this?” Sheriff Phelps asked.
“Since right after she took the parasol. But my dad was trying to get elected sheriff, and I knew it would be bad for him if anyone found out. I didn’t know Melissa would do something stupid like steal an expensive ring from the jeweler. I thought if I got it back and returned it to the store owner, he might not say anything to anyone.”
Mr. Archer sank down onto the parlor sofa as if the air leaked out of him. “All this time I’ve been pointing a righteous finger at others, and my own children have been at the root of the trouble.”
Adam almost felt sorry for Archer. The man looked gray and stunned, like someone had knocked him on the head with a rock.
Sheriff Phelps hooked his thumb in his gun belt like Duke used to do. “Where’s your daughter, Mr. Archer?”
Archer shook his head, but it was hard to tell if he was saying he didn’t know, or if he was just shaking his head because he couldn’t believe what was happening.
“I’ll get her.” Nicholas jogged up the stairs then returned a few minutes later with Melissa, who looked scared to death when she saw the sheriff and the other men in her living room.
Serves her right for spying and stealing, Adam thought, but after the sheriff questioned her, and her father berated her for being a foolish, inconsiderate chit, Adam felt sorry for her. She was crying so hard it brought her mother rushing into the room. And when her mother learned the truth, her disappointment made Melissa howl all the more.
“You owe this young man an apology,” her father said sternly.
“I’m s-sorry” she blubbered, barely able to look at Adam. “I just wanted you to like me.”
Her crying made her face all blotchy and his head ache worse. All he wanted to do was go home and crawl into his warm bed.
She sniffed, and it made his stomach kind of sick. “Am I going to be put in jail?”
Sheriff Phelps rubbed the back of his neck as if he didn’t know what to tell her. “You’re in pretty big trouble, missy.”
Another gush of water fell from her eyes, and Adam couldn’t stand it. “Why don’t you do what Sheriff Gray—my—Mr. Grayson did with me,” he said, confused about how he should refer to Duke. “Let Melissa work for the jeweler until she makes up for what she did.”
Sheriff Phelps lifted an eyebrow. “That’s mighty kind from the young man who’s been accused of taking these items.”
“But you know the truth now, so it doesn’t matter.” He rubbed the throbbing lump on his head and looked at Duke. “Can we go home?”
At his nod, Adam shot out the door intending to run home, but Duke hooked an arm around his shoulders and walked him across the yard. Then he said something to make Adam feel ten feet tall. “You’re a special young man, Adam, and I was very proud of you in there.”
*
DUKE DONNED A nightshirt while Faith tucked Cora in their bed. “I thought you were putting her in her own bed tonight,” he said.
“I tried, but she woke up crying. She’s afraid.”
Of course she was. Duke looked at his sleeping little girl and didn’t blame her for being scared. But he longed to be alone with Faith, to have their bed to themselves again.
His wife stood uncertainly beside the bed, brushing Cora’s curls off her cheek. “I wish you hadn’t seen the brothel,” she said quietly.
He drew her warm body against his, missing her, needing her. “It helped me understand.”
She rested her forehead against his shoulder. “I thought I’d be escaping with Jarvis, and that everything would be all right because he knew the truth. Instead of being my salvation, he was my first mistake. Lying to you was my worst one.”
“Did you love him?”
She was silent for a long time, but Duke didn’t rush her. He wanted the truth. “Jarvis was the first man who made me feel special, but I didn’t even know him.”
Then she couldn’t have loved him.
“Tell me about the bell.”
Faith lifted her head, confusion in her eyes.
“Why did your mother make you ring a bell?”
A sigh escaped her and she stepped away to fiddle with the hand mirror on her dressing table. “Mama couldn’t have me around while she was working, so she rigged up a bell as a way of checking on me.”
While Duke wrestled his urge to pull her into his arms, she told him about the bells and being left alone while her mother and aunts worked, and how she’d welcomed Adam and Cora as her own babies because she needed them in her life.
“I’ve loved them from the minute they were born,” she said. “I regret hurting you with my lies, but I don’t regret protecting them.”
Duke could see Faith as a little girl like Cora, missing her mother, needing a daddy and wondering why she didn’t have one. How easy it had been to take his parents and the good life they’d given him for granted.
“Do you hate her?” he asked, knowing she had a right to, but hoping for her sake that she didn’t.
“I did. S
ometimes. Mama didn’t share herself with anyone. Not with my aunts. Not with her children. Until I read her letter, I didn’t know if she loved me or loathed me.” Her voice broke and she lowered her chin. “I hated her as much as I loved her. I didn’t know she was trapped and couldn’t leave. I thought she was a coward, and that she didn’t love us enough to give us a better life.”
Duke wanted to embrace her, but he held back, sensing she had more to say.
Sorrow and regret filled her eyes. She pressed her palm to the spot on his chest where his badge used to rest. “What are you going to do now?” she asked quietly. “You’ve been the sheriff for so long…”
“I’m content working the mill,” he said. And despite the tension with Radford, he enjoyed being there and working with his brothers.
“That’s not the same as being sheriff.”
No, it wasn’t. But it wasn’t less of a job, and it didn’t make him less of a man.
Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I’ll never forgive myself for causing you to lose something you were so proud of.”
“I’m proud of the mill.”
“You were proud to be a lawman, a sheriff.”
He was, and he would miss the purpose and direction that had come with the demanding position, but his new disorderly and messy life was just as challenging and rewarding.
He’d always followed rules and enforced laws and never seen himself as separate from his badge. He’d never really made up his own mind about life or even what mattered to him. He’d chosen his path as a way to shine in his father’s eyes. Boyd shared their father’s wood-carving talent and had always made their father laugh. Kyle was a businessman to the bone, smart and rock solid with a good head for investments and expanding their business. Radford went to war and became a decorated hero. Duke was a third son unworthy of notice or any particular distinction until he’d pinned on his badge. Then he was Deputy Grayson, and later sheriff, a man his father could be proud of.
Good Guy Heroes Boxed Set Page 60
