Grayson Brothers Series Boxed Set (4 books in 1) (16 page)

Evelyn grinned and tucked her feet up on the couch. “Then why is Mrs. Brown sweetening all of a sudden? Does she have her sights set on you again?”

“No. The day I went into her store with you and Radford was the first time in twenty-five years that she’s spoken to me. I guess I just got tired of trying to avoid her and maybe she got tired of hating me. Perhaps she’s just lonely.”

“Then you’re not interested in her?”

“When you love someone as much as I loved your mother there’s nothing left for anyone else. In all these years I’ve never wanted anyone but your mother.”

Evelyn’s stomach dropped. What if she spent her life with Kyle and never lost her desire for Radford? She couldn’t bear it. “How did you feel when you broke your engagement with Agatha?” she asked, knowing she needed to talk to Kyle.

“Rotten. She was a wonderful friend. But I didn’t love her and I couldn’t marry her after I knew how I felt about your mother. It wouldn’t have been fair to any of us. I hated hurtin’ Aggie, but I felt it was kinder to be honest about my feelings.”

“How did you tell her?” Evelyn asked, wondering if her father knew about her feelings for Radford and was offering advice without revealing his suspicions.

“I couldn’t think of any other way than to tell her the truth.” His eyes grew distant, his expression sad. “She said she hated me and swore she’d never speak to me again. She didn’t until the day I went in her store with you and Radford.”

“It must have been awful to hurt each other like that.” It would kill Evelyn to cause Kyle pain, yet it ate at her conscience each day knowing she was marrying him for less than noble reasons.

“It always hurts to lose a friend. But I couldn’t pass up the chance of your mother’s love.”

“Is that what gave you the strength to end your relationship with Agatha?”

“No. It was knowin’ there would always be a part of myself I couldn’t give her. I decided that Aggie deserved more, and I didn’t want to live without love.”

A sinking feeling settled in Evelyn’s stomach. She cared for Kyle, but it wasn’t the kind of love her father and mother shared.

“Why so glum, pixie?” Her father asked, patting her hand.

Disconcerted that her heartache showed on her face, Evelyn wrestled a smile in place. “I was just wondering how Mama could have rejected you. You said there wasn’t a woman around who could resist you in those days.”

“Bahhh. Don’t tell me you believe that malarkey. Your mother married me so I’d quit pesterin’ her.”

“I think she married you because she was a very smart lady who knew what a treasure she had.” Evelyn wrapped her arms around her father and kissed his cheek, feeling deeply thankful for his love. “Personally, Papa, I think you’re priceless.”

Rebecca ran straight for the livery and burst through the door calling for Evelyn. Radford increased his stride and stepped into the barn behind his exuberant daughter.

“You’re home!” Evelyn tossed aside a pitchfork and threw her arms around Rebecca. “I missed you, sprite.” They clung together as if they’d been apart for years instead of the four days he and Rebecca had spent traveling to Syracuse and back.

“I missed you!” Rebecca declared, clinging to Evelyn’s neck while Radford looked on with his heart aching. Rebecca had been utterly miserable from the minute they had left home. And so had Radford.

Not only had he missed Evelyn, but visiting the city where he and William had enlisted in the 149th NY volunteers had dredged up too many memories for Radford. He’d spent three endless years of fighting with that regiment before returning to Syracuse, battle-worn and forever changed, his pride hanging in shreds.

“Welcome home, Radford.”

Evelyn’s voice snapped him back to the present. He wanted to rush forward and sweep her into his arms, but he kept his feet planted despite the raw need coursing through him.

Kyle stepped from Gabrielle’s stall. “What took so long to get a doctor?”

Radford choked out a laugh as he tried to gather his scattered senses. He nodded toward the doctor standing in the doorway. “I want you to meet an old friend of mine.”

Amid introductions they wandered to the porch where William slept in a chair. When he opened his eyes and saw Rebecca hopping on one foot near Radford, he yelped in surprise. “Come here and give your grandpa a smooch, you little rascal.”

Rebecca climbed onto his lap and squeezed his wrinkled neck until his cheek bunched beneath his eye. When she drew back, she touched a finger to his face. “You have water on your cheek, Grandpa.”

“Got a little dust in my eye,” he said, backhanding a tear from his face. He glanced up at Doc Kendall for a moment before recognition dawned. “Lawd! Is that really you, you old Salt Boiler?”

Radford laughed at William’s use of their regiment’s old nickname.

Doc Kendall chuckled and shook William’s weak hand. “Who else would bother to come clear out here to see an ornery old cuss like you?”

Before William could respond, Rebecca scooted off his lap and tugged on Evelyn’s hand. “I got a present for you, don’t I, Daddy?”

Radford’s smile was a balm to Evelyn’s aching heart. How she’d missed seeing that face and hearing his laughter.

“Rebecca picked it out,” he said.

“Yeah! All by myself,” she declared importantly. She bent her elbow and tried to wiggle her hand into Radford’s pocket. “Get it out, Daddy.”

Radford laughed and reached in to withdraw the treasure. Evelyn would have thought it was gold the way Rebecca so proudly presented it to her. With care, she untied the pink ribbon and opened a small jewelry case, but when she saw what was inside, she gasped. It was gold! It was a pin in the shape of a miniature magnolia blossom, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Evelyn traced a trembling finger over the delicate petals, remembering the day Radford told her that her mother claimed it was good luck to catch a falling magnolia blossom. Deeply touched by the beautiful reminder of her mother, and the fact that Radford would give her something so special, Evelyn wished she could thank him, but she couldn’t with Kyle looking on. Instead, she knelt down and hugged Rebecca. “This is beautiful,” she said.

Rebecca drew back and captured Evelyn’s cheeks between her hands. “Could you be my mama?” she asked, hope shining in her brown eyes.

The child’s innocent plea for love shook Evelyn to the depths of her soul and she lifted her watery gaze to Radford. There was nothing she desired more than to make this precious child her own, to soothe her heartaches and share in her laughter, to watch her grow from dimples and curls into the graceful loveliness of womanhood. But when she glanced at Kyle’s closed expression, Evelyn knew she needed to answer with caution. Warily, she shifted her gaze back to Radford, hoping for guidance, but he looked as though someone had just died. The air crackled with tension while they all awaited Evelyn’s answer.

With deliberate tenderness, she took Rebecca’s hands in her own and gave them a gentle squeeze. “You would make the most precious daughter a mother could have. I couldn’t love you more if you were my very own,” she answered, trying not to crush Rebecca’s hopes while salving Kyle’s concern.

Not knowing what else to say, Evelyn glanced at her father for help.

“Did I ever tell you about my old huntin’ dog, Rebecca?”

Rebecca turned to her grandpa, her face lit with excitement. “You had a dog?” she asked, and Evelyn silently thanked her father for breaking the tension of Kyle’s suspicious glance between her and Radford.

“Not just a dog. Red was the best dog ever born.” He patted his knees. “Come up here and I’ll tell you about the trick I played on him.” When Rebecca was settled on his lap, he continued. “Old Red was the smartest dog I ever owned. If I wanted to go rabbit huntin’, I’d take down my twelve-gauge shotgun and let Red get a look and a sniff then off he’d go. I never had to wait more than a few minutes before he’d chase up a fat cottontail for me. When it was duck season, I’d let him whiff my ten-gauge and what do you think he’d hunt up for me?”

“What?” Rebecca asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.

“Why, ducks, of course. That old dog knew just by sniffin’ my gun what I wanted him to get for me.”

“How’d he know?”

William knuckled away a grin and winked at Evelyn. Rebecca sat in his lap holding her foot, gazing up in rapt attention while he stretched his story to answer her. “... and if I let Red sniff rifle,” her father was saying, “he knew we were going squirrel huntin’. But one day I tried to trick him. I brought out my fishin’ pole and let Red sniff it a couple of times. He sat down and scratched behind his ear a bit then he jumped up and ran off like his tail was on fire.”

“Where’d he go?” Rebecca asked excitedly.

“Well, I didn’t know right away, but I was afraid I might have really confused him. I took my fishin’ pole and headed toward the creek. And guess where I found that darn dog?”

“Where?” Rebecca asked, nearly leaping off his lap in suspense.

“In the garden diggin’ worms to catch the fish with!”

Rebecca giggled and clapped her hands. “He knew! You didn’t trick him one bit, Grandpa!”

Delighted laughter burst from her father, and joy surged through Evelyn’s chest. What a glorious sound from a man who hadn’t had many reasons for laughing since his wife died. It had taken this little girl, this newly proclaimed granddaughter, to make him happy again. Evelyn’s gaze shifted to Radford, whose unrestrained, warm laughter made her eyes tear. To have a precious little girl to sit on her father’s lap and giggle at his silly tales, and a charming husband who would take the time to listen was everything she could ever desire. But when Evelyn looked at Kyle, she was scared to death she would never have that in her life.

Kyle caught her look and stood. “I have to check something at the house. Will you go with me?”

Surprised by his unexpected request, Evelyn nodded dumbly then went to the livery to get her mare.

“Did you see Rebecca’s face when she saw you today?” Kyle asked as soon as they were away from the house.

Of course she had. Evelyn would never forget the beauty of that joy-filled expression. “Yes, why?”

“She was desperate to get her hands on you.”

Evelyn smiled. “She missed me as much as I missed her.”

“Do you think it’s wise for her to be so dependent on you?”

“She needs a woman in her life,” Evelyn answered.

“I agree, but it should be Radford’s wife.” Kyle reined in his stallion and dismounted in his side yard. “You can’t be her mother. This situation is going to become confusing and painful for Rebecca when you move out.”

“I love that little girl, just as you do,” Evelyn said, understanding it wasn’t Kyle’s jealousy, but his love for Rebecca that prompted his concern. “Rebecca and I will just have to work through the problem of our separation if that becomes necessary.”

“If?” Kyle took Evelyn’s arm and helped her dismount. “You and Rebecca won’t be living together once we’re married.”

“I’ll be moving down the road, not across the country.”

“Well, Radford might. Then what?”

He had a valid point. There was always the possibility that Radford would leave again, still even that risk couldn’t make Evelyn pull away from the little girl who needed her.

Kyle raked his hair back. “Listen, Ev, I’m not telling you to turn away from Rebecca, but give some thought to how you’re handling your relationship with her. I also want you to think about selling the livery and reinvesting in a new mill.”

“What?”

“I’m sure your father will see that it makes more sense to invest in another sawmill that can earn more money with less effort.”

“Don’t you dare talk to Papa about this.” Furious, Evelyn pressed a callused fingertip to Kyle’s chest. “I’ll never let you insult my father by telling him everything he’s sweated for isn’t good enough for you. I’d rather see him penniless and starving than to lose his pride.”

Kyle captured her hand and slowly lowered it to her side, his eyes snapping with unleashed anger. “I expect to be treated with the same respect I’ve always given you.”

“You call selling my heritage an act of respect?” She let the question rage between them as seconds ticked by in tense silence.

Slowly, with tightly held control, Kyle eased back and tipped his face heavenward. “Heritage is a set of characteristics that you receive from your parents. It’s the traditions and culture they raise you in.” He lowered his face and drilled her with a meaningful stare. “The livery is just a business with the sole purpose of making money.”

“What would you know of heritage?” she asked, her voice iced with accusation. “You stripped your own brother of his.”

Kyle reared back as though she’d delivered him a vicious blow. Never had Evelyn witnessed such a wounded look in his eyes and she immediately regretted her spiteful tongue. Wishing she could retract her words, she reached for his hand, but he stepped away.

“Don’t be a hypocrite. If you’re going to make allegations, don’t sugarcoat them with apologies.”

His naked pain exposed the vulnerable young man who used to share her heartaches, as well as his own, and it left Evelyn reeling with regret over her reckless words.

“I’m sorry, Kyle.” She touched his arm. “That was cruel.”

His nostrils flared and the familiar mask of control slipped back in place. “I have a ton of work left to finish on the house before our wedding so I’m going to have limited time during the next two weeks to see you.” His gaze locked on hers. “I would like those few occasions to be pleasant.”

“So would I.” And she meant that.

“Then let’s not discuss the livery until the wedding is behind us.”

Evelyn bit her tongue. She had no intention of selling the livery, but Kyle needed to calm down before she tried to reason with him.

“I know I’ve been an ass on occasion, but I had hoped you held me in higher regard.”

She flushed with shame. “I do.” She slipped her arms around his hard waist. “It just seems we define things differently. You see with your head. I see with my heart.”

“Look at me.”

She raised her gaze. A tired softness shone in the brown depths of his eyes.

“For your own sake, learn to see with both and save yourself some heartache.”

He kissed her then, and Evelyn tried with all her heart to return the kiss, but it was an act of apology rather than passion that united them.