To Love a Stranger (20 page)

“What makes you think I coerced Pierce?”

“Because we know Pierce,” Ryan explained. “And he’s not a marrying man.”

Zoey turned her attention to Chad, the middle brother. His hair was lighter than Pierce’s, his eyes more hazel than green, but no less striking with those tiny golden flecks floating in the center of his irises. There was something hard and bitterly unforgiving hidden in those fathomless depths. Something told Zoey that of the three, Chad would be the least likely to accept compromise. And the most likely to sacrifice himself for his brothers.

“You’re right,” Zoey said slowly, wishing she could make the truth not sound so harsh and condemning. But neither Chad nor Ryan seemed willing to settle for anything less than the truth. “I won’t lie and say Pierce married me because he fell madly in love.”

“Pierce fall madly in love? That’s a laugh,” Ryan hooted.

Chad said nothing, waiting for Zoey to continue. He remembered the tenderness with which Pierce had treated Zoey, coupled with his anxiety about her well-being. He couldn’t ever recall seeing Pierce look at a woman the way he’d looked at Zoey.

Zoey’s gaze dropped down to her hands, which were clasped tightly on the table. “Pierce had no choice in the matter. I forced him to marry me.”

Chad’s voice was rigid with controlled fury. “You
forced
Pierce? Somehow that’s hard to believe. Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

The tension in the room thickened. “I found Pierce in my root cellar. He’d been shot and was near death. Cully removed the bullet, and I nursed him back to health.”

“Who’s Cully?” Ryan asked.

“He used to be ramrod on the ranch until he got too old. Now he’s jack-of-all-trades and my friend.”

“Who shot him?” Ryan asked.

“The vigilantes.”

“Go on,” Chad urged. “What happened after you saved Pierce’s life?”

“Riley Reed and the vigilantes showed up on my doorstep. They wanted to know if I’d seen Pierce. They told me Pierce had severely beaten a pregnant woman in Dry Gulch and left her for dead. I didn’t believe Pierce capable of such a terrible thing, so I sent them on their way.”

“And Pierce married you out of gratitude,” Ryan guffawed. “I don’t buy it.”

“I needed Pierce. I was about to lose my ranch to an unscrupulous banker who wanted both me and my ranch. He said my father had mortgaged the land before his death, but I knew it was a lie. I thought if I married Pierce, Samson Willoughby would lose interest in me.”

Chad shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe Pierce would agree to such an irrational scheme. He’s not the marrying kind under any circumstances.”

Zoey swallowed convulsively. “He didn’t agree. Pierce was wounded and too weak to leave his bed. I threatened him. I told him I’d send for the vigilantes if he didn’t marry me.” Chad’s sudden intake of breath prompted her to add, “It was never meant to be a permanent arrangement. I made it clear that he’d be free to leave once he served his purpose.”

“You used him!” Ryan charged.

Zoey gave him a look of wounded outrage. “Perhaps. But you don’t know the whole story. We used one another. I saved Pierce’s life. He owed me.” She faced Ryan squarely. “His debt was paid in full when he risked his life to steal evidence that proved Willoughby’s claim on my ranch was fraudulent. He remained in the marriage beyond the terms of our agreement simply because he had no place else to go.”

Both Chad and Ryan remained quiet so long, Zoey feared they didn’t believe her. Would they throw her out of their house? More than likely, she decided.

“Just one thing bothers me,” Chad said curiously. “Why were you with Pierce and the vigilantes? You should have remained at the Circle F, like Pierce wanted.”

“I feared the vigilantes would hang Pierce without a fair trial. I care about Pierce too much to let that happen. I wanted to help, so I followed. I didn’t know how, but I intended to stop the vigilantes if they had a lynching on their minds.”

“I thought as much,” Chad said knowingly. “That was a brave thing to do, and a very foolish one. If we hadn’t arrived when we did, Reed would have raped you.”

Zoey’s head rose pugnaciously. “If I hadn’t arrived when I did, Pierce would be dead now.”

“My God,” Ryan said in sudden comprehension, “you love Pierce.”

“That’s beside the point,” Zoey charged. Until this moment she’d been unwilling to admit it, even to herself. There no longer seemed to be a reason to deny it.

“You’re wasting your time if you think Pierce will love you in return,” Chad claimed.

Zoey flinched at the harshness of Chad’s words, which she knew to be true.

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m here to help him, not entrap him. Once he’s set free, I’ll return to the Circle F and he can go back to doing what he did before I forced this marriage on him. An annulment or divorce should be simple to obtain, given the circumstances of our marriage.”

Chad speared Zoey with the bright intensity of his gaze. “Is there a possibility that you’re carrying my brother’s child? I know Pierce. If you’re married, you’ve shared a bed. Are you trying to bind Pierce to you with a child?”

Startled by his candor, Zoey gave Chad a look that should have turned him to ice. “I would never do such a thing.”

Chad appeared undaunted. “But it
is
possible.” His relentless probing was a tribute to his tenacity. To Chad, everything had an explanation, even those things that seemed to defy reason.

Zoey faced Chad without flinching. “Yes, it is possible. But that changes nothing. I’d never trap Pierce into a marriage he abhors. My ranch can support both myself and my child, should there be one. But at the moment the question of my pregnancy is moot because it’s too early to know.”

Ryan shook his head, trying to sort through everything Zoey had just told them. Something in the telling was missing, but he couldn’t figure what.

Chad’s coldly analytical mind had already sifted through the facts and arrived at one conclusion. He
didn’t particularly like it, but it solved some of the questions that seemed to have no answer.

“You
do
love Pierce, don’t you, Zoey? You may as well admit it.”

Zoey’s lips thinned. “Perhaps, though your brother isn’t exactly lovable.”

Ryan gave a shout of laughter. “You’ve got that right, Zoey.”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it, Zoey?” Chad persisted.

“Yes, dammit, it’s the truth! But don’t worry, I won’t breathe a word of it to Pierce if you don’t.”

“I thought so. I wondered why you’d risk your life for Pierce. Few women would do that. I don’t believe in love myself, but it seems to work for some people.”

“Pierce isn’t one of those people,” Ryan contended. “This talk of love and babies is making me nervous. More importantly, what are we going to do to save Pierce’s life? The situation in Dry Gulch is growing ugly.”

“I want to help,” Zoey volunteered. “What can I do?”

“I got the impression that Pierce doesn’t want you here,” Ryan contended.

Zoey’s chin lifted stubbornly. “I’m not leaving. Not yet.”

Chad sighed. “I didn’t think you would. Very well, we can use all the help we can get. I’ve tried to pry the truth from Cora Lee, but she insists that Pierce seduced her and got her with child. She maintains that Pierce beat her when she pleaded with him to marry her and give their child a name. Pierce claims he never touched her, and I believe him. Ryan and I are convinced this is Hal Doolittle’s
plot to get his hands on some of the Delaney wealth.”

“Your family is wealthy?” Zoey asked curiously. “I had no idea. Most ranchers in the area are barely ekeing out a living.”

“Pa was smarter than most,” Ryan bragged. “He invested a small inheritance in a silver mine that paid off. We’re not millionaires, but we’re better off than most.”

“Then money could very well be the motive behind Cora Lee’s charges against Pierce,” Zoey mused.

“The fact remains that Cora Lee is carrying a child,” Chad said. “Once we find the man responsible, the mystery will be solved.”

“What if I talk to Cora Lee?” Zoey wanted to know. “Maybe she’ll open up to another woman.”

“You’re Pierce’s wife,” Ryan said meaningfully. “Cora Lee will hate you on sight. You married the man she wants.”

Zoey grew thoughtful. “This is all very strange. Why would Cora Lee want to marry a man who allegedly beat her?”

Chad gave her a confused look. “I never thought of it that way. For one thing, Hal was pushing her to marry Pierce. For another, marrying the father of her unborn child, woman beater or not, is better than giving birth to an illegitimate child. Hal would never allow that to happen. He’s too proud.”

Ryan added another daunting thought. “Pierce is already married. Hal isn’t happy about that. You can bet he’s going to continue stirring up trouble.”

Zoey leapt to her feet so fast her chair hit the
floor. “We can’t let that happen! I’m going to talk to Cora Lee.”

“I’ll go with you,” Chad offered.

“No, just tell me how to get there. It’s best if I do this alone. Will her brother be home?”

“Not likely. He spends his time at the saloon these days.”

“Is there anyone else I should worry about?”

“Cora Lee’s father is bedridden. His heart is worn-out. There’s no one else at home.”

“Very well, just give me directions to their ranch.”

Chad complied, realizing that Zoey had a mind of her own and used it. He chuckled to himself. Chad could well imagine the sparks that flew when those two came together.

Ryan appeared mesmerized by the provocative sway of Zoey’s hips beneath her skintight denims as she walked away. He waited until Zoey was gone before turning to Chad and saying, “Looks like big brother met his match. I don’t know if he’s damn fortunate or the unluckiest man alive.”

Zoey found the Rocking D ranch with little trouble. She tried to ignore the hands who stopped their work to leer at her as she rode into the yard and dismounted. They seemed a lazy lot, more prone to rest against a fence than to repair it. The ranch and outbuildings were in dire need of repairs, much like her own ranch until Pierce changed things.

Gathering her courage, Zoey marched up the front steps and knocked on the door. Nothing. She rapped a second time and was about to knock a
third when the door was opened by a striking blonde with chocolate brown eyes and a peaches-and-cream complexion. She looked small and fragile and … pregnant.

“What do you want?” Cora Lee asked nervously. She seemed frightened of something, and Zoey wondered who or what had made her so jittery. “Who are you?”

“May I come in?”

“I don’t know. I’m alone.”

“I just want to talk.” She brushed past Cora Lee and found herself in a comfortably furnished parlor dominated by a huge fireplace.

Cora Lee closed the door and followed Zoey into the parlor. “Who are you?” she repeated.

“May I sit down?” Zoey asked, not waiting for an answer as she perched on the edge of the sofa and patted the seat beside her.

Stunned by her visitor’s rather presumptuous manner, Cora Lee sat down, her eyes settling disconcertingly on Zoey’s trouser-clad legs. “I’ve never seen a woman wearing men’s britches before. Are you a friend of Hal’s?”

Zoey managed a taut smile. “Hardly. I’m Zoey, Pierce Delaney’s wife.”

A mask slid over Cora Lee’s features and she leapt to her feet. “Do you know what you’ve done? You spoiled everything! How dare you show up on my doorstep like this.”

“I’m sorry, Cora Lee, but I had to know what really went on between you and Pierce. I’ve come to know Pierce well, and I don’t believe he’d do the terrible things you accused him of.”

Cora Lee’s lower lip quivered, and Zoey feared
the woman was going to burst into tears. “I don’t want to upset you. It’s not good for a woman in your condition to become emotional. Tell me in your own words what happened between you and Pierce.”

“What did Pierce tell you?”

“He denied he did anything to … hurt you.”

Cora Lee’s eyes shifted furtively. “Yes, well …”

“Tell the bitch the truth, Cora Lee!”

Zoey jumped nearly as high as Cora Lee when Hal Doolittle strode into the room, his face a mask of rage.

“Hal, I thought you went to town.”

Zoey had never seen such naked fear on a woman’s face. Cora Lee appeared petrified of her brother.

“I did leave, but my horse went lame and I returned for another mount. The hands told me you had a visitor, and I thought I would find out who’d come calling. I see I’m just in time. Go on, Cora Lee, tell Delaney’s wife what her husband did to you.”

Two huge tears appeared at the corners of Cora Lee’s eyes. “Do I have to, Hal? I’ve already told the doctor, the Delaney boys, and Riley Reed. I don’t think …”

Hal took a menacing step toward his sister, brandishing a meaty fist in her face. “You’ll tell it again and again, as many times as is necessary. We’re a proud family. Pierce Delaney isn’t going to get away with flaunting the rules of society. The townspeople are clamoring for a lynching. Tell her, Cora Lee, tell her.”

Zoey watched in dismay as Cora Lee recoiled in
fear. Something was wrong here. Why was Cora Lee so terrified of her brother?

Cora Lee’s voice was so low, Zoey had to strain to hear her. “P-Pierce used to visit Papa every week. After a while he began drawing out his visits. He was very kind and supportive of me. Hal wasn’t home much, and I cared for Papa the best I could without help. As you can see, the ranch isn’t prospering. Pierce was attentive to my needs, and I … I believed he cared for me.” She looked at Hal, her eyes moist and pleading. “Do I have to continue?”

“Tell her everything,” Hal said, his voice low and menacing.

Cora Lee licked moisture onto her dry lips and said, “One day Pierce started kissing me. He wouldn’t stop when I asked him to. I grew frightened and pushed him away, but he just laughed at me. I wanted to scream, but he kept kissing me and telling me how much he wanted me.” She started crying in earnest, big, tearing sobs, as if remembering the horror. “After a while I would have done anything he said.”

Zoey knew the feeling. Pierce had but to touch her and she melted in his arms.