Chase, p.2
Chase, page 2
Healy walked in with a sobbing Gage and handed him to Jared. Cynara followed her, carrying her two-year-old daughter, Jenetta, and trailed by Connor and Vella.
"What's the matter, young'un?" Jared bounced the three-year-old on his lap, getting a smile for his effort. Looking up at his wife, he asked, "What happened?"
"Vella wouldn't let him have the mechanical rocking horse you made them." Healy combed her fingers through the little boy's dark brown hair.
"She's mean." Connor, the oldest, had walnut brown hair, while Vella, the youngest, had dark, midnight hair to match her eyes.
"You're mean for takin' it from me," Vella retorted.
"Papa?" Gage's attention was on the plate of cookies on the table. "Can I have a cookie, p'eathe."
"Will you settle for a wee bite?" Jared asked.
Chase considered it a safe bet the kid didn't know the meaning of a wee bite, but Gage nodded, and Jared gave him a taste. Surprisingly, Gage climbed down off his papa's lap and vanished out the door with the other kids.
Chase shook his head in amazement.
"What?" Healy asked. "You didn't think he knew what a wee bite was?"
"I confess." Chase studied the checkerboard, seeking a safe move to make. "These runts are forever teaching me something new."
Cynara circled the table to reach the coffee pot, her dress swishing as she walked. Once more, Chase's mind went to the girl he'd nearly trampled that morning. He still felt terrible about that.
He wished he knew her name and her reason for being in Cutthroat. Something about her reminded him of someone, but he couldn't think who. Hell, she was too classy to be related to anyone he knew. Her sophistication smacked of a bigger world than he'd experienced. Fancy carriages and balls. Her comment about her clothes coming from Paris hinted at an education abroad. He hoped she let Doc Willoughby examine her for injuries.
Oysters returned, picked up Chase's last checker, and jumped Barclay's king. "There now. Game's over."
"Whoa!" Barclay grumbled, puffing on his pipe. "Was that necessary, Oysters? I like to do my own winning, if you don't mind."
"You want pie for dessert tonight?" Oysters asked. "Need the table for rolling out the crust."
"Well, I'll be a two-legged toad," Jared exclaimed. "You're a sneaky old duffer, aren't you?"
"Jest doin' ma job," Oysters said, a smile barely visible through his scruffy beard.
"Fine with me." Chase stood and filled his coffee cup with the horse on the side. They all had cups with something painted on them to represent the owner. The brothers helped to clear the table. "I'm partial to pie."
Cynara and Healy folded the highchairs and hung them on the wall. Not that the triplets truly needed highchairs now, except for Jenetta, but so long as they were willing to use them, it made life easier not to have them running around, getting into things while everyone ate.
Jared, with Chase's help, had made five of the chairs, using an ingenious design he'd created. With the pulling of a single peg, the seats collapsed and folded flat. The kitchen didn't have enough floor space to leave them standing. Chase had been after Jared to make another so he could have one for his quarters, now that he lived in the foreman's shack.
Slim, their old foreman, had died last winter of pneumonia. His son, Roy, didn't like living alone, so he'd moved into the bunkhouse, and Chase took over the shack. It had plenty of space for him, with a bedroom and an adequate kitchen. Over time, the men began coming there for card games because he had a big table and chairs for all. When they hired a new foreman, Chase planned to build the man a new shack. He didn't plan to give up his.
They'd barely finished and gotten the highchairs put away when the rattle of a buggy pulling up out front caught their attention. Barclay put down his pipe and got up. "Wonder who that is?"
"Cynara will get it," Healy said. "She's out there with the children."
"Let's see who it is." Jared plucked Gage from his chair and, with the boy on his hip, pushed open the door between the kitchen and the dining room.
The whole troop, except Oysters, made it into the great room just as Cynara brought a young woman in from the boot room. Both appeared uneasy.
"We have company." Cynara gave a tense smile as her gaze singled out her husband. "This young woman says you knew her three years ago as Minnie."
Chase recognized her instantly—the fancy lady from this morning. She appeared no worse for wear, despite her accident with Jezebel.
Minnie stood there, garbed in a clean, equally elegant gown and a fur-trimmed cloak, lovelier even than before, and stared at him. Her hair shone bluish-black, like a magpie's wing, and something he couldn't interpret danced in her dark eyes. A dare? A challenge?
"Hello, Barclay. Jared." Her voice softened, and her lips curled upward at the corners when she added, with a hint of a French accent, "Chase."
The three brothers gaped at her, Barclay grim-faced, lips parted, Jared, with glazed eyes, looking bewildered.
"Did you say…Minnie?" Barclay asked.
"That is correct." Minnie paused as if to up the drama. "You generously took me in and helped me give birth to triplets, and I repaid you by taking fifty dollars of your money and sneaking out of your house. I want to apologize profusely and repay you."
She held out an envelope to Barclay, which he accepted.
Before he could say anything, she said, "My name is Jessamine Styles. I've spent the last three years with my parents in France, attending a school there and pulling myself together. I know I have no right to ask, but I also came in the desperate hope of seeing my babies."
Chapter Two
F or a two-minute eternity, silence reigned in the great room as everyone gawked at the young, fashionable woman who claimed to be the same dirty, bedraggled, urchin they'd taken in one stormy night long ago. In one sense, Chase could hardly believe what he saw, and, yet, in another, he realized—to his shock—he'd always expected her to return.
Minnie, the girl he'd felt such a strong bond with during those dark hours while she labored to give birth. He'd sensed a connection between them as if they'd communicated, not with their mouths but with their eyes and souls. It seemed a decade ago, and yet, as near as yesterday. Emotions filled him, a conglomeration he had no idea how to sort out, let alone understand. Warmth. Need. Understanding. Curiosity. Irritation. A circle at last completed that he couldn't explain even to himself.
All he knew was an overwhelming sense of rightness.
Did she feel the same? Now that she'd given the reason for her visit, lines of worry marred her brow, and fear tightened her face, giving her a hardened look. Considering all she'd endured in her life, she'd earned the right to appear hard, to be hard. Chase wanted to cross the room to her, take her into his arms, and say, Welcome home.
Crazy.
No embrace. But, a greeting, yes.
He strolled toward her, his left hand holding his smoothing stone inside his pocket. "Hello, Minnie. Did you think we would have forgotten you?"
"Not at all." She smiled but struggled to keep from staring at the triplets playing on the floor. "After all, you have the proof of who I am right here."
Chase cast a look at his family. Barclay's expression had become contemplative, while his wife, Cynara, appeared wide-eyed and afraid. When she'd brought Minnie into the room, she'd been beside the girl. Now, she stood behind the children like a lioness prepared to defend her cubs.
Confusion ruled Healy's face, which Chase could understand. She hadn't been here when the triplets were born. Had she ever even heard the name, Minnie?
But her name wasn't Minnie. That name had suited her when they first met her, dirty and desperate. Now, Jessamine suited her far better.
"Yes. The triplets." He moved next to Vella and laid a hand on the dark silky hair on her head. "This one is Vella. The boys are Connor and Gage. The younger girl, Jenetta, belongs to Barclay and Cynara."
Jared grabbed Gage and lifted him into his arms. Jared was the one person who's attitude surprised Chase. Fury twisted Jared's face. "Gage belongs to Healy and me. We adopted him."
To evade trouble, Chase placed himself between Jessamine and Jared and gestured to his oldest brother. "You know Barclay. The pretty lady behind the children is his wife, Cynara. She came to care for the triplets after you left."
"I'm very grateful for that," Jessamine said.
Cynara gave a simple nod.
"Are you well, Minnie?" Barclay slipped an arm around his wife. "It's good to see you again. I noticed you have a bit of a French accent. Sorry. I should have said, Jessamine."
She gave a shaky smile. "My parents took me there when I returned after leaving here. They have retired there, but I chose to return to Montana. I spoke only French for three years, so it sneaks in now and then."
"We worried about you when you left fresh from childbed like that, and we couldn't find you." Chase picked up Vella and held her so Jessamine could get a better look at her daughter, and to demonstrate his claim to the girl. "I hope you didn't suffer complications. You went home, I take it?"
"You should know," Cynara put in, "that they searched for you. Barclay, Jared, Chase, even the ranch hands."
"I'm grateful for that." Jessamine's eyes blinked rapidly, and she glanced down at her hands. "I went to my parents in Hawksville."
She was lying or holding something back. Chase could see it in the way she lowered her gaze. But why? And whatever it was had upset her. Maybe she simply didn't want to talk about old bad memories. He couldn’t blame her.
"Who's she, Mama?" Connor asked, leaning against Cynara's knee.
She cleared her throat and glanced at her husband.
"She's a friend," Barclay answered.
"She's pretty," Vella said, leaning over in Chase's arms, trying to finger the lace on Jessamine's bodice.
A variety of sentiments showed on Jessamine's perfect face: pride, surprise, tenderness, yearning, even fear. She edged closer, allowing Vella to touch the lace.
"You have some nerve coming here." Jared rose, handed Gage off to Healy, and stalked toward her. "Do you have any idea how belligerent, how uncooperative you were last time you were here? We did everything we could to help you, yet you resisted every effort we made to befriend and comfort you."
He made a sweeping motion with his arm. "Then, you left. No goodbye. No, I'm sorry. No, thank you. You ran out on your own flesh and blood as if they meant nothing. But then, they didn't, did they? Not to you. Over and over, you refused to look at them or touch them."
Red splotches blossomed on Minnie's cheeks. Yet, not only did she face her accuser squarely, without cowering or backing away, she defied the tears brimming on her eyelids, refusing to let them fall. Chase had to give her credit. She had gumption, his Minnie.
His Minnie! Whoa, boy. You're letting emotion rule you. Use your head for once. Still, he couldn't stand by and let Jared continue to harangue her.
Vella wriggled in Chase's arms. He put her down. She stood close to Minnie, who smiled at her. Neither appeared capable of taking their eyes from each other.
Finally, Jessamine returned her attention to the adults. "Please. May we start over? I came here to apologize for my lack of manners on my last visit, and to express my gratitude to you for all your help. I knew it was wrong to leave without a word. I simply didn't know what to say, or how to thank you. And… I-I couldn't take the babies with me. Nor could I stay. I hope someday you'll be able to understand."
"What you're asking isn't easy." Chase kept his tone soft and gentle, the way he'd tried to speak to her during the pain of labor.
"I know." She met his gaze, and the corners of her lips tilted upwards for half a second. "I remember you most of all, Chase. You kept me calm and convinced me I was safe when I needed it most."
"I can see that you've come a long way in a few years," Chase said. "I'm glad. I'll never forget what you suffered to bring Connor, Gage, and Vella into the world. I don't know how you women do it. Yet, I'm grateful for it." He stroked Vella's hair.
Vella patted his hand. "Who is she, Papa?"
"Shh," he whispered. "I'll tell you later."
Minnie's eyes hardened as she stared at Jared, perhaps willing him to listen to her words. "It's not like we have a choice."
"No." Chase took out the worry stone he'd found to replace the one he'd given her on that infamous night and rubbed it with his thumb. Vella reached for it, and he let her take it. "I reckon not, once the damage was done."
"Being given a baby can hardly be termed damage." Healy placed a hand on her rounded tummy. Jared slipped an arm around her.
"No." Minnie lifted her chin. "Not when it's your choice."
Healy ducked her head. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"Nothing to apologize for." Minnie's attention focused once more on the toddlers, though she spoke to Healy. "When is your baby due?"
"November." Healy gave a tentative smile. "I'm Healy, Jared's wife and Cynara's sister. Please excuse his lack of manners."
Chase expected Jessamine to smile at that, but her mouth remained grim.
"You have a good husband, Healy. I'm sure he's an excellent father."
"Thank you." Healy smiled up at Jared. "He is."
Jessamine turned back to Chase. "What terrified me that night, more even than giving birth was the uncertain future I faced and knowing it would be a hundred times more difficult with three infants. The thought that I might harm them by doing something wrong filled me with dread. I had no idea how to be a mother."
"I know what you mean." Cynara smiled tentatively. "I was terrified with my first child, afraid I'd drop her or hurt her somehow."
Minnie's gaze went straight to Jenetta, obviously younger than the triplets. "You have another child? One that's older?"
"No." Pain darkened Cynara's eyes. "Jenetta was born to Barclay and me almost two years ago. My first girl, from my first marriage, was stillborn. Had she lived, she'd be the same age as the triplets."
"How sad. Forgive me for raising such a painful memory."
Aware of the women's gaze on her, Jenetta toddled over to her mother. "Mama. Up."
Cynara lifted her into her arms. "This one helps to make up for my loss."
"She is beautiful." Minnie's lips curled slightly, the bare beginnings of a smile. The first Chase had ever seen. It did wonders for her face, changing it from pretty to stunning in the blink of an eye. Her gaze switched from Cynara to Vella. "My… Vella is lovely as well, and I like her name. I like all their names. You're lucky to have four healthy children."
Seeing Jared's fists tighten, Chase said, "Three children. Jared and Healy adopted Gage."
"Yes, he said that. I'm sorry. I'd forgotten." Jessamine studied the boy. "He's a handsome boy, but, then, so is Connor. Gage is an unusual name."
"We have an older brother named Gage," Barclay explained. "He disappeared when he turned seventeen. We haven't heard from him since."
"That's so sad." Jessamine kept her gaze on the children. "I like unusual names."
"We don't need your approval or—" Jared began.
"Back down, brother," Barclay said. "We need no more agitation. Miss Styles hasn't asked to take the children and couldn't anyway since we legally adopted them."
"Damn straight," Jared muttered.
Healy took her place at his side, laying a hand on his arm as if to assure him of her presence.
For the first time since Jessamine introduced herself, the malice left Jared's face, and he smiled at his pregnant wife.
"I'm sure you understand, Miss Styles," Barclay said, always the calm diplomat. "This has been quite a shock. Not having heard a word from you in all this time, a visit was the last thing we expected this evening."
"Or on any evening," Jared added.
"Certainly. I understand." She tore her attention from the children to face Barclay, but her gaze darted back often to the little ones. "I'm in a bit of shock myself. I've always sworn I would never come here, never ask you for anything, never interfere in my children's lives. As Jared so rightly pointed out, I abandoned them. I'm not proud of that, but I'm trying to come to terms with my guilt."
Jessamine's gaze grew distant as if going back to the past. "I spent years putting myself back together after what I endured while being held captive. I won't go into the details of my captivity. One thing I have finally managed is to figure out the motivations behind all that I've done. It's not something I wish to talk about, but if anyone truly needed to know, I would attempt to explain. Not tonight, however."
"No, not tonight," Cynara said. "Will you be staying in Cutthroat a while?"
"A few days at the most." Surprise filled her eyes as Connor walked up to her and tugged at her skirt.
"H'lo," he said. "I'm Connor. I'm oldest."
She crouched down to look him in the eye. "Are you? Connor is a nice name. You're lucky to have such lovely parents."
"I know." He turned and rejoined his siblings.
Jessamine smiled. "He is so polite. I am amazed."
"Cynara's been a good mother to them." Barclay's voice held pride as well as a veiled challenge.
"I can see that." Jessamine ignored the temptation to defend herself. "Since my parents decided to stay in Paris, Papa has signed over the Hawksville house to me, which is partly what brought me home. I plan to open the property as a finishing school for girls to prepare them for marriage and adulthood."
Her glance touched each person present. Not surprisingly, no one replied right away.
"I've taken enough of your time for tonight," she said, "but I would like to visit again if that is all right."
Barclay passed his glance over the entire family before refocusing on Jessamine. "Why don't we discuss it and let you know?"
She didn't hide her disappointment, nor did she argue. "That is fair. I'll be at the Empire Hotel. Thank you for allowing me to talk with you and see my children. I can tell they're healthy, well taken care of, and loved. That gives me much comfort."
