by HELEN HARDT
I smiled. Patty and Ennis descended the small stairway into the family room. They were still together and happy.
“Daph!” Patty exclaimed. “Let me see that baby!”
“He’s right here,” I said. “Shouldn’t you guys be knee-deep in finals right now?”
“We both got done early,” Patty said, “and we couldn’t wait to come visit.”
“All my finals but one were papers,” Ennis added, “and Pat here said if I didn’t get them in early so we could come see you, she’d never forgive me.”
Patty swatted him. “I didn’t say that. You did.”
Ennis laughed. “Either way, we both wanted to see you and your new addition. He’s gorgeous, love.”
“I’m sure I’m biased,” I said, “but I think he’s the most beautiful baby ever born.”
Patty sighed and sat down next to me on the arm of my chair. “I’ve missed you so much. I was so bummed when you and Brad didn’t come back to school after the wedding.”
“I know. I was too.” I kissed little Joe’s forehead. “But Brad was needed here, and my place is with him.”
“Do you think you’ll go back to college someday?” she asked.
“I plan to. Eventually. Right now I could never leave Jonah.”
“A beautiful name,” she said.
“Thanks. I like it. It means dove. I called him little dove while I was carrying him.”
“It’s a shame Brad couldn’t finish his last year,” Ennis said.
“He did finish,” I told them. “He made arrangements to complete his senior year by mail.”
“You can do that?” Ennis asked.
“Apparently,” I said, “when you’re a Steel.”
“Why didn’t you finish that way?”
“I could have, but I declined. After the wedding, I had some…health issues.”
“Oh?” Patty said. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you guys,” I said. “I’m fine. The pregnancy was difficult, though. When the nausea finally ended, I had other issues and ended up on bed rest. I didn’t think I could do my best at school being so tired all the time.”
It was the truth but only a half truth. The real truth was that I’d lost some time during the pregnancy. I’d had every intention of keeping up with my studies, once Brad and George arranged for the mail option, but my mind went kind of berserk a few times. The episodes didn’t last long, and the doctor wasn’t overly concerned. He said hormones did funny things to your brain. He called it pregnancy brain.
I knew it was something more, though.
This particular doctor didn’t know about my past, and I kept it that way.
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” I said truthfully, “but I can’t deny I’m glad it’s over. During the morning sickness phase, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get my appetite back, but it’s here with a vengeance now that I’m nursing.”
“Oh, I bet,” Patty said. “You should see how much we have to feed the pigs after they’ve had a litter.”
I burst into laughter.
God, it felt good to laugh. Yeah, Patty had just compared me to a sow nursing a litter, but damned if it wasn’t a riot.
A door opened and closed upstairs, and then cowboy boots clomped on the tile of the kitchen floor.
“Must be Brad,” I said. “We’re down here, honey!”
Brad descended the staircase, clad in a suit and tie.
Funny. Since George had passed, Brad wore a tie almost every day. He spent a lot of time in Grand Junction and also drove to Denver at least once a week on business. I was lucky he’d been in town when I went into labor with little Joe.
“Look who came to visit.” I gestured to Patty and Ennis.
“Nice job, Steel,” Ennis said. “He’s a beautiful boy.”
Brad smiled and shook Ennis’s hand. They were friends now, despite the punch to the jaw Brad had given Ennis the first week of college last fall.
Patty gave Brad a hug. “I couldn’t be happier for both of you.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry I can’t be a better host, but I’ve got a phone call”—he checked his watch—“in five minutes, and I need to go over some papers.”
“It’s okay,” Patty said. “We’re staying for a few days. We got a room in town.”
“You should stay here,” I said. “We have tons of room.”
“No, we don’t want to impose,” Ennis said.
“All right,” I said. “If you change your mind, the door’s always open. Can you stay for dinner tonight?”
“Actually, we have a romantic dinner planned in town.” Patty’s eyes sparkled.
I smiled. “Got it. Tomorrow night, then? Belinda’s a wonderful cook.”
“Tomorrow it is. We’ll get out of your hair now.” Ennis shook his head. “I can’t get over Steel in a tie.”
“Are you kidding?” Patty waggled her eyebrows. “He looks amazing.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Other than the tux at the wedding—”
Ennis stopped abruptly.
“It’s okay,” I said soberly, kissing Joe’s forehead. “We all know what happened at the wedding.”
“I still can’t get over it,” Patty said wistfully.
“I know. Brad is still trying to piece out what happened. He’s had PIs on it for months.”
“We were all sitting at the bridal party table with Sean,” Patty said. “Ennis and I talk about it all the time. Either of us could have easily picked up whatever ended up drugging and poisoning him.”
“If it happened at the reception,” Ennis added. “It could have happened before.”
“The heroin definitely happened at the reception,” I said. “Brad checked everything out. But he had to have ingested the toxin that killed him at least twenty-four hours prior, so it’s still a mystery.”
“Is it possible he got it from tainted food?”
“It’s possible, but Sean was young and healthy. He would have been sick as a dog, but he had a good chance of surviving if it was food poisoning. Brad thinks he was poisoned by someone, rather than something, because of the amount of toxin.”
“It’s still so hard to think about,” Patty said.
“I know. Brad still misses him. I do too, even though I didn’t know him that well.”
Patty nodded. She had known him, in the biblical sense. But only twice. “Lorraine is still pretty shaken up,” she said.
“After all this time?”
Patty nodded. “Just because Sean was never serious about any woman doesn’t mean the woman wasn’t. Lorraine has cried on my shoulder many times. Why she chose me, I’ll never know.”
“Because you knew Sean,” Ennis offered.
“Maybe.” Patty sighed. “It’s so sad. I can’t believe Brad hasn’t figured out what happened yet.”
“Neither can he,” I agreed. “He’s become consumed with finding the truth.”
I used the word consumed on purpose. I didn’t want to use the true word.
Obsessed.
Brad was obsessed with finding out what had happened to Sean.
Obsessed to the point that I worried about him.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Brad
“Larry,” I said into the phone, “you were ready to give me the details on my wedding day to your sister.”
“That was a mistake.”
“What happened? Who got to you?”
Silence.
Damn. Larry Wade would be a good lawyer. He knew when to shut up. He’d just finished college and would begin law school in the fall.
“I can only say this. Tom, Theo, and I had nothing to do with what happened to your best man.”
“I know that. I’ve cleared all of you, and Wendy was locked up. This phone call isn’t about Murphy. It’s about what you were going to tell me eight months ago.”
“We go through this once a week,” he said. “I was mistaken at the time.”
“You were fr
eaked out. Majorly. My money was once used to fund your business, so I have a vested interest. What the hell is going on that you felt you had to tell me at the time?”
More silence.
Then, “I got a call from Tom an hour ago. Evie went into labor.”
“Oh. That’s nice.” Not that I gave much of a damn. “Please, Lar.”
“All right. I’ll level with you.”
God. It was about time.
“Great. Go ahead.”
“Tom and Theo had been talking to some gangster dude.”
“Who?” Not that I’d recognize a gangster name. My father probably would, though. Never had I wished more for my father than I had since he’d passed. None of us had expected it to happen so soon and so quickly. The man was a bastard, but he knew all the bad guys.
There had to be records around here somewhere. He’d died a month ago, and with Daphne’s rough pregnancy and regular ranch business, I hadn’t had the time to search for anything else.
“Who doesn’t matter. I talked them out of it, and they got out.”
Wait, wait, wait. Larry talked Tom and Theo out of something? Larry was a yes-man. The weak link. Something didn’t jibe here.
“Oh? If the who doesn’t matter, can you tell me the what?”
“I can’t. Only that it was some dark stuff.”
“Drugs? I mean, other than the pot.”
“Drugs and other stuff.”
“What other stuff?”
He gulped audibly. I seriously heard it through the phone.
“That’s all I can say. Be glad they didn’t go through with it. I think I finally appealed to Tom’s fatherly instinct. Evie’s pregnancy is what finally made him change his mind, and Theo came along with him. They gave up a shit ton of cash, though.”
“They already have a shit ton of cash.”
“That’s what I told them, but it didn’t matter. They both see only green. What mattered was Tom’s impending fatherhood. He already loves that baby, man.”
“Hey, if anyone understands that, I do.”
“Right. Yeah. When can I see my new nephew?”
“Next time you’re in town. Just let me know before you drop by.”
“You got it. I’m seeing someone myself now. I think she may be the one.”
“That’s nice. I never saw you as the wife and kids type.”
“I didn’t either, but Greta makes me rethink that. I think I might be a decent dad.”
I wasn’t sure about that, so I said simply, “I hope it works out.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Are you sure that’s everything you wanted to tell me the day I got married?”
“It’s everything I can say, Brad.”
“All right.” I’d let it go. For now.
The second line on my phone lit up. “Hey, I’ve got another call. I’ll talk to you later, bro.”
“Sure. Ciao.”
I pushed the flashing button. “Steel.”
“Steel!” Tom Simpson’s voice. “I’m a daddy. It’s a boy!”
“Yeah? Congratulations, man. Our sons will be roughly the exact same age.”
“They will. Cool, huh?”
“What’s his name?”
“Bryce. Bryce Thomas Simpson.”
“Nice. How’s Evie?”
“She’s out like a light. She had some issues, and they had to do a C-section. But she and the baby are fine. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like she’ll be able to have any more kids.”
“Oh, man. I’m sorry.”
“It’s rough. Yeah. I’m not excited about telling her.”
“What happened?”
“Apparently she has something called severe endometriosis. The doc couldn’t believe she got pregnant this time after he saw it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“We’ll get through it. Any news on your end?”
“Daphne and the baby are fine.”
“Good to hear, but I meant about your best man.”
“Nothing. Nada. Whoever did this covered their tracks. Not just covered. Eliminated them. I’ve looked high and low, and Murph didn’t seem to have an enemy in the world. I’m flummoxed.”
“Sorry, man.”
“It’s unreal. If my old man couldn’t uncover it, I’m not sure anyone can.”
“And you’re sure about…?”
“Yeah. I have eyewitnesses that say she was locked up and drugged the day of the wedding and the days prior. Even if she was lucid, she didn’t have access to a phone or anything.”
“Crazy. I’ve got to go. I should get back to Evie. I want to be there when she wakes up.”
“Yeah. Tell her hi from me and congratulations.”
“Will do. See you.”
I hung up the receiver, grabbed a key from the top desk drawer, stood, and walked to the mahogany cabinet on the adjacent wall.
My father’s—now my—gun safe.
I turned the key and opened the door.
George Steel had racked up quite a collection, but I was interested only in the Smith & Wesson forty-five.
This was the firearm my father had used to threaten Dr. Pelletier.
I hated that it had come to this, but I would now use it for the same purpose.
Because Larry hadn’t told me the truth.
When he said he’d talked Tom and Theo out of the deal with the gangster, he was lying.
No way did Larry have the intelligence or the balls to talk Tom and Theo out of anything.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Daphne
“I’m sorry, baby,” Brad said.
“But I invited Patty and Ennis for dinner. I want you here.”
I kissed her forehead. “I know. But I can’t miss this meeting. Now that my father is gone—”
“I know, I know. The ranch is your responsibility. I’ve heard it a zillion times, Brad.”
“Then you understand.”
“I do. But for God’s sake, I just had your baby. Little Joe and I need you too.”
“I’m doing all of this for you and little Joe. I thought you understood that.”
I sighed. “I do. It’s just… I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” he said.
“Your kid isn’t even going to know you.”
He chuckled. “My kid is five days old.”
“So? He needs to be held. Cuddled. Fed.”
“I’m afraid the feeding is all you, sweetheart. I don’t have the equipment.”
“It’s a lot of work.”
“Get a nanny, then.”
He caught me. The baby was a lot of work, but I had ample help with Mazie living here. Plus my mom would be here for a few more weeks, and Belinda lent a hand sometimes too.
“Brad, I don’t want a nanny. I want you to be here. To be a part of our lives.”
“I will always be a part of your life and Joe’s. You know that. The two of you are everything to me.”
I nodded. I believed him. Sort of. Now that George was gone, the ranch seemed to be everything to him.
“I’m building a legacy for us,” he continued. “For little Joe. One day he’ll have everything.”
“He has everything. He needs his father.”
“He will always have me, and so will you.” He kissed my lips. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
Then he was out the door.
Again.
I did miss him. I missed his arms around me, his lips on mine. The rest could wait. It had to wait six weeks anyway, until I healed from the birth. I was in so much pain down there, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to make another baby. But my mother and Mazie had assured me it would heal.
Of course, both of them had only given birth to one baby.
Mazie was looking forward to a houseful of kids. She’d done so much for me, I couldn’t let her down. And I adored baby Joe. He was worth all the pain and then some.
My son would never know his grandfather, and I both mourned and was happ
y about that. George Steel had been kind to me, but I couldn’t forget what he’d done to Mazie. She and I didn’t talk about that, though. All I knew had come from Brad.
“Hi, sweetie.” My mother entered the family room. “When do your guests arrive?”
I looked at my watch. “A half hour. Brad had to leave.”
“Oh?”
“Another dinner meeting. I swear, he’s out more than he’s at home since George died.”
“He has a lot of responsibilities.”
“He has responsibilities here too.”
“He knows that. Would you like me to ask your father to speak with him?”
I shook my head. “That would only make things worse. He’ll know I got Dad to talk to him.”
She smiled. She’d smiled more since the baby had been born than she had since her overdose eight months prior. This baby was good for my mother.
This baby was good for all of us. Even for Brad, though he didn’t seem to realize it yet.
He loved me and little Joe. I had no doubt of that.
He also loved this ranch, though.
I sighed.
Mazie entered then. “Did I hear Brad leave?”
“Yeah. Another meeting.”
“Oh, dear.” She smiled at me. “That’s how this business is sometimes. You get used to it.”
“I don’t want to get used to it. I want him in our lives.”
“I know my son. He’ll be in your lives. He loves you so much, Daphne.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
“Bear with him. Running this place is a lot of work, and none of us expected George to die so suddenly.”
“But he has people to run this place.”
“True. But some things a man wants to do himself. That’s what George always said.”
“Was George able to teach Brad everything? Before he passed on?”
“Honey, George has been grooming Brad to run this place since he was born. Brad is more than ready.”
“But he’s so young.”
“Young, yes, but smart and determined. You and little Joe have given him even more reason to work his tail off.”
“I don’t want to be the reason why he’s never here.”
“You’re not. You’re the reason he’s determined. You’ll get used to it, and he’ll see that you and little Joe have everything you need.”
