His Brother's Wife (24 page)

Sarah grinned. "That's
quite all right. Coffee will go great with these." She lifted the
towel from her basket, pulling out a plate of sweet biscuits oozing
with blueberries. "I had to sneak these out of the house. Colt was
determined to eat them all."

She slid the plate closer
to Grace and reached for one, smiling as Grace did the
same.

"So," Grace said, "Your
husband is Colt Avery. Any relation to Holden?"

Sarah smiled. "Yes.
They're brother's."

Grace nodded her head. "I
keep forgetting this is a small town."

"Smaller than you think.
Gossip travels quick, which is why I'm here."

The door opened before
Sarah could say more and Rafe walked in, followed by Holden Avery
and….Holden? Grace blinked and stood, staring at the two men. They
looked exactly the same. The same dark hair, piercing blue eyes,
and identical smirks. She laughed and shook her head.
"Twins."

Sarah nodded. "Hard to
look away, isn't it?"

"Very."

Rafe cleared his throat,
gave Grace a look that said she needed to stop staring at the Avery
men, and lifted the front of his hat with his thumb. "We're headed
out to the range. May be a while before we're back. Will you be all
right here alone?"

Grace stared at him,
wondering why he felt the need to ask, then remembered Ben and his
hired hands. School would be out in an hour or so but she'd be
alone until Jesse returned. She didn't expect Sarah to stay that
long.

She nodded her head at
him, trying to read the peculiar look on his face and smiled when
he turned without another word, followed by one of the men. When
the one standing closest to the sink approached the table and
leaned down, kissing Sarah on the cheek, she noted the subtle
differences in facial features from Holden and the length of his
hair, and smiled at him when he straightened. "Colt, I
presume."

He held out his hand, took
hers and gave it a gentle shake. "Pleasure meeting you, ma'am. I've
heard a lot about you, most of which I'm sure isn't true." He
smiled, tipped his hat at her and turned to the door. "We'll be
back before dark. You ladies have fun."

Grace waited until the
latch on the door clicked before looking back at Sarah. Her new
friend was still sipping her coffee. She wanted to ask what Colt
had heard but didn't want to disrupt her small social gathering
with talk that probably wouldn't be pleasant.

She smiled at Sarah
instead and asked, "You'll be staying until they
return?"

"No," Sarah said, "And I
hope you aren't either."

Something about the look
in Sarah's eyes reminded her of the one in Colt's. Grace held back
a sigh. She was about to learn something she didn't want to. "What
do you mean?"

Sarah nodded to Grace's
abandoned seat. "Today is our monthly sewing circle in town. I've
come to invite you."

"A sewing circle?" Grace
sat back down.

"Yes. It's usually held at
Abigail's house, she's my sister-in-law, by the way, as her house
is the biggest. We're about to start a new blanket. Every lady in
town will be there and I thought it would be a great way for you to
meet everyone."

Grace chewed her bottom
lip as she contemplated her new friend. She had a pleasant smile on
her face but that look still lingered in her eyes. She wasn't
telling her something.

Did it have anything to do
with the other ladies in town? She'd only spoken to Mrs. Jenkins,
the mercantile owner, and Ellie over at the stagecoach station.
Neither had said anything about her living with Jesse and Rafe but
then again, they'd never had reason to bring it up, but the other
women in town might.

"The gossip is outlandish
at the moment." Sarah's cheeks were tinted pink as she spoke.
"You'd be shocked at what people are saying about you. If you want
to put a stop to the rumors, Grace, it's best to address them
yourself."

Grace sighed. Sarah was
right. Letting people believe everything they heard would be
disastrous. "Are they bad?"

Sarah's cheeks turned red
then. "Bad enough."

"I see." Grace exhaled a
deep breath. She'd never been a coward and if she planned on living
in Willow Creek with these people, it was time to set the record
straight. "I'll go change, if that's all right?"

Sarah nodded her head
before standing. "I'll just tidy up our mess and we'll leave when
you're ready.

* * * *

"The water is barely
trickling in."

Rafe readjusted his hat,
trying to keep the animosity out of his voice. "I was down there
last week. The creek was flowing fine. I'm not sure why it would
suddenly stop flowing." He glanced toward Holden, wondering if the
man was accusing him of cutting off the water supply to his
ranch.

It was no secret to anyone
around Willow Creek that the hostile feelings between the two men
were still very much there. Rafe may have left ten years ago but
he'd never gotten over Holden's betrayal.

They'd been close friends
once, but when Holden stole Maggie from him, it was an unforgivable
act. He'd never forgive him for it. He didn't trust him. Not now,
not ever.

It was one of the reason's
he'd reacted so crazy when he caught Grace talking to him in the
mercantile. Even though Holden was married to the school teacher
now, Rafe's over-active imagination had whispered that his old
friend would turn Grace's head. That she'd fall for his good looks,
all that money he had, and just like before, he'd take the woman he
wanted and not feel a bit sorry about doing it.

"Me either, but something
has changed," Holden said, still talking about the creek
water.

They rode half the range,
their conversation on the water feeding the Avery ranch. The creek
had nearly dried to nothing according to Holden and since that same
creek fed Rafe's place, their ride out to see if the water was
still flowing this far up was in order.

The main branch that fed
their ranches was as big and wide as always, the water gurgling
down past the rocks to make small waterfalls as it traveled
downstream. They rode the creek bank, all three men watching the
flow of water.

"Your cattle still
missing?"

Rafe nodded at Colt's
question. "I've about forty head left at last count. At the rate
Ben is taking them, I'll barely have anything to live off of come
spring."

They rode in silence until
they reached the spot he and Grace stopped at the week before. The
memories that assaulted him were enough to cause his neck to heat.
Knowing Ben and his men had seen Grace half clothed burned like
fire through his veins. He wanted to kill the man just for looking
at her.

"I hear there was trouble
in town with your brother and Ben Crowley."

Rafe looked to Holden when
he spoke. It galled him to even speak to the man but he remained
civil nonetheless. "There was." He snorted. "Grace was offended and
slapped the man. Jesse tried to defend her and it got out of
hand."

The two Avery men laughed
and it only took seconds before Rafe followed suit.

Colt shook his head. "I
know we shouldn't laugh but Morgan said it was the funniest thing
he'd seen in ages. He said, 'Grace Kingston might look like a high
society lady, but she fought like a street rat.' Said she was
stomping on Ben and beating him with a small parasol when he
reached them."

Rafe smiled and nodded.
"That's about the gist of it, I think. Or so that's what they told
me."

"She still looking for a
husband?"

Holden's question drained
all the mirth from Rafe's body. He instantly became defensive. "No,
she's not, and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't go looking for
someone to marry her."

The silence that followed
was deafening. Rafe slid the front of his hat up and sighed, then
shook his head. "Damn woman has me acting like a loon."

Holden and Colt both were
looking at him, smiling, and Rafe knew they'd both probably been
exactly where he is now. Wanting a woman so much but feeling stuck
to do anything about it.

He'd been close to all the
Avery's at one time. They'd attended school together, chased after
the same girls in town and drank one too many shots of rot gut
whiskey in the saloon. They were the closest thing to friends he
had, even though he hadn't spoken more than ten words to any of
them since returning home six months earlier.

There were so many things
he wanted to know. Questions about Maggie he wanted to ask but
wasn't sure he had a right to.

He'd seen her daughter,
Alexandra, in town and just the sight of her brought back memories.
The girl looked like her mother, beautiful and full of life. Maggie
dying after giving birth to her still pained him. She was much too
young to die. He could only imagine how Holden had taken it. For
all his anger at his one-time friend, he felt for him. Losing
Maggie had to have been hell. Having to raise his daughter alone
probably took its toll, too.

He blew out a breath and
raised his hand, scratching at his jaw. "I think Grace is waiting
for me to ask for her hand."

"And you haven't done so,
why, exactly?" Holden asked.

Rafe readjusted his hat.
"For one, Jesse will never agree."

"What does Jesse have to
do with it?"

Rafe explained how his
brother had ordered a wife. How he'd lied in his letter and led
Grace to believe he was a man who owned a large cattle ranch. She
sold nearly everything she had to make the trip out and once she
found out the truth, had no choice but to stay. "She can't marry
Jesse."

"Then why haven't you
asked her yet?

"It's
complicated."

Holden raised an eyebrow
at him. "How so?"

I'm not ready to let
another woman break my heart, he thought. Two in one lifetime is
more than any man should have to bear. "It just is," he said.
"Jesse hates me enough as it is. He still thinks Grace is going to
marry him even though she's told him otherwise and if he finds out
I've asked Grace to marry me…" He shrugged a shoulder. "I don't
know what he'll do."

"Is that all there is too
it?" Colt straightened and flexed his shoulders, turning his head
to look at him. "I know its been years since we've talked Rafe, and
it probably galls you to do so now, but we're too old to be holding
grudges." He looked toward Holden who nodded his head. "I'm just
going to ignore the trouble in the past and be damn blunt with you,
old friend." He grinned, the Avery charm shining through. "Grace is
a good looking woman," he said. "If you don't ask for her hand,
someone in town will and believe me when I say, a woman will do
what is best for her every single time. If you want her, Rafe, you
better let her know while you can still do something about
it."

Rafe wanted her all right
but taking a chance like that again was terrifying. He did want
Grace. Wanted her so much it was becoming a physical ache but what
if she grew tired of him like Maggie and Katie had? What if when
the new wore off their desire for each other, she realized he was
nothing but an old ranch bum and left him.

He didn't think his heart
could handle that again. And the risk was too great to even
contemplate. He knew as sure as the sun rose that Grace would leave
him. Every woman he'd loved had.

They came to the fork in
the creek and Rafe was glad for the distraction. Thinking of his
past was too painful to dwell on so the matter at hand was a
welcome diversion.

The creek branched off in
two different directions here, one fork leading to the Avery ranch
and the other to Ben Crowley's place. The fork leading to the
Avery's was blocked. Tree branches and rocks, mud and leaves were
packed across the length of the creek, damming it up
tight.

Holden leaned forward,
laying one arm on the saddle's pommel. "Now how the hell do you
suppose that happened?"

The three men stared at
the dam for long minutes before they dismounted and walked to the
creek bank, the Avery men jumping into the water and immediately
started pulling the branches away. Rafe followed them in, not
minding the water filling his boots. It took close to ten minutes
to clear away all the debris but they got the water flowing
again.

When they were back on dry
land, they all three stood staring at the creek. Holden removed his
hat and wiped his brow. "Who do you suppose did that?"

Rafe laughed. "One name
comes to mind."

Colt turned to look at
him. "Ben?"

"Who else?"

"But why?"

Rafe shrugged. "Hard to
say. Why is he taking my cattle when he already has a herd big
enough for two ranches?"

Holden put his hat back on
and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe its time we go find
out."

All three men looked at
each other for long seconds before nodding and walking back to the
horses. They still had plenty of daylight left and this creek led
directly to Crowley land. They'd get to the bottom of this if it
was the last thing they did.