Righteous Lies (Book 1: Dancing Moon Ranch Series) (17 page)

Jack stood and
addressed Greg. "I don't want to sound ungrateful, and I think the clinic
needs to be held accountable so nothing like this happens again, but I'm not
out anything here. I have a son on the way and Grace to help me raise him. I
just want to set things straight. But no amount of money can compensate Sam and
Susan for Ricky, so whatever you get out of the clinic in my behalf can go to
them. And Grace."

Grace glared at
Jack, who was skirting the adoption issue by changing the subject, which was
tantamount to refusing to go along with her suggestion, and said to Sam,
"If you and Susan are willing to let me adopt my husband's child, that's
all I want." She looked at Jack, hoping for confirmation, but saw
uncertainty.

...just too many things coming at him at
once...

Sam looked at
Grace, and said, "I'm not ready to give up my right to the baby Susan's
carrying, but I'll do whatever it takes to see that nothing happens to him."

Grace slumped
in the chair and said nothing. She felt exhausted trying to fight for a baby no
one truly wanted but her. She was about to appeal to Sam again, when Sam stood,
and said to Greg, "I have to get back to Susan. And thanks for what you're
doing." He patted Jack on the shoulder as he passed, and Greg left shortly
afterwards.

After everyone had
gone, Grace mulled over what had been said and decided to put the issue of
adopting the baby aside for now. She wanted time with Jack. Maybe she was
getting broody again. Maybe she was falling in love and wanted to be intimate
with Jack. Whatever the reason, she opened a dialog by saying to him, "Can
we talk for a little while?"

Jack looked at
her, suspiciously. "Talk about what?"

"For
heaven's sake, Jack. You've been living alone too long. I'm used to having
people to talk to. Friends. Neighbors. You want me here where you can watch me,
and I'm okay with it, but I want you to communicate with me. We haven't talked
about how we want to raise Adam, or how we plan to discipline him. Or religion
or politics. Or what makes us happy...
 
certain
needs."

When she said
nothing more, Jack asked, "Certain needs like what?"

"Like
those... we can do for each other... at certain times." Not exactly
subtle.

"You're
right. We should talk. But I need a shower first. I've been riding all day and
I smell like a caveman."

Grace smiled. "Do
you want me to soap your back?" Even less subtle.

"That's
part of what we need to talk about," Jack said, then turned and headed for
the bathroom.

...I don't want you getting your feelings
all tangled up with mine...

Her feelings
were already tangled up with his, and she didn't know what to do about it. He
was a very insular man. At least he had been, until now...

Perturbed and
frustrated, she sat in one of the high-backed, overstuffed chairs facing the
fireplace and stared at the flames licking up from the stack of logs, and tried
to figure out what she needed to do to get through the wall of silence
surrounding Jack and his hardened heart...

...a hearth-and-home kind of guy... he's
just forgotten what it's like...

So she'd give
him a reminder, like red wool socks to keep his feet warm, and a clean house
with a fire on the hearth when he came in from the cold, and the smell of coffee
brewing and bread baking, and convince him that his son's mother was the hub of
the home...

But that
wouldn't take care of tonight, and she wanted Jack to come to her tonight...

Fifteen minutes
later, when Jack emerged from the hallway wearing nothing but gray sweat pants,
Grace could hardly breathe. It was the first time she'd seen him without his
shirt, and looking at him in the flesh sent her heart skipping. Her eyes roamed
over his muscular torso, then fixed on his shoulder and the tattoo of a moon
with dancing flames encircling it. Although she'd never liked tattoos, for some
reason, on Jack it looked right.

Catching the
direction of her gaze, Jack shrugged, and said, "My Army buddy and I had a
little too much to drink and I got kind of homesick for the ranch, so I had the
thing done."

Grace's gaze
meandered over a brawny chest and well-developed abs. "Is that the only
tattoo you have?" she asked, as her eyes traveled down a thin line of dark
hair to the waistband of his sweats, coming to rest on a very masculine bulge...

"If you're
wondering if I have a tattoo there, the answer's no," Jack said, and Grace
realized she'd been staring. She raised her eyes to meet his and found him
smiling.

To her
surprise, Jack dragged an overstuffed footstool to where she was sitting then sat
facing her, and said, "While I was in the shower I started thinking about
last night..." He paused, and his eyes fixed on her left hand. Lifting it
from where it was resting on her belly, he said, "You took off your
rings."

Grace looked at
their hands. The contrast was startling. Hers small and smooth and white. His
large and tanned and work-hardened, with corded blue veins. But the night
before, when he ran his hands over her body, they were magical.

"My
fingers were swollen," she said. Which was true, but not enough to keep
her from wearing her rings. But she didn't feel right wearing the rings Marc gave
her, now that she was about to give birth to Jack's child, while also wanting
Jack to come to her bed. But the rings were in a special place in her jewelry
box where they'd stay. Just as Marc's memory was in a special place in her
heart, where it would stay. But her life was with Jack and their child.

Jack continued
holding her hand, as he said, "What I was about to say is, it's a little
more complicated with you here. You're vulnerable because of our
situation—"

"Stop
calling it a situation," Grace snapped. "It's not like I got pregnant
because I like to sleep around. That would be a situation. I'm pregnant with a
child I thought I was going to have to raise by myself, who now has a father, and
you have a son coming who you thought would be raised as your nephew, who will
now call you Dad. I call what we have a gift from God."

Jack seemed to
think about that, and after a few moments, he said, in a quietly contemplative
voice, "Put that way, I guess I have to agree. But, about those
needs..."

"They're
not all that complicated," Grace said, gliding her palms up Jack's chest
and over his shoulders. From the moment he emerged from the hallway, her hands
had been restless. She wanted to touch Jack everywhere. She wanted to explore
every inch of his muscular male body. "I loved having your hands all over
me last night," she said. "But next time I'd prefer you not wear
boots and spurs or a shirt... or pants."

"Yeah, it
does kind of make things awkward," Jack said. "And maybe I'll take
you up on fixing my problem. It would beat taking a cold shower."

"I'd like
that," Grace said, raising her lips to receive his kiss...

But as their
lips came together, a rapping on the front door caught them up short.

Jack pulled
Grace's hands from around his neck, and said, "We'll continue this
later," then went to open the front door. Grace couldn't resist turning to
see who it was, and when she saw a woman with coal-black hair and cerulean-blue
eyes, who was without doubt the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen, she knew
at once it was Lauren Hansen.

And from the
look on Jack's face, he was dazzled by her.

Grace watched
the woman, whose eyes were fixed on Jack, and who was unaware of anyone else in
the room. For a few moments neither spoke, then Lauren's eyes filled with tears
and she said, "Please forgive me, Jack. I didn't know what I was doing. I
loved Jackie. And I love you. I've never stopped loving you. I'll do anything
to make things right. Anything to get you back. In prison I read about
postpartum depression. It's a hormonal imbalance that messes with the brain and
makes women hallucinate. That's what happened to me."

Jack said
nothing, just stood silent.

"For three
years all I've thought about was you. I can give you another son. It'll be
different this time. The doctor can put me on a medication for depression.
Things could be like they were." She ran her hands up Jack's chest and
curved them around his neck and moved to kiss him, but Jack stopped the kiss by
unwrapping her arms from around his neck and holding her away from him, and
saying, "You've had your say, now go. You're not wanted around here."

Lauren looked
at him, her long lashes spiked with tears. "You can't mean that," she
said, in a desperate voice. "I've paid for what I did and I'll continue
paying for the rest of my life. And you'll never find anyone who loves you as
much as I do."

Jack released
Lauren's wrists and walked over to the chair where Grace was sitting and took
her hand, pulling her up. When Grace turned, Lauren looked startled to see she
was pregnant. She also looked desperate. A woman who'd lost her man. Jack put
his arm around Grace and tugged her against him, and when Grace placed her hand
on Jack's waist she felt, against the heel of her hand, a hard ridge beneath
his sweats, and knew it was Lauren's presence that caused it. She also knew
that, in spite of what the woman had done, Jack loved her. Still, Grace
snuggled against Jack, making her claim, fragile though it was.

"This is
Grace," Jack said, "and the child she's carrying is our son,
Adam."

Lauren looked
at Grace's hand on Jack's belly, and said to Jack, in a brusque dry tone, as if
Grace wasn't there, "She's not wearing a wedding ring. Is she your
wife?"

Jack's arm
tightened around Grace, as he said, "The day you killed Jackie was the day
you gave up your right to ask questions. Now, you need to go."

"Lauren?!"
Susan called out.
"
Oh, my God. It's you!"
Susan rushed up the porch steps, and Lauren turned and took Susan in her arms.

Lauren released
Susan to take her hands, and said, "We have so much to catch up on. And
look at you. You're having another baby. That's wonderful."

Grace stared at
Susan. For the first time in weeks, Susan looked happy, and it took a woman
who'd killed her own child to do it.

"Come
on," Lauren said to Susan, turning her back on Grace and Jack. "We'll
go to your house. You can fill me in on everything that's happened."

As Grace
watched the women walk away, she knew that soon, Lauren Hansen would learn that
the woman carrying Jack's child had never slept with him. Which opened the door
wide for Lauren to step back into Jack's life. There was no question Jack still
wanted her. She shrugged away from Jack, and saying nothing, went to her
bedroom and shut the door.

Jack didn't
follow, and after a few minutes, Grace heard him rummaging around in his
bedroom for a few minutes, followed by the front door closing, and the truck
engine revving, and when Grace looked out the bedroom window, Jack's truck was barreling
down the ranch road...

By ten o'clock
that night, Jack still hadn't returned, so Grace went to bed.

Sometime later,
she heard the truck pull to a halt out front, but Jack didn't come to the
house. After a while, Grace looked out the window and saw a light on in the
stables. She considered going out to see what Jack was doing but decided to
leave him alone. He didn't need the mother of his unborn son putting pressure
on him and making physical demands. He needed time to sort things out...
Unless, Lauren was out there with him...

Later yet,
Grace heard the front door fly open and hit the wall, followed by a string of
expletives. She didn't know whether Jack was drunk, or if he was just stumbling
around in the dark, but it wasn't long before the door to his bedroom closed
with a thud, and he never came to her bedroom as planned. And it was very clear
why.

***

At dawn, Jack
slipped out the house without disturbing Grace and left on his horse. Snow had
started falling during the night, and the air had a bite to it, but he didn't
care. He needed to get away. He was disgusted that Lauren showed up at the
ranch, and he didn't want to see her again. He was also disgusted with Sam for
allowing her to stay with Susan. He'd always had a certain amount of respect
and admiration for Sam. He'd been the one to go to college and come back to
help their parents run the guest ranch end of the operation, and take over
after their father died. And Sam set his sights on starting a winery, and it
would be a success if he ever got it going. But then they both met beautiful,
self-centered women, and both of their lives changed.

But for Sam to
allow Lauren to stay in his house was more than he could handle. Just having
the woman who killed his son on the property was too much. He hadn't planned on
returning to the cabin when he set out, but that's the direction the horse
took, which suited him fine. The cabin was secluded, a place guests could rent
if they didn't mind roughing it without electricity or indoor plumbing.

By the time he
arrived, another couple of inches of snow covered the ground. After starting a
fire in the fireplace he made a pot of coffee and drank most of it, then hiked up
a snow-covered path to the top of the mountain, if only to release some pent up
anger. Lauren's arrival affected him in ways he hadn't expected. But standing
at the summit, where he could see for miles in all directions, helped put
things in perspective, and by late afternoon, he was ready to return to the
ranch, but only after spending time at Whispering Springs, another sanctuary, which
was in a cavern, a short hike off the riding trail.

He and Sam had
been going there for as far back as he could remember. Descendants of Native
Americans living in the area claimed if a person sat in the hot springs pool
and listened to the sounds inside the mountain they'd be freed of evil spirits.
Jack didn't know about that, but whenever he sat in the pool, he could work out
his problems. Maybe because it was relaxing or maybe because the eerie sounds set
the mind working. Whatever it was, the mind just seemed to clear. And today, he
wanted to listen to the sounds and try to figure out why he couldn't bring
himself to tell Grace he was willing to adopt her husband's baby and raise him
along with Adam.