Born of Treasure (Treasure Chronicles Book 2) (4 page)

“My son, Jeremiah.”

Jeremiah shook the captain’s hand, surprised at the softness of his beefy palm. He’d expected active army men to have calluses, thickened skin. They shot weapons, rode vehicles and horses. Did the man sit somewhere all day? He should be keeping the peace when Bromi attacked the outlying farms or when ranchers feuded.

“Got a firm shake there. You looking to get into the army?” Captain Greenwood grinned, but it didn’t touch his eyes. His gaze darted around the porch as if looking for something. Didn’t Georgette’s potted spider plants and white wicker furniture appeal to him?

Jeremiah tensed. “No, sir. The land’s in my heart.”

“This is Alyssa Ottman,” Garth continued. “She’s the daughter of a family friend.”

“Good afternoon, sir.” She curtsied in her blue gingham dress. If Amethyst were doing it, her bosom would spill from a low-cut bodice. Alyssa kept things proper, with a high lace collar and a corset the same color as the skirt. Jeremiah held his hands behind his back to keep from holding her arm. She wasn’t his, yet.

“Pretty thing,” Captain Greenwood said. “You look like a flower, Miss Ottman.”

Not a flower. That would be Amethyst, all bright and weird, one second innocent and the next poisonous. Alyssa was rain, soothing and soft.

“You’ve got another son?” Captain Greenwood’s gaze took to the yard, hesitating on the nearest barn where a ranch hand carried two buckets through the open double doors.

Garth nodded. “My son, Clark, is traveling with my daughter for the summer. She stays in New Addison City for most of the year and wanted to see Hedlund.”

Captain Greenwood pursed his lips before the grin returned. “Our Hedlund is a good place. She won’t be disappointed none. Now, about this boy. I don’t remember hearing about him before.”

“I doubt you’ve heard much about our family,” Georgette said. “Our names might be well known, but we tend to stay quiet, sir. We keep to our own affairs.”

Jeremiah hid his smirk with a cough. Good for his mother. Captain Greenwood didn’t need to know their secrets.

“You’ll enjoy being a guest here,” Alyssa said as smoothly as Georgette spoke. “The Treasures are fabulous hosts. I’ve never felt more at home. You’ll have to try Mistress Treasure’s lemonade. I swear it’s the best in Hedlund.”

“Zachariah, my boy.” Captain Greenwood clapped him on the shoulder and laughed, brightening Zachariah’s beam. “You never said anything about your big family. For all I knew, it could be just you and your old man.”

Unlikely, given the popularity and notoriety of the Treasure name.

“If you do care about our personal lives, the newspapers in the East enjoy writing about my daughter,” Garth said.

Jeremiah clenched his teeth to avoid chuckling. Garth would scowl at those tabloids—the only time he did scowl—and throw them into the hearth to burn. Jeremiah had never dared to ask if his father believed the things written about Amethyst’s wild ways.

“Newspapers like to prey on the wealthy,” Garth had said once. “We fascinate them somehow. They don’t care what they write so long as readers eat it up.”

“Zachariah sure is an asset to our country,” Captain Greenwood continued. Jeremiah doubted Zachariah did more than spurt facts and follow his superiors around playing the puppy. “What about this other son? Clark, you said? Would he want to join the army?”

“It is an option for him, but like Jeremiah, Clark prefers a different lifestyle.” Garth opened the front door. “Won’t you come in? The day is still heating and lemonade might be more cheerful in the parlor.”

“Clark Treasure, would that be?”

Jeremiah caught himself before snorting. The captain must’ve heard about how Garth had claimed a Tarnished Silver’s boy as his own. He didn’t have to rub it in.

Garth shut the door, his eyebrows knit. Anyone who knew him would tell his nerves had been agitated, but his voice remained calm. “Captain Greenwood, Clark Treasure is the newest addition to my family. In my youth, I dallied with a Tarnished Silver and begot a son. I do not shy from my mistakes and we have welcomed Clark. He will have every advantage as my legitimate children.”

“This will not tarnish our name,” Georgette added. “We are all happy to have Clark with us.”

Captain Greenwood tapped one foot and cracked his knuckles, the grin finally real. Did he have a bastard somewhere that he’d claimed, and was glad to see someone else do it? Why would Clark fascinate him so much?

“He grew up here?” Captain Greenwood asked. “You saw him every day in town?”

“We don’t go to town every day,” Jeremiah snapped. “It’s too far away for that. We have work here.”

“Your tone.” Alyssa brushed her fingertips over his elbow.

“Clark grew up elsewhere before the mine in his town ran dry,” Garth said.

“His mother lives here too?”

“Alas, she’s passed away.” Georgette clenched her hands across her stomach.

Jeremiah wanted to punch the captain—his questions bordered on rude when he should be thankful the Treasures had accepted his request to visit. His mother deserved respect, not to have Clark’s parentage thrown in her face.

Captain Greenwood smiled broader. “Clark must miss Tangled Wire.”

“We are all adapting to the new setting as well as can be.” Garth opened the door again. “Captain, to the parlor. Our Bromi is waiting to serve us.”

“Relax,” Alyssa whispered as the others filed into the house. “He may be gruff, but he’s used to the army where men don’t hold to manners.”

Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. No one had mentioned Clark grew up in Tangled Wire. They hadn’t told anyone, ever.

ather.” Jeremiah leaned across the desk. “Ask him how he knew which mining town Clark lived in.”

Garth sighed, massaging his temple. “Jere, I know the captain is trying. He isn’t like our usual guests.”

“
How did he know
?”

“Clark must’ve mentioned it to someone. News about us does spread.”

Jeremiah clenched his fists. “He acted as if he didn’t know anything about Clark.”

Garth turned in his chair to stare at the twilight outside the office window. “Jere, you’ve been sheltered here.”

“I’ve been to auctions.”

“In Hedlund. You’ve never left the state. People are used to you here. You’re not an oddity. Bloody gears, most of the people here are trying hard to survive each day. In other places, like in cities, people crave celebrities. They’re fascinated by them, look up to them. I’m one of the richest men in the country. Everything I do is interesting to them, so everything you do is just as amazing. Amethyst dealt with that every day.”

“It doesn’t feel right.” Jeremiah needed a glass of rum to keep himself from exploding. His father couldn’t pretend the captain was just gruff.

“Son.” Garth laid his hand on the stack of papers on his desk. “Alyssa has been here for five weeks now. You spend every moment you aren’t working at her side, and she hasn’t made a move to return to her home.”

“She’s grieving.” The conversation didn’t have to do with Alyssa. The captain took priority.

“If you have intentions toward her, make them clear. Nothing will change.” Garth closed his eyes. “Take a trip around Hedlund. See things you’ve never looked at.”

“You want us to travel with Clark and
Amethyst
?” The last thing he wanted was to stop at every store while Amethyst fawned over the newest style of gloves. Clark had to be a prince to put up with her.

“Take your own trip. Take Alyssa to the east. Neither of you have been there.”

“I’ve never wanted to go east. Father, I have work to do here.”

Garth laughed. “You think I don’t know how to run my own ranch?”

“Bloody gears!” Jeremiah slammed his fist into the desk. “What about Captain Greenwood?”

The office door opened and the captain barreled inside, as if he’d been eavesdropping for an opportunity.

He should’ve knocked. Jeremiah folded his arms to keep from punching the idiot.

“Captain Greenwood.” Garth folded his hands on his desk. “I thought you were in the parlor with Zachariah and the ladies. Alyssa loves charades.”

“What are you doing for Hedlund Day?” the captain asked, as if no question had been posed.

“Hedlund Day is two weekends away,” Jeremiah growled. “That shouldn’t have to do with charades.” He pictured Alyssa’s hurt face when the captain didn’t want to play her game, and he wanted to punch him anew. Jeremiah usually got the Bromis to play late into the night, until Alyssa was tired enough to seek her bed.

“Hedlund Day celebrates the founding of the territory,” Captain Greenwood exclaimed. “It’s a national holiday.”

“Only in Hedlund.” Garth cleared his throat. “We do the same each year. Families enjoy a picnic in town, and at night, each ranch shoots fireworks. Those who can’t afford their own, or live in town, visit a ranch for the night.”

“We’ll have a celebration here.” Captain Greenwood had that grin again that made Jeremiah grind his teeth. “It will be a huge party. Your wife will love organizing it. Women adore that sort of thing. Invite Clark.”

Garth stared without an expression. Would his father agree?

“You have no right telling us what to do. You’re a guest,” Jeremiah said.

“A party will be perfect,” the captain raved. “I’ll invite other army men. Zachariah will love mingling with his superiors and he may make connections to further his career in the army.”

Could that be a bribe?

“Clark will feel more at home,” the captain continued. “You can afford it, Treasure.”

Another breech of manners—money should never be discussed except in private by family members.

“Make sure Clark comes,” Captain Greenwood said. “I’d love to meet the newest Treasure.”

Thunder rumbled outside.

“How nice that it will rain.” Alyssa leaned against the second-floor wrap-around porch of the ranch house. Wind arose, tugging at her chignon. Amethyst would’ve pulled out her hair pins and shook her head to make curls bounce everywhere. Jeremiah grinned. Alyssa knew how to be a proper ranch lady.

Jeremiah dropped his leather traveling bag onto his bed and popped the brass latch open. “When it rains here, it pours. There will be flooding.”

“That’s the same as at home in Eastern Hedlund.” She cupped her hand and held it out to catch the first droplets that fell from the night sky. “I love to sleep with the sound of rain on the roof.”