having quite a storm. There won’t be any going home the way I came. As you said, this kind of downpour gets the river spilling out of its banks.”
She slanted him a look that was hot. He wondered if it was deliberate. Maybe he shouldn’t be so hasty in getting rid of her after dinner.
While he had no intention of selling any part of the Santerre ranch back to her, how far would she go to try to convince him to do so?
“It’s already dark out because of the storm,” he said. “We have plenty of room,” he added in a husky voice. “You can stay all night.”
Two
“A Santerre staying overnight with a Benton. It’s a shocking invitation that would turn our relatives topsy-turvy if they had known.”
“Scared to stay with a Benton?”
“Not remotely. I look forward to it,” she said, smiling at him. “It’s just that never in my wildest imaginings would I have guessed I would be here overnight. One Santerre is definitely shocked.”
“This is a stormy night, so better to stay inside.”
“Good. Staying longer will give me more time to try to talk you into selling. You don’t live here year round, why would you want so much more land? I know you’ve bought the ranch to the east of this one in addition to buying ours.”
“The first and foremost reason is oil,” he answered. “My brother thinks there may be oil in this general area. You have to know that he’s already drilling to the west of your grandmother’s house.”
“I see the activity with the trucks coming and going all hours. A rig is up now. From the upstairs floors we can see the work. They have fenced off the area so the cattle won’t roam there. I don’t think you’ll find any oil. My dad went through this at one time.”
“Gabe thinks there may be oil on your ranch, or on the old Patterson place. That’s why I wanted the land to the east, partially why I wanted your home place. Mostly I wanted to buy out Will and see the last of the Santerres in Nealey County. The people who worked for your grandmother are not Santerres. They would eventually have to go, but I haven’t been in a rush to run them off.”
“I have never done anything to hurt you or your family,” she stated quietly, but he saw the flare of fire in her eyes indicating animosity was not his alone.
“No, you haven’t. Admit it, though, you don’t like me or any other Benton.”
She glanced away. “I was raised to feel that way. I’m sure both families are at fault.” Her attention returned to him. “Your dislike hinges primarily on your sister and Will, even though Will was found innocent.”
Jake hoped he hid the sudden clenching of his insides as the old anger stirred again. She had touched a nerve. “I’ll always feel my sister’s death was due to Will.”
“Even though a jury found him innocent?” Caitlin asked. “From what Will said, your sister was the one at fault.”
“My sister had the poor judgment to fall in love with your half brother,” Jake said, thinking Caitlin should have left the topic alone because she stirred memories of the most abhorrent event in his life. It was the ultimate culmination of his hatred of Will. “Brittany didn’t live to tell her side of the story.”
“At the trial Will testified that they had a fight and she drove off in a rage. He said he was afraid she would have a wreck and he followed her. He tried to get in front of her car so he could slow her down. He testified that when he tried to pass her, she sideswiped his car. She lost control and crashed.”
“I’ll always think Will sideswiped her car. Will was the one who wanted her out of his life. She wanted him to marry her.”
“That never came out in the trial, although it was common talk. Will admitted to Grandmother that Brittany wanted him to marry her.”
“You know a lot about it.”
“I was there, even if I was younger than you.”
“She was pregnant with Will’s baby,” Jake said, feeling the dull hurt that came when he thought about Brittany’s crash. “Brittany told me. She was in love with him, too. I’m convinced Will ran her off the road and she crashed,” Jake said, hurt growing with each word. He hated having painful memories dredged up again.
Caitlin gasped. “I always figured talk of pregnancy was just a rumor. It was never brought up at the trial.”
“My mother didn’t know about it. My dad didn’t want it brought out at the trial and your family sure as hell didn’t,” Jake said. “I will always blame Will. I don’t believe he told the truth about that night, but no one will ever know because only two people were present. At the time of the trial, one of them was dead,” Jake stated, bitterness filling him as he sank into dark memories of a painful time. “We better get off this subject if you want to have a civil conversation with me.”
Jake gazed into fiery green eyes. Caitlin made no effort to hide her anger. He could feel the waves of antagonism that revealed her flirting was simply a means to try to get what she wanted from him.
“So that’s why you hate Will so much,” she said.
“Will and I have competed in school in sports and in the classroom. I was captain of the football team when he wanted to be. We both were on the baseball team. I had more home runs than Will. He had more stolen bases. I was my class president and the next year he was his class president. We were both on the debate team. Will and I have had plenty of our own battles. I never put Will in the hospital or vice versa.”
“You broke his nose. Actually, I wasn’t too sorry when I heard that. I thought a good punch was well deserved.”
“It definitely was,” he said lightly. “It was the loss of Brittany that tops my list of complaints against Will. I loved my sister and I hated to see her go out with Will. Brittany and I fought constantly over that. When she could, she hid her relationship with Will from our dad. I should have told him, but I don’t think it would have helped. She was eighteen, a senior. Will was eighteen by then. I was still seventeen. She would have done what she wanted. I don’t think anyone could have stopped her. Not even that fatal night.”
“As a Benton, you’ll always think Will was guilty.”
“Yes. While you’ll always think he’s innocent. We’re at an impasse on the issue and it makes even a business deal between us an emotional event that can’t be looked at in a purely impartial way.”
“Will’s no angel and we’ve never gotten along. Grandmother sat him down and made him tell her what happened. He swore that was the truth and I don’t think even Will could have lied to her. She could be a formidable woman. More intimidating than my father.”
Jake sipped his beer and listened to the rain, remembering all the emotional upheaval of that time in their lives. He could imagine easily Will Santerre lying to his grandmother. He looked at Caitlin and saw a Santerre, Will’s half sister. The ultimate irony would be to seduce her.
He had no intention of selling one inch of the Santerre place back to her.
How valuable
