BROKEN (15 page)

Jessie was curled up by his side, tears gliding down the sides of her cheeks and onto his chest.
 
“Why didn’t he tell you?”

“Because he knew we
would
stop and try to keep him from bleeding to death.
 
The terrorists weren’t far behind
,
so any delay in getting out of there could have cost more lives.
 
Always playing the damn hero,” Mitch said bitterly.
 
“His life was wasted for nothing.”

Jessie rose up on one elbow, filled with anger and indignation at what he’d said.
 
“Don’t you dare belittle what your brother did!
 
He didn’t die for nothing; he died saving the one person who meant the most to him in the entire world.
 
You
.
 
Would you have stayed behind those trees if it was him out there?
 
Hell no, you
would
have rushed in without a second thought
,
just the way he did.
 
He wasn’t
playing
the hero, he
is
a damn hero
,
and don’t you ever forget it!”

Mitch pulled her back into his arms, pain washing over him in waves.
 
He hadn’t even realized he
had
been desecrating Adam’s memory until then.
 
His brother had never feared death for himself, but he’d tormented himself every time Mitch got hurt or
narrowly escaped getting killed.
 
The truth of Jessie’s words struck at his heart; Adam had died without regret because he
had
kept his brother safe.
 

At last the burden of guilt was lifted, but in its place stood another harsh reality.
 
Jessie thought it was him that died during that mission.
 
That meant if he stayed with her, he
would
have to live the rest of his life out pretending he was Adam.
 
And if he left as he’d originally planned and sent word to her that Adam had died, he
would
never be able to return to her.
 
To Jessie, both the Kincaid brothers would be dead.
 

Mitch closed his eyes, breathing in the soft, sweet scent of her.
 
He would be dead anyway if he left her.
 
Maybe not physically, but inside, in his heart, there would be nothing left.
 
Firm in the conviction that what he was doing was right, Mitch reached for the switch on the lamp.

Jessie squinted against the sudden light.
 
“
Kincaid
, what’s wrong?
 
Why…”

“I have something to tell you, something I should have told you weeks ago.”

Jessie’s insides trembled.
 
This was it, the thing she’d dreaded most since he’d come back.
 
“You…you’re leaving me, aren’t you?”

“No, sweetheart, I’m not leaving.”

“Then what?”

Mitch turned on his side so he was facing her.
 
“I can’t keep hiding the truth from you Jess, you mean too much to me.”
 
He drew her closer, even more certain that only good could come of what he was about to say; because it came straight from his heart, and because it was the truth.
 

“I love you, Jessie.
 
I’ve loved you from the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

Her tears confused him, as did the heart wrenching sobs.

“Jessie, honey, what’s wrong?
 
I thought…”
 
What had he thought?
 
Dear God, had he been wrong about her loving Adam?
 
“I thought that’s what you wanted me to say,” he said miserably.
 

“That’s just it,” she wailed, “you only said it because it’s what you think I want to hear.
 
You don’t really l-love me!”

“I do, Jess, I swear on my life I do.”

“No, you don’t.
 
You always let your guard down when we have these talks and you’re even more vulnerable now because of the loss of your brother.”

“You’re right, I am feeling a bit vulnerable right now but it doesn’t negate what’s in my heart.
 
Look at me, Jess.
 
Look into my eyes and you’ll know that what I’m saying is the God’s honest truth.”
 

She tilted her head back and Mitch let her see it all.
 
Everything he felt, everything he was because of her poured from his heart; the scorching heat of his desire, the raw emotions, the enormous love he’d kept bottled up inside.
 
They were laid out in front of her, reflected in his eyes, leaving him exposed and vulnerable.
 
But not weak, he thought.
 

His brother had been wrong about that.
 
Giving your love took great courage; not because of what you
are
offering, but because of the gnawing fear it won’t be returned.
 
He waited for Jessie to say something, each moment she remained silent more agonizing than the last.
 
Hope began to fade and he squeezed his eyes shut against the pain.

“No,” Jessie whispered, “don’t close your eyes.”
 
She touched his cheek.
 
“Say it again,
Kincaid
.”
 
Her fingers moved to cover his lips.
 
“Say it.”
 

And he did, just as he
had
done before, without any words.

Mitch watched the slow smile spread across her face and knew that she finally accepted what he so longed to give her.
 
It was worth it; giving up his name, his past, his friends.
 
He
would
have to explain to his parents and hoped they
could
understand, but that would come later.
 
For now, he was out of his mind with happiness.
 
Jessie was his.
 
He reached for the light, fully intending to consummate his vows of love, but Jessie stopped him.

“Wait…I…I have a confession to make.”
 
She took his hand and placed
it over her heart.
 
“It’s yours, Kincaid
, now and forever.
 
I love you too.
 
Maybe I’ve always loved you, but I never really knew it until you came back to me this last time.
 
Something changed between us.
 
I can’t describe it
,
but sometimes it just seems so overwhelming I feel like I’m going to burst.
 
When I look at you now, I know you’re the one I was meant to spend my life with, the only man I could ever truly love.”

Joy filled his heart, and not just because she loved him too.
 
His greatest fear was that in living his life as Adam, he
would
do it knowing Jessie only love
d
him for who she thought he was.
 
But she as much as admitted that what she was feeling now had only come to fruition after Mitch himself had shown up.
 
In truth, whether she knew it or not, Jessie had fallen in love with him, not Adam.
 

He didn’t bother turning out the light.
 
This time when he made love to her, Mitch wanted to be able to see her face.
 
He wanted to look into Jessie’s eyes and know that it was
him
she gave herself to, that
he
was the one who made her happy.
 
Bracing his arms on either side if her shoulders, Mitch slowly eased himself into the warmth of her body.
 

He watched as her lips parted, heard the soft intake of breath as he began to move in and out of her.
 
Her face lost its pallor as her skin became heated and flushed causing little beads of moisture to form along her forehead.
 
Her breathing grew shallow and erratic as his hips drove into her harder and harder until at last she cried out, writhing beneath him, looking so incredibly beautiful Mitch couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.

Jessie pulled him down to her, her lips seeking his with a
raw
hunger that made his blood boil.
 
A low groan of male satisfaction tore from his throat, his body convulsing uncontrollably as her tongue swirled around his, possessing him a way no woman had ever done before.
 
His seed shot up inside of her, mixed with her own liquid heat, and he shuddered again and again and again.
 
Never in his life had Mitch felt such completeness as he did at that moment.

Burying his face in her neck, he could only repeat over and over, “I love you, Jess.
 
I love you…”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                        
***

Leaving strict orders with Jessie to remain in bed and not to do any cooking or housework of any sort, Mitch and Hank made a quick detour into town then set off for the Sinclair ranch.
 
He’d gotten it into his head that buying out the Sinclair’s would accomplish two things.
 

First and foremost, it would at least temporarily block Wilkinson from cutting off the water supply to Jessie’s ranch
,
as well as the two neighboring ranches to the north.
 
He also thought it would provide more capital with two working ranches, especially after Hank told him the potential the Sinclair ranch had.

“They’re older now,” Hank told him, “and their hearts aren’t really in it anymore.
 
If you can get them to sell out at a decent price and work it right, that ranch would be more much more profitable than Jessie’s could ever hope to be.”

Mitch had contacted his bank the day before and had a good chunk of his inheritance from Adam wire transferred to one of the local banks in town.
 
Hank had somehow wheedled the amount Wilkinson offered the Sinclairs from one of Wilkinson’s own ranch hands
,
which gave them a decided edge, but Mitch had an ace in the hole he felt certain would cement the deal.

Becky Sinclair greeted them with a warm smile and ushered them into the kitchen where the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted through the air invitingly.
 
Mitch could almost visualize the Sinclair’s daughter sitting at the table with a glass of milk and a plate of cookies warm from the oven.
 
He glanced around the homey kitchen and even as comfortable and welcoming as it was, it didn’t come close to the feeling he got when walking into Jessie’s kitchen.
 

They’d never talked about having children and he was fairly certain the topic would have been nipped in the bud if she
had
spoken
to
Adam about it, but Mitch wanted kids, a whole slew of them.
 
The image of Jessie growing heavy with his child lodged a boulder in his throat.
 
It was something they were definitely going to discuss in the near future.

Becky pulled a fresh batch of cookies from the oven.
 
“Have a seat at the table
. 
Tom will be along shortly.
 
Would you like some cookies and milk?”
 
She literally beamed at them when they nodded their heads eagerly.
 
“I always make too many.
 
I’m so used to Wendy and all her friends making off with half of them I forget to cut the recipe down.”

Mitch didn’t miss the sadness in Becky Sinclair’s voice when she spoke of her daughter.
 
“It must be rough on you and your husband with your daughter so far away.”

“It just isn’t the same.
 
She was always such a vibrant young thing and Lord, there was always at least three or four other girls trailing after her.
 
It’s going to be even harder now.”
 

She carried two plates full of cookies and set them in front of Hank and Mitch then went back for the milk.
 
He could tell she was close to tears as she bustled around the kitchen with her lips pressed tightly together, carefully keeping her eyes averted.
 
He hadn’t met Tom Sinclair yet, but it wasn't difficult
 
to figure out that his wife would jump at the opportunity to be near her daughter.
 
His sympathy was genuine; it was obviously very painful for the woman to be separated from her only child.
 

“What makes it more difficult now, Mrs. Sinclair?”

She sat down across from Mitch.
 
“Becky, please.
 
We just found out Wendy is going to have a baby
. 
I know it’s silly
,
but I want to be there for her.
 
I’m afraid we spoiled her rotten and I just think she…she needs her mother.”

“Of course she does, Becky,” Hank said, chomping down on his second cookie.
 
“And spoiled rotten doesn’t do her justice.
 
You’re lucky that rich lawyer husband of hers thinks the sun rises and sets on Wendy, that’s for sure.”
 
Hank laughed when he caught the warning look Mitch shot him.
 
“Oh, don’t worry, son, I’m not telling Becky anything she doesn’t already know.”

Becky laughed with him.
 
“He’s right, you know, which is why I’m certain she needs me to help her through this.
 
And she’ll need someone around to watch the baby when she has errands to run.”

“She’s got her heart set on moving to Florida,” Tom Sinclair said as he joined them at the table.
 

Mitch stood up and held out his hand.
 
“I’m Mitch Kincaid
. 
I believe Hank spoke with you yesterday.”

Tom nodded to Hank
,
who was now deeply engrossed in dunking what was left of the cookies in his glass of milk.
 
“I’ll be honest with you, Mitch, I’ve already received a fair offer from Jud Wilkinson.”

“But you haven’t accepted,” Mitch countered.
 
“I get the distinct feeling you weren’t just holding out for a better offer.”

“No, I wasn’t, but I am curious as to how you gathered that.”

He’d been guessing, but now he knew for sure.
 
Tom Sinclair didn’t object to selling out, it was the idea of selling to Wilkinson that was holding him back.
 
“You have a nice ranch here and have obviously put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it.
 
But I think it was being a family that kept you here more than anything
,
and with Wendy gone, it just doesn’t have the same appeal as it did before.”

Tom nodded, a slight smile beginning to form.
 
“Go on.”

“I haven’t been around long enough to know what Wilkinson
is
capable of, but Hank tells me he wouldn’t have any problem buying up this ranch and choking off the water supply to the three ranches to the south so he can swallow those up too.”

“Hank’s right and so are you.
 
I’m just as anxious to move close to Wendy as my wife is, but I can’t…no, I won’t sell out to Jud knowing what he’s got planned for the other ranchers.
 
I assume you’re interested in buying me out, but how do I know for sure you won’t do the same?”