Losing Ladd (14 page)

Gerald, you floor me. You
have no idea how you carry me with your wit and intelligence! Every
day is more fun than before. How could a girl ever be so lucky as
to share your heart? And your soul? My word, but I am blessed.
Truly. How did I get so lucky as to win your affection? It doesn’t
seem real. It seems like a fantasy. My friends are filled with envy
and I pray for them. They could only wish for a man like you to
entertain and delight them. Looking forward to our picnic this
weekend. Susannah

Sorting through a few more, Cal was
mesmerized.

My Dearest Girl, your lips
are a succulent aphrodisiac. Pardon my saying it but I can’t help
myself when I’m around you. Your green eyes ensnare me, your golden
hair is like spun silk from the heavens. This afternoon by the
falls was incredible. It will live inside me forever. You are my
sustenance, the very beat of my heart, the breath of my lungs. I
find I can only think of you...

Cal sifted through letter
after letter from his father, transfixed by the words inscribed,
words that tied a knot in his heart.
I
want us to be together. I want our lives forever entwined. I
understand it will be hard. I know your father is a difficult man,
but I am fortified by your love. With you by my side, we can
overcome any and all odds...

Cal dropped letters in hand to his
lap, his gaze glazing over as he stared into the blackness. Dark
corners of the attic felt like an abyss of secrets, crevices where
lies and love hid from sight. His father and Susannah. Had they
been lovers? Did Delaney know the extent of their
relationship?

Compelled to find the
truth, Cal continued to read. He read until his heart began to
break.
My Girl... You cannot let your
brother stand in the way of true love. You cannot let his arrogance
prevail. We are meant to be together. In time he will come to
accept it. Yes, he is your blood, but I am your soul. We are
destined to be together as one. Please do not dismay. We will work
through this challenge and grow stronger for it. There is nothing
we cannot overcome.

My Dearest Gerald, I
cannot go with you. I cannot ignore Ernie’s wishes. You know where
I would be without him. You know the pain he has suffered on my
behalf. I cannot disappoint him. It would be disrespect of the
mightiest regard. I worry for your safety. He has promised to kill
you and I have no doubt that he means it. You know I care for you.
Deeply. I love you, Gerald. You will always have a special place in
my heart. But I cannot go against my brother’s wishes. I will not.
Nor can I ask you to stand in harm’s way on my behalf. I pray for
your understanding.

Susannah, You have ripped
the heart from my body. I can only believe you are of weak mind at
the moment to do such a thing and I pray you regain your strength.
Every day I watch you, I pray for you. I want you to know that I am
here for you. I will never forsake you. There has been and never
will be another woman in this world for me. I will wait for you. I
will be strong enough for the both of us and I will wait for
you.

Gerald, You must let go.
You deserve better than me. You were right. I am weak, unworthy.
You deserve a woman who is strong enough to stand by your side
through life’s storms. It pains me to see you sullen and alone. I
understand you are angry, yet you must find your love with another.
I have
.

According to the dates, it was the
last letter from Susannah, the last private correspondence between
them. Cal ached. For his father, for a young woman who felt afraid
to step clear of her brother’s protective shield, the heartbreak
they both must have suffered...

Neatly folding the letter, Cal slid it
back in place. A crushing sensation overcame him. Obviously he
should conceal the letters once again. He should hide them from
sight as they were hidden by his father. But something inside him
resisted. His mother was renegotiating the past. She was waging old
battles on new terrain because of what lay in the pages of these
letters. Cal settled a weary gaze on the open box. Should he broach
the subject with his father? Should he implore him to work through
these issues his mother?

Cal felt guilty for the mere
knowledge, but clearly he had stumbled upon the lynchpin. These
letters, this relationship, lay at the core of his mother’s
struggle. If his father would work through them with her, show his
mother half the devotion he had to Susannah, perhaps she would
reconsider her pursuit of false justice.

But as soon as Cal thought it, he
realized there was no way to bridge this divide. If his mother had
ever laid eyes on this correspondence, she would forever be
doubtful.

Meticulously, Cal replaced the letters
in the box as he had found them. Annie and Emily were waiting for
him. Right now, he needed to find Beau and enlist his help to load
the crate of guns into his truck. Collecting the shoe-box size
container of letters, Cal rose. There would be time enough to
decide later. A man could only put out so many fires at
once.

Chapter Twelve

Three o’clock in the
afternoon, Jeremiah sat at the bar hunched over his third drink and
contemplated his next step. The boys were impatient, continuing to
make noise about getting their money. He’d told them he had a plan,
but the two fools wouldn’t listen.
Money
.
We
want our money
. Money he didn’t have.
Because Delaney had carved out the entire site of gold and taken it
for herself, making him look like a two-timing liar for promising
it to the guys in the first place. The stolen pendants were
chump-change in comparison.

The thought cut like
rot-gut whiskey. She had no right to take it all. Ladd Springs
was
his
land, not
hers. Throwing back another swallow of alcohol, he clenched his jaw
against the strong fire of liquid as it snaked down his throat.
More than take his money, her theft had put him in a bad position
with his boys. If he didn’t deliver the goods, no telling what
those guys would do. He couldn’t trust them to wait. Hell, he
couldn’t trust them period. Lifting his glass, he held it before
his lips and stared into the amber-brown liquid glowing against the
backdrop of light. It was time to get serious. Time to up the
ante.

Finishing his drink,
Jeremiah tossed a fifty onto the bar, grabbed his keys and walked
out. Shouldn’t be too hard to cause the hotel a little grief.
According to Billy, the robbery had been easy. Almost
too
easy. As he walked
out into the bright sunshine, the overhead sun warmed his face,
felt like an iron to his hair. Hottest damn time of the day.
Sliding on a pair of sunglasses, Jeremiah adjusted his vision from
the dark interior of Billy’s Bar as he took off for his
truck.

The robbery had been simple because of
a lack of experience and naiveté in the people involved. Delaney
and her rich husband had hired a bunch of hicks to work at the
hotel, and if the main lobby was staffed by neophytes, it made
sense that the stables would be too. And the stables were where
Delaney’s heart dwelled. Jeremiah smiled to himself. Pressing the
key fob, Jeremiah popped open his door lock. He’d known her a long
time and if she had a weak spot that would be it. Her
horses.

But first things first. He
had to get back to his motel and shower. Lady Luck had delivered a
sweet piece flesh in his lap and he was looking forward to learning
the reason why. Not that he much cared much about why the lovely
Ms. Devane had called, only that she had. Jack’s “friend” was as
hot as they came and if she wanted to hook up, Jeremiah wasn’t
about to say no. He’d never been with a South American before and
couldn’t wait to get his hands on her deeply browned skin, kiss
those big luscious lips... Desire surged in his loins as salacious
images peppered his mind. Oh
yes
, he was definitely looking
forward to getting his hands on Jillian Devane and he wasn’t about
to be late. Whiskey Joe’s, five o’clock
sharp
.

“
Take the Appaloosa,”
Delaney told the stable hand. “The trail ride leaves in an hour and
they’re one short.”

“
Yes, ma’am,” the young
man said. Turning on his boot heel, he went to round up the
horse.

Last minute sign-ups were nothing new
for trail rides. The minute guests heard a ride was heading out,
they wanted in. Delaney smiled as she headed back to her office.
Just like she thought, her horses were turning out to be the star
attraction for guests. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with these
gorgeous animals? She chuckled. Stinky, but gorgeous.

“
Hello,
Delaney.”

Delaney stopped
mid-stride, jerking her head toward the voice.
Jillian Devane
.

“
So this is where you
spend your time all day?”

“
What are you doing here?”
she demanded, glancing over Jillian’s attire, thigh-high boots and
leather miniskirt. She most assuredly wasn’t dressed to
ride.

“
I came to look
around.”

Delaney smacked her hands to her hips
and said flatly, “You’re not welcome here.”

Jillian smiled. “Are you this rude to
all your guests?”

Struck by a drift of sweet feed from
the buckets behind her, buckets that needed to be delivered to the
barn, Delaney steeled her posture. “When they’re here to cause
trouble, I am.”

With a roll of her eyes, Jillian said,
“So paranoid. Do you see strangers outside your windows,
too?”

“
The question stands,”
Delaney replied, growing agitated by the woman’s presumptive air.
If Jillian thought she was going to waltz in here and cause Delaney
and her staff grief, she was mistaken. They had work to do and this
woman wasn’t going to stand in their way.

“
You are so
rough,”
Jillian returned
haughtily. “Your clothes are torn, you don’t bother to improve your
looks with makeup or any effort to your hair... What does Nick see
in you?”

“
Apparently enough to put
a ring on my finger—something he chose
not
to do with you.”

Anger flashed in her eyes but Jillian
remained calm. Drawing her expensive designer purse close, she
snipped, “You think you’ve won, don’t you? You think because he
married you that I have become nothing to him.” She smiled,
loathing dripping from her gaze. “Well, you’re wrong. Nick and I
will be together again.”

“
In your
dreams.”

“
Did you know he asked me
out for drinks the other night?” Pausing only briefly, Jillian
added, “Doesn’t matter. Once you’re out of the picture, we will
find our way back to one another. It’s only a matter of time,” she
said, glancing around the stables as though she were sizing them
up.

Or casing the place.

Intuition curled up her
spine. Slightly unnerved by the women’s audacity, Delaney pitched
back, “One problem. I’m
in
the picture. For good. Stuff that in your field
of dreams. Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

Jillian raked a hot glance over
Delaney and sniped, “Temporary inconvenience. Nothing but a
nuisance obstacle I can remove without effort.”

Delaney was about to tell
Jillian exactly what she thought when the woman’s phone rang. She
watched as Jillian withdrew it from her oversized bag, strolling
off with a girlish wave of her fingers. But not before Delaney
heard the word,
amorzhino
.

“
Yes?”

“
Jillian. It’s
Jack.”

“
Hello,
amorzhino
.”

Now she was
talking,
he mused. Jack hadn’t cared for
the fact that when he showed up for their last rendezvous, Jillian
had been working her second drink of the night, the first of which
she drank alone or more likely, with someone. Could that someone
have been Jeremiah?

Jeremiah was supposed to
hook up with
him
tonight to go over their revenge plan against Delaney, but
he’d backed out at the last minute. Said something unexpected came
up. Jack didn’t give a crap about his unexpected business unless it
involved the man moving in on his woman. Jillian was his score and
he didn’t care to share. “Let’s say I show you a good time in
Chattanooga,” Jack said with practiced ease. “You up for
it?”

“
Not tonight, darling. My
schedule is booked.”

Booked
? What the hell could she be doing? It’s not like she knew
anyone in town, and those she did know had no interest in spending
time with her. Which begged the question once again, why was she
here?

Only it was a question
Jack didn’t care to ask. He wasn’t concerned with the
why
as much as
the
where
and
the
when
. “No
problem. Tomorrow works for me.”

“
I’m sorry,” she replied
throatily, “but this whole weekend is bad. Maybe next
week?”

“
Since when did a Sunday
in this town become so exciting?” he asked.