Rough Diamonds: Wyoming Tough\Diamond in the Rough (25 page)

He hesitated. “That shouldn’t be a consideration…”

“My mother has lung cancer,” she replied starkly. “She’s just been through major surgery and is now undergoing radiation and chemo for it. She can’t take any more stress than she’s already got. If there’s even a chance that this trial could bring that sort of publicity, I can’t take it. So what can I do?”

Mr. Addy considered the question. “I think we can plea bargain him to a charge of sexual assault with the lighter sentence. I know, it’s not perfect,” he told her. “He’d likely get the fine and some jail time, even if he gets probation. And it would at least go on the record as a conviction and any future transgression on his part would land him in very hot water. He has a public defender, but he seems anxious to avoid spending a long time in jail waiting for the trial. I think he’ll agree to the lesser charge.
Especially considering who the witness is. When he has time to think about the consequences of trying to drag John Callister’s good name through the mud, and consider what sort of attorneys the Callisters would produce for a trial, I believe he’ll jump at the plea bargain.”

She considered that, and then the trauma of a jury trial with all the media present. This way, at least Tarleton would now have a criminal record, and it might be enough to deter him from any future assaults on other women. “Okay,” she said. “As long as he doesn’t get away with it.”

“Oh, he won’t get away with it, Miss Peale,” he said solemnly. “I promise you that.” He pondered for a minute. “However, if you’d rather stand firm on the original charge, I’ll prosecute him, despite the obstacles. Is this plea bargain what you really want?”

She sighed sadly. “Not really. I’d love to hang him out to dry. But I have to consider my mother. It’s the only possible way to make him pay for what he tried to do without hurting my family. If it goes to a jury trial, even with the media all around, he might walk away a free man because of the publicity. You said they were already trying to twist it so that it looks like John was just jealous and making a fuss because he could, because he was rich and powerful. I know the Callisters can afford the best attorneys, but it wouldn’t be right to put them in that situation, either. Mr. Callister has two little nieces…” She grimaced. “You know, the legal system isn’t altogether fair sometimes.”

He smiled. “I agree. But it’s still the best system on earth,” he replied.

“I hope I’m doing the right thing,” she said on a sigh.
“If he gets out and hurts some other woman because I backed down, I’ll never get over it.”

He gave her a long look. “You aren’t backing down, Miss Peale. You’re compromising. It may look as if he’s getting away with it. But he isn’t.”

She liked him. She smiled. “Okay, then.”

He closed his briefcase and got to his feet. He held out his hand and shook hers. “He’ll have a criminal record,” he promised her. “If he ever tries to do it again, in Montana, I can promise you that he’ll spend a lot of time looking at the world through vertical bars.” He meant every word.

“Thanks, Mr. Addy.”

“I’ll let you know how things work out. Good evening.”

Sassy watched him go with quiet, thoughtful eyes. She was compromising on the case, but on behalf of a good cause. She couldn’t put her mother through the nightmare of a trial and the vicious publicity it would bring on them. Mrs. Peale had suffered enough.

She went back into the house. Mrs. Peale was coming out of the bedroom, wrapped in her chenille housecoat, pale and weak. “Could you get me some pineapple juice, sweetheart?” she asked, forcing a smile.

“Of course!” Sassy ran to get it. “Are you all right?” she asked worriedly.

“Just a little sick. That’s nothing to worry about, it goes with the treatments. At least I’m through with them for a few weeks.” She frowned. “What’s wrong? And who was that man you were talking to?”

“Here, back to bed.” Sassy went with her, helping her down on the bed and tucking her under the covers with her glass of cold juice. She sat down beside her. “That
was the assistant district attorney—or one of them, anyway. A Mr. Addy. He came to talk to me about Mr. Tarleton. He wants to offer him a plea bargain so we don’t end up in a messy court case.”

Mrs. Peale frowned. “He’s guilty of harassing you. He assaulted you. He should pay for it.”

“He will. There’s jail time and a fine for it,” she replied, candy-coating her answer. “He’ll have a criminal record. But I won’t have to be grilled and humiliated by his attorney on the stand.”

Mrs. Peale sipped her juice. She thought about what a trial would be like for Sassy. She’d seen such trials on her soap operas. She sighed. “All right, dear. If you’re satisfied, I am, too.” She smiled. “Have you heard from John? He was going to bring me some special chocolates when he came back.”

Sassy hesitated. She couldn’t tell her mother. Not yet. “I haven’t heard from him,” she said.

“You don’t look well…”

“I’m just fine,” Sassy said, grinning. “Now you go back to bed. I’m going to reconcile the bank statement and get Selene’s clothes ready for school tomorrow.”

“All right, dear.” She settled back into the pillows. “You’re too good to me, Sassy,” she added. “Once I get back on my feet, I want you to go a lot of places with John. I’m going to be fine, thanks to him and those doctors in Billings. I can take care of myself and Selene, finally, and you can have a life of your own.”

“You stop that,” Sassy chided. “I love you. Nothing I do for you, or Selene, is a chore.”

“Yes, but you’ve had a ready-made family up until now,” Mrs. Peale said softly. “It’s limited your social life.”

“My social life is just dandy, thanks.”

The older woman grinned. “I’ll say! Wait until John gets back. He’s got a surprise waiting for you.”

“Has he, really?” Sassy wondered if it was the surprise the attorney had just shared with her. She was too sick to care, but she couldn’t let on. Her mother was so happy. It would be cruel to dash all her hopes and reveal the truth about the young man Mrs. Peale idolized.

“He has! Don’t you stay up too late. You’re looking peaked, dear.”

“I’m just tired. We’ve been putting up tons of stock in the feed store,” she lied. She smiled. “Good night, Mama.”

“Good night, dear. Sleep well.”

As if, Sassy thought as she closed the door. She gave up on paperwork a few minutes later and went to bed. She cried herself to sleep.

John walked into the feed store a day later, back from an unwanted but urgent business trip to Colorado. He spotted Sassy at the counter and walked up to it with a beaming smile.

She looked up and saw him, and he knew it was all over by the expression on her face. She was apprehensive, uncomfortable. She fidgeted and could barely meet his intent gaze.

He didn’t even bother with preliminary questions. His eyes narrowed angrily. “Who told you?” he asked tersely.

She drew in a breath. He looked scary like that. Now that she knew who he really was, knew the power and fame behind his name, she was intimidated. This man could write his own ticket. He could go anywhere, buy anything, do anything he liked. He was worlds away
from Sassy, who lived in a house with a leaky roof. He was like a stranger. The smiling, easygoing cowboy she thought he was had become somebody totally different.

“It was the assistant district attorney,” she said in a faint tone. “He came to see me. Mr. Tarleton was going to insinuate that you were jealous of him and forced me to file a complaint…”

He exploded. “I’ll get attorneys in here who will put him away for the rest of his miserable life,” he said tersely. He looked as if he could do that single-handed.

“No!” She swallowed. “No. Please. Think what it would do to Mama if a whole bunch of reporters came here to cover the story because of…because of who you are,” she pleaded. “Stress makes everything so much worse for her.”

He looked at her intently. “I hadn’t thought about that,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“Mr. Addy says that Mr. Tarleton will probably agree to plead guilty or no contest to the sexual assault charge.” She sighed. “There’s a fine and jail time. He was willing to prosecute on the harder charge, but there would have to be proof that he did more than just kiss me and handle me…”

He frowned. He knew what she meant. A jury would be unlikely to convict for sexual assault and battery on an unwanted kiss and some groping, and how could they prove that Tarleton had intended much more? It made him angry. He wanted the man to go to prison. But Mrs. Peale would pay the price. In her delicate condition, it would probably kill her to have to watch Sassy go through the trial, even if she didn’t get to court. John’s name would guarantee news interest. Just the
same, he was going to have a word with Mr. Addy. Sassy never had to know.

“How is your mother?” he asked.

“She’s doing very well,” she replied, her tone a little stilted. He did intimidate her now. “The treatments have left her a little anemic and weak, and there’s some nausea, but they gave her medicine for that.” She didn’t add that it was bankrupting her to pay for it. She’d already had to pawn her grandfather’s watch and pistol to manage a month’s worth. She wasn’t admitting that.

“I brought her some chocolates,” he told her. He smiled gently. “She likes the Dutch ones.”

She was staring at him with wide, curious eyes. “You’ll spoil her,” she replied.

He shrugged. “So? I’m rich. I can spoil people if I want to.”

“Yes, I know, but…”

“If you were rich, and I wasn’t,” he replied solemnly, “would you hesitate to do anything you could for me, if I was in trouble?”

“Of course not,” she assured him.

“Then why should it bother you if I spoil your mother a little? Especially, now, when she’s had so much illness.”

“It doesn’t, really. It’s just—” She stopped dead. The color went out of her face as she stared at him and suddenly realized how much he’d done for them.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“There was no grant to pay for that surgery, and the treatments,” she said in a choked tone. “You paid for it! You paid for it all!”

J
OHN
grimaced. “Sassy, there was no other way,” he said, trying to reason with her. She looked anguished. “Your mother would have died. I checked your company insurance coverage when I had Buck put you on the payroll as assistant manager. It didn’t have a major medical option. I told Buck to shop around for a better plan, but your mother’s condition went critical before we could find one.”

She knew her heart was going to beat her to death. She’d never be able to pay him back, not even the interest on the money he’d spent on her mother. She’d been poor all her life, but she’d never felt it like this. It had never hurt so much.

“You’re part of my life now,” he said softly. “You and your mother and Selene. Of course I was going to do all I could for you. For God’s sake, don’t try to reduce what we feel for each other to dollars and cents!”

“I can’t pay you back,” she groaned.

“Have I asked you to?” he returned.

“But…” she protested, ready for a long battle.

The door opened behind them and Theodore Graves, the police chief walked in. His lean face was set in hard lines. He nodded at John and approached Sassy.

He pushed his Stetson back over jet-black hair. “That assistant district attorney, Addy, said you agreed to let Tarleton plea bargain to a lesser charge,” he said. “He won’t discuss the case with me and I can’t intimidate him the way I intimidate most people. So I’d like to know why.”

She sighed. He made her feel guilty. “It’s Mama,” she told him. “He—” she indicated John “—is very well-known. If it goes to court, reporters will show up to find out why he’s mixed up in a sexual assault case. Mama will get stressed out, the cancer will come back, and we’ll bury her.”

Graves grimaced. “I hadn’t thought about that. About the stress, I mean.” He frowned. “What do you mean, he’s well-known?” he added, indicating John. “He’s a ranch foreman.”

“He’s not,” Sassy said with a long sigh. “He’s John Callister.”

Graves lifted a thick, dark eyebrow. “Of the Callister ranching empire over in Medicine Ridge?”

John lifted a shoulder. “Afraid so.”

“Oh, boy.”

“Listen, at least he’ll have a police record,” Sassy said stubbornly. “Think about it. Do you really want a media circus right here in Hollister? Mr. Tarleton would probably love it,” she added miserably.

“He probably would,” Graves had to agree. He stuck his hands into his slacks pockets. “Seventy-five years ago, we’d have turned him out into the woods and sent men with guns after him.”

“Civilized men don’t do things like that,” Sassy reminded him. “Especially policemen.”

Graves shrugged. “So sue me. I never claimed to be civilized. I’m a throwback.” He drew in a long breath. “All right, as long as the polecat gets some serious time in the slammer, I can be generous and put up the rope I just bought.”

Sassy wondered how the chief thought Tarleton would get a jail sentence when Mr. Addy had hinted that Tarleton would probably get probation.

“Good of you,” John mused.

“Pity he didn’t try to escape when we took him up to Billings for the motion hearing,” Graves said thoughtfully. “I volunteered to go along with the deputy sheriff who transported him. I even wore my biggest caliber revolver, special, just in case.” He pursed his lips and brightened. “Somebody might leave a door open, in the detention center…”

“Don’t you dare,” John said firmly. “You’re not the only one who’s disappointed. I was looking forward to the idea of having him spend the next fifteen years or so with one of the inmates who has the most cigarettes. But I’m not willing to see my future mother-in-law die over it.”

“Mother-in-law?” Graves gave him a wry look from liquid black eyes in a lean, tanned face.

Sassy blushed. “Now, we have to talk about that,” she protested.

“We already did,” John said. “You promised to marry me.”

“That was before I knew who you were,” she shot back belligerently.

He grinned. “That’s more like it,” he mused. “The deference was wearing a little thin,” he explained.

She flushed even more. She had been behaving like
a working girl with the boss, instead of an equal. She shifted. She was still uncomfortable thinking about his background and comparing it to her own.

“I like weddings,” Graves commented.

John glanced at him. “You do?”

He nodded. “I haven’t been to one in years, of course, and I don’t own a good suit anymore.” He shrugged. “I guess I could buy one, if I got invited to a wedding.”

John burst out laughing. “You can come to ours. I’ll make sure you get an invitation.”

Graves smiled. “That’s a deal.” He glanced at Sassy, who still looked undecided. “If I lived in a house that looked like yours, and drove a piece of scrap metal like that vehicle you ride around in, I’d say yes when a financially secure man asked me to marry him.”

Sassy almost burst trying not to laugh. “Has any financially secure man asked you to marry him lately, Chief?”

He glared at her. “I was making a point.”

“Several of them,” Sassy returned. “But I do appreciate your interest. I wouldn’t mind sending Mr. Tarleton to prison myself, if the cost wasn’t so high.”

He pursed his lips and his black eyes twinkled. “Now that’s a coincidence. I’ve thought about nothing else except sending Mr. Tarleton to prison for the past few weeks. In fact, it never hurts to recommend a prison to the district attorney,” he said pleasantly. “I know one where even the chaplain has to carry a Taser.”

“Mr. Addy already said he isn’t likely to get jail time, since he’s a first offender,” Sassy said sadly.

“Now isn’t that odd,” the chief replied with a wicked grin. “I spent some quality time on the computer yesterday and I turned up a prior conviction for sexual assault
over in Wyoming, where Mr. Tarleton was working two years ago. He got probation for that one. Which makes him a repeat offender.” He looked almost angelic. “I just told Addy. He was almost dancing in the street.”

Sassy gasped. “Really?”

He chuckled. “I thought you’d like hearing that. I figured that a man with his attitude had to have a conviction somewhere. He didn’t have one in Montana, so I started looking in surrounding states. I checked the criminal records in Wyoming, got a hit, and called the district attorney in the court circuit where it was filed. What a story I got from him! So I took it straight to Addy this morning.” He gave her a wry look. “But I did want to know why you let him plead down, and Addy wouldn’t tell me.”

“Now I feel better, about agreeing to the plea bargain,” Sassy said. “His record will affect the sentence, won’t it?”

“It will, indeed,” Graves assured her. “In another interesting bit of irony, the judge hearing his case had to step down on account of a family emergency. The new judge in his case is famous for her stance on sexual assault cases.” He leaned forward. “She’s a woman.”

Sassy’s eyes lit up. “Poor Mr. Tarleton.”

“Right.” John chuckled. “Good of you to bring us the latest news.”

Graves smiled at him. “I thought it would be a nice surprise.” He glanced at Sassy. “I understand now why you made the decision you did. Your mom’s a sweet lady. It’s like a miracle that the surgery saved her.”

“Yes,” Sassy agreed. Her eyes met John’s. “It is a miracle.”

Graves pulled his wide-brimmed hat low over his eyes. “Don’t forget that wedding invitation,” he reminded John. “I’ll even polish my good boots.”

“I won’t forget,” John assured him.

“Thanks again,” she told the chief.

He smiled at her. “I like happy endings.”

When he was gone, John turned back to Sassy with a searching glance. “I’m coming to get you after supper,” he informed her. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

“John, I’m poor,” she began.

He leaned across the counter and kissed her warmly. “I’ll be poor, if I don’t have you,” he said softly. He pulled a velvet-covered box out of his pocket and put it in her hands. “Open that after I leave.”

“What is it?” she asked dimly.

“Something for us to talk about, of course.” He winked at her and smiled broadly. He walked out the door and closed it gently behind him.

Sassy opened the box. It was a gold wedding band with an embossed vine running around it. There was a beautiful diamond ring that was its companion. She stared at them until tears burned her eyes. A man bought a set of rings like this when he meant them to be heirlooms, handed down from generation to generation. She clutched it close to her heart. Despite the differences, she knew what she was going to say.

It took Mrs. Peale several minutes to understand what Sassy was telling her.

“No, dear,” she insisted. “John
works
for Mr. Callister. That’s what he told us.”

“Yes, he did, but he didn’t mention that Taggert was
his middle name, not his last name,” Sassy replied patiently. “He and his brother, Gil, own one of the most famous ranches in the West. Their parents own that sports magazine Daddy always used to read before he left.”

The older woman sat back with a rough sigh. “Then what was he doing coming around here?” she asked, and looked hurt.

“Well, that’s the interesting part,” Sassy replied, blushing. “It seems that he…well, he wants to…that is…” She jerked out the ring box, opened it, and put it in her mother’s hands. “He brought that to me this morning.”

Mrs. Peale eyed the rings with fascination. “How beautiful,” she said softly. She touched the pattern on the wedding band. “He means these to be heirlooms, doesn’t he? I had your grandmother’s wedding band,” she added sadly, “but I had to sell it when you were little and we didn’t have the money for a doctor when you got sick.” She looked up at her daughter with misty eyes. “He’s really serious, isn’t he?”

“Yes, I think he is,” Sassy sighed. She sat down next to her mother. “I still can’t believe it.”

“That hospital bill,” Mrs. Peale began slowly. “There was no grant, was there?”

Sassy shook her head. “John said that he couldn’t stand by and let you die. He’s fond of you.”

“I’m fond of him, too,” she replied. “And he wants to marry my daughter.” Her eyes suddenly had a faraway look. “Isn’t it funny? Remember what I told you my grandmother said to me, that I’d be poor but my daughter would live like royalty?” She laughed. “My goodness!”

“Maybe she really did know things.” Sassy took the
rings from her mother’s hand and stared at them. It did seem that dreams came true.

John came for her just at sunset. He took time to kiss Mrs. Peale and Selene and assure them that he wasn’t taking Sassy out of the county when they married.

“I’m running this ranch myself,” he assured her with a warm smile. “Sassy and I will live here. The house has plenty of room, so you two can move in with us.”

Mrs. Peale looked worried. “John, it may not look like much, but I was born in this house. I’ve lived in it all my life, even after I married.”

He bent and kissed her again. “Okay. If you want to stay here, we’ll do some fixing up and get you a companion. You can choose her.”

Her old eyes brightened. “You’d do that for me?” she exclaimed.

“Nothing is too good for my second mama,” he assured her, and he wasn’t joking. “Now Sassy and I are going out to talk about all the details. We’ll be back later.”

She kissed him back. “You’re going to be the nicest son-in-law in the whole world.”

“You’d better believe it,” he replied.

John took her over to the new ranch, where the barn was up, the stable almost finished, and the house completely remodeled. He walked her through the kitchen and smiled at her enthusiasm.

“We can have a cook, if you’d rather,” he told her.

She looked back at him, running her hand lovingly over a brand-new stove with all sorts of functions. “Oh,
I’d love to work in here myself.” She hesitated. “John, about Mama and Selene…”

He moved away from the doorjamb he’d been leaning against and pulled her into his arms. His expression was very serious. “I know you’re worried about her. But I was serious about the companion. It’s just that she needs to be a nurse. We won’t tell your mother that part of it just yet.”

“She’s not completely well yet. I know a nurse will look out for her, but…”

He smiled. “I like the way you care about people,” he said softly. “I know she’s not able to stay by herself and she won’t admit it. But we’re close enough that you can go over there every day and check on her.”

She smiled. “Okay. I just worry.”

“That’s one of the things I most admire about you,” he told her. “That big heart.”

“You have to travel a lot, to show cattle, don’t you?” she asked, recalling something she’d read in a magazine about the Callisters, before she knew who John was.

“I used to,” he said. “We have a cattle foreman at the headquarters ranch in Medicine Ridge who’s showing Gil’s bulls now. I’ll put on one here to do the same for us. I don’t want to be away from home unless I have to, now.”

She beamed. “I don’t want you away from home, unless I can go with you.”

He chuckled. “Two minds running in the same direction.” He shifted his weight a little. “I didn’t tell your mother, but I’ve already interviewed several women who might want the live-in position. I had their backgrounds checked as well,” he added, chuckling. “When I knew I was going to marry you, I started thinking about how your mother would cope without you.”

“You’re just full of surprises,” she said, breathless.

He grinned. “Yes, I am. The prospective housemates will start knocking on the door about ten Friday morning. You can tell her when we get home.” He sobered. “She’ll be happier in her own home, Sassy. Uprooting her will be as traumatic as the chemo was. You can visit her every day and twice on Sundays. I’ll come along, too.”

“I think you’re right.” She looked up at him. “She loves you.”

“It’s mutual,” he replied. He smiled down at her, loving the softness in her green eyes. “We can add some more creature comforts for her, and fix what’s wrong with the house.”

“There’s a lot wrong with it,” she said worriedly.

“I’m rich, as you reminded me,” he replied easily. “I can afford whatever she, and Selene, need. After all, they’re family.”