Simply Heaven (2 page)

He brushed her hand away. "No, thanks."

Annoyance flashed, but she sat back down. "You'd best think about it. Lots of married women take lovers. Why shouldn't they? Their husbands have mistresses. You say you can get by, but you know you've never lived so good. Do you really want to go back to your old life of poverty? Haven't you come to enjoy the comforts of the rich?"

"That's never mattered." Steve cared only about racking horses. Ned had the best stock available, the best equine facilities money could buy. When he was gone, Julius would probably let it all go to ruin, and that was a shame, but it was all Steve would miss—except for Ned and the wonderful friendship they shared. He coveted nothing else.

Lisbeth sensed what he was thinking. She was well aware of his affinity for the horses. "You can stay on. Julius certainly won't care one way or the other. He'll probably move into Mobile anyway. He prefers a more urban lifestyle, you know. And if I decide to marry Barley Tremayne, the only boy I find the least bit appealing, we'll live here. I've no intentions of moving in with his family. Their house doesn't hold a candle to this one."

Steve snickered. "So you've got it all figured out but still enjoy watching the boys stumble over each other, hoping to be the one chosen. You've even decided where you'll live and who you want for your lover. Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"I have reason to be sure of myself, Steve, and you would be wise not to make fun of me if you care about your future."

"Well, let me remind you it's
my
future to care about, not yours."

Suddenly, sharply, she asked, "Did you move out here so you could sneak another woman into your bed without my finding out about it?"

"No. I moved out here to get away from you."

Lisbeth ignored that and persisted. "Is it Selena Leroux?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Is it
your
baby she's carrying?"

He shook his head in disgust. "You're crazy." Selena was the daughter of one of the Cajun overseers from Louisiana. She was pregnant—but not by him; they were close—but not that way. And while her father was shamed by Selena's condition, she had never told anyone but Steve who the father of her baby was—a married man who had recently drowned in a boating accident on the river. According to Selena, the two of them had been planning on running away together.

"Well, you're the only white man who ever talks to her. The others won't be caught dead near her, because everybody knows she's a whore."

"She's not a whore, and I talk to her because she's my friend."

"Everybody says you're sweet on her. That's why they think it's your baby."

His patience was wearing thin. "I don't give a damn what people think. Now get out of here."

She giggled. "Well, if you don't care what people think, why are you in such a hurry to get rid of me?"

"You little fool." He yanked her to her feet, itching to shake her till her teeth rattled. "It's you I'm concerned about; not me. Do you think Barley would want to marry you if he found out you'd sneaked into my bedroom? And what about Ned? This would upset him real bad."

She raised her chin in defiance. "Well, maybe I'll just upset him by telling him about you and Selena. Then he'll run both of you off. How would you like that? You don't want to make me mad, Steve Maddox," she warned.

He laughed. "If you go to him with a lie like that, he wouldn't believe you and you know it—not when I deny it. Ned trusts me, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you or anybody else spoil that."

She pulled back from his grasp, and he let her. She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment, meeting his fiery gaze with one of her own. Then, not knowing what else to do, she decided to try tears, which appeared on command to trickle down her cheeks. "Don't treat me like this, Steve," she whispered tremulously. "Please. I care for you, I really do."

He was unmoved. He had seen her cry before. It worked on Ned but not him. "Enough of this, Lisbeth. You're getting out of here now."

Suddenly, with a little cry, she threw herself against him, digging her fingers into his shoulders and delighting in the feel of his naked rock-hard flesh. Her breasts pressed against his chest, and she swayed and clung to him even tighter. "You know you want me. You're just being stubborn. That's your problem."

"And your problem is that you can't stand not getting your way." He tried to pry her fingers loose without hurting her, but she was holding tight as a tick on a dog's ear. Finally, he grabbed her wrists and squeezed so hard she had to let go.

"Damn you, you'll regret scorning me like this."

"I'm not scorning you, Lisbeth. I'm just saying
no
, which seems to be a word you aren't accustomed to hearing."

"You'll be sorry..."

He had heard the creaking of the stable door opening below and moved fast to clamp his hand over her mouth and jerk her against him. Someone was coming.

She struggled in his arms, but he managed to wrest her to one side and quietly, quickly, closed the door. "Damn it, be still," he whispered, pressing his lips against her ear. "Do you want to be caught in here?"

He doused the lantern. She had stopped struggling and instead tensed against him. He was relieved she had, for it meant that despite all her talk to the contrary, she didn't want to be discovered in an embarrassing situation any more than he did.

Chapter 2

Elijah paused halfway up the ladder. He was old and not used to such exertion. Pausing to catch his breath, he thought maybe if he hollered he wouldn't have to go any higher. "Mister Steve, it's me—Elijah. Please wake up, Mister Steve. I got to tell you somethin'."

Relieved it was only one of the house workers, Steve was still alarmed, because Elijah would not have come so late unless it was important. "I'm awake. What is it?"

"Master Ned told me to fetch you. He says he's got to talk to you right away."

"Is he feeling worse?"

"He don't seem to be. But he don't seem to feel no better neither."

"Tell him I'll be right there."

Steve waited till he was sure Elijah was gone before letting Lisbeth go.

She jerked away, anger flashing. "You nearly smothered me, putting your hand over my face like that."

"Sorry." He quickly lit the lantern again. "All right, you heard Elijah. Ned wants to see me. Let's get you out of here so I can find out what he wants. I'll wait a few minutes to give you time to get inside the house before I leave."

Still angry, she did not move.

"Come on," he cajoled. "Let's forget this happened and be friends. How about it?" He managed a tight smile and held out his hand.

She slapped it away. "Friends!" She spat the word. "How can you be so stupid as to think I would ever be your friend after you dare to push me aside for white trash like Selena Leroux? I'll never forget how you've treated me, never. I don't need your help. I got up here by myself and I can get down by myself. And if you dare touch me again, I'll scream. I swear I will."

He felt like cheering when she finally stormed out. Later he would try to smooth things over, because even if she did not want to be his friend, he damn sure did not want her for an enemy.

* * *

Lisbeth was not about to go to her room, because curiosity was gnawing over why Ned would send for Steve at such an ungodly hour.

The house was still. Elijah had left candles burning in the hall sconces, casting eerie shadows.

She tiptoed along, finally hiding behind a tall vase in the niche in the wall opposite Ned's room. When-Steve arrived a few minutes later, he did not notice her.

He knocked. Ned called for him to enter. As soon as the door was closed, Lisbeth hurried to press her ear against it.

* * *

"Steve, I appreciate your coming like this. I know it's late."

Pulling up a chair next to the bed, Steve sat down. "You know I'll always be here when you need me. Now, what's wrong? You look worried." Ned's face was drawn and his eyes appeared dull, troubled.

Ned gave a bitter laugh. "You're damn right I'm worried. Wouldn't you be if you knew you were dying?"

"You old warhorse. You'll outlive all of us."

Ned was not to be coaxed from his gloomy mood. "I'm not a fool. I know I'm not getting any better. That tonic Doc Sawyer gives me doesn't do any good. I don't feel like doing anything but lay in this bed, and that gives me a lot of time to think about dying."

Once more, Steve attempted to lighten things. "Well, you aren't going to die before morning. Can't all this wait till then? I've had a rough day, and you look like you could use some rest too. Suppose I have Elijah bring you some warm milk, and—"

"Damn it, boy, listen to me!" Ned said, his tone gruff, which made him start coughing and wheezing.

Steve poured a glass of water from a pitcher on the bedside table and held his head up from the pillows while he drank.

Finally, Ned was able to speak. "I've been waiting nearly eighteen years to get this off my chest, and I'm not going to put it off a minute longer. I've decided I've got to get my life in order before I go to meet my Maker. Now hear me out. Please."

Steve nodded, bewildered.

"How long have you known me?"

"Three years." Steve had been working as a horse trainer in Virginia on a farm where racking horses were being bred. Horse lovers all over the south were excited about the animal for its beauty, stamina, and calm disposition, but most of all because its smooth natural gait meant it could be ridden comfortably for hours.

When Ned Ralston visited Virginia to buy horses, Steve had been impressed over how he chose the finest breeding stock available without even asking the price. "Money doesn't matter," he had said nonchalantly. "Not when it comes to horses." Then, when Ned heard Steve was the best trainer around, he'd insisted that he go back to Alabama with him and work at his plantation—Halcyon.

At first, Steve was reluctant; he didn't really know anything about the man, except that he was supposed to be a rich planter and shipping tycoon. But Ned kept after him, asking him to name his price, and when he did, Ned doubled it.

Steve quit his job in Virginia on the spot, and during the trip back to Alabama the two had become fast friends.

Consequently, the last three years had been the best in Steve's life.

"You've been like a son to me," Ned said now. "Till you came along, I didn't feel like I had any family at all."

"You've got Lisbeth and Julius," Steve reminded.

"I'm afraid my hunting dogs think more of me than they do, thanks to their mother. She never did get over how I refused to marry her when my father first wanted me to. But she didn't let that stop her later, when she was a widow with two children.

"We didn't love each other," he continued somberly, "but I can honestly say I tried to make her a good husband and be a good father to her children, but she was as cold as a dead man's handshake. The only real happiness I've had since my marriage was when I got interested in the racking horses—and came to know you," he added, voice cracking. "You've meant a lot to me."

"And you know how I feel about you. But are you sure you want to tell me all this? You shouldn't upset yourself this way. It's just stirring up bad memories."

"I've got to. Because the only way you can help me set things right is to hear me out and hear my sins. A long time ago, I did something real bad, something that has haunted me ever since."

"We've all done things we're ashamed of."

"But I've got a big skeleton hiding in my closet, and you have to help me bring it out in the open so I can go to my grave in peace."

"All you have to do is ask," Steve said—and meant it.

Ned turned his head to stare into the shadows, as though he could actually see the past unfolding there. He was silent for so long Steve dared to hope he would just drift off to sleep and forget all about the conversation in the morning. But then he faced him once more, and Steve could see the anguish that remembering had brought to his eyes.

"My father and I never got along. I worshiped my mother, and we never had a cross word, but my old man and I always seemed to be at odds over something. The final straw came when he got it in his head that I was going to marry Edith White. He liked her family and said she came from good blood to mix with mine to carry on the Ralston name. I refused but he kept on, and things got so bad I had to leave home. I hated to hurt my mother, but I just couldn't take the nagging any longer."