Roz Denny Fox (25 page)

“Gifts don’t come with strings, Hayley.”

He’d stopped in the deeper shadows to deliver the rebuke. Hayley couldn’t see his eyes, but she imagined they burned like liquid silver. She’d noticed they did that whenever he was serious, angry or trying to make a point. “All right. No strings,” she agreed. “You’ve made me so happy I couldn’t possibly pay you back properly if I tried.”

Jake shifted restlessly from one foot to the other. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell again that he loved her. But it would sound too much as if he was trying to extract payback, after all. He wanted her to love him not because of the comforts he could provide, but because life itself would be bleak without him. Fearing he wanted what could never be, he retrieved the last package.

He had to wait for Hayley to return from the spring. And then she made him wait while she held up and exclaimed over each item in the layette. Disposable diapers. Shirts, sleep sacks, receiving blankets, bibs and booties. At the bottom of the stack, Hayley discovered a rattle and a plush yellow squeaky duck.

She cried again, harder. She’d been weepier than usual. But Dr. Gerrard’s pamphlet warned that might be a side effect of pregnancy. Jake tugged her upright into his arms, and he held her patiently until her tears dried. “Come on,” he wheedled, “open the last box. This one will make you smile. Especially when I tell you how ill equipped I was to buy it. The saleslady asked me fifty questions I couldn’t answer. In the end I picked it because I could picture you wearing it. So if it doesn’t fit or you really hate it, you’ve got to promise to tell me. Eden’s going to Phoenix tomorrow. She can return it and replace it with something you’d rather wear to the harvest dance.”

“Jake, I told you I don’t dance!” Hayley gasped. “Look at me. Do I look like someone able to dip and swing?” She stepped away, drawing his attention to her misshapen form.

“So? You can sit around and look pretty with the best of them, Hayley.”

“Sure,” she croaked. “Tell that to Ginalyn Westin and her fashion-plate pals. I suppose she’s going to the dance,” Hayley muttered.

Jake reached for her without commenting.

“I thought as much.” Hayley took a deep breath before picking up the gaily wrapped present. “The bad thing about this is that I know automatically I’m going to love whatever you bought. You can’t imagine how tired I am of wearing these sacky jumpers. I sewed them up fast before I left Tombstone. I had the material and the pattern was easy. I’d make something more fashionable, but my machine needs electricity.”

“Mom would let you set up your machine in one of our guest bedrooms,” Jake said as she dropped into the chair again and untied the big pink bow.

Her fingers stilled. “I know, Jake. But I’m not going to impose. And I’m reasonably sure your dad would hate to have me hanging around. How would it look to the members of the Cattlemen’s Association, anyway?”

“What do they have to do with who we invite to the Triple C?”

Hayley pried the lid off the box and rested one hand on the thick folds of tissue paper. “Are you kidding? I saw how upset you were when you found out that Mr. Westin tried to deal with me behind your dad’s back. Don’t you think that’s precisely the view other association members would have if I took up residence at your house?”

“The difference is that Dad wants the spring so
all
the ranchers can share the water equally. Westin plans to stab us in the back by selling his spread—
and
the spring property—to developers. Without water rights, all the valley ranchers will go under. So you’re absolutely right. I wasn’t pleased about Westin dickering with you.”

“How do I know your dad’s on the up-and-up? Maybe he asked you and Nell and Eden to treat me nice just to throw me off guard.”

The hiss Jake made in his throat brought Charcoal to his feet. “What kind of person can’t tell who’s lying and who’s telling the truth?” Jake’s stance was belligerent. Charcoal edged closer to Hayley and bared his teeth at Jake.

“Obviously I can’t!” she snapped, becoming as agitated as Jake appeared. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have been so gullible as to believe Joe’s big fat lies. I even believed Shad Tilford when he told me he’d bring Joe in for questioning. I know I’m a sucker. And I attract con men. So why wouldn’t
you
have an ulterior motive to hang around me, too?”

Jake did more than hiss. He couldn’t get the words out and practically choked as he tried. Giving up, he threw his hands in the air and stalked toward his truck. “This is getting us nowhere. I intended to come back tomorrow and help you dig. Although I’m sorely tempted to let you sit here for a few days to realize how idiotic your off-kilter analogy sounds to a rational human being.”

It took three tries for Hayley to heave her pregnant body out of the low-slung chair. “Ha! As if the way
you’re
acting is rational.” She crushed the partially open gift to her fast-beating heart. Seeing him continue to stride away, she said with less fervor, “Please don’t go, Jake. I
want
to trust you. If you only knew how much…” He didn’t turn, but climbed into his truck.

He drove off, and Hayley didn’t understand why the fear of abandonment overtook her unpredictably and at random. It twisted her tongue and her thoughts. Only a person who’d been through such an experience could possibly sympathize. Which wasn’t Jake. Just the opposite, in fact. He knew nothing of betrayal or real loss.

It was just as well she’d driven him off. He belonged with someone pretty and rich and confident. Hayley got sick every time she thought about Jake matched with someone like Ginalyn Westin, but she had to admit they were better suited than the two of them.

She could imagine the whispers Jake and Eden and Nell would have to endure if he took a pregnant guppy like her to the harvest dance. Nell herself described the event as the biggest one of the year for all the local ranchers. No, it was better to make Jake mad than have him end up the talk of the town.

Hayley’s hand strayed to the dress box. She had no right to even look. But she couldn’t resist. Peeling back the tissue carefully, she exposed a beautiful red dress. Made of silk crepe, it rustled when she held it up and let it drift over her lumpy body in a perfect A. The collar and cuffs of the long sleeves were pristine white satin, and there was a white satin rose at the neck. It was by far the finest dress Hayley had ever owned.

She quickly folded it back into the box, not wanting a new flow of tears to stain the material.

How could she have tears left? As she made neat piles of the baby things, placed them on the mattress and dragged the cradle and its contents into her trailer, Hayley knew she’d cry buckets of tears over losing Jake. She had missed him terribly during the four days he’d been in Phoenix. She’d never missed Joe as much. Never.

Sitting on her bed, calling herself all kinds of names for not leveling with Jake about the truth of John Westin’s visit, Hayley dried her tears. Westin had said he was aware that her
husband
was trying to find her. Westin said if she didn’t take his offer and turn over the mine, he’d direct Joe to the Blue Cameo.

The threat was still very much on Hayley’s mind when Jake showed up lavishing her with gifts. But Joe Ryan was her albatross, not Jake’s. Hayley knew that if Jake had any idea Westin had threatened her, he’d take it upon himself to shoulder her burdens—and that chilled her to the bone. Jake was too kind. Too sweet and decent a guy to ruin his life fighting with scum like Shad and Joe. If she could hold out another three weeks, Joe would legally be her ex. Then he’d no longer have any claim on property that belonged to her. Anyway, Westin might have been bluffing. Joe was probably off hitting on some other woman. He had the attention span of a gnat.

J
AKE ARRIVED
at the breakfast table looking like a thundercloud. When Nell and Wade greeted him, he grunted something unrecognizable.

Nell rose and removed a check from her purse. “Eden wonders if you’ll give this to Hayley today when you go to help her dig. If Hayley asks why it’s more than the previous amount, Eden said it’s because sales have increased considerably.”

“You take it to her,” Jake said, staring at the check as if it might bite him. “I’m riding fence today. I talked to Dillon last night. He said we had a report of several miles down. Apparently he promised to plow Eden’s garden to get it ready to replant, so that leaves me.”

“Yes,” Nell said. “When he’s finished with hers, he’s going to plow mine. I can’t visit Hayley today. Business at the store is booming.”

“She won’t die without these funds,” Jake said nastily. “I doubt she’ll take time out from stockpiling ore to go and bank them.”

Nell dabbed her lips with a napkin. “Did Hayley refuse the cradle and layette?”

“She didn’t have a choice. I left them. We didn’t argue over that.”

“But you did argue?” Surprisingly it was Wade who asked.

Jake snorted. “She thinks you’re a bogeyman. Has herself convinced the Coopers will use treachery to get clear title to the spring.”

Wade looked shocked. “I’ve only met the woman once. I had my say and I listened to her. Yes, I want the water rights, but when you and Nell and Eden took up for Mrs. Ryan, I backed off.”

“I know. Hayley sees enemies at every turn. Do you mind if we change the subject? It’ll give me an ulcer if I keep thinking about it.”

Nell curled her hand over Jake’s. “I’m sorry, Jacob. I like Hayley. I prayed it would work out for you two. But some things will never be. I guess I’d better take the crib and chest I bought back to the store. I’d hate them to be a sad reminder each time you pass Dillon’s old room.”

“Keep them, Mom.” Jake rose and plucked his hat off a rack by the door. “One of these days Dillon and Eden will give you grandkids. Undoubtedly they’ll ask you to babysit. Anyway, in a couple of months I’ll be in my own house.”

“Yes.” Her eyes remained troubled. “A home you built for her. I know it’s probably too soon for me to say this. But, Jake, the right woman is out there somewhere. Give it time. You’ll find her.”

“Hayley’s the right woman. The only woman, Mother. Aren’t you the one who’s always said that when a Cooper falls in love, it’s forever?” Stalking through the kitchen door, he tried not to slam it shut. He wasn’t giving up. Oh, he’d stay away a few days. Maybe all week. Call him a glutton for punishment, but he
would
go back. He worried too much about Hayley being out there alone, working like a stevedore, with her due date so close.

By Wednesday Jake had blisters on his hands from setting posts and stringing wire. The project required another day, but he needed a break. He decided to ride over to check on Hayley from the top of the ridge, if nothing else. Before he could head in that direction, his general contractor called, asking him to take a look at the location of the kitchen and living-room fireplaces. They were back-to-back, and Wahl thought the nook on the living room side would be perfect for built-in bookshelves. If Jake approved, his men wanted to rough in the change today.

The decision didn’t take five minutes after Jake had driven the ten miles out to his property. On his return to the house, he saddled Mojave, deciding he’d just go finish the fence project, after all. While Jake had been gone, his brother had unloaded a tractor to plow Nell’s garden.

The two men exchanged waves. As Jake started to ride past, Dillon killed the tractor’s engine. “Are you going out to Hayley’s?”

Jake tugged on his hat brim. “North pasture. Why?”

“Didn’t Mom reach you? She phoned me looking for you. She didn’t leave a message, but I gathered it had something to do with Hayley.”

Jake’s heart took a dive. Icy sweat slid down his backbone. “Do you have your cell phone on you? I’ll ring Mom. Save me going back and unlocking the house.”

“Sure.” Dillon dug the phone out of his shirt pocket and handed it over. Jake connected with Nell on the first try.

“What’s up? Dillon said you’d phoned. Regarding Hayley?”

“It may be nothing,” Nell said, unable to keep the worry from her voice. “I find it hard to believe, but according to Eden, Ginalyn told friends her dad had met with Joe Ryan this morning. She indicated the men made some deal involving the spring. Like I said, it may be rumor, nothing more.”

“Westin just might be that underhanded. I’ll ride out and take a look-see. If you hear anything else—or if Ryan shows up in town—leave a message on the recorder. At this point I won’t say anything to Hayley. In fact, I may look things over and not let her know I’m there. Whatever I decide, I won’t stay. I’ll be home in time for dinner. We’ll touch base then.”

“Trouble?” Dillon asked as he accepted his phone.

“Maybe. Maybe not. It concerns Hayley’s ex. He’s a lowlife. A lowlife with an ax to grind. They’re the most dangerous kind.”

Dillon stared silently as Jake wheeled his horse around. “Take care, little brother. If you’re not back by suppertime, shall we send the dog with the brandy?”

Jake laughed at that. “Hayley already has Charcoal,” he said. “So you can go ahead and drink the brandy.”

He wasn’t one to ride a horse into a lather. But something had a grip on Jake’s spine and it wouldn’t let go. He rode hard and fast. Where he’d planned to nose around quietly, the sight of a dirt-spattered Jeep parked up against Hayley’s pickup changed everything. Jabbing his heels into Mojave’s flanks, Jake galloped down the incline like a madman.

It was a good thing, too. Joe Ryan and Shad Tilford were shoving Hayley back and forth between them. Her face was ghost-white, except for a trickle of bright red blood running from one edge of her upper lip.

Charcoal barked and ran in frenzied circles. Shad kept trying to kick him.

The two men evidently heard Mojave’s hoofbeats. Both turned. Jake could see Tilford’s shiny badge. Too bad. That badge bought him nothing in this territory. Not one thing.

Jake rode past the trio, sprang from his saddle and scooped up Hayley’s gun, which leaned against the log where she kept it. “Touch her again and I’ll fill both of you full of lead.” At the time Jake fully intended to follow through. His face must have reflected his intentions.