Second Chance Cowboy (21 page)

“
It appeared that way.”
Steele dropped his feet to the floor with a loud thud. “I followed
Kincaid to the McAllister. He parked along the road, used a key to
unlock the gate and walked in. A few minutes later, Carly’s Toyota
pulled in. She didn’t bother to lock the gate behind her, that’s
how I was able to walk in and get the pictures.” He sighed heavily
and continued. “I couldn’t get close enough to hear what was
exchanged, but they stood on the porch for ten minutes and well…”
He nodded to the pictures Chance held tightly. “You see the
photos.”

Yeah
,
Chance could see the
photos. It appeared that Kincaid and Carly stood in an intimate
pose. He learned long ago, jumping to conclusions without the full
story led to nothing but trouble in the end.

He knew Carly. He trusted
her.

She’d never sink to Kincaid’s
level.

Kincaid was a son of a bitch who had
no morals and values. It became clear what Kincaid tried to
pull.

He didn’t need to speak to Carly to
get a good sense for what happened during her meeting with
Kincaid.

Now he understood why she asked if it
were possible she had an affair. He had blown it off as nothing
more than her memory playing tricks, filing itself back into her
archives. He should have listened—
really
listened
.

He hadn’t wanted to hear because he
feared what she would say.

Chance needed to protect Carly at
every cost. He wanted to tell her the truth, even if it meant that
his ass was cooked. He’d deal with one thing at a time. He had to
take his emotions out of the equation and think of
Carly.

Pushing the photos back into the
yellow folder, he asked Steele, “You said you pulled up some
history on Kincaid?”

“
An arm’s length of priors,
buddy. Man’s real name is Matt Cleaver. Grew up in a small town in
Idaho. It appears conning is his game, the wealthier the better. He
is wanted in Ohio for swindling a wealthy widow out of a million.
Cleaver would probably have duped her for more but the widow’s son
got suspicious and did some investigating of his own. Too bad
Kincaid got away before the authorities could get him.”

Chance grew angrier. Bastard swindled
him and who knows how many innocent others. “What do you plan on
doing from here?”

Steele shrugged a wide shoulder. “I’m
waiting to see what you want to do with the information. We got
enough on this jackass to put him behind bars. Need to move quick
though before he catches wind and gets the hell out of
Dodge.”

“
I want the asshole’s head
on a platter.”

Steele’s laughter made it clear he
enjoyed hunting slime.

An hour later, Chance walked into the
front door of the house. He knew something was wrong long before he
got past the foyer.

He stepped into his office and
switched on the light. That’s when he saw her. Carly sat on the
edge of the chair, eyes red and glossy. She’d been
crying.

Taking a step toward her, he heard a
crinkling under his boot, and he looked down at the papers
scattered on the floor in front of his desk. The strewn papers were
a symbol of his misfortune. The day of reckoning had
arrived.

He scanned the documents despairingly.
Divorce papers, Devon’s birth certificate, death certificate, and a
letter he hadn’t seen before. Harry’s neat writing on the
McAllister letterhead stared back at him.

His eyes moved to her face. Solemn,
fearful, tired. “Carly...”

She lifted a hand to keep him from
coming closer.

Carly kept her eyes steady on a spot
on the floor. “You didn’t even attempt to hide the evidence. You
kept these things in a file cabinet right underneath my nose.” She
swept a hand in the air, encompassing the discarded papers. “Had
you hoped I’d stay in the dark forever, never curious?”

“
No, Carly.”

She lifted her chin, eyes icy and
dull. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth? The morning you came to
the McAllister after I fell. Why didn’t you tell me we were no
longer married?”

His mind raced. What did she remember?
Had all of her memories returned? “Because I didn’t want to see you
hurt again.” What he spoke seemed lousy, but it was the
truth.

Her eyes crinkled in the corners. She
laughed coldly. “And what do you think I’m feeling now?”

“
You’re hurt.”

“
I’m hurt and ashamed.” Her
words caught on a sob. “How could I have forgotten?”

“
What, Carly?” He stepped
forward but didn’t go to her. He ached to hold her but afraid she
might run away.

She lowered her eyes to her shaky
hands clasped tightly in her lap. “Devon. How could I have
forgotten our son? How could I be such a horrible person to forget
our son?”

“
You
have—
had
—amnesia, Carly. You didn’t forget
intentionally.”

She didn’t seem to hear him. “I forgot
him, and I forgot that
we
no longer exist.”

Her words ripped through him like a
blast of fire. She slipped through his fingers. He knew it. He felt
it. “That’s not true, Carly. We do still exist. This last month is
proof that we are still in love, that we belong
together.”

Her eyes came up. “This last month was
a lie, Chance.”

He winced. “It wasn’t a
lie.”

“
Oh, yeah?” Her brow
snapped up.

“
Is the baby you’re
carrying a lie?”

Her hand went to her stomach. “You
tricked me.”

He ripped a hand through his hair. He
knew this would happen. Why did he feel unprepared? “Trick you? I
may have kept the truth from you, but I did it for your own good.”
He had no right to be angry, but his blood pressure spiked.
Couldn’t she see that everything he’d done had been for
her?

She sniffed loudly. “Tell me, Chance.
Why did you do this? Why did you allow me to believe we are still
married, that everything is fine? Were you getting revenge? You’ve
gotten a real kick out of watching me play the fool.” She swiped
the wetness on her cheeks.

“
Carly, this was not
revenge. You can’t honestly believe that I’d get some form of
deceitful high from this. You know me, Carly, better than anyone.
Quit pretending that I’m not the same man you fell in love
with.”

“
I’ve been a fool.” She
stood up. She seemed to wobble as she reached for the table. He
reached out to help her and she sidestepped him. “Everything makes
sense now. You were distant because we were no longer together. You
didn’t want me here.”

It killed him to see her like this. He
watched helplessly as she marred the chance for a new
start.

He wouldn’t be in more pain if she’d
kicked him in the balls.

And yet, pained as deeply as he was,
he still wanted to protect her. “I was distant because I was scared
shitless. I didn’t want to take advantage of you, of this
situation.”

She threw up her hands. “And at what
point did you decide that lying wasn’t taking advantage? Did you
feel sorry for the poor girl with memory problems? Did you feel
obligated to screw the desperate fool throwing herself at
you?”

“
Oh hell,
Carly.”

“
Oh hell, Carly?” she
repeated in a good version of his tone. “Martin Kincaid approached
me. He told me that we—”

“
Kincaid is a lying bastard
looking for a free ride. He saw his opportunity. I’m sorry you were
thrust into the middle of his plot.”

She brought her eyes up, meeting his.
For a mere second her features softened. “He knew...about things,
he knew about my birthmark. I knew deep inside that it couldn’t be
true, but how did he know?”

His hands tightened into fists. Rage
engulfed him. He wanted to hunt down Kincaid and throttle him.
“What I think is, he watched us the evening by the pond. You were
naked and exposed,” he said gently. “A pair of binoculars and a
safe tree to hide behind and that’s all he needed.”

“
You knew Kincaid was a
threat, didn’t you?”

His muscles jerked. “He threatened to
tell you the truth about our marriage if I didn’t pay him to keep
quiet.”

“
You didn’t include me?
Warn me?”

“
I hired Steele.” He wanted
to tell her he saw the photos the PI took of her and Kincaid, and
he would, but right now, he had bigger fish to fry. “He tagged
Kincaid. He uncovered lots of dirt on the man, enough that we can
put him away.”

“
Can you imagine the fear I
felt? Can you, Chance?”

“
I couldn’t tell you about
Kincaid unless I told you the entire truth.” He had to move fast
before she bolted. “I can explain everything now.”

“
Don’t bother.” She pushed
past him.

He pulled her back with a gentle hand
on her elbow. “I’m going to say what’s on my mind and you’re going
to listen.”

Her back stiffened and anger flashed
through her eyes. “Is that right?”

“
Damn right you are. If I
have to hog-tie you to the chair and muffle your mouth, you
will
hear me out.” Feeling her relax slightly, he let go of
her arm. “If what I wanted was revenge, why have I worked my ass
off protecting you from finding out the truth in painful
increments? I could have been very dirty. I could have pointed out
the missing facts from the get-go and you would have been pounded
with the truth, truth you weren’t ready to hear. If I didn’t want
you, why have I done everything in my power to keep you here at the
Swift Wind?”

“
Under false
pretenses.”

“
If I told you the truth,
what would you have done? Lived another two years or more
perfecting that charming personality trait of pushing away the
people you love.” He knew he had to be careful, but he also had to
make her understand why he’d done what he did. “Isn’t it freaking
time you stopped punishing yourself and realized neither of us is
at fault for Devon’s death? Can’t you quit living in the misery of
his death and start living in the quality of his memory? He lived
eight wonderful months, Carly.”

He exhaled slowly, painfully.
“Remember his smile? Remember when he said mama for the first
time?” He had to stop for a second and gain his momentum. “Can’t
you see your amnesia was our second chance for happiness? This baby
you’re carrying is a gift.”

“
Now what? We go on and act
like everything’s perfect? It’s interesting that you pretend you
care now, but after Devon died, you...you...” She didn’t finish the
sentence.

“
Tell me, Carly. What did I
do? What did I do that was so wrong? Was it because I signed his
life support off? Please, once and for all, tell me why you hate
me.” He had to know. He couldn’t live in torture any
longer.

Her chin trembled. “I didn’t hate you.
I don’t hate you. I never have. I hated myself, Chance. Didn’t you
see that? I was ashamed of the fact that, being Devon’s mother and
protector, I wasn’t strong enough to make the decision to let him
go. But you were. I loved him so much but it was a selfish love. I
allowed my own unhealthy desire to get in the way. I would have
watched him lie in that bed for who knows how long because at least
he was still with me. I was overwhelmingly self-seeking. I couldn’t
let him go because it hurt too badly, although deep inside I knew
it was better to let him go.”

“
Oh, sweetheart. Don’t do
this to yourself. Don’t punish yourself any longer.” He felt his
world crashing down. “We can’t live in the past. Let’s move
forward. I’m here. We have a family.”

She snapped her face up. Fear evident
in her eyes. “I can’t, Chance. I can’t do this.” She slowly backed
away from him, moving into the hallway. “I can’t
forget.”

“
I’m not asking you to
forget. I’m asking you to trust me.” He held out his hand, palm
open.

She stared at his hand for the longest
time. She seemed to give it consideration, but the buried pain
reared its ugly head. “Goodbye, Chance.”

Chapter Twenty
One

CARLY SAT ON the leather couch at the
McAllister polishing off the last bit of dill pickles from the
glass jar when the phone rang.

She made no move to answer it but shot
Lila, who sat next to her, a bothered sigh.

Lila moaned, went to the phone, and
unplugged it. “How many times has he called?”

Carly shrugged. “I lost count after
twenty.”

Lila sat and laid a comforting hand on
Carly’s knee. “How many times has he come here since you left the
Swift Wind?”

“
The first week he came
here three times. He pounded and I ignored him. Last week he came
twice, and one night slept on the porch. Morning came and he left,”
Carly said through a mouthful and sniffed back tears.

“
Honey, you have to quit
acting this way.”

“
What way?”

“
Like you’re a hormonal
basket case.”

Carly rolled her eyes and set the
empty jar on the table. “I’m pregnant. Therefore I am a hormonal
basket case.”