To Love a Stranger

by Connie Mason

  No matter what she thought of Cora Lee and the lies the woman told about Pierce, Zoey still felt sorry for her. Living with a brother like Hal must be pure hell.

  The ride back to the Delaney ranch gave Zoey ample time to review every word of her conversation with Hal and Cora Lee. Cora Lee had sounded so earnest, it was difficult to discount her story. No wonder the townspeople were up in arms about the terrible thing done to Cora Lee. The petite blonde was a victim, all right, but of whom?

  The incongruity of the situation was puzzling as well as disheartening. Were there two Pierce Delaneys? The one she knew and the one who got Cora Lee with child? The longer she thought about it, the more she became convinced that she had missed something important during her visit with Cora Lee. Cora Lee’s fear, Hal’s odd behavior, nothing made sense. And what kind of retribution did Hal have in mind? Whatever it was couldn’t be good for the Delaneys. By the time she reached the ranch she was no less confused than before she left.

  Chad and Ryan met Zoey as she rode into the yard. They were both mounted, and she looked at them askance.

  “We were just on our way to visit Pierce,” Chad informed her. “Want to come along?”

  Zoey nodded. There were things she needed to ask Pierce.

  “How did it go with Cora Lee?” Ryan asked.

  “Hal was home,” Zoey said. “Cora Lee seems terrified of her brother.”

  Ryan spit out a curse. “Hal can be a real bastard. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  “No, nothing like that. I listened to everything Cora Lee had to say about Pierce, and it didn’t make sense. Pierce isn’t anything like she described. Yet she seemed so sincere. I need to talk to Pierce.”

  “Let’s ride then,” Chad said. “Bill returned from town while you were gone and said the mood there was ugly. Ryan and I want to make damn sure there won’t be a lynching.”

  Chad and Ryan spoke with Pierce first when they reached the jailhouse. They weren’t allowed inside the cramped shed, so they conversed through the single barred window. While they spoke in low tones, Zoey kept close tabs on the crowd milling around the jailhouse. The crowd ebbed and flowed, but the mood remained the same. Surly and hostile. Zoey stiffened when she saw Hal Doolittle join a group of people and speak furtively. His words seemed to rile the crowd and they surged forward. Zoey grew frightened and alerted Pierce’s brothers.

  “Go talk to Pierce, Zoey. Ryan and I will take care of things here,” Chad said, pulling away his jacket to expose the lethal-looking gun riding on his hip.

  Zoey peered through the narrow window with misgivings. She had no idea how Pierce would greet her, or if he’d acknowledge her at all. She saw him sitting on a bench, his expression etched into a scowl. When he saw her his scowl grew even more fierce.

  “I thought I told you to go home.”

  “I will … soon.”

  He unwound his long frame and walked to the window. “You know what’s going to happen. Why are you still here? Listen to those bloodthirsty fools outside. Hal Doolittle has done his worst to see me in hell. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on my share of the Delaney money, but it seems our marriage has foiled his well-laid plans.

  “What a damn shame. Little did Hal know I wouldn’t marry his sister under any circumstances. Unfortunately, both he and Riley Reed will probably have their way.”

  “They can’t hang you,” Zoey said fiercely. “They have no legal right.”

  “Do you see the regular law around here?”

  “Your brothers …”

  “Zoey, I’m going to tell you one last time. Go home to your ranch. I don’t need you here. I don’t want you here. Everything has been settled between us. We’re even. Our ‘arrangement’ has served its purpose.”

  “Why are you being so hateful?”

  Something flickered in Pierce’s eyes but was quickly gone. “I’m not being hateful. Merely practical. We married for reasons of which you are well aware. It’s over, Zoey.” He turned away.

  Zoey tried to summon anger but couldn’t. Pierce’s words may be true, but she wasn’t going to let them drive her away.

  “Don’t you dare walk away from me, Pierce.” Her strident words brought his head spinning around in her direction. “I want to know the truth. Did you seduce Cora Lee? Did you get her with child? I’m not going to ask if you beat her, because I don’t believe you’re capable of that kind of brutality.”

  Zoey clearly had his undivided attention now. A tense silence stretched between them. Finally he said, “Maybe I did and maybe I didn’t. What does it matter? Believe what you want.” He shrugged. “If you believe I seduced Cora Lee …”

  Her voice was scarcely louder than a whisper when she said, “You had no problem seducing me.”

  A long silence ensued as the air thickened around them. “You were ripe,” he said simply.

  Zoey tried to tell herself that Pierce was speaking out of hurt and anger. People often said hurtful things when they were under great stress.

  She stifled a sob, raising her chin in defiance. “Getting a woman with child isn’t a hanging offense. I’m not leaving.”

  Pierce watched Zoey walk away with mixed feelings. He had no earthly idea why she remained loyal to him when he’d done his damnedest to send her packing. He’d gone so far as to put doubts in her head about his guilt.

  Zoey had ridden after him, saved him from the hangman, and done more than was required of a wife. And he had repaid her by acting like a surly bastard and ordering her home.

  She’d refused.

  Stubborn little witch.

  A smile hung on his lips as he returned to the bench to contemplate his fascination with fierce blue eyes, hair the color of ripe wheat, and lush red lips that begged for his kisses.

  Chapter 12

  Zoey felt utterly defeated after returning from her visit with Cora Lee. She had gained nothing for her trouble but Hal Doolittle’s animosity. Zoey could tell that Chad and Ryan were just as worried as she. The mood around the supper table that night was glum.

  Just that day Chad had heard in town that Judge Walters was expected in a few days. He shared that bit of depressing news with both Ryan and Zoey at the supper table that night.

  “I hope the judge is in a good mood,” Ryan grumbled into his plate. “Judge Walters may be fair, but he earned his name legitimately.”

  Zoey looked at him askance. “What name is that, Ryan?”

  “People hereabouts call him the ‘hanging judge.’ ”

  “Dammit, Ryan, why did you have to go and say that?” Chad chided.

  Ryan sent Zoey a sheepish look. “Sorry.”

  “The charge against Pierce isn’t a hanging offense,” Zoey contended.

  “It is if the judge says so,” Ryan countered. “But I don’t think it will come to that. Pierce has done nothing to deserve hanging, and I think the judge will agree.”

  Zoey rose abruptly from the table, her expression grim. “Please excuse me.”

  “You did it now, Ryan,” Chad said.

  “Zoey should know what to expect in case the judge decides against Pierce. What are we going to do if it comes to that?”

  “I’ve been thinking,” Chad said confidentially. “If the judge comes down hard on Pierce, we’ll break him out of that pesthole they call a jail.”

  “I hope it won’t be necessary. We’ll all be on the run if we’re forced to break the law.”

  Ryan and Chad exchanged worried glances, but each man knew he would do just about anything to save Pierce.

  Zoey visited Pierce at the jailhouse the following day. For his sake she tried to maintain a cheerful facade. She brought a tempting array of food prepared by the Delaney cook and passed it to him through the barred window. Pierce didn’t seem much interested in food and set it down without tasting it.

  “Why are you still here, Zoey?”

  Zoey gave him an exasperated look. If he didn’t know, she certainly wasn’t going to tell him. “I’m your wife.”
/>   “You may be a widow soon.”

  “Don’t talk like that!”

  “You’ve probably heard by now that Judge Walters is called the ‘hanging judge.’ ”

  “I heard. He can’t hang an innocent man.”

  “I’m sorry it turned out like this.”

  “No judge is going to hang you for so minor an offense,” Zoey insisted.

  “Does that mean you’re not returning home?”

  “Damn right it does!”

  He stared at her through the bars. The heat of his look warmed her bones. He reached out and ran the back of his hand along her cheek and down her neck.

  “You’re a stubborn woman, Zoey Delaney. And a hard woman to forget. You’re passionate and loyal … but dare I trust you? If I surrendered to my feelings, it would be a sure passage to pain. Disaster waiting to happen. Once a woman gets her clutches into a man, once she has him reeled in, she uses him, then discards him for the next victim. I couldn’t go through that with you.”

  Pierce’s twisted opinion of women left Zoey speechless. But she couldn’t really blame him. His past experiences had left him scarred. Both his mother and his wife had betrayed him. Then Cora Lee had committed the final offense. No wonder he feared involvement with a woman. But Zoey wasn’t just any woman. She was a woman who truly loved him.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way, Pierce. I’m not like those other women you’ve encountered in your life. I know I’ve done nothing to earn your trust, but I assure you I’m here simply to help you. If it will make you feel better, I’ll see that lawyer today about a divorce.”

  The note of finality in her words made Pierce wince. It was what he wanted, wasn’t it? He closed his eyes, picturing her sweet body pressed against his, naked, wet for him, responding to his loving with an eager innocence that drove him wild to possess her. He had set out to seduce her, but she had given herself to him willingly, generously, and he had taken.

  Zoey had forced him to marry her, the hard place inside him argued.

  “Pierce, are you all right?” His eyes were closed so long, Zoey began to worry.

  His eyes shot open. “I’m fine. The lawyer’s name is Chambers. Just tell him the truth and he’ll do the rest.”

  Swallowing the lump in her throat, Zoey nodded and walked away. She didn’t want Pierce to see how deeply his words had hurt her. He wanted to be free, and if it eased his mind, she would give him what he wanted.

  A pair of visitors arrived at the Delaney ranch the next morning while they were eating breakfast and discussing their plans for the day. They were the last people Zoey would have expected to come calling.

  The loud racket at the front door brought Ryan to his feet. “I’ll get it,” he said, scraping back his chair.

  Both Zoey and Chad were startled, and none too pleased, when Ryan ushered their visitors into the kitchen.

  “What are you doing here?” Chad asked crossly. “Haven’t you done enough to hurt my family?”

  “Don’t get your dander up,” Hal Doolittle said as he seated his sister in an empty chair without waiting for an invitation. “Cora Lee and I are here to present you with a proposition.”

  “We don’t want to hear it,” Ryan grouched.

  “Let him talk,” Zoey argued. “I’m interested to hear what he has to say.”

  “Listen to the little lady, Delaney. You want to get your brother off the hook, don’t you?”

  Chad’s gaze settled disconcertingly on Cora Lee. “Has your sister come to her senses? Is she ready to tell the truth?”

  Something flickered in the depths of Cora Lee’s eyes before her lids fell to hide them.

  “Don’t jump to conclusions,” Hal warned. “Cora Lee didn’t lie. But she’s willing to change her story to save your brother. Let’s say she just forgot what really happened. You know how fanciful women can be. She’s always had this hankering to be married to a Delaney.”

  “And my brother was made the scapegoat,” Chad observed dryly. “State your proposition, Doolittle.”

  Hal sent Zoey a disgruntled look as he said, “Since Pierce is already married, there ain’t no use in expecting a marriage between him and Cora Lee.” He searched Chad’s face, a guileless smile curving his lips. “Cora Lee has set her heart on marrying a Delaney, so I convinced her to settle on one of the two remaining brothers.” He didn’t wait to ascertain the shock value his words had on the brothers before saying, “Ryan is a mite young, but Chad is just about the right age to take a wife.”

  Since both the Delaneys were too stunned to speak, Zoey rounded on Hal. “You’re mad! Chad would never consent to such an idiotic proposal.”

  “It’s not your decision, lady. Cora Lee is willing to tell both Riley Reed and the judge that Pierce is innocent. That she was confused because of what was done to her. She remembers that a stranger came around looking for work one day when I was out. When he noticed that Cora Lee was alone, he attacked and raped her. When she threatened to set the vigilantes on him, he beat her viciously. She made up that story about Pierce because she was too ashamed to admit what really happened. That’s the story she’ll stick to if Chad agrees to marry her.”

  Chad glanced at Cora Lee, who still refused to look anyone in the eye. She sat dry-eyed and stoic, twisting her handkerchief in her hands. “Is that true, Cora Lee?”

  Still keeping her eyes downcast, Cora Lee said, “Whatever Hal says is the truth.”

  “The truth is that Pierce seduced my sister, got her with child, and beat her when she asked him to marry her,” Hal said pugnaciously. “But Cora Lee is willing to lie as long as one of the Delaneys gives her baby their name. Don’t matter which brother. Since Pierce is unavailable, Chad will do.”

  “What if I tell the judge what you’ve just told me,” Chad demanded.

  Hal seemed unconcerned. “Cora Lee will deny it, of course, holding to her original story. Think about it, Chad, but not too long. Agree to a marriage between you and my sister, and Pierce will go free. But not before a legal marriage is performed.”

  “What a fiendish mind you have,” Ryan charged. His fists curled at his sides as he fought the obvious urge to slam them into Hal’s mouth. “What do you hope to gain personally? I know there’s something diabolical brewing in your mind.”

  “Why, I expect Chad to share some of the Delaney wealth with my sister. Which, of course, she’ll share with her loving brother.” Suddenly his expression changed from pleasant to downright nasty. “I need five thousand dollars immediately to repay gambling debts.”

  “So,” Chad sneered, “it’s down to money, is it? Say I give you the money but refuse to marry Cora Lee. Will that make you happy?”

  Hal scowled. “Not on your life. My sister needs a papa for her bastard. Nothing but the Delaney name will make her happy.”

  “You can’t agree to this farce, Chad!” Zoey cried indignantly. “It’s blackmail.”

  The accusation brought a guilty flush to Zoey’s face. It was too close to what she’d done to Pierce. She had acted out of desperation, but it placed her in the same class with the Doolittles. What Hal demanded of Chad was no worse than what she’d demanded of Pierce. That singular thought made her understand more clearly why Pierce hated the thought of remaining married to her. She had blackmailed him into a situation he could not tolerate.

  “Do you swear Pierce will go free if I marry Cora Lee?” Chad asked. His voice was far too calm and controlled for such a reputedly volatile man, and Zoey waited for the explosion.

  “Dammit, Chad, use your head!” Ryan blasted. “Pierce wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself for his sake. He’d hate the idea and you know it.”

  “Pierce has no say in this,” Chad said tightly.

  “You’re a smart man, Delaney,” Hal said, sending Chad a mocking smile.

  “How long would I have to stay in this marriage?” Chad wanted to know.

  “Forever, if I had my way. But being realistic, I’d say you should remain married at least until Cor
a Lee delivers her child. There are no bastards in the Doolittle family, and there ain’t gonna be none if I have my way. If and when you divorce, Cora Lee will expect a generous settlement, of course.”

  “You’re wrong, Doolittle,” Ryan spat. “There already is a bastard in the Doolittle family. His name is Hal.”

  Hal appeared unfazed by Ryan’s insult.

  Zoey glanced at Cora Lee and decided to attack the problem from another angle. Cora Lee had remained quietly submissive through all this, saying little beyond agreeing with her brother. Zoey decided to appeal to Cora Lee’s sense of right and wrong.

  “Don’t you have anything to say, Cora Lee?” Zoey asked, hunkering down to confront the pale woman. “Do you really want a husband who doesn’t want you?”

  “My baby needs a name,” she said in a low voice. She sent a wary glance at her brother before continuing. “Hal loves me, he wants what’s best for me.”

  “You really were raped and beaten by a stranger, weren’t you?” Zoey challenged, going directly to the heart of the matter.

  “I … I … No, it didn’t happen like that. Please, don’t ask me any more questions.”

  “Coward!” Zoey hissed.

  “Quit harassing my sister,” Hal warned. “Can’t you see she’s in a delicate condition?” He turned back to Chad. “Well, Delaney, do we have a deal?”

  “Pierce wouldn’t condone this,” Zoey reminded him.

  Ryan was more forceful in his objection. “Don’t do it, Chad! The bastard thinks he has us over a barrel, but he doesn’t. It’s all up to the judge.”

  “No, it ain’t,” Hal hinted slyly. “Rumor has it Riley Reed has convinced the vigilantes to lynch Pierce before the judge gets here. They’re gonna take him out of the jail tomorrow night.”

  Zoey cried out in dismay. “We’ve got to do something!”

  “You can’t do a damn thing,” Hal contended. “The townspeople are with Reed. You don’t have enough hands on the ranch to the stop the whole town.”

  “He’s right,” Ryan admitted grudgingly. “Reed hates Pierce. Ever since Polly …” He sent an apologetic look at Zoey. “Ever since Pierce took Polly away from him. Reed knows the judge is just as likely to fine Pierce or give him a light sentence as he is to hang him, and he can’t accept that. Judge Walters may have earned his reputation as the hanging judge, but he’s not going to hang an innocent man.”