Authors: Sandra S. Kerns
“Ashley!” Jed released Chaney and knelt as the little girl ran into his open arms. Tears coursed down the child’s face.
“Edward and I had a change of plans, so I decided you could have her while we’re gone. This changes nothing. She’s still mine. Your little scheme, marrying this . . . this farmer to win custody won’t work.” She motioned to the driver and he went to the car’s trunk and pulled out two small suitcases. “We’ll be gone for two weeks. Enjoy her while you can. It may be the last time you see her.” With that threat, the she-devil climbed back in the car and slammed the door.
Chaney stood rooted to the same spot she’d been in when Jed had let go of her. She was there when the limo pulled down the driveway. Ashley? Custody? Scheme?
Farmer
? Her temperature rose with each question, and it had nothing to do with the blistering sun they stood under.
As much as she wanted to lay into Jed, she couldn’t cause the child he held in his arms any more anguish at the moment. The girl’s tears had subsided and a timid smile was trying to peak out. Chaney stepped to the suitcases. “Why don’t we go inside and see if Martha has some cookies for you after your trip.” Picking up the girl’s bag
s Chaney walked into the house.
After setting the suitcases by the stairs,
she led them into the kitchen.
“Martha, I have a surprise for you. Jed’s daughter has come to see us.” Chaney spoke quickly and smiled hoping her housekeeper would take the hint and not say anything to upset the l
ittle girl.
When Jed stepped fully into the room still holding his daughter in his arms, it struck Chaney how similar the two were. There was no way Jed could ever deny the child. Ashley was a miniature of her father from her blonde hair and blue eyes, right down to the overly serious expression on her face as he introduced her.
“Ash, this is Miss Martha. She takes care of Chaney’s house and cooks for all the people that work here.” He turned so they were facing Chaney. “This is Chaney, your step-mom.”
The negative sound of the term grated on Chaney’s already ragged nerves. “Just call me Chaney, and I’ll call you Ashley.”
The little girl shook her head. “Ash, that’s what Daddy calls me. Only mother calls me Ashley.”
“Okay, Ash. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Chaney said holding out her hand, and she realized it was a pleasure. Despite the fact that it was a shock, and she was furious with Jed for not mentioning he had a daughter, Chaney couldn’t regret meeting such a sweet child. She also noticed the child said mother and not mom. It seemed the ex Mrs. Sampson was much more proper than she or Jed.
“Can I stay here?” Ash asked after shaking Chaney’s hand. “I know Mother didn’t ask. But is it okay?”
Her timid voice and obvious expectance of a negative answer tore at Chaney’s heart. “Of course you can stay here. This is your home anytime you want it to be. To prove it, we’ll celebrate your first afternoon with us by having a party for lunch.”
The little girl’s face lit up like an angel. “A party? For me? Really?”
“Really,” Chaney said, sneaking a quick glance at Martha to see if she would agree. The smile on Martha’s face let Chaney
know everything would be okay.
Everything except the fact that Ashley’s father might be dead before her party ever started. Damn, she couldn’t believe he’d kept this from her. Her indignation cooled only a bit knowing s
he was keeping her own secrets.
“I tell you what, Ash. I’ve
have some business to take care of right now, but you and Martha can start the plans and I’ll help as soon as I can. Okay?”
When Jed’s daughter reached out and hugged Chaney’s neck saying, “Thank you,” Chaney knew she was in deep trouble. She learned the steel mesh around her heart had a weak link. “You’re welcome,” she whispered back, because emotion clogged her throat. Chaney left the room without looking at Jed.
Once in the safety of her office, Chaney leaned against the door and took a deep breath. As deep a breath as she could anyway with a band of pain surrounding her chest. It wasn’t the little girl. Jed’s daughter was wonderful. Even after only a few minutes, Chaney knew that.
Of course, the child could have been hell on wheels and Chaney would have loved her anyway. She was Jed’s daughter and that was enough. But it hurt, too. It hurt to know that if that horse hadn’t thrown her twelve years ago, Ashley could have been her daughter.
Tears filled her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Pushing away from the door, she walked to the window and stared unseeing at the land spread before her. She would not feel sorry for herself. Jed had made his choice and she had to live with it.
He’d walked away from her and married a woman Chaney could never begin to compete with in looks or anything else. Johanna was in a class all her own. Though Chaney believed the woman’s nose was perfect thanks to a surgeon, you couldn’t start with a lemon and end up with a peach. Before the tweaks, there had been beauty. Johanna’s comment concerning Jed’s common side had been meant for Chaney, of that she was sure. She was common, even compared to her own sister. Boy, Jed had taken a big step backwards coming home.
He divorced her.
She shook her head. That didn’t matter. The divorce could have been her choice. Maybe she decided there was too much of his common side. Yeah, right. Jed’s common side consisted mainly of his family here, and his work ethic. It had nothing to do with his intelligence or appearance. The man looked as comfortable in a tux as he did in jeans and a T-shirt. She bet he’d turned more than a few heads in his Navy uniform. Before she sunk further into thoughts of Jed’s assets, fear grabbed her by the throat.
Johanna had said something about Jed fighting for custody. If he were fighting for custody of Ashley, what would he do if Chaney became pregnant? She hadn’t expected him to want a child. She’d been sure he wouldn’t have a problem giving up responsibility for a child’s welfare. What was she going to do now? Thank God, she hadn’t stopped her birth control yet. At least this way she wouldn’t have to worry about fighting him. Now all she had to do was figure out some loophole to keep the ranch without getting pregnant.
***
Jed knocked but when he didn’t hear an answering word he turned the knob and stepped into the office. He didn’t have to search hard to find her. Chaney stood in front of the window with her arms wrapped around her middle. She probably felt like he’d sucker punched her.
“I’m sorry doesn’t seem like enough.”
Chaney didn’t respond. She remained standing in front of the window refusing to look at him.
“I was going to tell you about Ash, but things have been a little tense. I am sorry though. Don’t worry you won’t have to lift a finger. Ash is my responsibility. Not yours.”
“I wasn’t worried and I won’t mind her being here. She’s your daughter. I meant what I said. She’s welcome here whenever she wants. I just wish you had told me
before
we got married.”
“Why? I mean besides the obvious, not being blindsided reasons. Would it have made a difference?”
“Maybe.”
Jed was confused. She said his daughter was welcome, but she might not have married him if she knew about Ash. “Why? You still needed a husband to keep the ranch. Now you know I needed more than a building for my shop. I need a wife to help win custody of my daughter.”
“Never mind, Jed,” she said finally turning from the window so he could see her face. “Are there any other surprises I should know about? Is your wife going to change her mind and take you back?”
She looked more fragile than he’d ever seen her. Jed was used to Chaney being strong and stubborn. Her accepting, al
most defeated attitude was odd.
“No other surprises,” he told her as she walked behind the desk. “As to Johanna taking me back, that won’t happen. I filed for the divorce, not her. She could beg and I wouldn’t take her back. The woman
’s a class ‘A’ bitch. Always has been, always will be. I did my time.”
“If you felt that way, why did you marry her in the first place?”
It was hard to hold Chaney’s gaze while he tried to come up with an answer. He couldn’t tell her his ex had seduced him while he was in a drunken fog. One of the yearly drunken binges he had commemorating his refusing to stand up to Chaney’s father. How could he tell Chaney he got his commanding officer’s daughter pregnant while he had been drinking trying to forget her? He couldn’t. First, it would ruin her memories of her father if she believed him, and second she wouldn’t believe him anyway.
Even knowing that, Jed wanted to take her in his arms and hold her until the lost look on her face went away. But he didn’t feel he had the right since he was obviously the cause of it. He decided on a very watered down version of the truth.
“Like most major events in my life, I didn’t have much choice,” he said. The way she rolled her eyes and shook her head said she knew it was a copout.
“Whatever. I guess part of the reason I’m so shocked is Steve never mentioned you had a daughter. I knew you’d married, but I never heard that you’d had a child. Just seems kind of strange.”
“He doesn’t know.”
Chaney’s head shot up. “I thought you said no more surprises. Your family doesn’t know about your daughter?”
Jed shrugged uncomfortable talking about his relationship or lack of one with his uncle. “Dale and I didn’t speak for a long time after I left. Actually, we hadn’t talked until Steve’s wedding,” he told her. “I told them when I got married, but I was on sea duty when Ash was born, and most of the next two years. When I was home, Johanna, well you can see she isn’t exactly thrilled with my side of the family, so to keep the peace I rarely talked to them.”
“But they’re your family, Jed. I don’t understand.”
He smiled at her. She was right on target there. She didn’t understand and probably never would. He didn’t have a family like she did. When his parents died, his uncle had grudgingly taken custody. He had never felt good enough for his uncle. The relationship with his
family
had been extremely strained when Dale didn’t stand up for him against her father. After that, Jed had wanted to keep his life separate from theirs because he never quite trusted his uncle to be there for him.
“Yeah, well, not all families are as close as yours was.”
Her forced laughter reminded him that Chaney believed her family was anything but close. “That’s a good one, Jed,” she said dropping into the large old desk chair. “Never mind. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. It’s not like we’re beholden to each other or anything.”
“Chaney there’s nothing to tell. He’s my uncle not my father. It’s different when you have an argument with your dad; at least I guess it is. I never got the chance to have one wi
th my father when I was older.”
He hadn’t meant to say that. It had been years since he had allowed any kind of self-pity for the loss of his parents. He never, ever said anything out loud. Self-pity was one thing. Pity from someone else was unacceptable. If he saw anything resembling it in Chaney’s eyes, he wasn’t sure he could take it.
The silence stretched between them.
Jed forced himself to hold her gaze when she finally spoke.
“I guess I never thought about it like that.”
He was pleased with her answer. It sounded more like understanding than pity. Those beautiful brown eyes didn’t waver or avoid his gaze as people tended to do when they felt sorry for him.
“So, Dale and Steve don’t know about Ashley?”
Jed shook his head. “I was going to tell them after I talked to you.”
“And when had you planned on doing that?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from plowing them through his hair. “I am sorry, Chaney. I was supposed to have Ash last week, but Johanna pulled a fast one and got my visitation blocked.” Chaney started to speak but he held up his hand. “You saw the limo. Her new husband is loaded. Where there’s money, there’s a way.” He fell into the chair in front of her desk. “After that, I thought I had more time to figure out how to tell you.”
“It’s simple, Jed. You say, Chaney, I have a daughter.”
Jed looked at her doubtfully. “Honey, nothing with you is simple or easy.”
“I am
not
your honey and this marriage was supposed to be simple business,” she told him pounding a fist on the desk. Fire burned in her eyes as she spoke and Jed found himself almost enjoying the battle just to see the spirit come back in her. “One year. That’s all it was supposed to be.”
“I know.”
“Custody battles can go on for years, Jed.”
So, that was the problem. Chaney was worried he would need to stay married for longer than their agreement. “This one won’t. I promise.”
“Yeah, well, you’ll forgive me if I don’t buy that line.”
“It’s my word, not a line.” Jed was fuming now. He stood and leaned across the desk, his palms planted firmly on the hard oak surface. “I won’t put my daughter through years of court battles. One shot, that’s all I’ve got.”
Chaney regarded Jed in silence. His set features looked grim and determined, as if he expected to lose but couldn’t go down without a fight. Well, she understood that feeling. It was the exact reason she was in the predicament she was now. Pushing her chair away from the desk and the unwavering stare of her husband, she stood and walked back to the window.