Comanche Woman (34 page)

“We’ve met. Hello, Jonas,” Creed said, tipping his hat in greeting.

Bay’s eyes strayed to the other man as she waited for him to introduce himself. His eyes were shuttered by some inexplicable emotion Bay finally identified as sadness. Tremendous empathy for the stranger’s suffering washed over her, leaving her feeling his pain as her own. She looked away to break the spell that bound her to him.

“I’m Luke Summers,” the young man said. He touched the flat brim of his hat with his finger and added, “Pleased to meet you, ma’am, Mr. Harper.”

“Oh, please call me Bay.”

Bay blushed again when Luke smiled at her and said, “Creed’s right. You’re a very beautiful woman.”

Jonas hadn’t missed the instant powerful attraction between Bay and the handsome young man who called himself Luke Summers. His voice was taut with jealousy when he announced, “I’m glad you admire my fiancée, Mr. Summers.”

Luke turned to Jonas Harper and gave him a look that would have crushed stone. “Creed didn’t mention his sister-in-law was engaged to you, Mr. Harper.”

No one could have been more surprised by Jonas’s announcement than Bay, whose mouth still hung slack from disbelief.

“That’s because it hasn’t been announced yet,” Jonas replied as he slipped his arm around Bay’s shoulders.

“I suppose congratulations are in order,” Creed said. But he didn’t offer any. He was too busy wondering whether Long Quiet knew about Bay’s relationship with Jonas Harper.

Bay saw the confusion in Creed’s eyes. Could Long Quiet possibly have told him about their relationship? Surely not, or Creed wouldn’t sit silently by and watch Jonas staking his claim on her. She dropped her eyes to avoid Creed’s piercing gaze. He could wonder all he wanted. She wasn’t going to confirm anything for him. She shrugged her shoulders in an attempt to remove Jonas’s arm. Grudgingly, he freed her from the possessive embrace and took up the reins again.

The ride back to Three Oaks seemed endless to Bay. None of the three men spoke to one another again, and Bay was too distressed to worry about soothing the antagonism between Jonas and the other two men.

When they arrived at the house, Bay turned to Jonas and said, “Thank you for the ride, Jonas.” In a whisper, she added, “I want to talk to you about . . . about what you announced to Creed. I’m not your fiancée, Jonas.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she reached out a hand to stop him. “Not now. We’ll talk about this another time.” She stepped down from the carriage without giving him a chance to help her and hurried into the house.

Jonas examined Creed and Luke with a jaundiced eye, but he was helpless to do anything except take his leave. He nodded his head to the other two men and departed with a curt, “I’ll be seeing you.”

“Not too soon, I hope,” Creed muttered under his breath as Jonas drove away.

“What’s going on between Bay and that Jonas Harper fellow?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know,” Creed replied, “but I sure as hell intend to find out.”

Creed had no sooner swung down from his horse than Cricket flew into his arms. Creed took the time to properly greet his wife. Luke was grinning broadly by the time Creed’s lips were finally free. “I guess you missed me,” Creed murmured to his wife.

“Every day, all day,” Cricket replied, breathless with excitement.

“I brought someone to see you. I cleaned him up a bit and bought him some clothes in San Antonio, but I couldn’t do much about fattening him up. You’ll have to take care of that with some of your famous biscuits.”

“Hello there,” Luke said. “Remember me?”

Cricket stepped out of Creed’s arms and directly into Luke’s. There were tears in her eyes when she said, “I’m so glad you’re safe. I was so worried about you. And with good reason, it seems. Look at you. You’re so skinny!” She ran her hands over him appraisingly as she hugged him again. “You must be hungry.”

Luke laughed. “As a matter of fact, I am. What’re you gonna do about it?”

“Why, feed you, of course. You are staying for the christening, aren’t you, Luke?”

“I’d like to. I got an assignment from Captain Hays when I was in San Antonio—have to investigate some irregularities in the registration of land titles in Shelby County—but I can stay for a while. How soon do you expect it’ll be?”

“We’re still waiting for Creed’s brother and his wife to show up,” Cricket said.

Creed ran a hand through his black hair. “You mean Tom and Amy aren’t here yet?”

“I suspect the weather’s holding them up,” Cricket said, tucking an arm around each man’s waist and directing them toward the house. “We’ve had quite a bit of rain. The roads must be horrendous. But they shouldn’t be much longer getting here.”

“Guess you’ll be our guest for a few days,” Creed said to Luke. “You don’t mind staying in the bachelors’ quarters here at Three Oaks, do you? I’ve got some pretty fond memories of that place myself.” Creed’s eyes gleamed, and Cricket fought the blush that rose to her cheeks at the memory of the first night she’d spent with Creed in the soft featherbed at the bachelors’ quarters.

“Just lead me to this pretty little baby of yours,” Luke said.

“Oh, Luke,” Cricket said. “You’re going to love her. She’s so beautiful.” Cricket grinned. “She’s got a few years to go yet before you can turn that charm of yours on her and have it work.”

“What charm is that?” Luke asked innocently.

Cricket laughed and shoved the two men through the front door ahead of her.

Bay was waiting in the hall when the three of them came in. “Where’s Long Quiet?”

Luke and Creed exchanged a glance before Creed answered, “He’s gone back to
Comanchería
.”

Bay suddenly felt dizzy. She would have fallen if Luke hadn’t caught her.

“Sit her down over here.” Cricket gestured for Luke to help Bay over to the rocker bench along one wall.

“I . . . I thought he’d come . . .” Bay closed her eyes in misery. She hadn’t even admitted to herself that she’d hoped he would come to the christening. After all, he and Creed were best friends. She clenched her hands to hide their trembling. She was going to have to pick up the pieces of her life and keep on living. But, oh, how she missed Long Quiet!

Cricket sat down next to her sister. Her eyes questioned Creed. Why was Bay so concerned about Long Quiet? Cricket tightened her arm around Bay’s shoulders. “I know you’d probably like another chance to thank Long Quiet, but I’m sure he understands how you feel.”

Bay’s head came up slowly. “Yes . . . yes . . . I’m sure he does. It would have been nice to thank him again, but I suppose Creed can take my thanks and pass it along just as well.” She looked up at Creed and could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew more than he was saying. “Will you do that, Creed? Next time you see Long Quiet, will you tell him I said thanks for everything?”

Creed’s brow furrowed. “If that’s what you want, sure. I’ll tell him you’re engaged to Harper, too.”

Bay’s eyes widened as she realized Creed had believed Jonas’s announcement. “But I’m not!”

“Jonas said you were.”

Bay shook off Cricket’s supporting arm and stood up. “Jonas spoke out of turn. Yes, it’s true he’s asked me to be his wife, but I haven’t accepted.”

“Oh, Bay, that’s wonderful!” Cricket said. “Are you going to accept?”

“I . . .” Bay stared at the three faces confronting her. Was she going to say yes? What was she waiting for? A man as proud as Long Quiet wasn’t going to admit he’d made a mistake. He was never going to come back for her. And she could never go to him. She only wished she felt more for Jonas Harper than deep friendship. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “It’s a big decision. I don’t want to rush into it. I need some time to think.”

With that she turned and crossed to Rip’s office, closing the door behind her. She didn’t want to think right now, and the best respite from thinking was to immerse herself in work. She pulled the ledger down from the shelf and opened it.

It wasn’t long before Bay heard a knock on the door. She was only mildly surprised when Rip opened the door and entered. She’d known that word of Jonas’s proposal would soon reach Rip’s ears and that he’d want to hear from her why she hadn’t immediately accepted.

“Cricket told me the good news. Of course you’ll accept,” he said. He smiled broadly. “I’ll expect to have my next grandchild within the year.”

If Rip hadn’t said anything about children, perhaps Bay could have remained calm. But she’d only barely resigned herself to giving up Long Quiet. The added thought of never having his children was too much to bear. She rose and snapped, “I wouldn’t count on it!”

“What?”

“You heard me. I haven’t even accepted Jonas’s offer yet and you already have me bearing his children. I won’t have it!”

“What’s wrong with bearing Jonas’s children? You could do a lot worse than Jonas as a husband.”

“I don’t need another husband!”

It took the look of shock on Rip’s face for Bay to realize what she’d said.
Another husband
. Bay closed her eyes, then opened them again. She’d let the milk spill, the cat out of the bag, the horse from the barn.

“You’re already married?” Rip asked in a tight voice.

Bay laughed bitterly.

“Then you’re a widow?”

“I’m not married. But I’m not a widow, either.”

“Dammit, girl, it has to be one or the other,” Rip insisted.

“He left me,” Bay said. “He brought me home and then he rode away and left me.”

Rip’s eyes darkened as he realized the identity of Bay’s husband. “You married that half-breed Comanche, Long Quiet?”

“Don’t you dare speak in that tone of voice about my husband!”

“By your own word, he’s not your husband. How can you defend a man who abandoned you? He couldn’t have loved you very much if he left you standing on my doorstep.”

“He loved me.”

“How could he? He only found you a couple of weeks ago. Or was that a lie? How long have you known that half-breed?” Rip snarled.

“Not very long. There were reasons why we . . . we had to get married.”

The blood drained from Rip’s face. “You’re going to have his child?”

“No! No. There were other reasons that forced us to marry.”

“But he didn’t willingly make you his wife?”

Bay shuddered and admitted, “No.”

“Then how do you know he loved you?” Rip demanded.

“He told me so.”

Rip snorted. “Where is he now, this husband of yours?”

“He went back to
Comanchería
.”

“Is he coming back for you?”

“I don’t . . .” Bay took a deep breath and said, “No. No, he isn’t.”

Rip was silent for a moment, so Bay thought he might let the subject drop. But he didn’t.

“So he just dumped you here and left.”

Bay clenched her teeth in an attempt to stop the quivering of her chin. Rip always went for the jugular. It was part of what had made him so successful on the Texas frontier. She swallowed painfully over the lump in her throat, but though she opened her mouth to reply, no sound came out.

Rip’s voice was surprisingly gentle when he said, “Don’t waste your life mourning for him, Bay. You deserve some happiness. A Comanche marriage doesn’t mean a thing here in Texas. Forget about it. Forget about him. Your Comanche could never have given you what Jonas Harper can—respectability, a comfortable home, and a rich legacy for your children.”

What about love?
Bay wanted to shout. But she said nothing. There was no winning an argument with Rip. “I don’t know if I can marry Jonas without telling him the truth.”

Rip reached out and held Bay with a hand on each shoulder, forcing her to listen to him. “There’s not a man in Texas, Jonas included, who would touch you with anything but contempt if he knew the truth. Think, Bay! You’re destined for greater things than being some half-breed Comanche’s woman. I’ve planned too long and worked too hard to have you end up pining away for some man who doesn’t love you enough to keep you by his side.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Don’t defend him to me. He had his chance. Now it’s Jonas’s turn.”

“But what if Long Quiet changes his mind?”

“If he ever changes his mind, it’ll be too late. You’ll already be Jonas Harper’s wife.”