Schulze, Dallas (2 page)

“I don’t suppose you were.” Bishop’s eyes cut past him to Lila.
She nearly whimpered aloud as that fierce blue gaze seemed to cut right through
her. “I need to talk to your sister.”

“Lila?” Douglas’s bewilderment was reflected in his eyes but
Bishop wasn’t interested in offering explanations. Stepping past Douglas, he
stopped in front of the bridal couple.

Lila stared up at him. All the color had drained from her face,
leaving the green of her eyes to stand out in vivid contrast to the milk white
of her skin.

“Call it off,” Bishop told her quietly.

“I don’t know who you are but I think you should either take a
seat or leave.” Logan’s tone made it clear which of the two he’d prefer. He’d
been in Europe three months ago and had missed Douglas’s wedding so he hadn’t
met Bishop then.

“Stay out of this,” Bishop said, barely glancing at the other man.
His eyes pinned Lila where she stood. “Call it off,” he told her again.

She was trembling like a leaf in a high wind but she managed to
shake her head in refusal.

“What the devil do you think you’re doing, Bishop?” Douglas had
come forward, his open features darkening with anger. “This is my sister’s
wedding, for God’s sake.”

“I know what it is. She’s not marrying him.” Bishop jerked his
head toward Logan, his eyes never leaving Lila. “Call it off. Now.”

Dizzy with fear, her mind spinning with the implications of his
arrival, Lila shook her head again.

“Go away,” she whispered, knowing he wasn’t going to do anything
of the kind. She’d never, in her worst nightmares, imagined anything like this
happening.

“Maybe we should talk about this somewhere less public,” Susan
Adams suggested as she joined the little group at the front of the church. “I
think we’ve provided enough entertainment for one morning.” “No!” Lila’s voice
was choked. She felt hysteria rise inside her, like a bird beating frantic wings
against the bars of a cage. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m getting
married.”

With an effort, she dragged her eyes from Bishop’s and spun around
to face Reverend Carpenter, who was staring at the sudden crowd in front of his
altar in growing indignation. He was not accustomed to having his thunder
stolen in his own church.

“Go on with the ceremony,” she said, her voice high and tight. “Go
on.”

“I don’t believe—”

But Bishop cut into the minister’s angry words. “Call it off,
Lila.” His hand closed over her arm, turning her back to face him. “If you
don’t do it, by God, I will.” His voice was low and hard, his eyes a sharp,
angry blue.

Douglas spoke before she could say anything. “Have you lost your
mind, Bishop?”

At the same time, Logan grabbed Bishop’s arm, jerking his fingers
from Lila’s arm. “Get your hands off of her!”

Bishop didn’t so much as glance at him. His eyes remained locked
with Lila’s and what she read in them made her feel faint. He knew, she
thought. She didn’t see how it was possible, but he knew. Somehow he’d found
out the truth, and he’d come East to stop her wedding to Logan.

“Please,” she whispered, hardly knowing what she was asking. For
him to leave, for time to spin backward, for the world to be the way it had
been before she met him. “Please.”

She thought she saw something flicker in his eyes— regret,
perhaps. And for one tiny moment, she dared to hope that he was going to turn
and walk away, that he’d leave her to put the pieces of her life back together
in the only way she could.

“Who the devil
are
you?” Logan demanded.

The challenge in the other man’s question made the hint of
softness in Bishop’s expression disappear, and Lila knew, with a feeling of
despair, that he had no intention of walking away. He looked at her a moment
longer, giving her one final chance to control what was about to happen, but
she could only stare at him, her eyes begging him for a mercy she already knew
he wasn’t going to show.

When she didn’t say anything, Bishop looked at Logan.

“You want to know who I am?” he asked, in a voice as cool and hard
as his eyes. “I’m the father of the child she’s carrying.”

Though Bishop pitched his voice low, the minister stood too close
to miss hearing what he’d said. In the stunned silence that followed the announcement,
the hiss of Reverend Carpenter’s shocked gasp seemed to echo like thunder. That
small sound spelled a death knell for any hope Lila might have had of keeping
her condition a secret. The good reverend’s skill as an orator was easily
outstripped by his talent for gossip. By the end of the day, the entire town
would be buzzing with the news that Lila Adams was with child and that Logan
Sinclair was
not
the father.

Lila would have given a great deal to have been able to die right
there and then. Failing that, she would have settled for fainting. But neither
blessing was granted her. She remained alive and painfully conscious.

Logan was the first to recover. His eyes flashed with hot rage. He
took a quick step forward, his right hand lashing out. He was a big man, as
tall as Bishop and nearly as broad through the shoulders. The punch he threw
was backed by muscle and powered by anger. If it had connected, it almost
certainly would have broken the other man’s jaw. But Bishop had the reflexes of
a cat. He jerked back reflexively and Logan’s fist caught him a glancing blow,
rocking him back on his heels and splitting his lower lip but doing no serious
damage.

“Bastard!” Logan moved to continue the attack but Douglas stepped
between the two men, catching his arm.

“For God’s sake, man, remember where you are!” The reminder did
nothing to soften the rage in Logan’s eyes.

“If you knew what he did to Lila, it wouldn’t matter where we
were.”

“Logan!” Lila’s voice was shrill with panic. She hadn’t thought
things could get any worse, but she’d just realized that they could. Her
fingers dug into the fabric of Logan’s coat. “Please don’t say anything more.
It’s not his fault.”

“Not his fault?” Logan turned to look at her, his expression
incredulous. “How can you say that?”

“I’ll explain later.”

“There’s nothing to explain,” he snapped. “After what the bastard
did to you, I can’t believe he has the nerve to show his face here.”

“One thing I’ve never been accused of lacking is nerve,” Bishop
said. He used the back of his hand to blot the thin trickle of blood from his
lip, his icy blue eyes offering a challenge.

“Stop it, both of you!” Susan’s hissed order was ignored.

Logan’s arm was tight and hard under Lila’s fingers. She could
feel the rage in him and knew he was a heartbeat away from taking another swing
at Bishop. She also knew, though she couldn’t have said how, that Bishop
wouldn’t allow a second blow to go unanswered, and she had nightmare visions of
a fullblown brawl breaking out right in front of the altar where she’d been
baptized twenty-five years ago.

“Please,” she whispered. Though she still held Logan’s arm, it was
Bishop’s eyes she sought. “Please don’t make it any worse.”

“I don’t see how it could get much worse,” Douglas muttered,
glancing over his shoulder at the assembled guests who were watching the
remarkable scene at the altar with avid curiosity.

“I think we’ve provided enough entertainment for one day,” Susan
said briskly. She moved forward and slipped her arm around Lila’s waist. “Let’s
move this into the vestry.”

Lila was grateful for her sister-in-law’s support as the oddly
matched group moved toward the door leading to the vestry. Though she was
careful to keep her eyes down, she could hear the whispers rising up around
them. The sound made her stomach twist. Speculation would be running wild,
everyone trying to guess what could have caused the scene that had been enacted
before them. Once Reverend Carpenter spoke—confidentially, of course—to one or
two of his closest friends, the truth would spread through Beaton,
Pennsylvania, like floodwaters sweeping the town.

Lila Adams in a family way? And the father that wild western
friend of her brother’s? Shocking! But, of course, she always was a wild one.
Just look at her hair. Red
—
brazen, hussy red—it all but shouts
Jezebel. Never mind that it’s natural—the Lord doesn’t give a woman hair like
that without good reason. It was only a matter of time before her true nature
was revealed. It’s just as well that poor, sweet Margaret is gone. It would
have killed her for sure to see her only daughter in such a fix.

She’d never be able to stay here, Lila realized. No matter what
happened now, her life in Beaton was over. Whether Bishop stayed or went,
whether she married Logan or not, she’d have to leave her home. If not for her
own sake, then for Douglas’s. Her brother’s political career might, just
possibly, survive this scandal, but only if she was gone. As long as she was
visible, the gossip would stay fresh in everyone’s mind, doing irreparable harm
to his future.

As the full extent of this new disaster sank in on her, Lila
leaned more heavily on Susan’s supporting arm. When she’d realized she was
pregnant, she’d thought her life was over. But then Logan found out about the
baby and offered to marry her, and she’d still been able to cling to the
remnants of the life she’d always known. Now even that was torn from her.

They’d reached the vestry. The room was used for occasional
meetings of the church council. It was plainly furnished with an oak table and
chairs and a hideously ugly horsehair sofa that had been donated by one of the
ladies of the church. Douglas pushed the door open and shepherded his wife and
sister through. Susan led Lila over to the sofa, urging her down onto the
unyielding surface. Bishop and Logan hesitated in the doorway a moment, their
eyes clashing, and then Logan brushed past the other man. Bishop followed him
into the room and Douglas started to close the door, but Reverend Carpenter was
suddenly there, having followed them from the altar, drawn by the scent of
juicy gossip.

“I know you’ll wish my counsel and guidance,” he said, his solemn
tone at odds with the eager glitter in his eyes.

“Thank you, Reverend, but I think we’ll handle this alone,”
Douglas said firmly, blocking the other man’s entrance into the room.

“I think the situation calls for God’s counsel,” the older man
said, trying to slip past.

“We’ll call if we need you,” Douglas said, not moving an inch.

“But—”

“He said we’ll call if we need you.” Bishop loomed up behind Douglas,
his expression so coldly menacing that the minister actually took a quick
little step back before catching himself and remembering that this was
his
church.

His face flushed with indignation. “Really, I—”

“Thank you, Reverend Carpenter.” Douglas shut the door quietly,
cutting off the man’s gabbled protest.

There was a moment of deep silence and then Douglas turned to look
at the room’s occupants. His eyes touched on Logan and Bishop, each in turn,
drifted over his wife, and then settled on his sister. Lila read the questions
in his eyes and felt her stomach twist. Of all the things she stood to lose,
her brother’s respect and love was the most painful. Unable to sustain his
look, she lowered her eyes to her lap. Her fingers smoothed an imaginary wrinkle
in the heavy white silk of her gown.

“Would someone like to tell me what’s going on?” Douglas asked,
his tone deceptively mild. “Bishop?” “Ask your sister,” Bishop said shortly.

“You bastard!” Logan’s voice vibrated with rage. Lila looked up in
time to see him turn to face Bishop, his hands clenched into fists at his
sides, his whole body rigid with anger. “You don’t even have the guts to admit
what you did to her. Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I haven’t.”

“Logan, no!”

But Lila’s quick protest was drowned out by Logan’s next words,
spit out as he turned to Douglas. “He raped her!”

“Rape!” Bishop hadn’t looked nearly as shocked when Logan hit him.
He opened his mouth and then closed it without speaking. He glanced at Lila,
and she physically winced away from the contempt in his eyes. His jaw flexed as
if he were literally biting back words of denial.

“Rape?” The color drained from Douglas’s face. He looked from
Logan to Bishop, his expression stunned and disbelieving. “Bishop?”

Bishop met his friend’s eyes squarely but said nothing, offering
neither denial or defense.

“Lila?” Douglas looked at his sister. She met his eyes for a
moment and then looked away.

If she said nothing, it would be as good as confirming Logan’s
accusation. She knew her brother well enough to know what his reaction would be
then. Douglas was the most civilized man Lila had ever known, a staunch
supporter of law and order. But when it came to his family, he was fiercely
protective. He would never let such an attack go unpunished. Bishop would be
lucky to get out of Pennsylvania alive.

What do you care?
a small voice whispered.
Bishop

McKenzie will be out of your life for good. Douglas will take care
of you. He’ll make everything right, just like he always has.