brides for brothers 15 - a randall hero (9 page)

“No, I—” Conceding, she let John take her baby.

“How are you, little Emma? Was Mommy squeezing you?”

“No!” Lucy answered in place of Emma. “I—I’ll take care of her.”

He started back into the house. “Come in to the kitchen. Let’s have a cup of coffee.”

“I need to leave, John. I—I have to reach my car before dawn.”

“Sit down,” he ordered, and began putting on coffee with one hand, holding Emma with the other.

Realizing she wasn’t going to convince him without talking things over, she took over the coffee-making duties.

John moved to a chair and held Emma in his arms, talking to the sleeping baby.

She couldn’t help listening.

“Your mama thinks she’s doing the best she can for you, but she’s wrong. I don’t know why she’s doing this. She won’t give me a reason, but she can’t have a good enough reason to put you at risk.”

Her hands jerked and she spilled coffee. Wiping up the mess, she said nothing.

John continued, “She needs to understand that nothing she feels would make this move worthwhile. Whether she tells me the reason or not.”

Lucy sat down at the table knowing she had no choice now but to tell him the truth. Taking a deep breath she said, “I don’t think you and your parents realize how difficult Cecil is. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill you if you stood in his way.”

“I figured that out.” John smiled gently at Lucy.

“But I also know Emma is doing fine. And you’ve suffered enough, Lucy.”

Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back. “I don’t know if I ever loved him. But whatever I’d felt for him had disappeared shortly after we married. I tried to remain true to my marriage vows, but it was all over after he beat me and tried to hurt Emma. But that doesn’t mean I should use you to deal with Cecil.”

John reached out and his palm caressed her cheek. “You did the best you could, and you have nothing to hang your head about.”

“But you shouldn’t—It’s not your fault!”

Emma stirred, as if in response to the anguish of her mother’s voice.

John patted Emma’s back and soothed her with his deep voice. As always, she responded and settled back down.

“Please, John,” Lucy begged in a whisper, “it’s not your fault. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Okay, I’ll let you have a pass this time, I promise. But you have to promise not to run away again. We don’t want to protect only Emma. We want to protect you, too, Lucy.”

“I don’t deserve your protection, John.
I
married Cecil.
I
didn’t leave when he first hit me. I thought he’d stop. He promised he would….”

“Honey, it doesn’t matter what you did. You didn’t deserve being hit. No one does. But you didn’t have any support from your family. You didn’t know about men like Cecil.”

Lucy covered her face as tears began to fall. “I—I tried to be good but…it must’ve been me. I didn’t—”

“Lucy, it’s not your fault.” John reached out with his free hand and pulled her into his lap, with Emma on his other shoulder. “It’s all right, Lucy,” he soothed. “It’s all right.”

For several minutes she let him cradle her, treat her with the kindness no man had shown her. Then finally John leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

“It’s all right, Lucy. You’re going to be a wonderful mom to Emma. I promise.”

“John, you’re so good to me.” More tears wet her cheeks.

John smiled at her. “It’s easy to be nice to you, Lucy. You’re sweet and thoughtful and kind…” He leaned down and kissed her forehead again. “Your husband was so wrapped up in himself, he never even saw you.” He wrapped his palm around her cheek, cradling her face, wiping her tears. He looked at her red-rimmed eyes and felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her, love her, protect her.

Lucy shook her head. “You don’t understand. Cecil agreed with my mother. He thought I was ugly.”

“Then he’s a blind man.” He lifted her face and caressed her cheek with his thumb. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

Lucy stirred against his hold, clearly uncomfortable with the compliments. “I—I should put Emma back in bed.”

“I’ll help you. Then I’ll tuck you in, too. Remember, you promised not to run.”

“I’ll remember. John, thank you for making me feel better. I won’t take Emma away without telling you. You’ve been a good friend to both of us.”

He didn’t want to be just her friend, but if that was all she offered, then he’d have to settle for it.

“Good. Let’s go tuck Emma into her crib. I think she’s missing it.”

“Probably. She’s lucky to have such a nice room.”

“I think she deserves it,” he said with a smile as he put his arm around Lucy and started them down the hall. Once they reached the nursery, he took Emma off his shoulder and laid her into her crib.

Lucy pulled the cover over her little girl and patted her back.

“She’ll have you up in a couple of hours, so we’d better tuck you in, too.”

“Will you get up and ride out tomorrow?” Lucy asked anxiously.

“No. My manager will be in charge tomorrow. I figured I’d lose sleep over you and Emma. And it’s well worth it. So I’ll be around tomorrow to help out with anything.”

“You’ve already helped a lot.”

“I’m here for you, Lucy. I promise.”

They walked next door to her room, and Lucy turned to him. “Thank you again.”

“Sleep in in the morning.”

“No, I—”

He bent and kissed her lips, stopping her. “Sleep in. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

He left her room, pulling the door behind him.

Lucy stared after him, touching her lips. It was the first time he’d really kissed her. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, rather a gentle one. Just like the man himself. Cecil hadn’t indulged in that type of caress. In fact, he hadn’t ever wasted time on any kind of caress.

From the time John first met her, he’d welcomed her into his arms for protection. She’d been charmed that first night. Now she couldn’t deny she was in love with him.

God help her.

I
NSTEAD OF EATING BREAKFAST
with his men in the bunkhouse at six, John got up at seven-thirty and wandered into the kitchen. “Good morning.”

Camille stared at her son. “John! Don’t you usually ride out? What’s going on?”

“I stayed up last night to visit with Lucy when she packed up Emma and planned on walking to Rawhide to get her car. I thought it would be a good idea for us to talk. After a while, she promised not to run away again.”

“But why would she do that?” Camille asked, anguish in her voice.

“She was afraid we wouldn’t realize how dangerous her husband could be and he might hurt one of us when we’ve been so good to her.”

“The poor dear. I’ve never been in that kind of situation. Who knows what I would do?”

“I know, Mom.”

Beside her, Griff advised, “You need to tell her that, Cammy.”

“Yes, I will. She needs to know how brave I think she is.”

“I tried to tell her that, Mom. It’s just that Lucy isn’t used to being trusted and believed in.”

“That poor child. She must’ve been in a terrible mess with that man hitting her. How could he?”

“We all wonder that, Mom.” John did more than wonder. He vowed to protect Lucy. Even if he had to harm Cecil to do it.

L
UCY GOT UP EVERY TIME
Emma awakened. But she also went back to sleep. She didn’t want to face John.

She hadn’t been prepared for the kiss he’d given her last night.

In her marriage sex had been awful. A duty, an obligation, an act to please her husband. She didn’t want anything to do with sex ever again. But with John, she wasn’t so sure. When he held her, kissed her, something inside her came to life.

Desire.

And it frightened her to death.

When Emma woke her up at eight, Lucy knew she was going to have to face John. She changed Emma’s diaper and dressed herself, too.

Then she headed for the kitchen, and John.

The three Randalls were seated at the breakfast table. John immediately stood and reached for Emma. “I’ll hold her while you fix her bottle.”

She didn’t bother protesting. “Thank you.”

“Lucy,” Camille began, “I want you to know that we realize how disturbed your husband is, but we are not going to let him touch you.”

Lucy felt her eyes fill with tears. “Camille, it’s not something you should have to do.”

“I know, dear, but we as a family feel it’s our duty to protect you and Emma.” She rose and went to the stove. “Now, let me fix you some breakfast. You can eat while John feeds Emma.” John had already gotten the bottle.

“Camille, you don’t need to fix me anything,” Lucy said. “I can eat cereal.”

“No, you need a good breakfast.”

Griff smiled at Lucy. “Let her cook for you. That’s her way. Besides, she’s a really good cook.”

“I know she is. I’m just not sure she should cook for me. I’m not sure why any of you are doing what you’re doing for me.”

“Well, we know,” Camille said. “Because we care about you.” Then she brought a plate full of eggs and bacon to Lucy. “Eat every bit of this. You need to build your strength.”

“Thank you, Camille,” Lucy whispered.

Camille leaned over and hugged Lucy. “Thank you for staying.”

Lucy nodded, but didn’t speak because tears were filling her eyes.

“Now, eat up,” Camille said. “Look at Emma! She’s certainly not hesitating to do that.”

“I’m thinking this bottle may not be enough,” John said as Emma finished the last of her milk. “How about another half bottle?”

“Do you think so?” Lucy asked, looking at Camille.

“I don’t think it would hurt. I’ll get it while you eat, Lucy.”

Lucy didn’t say anything. She ate her breakfast, a large meal by her standards. But she kept an eye on her daughter. Emma did eat a little more, then she fell asleep.

“I’ll put her in bed,” Lucy said, jumping up from her chair.

“Okay,” John said. “But come back. I have a question to ask you.”

Lucy took her child and carried her to bed. She didn’t want to do as John had asked; it seemed risky to her. But she gave in to his request.

“She’s sound asleep,” she announced as she reached the kitchen.

“That’s good,” John said. “Say, have you ever been horseback riding?”

“Oh, no, John, not this soon after giving birth,” Camille protested.

“I just thought since I had the day off, it would be a good time for you to try something fun and get out into the fresh air.”

“I think it might be too soon, John, but thank you for thinking of me.”

“I can take another day off later, when you’re ready.”

“I’m not—not used to horses. I might not ever need to learn to ride, anyway. I probably won’t stay on a ranch. I’ll move in with Melissa and Harry, or find my own place to live.”

“Really?” John asked in surprise. “I think a ranch is a great place to live and raise kids.”

“But that’s because you grew up on a ranch. That wasn’t how I was raised.”

“That’s true,” Camille joined in. “But you may decide it’s nice, after you’ve been here awhile. Change takes time, John. You should know that.”

“Yeah,” John agreed, but the expression on his face didn’t look happy. “How about I take the four-wheeler and you go with me?” he suddenly asked, surprising Lucy.

“A four-wheeler?”

“Yeah. I can show you some of the ranch without you having to ride a horse. Will you come with me?”

Lucy could feel herself weakening. After losing one last effort to resist, she finally consented. “But I can’t leave Emma for too long.”

“We’ll just be out a couple of hours. Back in time for lunch. Mom can take care of Emma for that long.”

“You know I’d love to take care of Emma, Lucy. And I’ll have Griff to help me, won’t I, dear?”

Griff nodded.

“Well, I—I suppose I can go,” Lucy stammered, “but just for a couple of hours.”

“Great. Put on some warm clothes and I’ll go get the four-wheeler. I’ll drive it up to the door so you can just wait here for me.”

John grabbed his coat and hurried out the door.

Lucy went back to her room, pulling a sweater over her shoulders and hoping her jeans would be warm enough. Then she grabbed her coat.

“Lucy, do you have any long underwear?” Camille called.

“No. Do you think I need them on under my jeans?”

“It wouldn’t hurt. Here’s a pair of mine. I think they’ll work for you. And I have some gloves, too.”

“Thank you, Camille. I didn’t realize the undertaking would be so involved.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

When she was ready to go, she found John had come in to get a small Thermos of coffee and some cookies.

“So you get just as hungry riding a four-wheeler as you do a horse?”

He chuckled. “No, not really, but I thought you might get hungry.”

She couldn’t hold back a smile. When John was amused, the entire world shone for Lucy.

“Ready?”

“Yes, if you are.”

He escorted her out to the four-wheeler. “Have you ever been on one of these?”

“No. Are there seat belts?”

“No, honey, no seat belts. You just need to hold on to me. I won’t go that fast today.”

“Do you do a lot of your work from one of these?” she asked as he started the motor and drove away from the house.

“Not really. We use it in the open pastures, but not all of our land is flat. Besides, you can’t round up cows on a four-wheeler, and you certainly can’t cut out a cow from a herd with this machine.”

“Do you do all those things?”

“Yeah, some days. That’s why I ride most days.”

“I’d like Emma to learn to ride when she’s older.”

“Then you’ll have to ride, too.”

“I will?”

“Sure. She won’t believe she can ride unless she sees you riding.”

“But—”

“We’ll get her a little pony, and a small horse for you to start off. You’ll like it.”

She forced herself to say, “If we’re still here when she’s old enough.”

“I think you will be. Cecil can’t terrorize you for long. Either he gives in, or he’ll be destroyed. We don’t live in a world where he can continue to threaten you.”

“I hope that’s true.”

“It is.” They rode in silence for a while, enjoying the scenery and the closeness. At the crest of the hill, John stopped and pointed at a picturesque lake. “In a couple months we’ll be able to skate on that, then we can swim in it. Still, it can be pretty cold. It takes a brave person to get in the water. Do you think you’ll be able to do that?”