The Visions of Ransom Lake (33 page)

Someone twisted the invisible knife piercing Vaden’s heart, Ransom Lake’s eyes narrowing as he glared at her before turning to see standing next to him, for the first time in a decade, his elder brother.

“
Denver,” Ransom Lake mumbled as he looked back to Vaden. For a moment, his eyes filled with anger. Yvonne looked to Ransom Lake and then to Vaden and back, a frown of inability to comprehend the situation furrowing her brow.

“
Ransom. Where have you been? I was told you had died with everyone else. Why didn’t you contact me?” Denver asked, obviously awed by his brother’s existence. The man was visibly battling to control the conflicting emotions of joy, pain, and anger simultaneously attacking his soul. Ransom Lake’s attention was still on Vaden. She could no longer endure his abhorrent gaze. Quickly she walked to the end of the counter and out from behind, meaning to flee past him and through the front door. He lunged forward, catching her arm and pulling her to him.

“
How could ya do this to me, Vaden?” he growled. The storm in his eyes was seething—raging and violent! She had hurt him deeply, she knew. She could only stand before him, shaking her head. “How could ya betray me like this?” he shouted.

“
Ransom,” Denver scolded from behind him.

Ransom’s eyes continued to glare at Vaden.

“
How could ya tell him? After you promised me,” he growled at the girl whose arm was held painfully tight in his grip.

“
I told him nothing,” Vaden managed to force from her lips in a whisper. “I told him nothing. I only…it was wrong of you, and you know it. You were wrong. It was selfish. I only…”

Ransom’s chest rose and fell heavily with his angered breathing. “I trusted you,” he mumbled.

“
Ransom,” Denver began, taking a step toward his brother. “Remember, Ransom. Remember what our father taught us. ‘When a woman provokes you to anger and you’re in doubt as to whether to strike her or kiss her…’”

Vaden tried to pull her arm free as Ransom Lake clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly shut for a moment, but his hold was too powerful.

Then he opened his eyes to her once more and mumbled, “Our father told us, ‘There is no consideration to be made, for the latter releases the frustration faster and more valiantly than the prior.’” He paused for a moment and, still glaring at Vaden, whose tears were profuse on her cheeks, said to his brother, though he still did not look at him, “I would never think to strike this girl, Denver.”

Suddenly, he released her arm and cupped her chin firmly. “Quit meddlin’ with my life, girl!” he whispered angrily. The next moment, the hot moisture of his mouth captured hers roughly, forcing a strong, deep, and very insistent kiss. The fierceness of the kiss softened but not the sheer, magnificent power of it. Vaden’s body was weakened. Had it not been for his body before her and his powerful arms around her to hold her when her knees failed, she would’ve fallen to the floor. All the splendid sensations that had enveloped her the first time he kissed her, and every blissful time thereafter, did so again. In a mere moment, she was returning his kiss, and they were both lost in its passion.

“
Oh, my! Vaden! Slap him, for Pete’s sake!” Yvonne insisted, rushing from behind the counter to stand behind her sister. “Vaden! What if Auntie comes in here?” Yvonne hurried to stand between Ransom Lake and his brother, tapping Ransom Lake lightly on the shoulder. “Mr. Lake, please! Have some decorum.”

Vaden heard Denver Lake chuckle and heard Yvonne protesting as he took hold of her arm, pulling her back from the embracing couple.

“
If my brother kisses a woman anywhere nearly as perfectly as I do…then I think we must have something in common other than just our resemblance to our father, miss.”

Yvonne’s voice echoed through Vaden’s mind, and she did indeed raise her hand to Ransom Lake’s face. His kiss was overpowering, and instead of delivering a firm slap, she felt her hand tenderly caress his face for a moment.

His kiss intensified, and the passion of it frightened Vaden. She knew it was a passion of anger and frustration he must feel, yet to her it seemed to be something quite different. Her own passion for him frightened her, for she wanted nothing else in the world except to stay in that exact situation forever. Suddenly he broke their kiss, and Vaden drew in a deep breath, unaware until that moment the force of his kiss had made it difficult for her to breathe easily.

“
Were ya sent on this earth solely to torment me, girl?” he barked, taking her by the shoulders and holding her away from his body. “My life is in shreds since ya came here. I have no privacy, no self-control, and no hair either, for that matter!”

“
More likely she was sent here to save your soul, Ransom Lake! How dare you take such familiarities with my sister?” Yvonne scolded, wrenching her arm free of Denver’s strong grip. Vaden knew Denver had willingly released her sister, for she knew Ransom Lake’s strength and expected his brother’s to be no less. Yvonne rushed to her sister. She raised her hand to slap Ransom Lake, but he easily caught her wrist.

“
I would never harm your sister, and ya know it. And besides, it’s not the first time we’ve tasted each other’s affection, Miss Valmont.” Ransom Lake released Yvonne’s wrist rather violently and turned to look at his brother.

“
There’s time enough to scold your little pet, Ransom,” Denver Lake spoke. “This moment is for you and me. We’ve far too many things to discuss.”

“
I’m not his pet!” Vaden was horrified the man would refer to her so, as if she was no more than a common, ordinary, uninteresting kitten.

“
You melt in his arms easily enough, Vaden,” Yvonne whispered scoldingly, and Vaden felt the stinging tears of humiliation rise to her eyes.

Ransom and Denver Lake still stood gravely facing each other.

“
Why, Ransom?” Denver asked in a lowered voice, filled with pain in its intonation. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ransom Lake looked to Vaden again; this time his eyes were sad and guilty—defeated. “Vaden,” he mumbled, “why did ya do this?”

“
I couldn’t stand it,” she whispered as the tears streamed down her face. “I couldn’t stand by and watch you needlessly endure such misery and loneliness for the rest of your life. I couldn’t watch you waste your life. It was wrong of you never to tell him you were alive, to sit feeling sorry for yourself all these years. You can hate me forever if you want, but I did it because I…”

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

“
Because you what?” he asked.

“
Because…because somebody needed to, and I’m the only one who knew how,” she finished. She scolded herself harshly for nearly letting the words of confessing love slip from her lips. “I didn’t tell him. I only sent a telegram and told him there was a man named Lake living here. That’s all. I swear it. I would never betray you. You know that.”

“
Go easy on the girl, Ransom. She did no more than right by you,” Denver said calmly.

Ransom Lake hung his head in defeat for a moment before turning from Vaden to look at his brother. “There’s so much ya need to know, Denver. Maybe when you’ve heard it all, you’ll wish she hadn’t sent ya that telegram after all.”

“
I’ve never been more grateful to receive a simple piece of paper in my life.” Denver approached Vaden then. He brushed at the tears on her cheeks with one of his large, strong hands. “I think you and I should have a reunion of our own one day, miss.” His smile was sympathetic and grateful. Then, turning to Yvonne, he offered his hand. Yvonne took his hand, and he shook hers firmly. “Then you too, Miss…Miss…”

“
Yvonne Valmont,” Yvonne told him. Vaden was surprised to hear her sister introduce herself so, for she had never introduced herself as anything other than
Miss
Yvonne Valmont.

The gray eyes of Ransom Lake narrowed as he looked at Vaden one final time before leaving the mercantile with his brother. Vaden watched them disappear around the corner down the street. She accepted her fate where Ransom Lake was concerned. She had lost him finally now. Had she sensed a finality to his kiss? She was sure she had. Ransom Lake was lost to her, but he had found what he needed most—found his brother and found the beginnings of healing his heart.

“
Never! Never in my life have I witnessed such a display, Vaden!” Yvonne scolded as she returned to her place behind the counter. “What do you mean letting the man maul you like that? For pity’s sake, girl! How could you even breathe?”

“
I…I couldn’t care less if I ever drew another breath, Yvonne. And I’d appreciate it if you’d hold such jealousy in check.” Vaden was irritated at her sister’s sudden lack of sympathy.

“
Jealousy? Jealousy?” Yvonne exclaimed. “What do you mean? I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes for anything in the world, Vaden Valmont!”

“
Yes, you would!” Vaden turned to face her sister, who was about to endure the brunt of Vaden’s aching heart and need to scream. “You’ve never been kissed like that, Yvonne. Admit it! You’re jealous!” Vaden spat. The consequence of what she had done—signed the death certificate on any chance she had at having Ransom Lake’s heart—was making itself all the more painfully known.

“
Ha! I meant I wouldn’t be in your shoes for the mere fact you’ve just assured yourself of losing Ransom Lake for good! He told you in confidence, didn’t he? He confided in you at some point—no doubt on that interesting night that you’ve kept silent about, that night you spent with him before Thanksgiving. He told you he had a brother. Ransom Lake didn’t want his brother to know he was here, and you told him!”

Yvonne’s tongue could be so sharp when she wanted it to be. Vaden brushed the tears from her face. “I broke no confidence, Yvonne. I told nothing that was Ransom’s secret. I only…I only let Denver Lake know a man in town shared his name. Ransom never made me promise not to contact Denver. And you don’t have to tell me I’ve lost him, Yvonne. I love him too much to let him live without his brother, whom I know he loves desperately. It’s…it’s much more important that he—”

“
I am jealous, Vaden,” Yvonne interrupted harshly. “I am jealous. You love him so completely, so unconditionally. You love him so much that nothing frightens you into not helping him, even the knowledge of losing what connection you do have with him. You still love him enough to take the chance to make him happy. I’m afraid to love anyone that way. I…I’m afraid to love someone that way and then have to endure life without them. I’m a coward, Vaden, and I admit it to you now. It’s why I’m so proper and perfect in my manner. It keeps me hardened. It keeps me safe, Vaden.” Yvonne wiped her own tears as she continued. “You’re right. I’ve never been kissed like Ransom Lake kissed you. I know you’re hurting, Vay. I know guilt is eating at you now as well. But the way he kissed you, Vay!” Yvonne paused, shaking her head in wonder at what she had seen pass between her sister and the man. “He…he wasn’t just kissing you, Vay. The man was making love to you.”

Vaden put her hands over her ears, shaking her head violently. “No! Don’t say that, Vonnie! It’s not true! He just…he just…”

“
Even if I were to find a man I would desire affections from, I would not allow it because I would be too afraid to give into a love like the one you have for that unsettling Ransom Lake.” Yvonne hugged her sister tightly. “Do you see now? Do you see what a coward I am? How selfish? Do you see how brave and selfless you are, Vay?”

“
I’m as much a coward as you, Vonnie,” Vaden sobbed, “for I know that you would at least have the courage to confess your feelings for such a man. But I’ve never…I’ve never been able to tell him what I feel, for I could not endure the rejection in his eyes.”

“
I’m sorry I pushed you toward Jerome Clayton so, Vay,” Yvonne whispered as the sisters separated, dabbing at their cheeks with their aprons. “It was wrong. I just didn’t want to see you hurt. But now I know. I know the old saying is true. I know that it is better to have loved and lost—”

“
Than never to have loved at all,” Vaden finished as she straightened her back, picked up a feather duster, and began sweeping the shelves behind the counter with it. She did not doubt the truth of it.

It was merely minutes later when Jerome Clayton entered the mercantile. Vaden’s heart, which had been so overly taxed that day already, knew she must tell him, truthfully, finally, and so he would understand. She’d tried feeding him clues, little hints here and there, but he was ever persistent.

“
Good mornin’, ladies!” Jerome greeted cheerily. “Can ya get away for a walk today, Vaden?” he asked forthrightly.

Vaden looked to Yvonne, who nodded.

“
Yes, Jerome. I…I believe it’s time we had a talk.” Vaden laid the feather duster on the counter once more. After putting on her coat, she left the mercantile with Jerome. She ignored him when he offered his arm to her. She knew he was not as unwitting as he pretended, for there was something in his eyes, the way he looked at her with a hint of suspicion. She shook off her uneasy feeling. It was her own guilt reading the suspicion in him—her own guilt over having let him hope for so long.

“
We’re almost a week into December, and ya still haven’t given me any hints as to what you might want for Christmas, Vaden,” Jerome stated. His voice was low and irritated. Vaden looked to him and felt he knew what she wanted to talk about.

“
Jerome—”she began.