Jenny (26 page)

They were following the couple when Evelyn noticed Cole standing with Mira. Thinking she just
might need his help, she sought him out.

"Cole! Could I speak with you privately for a moment?" Evelyn asked.

"Mira, if you'll excuse me?"

"Of course," she answered, but she wasn't pleased.
She knew this woman was Jenny's aunt.

Cole moved a few steps away with Evelyn and Tillie.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I didn't know who
else to ask for help."

"Is something wrong?"

"It's Jenny. She was dancing with Richard when
suddenly it seemed he was forcing her to leave the
dance with him," she explained. "I'm worried about
her and wanted to go check on her."

"You stay here. I'll handle it."

"Oh, thank you, Cole."

"Which way did he take her?" Cole asked in a tight
voice.

He'd seen the two of them dancing together and
had deliberately looked the other way. He remem bered far too well what Richard had said that day out
at the Lazy S about holding Jenny in his arms.

`They went off that way." Evelyn pointed in the
direction they'd gone.

"You wait here in case there's trouble," he dictated.

Without a backward glance or a word to Mira, Cole
went after Jenny.

Richard was enjoying the kiss, even though Jenny
didn't seem to be fully responding to him yet. He
knew it was just a matter of time. There wasn't a
woman in the world who could resist him.

The hand that clamped down on Richard's shoulder
was iron, the grip unyielding. With brutal force, Richard was physically torn away from Jenny.

"What the-" Richard protested as he was spun
violently around.

He had no time to say more. Cole's fist caught him
squarely in the face, and he collapsed, moaning on
the ground.

"Cole!" Jenny gasped.

Cole was filled with blind rage. The sight of the
other man kissing Jenny so forcefully infuriated him.
He'd hit Richard hard enough to make sure he didn't
get back up right away. He was standing over him
now, his hands still clenched into fists, ready and
waiting for more trouble if Richard wanted to give
him any.

"Jenny, are you all right?" Cole asked, his voice
tight as he glanced her way.

"Yes yes, thanks," she breathed.

Cole nodded, then looked down at Richard again,
who was starting to stir. Blood was streaming from
his nose, and his left eye was starting to swell. Cole
felt Richard deserved more, but he controlled himself.

"Don't ever put your hands on Jenny again. Do you
hear me?" he snarled.

Richard was cursing under his breath as he slowly
gathered his wits. He looked up at Cole and nodded,
just wanting him to go away. His humiliation was
great, and his own fury was barely in check.

A crowd was gathering as word spread that there
had been a fight. Everyone was gawking at them.

Cole's expression was thunderous as he looked at
Jenny again, but when he realized she wasn't hurt in
any way, the look on his face softened. He held out
an arm to her.

Jenny hurried to his side. She felt calmer as soon
as his arm came protectively around her shoulders.
She went with him willingly as they turned away
from Richard, still lying miserable and bleeding on
the ground.

Jenny was emotionally numb. She couldn't believe
what had happened. One minute she was being forced
to suffer Richard's unwanted attentions, and the next,
she was safe with Cole.

"The show is over, folks," Cole announced to the
gathered crowd.

A murmur of interest went through the onlookers as they talked among themselves, trying to figure out
what had happened.

Evelyn, Tillie, and Melanie came rushing up.

"Jenny! Are you all right?" Evelyn asked.

"She's fine," Cole answered. "She's mine. I'll take
care of her."

"Thank you, Cole," Evelyn told him.

Cole and Jenny went on only a little farther before
they came face to face with Mira and her brother. The
two had been hurrying over to see what all the excitement was about.

"Cole!" Mira cried as she saw him and ran to him.
"What happened?"

"There was some trouble," he offered, not wanting
to talk to her right now.

"Someone said you were in a fight. Are you all
right?" She'd been worried about him, but the sight
of Jenny by his side left her outraged.

"I'm fine." Cole looked dismissively past Mira to
her brother. "Wayne, I have to help Jenny right now.
Could you see that Mira gets home tonight?"

Wayne could just imagine how his sister was feeling to be so ignored in front of the entire town. "What
the hell happened?"

"There was some trouble." Cole nodded toward
Richard. "And I stopped it."

Cole didn't even wait for Wayne to answer, but
shepherded Jenny away from the scene.

As Mira watched them walk away, her fury was
boundless. She wanted to scream her frustration, but
she waited, fire flashing in her eyes, murderous emotions burning in her heart. Instead, she began to plan
in earnest what she was going to do to get even with
Jenny. She'd been upset earlier that evening by the
way Cole had acted around Jenny, but now she was
furious.

"Come on," Wayne told her. He knew she was mad
and wanted to get her away before she did something
she might regret. "You ready to head back home?"

Mira shook off his hand when he touched her arm.

"There's something I want to do, but it isn't head
back home," she snapped at him.

"This ain't the time or the place," Wayne cautioned
her, and he started to walk away.

"You can go if you want. I'm not through here
yet." Mira was barely in control of herself as she
waited a moment, then followed Cole. She wanted to
see exactly where he was going and what he was
going to do with Jenny.

"Are you sure about leaving Mira that way?" Jenny
asked as Cole guided her back toward her hotel.

"I'm sure." He was terse. "I want to make sure
you're safely back in your room."

"But Richard would never-"

Cole's look her silenced her, and she realized sadly
that he might be right. Richard had been acting strangely, and things might become even more difficult with him after this.

"Thank you for stepping in when you did. I wasn't
quite sure what to do. Richard has never done anything like that before."

"You're lucky."

"I'm lucky that you came after me when you did.
Richard was acting like Will Baker did all those years
ago. Do you remember that night with Will?"

"I remember."

There was no way Cole would ever forget that
night. It was the first time he'd realized he was in
love with Jenny. The other boy had been trying to
steal a kiss from her, and he'd defended her honor.
But that had been a long time ago.

"You were my hero then, when you saved me from
Will, and now, tonight, you've saved me from Clint
and from Richard," she told him with a smile.

"I think I just have bad timing. I'm always showing
up when you're in trouble."

"Well, your timing's not bad for me. I think I'm
lucky to have you around." Jenny was sorry that the
unfortunate incident had occurred, but she was glad
it had brought her and Cole together.

Cole was startled by her declaration. He would
have liked to believe her, but he didn't. He glanced
down the street toward the hotel and realized that they
were going to the same hotel where she'd stayed on
what was to have been their wedding night. He remembered how he'd gone back that second time to see her, flowers in hand, only to discover she'd gone.
He hadn't been in that hotel since, but he was going
there now. He scowled.

"I guess it is lucky that I was around to help you.
Rose reminded me earlier that, as I am your father's
executor, you are my responsibility."

Jenny was stunned and hurt by his unexpectedly
cold response.

She didn't want Cole to think of her as a responsibility.

She didn't want him to resent her.

She just wanted him to love her again.

Cole made no effort to initiate any further conversation during the rest of the walk. Each step he took
closer to the hotel heightened his recollection of that
miserable night-a night he wished he could forget.

He tried to concentrate instead on sorting out exactly what he was feeling for Jenny right now. The
rage that had possessed him when he'd seen Richard
hurting Jenny had been real very real and he wondered why he'd reacted with such ferocity. The power
of the feelings that had surged through him had been
overwhelming.

Logically, he understood why he cared. It was simple. As Rose had said, Jenny was his responsibility.

He just didn't understand why he cared so much.

Jenny had left him at the altar.

Jenny had ended their relationship.

Jenny had left town without even saying good-bye.

Yet now she almost seemed as if she regretted what
had happened between them.

His mood turned cautious. He was unsure of his
own strong emotions and unsure of what Jenny was
doing.

They reached the hotel.

"Is something wrong?" Jenny asked when she noticed a hardening of his expression.

"No.

"You can go on back to the dance if you want,"
Jenny told him. "I'll be fine now."

"I want to make sure you get upstairs all right."

"It's not necessary," she insisted.

Cole looked so annoyed that she wanted to give
him the chance to get away from her. There was no
doubt in her mind that she loved him, but as he'd
said, he thought of her only as a responsibility. Knowing he felt that way about her troubled Jenny, and she
wondered, even loving him as she did, if there could
be a future for them.

"I'll see you to your room," he said.

Jenny stopped arguing and started up the steps.
When they reached the hall, it was deserted. As they
passed the room that had been hers on what was to
have been their wedding night, she noticed that Cole
glanced sharply at the door. It was then that it dawned
on her what he was thinking about. She deeply regretted right now that she had chosen to stay in this
hotel.

Memories of that night returned to Jenny, too. She remembered how Cole had come to her and told her
he still loved her and wanted to marry her. She realized now how hard it must have been for him to seek
her out again after she'd just publicly rejected him.

She intended to make it up to Cole.

They reached the room that was hers tonight, five
doors farther down the hall. She unlocked the door
and started to go in.

"Wait." Cole stopped her.

He took charge, stepping inside ahead of her to
light the lamp and take a look around. Once he'd
made sure the window was locked, he turned back to
her and found that she was waiting in the doorway,
watching him.

"Is it safe?" Jenny asked.

The question hung heavily in the air between them
as he stared at her. The bed was in his line of vision,
and in his mind's eye he could see her lying upon it.
He forced the image aside.

"Yes," he answered, his voice deep and gruff.
"You're safe."

Suddenly, staring at Cole across the room, Jenny
didn't want to be safe. Cole looked dangerous, his
expression guarded, yet dark. His physical presence
was nearly overpowering. She was drawn to him. She
wanted him, and she wanted to make him believe it.

Recklessness and determination filled Jenny.

She stepped inside the room and closed the door.
She wondered what Rose would do if she had the man she wanted alone in her hotel room. A slow smile
curved her lips. She didn't need to ask Rose. She
knew what to do.

"Cole-I'm not so sure I want to be safe-"

Cole watched Jenny warily as she walked slowly toward him. He wondered what she was doing what
she wanted from him. Something told him to leave
now that he was certain she was all right, but something else, a more basic, more primitive need, held
him there.

"The last time we were in this hotel together..."
she said in a soft voice.

"You told me our wedding was off," he finished in
a flat voice.

"I know," Jenny said gently as she stopped before
him and lifted her gaze to his in a plea for understanding. "I was young. I wanted to see the world, to experience life and live it to the fullest."

Cole's jaw tightened as he looked down at her.
When she rested one hand on his chest a jolt of sen sual awareness shot through him. He tensed even
more but said nothing.

Jenny continued, "What I didn't realize then was
that I had the best of the world right here in Durango-with you."

When his expression still didn't change, Jenny realized that actions spoke louder than words. She rose
up on tiptoes to press her lips to his. She knew she
was being brazen. She didn't care. She had to convince Cole that she loved him. She had to make him
believe her. If her words couldn't do it, she'd let her
actions speak for her.