Startled by his reaction, Kristen stood and stared into his eyes. So many emotions danced behind the deep brown orbs she couldn’t begin to identify them individually. For the first time since she had hopped onto Patrick’s horse, she wondered whether she and Jack could straighten their mess out.
“Jack?” His name became a question as it fell from her tongue.
Jack smirked, something she hadn’t seen him do before now. The expression made him sinfully handsome but it was, nonetheless, unsettling.
“Kristen?”
His intentional mimic unhinged her further. She realized he was more upset than she imagined…
She didn’t have to wait long to find out why Jack stared at her with such conflicted emotions etched into his face.
“Don’t you have somewhere else you should be right about now? Isn’t there some poor fool just waiting for you to kiss him?”
So that was it. He had seen Wade, and witnessed their kiss.
Kristen rushed to explain. There had been too many secrets between them in the past. Now it was time to clear the air for the last time.
“No, as a matter of fact, there isn’t.” She lifted her chin, ready to prove herself worthy of his trust. “You saw me on Mrs. King’s porch a little while ago?”
Jack grit his teeth so tightly she feared he might crack them. He gave a sharp nod in response.
“I thought that might be it.” Kristen reached out to touch his arm, but Jack sidestepped her. The movement hurt, but she refused to be deterred. “I can explain. I know how it looks, but—”
He gave a small snort of disgust. “You can’t imagine how it looks. First you lure Patrick into thinking he’s in love with you before you drop him like a hot potato. Then you keep company with me—did you forget you kissed me only yesterday evening? Good God, woman, it was only a few hours ago that you were in my arms! Then this morning I see you, out in plain sight, no less, on the boardinghouse porch kissing some stranger. They defy explanation, these escapades of yours!”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” she insisted.
His face had gone hard at the telling of her “escapades”.
“There
is
an explanation, for all of it. If you’ll only listen to me, Jack, I can tell you the truth about everything.”
He gave her a cold stare. “Well, wouldn’t that be a novel idea? I tried more than once to get the truth from you, yet you kept avoiding it. I’d just about decided I didn’t care what you were hiding when I caught you kissing that eastern dandy. Just tell me one thing… Is that man your husband? Are you married to him?”
“No!” Her hand flew to her chest, covered her galloping heart. “Wade’s not my husband—and I’m not married to anyone, Jack. I’ve never been married, believe me.”
“Who is he, then?”
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. Time to tell the truth—and pray the truth would set her free.
“He is—
he was
—my fiancé.”
Jack considered her words. His features softened slightly, and her hopes lifted. She had never imagined one small, insignificant kiss could make him so jealous. If he only knew how little she felt when Wade held her.
If Jack only knew how her heart overflowed when she was in his arms…
“‘Was’? I take it you two are no longer engaged?”
“That’s right. We’ve broken off our engagement. That’s what you witnessed on the porch.”
Jack smirked again, but this time he looked almost amused.
Almost.
They could have no future unless Kristen cleared the slate, and she knew it.
She didn’t stop to think. She just plunged into her story.
“You keep asking where I’m from, Jack, and I just evade the issue. Well, I’m from Boston, and I escaped my situation the only way I could. I ran away from Wade, and my family, and the ridiculous marriage my father tried to force me into entering. I thought…oh, it doesn’t matter what I thought, not now. What matters is the ‘why’ of things, you know?”
She looked to him for confirmation. When he nodded, she went on.
Ticking items off with her fingers, she said, “Why did my father encourage me to marry Wade? Because he knows Wade Gantry is a good, kind man. He believed I would eventually grow to love him. He meant well, but I couldn’t abide his decision to decide my future.”
She raised a second finger. “Why did Wade agree to marry me? That sweet man, he says he loves me. I believe he does, on some level at least, but one-sided love isn’t foundation enough to build a marriage. Truthfully, I think Wade loves me more as a friend and dance partner than anything else. Once he’s free of the engagement, he’ll find someone who deserves his heart.”
Kristen took a steadying breath before she raised another finger.
“Why did I become a runaway bride? Because I don’t love Wade Gantry. Never have. Never will. And I believe marriage should be entered into with open, loving hearts—two of them. Mine? Wade didn’t claim it.”
She stopped speaking, suddenly out of words. They stood in the clearing for a silent moment as the reality of her confession sank in.
Then, it struck her that they stood on almost the precise spot where they had met. She flashed a small smile, feeling exposed and vulnerable but still hoping to smooth things over with Jack.
“Do you realize we met on this very same spot? It was right here that the stage was held up, remember?”
Jack removed his hat and plowed his fingers through his thick, dark curls. A lock fell over his forehead. Her fingers itched to push it back in place but she resisted the impulse.
True to character, he slapped the dusty Stetson against his muscular thigh before he positioned it back on his head.
“I remember,” he said quietly.
“Pretty amazing that you just happened along at the exact moment we needed help, wasn’t it?”
Jack didn’t look pleased by the turn in the conversation. She had meant to find common ground, share a pleasant memory, but his grimace of displeasure returned. Kristen couldn’t figure out why he looked like a storm cloud ready to burst.
“Listen, you’re not the only one who’s got some confessions to make.” He swallowed hard, raked a palm over his cheek and adjusted his hat brim. She waited for him to go on. “I didn’t ‘just happen along’ the day the stage was held up.”
“No?”
“No. I planned to rob the coach that day, that’s why I ‘happened’ along. My scheme was to stop it here, take what I was after, then leave. Of course, I hadn’t planned on hurting anyone…merely stealing something. But then I found the coach was already being robbed, and you and the preacher were holed up in the middle of the shootout. What could I do?” He shrugged helplessly, as if the episode required no further explanation.
If the world had tipped sideways, Kristen wouldn’t have felt more discombobulated than she did by Jack’s admission. She shook her head in disbelief, wondering how she could have been so wrong about him. Was it possible she had no sense at all when it came to matters of the heart?
Her voice came out as a strangled whisper. “You…you’re a stagecoach thief?”
She took a step back, putting distance between them. Still, she felt the weight of his confession pinning her heart down. The sensation was stifling, and she gasped for air.
“
No
. Of course not.” Jack took a step closer, holding his hand out to her. This time, however, she avoided his touch. “How could you think that of me? Brown—Randall Brown—his assistant stole the deed to my grandmother’s property. It was on the coach, in the strongbox. I only meant to swipe what was rightfully mine. It was stupid, I know, but I was angry. When I left Kansas, it was because Granny was heartbroken over the theft. I had to do whatever it took to make her happy again. Don’t you understand?”
His eyes confirmed his words. They were clear and honest, and she believed him. When it came right down to it, Kristen was impressed that he’d taken such drastic measures to please an elderly woman. The world righted itself again. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Jack isn’t a thief!
“I do.” Then, she giggled. “So you’re telling me you’re a robber-turned-rescuer? Is that it?”
“I guess it is.” He smiled, lightening the mood considerably.
Time for the plunge
.
“Now what, Jack? Where do we go from here?”
He shook his head. “I thought I knew…”
Kristen’s heart fell to her toes. She hadn’t expected this, hadn’t planned on what to do or say if he rebuffed her.
Jack gazed into her eyes for so long and so hard she thought he might never break the connection. When he spoke, his voice was filled with acceptance, and her heart lifted a little at the sound.
“When we met, I thought I couldn’t afford to lose my heart to you. I figured since you’re here and I’m going back to Kansas, ours had to be a platonic relationship.”
She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he stilled her with a hand on her shoulder. He gave a gentle squeeze, so she let him continue.
“Then when I began to have feelings for you, I thought you were involved with Patrick. It ruffled my feathers, I’ll admit, but I had to respect his claim on your affections so I stood back and watched your involvement. Remember, I knew I’d be heading back to Kansas before long.”
Her mouth opened again, but Jack rubbed his palm along the top of her right shoulder so she stilled and enjoyed the sensation his touch brought.
“Then, when you and Patrick parted ways, I thought I might have a chance with you. I knew I shouldn’t court you because of the Kansas thing, but by God you are irresistible. You drove me to distraction, and I couldn’t help but want to be near you. Yesterday, by the creek…”
Jack hitched a deep breath, and then shook his head, a look of wonder on his handsome face. “I never felt that way about anyone before. Never.”
“Me, either,” she breathed.
Jack absorbed her words before he went on. “I thought I knew everything this morning—everything I had to know about Brown and the deed…Granny and the sawmill… Most importantly, I thought I knew what to do about you, and about me. About us. Then, I saw you with that stranger.” He looked down at the ground for a moment, then raised his head and met her gaze. A small smile crossed his lips. “I got angry. I suppose you can see that when I get angry, I get on my horse and ride hard. Does that bother you?”
Surprisingly, it didn’t.
“Not one bit.”
“Good. There are a lot of things I can change about myself, but that’s not one of them, I don’t think. Still, if it bothers you, I could try to mend my ways.”
“It doesn’t. Don’t change anything.”
His hand had reached her exposed skin. While they spoke, he traced a slow fingertip along the nape of her neck. Gooseflesh rose on Kristen’s arms. Every nerve ending was at attention, courtesy of his tender touch.
“I love you,” he said softly. “I’ve loved you almost from the first minute we met, right here in that coach. But, there still remains one very large problem. I have to go back to Kansas.”
He loved her! What else could possibly matter?
A wicked grin stole onto her face. “Are you afraid I’ll cause a ruckus in Kansas? Embarrass Granny?”
Understanding made Jack handsomer than ever. “You mean you’ll go back to Kansas with me?”
A nod was all she could manage. Tears of happiness pooled in her eyes.
Jack pulled her against his chest, holding her so tightly Kristen felt the air fly from her lungs. Finally, she was in the right set of arms, with the perfect heart beating against her cheek.
Jack held her away from him and stared intently into her eyes. He seemed to be considering something important, so she didn’t tease or interrupt.
“I know this isn’t the best place to ask, but Kristen, my love, will you marry me?”
She was glad she’d been wise enough to hold her tongue.
A single joyful tear dripped down her cheek when she nodded. “I will, Jack. And this place is just perfect—after all, it’s where our love began.”
A word about the author...
Sarita Leone loves walking on the beach, dancing beneath the stars, and writing romance.
She also loves hearing from readers, so contact her via her website:
her blog:
From the Heart,
www.saritaleone.blogspot.com
or her Facebook page.
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