To Tame a Renegade (27 page)

“My jacket is hanging on a hook by the door,” Abner said. “I’ll wait here for Robbie.”

“Sit down, son,” Pierce invited, indicating an empty seat beside him. Abner slid into the chair.

“Are you and Ryan as nice as Chad?” Abner asked shyly.

“You mink Chad is nice?” Ryan asked with surprise.

Abner nodded emphatically. “Mama thinks so too. I asked Chad to be my papa, but he said it wasn’t a good idea. Do you think you could ask him? He might listen to you.”

Ryan and Pierce exchanged startled glances. “We don’t have much influence over our brother,” Pierce said kindly.

“Mama and I didn’t have enough to eat before Chad came to our house. We were lonesome, too. Now when I get lonesome, I crawl in bed between Chad and Mama. I wanted to sleep naked like they do, but Mama said I couldn’t do that.” He sighed hugely, innocently unaware of the information he’d just revealed. “I’m sure gonna miss Chad when he leaves.”

Abner’s revelation was met with gaping silence and shocked expressions. Abner seemed not to notice. Robbie returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, and the boys skipped out the back door.

“I’ll be damned,” Ryan muttered, sharing a knowing glance with his brother.

“I suspected as much,” Pierce contended.

“What are we going to do about it? What if’ Chad leaves Sarah in the family way? In my opinion, Sarah isn’t the kind of woman who shares her favors with just anyone. According to Chad, Sarah was the victim of rape.”

“I suggest that we have a talk with our brother,” Pierce said. They both rose and strode off to find Chad.

Chad was in the corral when he saw his brothers shoot from the kitchen and head in his direction. He groaned aloud when he noted the determined looks on their faces. He wanted to walk away, but when they got their dander up they were like dogs panting after a bone. They had something to say and Chad knew from experience they wouldn’t let him rest until they said it.

“You lied to us, brother,” Pierce charged. “You told us that you and Sarah were merely friends.”

“So?” Chad contended. “What of it?”

“You can start by telling the truth,” Pierce demanded.

“I don’t answer to you, Pierce. I’m twenty-eight years old and capable of handling my own affairs.”

“Like hell! Not an hour ago you asked me to handle your affairs for you.”

“Dammit, Pierce, what’s the point of all this?”

“You’re sleeping with Sarah!” Ryan charged.

“You brought her here, asked us to protect her, then lied about your relationship. Do you still intend to leave?”

“That’s always been my intention. Sarah knows it and hasn’t questioned my decision.”

“I don’t suppose you know why she’s so accepting,” Pierce challenged.

Chad didn’t appreciate this interrogation. Then he recalled that he had challenged Pierce two years earlier about his relationship with Zoey, using nearly the same words. “Since you’re so smart, you tell me.”

Pierce cursed beneath his breath. “I’m smarter than you are. I married Zoey. it’s obvious to everyone but you that Sarah loves you.”

Chad gave a shout of laughter. “You don’t know Sarah if you think that. She doesn’t want marriage any more than I do. She doesn’t love me. She’s grateful to me, but That’s as far as it goes.”

“Does she make a habit of sleeping with men out of gratitude?” Ryan retorted. “How many men have there been before you?”

Rage exploded in Chad’s head. “No one talks about Sarah like that and gets away with it.” His words were punctuated with a smashing blow to Ryan’s chin. Ryan reeled backward, but came back swinging. Soon both brothers were rolling on the ground, exchanging punches.

With difficulty, Pierce separated the two of them and held them apart. “Enough of this. You’re damn protective of someone for whom you profess simple friendship, Chad. We’re not condemning you for your relationship with Sarah. Lord knows I was as stubborn as you are, until Zoey finally convinced me we belonged together. The difference between our situations is that Zoey and I were married before we slept together. But if you’re going to leave Sarah with Ryan while you run off to escape your demons, he deserves to be told the truth about you and Sarah.”

“Exactly,” Ryan concurred. “And if you’re not interested in Sarah romantically, does that make her fair game? Sarah is a beautiful woman, I wouldn’t mind…”

His sentence ended abruptly when Chad darted around Pierce and flung himself at Ryan. Another scuffle ensued. It ended in a draw when Abner and Robbie came out of the bam and saw the fight. In a surprised move, Abner flung himself on Ryan’s back and started screaming at him to stop hitting Chad.

“I’m all right, Abner,” Chad said, picking himself off the ground. “You and Robbie go on up to the house. it’s time to wash up for supper.”

Abner’s little face screwed up into a frown. “Why were you and Ryan fighting?”

“You wouldn’t understand. Do as I say, son. Go on now. I promise there won’t be any more fighting.

“I promise, too,” Ryan added when Abner glared at him.

“Abner’s a smart little kid,” Ryan said as Abner and Robbie trudged off toward the house. “You think a lot of him, don’t you, Chad?”

“Yeah,” Chad growled, dusting his hat off on his pants and clamping it back on his head.

“He’s going to miss you. I suggest you search your heart carefully before you leave. You might not find it as barren as you think. Thank God compassion is foreign to me,” he added. “No woman is going to tie me in knots. Love has no place in my life. Love ‘em and leave ‘em, that’s my motto.”

“You’re talking nonsense,” Chad argued. “You know damn well I have nothing to offer a woman. I’m emotionally bankrupt. I’m not a womanizer like you, Ryan. You need a woman in your bed to make you happy.”

“I know what and who I am,” Ryan said. “Are you ready to talk about Sarah now?”

“What about her? You promised to protect her and Abner.”

“I intend to,” Ryan declared. “Both Pierce and I are of the opinion that you should do the honorable thing where Sarah’s concerned. She’s already been hurt by a man. Rape is a horrible thing for a woman to suffer.”

“I think, and Pierce agrees, that you care more for Sarah than you’re letting on.”

“You two just don’t give up, do you?” Chad muttered. “Neither of you understand. I
do
care for Sarah. I’m actually doing her a favor by walking out of her life. I don’t want to make a mess of her life like I did mine. She’s better off without me.”

“Why don’t you let Sarah decide,” Pierce challenged.

“She’d agree with me.”

“Which brings us back to the question Ryan asked earlier,” Pierce said. “With you out of the picture, is Sarah fair game for other men?”

“if Sarah finds a man to love, I won’t be around to object,” Chad said. “She deserves better than what I can offer.”

“Damn fool,” Pierce bit out. “You two had better see to your bruises before supper. The women don’t need to know about your little fray.”

“Stubborn wretch,” Ryan muttered as he walked away.

“I’m charging you with keeping Ryan in line while I’m gone,” Chad told Pierce. “I don’t trust him around Sarah. All women are fair game to him. You and I both know he won’t marry Sarah.”

“For what it’s worth, I’d advise you to stick around and protect your property,” Pierce threw over his shoulder as he walked off.

Chad watched his brothers leave, the two people he cared the most about. Well, maybe not the only two. There were Sarah and Abner. if he even suspected Ryan would seduce Sarah in his absence, he’d beat his brother bloody.

Abner and Robbie had already given their version of the fight between Chad and Ryan to the women before the men reached the house. It really wasn’t necessary, though. The bruises on their faces gave them away.

“Do you want to tell us about it?” Zoey asked when they sat down to the evening meal.

“No,” Chad and Ryan said in unison.

“They have always settled their differences with their fists,” Pierce said by way of an explanation. When Ryan and Chad remained mute, it became apparent that the women were going to get nothing more.

Sarah wasn’t sure she wanted to know what Chad and Ryan had fought about It would be disheartening to learn she was the cause of the fight She’d leave before she’d let herself come between Chad and his brothers.

Two days later, Pierce and his family returned to the Circle F, deciding to travel while the weather still held. Sarah began her housekeeping duties with enthusiasm. In truth, the work wasn’t hard. With winter fast approaching, Chad, Ryan, and the hands were busy preparing for harsh weather. Hay was hauled in for feed, the cattle driven to lower ground, and the outbuildings were reinforced to withstand blizzards.

Somehow Ryan had convinced Chad to return to the house to sleep and he now occupied his old room, but Sarah saw little of him in the ensuing days. She knew he was eager to leave and couldn’t imagine why he was sticking around. She supposed it was due partly to the problem he was having getting rid of the Rocking D, and partly because Ryan kept finding work that desperately needed Chad’s attention.

One day Frank Frasier, who was new to the area, strolled up to the house. Looking to buy a ranch, he had been told in town that the Rocking D was for sale and to inquire at the Delaney ranch. When Chad asked Ryan to take Frasier to the Rocking D, Ryan politely declined, declaring himself too busy to spare the time. In the end, Chad was obliged to show Frasier around the spread They left immediately, and Sarah spent the next several hours worrying over Chad’s reaction to another visit to the Rocking D.

Chad returned shortly before supper. He was quieter than usual; his face was colorless, his expression bleak. Sarah wanted to comfort him, but didn’t know how.

“I sold the Rocking D to Frank Frasier,” he said when they had all gathered for supper. “He’II bring the money around in a day or two. I intend to. deposit the funds in Sarah’s name, than I’II be moving on.

Sarah didn’t realize she’d been holding her bream until it exploded from her throat. “I don’t want your money! The wage Ryan pays me is sufficient for my needs.”

Chad’s expression hardened. In this matter he was inflexible. “Nevertheless, the money is yours.”

“Have you thought this over carefully?” Ryan asked. “This is your home, Chad, there’s no need for you to leave.”

“I’m going after Jackson. Sarah and Abner won’t be safe until he’s behind bars. I don’t want them to go through life wondering and worrying about him.”

“I’m sure Freddie has forgotten all about Abner,” Sarah claimed. “I doubt hell follow us all the way to Montana.”

Chad turned a deaf ear to Sarah’s logic. Sarah wondered if he’d heard anything she’d said. There was a darkness in him that hadn’t been there since his last visit to the Rocking D. She watched in dismay as he rose abruptly and exited the room without a word to anyone.

Ryan shook his head. “I thought I was hard-headed, but my brother’s stubbornness surpasses even my own. Two years have passed since the tragedy at the Rocking D. Chad should have conquered his demons by now and moved on with his life. It isn’t good for him to live in the past. I don’t want him to leave, Sarah Can’t you think of a way to keep him here? He might listen to you.”

“Chad has to fight this battle on his own,” Sarah said on a sigh.“I can’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Though Chad will be the first to deny it, he’s a kind, compassionate man. In time those good qualities will emerge from the darkness inside him. We have to let him find his own way, Ryan.”

Ryan gave her a crooked smile. “I’m thinking of giving him a little nudge. Have you ever been courted. Sarah?”

Sarah’s violet eyes widened. “Courted? Why no, I don’t believe so.“

“Well,. prepare to be courted by me. I’m considered quite a catch. you know. I’m known as Rogue Ryan in town. How do you suppose Chad would react if he thought I wanted you?”

“I’m not sure he would react at all.”

“I think you’re wrong, Sarah. Owl knows me. He’s aware of what I want from a woman. If I pretend to seduce you, he’s going to be madder than hell. Will you play along?”

Sarah frowned. “For what purpose?”

“To get my brother’s attention. To make him admit he has strong feelings for you. Marriage isn’t for me, but it’s working for Pierce and it might be exactly what Chad needs to bring him to his senses. I’d rather see him married to you than drifting aimlessly, weighed down by his conscience.”

Sarah’s mouth worked wordlessly. Ryan’s startling proposal had stolen her ability to string words together. After several minutes of stunned silence, she found her voice. “What makes you think I’d marry Chad?”

Ryan gave her a radiant smile, obviously pleased with his ability to arrive at the heart of the matter. “You love him. Women are funny that way. It’s so easy to read them. Zoey was the same way. Both Chad and I knew she was head over heels for Pierce long before Pierce knew it Just because I’ll never marry doesn’t mean I don’t want to see my brothers happy. I think you’ll make Chad happy, Sarah. I think he’s already in love with you, and he’s crazy about Abner.”

“So you want to pretend to court me in order to make Chad jealous,” Sarah said slowly.