Glorious Angel (34 page)
“So I was,” Hank shrugged. “But with a little luck, I will not have to go alone. I have been waiting for a certain lady to join me.”
“Anyone I know?” Bradford asked drily.
Hank laughed. “I believe you know her very well,
amigo
. The lady is your partner.”
Bradford went rigid. “Is that why she’s here?”
“She is here?” Hank asked, surprised. “Where?”
“Wait a minute! Is Angela here to meet you or not?”
“No,” Hank replied. “I have not seen her since I left your ranch.”
Bradford’s eyes blazed. “I warned you to stay away from her!”
“By what right?” Hank demanded. “She is only your partner. Does that give you the right to speak for her? No,
amigo
. She is a woman without a man, and I would be a fool not to try to make her mine.”
Bradford grabbed Hank’s shirt front and shoved him up against the wall. “I’m warning you—”
Bradford stopped when he felt the barrel of a gun pressed against his belly. He let go of Hank, bristling at the man’s amused grin.
“Is this how it will always be for you,
amigo
? The man at the bottom of the stairs, you beat him senseless. But the bruises on your face are old. Was that another fight over the woman? And now you wish to tear me apart too, eh?” Hank shook his head. “You will let no one else have her, but you do not claim her for yourself. What is wrong with you?”
Bradford did not have the energy to pretend. “I don’t know if she’ll still have me.”
Hank put his gun away. “If she knows you love her, then she’ll have you. It’s you she loves. I wish you had not come to your senses,
amigo
, for then
you might have driven her to me. But now…there is nothing for me here.
Adios.”
Grinning at his bigheartedness, Hank loped down the hall and out of sight. Now there would be no coming back for her. He was certain of that.
Angela spent two full days in bed. The storm raged outside as she lay watching it.
Against her protests, Bradford sent for the doctor, who ordered strict bed rest. She gave in, needing the time to settle her nerves, time to think, after her ordeal.
She hadn’t seen Bradford and they had yet to have their talk. She had learned of the fire and rejoiced that Bradford was safe. Fury and terror had given him the strength to break free of the ropes and escape the flaming house.
Mary Lou came to visit in the afternoon of the second day. She talked of pleasant things, but she was unable to cheer her friend.
After Mary Lou left, Angela stood by the window, staring out at the darkness, listening to the rain. The room was pleasantly warm, with logs blazing in the fireplace. She slipped out of her
robe and laid it over the chair by the window. She didn’t hear Bradford enter the room, and she jumped when he said, “Where are you going, Angela?”
She turned and found him staring at the trunks at the foot of her bed.
She moved over to the trunks and closed the lids without looking at him. “I thought I’d go to Europe. I plan to leave tomorrow.”
“I had the impression you liked it here,” Bradford returned, his voice almost a whisper. At least she had not said she was going to Mexico.
Her eyes were filled with unconcealed longing. “I do, Bradford, but I’ve been here long enough. I’d like to go places I’ve never been,” she said lightly and crossed to stand by the fire, the light behind her making her nightgown almost transparent. “You know, you never told me why you came back here. Or how your face was bruised.”
Bradford fingered his jaw self-consciously.
“Grant and I finally had it out,” he answered uneasily.
“Does he look as bad as you do?” she asked, whirling around.
Bradford leaned against the side of the bed, a weak grin on his lips. “No, he got the better of me this time, and I deserved every bit of it.”
“Yes, you did,” she replied.
“Grant told me what I was too pigheaded to listen to before.”
Angela began to feel faint. “Which was…what?”
“That you didn’t come out here because of him—and that he never made love to you.”
“Why didn’t you believe
me
when I told you the same thing?”
“Because I saw the two of you in bed, Angela, in Nacogdoches. You were kissing Grant, with only a damn sheet wrapped around you. I went there to bring you back to Golden Oaks, but when I opened the door to your room and saw the two of you like that, I assumed the worst. What else was I supposed to think? I still don’t understand how you could be in a position like that unless you were lovers.”
She listened to him quietly and then said, “Grant came to my room drunk. He busted in on me before I could get dressed. And since he was too drunk to stand up, I put him to bed. He had come to ask me to marry him, but I refused. He pleaded for the kiss before I left, and I saw no harm in that. Then I got another room for myself for the night. That is the whole story.”
Bradford crossed the room to stand before her. “I realize how wrong I have been, Angela. But why did you leave Golden Oaks without a single word? My God, do you know how I felt? And then I thought you had run away to be with Grant. It nearly destroyed me. Why did you do it?”
“I was in the hall that morning when Crystal
read you the letter. I heard it all, Bradford. I believed it wholly. I believed you were my half brother. I knew I had to leave, because seeing you again would have hurt too much. I continued to believe the lie until Jim McLaughlin found me and gave me a letter from Jacob.”
“But why have you never told me all this?”
“Because you never gave me a
chance.”
Everything was clear to him now. Everything except one question. Had he killed her love with cruel treatment?
“I know how
I
felt when Crystal claimed that you were my half sister. The world suddenly became black and empty. Did you feel the same way?” he asked her gently, his eyes shaded. For once, he was thinking of her and not of himself.
“Yes. Even when I went to town and found out that your fiancée had just arrived. It almost didn’t matter, because I thought I could never have you anyway.”
Bradford groaned. He had forgotten about his lie, and wished now that his pride had not goaded him into hurting Angela with it.
He cleared his throat and said sheepishly, “I’m not married, Angela.”
“I know,” she grinned. “Candise sent a telegram while you were gone, explaining that she had married on your advice.”
“I would have told you about her,” Bradford rushed ahead. “I only asked her to marry me to please my father, and she agreed to please hers,
even though she loved another man. But then I found you, and I knew what happiness could be. She arrived the day you left Golden Oaks, and I broke our engagement before I came after you. She was as relieved to break it off as I was.”
“So you told me you had married just to hurt me?”
“I…well, I wanted to show you I didn’t care. But I guess I did want to hurt you—to make you suffer as I was suffering—because I thought you didn’t love me.” He tilted her chin and searched her eyes. “Why were you leaving Texas, Angel?”
“Because I couldn’t bear to live with your hate anymore.”
He took her face in his hands. “I love you, Angela.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Please don’t say that, Bradford. Not unless you mean it.”
He smiled. “I can’t blame you for doubting me. I convinced myself that I hated you, and I guess I convinced you too. But it was only because I loved you so much. I just couldn’t stand it, loving you as much as I do, and not having you love me any longer.”
“I never stopped loving you, Bradford.”
Very gently, he brought her close to him. “It’s not easy for a stubborn fool like me to beg forgiveness. I know I’ve treated you badly. So many things I said and did were calculated to hurt you, to show you that you meant nothing to me. I’ve cursed myself a thousand times for my cruelty.
My damnable jealousy has made us both suffer. Can you ever forgive me, Angel? I know I have no right even to ask.”
“I already have,” she answered softly. Her eyes were sparkling.
Bradford picked her up then and kissed her hungrily. “I’ll never mistrust you again, Angela,” he whispered huskily. “I swear it! I know my faults. I know that whenever I see another man looking at you my temper will flare. I can’t help that. But I won’t let it come between us ever again. Oh, Angel, it’s only because I love you so damn much!”
His eyes were a golden brown as he carried her to the bed. He was thinking with pride,
this woman’s mine!
The storm continued all through the night, but neither Angela nor Bradford heard it.
On a glorious winter morning not long after, Angela and Bradford were married in a small Dallas church.
Angela’s thoughts were with Jacob. His fondest dream was her own, and their dreams had come true.
I have not lost him, Jacob. I have him now and forever
.
And it was true.
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And now enjoy an excerpt!
Kimberly MacGregor waved the letter in her hand to gain her husband’s attention as he entered her sitting room. “Megan has written again,” she told him. “She has invitations piling up, too many as usual, but in this case that’s ideal. Let her pick and choose the best ones. She’s sounding really excited about this. Want to read the letter?”
“Nay.”
That answer was too abrupt and a bit disgruntled-sounding for a man of Lachlan MacGregor’s easy temperament.
“You aren’t having second thoughts about letting Melissa go to London, are you?”
“Aye.”
“Lachlan!”
His disgruntled tone was now accompanied by a matching look. “I dinna like asking the Duke and Duchess o’ Wrothston for favors.”
Kimberly relaxed. She should have known. Lachlan might get along famously with Devlin St. James when he and his wife Megan came to visit them at Kregora Castle, or vice versa, but it wasn’t always that way. They had in fact met under bizarre circumstances which didn’t account for Lachlan’s remark about favors.
“This was Megan’s idea, so there’s no favor involved,” she reminded him. “As soon as she heard that all of Melissa’s beaux were being frightened off by my over-protective brothers, she suggested Meli come to England where the MacFearsons are unknown. You agreed it was a good idea. I agreed it was an excellent idea. And Meli is looking forward to it. So don’t be having second thoughts now.”
“I assumed she’d be staying at Wrothston, as we do when we visit them in England, no’ in London town,” he grumbled. “The lass has been tae Wrothston enough tae be comfortable and feel right at home. London’s no’ the same, and she’ll be nervous enough—”
“Nervous?” Kimberly interrupted. “Our daughter is excited about this trip, she’s not the least bit nervous. If anyone’s nervous it’s you, and you and I aren’t even going until later in the summer. Is that it, then? You’re letting your worry for her override your better judgment?”
“Nay, I just dinna want her feeling she has tae find a husband afore she comes home. That’s tae
much pressure tae be putting on her at her young age. You have assured her—?”
“Yes, yes, I’ve assured her she can be an old maid if she’d like.”
“Och, this isna funny, Kimber.”
She tsked at him. “You’re the one making too much out of it. Most young girls her age go through this; I did myself. Now I might have been nervous about it, but Meli really isn’t. She plans to have fun, to make some new friends, to be awed by such a big town as London is, and she even figures she’ll probably find a husband while she’s at it. But that’s not at the top of her to-do list by any means. She thought we wanted her to make a concerted effort to get affianced, but I’ve assured her if she does, that’s fine, and if she doesn’t, that’s fine, too. Maybe you should tell her the same before she leaves, so she can just relax and let what happens happen. Now have we covered all your last minute doubts?”