She forced her attention back on Henry and the reason she’d made this journey. The picture was beginning to take shape. Clair understood what had happened and how.
But there was one more question, possibly the most important.
“Why?” she asked quietly. “Why would anyone do such a horrible, cruel thing to three small children? We were family. Flesh and blood.”
“For the same reason most men commit crimes.” Henry opened the file and pulled out a thick, stapled document. “Your grandfather’s original will. The one that left a very large estate to all three of his sons. Unfortunately, because William got hold of it before anyone else even knew it existed, he created a different, fraudulent will. One that left everything to him alone.”
Clair was used to large amounts of money, had an extremely healthy trust fund of her own. Still, as she glanced through the papers, the size of the estate was very impressive.
It appeared that she was about to become five million dollars richer than she already was.
Her hand shook as she handed the will back to Henry. She didn’t care about the money. She’d learned only too well that there were some things no amount of money could buy.
“William—” Just saying his name made her stomach feel sick. “Will he go to jail?”
“If he were alive, he would,” Henry said. “He died two years ago in a small plane crash. His son, Dillon, left Wolf River when he was seventeen and no one has heard from him since. Your brothers are still discussing whether we should look for him. I believe they were waiting for you to help make that final decision.”
Your brothers.
The last two dots to make the picture complete.
To make it whole.
She swallowed hard, drew in a slow breath. “When can I meet them?”
Henry sat back in his chair and grinned. “How ’bout now?”
“Now?” Surely he didn’t mean now, as in right this minute. Breath held, she glanced at Jacob. He leaned toward her, covered her hand with his.
“They’re waiting outside,” Jacob said quietly.
“Here?” She glanced sharply at the door, felt her heart knock against her ribs. “They’ve been here all this time?”
“We all thought it best we didn’t tell you until after you heard everything.” He squeezed her hand and smiled. “You might have found it distracting.”
Distracting? Good Lord, that was putting it mildly. Her stomach rolled, and it suddenly felt as if ice were pumping through her blood. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t force the words out.
Jacob looked at Henry. “Give us a couple of minutes, will you?”
“Take your time,” Henry said kindly, then stood and left the room.
When the walls around her started to spin, Clair closed her eyes. “I—I’m not ready.”
“Come here.” He tugged her onto his lap, enclosed her in the warm comfort of his strong arms. “No one’s rushing you.”
“I’m scared,” she whispered. She felt completely foolish, like a child, but she couldn’t stop the shaking that had taken hold of her.
“It’s all right.” He pressed his lips to her temple. “Let yourself go with it.”
She curled into him, felt the heat of his body warm her. Beat by beat her heart slowed and her stomach settled. He smoothed his hands over her stiff back, rocked her gently.
Muscle by muscle, she relaxed, melted into him while he tenderly, patiently held her close. The room no longer spun, it held steady and even. Secure. She thought she could sit here with his like this forever.
But there were no forevers with Jacob, she knew. What he offered was temporary. It hurt, but she could accept that.
She would have to accept that.
She eased away from him, touched his cheek with her hand, then smiled. “Thank you.”
Drawing in a slow, deep breath, she stood, was thankful that the floor felt steady under her feet. “I’m ready.”
When he moved toward the door, her pulse picked up, with anticipation this time, not panic.
Smoothing the front of her blouse with her damp palms, she stared, breath held, as Jacob reached for the knob.
The two men standing on the other side straightened as the door swung open.
Their eyes met.
She couldn’t speak, wouldn’t have known what to say if she could. They were so tall. Dark hair like hers, the same dark blue eyes. They certainly looked like brothers.
They looked like her brothers.
Her neck began to tingle, almost as if someone were lightly touching her with their fingertips. Strange, she thought as both men rubbed at their necks.
Shoulder-to-shoulder, they stepped awkwardly into the room, seemed to fill it with their presence. Not knowing what to do with her hands, she folded them primly in front of her, swallowed back the thickness in her throat while she searched for something to say.
For what felt like a lifetime, they all stood there, silently staring at each other.
And then they smiled.
And she smiled back.
It was just that easy.
“Lizzie.” The man on the left side held out his hand to her. Rand, she thought. She was certain it was Rand.
Tears streaming, she flew across the room and dived into both men’s arms. They felt so familiar. They even smelled familiar. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know her brothers, that she couldn’t remember them on a conscious level. She felt them in her heart, in her soul.
“You’re Rand.” Not even trying to hold back her tears, she kissed his cheek, then moved to Seth and kissed him, too. “And Seth.”
Both of her brothers’ eyes sparkled with moisture. She hugged them again, then eased back, struggling to find her voice. “It’s so amazing, so wonderful.”
“We were hoping you’d feel that way.” Grinning, Rand looked at Seth, then they both grabbed her again and squeezed.
The wonder of it, the magic, had them all laughing. They held on to each other, absorbing the moment and each other. She had no idea how long they all stood there. They felt solid against her. They felt right.
They formed a circle of three. The power of that circle coursed through her blood and pounded in her temples.
They finally eased back from each other, though still they did not break contact. “We weren’t certain you’d come,” Rand said, gazing down at her.
“I had to,” she said softly. “But you know that.”
“Yeah.” Rand nodded. “I think I do.”
Stepping back from Rand and Seth, Clair opened her mouth to introduce Jacob, then closed it again.
He wasn’t in the doorway.
She glanced over her brothers’ broad shoulders and looked into the outer office. He wasn’t there, either.
He wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye, she was certain of that. But he hadn’t wanted to stay and be a part of her family reunion, either. One more way he was letting go, she realized.
Strange how her heart could feel so full, yet so empty at the same time.
“So, little sis.” Seth took her hand. “You ready to catch up on twenty-three years?”
Turning back to her brothers, she smiled through her tears. “Yes,” she said with a nod. “I am.”
Down the street from Beddingham, Barnes and Stephens Law Offices, Jacob sat at a small corner table in the lounge of the Four Winds Hotel. The room was crowded with locals getting off work and—according to a welcome sign outside the lounge—an East Texas Cattle Rancher’s convention. A sea of cowboy hats bobbed across the room like boats on Hudson Bay.
He drained the last of the beer he’d been nursing for the past two hours and did his best to concentrate on a baseball play-off game on the television over the glossy oak bar. He thought it was the seventh inning, but he hadn’t a clue what the score was. In spite of the fact he was a die-hard baseball fan, he didn’t much give a damn, either.
A cocktail waitress named Michelle came over after dropping off a load of drinks a
t the next table. The blonde picked up his empty glass, then set another beer in front of him and a fresh bowl of peanuts.
“On the house,” she said, curving her lips. “I figure if it takes you as long to drink this one as it did the last, it’ll be about the same time I’m getting off work.”
“Thanks.” He managed to work up a smile, knew that there was something seriously wrong with him when he couldn’t even find it in him to banter with a pretty woman in a very short skirt. “I’m waiting for someone.”
“Two hours is a long wait.” Michelle rolled one shoulder in a disappointed shrug. “Let me know if she’s a no-show.”
“I’ll do that.” He lifted his glass to her, took in her long legs as she turned and walked away. And felt nothing.
Damn. Something was definitely wrong with him.
And that something was Clair.
He’d checked her into a suite at the Four Winds after leaving the lawyer’s office. He’d figured after several days on the road sleeping on lumpy mattresses in backwater motels, she’d be ready for plush towels, soft pillows and room service again. He’d left a message for her with Henry telling her where he’d be, then had her suitcases taken up to her room by a bell cap. Jacob was smart enough to know that if he’d gone up to the room himself, the temptation to stay would be too great.
He stared at the white foam head on the beer in his hand, but all he could see was the image of Clair in Rand and Seth’s arms, the joy and happiness on all their faces as they’d embraced.
In the past two hours, he’d asked himself where he fit into that scene—if he could fit in. And the answer kept coming back.
Nowhere.
What did he have to offer her? He’d made some healthy investments over the years, he didn’t even have to work if he chose not to. Still, her bank account made his look like pocket change.
She had a loving family, two loving families now. Jacob realized he hadn’t seen his brother in a year.
Or was it longer?
Hell, he couldn’t keep track, he thought with disgust. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen his own apartment. Three months maybe? Like money, time had never meant a great deal to him.
He caught sight of her as she stepped into the lounge, and his heart jumped.
Dammit. No woman had ever made his heart jump like that before.
She made her way through the crowd and sat in the chair opposite his, then made everything worse by smiling. He had to take a drink of beer to wash away the sudden dust in his throat.
“I take it everything went well?” he asked when she just sat there and kept grinning.
“It was wonderful.” She leaned across the table, her voice slightly breathless. “They’re wonderful. We talked for two hours straight and barely touched the surface. Rand trains horses and he’s remodeling our parents’ ranch and Seth is, or was anyway, an undercover police officer in Albuquerque. They’re both engaged, can you believe it?”
He listened while she told him how Rand had met his fiancée, and they’d rescued wild horses in a canyon, how Seth had met Hannah after crashing his motorcycle in her front yard.
Her face glowed; her eyes sparkled. He thought she looked more beautiful at that moment than any other.
“My cousin Lucas has invited us for dinner at his house tonight,” she said, her blue eyes wide with excitement. “He’s married and has three-year-old twins, a girl and a boy, and a brand-new baby boy named Thomas. Oh, and he owns this hotel we’re sitting in, isn’t that amazing!”
“Clair—”
“Oh, and Hannah, Seth’s fiancée—” she couldn’t sit still in her seat “—she has five-year-old twin girls, too. They’re all going to be there. I don’t know how I’ll keep everyone’s names straight.” She tilted her head sideways and glanced at his wristwatch. “I need to go up and shower. We’re supposed to be there in an hour.”
“I can’t go.”
The smile on her lips froze. “You can’t go?”
“I have a meeting in Dallas early tomorrow morning. I’ll need to hit the road in a few minutes.”
“Oh. Well.” She stared at him for a long moment. “Okay.”
Okay? He told himself it was good that she wasn’t making this difficult, but still…a simple “okay” wasn’t exactly what he’d expected.
Hell, what had he been expecting? That she’d cry or complain?
Maybe even ask him to stay?
No. That isn’t what he wanted. Obviously it wasn’t what she wanted, either.
He had no reason to feel guilty that he was leaving so quickly, he told himself. None at all.
“Clair.” Though he knew it would probably be a mistake to touch her, he took her hand. Her fingers were warm in his, her skin smooth and soft. “I’m sorry I can’t hang around for a couple of days, but—”
“Don’t be sorry, Jacob.” She squeezed his hand. “Please. These past few days have been wonderful. More than I could have ever hoped for. I realize you have your own life and you need to get back to it.”
Dammit, it was one thing to make this easy, and another that she was practically holding the door for him.
He let go of her hand and pulled the hotel key card out of his shirt pocket. “I got you a room,” he said, heard the annoyance in his voice and felt even more annoyed. “Your suitcase is already up there.”
“Thank you.” She stood, leaned down and touched her lips to his cheek. “For finding me. For bringing me here. For everything. It’s been quite an adventure.”
She turned and walked away, her shoulders straight and her chin level. Jacob frowned, wondered what the hell had just happened. His frown deepened as he watched several male heads turn her way as she passed through the throng of people.
And then she was gone.
It’s been quite an adventure.
It sure as hell had.
He stared for a long time at the corner she’d disappeared around, then picked up the beer and practically downed it in one gulp.
The waitress appeared a moment later. “You want another?” she asked.
He didn’t even look at the woman, just shook his head, then left.
Eleven
With a glass of icy lemonade in her hand, Clair stepped onto the patio of Lucas Blackhawk’s house and soaked in the activity surrounding her. Children playing kickball on a thick, green lawn; Rand and Seth arguing over the outcome of a recent baseball game; Lucas standing guard over steaks sizzling on an open barbecue.
So familiar, yet so strange, she thought, watching Lucas studiously brush marinade on the meat with one hand while he fanned billowing smoke with the other.
“The resemblance between them is remarkable, isn’t it?” Julianna, Lucas’s wife, came out of the house carrying a bowl of macaroni salad. The stunning blonde hardly looked as if she’d had a baby only four weeks ago. “I nearly kissed Seth earlier when he came up behind me in the kitchen to sneak one of the cookies I’d just taken out of the oven.”
“Now that would have been interesting,” Hannah, Seth’s fiancée, said from the doorway. Her baby blue eyes sparkled as she stepped out of the house and set a basket of potato chips on the patio table. Tucking a loose strand of golden hair behind her ear, she gave a wicked grin. “But I have to admit, I almost pinched Rand on the behind a little while ago when he was searching for a beer in the refrigerator.”
“I’d have paid good money to see his reaction to that.” With a toss of her shoulder-length auburn hair, Grace, Rand’s fiancée, joined them on the patio.
“I’m sure he’d be thoroughly appalled,” Hannah reassured Grace.
The women all looked at each other and laughed.
Smiling, Clair glanced at her brothers and her cousin. The resemblance was remarkable. The distinct, angular features that declared the Native American heritage in their blood, their thick, shiny black hair and tall, muscular build. Even their gestures were similar, Clair thought, watching the men all turn their heads and frown with concern when o
ne of the little girls—Lucas’s daughter, Nicole—began to shriek at her brother, Nathan, for pulling her tennis shoe off. The crisis was quickly over when Maddie and Missy, Hannah’s twin girls, snatched their shoes off, as well, and soon all the children were barefoot and laughing again.
All except for little Thomas. The sound of the baby’s fussing came over the monitor sitting on a patio chair.
“May I?” Hannah asked Julianna. “I know I hogged him all afternoon, but it’s been so long since I’ve held a baby.”
“Be my guest.” Julianna swept a hand toward the open door. “Though I suspect you’ll be holding one of your own before long.”
“Oh, I hope so.” Hannah’s eyes softened at the thought. “I decided if our bed and breakfast doesn’t succeed, we’ll just fill all those bedrooms with children.”
“I’ve tasted your baking.” Julianna slipped an arm through Hannah’s and together they walked into the house. “Trust me, you’ll succeed.”
Clair felt an ache in her chest as she stared after the two women. They had everything she’d ever wanted: children, a home of their own, a man who loved them. Clair knew that she was now part of their happiness, part of all their lives, and for that she would be eternally grateful.
Yet still her heart ached.
How foolish she’d been to let herself hope, to dream, to believe that she’d finally met the man—the one man—who might share those hopes and dreams with her. She still didn’t know how she’d ever managed to walk out of that hotel lounge without her knees crumbling, or without running back to him and begging him to stay, even just one more day. One more night.
She wouldn’t have changed one thing that had happened between her and Jacob, unless it could be for him to want her, to love her, as deeply as she loved him. And no amount of wishing in the world could make that happen.
“Clair?”
Realizing that Grace had been talking to her, Clair did her best to cover that she hadn’t been listening. “I’m so sorry,” she said, felt the heat of her blush on her cheeks. “You were saying?”
“Just how excited we all are to have you here.” Grace tilted her head and studied her soon-to-be sister-in-law. “Is something wrong?”
That Blackhawk Bride Page 13
