Love's Sweet Revenge (18 page)

Randy kissed his neck, breathing in his familiar scent. “We have to eat sometime.”

He fed her several delicious kisses. “Once more. Then we'll eat. Then we'll do this again.” Another kiss. “And again.” Already she felt his growing hardness against her thigh, but he sobered on the next words. “When I make love to you, I feel stronger.” He kissed her breasts. “Calmer.”

“Jake.”

He met her gaze again, and she detected tears in his eyes.

“What is it, Jake? You're leaving something out.”

“I don't want to tell you.”

“Jake, I can feel some of that anger and restlessness still there. What's wrong?”

He sighed, collapsing to the pillow beside her. “Gretta had a visitor. That's why she looked me up—to warn me.”

“Mike Holt?”

“Mike Holt. She thinks he's still in town somewhere waiting for me and Lloyd. Last she knew, he had a friend with him…named Brad.”

“Oh no!” Randy turned onto her back. “Brad Buckley?”

“It has to be.”

“Does Lloyd know?”

“I pulled him out in the hallway and told him before I came here to our room. I hated telling him, because he's so happy about the good money we made today.” He ran a hand into her hair and toyed with it. “Gretta said Holt even bragged about that thing with Evie. I didn't tell Lloyd that. It would have been too hard on him.”

Randy felt his hand tighten on her hair. “We can't tell Evie any of this,” she told Jake.

“Of course not, but we're going to have to be very watchful when we shop tomorrow, and at that ball tomorrow night. Men like Holt won't likely get in. It's invitation only, but it's a big event, so you never know. At least it will be right downstairs in the hotel lobby, so we won't have to walk through town to get there.” He sighed. “I promised you a wonderful time, and now this. I should have killed Mike Holt when I had the chance to get away with it.”

“It would have broken Evie's heart,” Randy reminded him. “She still worries about you. Earlier today she told me she hated to see you so lonely. It's amazing how sweet she still is after what happened to her.”

Jake closed his eyes. “There's an angel inside of her. She can't possibly be mine.”

“Are you saying I had an affair?”

He enveloped her into his arms. “Did you?”

Randy smiled. “Why would any woman who belongs to you want any other man?”

“I can think of a
lot
of reasons.”

“Well, I can't think of even one.” Randy kissed him. “Maybe we should just go home to the kids, Jake.”

“No. Katie and Evie are looking forward to the ball, and Brian wants to take Evie to the opera. They're young and excited and need to feel beautiful and have some social enjoyment away from the loneliness of the ranch. Lloyd feels the same way.” He raised up and kissed her eyes. “And you need a chance to show off some new jewelry.”

“What new jewelry?”

Jake rolled off of her and reached for his jacket, taking out a small box and handing it to her. “This.”

Randy's eyes widened, and she scooted to sit up.

Jake rested on his side as he watched her open the box and gasp. “Happy anniversary, baby.”

“Jake! We can't afford this!”

“Yes, we can. For years I have wished you had a fancier wedding ring than that plain gold band I gave you back at Fort Laramie when that priest married us a lifetime ago.”

“I love my plain gold band.”

“And you deserve something more. I want you to wear that tomorrow night at the ball. Everyone's heads will turn when we walk in, because I'll have the most beautiful woman in Colorado on my arm. And she'll be wearing a ring that damn well proves she
did
legally marry me all those years ago. And now she's just as rich and important and elegant as the high-class snobs in Denver who think they're better than everyone else.”

Randy removed a gold band from the box. It sparkled with one large diamond in the center and four smaller diamonds on either side, with a swirl of eight more tiny baguettes crossing over the band. She slipped it on her finger. “Oh, Jake, it's…it's too much!”

“Quit worrying about that.”

“It's so beautiful! So exquisite.”

“Like the woman wearing it.”

“And it fits perfectly! How did you—” She looked at him slyly. “Someone must have helped you pick this out.”

Jake just grinned. “Her fingers were the same size as yours.” He pulled her farther down under the covers again. “I could tell just by touching her fingers they were exactly right.”

“The woman who said you reek of sex? What else did you touch?”

Jake kissed her. “Nothing else. She knows a lot about diamonds.”

“I'll just bet she does. She knows a lot about men, too.” Randy fingered the wavy strands of hair that brushed his forehead. “How is it that some men age so well?”

“It's the ones who have a good woman by their side.” Jake moved on top of her. “I want you to know that I picked out that ring myself. Gretta didn't have anything to do with it, other than to try it on for fit. That ring is all me, and I love you, Mrs. Harkner. No man could be prouder of his wife than I am of you.”

“And I love you…for better or for
worse
.”

He nuzzled her neck. “It's been mostly for worse. I know that. I'm sorry these past thirty years involved so much heartache at times.”

“These past thirty years brought me two beautiful children, a dear adopted child, and four wonderful grandchildren with more on the way. They brought me a man far more loving than any other man I might have chosen. It's all been worth it.” She held her hand up and studied the ring as he continued kissing her throat. “Thank you for the ring, Jake. I can't wait to show it off tomorrow. ”

“And I can't wait to show
you
off.”

“Maybe we
should
go out to eat. I want to show the ring to Evie and Katie.”

“Too late. I'm too deep into wanting my wife right here in bed.”

Randy reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her as their lips met in a deep, delicious kiss.

No foreplay was needed this time. She opened herself to him, and he guided himself inside her, pulling her to him with a strength that told her how easily he could hurt her, yet a gentleness that told her he never would. Not this man who adored women, and especially adored the one most special to him. When they were together like this, she could hardly believe that dark, ruthless side of him even existed…but it did. She couldn't get over her belief that she had to keep that side of him at bay…or lose him.

* * *

Katie pulled down the netting from her hat and over her forehead. “Do you like my hat?” She turned to Lloyd, studying his brawny chest. She walked up and kissed it before he could finish buttoning a white shirt.

“It's beautiful, but no one is going to notice that hat.” He put a hand to the side of her face. “All they will see is this delicate face and your beautiful green eyes and these luscious lips.” He leaned down and kissed her deeply, groaning as he pulled her close. He moved his kisses to behind her ear. “Let's go back to bed.”

“Lloyd Harkner, we made dinner plans with Brian and Evie, and we are already running late.”

“Yeah, well, maybe my sister and her husband are having the same problem we are. We've all gone quite a few days without a nice soft bed we can share together.”

Katie pushed at him. “Well, you didn't waste any time getting me back into bed, and now I'm hungry. So finish dressing. Should we see if your parents want to go?”

Lloyd grinned as he finished buttoning the shirt. “Katie, the reason Pa pulled me out in the hallway a while ago was to tell me he wanted to be alone with my mother tonight. So no, they won't be going with us. They have a lot to talk about, and if I know my father, he'll find a way right back into my mother's soft side in no time at all. He probably already has.” He pulled on a waistcoat over the shirt and buttoned it, deciding not to tell his wife the real reason Jake had wanted to talk to him. Mike Holt was somewhere out there, looking for revenge, but Lloyd decided he wasn't going to let that spoil things for Katie. “Let's get dinner over with sooner than later. I'm anxious to get back here.”

Katie smiled and had to reach up to get her arms around his neck. “You look so incredibly handsome in a dress shirt and waistcoat.” She kissed him, then fussed with his silk tie. “Of course you don't need clothes to make you look handsome. Actually, I prefer you with no clothes at all. You have the build of a god, Lloyd Harkner.”

“Yeah? Well then, that makes you a goddess.”

“Thank you, but I'll have a hard time keeping you to myself tomorrow night. Do you know how many women will try flirting with you at that ball? I see how they look at you.”

“And I will have eyes only for the mother of my beautiful little girl and the woman who is carrying another one of my children in her belly as we speak. You're all the woman I need, Katie Harkner, and when we get back from dinner, I'll show you just how
much
I need you.”

She smiled. “You already did that.”

“And I'm not through with you.”

Katie blushed. “I want a massage next time. You are wonderful at that. You have such strong hands.”

“Oh?” He grasped her shoulders and gently moved his hands over them. “I'll massage every inch of your body.” He leaned down and kissed her again, then stepped back to look her over. “You picked the perfect dress. The color blue is beautiful on you.”

She turned for him, holding out her arms. “Isn't it lovely? I got it at a store that sells dresses made in Paris!”

Lloyd watched her lovingly. “Yeah, well, it won't be long before it will be too small in the waist, thanks to that new baby.”

She smiled. “Well, for now I'm not showing, and wait till you see the dress I'm wearing tomorrow night! It's mint green, your favorite color on me. And your mother bought the most beautiful yellow dress. You know how Jake likes her in yellow.”

Lloyd nodded as he pulled on a black frock coat with silk lapels. “I'm surprised my mother was in the mood to shop.”

“She wasn't, but Evie and I made her. We both knew Jake would find a way to make things better. He always does.”

Lloyd put on a black silk bowler hat. “Yeah, well, Pa has a way with women.”

Katie folded her arms. “And so do you.” She sighed. “Lloyd, you look wonderful.”

“What about my hair? Is it okay just pulled back at my neck like it is?”

“You look fine.”

“Pa would say I look like an Indian dressed up like a white man.” He turned and took one of his guns from its holster and slipped it into a special pocket in his vest.

Katie lost her smile. “Why are you taking a gun?”

He forced a casual air. “I'm a Harkner, Katie-girl.” He put out his arm. “Let's go eat.”

She took his arm. “Lloyd, is something wrong?”

“Not a damn thing.” He led her to the door.

“Are any of the ranch hands coming with us?”

Lloyd grinned. “Sweetheart, we raked it in at the stockyards today, and I paid the men off. I have a feeling they have other plans for tonight with all that money in their pockets. Whiskey, cards, and women, most likely.”

She looked up at him, sobering a little. “Do you miss that life, Lloyd?”

“Hell no.” He pulled her close. “I've got a beautiful wife and family and a ranch to run. I've never been happier.” He took her arm again and led her to the door. “Now, let's get Evie and Brian and go eat.”

Mike Holt be damned
, he swore inwardly. Katie deserved this. So did Evie and his mother. He could handle the Mike Holts of this world. Still, he'd be glad to head home…to the J&L, to peace and quiet…away from the noise and filth and smoggy air of this city. To his own home deep in the hills that looked down on the homestead. To his son and daughter and his own bed where he'd shared so much pleasure with his wife. “I love you, Katie-girl.”

Katie touched his chest. “Lloyd, when you made love to me, it was with such passion, as though it was the last time or something. What's wrong?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.” He started for the door.

“Lloyd, you are just like your father. When there is trouble around, it's written all over your face. He can't fool your mother, and you can't fool me. It's that Mike Holt, isn't it?”

He sighed deeply. “Katie, Denver is a big city with law and order, and we are going only to the best restaurant and staying in the best hotel and will shop in the best district—places where lowlifes like Mike Holt don't hang out. In a city this size, it would be very hard for Holt to track us down.”

“But that's why you brought a gun, isn't it?”

“Don't worry about it. I can take care of myself, as you well know.”

“Well, guns aren't allowed at the Cattlemen's Ball tomorrow night. So we have to be extra careful.”

“With me and Pa there, you have nothing to worry about. It's a closed-door dance, by invitation only, so we'll be fine. In a couple of days, we'll head back to the ranch.”

Katie stepped back, taking his arm. “I love you, Lloyd. I don't ever want to have to live without you.”

“And I'm not about to let that happen.” He kissed her and headed for the door, almost hoping Mike Holt
would
show up. After what he did to Evie, he'd like to shoot the sonofabitch and have it over with.

Randy enjoyed wearing something elegant for once, after months of plain cotton dresses or riding skirts for ranch life. The light yellow dress she'd purchased earlier in the day was designed in New York City. Its pleated bodice was set off by a wide yellow satin bow, and the skirt fell in lace-trimmed panels with a flounced hemline of white puffed organdy.

She and Jake whirled around the dance floor, and she was secretly delighted that women were watching her very handsome husband and gossiping behind fans, some of them finding excuses to come and introduce themselves.

“Hugh Draper and his wife are here,” she told Jake as they turned to a waltz. “I think his wife is hoping you'll ask her to dance.”

Jake grinned. “Why would I ask anyone else to dance when I'm with the prettiest woman here?” His gaze dropped to the off-the-shoulder neckline of her dress. Her ash-blond hair was swept up into curls topped with a tiny satin hat trimmed with white feathers. “You wear that dress like you were a governor's wife, and I can't wait to dip my hands into that bodice when we get to the room later.”

“Well, I intend to have several more dances before we do that, Mr. Harkner, so it will be
much
later. I am truly enjoying myself, especially the fact that I am with the most handsome man at this ball. You look absolutely stunning in black silk tails and that silver waistcoat. You could
be
the governor! Maybe you should run for office.”

Jake pulled her closer than most men danced in public. “I hardly think people would vote for an old ex-outlaw for governor.”

“Every woman in this city would vote for you if they were allowed, and you are holding me embarrassingly close.”

“You're my wife.”

“And we aren't dancing in a brothel, Mr. Harkner.”

“If we were, we'd be having a
lot
more fun.”

Randy couldn't help laughing. “Isn't Katie beautiful in that mint green? Her dress is from Paris, and she's absolutely giddy over the diamond necklace Lloyd bought her. And Lloyd is absolutely beautiful in that suit. Not handsome. Beautiful.”

“Yeah, well, don't tell
him
that. He'd probably leave so fast you wouldn't see him for dust, and like me, he'd rather be in denim pants and leather boots and riding on the back of a big mustang out on the J&L.”

“Well, I love seeing you that way, too, but it's not often any of us Harkner women get to see our men looking so dapper, let alone dress up ourselves. Even Brian doesn't wear suits as often as he used to back in Guthrie when he was doctoring full time. Since we moved to the ranch, he's taken to denim pants and cotton shirts just like the rest of you, but doesn't he look wonderful tonight? He's such a handsome man in his own right.”

“Woman, you do carry on.”

“Well, you've produced such a beautiful family. I'm so proud of all of them.”

Jake scowled a little. “It's all due to you, not me.” He whirled her past a group of stout women who just stared. “Tomorrow we'll go to that landscaping business and buy the rosebushes you want,” he told Randy.

“Mostly yellow ones. I want to plant them around the veranda.”

Brian and Evie turned past them. “You two look wonderful!” Evie called to them.

Jake cast her a smile before looking down at Randy. “My baby girl seems to be having a wonderful time. I'm so glad for her and Brian.”

“So am I. And doesn't she look wonderful in that coral chiffon dress? It beautifully accents her dark skin.”

“She looks ravishing.”

The music ended, and Jake took Randy's arm and led her to the small table where a candle burned and a bottle of free champagne sat, along with two flutes. “I'm missing the grandkids,” Jake said as they sat down. “We'll head home the day after tomorrow. I'm sure Little Jake is giving the men quite a time of it.”

Randy smiled and began removing her elbow-length gloves as Jake stopped a waiter.

“Bring us some water and coffee, will you?” he told the skinny young man. “Take the champagne to some other table.”

“But, Mr. Harkner, it's the best there is, compliments of Prosecutor Harley Wicks, who would very much like to meet you.”

Jake's affable demeanor instantly changed, and Randy stiffened.

“Is that so?” Jake asked. He straightened in his chair. “You tell Mr. Wicks that I appreciate the gesture, but I don't drink, especially not around my wife. Neither does my son, so you can give someone else his champagne, too. And if Mr. Wicks wants to meet me, all he has to do is walk over here.”

“Yes, sir.” The waiter took the bottle of champagne. “And I'd like to say I'm privileged to meet you, Mr. Harkner.”

Jake sighed and shook his head. “I don't know why you consider it a privilege, young man, but thank you.”

“Well, you're…you're pretty darn famous, sir.”

“And you read too many books.”

The words came from behind the waiter, and he turned to see Lloyd standing there. “Well, I'm glad to meet you, too, Mr. Harkner.”

Lloyd glanced at Jake and grinned. “I'm getting anxious to get out of here, but I guess we have to put up with this.”

“The women are having a good time, so let's give them a few more dances,” Jake told him, looking him over. “You're looking like quite the gentleman, Son.”

“Yeah? ‘Gentlemen' isn't usually the term people use for me and you, is it?”

“You are every bit a gentleman,” Katie told Lloyd.

“Well, I might not be such a gentleman when we get back to our room,” he told her. Lloyd kept an arm around his blushing wife and moved to a table beside his father's as the waiter removed the champagne from both their tables. “And here comes one more beautiful woman to join us.”

A smiling Evie approached on Brian's arm. “Daddy, Brian is taking me to the opera after this. Can you and Mother go?” She looked at Lloyd. “You, too?”

“I'd love to go!” Katie put in.

Lloyd gave his father a pained look. “
Opera?
”

Jake shrugged. “It's their night.” He looked at Brian. “You agreed to go?”

“Your daughter's wish is my command, Jake. You know that.”

Jake grinned. “And I appreciate that.” He reached out and squeezed Evie's hand. “This lovely woman deserves to be spoiled. How are you feeling, angel?”

“I feel good, and I'm having a wonderful time.” She put a hand over Jake's. “And I can't say enough how beautiful mother's ring is! Daddy, that was so romantic of you to surprise her with that ring. I'm so glad everything is all right. Mother was so worried about you, and so was I.”

“Evie, you have to stop worrying about everybody else. You just take care of yourself, and if you want us to go to the opera with you, we'll go. I'm sure your mother and Katie would enjoy it.”

The music started up again, and Brian kept an arm around Evie's waist. “You told me you wanted to dance every dance, my love, so I'm holding you to it, as long as you feel up to it.”

Jake noticed a short, rotund man coming toward them and guessed it was Prosecutor Wicks. To his relief, Evie let go of his hand and joined Brian on the dance floor. Women turned to another waltz, swirling around the dance floor in beautiful gowns in dozens of colors and designs.

Jake rose, towering over the man coming his way, a big-boned, haughty-looking woman walking with him. She wore diamonds at her neck and a dress that fit too tight in the waist and forced her large bosom to bubble up at the bodice and jiggle as she walked with an arrogant air about her.

“Well, at last we meet, Mr. Harkner,” the man said when he came closer. He put out his hand, but Jake just kept his arms folded.

“I don't shake a man's hand until I know his name,” he told the rosy-cheeked man.

Lloyd slowly rose to stand beside Jake.

“How dare you snub an important man like my brother!” the woman sniffed.

Jake turned to Lloyd. “Did I snub the man?”

“Seems to me you only asked who he is,” Lloyd stated.

A few people nearby quieted and watched the confrontation. Jake and Lloyd's sizes and demeanor made Wicks look like a chubby little boy.

“Let me start over,” the rotund man, whose vest was too tight over his belly, told Jake. He put out his hand again. “I am Prosecutor Harley Wicks, and this lady beside me is my sister, Arlis. Of course, everyone knows who
you
are.”

More people stopped talking, and some stopped dancing. Evie noticed and started to rush over to Jake, but Brian kept hold of her arm.

“I'm sorry, Mr. Wicks, but why should I shake your hand?” Jake boldly asked. “I got a visit from Marshal Kraemer a few weeks ago, and he told me you'd like to arrest me. So why are you here wanting to shake my hand?”

Randy glanced at Katie, who quietly rose and moved to go sit beside Randy. The two women clasped hands.

Wicks pulled back his hand. “Mr. Harkner, I just want you to understand that I'm not a man who holds a grudge. Marshal Kraemer cleared up the situation over the shooting out at your ranch.”

“
Did
he?” Jake moved a little closer, causing the prosecutor to back up a little. “Let me tell you the situation, Mr. Wicks. Seven men tried stealing my cattle, and I'm sure there are plenty of ranchers here who would have done the same thing I did if they caught rustlers stealing from them. My wife happened to be with me at the time, and they threatened to come after her. I did what any man would do.”

“You murdered my son!” the woman beside Wicks told Jake, her dark eyes glittering.

All music stopped, and this time everyone turned. Just then Jake noticed, of all people, Gretta MacBain coming through the doorway. He moved his gaze back to the woman who'd accused him of murdering her son. Her nostrils flared with indignation, and her large bosom heaved with her deep breaths of fury.

Jake met her gaze boldly. “Ma'am, I shot back at someone who was shooting at
me
. That's called self-defense. And I had no idea who any of them were.”

“You could have just wounded him!”

“And what was an obviously wealthy and probably spoiled young man doing out at the J&L rustling cattle in the first place?” Lloyd asked. “He didn't need the money, and he must have been raised to know better.”

“My nephew had fallen in with the wrong bunch of men, who convinced him they could show him a good time,” Harley Wicks answered. “I'm sure they intended it as just a prank.”

“A
prank
?” Jake seethed. “What I saw was no prank, Wicks, and even if it had been, I wouldn't have known who was who. When you play with guns around me, you've picked the wrong man!”

“Are you saying it was a lie then, when some of your men claimed they came along and did some of the shooting?”

Randy squeezed Katie's hand, praying Jake wouldn't lose his temper in front of the very man who would like to jail him.

Lloyd joined the confrontation then, always ready to step up in defense of his father. “They were out to kill both my parents, you sonofa—”

“Lloyd!” Jake interrupted his son, keeping dark eyes on Wicks. “What I'm saying, Wicks, is that seven men came onto my land and stole my cattle and then came at me and my
wife
! I'm not sure how many of them I shot myself. I only know I had to stop them from getting to
her
, so that's what I did! If some of my men came along in time and took care of some of the others, then that's what happened. I was pretty damn preoccupied at the time, and one of their bullets got me across the back and would have hit my wife if I hadn't been shielding her. I'd say that warrants shooting
back
, wouldn't you?”

Flash powder exploded nearby as a newspaper man managed to get a picture of Jake and Lloyd confronting Prosecutor Wicks. Jake kept his eyes on Wicks as he raised his voice for the others. “Any of you cattlemen here disagree with what I did?” he asked.

There came a few “hell nos” and “certainly nots,” most of the replies quietly mumbled.

“There's your answer, Wicks.” He looked at Arlis. “Ma'am, I'm sorry about your son, but I don't know for sure whose bullet hit him, and I don't understand why he went out there in the first place. And to this day, I don't even know which one he was. What happened is something I couldn't have controlled. Life hands us some pretty bad things sometimes. Believe me, I know that better than most. What happened to your son is no one's fault but his own.”

Arlis stiffened, her eyes tearing. “Somehow, some way, I'll see you
hang
, Jake Harkner!” She turned and stormed out.

Jake turned his gaze to Harley Wicks. “What was your
real
reason for creating a scene?” he asked the man.

Wicks put his thumbs into his vest pockets. “I simply wanted to meet you, Mr. Harkner. All the other times you've been to Denver, we've never met, but then I didn't have reason to care. But after what happened to my nephew, I thought it was time we got acquainted, since someday I might have the privilege and pleasure of prosecuting you and sending you back to prison—maybe not for what happened with my nephew, but I'm sure something else will come up. After all, you're Jake Harkner, and no man can truly escape his past, can he?”

A few quiet gasps could be heard.

“What are you after, Wicks?” Jake kept his voice steady.

“I can break you, Harkner. And I can keep you from getting that extra land you want south of your ranch.”

“Too late! I already bought it,” Lloyd answered for Jake. “Signed the papers this morning.”

Wicks looked taken aback. His face reddened with repressed fury and with embarrassment at having been beaten to the punch. “I told—”

“You told that government representative not to sell it?” Lloyd interrupted. “Isn't that underhanded and illegal, Wicks? Is that how you use your power? To screw people out of their rights?”