Finally a Bride (44 page)

The moment he’d dreaded the most was here. He hadn’t told the council about his secret yet. He wanted to talk to Luke first about how to approach it. They’d given him a week to decide, but he could tell they weren’t happy that he hadn’t made an instant decision.

“Noah. If you truly care about me and want a future together, there can be no secrets between us.”

He sighed and nodded. “You’re right. I’m just … scared, I guess.”

She took hold of his other hand and gave him a sweet smile, but her eyes held a teasing glint. “You’re scared of me?”

You have no idea. “Not exactly.” He looked down and studied the floorboards. How do I tell her, Lord? I don’t want to lose her.

There was no easy way. He captured her gaze, gaining strength from the love he saw there. Ten years had passed. Maybe she didn’t even remember Butch.

“You’re a good man, Noah. It can’t be all that bad. What did you do?”

He shook his head. “It’s not what I did but rather who I am.”

The confusion in her gaze threatened to steal his boldness. He had to tell her before he lost his nerve. “I lived in Lookout a long time ago, and we went to school together.”

Her eyes went wide, and he could almost see her sharp mind racing, trying to figure out the puzzle.

“I—I’m … Butch.”

She crinkled her brow. Her eyes widened. She dropped his hands and stepped back, forming a chasm between them as wide as the state of Texas. He already felt her loss.

“Not Butch Laird?”

He nodded and ducked his head, hurt with how she’d spewed his name.

“How could you?” With a hand on her chest, she looked as if she couldn’t catch her breath. Leaning forward, she narrowed her eyes. “How could you kiss me and not tell me such a thing? Was this just a cruel game you were playing?”

“No, Jackie—” He ran his hand through his hair, seeing his dream dying. “I care for you—I always have.”

“That’s a lie.” She backed up clear to the piano. “You were mean. You picked fights and—and—you locked me in jail and left me there.”

“I’m sorry about the past, but I’ve changed. Haven’t you seen that?”

She shook her head. Tears ran down her cheeks. “Is Noah even your real name? Jeffers sure isn’t.”

“Yes, Noah is what my ma named me, but my pa never liked it and called me Butch. I adopted my friend Pete’s last name when he came to mean more to me than my own pa.”

Jack’s chin quivered. “You lied to me. More than once, and that’s all that matters. I thought you were above such things, but I was wrong. My first pa—he always lied. I told myself I’d never have anything to do with a cruel man or a liar.”

She hurried past him, making as wide an arc as possible. He was losing her.

“Jackie—wait.”

She skidded to a stop in the hall and looked to her left. His hope took wing. Would she hear him out?

Luke stepped into view.

“You knew!” Jackie’s word spewed forth like snake venom.

Luke nodded, sorrow etched in his face.

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“It wasn’t my place, Half Bit.”

Jack swung toward the stairs. She stopped on the fourth one and glared down. “I’ll never trust either of you again.”

Noah watched her charge upstairs, his dreams dashed. He should have told her sooner.

Much sooner.

Chapter 32

J
ack lay in her bed, her aching eyes matching her heart. Her whole body hurt. Her tears were spent. How could he be Butch?

How could he not tell her?

The thing she feared most had come true. She’d lost her heart to a man just like her pa.

She stared up at the half moon. How could she have been so stupid?

How could Luke have betrayed her like that? Wasn’t it his job to protect her?

She sucked in a breath and a dose of reality. Luke had tried since she first met him to protect her, but only the Almighty could truly do that.

But hadn’t He let her down, too?

Jack sighed and listened to her sisters’ breathing as they slept. How could she feel so alone with two others in the room?

Just when Noah had everything he needed to provide for her, she learned the shocking truth—he was Butch Laird, her childhood nemesis. And yet, even knowing that, she still loved him. She bolted up in her bed, her heart pounding. She honestly, truly loved Butch Laird.

The thought should have repulsed her, but it didn’t. Hadn’t she always been curious about him? Even tried to be friends once?

Noah or Butch—what did it matter when he lied to her? She could never trust him now. Her tears must have restocked because they started again.

Father God, make this hurt go away
.

She wiped her tears on her pillowcase and her nose on her sixth and last hanky. Lying in the dark, she continued to pray.
Show me what to do, Lord
.

How can I stay in Lookout now? I can’t bear to see him again
.

Should I take the Dallas job?

Jack jerked. She blinked in the darkness and noticed the moon heading toward the horizon. Had she finally fallen asleep?

Her eyes ached, and she lifted her hand to touch their puffiness. Her head hurt as bad as when she’d gotten that concussion, but it was her heart that was shattered.

A metallic
ching
sounded near Emmie’s bed. Jack sat up and rubbed her eyes. Something banged and rolled across the floor. Had Emmie awakened?

As her eyes grew used to the darkness, the form of a man’s body took shape. “Papa?”

A masculine curse filled the room, and Jack gasped. The man hurled himself toward her. Before she could untangle herself from the sheet, a hand clamped hard over her mouth. Whiskey-laden breath filled her nostrils. “Where’s that bracelet?”

Jack’s eyes widened in the dark. She turned and could see the man’s face in the moonlight. She pulled his hand down. “Billy?”

“I need that bracelet.”

“I gave it to your ma.”

He sucked in a deep breath. “You stupid … you’ve ruined everything.”

He turned away and pulled open a drawer of her dresser—her unmentionables drawer, yanking out one garment after another. She tossed the sheet aside and stood, her nightgown sliding down to cover her legs. “Stop it. I don’t have the bracelet anymore.”

He grabbed her jaw. “I bought that for you. Why’d you give it to Ma?”

“You’re hurting me. Stop it.” She grabbed his hand, but he didn’t let go.

“Shut up, or I’ll hurt you like that fat, ol’ lady.”

Jack gasped. “You killed Bertha?”

“All I wanted was some money.” Suddenly Billy’s other hand careened toward her in the moonlight. It crashed into her jaw, knocking her back on the bed. Pain mixed with darkness. She fought to keep a hold on her awareness.

From a distance, someone screamed. Abby. She had to help her sister—as soon as she plowed through this quicksand of darkness.

Noah sat on the edge of the bed, unable to sleep. His heart had broken and fallen in pieces all over the floor. His prayers seemed to fall on deaf ears. He’d had everything he wanted in the palm of his hand for a few minutes—but he’d lost it all.

He’d lost her.

And without her, nothing else mattered.

He jumped up and strode to the window. A cool breeze lifted the curtains, reminding him of things greater than himself. The wind had always put him in mind of God. Something you couldn’t see but you knew existed.

“Did I hear You wrong, Lord? Wasn’t it Your will for me to come here, to make restitution for my past offenses? To have a chance to start over with Jackie?”

He should have told her the truth from the start. She would have reacted the same, but it wouldn’t have hurt so much.

Or maybe it would have.

“What am I going to do, Lord?”

He had to tell the church board who he was. He probably wouldn’t have a job after that, but with things like they were now, maybe that was for the best. First thing in the morning, he’d go see them.

He stared at the moon and longed to talk to Pete. The old man always put things in their proper perspective. Noah knew what he’d say, though.

Don’t be so hard on yourself
.

Talk to your Creator
.

Trust the Lord
.

But hadn’t he done all that and still lost Jackie?

He wanted to throw something. Wanted to get on his horse and ride until he reached the ocean. Wanted things to be like they were when he’d kissed Jackie in the alley.

But they never would be.

A frantic scream broke into his misery. He bolted to the door, stumbling on the chair he’d left out earlier. A sharp pain ratcheted across his knee, but he ignored it when another scream came. He scrambled down the stairs and slid to a stop outside Jack’s bedroom door.

He’d overreacted. Abby was just having a bad dream. He could not go in there.

Something thumped hard on the other side of the door, and Abby screamed again. Emmie started crying, and he heard a muffled squeal. “Jackie?”

He reached for the knob. The squeals got louder as if someone called for help. He turned the knob and shoved open the door. Abby’s screams reverberated around the room.

His eyes focused on a large shape bending over Jackie’s bed—a man’s shape. His hand fumbled to light the lamp by the doorway. His eyes rebelled at the sudden brightness, but he rushed forward. Billy Morgan stood over Jack. Her cheek was red, and she glanced at him with a dazed stare. What had Billy done?

All his pain rushed to the surface. In two quick steps he grabbed Billy’s arm. Noah hauled the man away from his beloved. He shook Billy hard. “What are you doing in here?”

Without warning, Billy went berserk—kicking, punching, cursing.

Abby’s screams continued, and Emmie’s wails grew louder. Noah dodged Billy’s fist. He didn’t want to fight the man again, but he’d crossed a line. He slammed Billy against the wall and held him there by his throat. Billy smashed his fists into Noah’s cheeks. Rage filled him.

“Noah, stop it.” Jackie’s pleas barely pierced his mental armor.

“That’s enough, son,” Luke’s stronger, deeper voice called to him. “Let him go, Noah. I’ve got my rifle.”

He glanced toward Luke and suddenly realized how his rage had overpowered his senses. Just like his pa’s always had. He opened his hand, and Billy slid down the wall.

“Papa, he killed Mrs. Boyd.” Jackie slid off her bed and rushed to gather Emmie to her then carried her to Abby’s bed and cuddled both frightened sisters.

Luke hauled Billy up. “You’re under arrest, Mr. Morgan.”

Noah took one last glance at Jackie and dashed out of the room. The worst thing he could have imagined had happened—he’d become his father.

The sound of songbirds tickled Jack’s ears, and she stretched. She opened her eyes, surprised to see the sun had fully risen and both girls were already up and gone. Suddenly the horrors of last night rushed back.

Noah.

Billy.

What would Billy have done to her if Noah hadn’t come to her rescue?

She shivered and sat up. Her eyes felt dry and scratchy—puffy from her hours of crying. And in the end, the result was the same. Noah was Butch—her worst enemy. The man she loved.