The Bridal Path: Sara (19 page)

She told herself that that was what frightened her. How could her body be so completely, so thoroughly in tune with a man her head told her was destroying her world forever?

When she would have allowed that fear to come between them, when she would have fled in embarrassment and dismay, however, Jake prevented it. Still holding her, their bodies intimately connected, he lowered himself to the ground and settled her on top of him. His hands lingered on her bottom, smoothing over the curving flesh in light, persuasive strokes.

“Don’t move,” he whispered. “Stay with me like this for a while.”

There was a faint, surprising note of desperation in his voice that Sara couldn’t ignore.

“Why?” she asked, her breath fanning across his bare chest.

He was silent for so long she was certain he didn’t intend to answer, but then he sighed.

“Because something tells me when you go this time, you won’t come back.”

Sara bit back a stunned gasp. That he could tell so much about her, that he understood her so well was as scary as the wild intensity of their sex. Only weeks or days ago, Sara had craved that kind of understanding, but now the timing and the man were all wrong. The fate of Three-Stars stood squarely and immovably between them.

That fate would be decided only days from now and it would be decided by an outrageous bet she had little chance of winning. But stubborn pride insisted that she follow it through to the bitter end.

Now it was her turn to sigh deeply as she studied the angle of the sun and realized that it was growing late. Her lesson with Mary Lou was scheduled for eight-thirty and she couldn’t afford to miss even a minute of it.

“I have to go,” she said, unable to keep the regret out of her voice.

“Where?”

“You know where.”

“To Zeke’s,” he said dully. “Then despite what I offered you last night, you haven’t given up on fighting me for all or nothing?”

Sara took one last, lingering look at the face of the man she’d loved practically forever, then slowly shook her head.

“You know I can’t. Three-Stars means everything to me.”

Maybe it was only wishful thinking, but it seemed to her that his eyes pleaded with her to say that he was more important, pleaded with her to stay.

But he had the same measure of stubborn pride than she did. He would never say the words, maybe couldn’t even say what she desperately needed to hear—that he loved her. He simply released her and closed his eyes as she moved away.

Sara straightened her rumpled clothes and took one last, regretful look back as she went to her horse. Jake’s eyes remained tightly closed.

Only when she had mounted and started away did he call after her. His voice was little more than a low-pitched whisper, but it carried on the breeze.

“Be careful, darlin’.”

“I love you, Jake,” she answered, but not aloud. The words were spoken only in her heart, where they could do no damage to her resolve.

Chapter Thirteen

B
y the time Sara got back to the house, all hell had broken loose. When she walked into the kitchen, Annie greeted her with a frantic expression.

“Dani’s on her way over and Ashley’s called five times,” she told her. “They both wanted to speak with your father. When I told them he’d already left for Arizona, you never heard such wailing. Suffice it to say, your sisters are in a full-blown tizzy.”

Sara groaned.

“It’s too bad they didn’t get wind of what he had in mind days ago,” Annie added pointedly. “Maybe they could have stopped him.”

Before Sara could respond to that, the phone rang.

“You get it,” Annie said, backing out of the room. “It’s probably Ashley calling for you again.”

Indeed it was. Sara’s greeting was barely out of her mouth before her younger sister started in.

“Has Daddy finally, flat out lost his mind?” she demanded.

It was apparently a rhetorical question because she didn’t slow down long enough for Sara to respond.

“And you,” she continued. “Why didn’t you tell me about any of this? Dani says you’ve known for weeks now that he was planning to sell the ranch to Jake and take off on some crazy pilgrimage to reclaim his youth.”

“It’s not like that,” Sara insisted, forced into the uncomfortable position suddenly of having to defend the indefensible. “Daddy just did what he’s always done. He made a decision and he acted on it. He thinks we’ll all be better off without Three-Stars to worry about. He’s opened tidy little bank accounts for each of us to be sure we get our fair share. He says the money will give us the independence we’ve always craved.”

“I don’t give a damn about the money,” Ashley insisted furiously. “Besides, that may be fine for me and Dani, but what about you? You love the ranch. I always thought you’d take over for him.”

“So did I,” Sara said softly, fighting back a fresh bout of tears. She deliberately drew in a deep breath before adding, “Look, I’ll admit it threw me, but I have a plan.”

“Spare me the details,” Ashley said dryly. “Dani told me all about your plan. If you ask me, you’re a couple of slices short of a full loaf, too. You can’t possibly hope to beat Jake by riding a bronco. The man is in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, for God’s sakes.”

“I am going to beat him,” Sara retorted. “Which reminds me, I’m late for a lesson right now. Gotta go.”

“Wait just one minute. I’m not finished. I’m coming home,” Ashley announced determinedly.

That was all Sara needed, to have both of her sisters ganging up on her and trying to persuade her to call off the bet. “Don’t,” she pleaded. “There is no need to disrupt your life.”

“I’m coming,” Ashley repeated. “When’s the contest?”

Resigned to the inevitability of her sister’s decision, Sara sighed. “This weekend.”

“I’ll be there. Don’t you dare get anywhere near that horse until I get home.”

Sara tried one last time. “Ashley, you don’t need to do this. You’re too busy.”

“Not at the moment,” she said.

There was an odd note in her sister’s voice that Sara couldn’t interpret. She knew, though, that if Ashley had made up her mind to come home, there was no stopping her. She had her full share of the Wilde gene for contrariness.

And, judging from the hints Ashley had dropped lately, just maybe she needed to be at home for a bit. Maybe with a little prodding from Dani, a little of Annie’s meddling and some of Sara’s own brand of sleuthing, they could learn what was bothering Ashley.

“Okay, then, if that’s what you want, come home,” Sara agreed with an exaggerated sigh of submission.

“I’d have been there before, if you’d told me sooner,” Ashley chided. “We made a pact, remember? If there was ever trouble, we’d always be there for each other. I think this qualifies.”

Sara smiled at the huge understatement. “You’re right. I should have explained last time we talked.”

“Well, never mind that now,” her sister said. “I’m on my way as soon as we hang up. With any luck, I’ll be there tonight. Love you.”

“I love you, too. Can’t wait to see you.”

“Me, too,” Ashley responded.

Only when the line had gone dead did Sara admit to herself how very glad she was that her sister had taken the decision out of her hands. No matter what the outcome on Saturday, it would be good to have both Dani and Ashley in her corner. She glanced up from the phone to see Dani in the doorway.

“Was that Ashley on the phone?”

Sara nodded. “She’s on her way.”

“Good. She sounded down about something and I don’t think it was this mess with Daddy and the ranch.”

“I thought I heard something in her voice, too,” Sara agreed.

“Well, we’ll know what that’s about soon enough,” Dani said briskly. “In the meantime, how are you?”

“Scared,” Sara admitted. “With Daddy sneaking out of here at dawn, it’s all so final. I guess I never thought it would really come to this.”

“It’s not too late to back out of that ridiculous contest. Maybe we could just go to Jake and make him an offer to buy him out.”

“And what would we use for money?”

“I have some put away and I’m sure Ashley probably does, too. We could manage something.”

“It wouldn’t be enough,” Sara said with certainty. “Owning Three-Stars means as much to Jake as it does to me. He’s not going to sell it, not for any amount of money.” She stood up and hugged her sister. “I’ve got to get out of here. I have a lesson and I’m already late.”

A familiar worried frown puckered Dani’s brow. “I really don’t like this scheme of yours.”

“So you’ve said, but I can’t see that there’s any other choice. Go bake some pies or something. It’ll keep your mind off of all the things that can’t be changed. By nightfall Ashley may be here and we can have a good, old-fashioned gabfest like we used to.”

Dani sighed. “I suppose anything that can lure our jet-setting sister back home for a bit can’t be all bad. Come by my house when you’ve finished your lesson, okay? I want to see for myself that you’re in one piece.”

“Okay, worrywart. See you later.”

Annie, who’d deliberately given Sara privacy when the phone rang, turned up just then. Sara had the distinct impression she hadn’t been far away. Her grim expression indicated she was aware of every word that had been spoken in her absence.

Sara left the housekeeper and Dani huddled together in the kitchen, probably plotting Jake’s demise if she knew anything at all about their brand of loyalty. She’d have to remember to warn him…sooner or later.

* * *

When the bright red convertible came flying up the driveway spewing a trail of dust behind it, Jake knew at once that it was Ashley Wilde. It wasn’t just that Annie had told him she was coming. He would have recognized that avenging-angel style of arrival anywhere.

Ashley had always been an enigma to him. With her cool, blond, ice queen beauty and her flirty smiles, she was a bundle of contradictions. One thing had always been perfectly clear, though. When it came to her sisters, she was very quick to jump to their defense. The only thing surprising about her arrival was that it had taken so long. She must have been kept in the dark about what was happening at the ranch up until now, he concluded.

Instead of heading straight for the house as he’d expected, she turned his way, an unmistakable, determined glint in her eyes. Jake braced himself for the kind of tongue-lashing only a firebrand like one of the Wilde sisters could deliver.

“You selfish jerk,” she said without preamble, standing toe-to-toe with him.

He grinned at the deliberate crowding tactic. “It’s good to see you, too. It’s been a long time.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t know what you’ve been up to. How’d you do it? How did you persuade my father to sell you the ranch?”

Jake laughed at that. “You have been gone too long, Ashley. Nobody ever persuaded Trent Wilde to do anything he didn’t want to do. He made a deal with me when I came here and he kept his side of the bargain. That’s it. There was nothing devious or underhanded about it.”

“How come none of us knew about this deal?” she asked suspiciously.

He shrugged. “You’d have to ask him about that. It certainly wasn’t my place to run around broadcasting it.”

“Oh, don’t try to sound so blasted noble,” she shot back. “You’re enjoying all of this, aren’t you?”

“I won’t lie to you. I’m happy that Three-Stars is mine.” He met her gaze evenly, his expression sober. “I’m not so happy about what it’s doing to Sara. It’s tearing her apart.”

Blue eyes scanned his intently. Suddenly her expression softened. “That really matters to you, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does.”

“Then walk away from Three-Stars. Sell it to us or let her win that stupid contest. Just don’t force her to leave.”

“I’m not forcing her to do anything,” Jake retorted. “I’ve given her choices. Maybe you should ask her about them.”

Sara’s car squealed to a halt just a few feet away before Ashley could respond to that. She took one last, searching look at him before turning to greet her sister.

Watching the two of them rush into each other’s embrace touched someplace deep inside Jake. As he retreated inside, he wondered what it would have been like to grow up with brothers or sisters, surrounded by love and taught the meaning of family loyalty.

He also wondered what Ashley’s arrival would mean to his own plans to keep Three-Stars and persuade Sara to share it with him. With both Dani and Ashley on hand to support her, would Sara dig in her heels more adamantly than ever? Battling the pride of one Wilde sister was tough enough, but all three of them? He doubted he stood a chance.

Sighing heavily, he watched as Sara and Ashley walked into the house, arm in arm, without so much as a glance in his direction. He told himself he should be glad that Sara had someone there to lean on. He couldn’t help hoping, though, that her days of turning to him for comfort weren’t over forever.

Now that the deadline was drawing close, he was forced to face the fact that his life was no longer on the uncomplicated, clear-cut path he’d planned for so long. He cared about Sara. More than he’d ever dreamed of caring for anyone.

But it seemed clearer than ever to him now that no matter the proviso he’d tacked onto their bet, he couldn’t have both her and the ranch. He was going to have to weigh his choices and decide which meant more to him.

Sitting inside his cabin in the gathering darkness, he thought about what he wanted and what was right. It was long past midnight when he concluded that his best choice would be to find some way to stop that bronco-riding contest from ever taking place. Once it was over, no matter how it turned out, there would be no compromising or turning back.

Only one person he could think of was capable of calling a halt to it at this late date and that was Trent Wilde. He’d be so furious when he heard what was going on that Jake couldn’t imagine him not hightailing it straight back to Riverton and stopping Sara from climbing on that horse. He might find some way to get even with Jake for letting things go so far, but that was just a chance Jake would have to take.

He smoothed out the itinerary Trent had left with him. Though he’d allowed his daughters to believe he was leaving without looking back, he’d made sure that Jake could reach him in an emergency. Jake figured this qualified.