you get the longest straw, you have five years before you have to do anything,” Russell said, always the pragmatist. “By then Dad may be gone, too. You can ignore both of their dying wishes and do whatever the hell you please. In the meantime, take a damned straw.”
Shane snatched one of the cut straws from his brother’s hand, tossed it on the table without looking at it and poured himself another drink.
“You lucky bastard,” Dalton said. “Shane got the longest one.”
Russell turned to the youngest of the brothers. “Well, Jud, you still sure you want to go last?”
Jud stared down at the tops of the two remaining straws. “Yeah.”
Russell drew one, and Jud took the only remaining straw.
“Okay, let’s get this over with,” Lantry said. He held out his straw to compare it to the others.
Shane was the only one who didn’t join in. As he took a drink, he heard Jud swear and smiled to himself. The youngest of them had drawn the shortest straw. Maybe there was something to this karma business after all.
“Can’t argue with destiny, Jud,” he said. His brother collapsed into a chair beside him to brood or, more than likely, try to figure out an angle to get out of this. The brothers all had that in common—they all looked for a way out of whatever situation they found themselves in.
Shane had gotten the longest straw. Not that it mattered. This whole thing was ludicrous, and he wasn’t going to be blackmailed into anything—especially marriage.
“Okay,” Russell said. “Jud, you have one year in which to find a suitable wife. Lantry is next, then Dalton, me and Shane.”
“I say we do it over. Best two out of three,” Jud suggested. All four brothers turned on him. “Okay, okay. I suppose it’s time I started thinking about settling down.”
They all laughed. Of the five of them, Jud was the wildest when it came to horses—and women. The Hollywood stuntman settle down with one woman anytime soon? Not likely. On every film he was involved in, he usually had a couple of girlfriends.
“I told you this wasn’t going to work,” Shane said. “It’s not the way to find a woman to spend the rest of your life with.”
“Come on, none of us would marry unless forced to,” Lantry said with a laugh. “Look at Dad. After Mom’s death, he had all kinds of chances to marry, and he didn’t.”
“Not till Kate,” Jud said.
“Maybe Kate reminds him of our mother,” Dalton said.
Russell shook his head. “Kate is nothing like our mother.” As the oldest at thirty-two, Russell had the best memory of their mother. “Anyway, Dad always said there was no one like Mom.”
Shane said nothing. He’d only been around Kate at the wedding, but there was something about her that had made him suspicious, even before she talked their father into selling his place in Texas and moving to this isolated part of Montana to buy back her family’s home ranch.
Kate was a woman with secrets. Shane had been a lawman for too long not to recognize it. Kate was hiding something. Something big. And Shane feared that when the truth came out, Grayson Corbett would be devastated.
“I’ll have you know that I’ve already found the perfect woman,” Jud announced. “Her name is Maddie Cavanaugh. She’s exactly what mother said she wanted for us—a Montana girl.”
The rest of them laughed, but Shane watched his little brother, thinking he might actually be telling the truth. Jud did attract women the way magnets attracted tacks. And Jud had been in town for over a week now.
“Dad and Kate are going to love Maddie,” Jud said with a grin. “I predict wedding bells in the very near future.”
Shane got to his feet. He couldn’t take any more of this. “Have you all lost your minds? Who gives a damn what’s in some stupid letter? Our mother didn’t live long enough to know any of us well enough to determine what kind of woman we should marry. Why should we let her tell us how to live our lives from the grave?” He shook his head.
JERILYN DROVE as far as she could. She’d been running on fear and large doses of caffeine. Now after fifteen hours at the wheel her nerves were fried and she had the jitters so bad she was forced to stop for what was left of the night.
She pulled over beside a park in some small town and climbed into the back of the car to sleep, telling herself that she’d put enough miles between her and Earl Ray. There was no way he could find her, especially without a car and without knowing which direction she was headed. She’d never told him about the daughter she’d been forced to give up at sixteen. She’d never told anyone.
And she was sure he hadn’t called the cops. No, Earl Ray would call some of his low-life buddies and probably get drunk. That was his answer to everything.
It was when he sobered up that she would have to worry. Then he’d be hungover and furious. But why come looking for her at all? He could just pick up another down-on-her-luck woman at any bar. Those were the only kind of women who put up with Earl Ray.
Her stomach growled, but with gas being so expensive, she had gone without food. In the morning, though, she’d have to get something to eat. She had to take care of herself if she hoped to get to Montana.
As she curled up to sleep, she thought about her little baby girl. Jerilyn tried to picture what Maddie would look like now and hoped her daughter had blond hair and blue eyes just like her real mama.
Jerilyn wished she could get some new clothes before she met her and maybe even buy her daughter a gift. Flowers, maybe, or chocolates.
Her stomach growled again, and she tried to sleep, but every little sound startled her. Finally sometime before dawn, Jerilyn fell into a deep sleep and dreamed about her reunion with her daughter.
GRAYSON CORBETT stood at the window watching his wife. His wife. He smiled at the thought. Falling in love had come as a surprise.
He’d never thought there would be anyone but Rebecca. In all those years since her death, he never met a woman who stirred his heart or tempted him to remarry.
Until Kate.
She’d come into his life so late. That was his only regret. At fifty-five, he hated that he wouldn’t have an entire lifetime with her. But if Rebecca had taught him anything, it was not to count on more than this moment in time.
He and Rebecca had married young and started a family right away. They’d both wanted lots of kids, but Grayson lost the love of his life right after the twins were born.
He’d never expected to love again.
As he studied Kate’s slim back now, he ached at the sight of the way she hugged herself as she looked out across the land—her family’s land.
He’d hoped getting her family ranch back would take away that haunted look he’d sometimes glimpsed in her eyes.
But there was more to her sadness than the loss of mere land. Something powerful had a hold on her. Whatever it was, Kate kept it to herself.
Grayson
