Harnessed Passions (50 page)

He thought about the anxiety he had felt
about meeting her, about all Victor had told him about her. He even
thought about how stubborn he felt about the land Victor swore his
children would never want. Then the vision of emerald eyes and long
flowing hair came to his mind and he smiled; three years ago when
Victor told him about Julia, he found a craving that no other woman
could satisfy; though he did try. He wanted to meet her, to explore
her and to see if he could make her want to share the land with
him, but once he met her the urgency became all the more real.

By God, she was the most beautiful woman he
had ever met. He hadn't realized the first time he held her in his
arms, just how endearing she would become to him or just how much
he would come to treasure her. He wanted to make her his lover
longer than he even knew her, but as his wife he’d found her a
larger part of his world than just he ever imagined. She was his
heart, his life, she was the reason he was living.

The door to his office opened and the stalky
frame of his longtime friend and partner walked in. Harold didn't
say anything as he slowly stalked the length of the room. He stared
at the man behind the desk, frowning slightly. Daniel knew that
look and he braced himself for one hell of a ribbing. Harold leaned
his hands on the top of the desk, his face straight and stern.
Daniel leaned back in the chair, hands across his chest, just
staring at the man. They paired off, looking as though they had met
head on in the field of battle.

"Browning, isn't it?" Harold said in a
serious quiet drawl, echoing like symphonic music in the quiet
room.

"You want the office down the hall," Daniel
replied, his tone level and serious. "My name's Lincoln, but you
may call me Abe."

"Okay Abe, be honest; is she worth avoiding
the White House for?"

"I'd walk back to Illinois in ten feet of
snow for her."

"Then I guess asking how you've been doing
isn't necessary, huh?"

"Only if you really want to know?" Daniel
chuckled.

"Naw, I'll just accept that content glow on
your face as exhibit A." Harold straightened up from his partner's
desk and smiled. "It's been awful boring around here without you
pal."

"I wish I could say the same, but as it
happens I've barely had two minutes to sit on the pot."

"Sounds like the little wife's been keeping
you busy?"

"I wish she was. Fact is, I've been learning
all the interesting aspect of sawing, measuring, hammering and
chopping; can't wait to get back to work." The two men laughed
leaning across the desk, shaking hands before Harold took the seat
opposite his partner. It seemed an eternity since they'd had the
chance to just talk, much less tease each other. The last two times
they had met it was brief and the discussion of work consumed their
time.

"So, how's the little wife really doing?
Recovering from the accident alright?"

"She's great thanks; as a
matter of fact she's with your wife at the moment. Probably
exchanging all sorts of nasty tails, which reminds me," Daniel
leaned forward placing his elbows on the desk in front of him and
leveling the other man one of his best
serious lawyer looks
, as Harold liked
to call it. "Did you know your wife came by the ranch
yesterday?"

"Yes she told me. Why?"

"Did she also tell you, she gave Julia some
womanly advice?"

"Oh no, what did she say?"

"I don't know all the details, Julia's still
considerably shy. But if walking into my bedroom to find my wife in
a see-through nightgown, a bottle of imported wine and the smell of
cologne don’t tell you, than I think you've been sleeping with the
wrong woman."

"She didn't?"

"Oh yes she did and the best thing is...it
worked."

"So the truce is off, huh?"

"You could say that. I found out just how
recovered my wife really is."

"Doesn't sound as though Margie did all that
much harm."

"Not really," Daniel admitted with a smile.
"Fact is, I'm indebted to her. She helped Julia look past her fears
and sent her running head long into my arms. I don't think I'm
going to hold a grudge."

"So, what do you want me to do? Tie Margie
to my bed and torture her until she’s too sore to ride a
horse?"

"That's up to you, but just for the record,
Councilor, your wife is alone with my wife and I’m quite certain
she’s giving her more advice."

“
Have you introduced her to
your alter ego yet?” Harold smiled, thinking about what his wife
really was talking to Julia about.

“
She’s a naive, innocent
virgin; at least she was until last night. I plan on weaning her
into the deviance slowly.” The two men talked on for a little
longer before settling down to business. Daniel finished reviewing
the papers that had brought him into the office before sitting back
to relax.

Four hours passed since he had dropped Julia
off at Margie's and he still found himself thinking about her. The
smell of her soap lingered on his jacket, making serious
concentration impossible. With the papers out of the way and the
postal boy dispatched with the forms for his client to sign, Daniel
was free to work on other things. He went in search of Harold;
finding him where he knew he would be; engrossed in a stack of
files and papers of his own.

Harold hated paperwork and since Daniel was
too busy at the ranch to offer aide and Anna had taken time off to
get married, he was faced with the unpleasant task of managing the
bills, correspondents and publications himself.

Daniel and Harold ran one of the more
successful law firms in the western portion of the state. Their
clientele went as far East as Lexington and as far south as Shelby
Tennessee, which meant there was always a lot of work and papers to
sort through every day. Daniel knew the look of frustration on his
friend’s face and the headache that went along with doing the work
alone. He, himself, had managed to struggle through when Maggie was
born for nearly a full month without Harold, but at least Anna had
been there to help. Daniel had, at one time, felt so acquainted
with it the pain he even named it Sam, in honor of Samuel Freeman
Miller; associate justice of the United States Supreme court and a
personal idol of Daniel's.

"Hey, got a minute to talk?" he asked,
heading over to the desk. The feeling of guilt for putting his
partner through all of this was eating as his gut, but he couldn’t
help it; it was impossible to be in two places at once.

"Hell, I could take a week off and never
miss this shit. What's up?" Daniel chuckled lightly, sitting down
across from the man.

"I need your help."

“
Well, that’s a first;
usually it’s I who come to you for help. Please tell me it doesn’t
have to do with papers?” Harold frowned. “I've got enough of my
own, since I don't seem to have a partner to help out
anymore."

"I’m sorry I’ve been so distant lately; I
promise, once the sale is over, I’ll be back to work.”

“
So what can I do for
you?”

“
I need you to tell me if
I'm going crazy or not."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
Harold snorted in amusement.

"There have been some things bugging me
since Julia returned to Kentucky. It started with the attack on her
the day her father was buried, then the snake in her wash closet
the next day."

"Snake, what snake? You never told me about
a snake."

"The day after Victor's funeral, the day
after she supposedly fell in the library, she found a garter snake
under the tub in her wash closet. It wasn't dangerous and it
couldn't have done more than scare the hell out of her, which it
did, but I don't believe it got in the house by accident,
especially up a flight of stairs. After that everything seemed to
be quiet for a while until the night she nearly drowned. No sooner
did she recover from that than the stables caught on fire.

“
Rally Overton found
several bottles with rags stuffed in them; a sort of homemade
incendiary device. The fire was deliberate, Harold. She could have
easily been killed and what's worse, I think it was intended to
scare her off, at the very least."

"Why do you say that? I mean it could have
been aimed at Victor Turner himself. Perhaps some family member or
hired hand who felt he deserved more than he got."

"I considered that until the night of
Julia's accident at the swimming hole. Overton introduced me to a
man in need of a job. With the sales coming near, I didn’t object;
we could use all the hands we can get. Problem is, I know I've seen
him someplace before, I just can't figure out where and he goes by
the name Dourn. The name isn't familiar in the least and Julia
swears she knows him too. She also relates him to the swimming
hole, which he seems to know quite a bit about. Neither of us can
figure out where we know him from though."

"Dourn could be an alias."

"That's what I'm thinking. As much as I'd
like to blame the guy though, I just can't imagine he's the one
behind everything happening. There's just that nagging feeling in
the back of my mind. Then there's Sharon Farnsworth."

"Now who's she?"

"Her family owns the land next to the
stables. She used to live around here until her sister Heather
died."

"Oh, I remember now. There was some talk at
the time of Julia being responsible for the accident. She died out
at the ranch as I recall. The talk died down though, when the
Sheriff and Dr. Stewart confirmed it was just an accidental
drowning. That would have happened just about the time you came
here."

"I know, Louise told me about it. I also
know Sharon blamed Julia for her sister's death. Now here she shows
up five years later, friendlier than the devil himself, all smiles
and sweet words. None of it adds up, Harold. There's just too
damned many coincidences for me to trust any of it at face value. I
even considered perhaps Jeremy was responsible at first, but Julia
means too much to him for him to cause her any grief, and there's
something else."

"What, more good news?"

"Julia claims to have seen Heather
Farnsworth's ghost, twice now. The first time, she said Heather
tried to drown her at the pond. The last time was the night of the
fire. I can't accept the idea of spooks and spirits haunting the
ranch."

"How can you be so certain she didn't see
Heather? It's possible after all; they were best friends."

"Julia said Heather told her she's
responsible for her death and she's come back for revenge. Does
that sound like the act of a best friend, dead or alive?"

"It sounds crazy that's what it sounds
like."

"Listen Harold, Julia's no crazier than you
are."

"And who's saying I'm sane?" the man teased,
straightening up looking at his friend sternly. "So tell me, if
your wife hasn't lost her senses, what do you think she saw?"

"I think she saw someone posing as Heather;
a jealous friend perhaps or somebody who has a grudge. Perhaps just
some kid playing a sick joke. I saw a woman at the ranch the night
of the fire as well, but it didn’t look like a ghost to me. I don't
know what’s going on, but I know those footprints we found at the
pond weren't made by any ghost."

"What foot prints?"

"Jeremy and I went back to the pond after
Julia's accident. We found several footprints, one set were
barefoot. Jeremy also found a piece of rope and a torn piece of
white satin with traces of blood on it. You can't tell me a ghost
is capable of bleeding."

"Okay. What do want me to do?"

"I was hoping you could check out this guy,
Dourn. See if he really is who he claims to be. Then see what you
can find out about Sharon Farnsworth and any other enemies Julia
might have had, either here or back in Boston. If I started
snooping around somebody might get antsy and panic. We’ve lost
enough horses; I can't risk taking the chance of losing more or
having Julia hurt again."

"Alright pal, I'll do what I can. I'll make
some inquiries about Dourn and we'll see what pans out about
Farnsworth and I'll want to see that piece of rope and satin you
found," Harold began making notes as he issued his own orders to
his partner. "There is another possibility neither of us want to
think about," he said after a few moments.

"Which is?"

"That it's Julia herself doing all of this.
She may not even be aware of it."

"That's crazy Harold and you know it. You're
just as bad as the damned stable hands, accusing Julia of be this
mystery woman lurking around the ranch. She could never do any of
those things, not to herself or to her father's land!"

"Alright Daniel, calm down. It was just a
thought and one you may have to face. I know there have been rumors
circling the town about this mystery woman of yours and I don't
doubt the news of Julia's accident has found its way into the
bonnets of the local gossips. There are still those who feel Julia
was responsible for the Farnsworth gal's death, even though the
sheriff cleared her of it. It could also be something as sinister
as someone trying to frame her,” Harold suggested. “Someone who has
never forgiven her for the past, perhaps?”

“
Sharon Farnsworth,” Daniel
nodded, understanding the track his friend was leading down. “I’ve
thought about that a lot. Louise said she was hateful to Julia
after Heather died. That, as well as the grief that surrounded her
friend’s death, was what sent Julia to Boston in the first
place.”

“
I definitely think we need
to check out the girl. What do you know about her?”

“
I know her parents moved
to New York after Heather died. Apparently they never sold their
land and that’s why Sharon is here now; fixing it up to a livable
condition. She said she arrived the day of Victor’s
funeral.”