Rugged and Relentless (24 page)

“The low market should tell you any business situated here will fail, and you’re better off concentrating on the café in Charleston. Lacey and Naomi are well taken care of with Lyman Place and
other investments, so you’re not choosing wisely.”

“You’re here.” Cora’s simple statement cracked the foundation of his defenses. “So we came to be with you.”

Me
. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
That’s the bottom line. They discovered I survived and couldn’t be moved, so all four of them packed up their lives and moved out West. For me
.

It humbled him, the strength of their devotion. It also made him want to yell until his voice went hoarse.

“I’ll join you as soon as I’m able to travel.” He gave the last-ditch, polite concession they absolutely couldn’t ignore.

“You won’t have to.” Lacey’s chipper assurance made a muscle in his jaw begin to twitch. “We already came to you.”

“But you’re leaving,” he insisted. “End of story.”

“No, we aren’t.” Now that he’d left behind tray-throwing, shouting, and offering to instruct them in vulgarity, Naomi seemed to have regained her typical regal composure.

“I won’t allow you to stay.” Braden sucked in a dry breath. “If it comes down to it, I’ll have the doctor telegram the authorities, and they will remove you from Hope Falls.”

“You can’t do that.” Lacey looked completely unconcerned, but then, she’d mastered the art of ignoring anything unpleasant long before she’d started putting her hair up for company.

At least the others seemed uncomfortable, shifting about.

“Yes, I can. Half the mine and surrounding land belong to me. Even the properties you call ‘yours’ are under my name.” Braden knew he’d sunk lower than a snake in a ditch, but without his normal abilities, fighting fair wouldn’t yield results.

“You wouldn’t.” His fiancée grasped the corner of the pillow, thought better of it, and released her hold. “No.”

“I would.” He leaned forward slightly, in case she changed her mind and decided to rob him of his headrest again. “I will.”

“Legalities pose the only reason your name holds our properties.” Evie spoke as though biting off the words. “Ethically, you know they belong to each of us, and would on paper if single
women bore the right to own property.”

“Lawmen uphold the law, not murky morals. Names on paper mean more than a pathetic protest. Make it simple and leave under your own steam, or earn yourselves an escort.” Braden set his jaw. “Either way, you will leave Hope Falls and not return.”

“I don’t think so.” Naomi eyed him. “You won’t do it.”

“Try me.”

“No need.” Lacey’s smile could have dripped syrup, so sweet was the look she gave him. “You won’t have to waste your time.”

The words should have filled him with relief, with even a hint of regret, but suspicion pooled in Braden’s gut. He knew that sugary smile. Lacey wore it whenever she planned to spring something so incredibly devious, the victim never suspected the trap until he or she fell headlong into it.
Not good
.

“Don’t let that worry you, sis.” He gave her the smile she knew promised retribution should she pull anything out of line. “I don’t have much else to do with my time.”

“Fixing your attitude looks to be a Sisyphean task.” Evie folded her arms. “That should more than keep you busy.”

Cora gave the little snort that always escaped when she tried not to laugh but couldn’t quite manage to keep it inside. His sister and cousin both grinned, though whether at Evie’s saucy comment or Cora’s reaction to it, Braden couldn’t say. It didn’t matter. The point was they weren’t taking his threat seriously, if the four of them could smile and joke.

“I’m finished with this conversation.” An all-too-familiar weariness crept over him. “And I’m having you four removed.”

“You can’t.” This time Lacey reached out and clasped his hand. “I know you would if you could, Braden, but you can’t.”

“I’ve already explained—it’s my right under the law.” He didn’t pull his hand away—he knew it would be a long time before he felt a caring touch again. “I can, and I will. So go.”

“No, you can’t. You were declared dead. Your assets shifted to me, held in trust by the family solicitor.” Lacey’s grip tightened in
response to his own clench as her words sank in.

“Upon news of my survival, Mr. Rountree would have cleared up the matter, Lace.”
He had to. The old fool may be wrapped around my sister’s little finger, but he dots every
i
and crosses every
t. “It reverts back to me. Don’t fool yourself.”

“It reverts to you, yes.” Her gaze hardened. “But the physical limitations and emotional trauma of your experience have persuaded Mr. Rountree to recognize me as head of the Lyman fortunes. While I used my position to buy the rest of the mine so you do own the entire town, and not just the majority share, you can’t act on it. Until your doctor agrees you’ve made a full recovery, you don’t have the right to order anyone from Hope Falls.”

     SIXTEEN     

T
he string of curses pouring through the open window of the doctor’s office stopped Jake in his tracks. If not for the vulgarity of it, he might have admired the sheer variety of colorful phrases as a stranger vented some rage. Jake usually bore a healthy respect for creativity. Not this time.

Oh, he’d worked alongside loggers for too many years for coarse language to shock him any. A man shouting such things in reaction to the sudden pain of a broken arm or the like happened fairly often. Such things, in the midst of a forest, with none but other lumberjacks around to hear, could be accepted.

A man yelling words like that around women absolutely could not. And from the gasps and reprimands flowing between and around the fellow’s litany, he’d chosen to indulge his vice around none other than the four women of Hope Falls.

Too bad it didn’t sound like Craig Williams. Jake wouldn’t mind a chance to haul the cocky fellow off to the train … and wrangle the answers to a few key questions out of him. With a man like that, the blunt approach would probably work best. Blunt meant straight questions paired with right hooks.

For now, he needed to find out whose temper needed a trip down an icy flume before it burned any of the ladies. Two steps,
a hand braced on the sill, and Jake vaulted through the window.

He landed on his feet, knocking into one of the women. Reaching out to steady her, he ignored the softness beneath layers of clothes and the curtain blocking his view and his hands. When blows began raining about his head and shoulders, Jake moved to free himself from the curtain caught on his belt. “Stop that!” He barked, batting the fabric from his face.

“Oh, Mr. Creed.” Miss Lyman stopped pummeling him to put a hand to her heart. “What are you doing, jumping in windows?”

“At a guess”—Evelyn’s voice held a note he couldn’t place, but suddenly he knew which woman he’d almost bowled over—“I’d say he heard your brother’s tirade and our displeasure over it, and assumed we were in danger.” She didn’t look any the worse for wear, almost amused at the entire incident. Only a shadow of apprehension dimmed her smile.

“Who are you?” The reason for her apprehension—at least Jake thought it a safe assumption—lay in bed, bracing himself on one arm and glowering as though
Jake
were the threat.

“Your brother’s tirade …”
In an instant, it all came crashing together. The tension that left when he knew the women weren’t in immediate danger came rushing back. Hadn’t he wondered what type of man let the women of his family wander out West alone?
A man injured in a mine collapse, of course
.

“Jake Creed.” He reached out to shake the man’s hand. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you’re Braden Lyman.”
Please tell me I’m wrong. Please say you’re another brother
.

“That’s right. What’s it matter to you?” Pride and suspicion didn’t cancel out Lyman’s need for information. “Why are you in Hope Falls? How do you know my sister?”

Oh, this keeps getting better
. Jake ran a hand over his face before looking each woman in the eye to make sure he hadn’t gotten it wrong.
Nope. They haven’t told him what’s going on
.

“It matters to me because these women made it all the way out here and are flitting around without any sort of protection.” He
met Evelyn’s gaze, remembering the moment when she’d named him and Bear, establishing them as their protectors. “Except me and another man. Riordan.” Truth was truth. “We knew Miss Lyman’s brother and Miss Thompson’s fiancé owned most of this town and wondered when he’d make an appearance.”

“I won’t be appearing anywhere but this bed for weeks yet.” Lyman’s scrutiny ended. Apparently the man judged him an ally, because he relaxed against the pillows. “Which is why I’ve ordered the women to leave Hope Falls and return to Charleston. I’ll pay well to see they make it safely, Mr. Creed.”

What a mess. Even if the others would let me take the women, I couldn’t be the one to do it. I have to find Twyler
.

“We aren’t going anywhere.” Miss Higgins put one hand on her hip. “Braden doesn’t have the right to send us away.”

“Doesn’t sound like he agrees with that, ma’am. And if he owns the town, the law won’t take your side either.” Jake decided to stick with the facts and make no enemies either way.

“He might not agree, but he knows it’s the truth.” Miss Thompson’s grin could’ve rivaled that of a cat in cream. “Lacey’s in control of Lyman properties until Braden recovers.”

“She informed him of that pertinent detail a scant moment before you jumped into the conversation.” Evie’s tongue-in-cheek explanation brought him up to speed on Mr. Lyman’s behavior.

“Hence the explosion of obscenities,” Jake deduced.

“It’s a technicality,” Mr. Lyman spat out. “It’s beneath them to abuse the situation to overrule my wishes.”

“The same way it should have been beneath you to claim ownership of the town to have the authorities run us out.” Evelyn showed the man no sympathy. “You would abuse the fact our land and businesses are registered under your name, which was done solely because single women cannot own property!”

“That’s different!” the bedridden man protested. “I’d make you leave for your own good. It’s not safe for you women here.”

“It’s no different.” Miss Thompson fussed with her fiancé’s
pillow for a moment. “We decided to stay, and you would have manipulated your position to overrule our right to Hope Falls.”

“I’m thinking clearly and should control my assets. You women don’t have the sense God gave a goose and need someone else making decisions for you.
That’s
the difference.” Braden Lyman turned his gaze to Jake. “Get them out of here, safe and sound, and I’ll make you a wealthy man, Mr. Creed.”

“I appreciate your confidence, Mr. Lyman.” Jake slid a glance around the room. “But it’s not a simple situation.”

“Yes, it is,” Lyman ground out. “Ignore whatever qualms you may have. You’d be ensuring the safety of four henwits who can’t plan beyond the next day. You can take them back to Charleston. How could it be any less complicated than that?”

“Well, Mr. Lyman, for one thing, these women have planned a lot farther ahead than tomorrow.” Jake let out a long breath and let the truth fall. “For another, there’s the eighteen men they invited here to try and win their hands in marriage.”

     SEVENTEEN