To Love a Stranger (21 page)

“Did Pierce rape you?” Zoey asked, choking over the word.

“Not … not exactly. He said things to me. Did things that made me want him in that way. He seduced me, and I was naive enough to believe he really cared for me.” Cora Lee hesitated, sending Hal a pleading look.

“Go on,” Hal said remorselessly.

“We … Pierce and I … made love many times
after that. Then one day I realized I was pregnant. I couldn’t wait to tell Pierce. I fancied myself in love with him. We’d marry and live happily ever after with our child.”

“What did Pierce say when you told him?” Zoey asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. Cora Lee was so naive, so sincere, it was difficult not to believe her.

“Pierce changed when I told him about our baby,” Cora Lee continued. “He turned into a monster. He said I was a gullible little fool who was good for only one thing.”

“No! Pierce would never say anything like that,” Zoey denied, unable to reconcile Cora Lee’s words with the Pierce she knew and loved.

“When I asked Pierce to marry me and give our child a name, he slapped me. Suddenly he turned on me like a madman, battering me with his fists. My face, my stomach, he didn’t care where his punches landed. He must have beaten me long after I passed out, for the doctor told me I was lucky to be alive. And so was my baby.”

Zoey sat like a statue throughout the telling. She didn’t want to believe Cora Lee, and yet …

“Have you heard enough?” Hal asked nastily. “Your husband put my sister through hell, and he’s gonna pay. He could have been Cora Lee’s husband if you hadn’t snagged him first.”

“Why would you want your sister to marry a man who had beaten her senseless?” Zoey asked, finally finding her voice.

“Once he was Cora Lee’s husband, I’d make certain he toed the line,” Hal sneered. “We’ve never
had a bastard in the family before. It’s damn humiliating.”

Cora Lee cried out in distress. “Oh, Hal, how can you say such a thing when—”

Hal grasped Cora Lee’s arm in a hurtful grasp. “Shut up!” he demanded.

Cora Lee’s lips whitened as she clamped them tightly together.

“Since Pierce is already married, why not demand that he pay a monetary fee for damages,” Zoey suggested, “and drop the charges against him? He’s not doing anyone any good locked up in jail.”

Hal gave Zoey a truly evil smile. “He’s not going to get off that easily. Cora Lee has her heart set on marrying into the Delaney family, and I don’t like to see my little sister disappointed.”

“Are you suggesting that I divorce my husband?” Zoey asked quietly.

“I ain’t suggesting a damn thing. When I’m ready to tell the high-and-mighty Delaneys what I want, I’ll let them know. I’ve been thinking on this ever since I learned Pierce already had a wife. And don’t think for a minute I don’t know why Pierce married you.”

Zoey didn’t want to hear Hal’s opinion of her marriage. The man was disgusting; big, brash, and demanding. Zoey had met his kind before. He was possessed of passing good looks, with blond hair and brown eyes like his sister, but Zoey knew him for the bully he was. What had he done to make his sister so terrified of him? she wondered. She rose to leave, having heard more than she wanted
to about the alleged affair between Cora Lee and Pierce.

“Have you heard enough?” Hal goaded mercilessly as Zoey prepared to leave. “Maybe you should stick around and compare notes with Cora Lee about Pierce’s bed manners.”

“Hal, please!” Cora Lee’s face turned beet red.

“There’s still time to recant your story,” Zoey told Cora Lee. “Pierce couldn’t have done the things you said. He’d never hurt a woman. Please, tell the truth before it’s too late. Are you frightened of your brother? Is that why—”

“Get out!” Hal shouted, shaking his fist at Zoey. “You’re upsetting my sister.”

Zoey didn’t argue. She couldn’t wait to leave. Hal Doolittle was a heartless bully who obviously terrorized his sister. “I’m going,” she said, sending Cora Lee a pitying look. “You can reach me at the Delaney ranch if you decide to tell the truth.”

No matter what she thought of Cora Lee and the lies the woman told about Pierce, Zoey still felt sorry for her. Living with a brother like Hal must be pure hell.

The ride back to the Delaney ranch gave Zoey ample time to review every word of her conversation with Hal and Cora Lee. Cora Lee had sounded so earnest, it was difficult to discount her story. No wonder the townspeople were up in arms about the terrible thing done to Cora Lee. The petite blonde was a victim, all right, but of whom?

The incongruity of the situation was puzzling as well as disheartening. Were there two Pierce Delaneys? The one she knew and the one who got Cora Lee with child? The longer she thought about
it, the more she became convinced that she had missed something important during her visit with Cora Lee. Cora Lee’s fear, Hal’s odd behavior, nothing made sense. And what kind of retribution did Hal have in mind? Whatever it was couldn’t be good for the Delaneys. By the time she reached the ranch she was no less confused than before she left.

Chad and Ryan met Zoey as she rode into the yard. They were both mounted, and she looked at them askance.

“We were just on our way to visit Pierce,” Chad informed her. “Want to come along?”

Zoey nodded. There were things she needed to ask Pierce.

“How did it go with Cora Lee?” Ryan asked.

“Hal was home,” Zoey said. “Cora Lee seems terrified of her brother.”

Ryan spit out a curse. “Hal can be a real bastard. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No, nothing like that. I listened to everything Cora Lee had to say about Pierce, and it didn’t make sense. Pierce isn’t anything like she described. Yet she seemed so sincere. I need to talk to Pierce.”

“Let’s ride then,” Chad said. “Bill returned from town while you were gone and said the mood there was ugly. Ryan and I want to make damn sure there won’t be a lynching.”

Chad and Ryan spoke with Pierce first when they reached the jailhouse. They weren’t allowed inside the cramped shed, so they conversed through the single barred window. While they
spoke in low tones, Zoey kept close tabs on the crowd milling around the jailhouse. The crowd ebbed and flowed, but the mood remained the same. Surly and hostile. Zoey stiffened when she saw Hal Doolittle join a group of people and speak furtively. His words seemed to rile the crowd and they surged forward. Zoey grew frightened and alerted Pierce’s brothers.

“Go talk to Pierce, Zoey. Ryan and I will take care of things here,” Chad said, pulling away his jacket to expose the lethal-looking gun riding on his hip.

Zoey peered through the narrow window with misgivings. She had no idea how Pierce would greet her, or if he’d acknowledge her at all. She saw him sitting on a bench, his expression etched into a scowl. When he saw her his scowl grew even more fierce.

“I thought I told you to go home.”

“I will … soon.”

He unwound his long frame and walked to the window. “You know what’s going to happen. Why are you still here? Listen to those bloodthirsty fools outside. Hal Doolittle has done his worst to see me in hell. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on my share of the Delaney money, but it seems our marriage has foiled his well-laid plans.

“What a damn shame. Little did Hal know I wouldn’t marry his sister under any circumstances. Unfortunately, both he and Riley Reed will probably have their way.”

“They can’t hang you,” Zoey said fiercely. “They have no legal right.”

“Do you see the regular law around here?”

“Your brothers …”

“Zoey, I’m going to tell you one last time. Go home to your ranch. I don’t need you here. I don’t
want
you here. Everything has been settled between us. We’re even. Our ‘arrangement’ has served its purpose.”

“Why are you being so hateful?”

Something flickered in Pierce’s eyes but was quickly gone. “I’m not being hateful. Merely practical. We married for reasons of which you are well aware. It’s over, Zoey.” He turned away.

Zoey tried to summon anger but couldn’t. Pierce’s words may be true, but she wasn’t going to let them drive her away.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me, Pierce.” Her strident words brought his head spinning around in her direction. “I want to know the truth. Did you seduce Cora Lee? Did you get her with child? I’m not going to ask if you beat her, because I don’t believe you’re capable of that kind of brutality.”

Zoey clearly had his undivided attention now. A tense silence stretched between them. Finally he said, “Maybe I did and maybe I didn’t. What does it matter? Believe what you want.” He shrugged. “If you believe I seduced Cora Lee …”

Her voice was scarcely louder than a whisper when she said, “You had no problem seducing me.”

A long silence ensued as the air thickened around them. “You were ripe,” he said simply.

Zoey tried to tell herself that Pierce was speaking out of hurt and anger. People often said hurtful things when they were under great stress.

She stifled a sob, raising her chin in defiance. “Getting a woman with child isn’t a hanging offense. I’m not leaving.”

Pierce watched Zoey walk away with mixed feelings. He had no earthly idea why she remained loyal to him when he’d done his damnedest to send her packing. He’d gone so far as to put doubts in her head about his guilt.

Zoey had ridden after him, saved him from the hangman, and done more than was required of a wife. And he had repaid her by acting like a surly bastard and ordering her home.

She’d refused.

Stubborn little witch.

A smile hung on his lips as he returned to the bench to contemplate his fascination with fierce blue eyes, hair the color of ripe wheat, and lush red lips that begged for his kisses.

Z
oey felt utterly defeated after returning from her visit with Cora Lee. She had gained nothing for her trouble but Hal Doolittle’s animosity. Zoey could tell that Chad and Ryan were just as worried as she. The mood around the supper table that night was glum.

Just that day Chad had heard in town that Judge Walters was expected in a few days. He shared that bit of depressing news with both Ryan and Zoey at the supper table that night.

“I hope the judge is in a good mood,” Ryan grumbled into his plate. “Judge Walters may be fair, but he earned his name legitimately.”

Zoey looked at him askance. “What name is that, Ryan?”

“People hereabouts call him the ‘hanging judge.’ ”

“Dammit, Ryan, why did you have to go and say that?” Chad chided.

Ryan sent Zoey a sheepish look. “Sorry.”

“The charge against Pierce isn’t a hanging offense,” Zoey contended.

“It is if the judge says so,” Ryan countered. “But I don’t think it will come to that. Pierce has done nothing to deserve hanging, and I think the judge will agree.”

Zoey rose abruptly from the table, her expression grim. “Please excuse me.”

“You did it now, Ryan,” Chad said.

“Zoey should know what to expect in case the judge decides against Pierce. What are we going to do if it comes to that?”

“I’ve been thinking,” Chad said confidentially. “If the judge comes down hard on Pierce, we’ll break him out of that pesthole they call a jail.”

“I hope it won’t be necessary. We’ll all be on the run if we’re forced to break the law.”

Ryan and Chad exchanged worried glances, but each man knew he would do just about anything to save Pierce.

Zoey visited Pierce at the jailhouse the following day. For his sake she tried to maintain a cheerful facade. She brought a tempting array of food prepared by the Delaney cook and passed it to him through the barred window. Pierce didn’t seem much interested in food and set it down without tasting it.

“Why are you still here, Zoey?”

Zoey gave him an exasperated look. If he didn’t know, she certainly wasn’t going to tell him. “I’m your wife.”

“You may be a widow soon.”

“Don’t talk like that!”

“You’ve probably heard by now that Judge Walters is called the ‘hanging judge.’ ”

“I heard. He can’t hang an innocent man.”

“I’m sorry it turned out like this.”

“No judge is going to hang you for so minor an offense,” Zoey insisted.

“Does that mean you’re not returning home?”

“Damn right it does!”

He stared at her through the bars. The heat of his look warmed her bones. He reached out and ran the back of his hand along her cheek and down her neck.

“You’re a stubborn woman, Zoey Delaney. And a hard woman to forget. You’re passionate and loyal … but dare I trust you? If I surrendered to my feelings, it would be a sure passage to pain. Disaster waiting to happen. Once a woman gets her clutches into a man, once she has him reeled in, she uses him, then discards him for the next victim. I couldn’t go through that with you.”

Pierce’s twisted opinion of women left Zoey speechless. But she couldn’t really blame him. His past experiences had left him scarred. Both his mother and his wife had betrayed him. Then Cora Lee had committed the final offense. No wonder he feared involvement with a woman. But Zoey wasn’t just any woman. She was a woman who truly loved him.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Pierce. I’m not like those other women you’ve encountered in your life. I know I’ve done nothing to earn your trust, but I assure you I’m here simply to help you. If it will make you feel better, I’ll see that lawyer today about a divorce.”

The note of finality in her words made Pierce wince. It was what he wanted, wasn’t it? He closed
his eyes, picturing her sweet body pressed against his, naked, wet for him, responding to his loving with an eager innocence that drove him wild to possess her. He had set out to seduce her, but she had given herself to him willingly, generously, and he had taken.

Zoey had forced him to marry her, the hard place inside him argued.

“Pierce, are you all right?” His eyes were closed so long, Zoey began to worry.

His eyes shot open. “I’m fine. The lawyer’s name is Chambers. Just tell him the truth and he’ll do the rest.”

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Zoey nodded and walked away. She didn’t want Pierce to see how deeply his words had hurt her. He wanted to be free, and if it eased his mind, she would give him what he wanted.