Maverick Wild (Harlequin Historical Series) (14 page)

Winifred’s mask crumbled into angry creases as she whipped her narrowed gaze toward Chance. “Surely you have eyes. Cora Mae isn’t a spinster and unwed because ugly thick-boned women are highly sought-after.”

Cora flinched, and Chance was reminded just how deep hatred could run through his veins. “Don’t listen to her,” he whispered.

“I have worked very hard to secure her marriage agreement, and have already paid a handsome dowry to ensure her place in an upstanding family.”

Bullshit
. Chance had no doubt Winifred intended to use her daughter for her own personal gain, whether it be wealth or social connections.

“Would you ruin her only chance at marriage, her last opportunity to become a lady?”

“Winifred, I can assure you Cora Mae doesn’t need any fancy titles to know she’s a lady. Fact is, she’s been fighting off suitors for weeks. So you can run along and tell your laird that Cora Mae is no longer in need of his
generosity
.”

“You can’t hold my daughter here against her will!”

“Don’t you mean against
your
will? What are you expecting to gain from this marriage
agreement?
”

Her eyes narrowed. “It’s clear to see that Cora Mae is too frightened by you to be sensible.”

Chance glanced down at the woman trembling against his side. He slipped his hand beneath her chin. “Cora Mae, are you afraid of me, sweetheart?”

Despite her unease, Cora knew she trusted Chance more than she had ever trusted anyone. She slowly shook her head.

“I didn’t think so. Don’t panic,” he whispered bending toward her. “I’m gonna kiss you.”

His lips brushed across hers in a light caress, and she embraced the rush of sensation just as she had by the pond and in town, letting her fear fall away as his warmth filled her. When Chance released her mouth, his gentle smile was another source of strength. He winked, nearly bringing a smile to her lips before he turned to look out at her mother.

The look of utter shock contorting her mother’s face was another boost of confidence.

“I hate to spoil your plans, Winifred,” Chance said in a mournful tone. “I really do. But as you can see, your daughter has taken quite a shine to me. You can rest assured that Cora Mae has found a man who feels damn fortunate to have her in his life. No payoff required.”

“Then you should know she is likely to be heavy with child.”

“Mother!”

Cora swayed beside him, and Chance tightened his grasp.

“Don’t try to deny it, Cora Mae. I know full well the agreement was consummated.”

The pain in Cora Mae’s tear-glazed eyes cut him clear to the bone. He didn’t believe it. There was no way in hell she would have opened her body to another man—not willingly.

My God.

He turned her in his arms, away from her mother.

“The marriage is all but sealed,” said Winifred. Her lips tipped into a cold, victorious grin.

Chance was certain he’d have slugged her if she’d been within arm’s reach. “Lady, I’ll give you to the count of three to get off my land.”

Winifred’s eyes drew wide. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“One.”

“She is likely carrying another man’s child!”

“Two.”

“Do not stand there as if—”

“Three.” Chance drew his Colt and shot a fancy carved bird from the top corner of her carriage, the spray of splintered wood scattering in all directions.

Winifred squawked and fluttered. Her fancy footman rushed to open the carriage door.

“This is not over!” she shouted as Grissom urged her inside.

He squeezed the trigger. Another bird burst into splinters. “You better hurry, Grissom. When I run out of birds, I’ll be aiming for an old bat.”

Grissom boxed her inside. Unrushed, he climbed up to the driver’s seat. A slow smile tightened his lips as he touched his fingers to his hat in a parting gesture before gathering the reins.

Chance fought the urge to shoot the man from his perch, just for the hell of it. He held Cora Mae as the carriage sped down the road. He wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“I’m so sorry,” Cora said against his shirt, her arms tight around his waist. “I didn’t think she’d find me. I never thought she’d come.”

“Honey, look at me.”

Cora drew a shuddering breath but couldn’t ease her hold. Her mother had meant to humiliate her.

“Cora Mae,” Chance said softly.

The emotion in his voice washed over her like a soothing caress, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“Is what she said true? That man, Campbell, did he hurt you?”

Staring up at his eyes filled with concern, she was hardly able to breathe, much less reply.

“A
nswer me,” Chance insisted. “Did that bastard steal your innocence?”

“I…I couldn’t stop him,” she managed, hardly breathing. “She let him in when I was asleep, and I…I couldn’t—”

Chance swore beneath his breath, the hard words a clear contradiction to the gentle fingers brushing her tears from her cheeks. “What a tangle.”

“I had to leave.”

“You could have told me.”

She gave him a shuddered look. “I only wished to forget it.”

“The past seldom stays where it belongs.”

“I only needed some time, and I wanted to see you again—I didn’t think…
I’ll leave.
”

“Like hell!” He folded his arms around her. “You’re staying right here. Where you belong.”

More tears burning for release, Cora buried her face against his chest.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” he soothed. “I won’t let her take you.”

Chance glanced about the yard, counting a dozen gaping expressions. He wouldn’t allow Winifred to shame Cora Mae this way. He’d set it right. With child or not, she belonged here. With
him
.

“Y’all can get back to work!” he shouted.

Cora Mae drew a long, steady breath. Chance hugged her close, her body warm against his. He breathed in the sweet scent of her hair, liking the way she fit so perfectly in his arms, her head tucked beneath his chin.

“We need to get married. Tonight.”

“What?”
Cora jerked away from him. “Chance,
no
.”

“I’m keeping my promise.”

“To protect me, not to
marry
me.”

“If you’re carrying his child…”

“I’m not pregnant.
Just fat
.”

“You are not! I just had you in my arms and I happen to have loved the feel of every smooth curve!” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I should have been full-on courting you long before now.”

“Courting,”
she choked out. “Don’t be absurd.”

“Sweetheart, we just went over all this. You’ve been driving me wild since the moment you arrived, and you won’t convince me that you’re not attracted to me. So why would the idea of me courting you be absurd?”

“Because it was a mistake! You swore it wouldn’t happen again.”

“I take it back. My only regret was that I’d frightened you. Now I see why. You have to know I’d never hurt you like that.”

Cora could only shake her head. She didn’t want to find out.

“You kiss me with enough passion to set fire to stone.
We’re getting married
.”

She stared at him, wondering how he could be so sweet and endearing one moment and such an utter brute the next. “You can’t just—”

“We heard gunshots!” Tucker rode into the yard from a side pasture, a cloud of dust in his wake. Skylar reined in right beside him as Tucker leaped from his saddle.

“Who was here?” he asked.

“Winifred.”

Tucker froze halfway up the steps. He turned to look back at the departing carriage. “No fooling?”

“Would I joke about something like that?” Chance asked. “She came for Cora Mae. She can’t have her. I’m going to marry her.”

“What?”
Tucker all but shouted.

“I can have John here within an hour to perform the ceremony,” he said as he walked down past his brother.

“Chance, this is insanity! I just told you there’s no need.”

“You heard your mother, Cora Mae,” he said, his purposeful strides steadily putting ground between them as he neared the barn. “She’s coming back.”

“But I’m not with child!”

He stopped and turned back. “And when she finds a judge who can be bribed into ordering your return until your claim can be confirmed, what then? You’d be at her mercy, and
his
.”

Dear God
. She hadn’t thought of any such possibility.

“We’re getting married. Tonight.” Chance disappeared into the barn.

Cora turned to Tucker standing on the steps. “He’s serious.”

“With child?” Tucker’s gaze locked on her stomach. “What the hell is going on?”

“Let’s discuss this inside,” Skylar suggested, hurrying up the porch. “Cora doesn’t need an audience.”

A blush stung Cora’s face. Men stood along the fencing and at the side of the house, clearly drawn by the sound of gunfire and shouting.

Humiliation poured through her.

Cora stood near the front window, watching Skylar and Tucker walk toward Zeke and Margarete’s house to retrieve their children. Not even they seemed convinced by her refusal to marry Chance. She wasn’t about to sit around and wait for Chance to sweet-talk her into something she knew would be a mistake. She had long since started taking care of herself.

“Cora?”

She turned as Garret came in through the dining room. He held his hat in his hands and offered a sheepish smile.

“I overheard what happened. And I want you to know you don’t have to marry Chance.”

Finally! Someone who spoke reason. Perhaps he’d be kind enough to saddle a horse for her.

“I’ll marry you.”

Cora stared at him a moment, hoping he hadn’t just said what she could have sworn she’d heard. “Garret—”

“I mean it, Cora. I love you.”

Oh, good heavens. How do I deal with this?

“Garret, that is so sweet. But I—”

“I’m not trying to be sweet! Chance didn’t give you a moment to turn him down, and if you don’t care for him—”

“It’s not that I don’t care for Chance. I just don’t want to marry.
Anyone
.”

“But…if it was between me and him.”

“But it’s not. I care for both of you. You’re such a charming young man. I know you’ll find a young lady who’s perfect for you.”

“I’m not so young,” he protested. “I think
you’re
perfect.”

Cora’s heart twisted. “I’m flattered, Garret. Truly. I’m very fond of you, but I don’t care for you
in that way
.”

His expression fell as hurt darkened his eyes. “But you do toward Chance?”

“I…I don’t know.” She only knew she wasn’t going to marry. Not Garret, not Chance, not anyone.

The longer he’d thought about Cora Mae, the more Chance realized marriage was the perfect solution. A solution to Winifred’s demands, and the desire he couldn’t seem to contain when Cora Mae was in his arms. He
wanted
her, he had since the moment he’d set eyes on her. He’d wanted her more with every moment he’d spent in her company. He was suddenly dying to see her, to make sure she’d settled in to the idea of marrying him.

Not finding her in the house, he left Reverend Keats in the parlor and went to the stables. Mitch was brushing down one of the mares.

“Have you seen Cora?”

“Nope. But I just rode in a few minutes ago. How’d it go in town?”

“Just fine.”

As Chance made his way around the side of the house, he spotted Tucker and Skylar walking arm in arm, coming back from Zeke’s house. Perhaps they’d all walked over.

“Did you fetch the preacher?” Tucker asked as they met in the front yard.

“He’s inside.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That Cora Mae has agreed to marry me, and we needed a preacher.”

“
Agreed
might be too strong a word,” offered Skylar. “Are you sure about this?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.” Something inside Chance warmed at those words, bringing a smile to his lips. “Is she up at Zeke’s?”

“No,” said Skylar. “When we left to check on Josh and the girls, she’d gone to lie down.”

Chance tensed. “How long ago was that?”

“Near an hour,” said Tuck. “Skylar nursed the girls and Margarete opted to watch them until this evening so Skylar can help Cora with the wedding.”

“She’s not in the house,” said Chance, his gaze moving across the distant fields. “Or the yard.”

“Zeke and I were on the porch the whole time. We’d have seen her if she’d tried to leave.”

“Not if she went out the back.” Chance glanced toward the rear of the house and the ready supply of green-broke mounts, a number of them bridled and harnessed. His gaze shifted to the rise of mountains separating their place from the Lazy J.

“Oh, hell.”

“No,” said Skylar. “She wouldn’t ride up into that wild country.”

The one time he’d willfully broken a promise…if Maggie found out he’d told Cora Mae, she’d likely try to skin him alive.

“She’s not that stupid,” said Tucker

“No, she’s that smart. Skylar, can you bake us a cake? I want this to be a real wedding,” he said, backing toward the house.

“Chance, at the moment, you don’t seem to have a bride.”

“I will.”
He turned and ran to fetch his saddled horse.

Tucker stayed on his heels. “Why the hell would she ride farther into the mountains?”

“Because of my fool mouth!” Chance led his horse toward the stable for a fresh mount. “I have to reach her before she finds Maggie.”

“Who’s Maggie?” Tucker asked, following him.

“Danvers.”

“Who?”

“Mad Mag,”
Chance clarified with impatience.

Tucker’s eyes widened beneath his hat. “That crazy trapper woman?”

Was marrying him such a horrible option that she’d track down a mountain shrew she’d never met? A few flashing thoughts of how he’d treated her over the past month answered his question.

Damn
.

“Why would she seek out someone like that?” Tucker moved ahead of him and led Star from her stall as Chance released the cinch on his saddle.

“I told her how Mag helped me out of a tangle a few weeks ago.”

“She did? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Didn’t come up,” he hedged.

“Did you happen to tell her Mag is a lunatic?”

“Have you ever actually met Mag?”

“As close as I ever hope to get. Don’t take more than a half mile to catch her scent, a quarter mile to draw her bullets, and I reckon a sight less for her to hit her mark. That wild woman and her man are just as likely to shoot her off the mountain?”

“Maggie’s not crazy. She’s just mean, but not mean enough to kill someone in cold blood.” He
hoped
.

“How would you know?”

“She led me to this damn valley on my ride in,” he said, oblivious to his brother’s shock, his focus on the saddle he was securing to his large buckskin.

“That couldn’t have been pleasant.”

Chance glanced at his brother, seeing his shudder of revulsion at the thought of getting so close to Maggie. “I’ll be back with Cora,” he said, about to mount his horse.

Tucker stopped him, grabbing Star’s harness. “When you find her, you should remember she ran because she wants to protect you.”

“From what?”

“
Marriage
. I gather it’s a loathing you two have in common. With Winifred as a role model, I can’t say I blame her. I hope you realize you can’t force her to marry you.”

“I can and I will. If Winifred catches her, we’ve lost.”

“
We’ve
lost? If this is some kind of vindictive move to get back at Winifred, I won’t let you use Cora Mae. She doesn’t deserve it. What’s it gonna take to convince you she’s nothing like her mother?”

“I know that! Why do you think I want to marry her?”

“How the hell should I know? Your attitude toward her these past weeks hasn’t led me to believe you have a fancy for big-boned women and flaming red—”

“One more insult,” Chance growled, his hands fisting at his sides.

“I’m not insulting her. I was just saying—”

“I know what you were saying! There isn’t a damn thing wrong with Cora’s shape or hair color. I happen to think she’s perfect and damn attractive just the way she is!”

Tucker stood in stunned silence as his brother’s boisterous admission echoed through the barn.

“I
want
to marry her!”

“You do?”

“I might as well,” he grumbled. “I can’t sleep for thinking about her. She just…she…”

“Let me guess. She becomes more beautiful by the second, consuming your thoughts until she’s all you see, eyes open or shut?”

The sheer misery in his twin’s expression answered Tucker’s question. “Holy hell,” Tuck said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe it. You’re in love with Cora Mae.”

“I never said that.”

“If you plan to marry her, you’d better get used to saying it. I do believe proclamations of love are words most women want to hear on their wedding night.”

“Like you said to Skylar on your wedding night?”

“Go ahead and take shots if it’ll make you feel better. But like you, I was too damn scared to tell Skylar I loved her when I should have. I’ve since wised up. I love my wife. I don’t have any qualms about telling her so. In fact, I make a point of it.”

“Not all folks gush like the two of you.”

“True,” agreed Tucker. “Just the lucky ones.”

Chance glanced up at his twin, pain pulling at his chest. He’d never had Tucker’s dumb luck. Or maybe he’d just been too blind to see his good fortune when it was staring him right in the face, kissing him into oblivion.

How could he convince Cora Mae?

He didn’t have a clue, but he’d damn well try.

“Don’t let the preacher leave,” he said as he swung into his saddle. “I’m bringing her back.”