Jamie's Revenge Page 4

  “That’s three.”

  “Enough!” Sheridan cut Jamie’s comeback off before she even got the first word out. It pained her, but her jaw clicked closed even if her mutinous gaze never wavered from Brodie’s glowering one. “You two are giving me a headache.”

  “See?” Jamie pounced on Sheridan’s comment. “You’re bothering my father, now leave.”

  “I said enough, Jamie, and I don’t think it’s all that odd that Brodie would have some questions about your sudden appearance. I have some questions.” Sheridan’s eyes narrowed on Jamie’s appearance. “Though I think first, perhaps you should freshen up.”

  “And leave you alone with these two so they can poison you against me?” Jamie snorted. “I don’t think so.”

  “We’re just going to tell him the truth,” Brodie snapped back.

  Jamie gave him a dirty look for speaking. “It’s in how you tell it.”

  “Then tell it in a way that doesn’t make you look stupid!” Jamie’s spine stiffened at that, but Brodie obviously didn’t care. “Go on, tell him.”

  “I plan to, but you know it has been a long day, and it would be nice if you gave a lady a moment to relax before you bullied her, you…you bully.” Damnit! She knew how to give a man a better putdown than that. He just had her so flustered. She felt like screaming.

  “Fine, then I’ll tell him.”

  That did it. The reigns of her control snapped, and she did just what she felt like. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she released all her pent up fear and anger in a blood-curdling shriek that had all three men flinching as they hastened to cover their ears. She didn’t stop until the emotion wore itself out over her parched throat.

  With a deep breath, she gave one final sigh and straightened the tails of her vest with a sharp tug. “There, I feel much better now.” And she did.

  “You a crazy lady,” Brodie spat.

  “And you’re a stubbed-dick bastard who screws with the lights off to keep the women from laughing.” Ah, there. That felt good.

  “Jamie!”

  Whoops. She’d forgotten about her father, and there would be no excusing that language.

  “Apologize now,” her father demanded.

  Not that she would, but Brodie beat her to the punch in responding. “I ain’t going to be accepting no apology on your steps, Sheridan. Jamie knows what I want.”

  And he thought she wouldn’t say it in front of her father…damnit, he had it right, too. Instead of giving him the shock of his life, and her daddy a heart attack in the process, Jamie ground her teeth together as she tolerated her daddy doing what she would never.

  “Brodie, I am sorry.” Sheridan gave her a warning look. The one that told her he expected her to speak now, but she kept her lips defiantly closed. That led her father to the ‘wait until we’re alone’ look before he cut his gaze toward Brodie. “I really don’t know what has gotten into Jamie, but you can rest assured I will be handling this matter.”

  “I know what’s gotten into her,” Brodie grunted and Jamie rolled her eyes. Here it came. “It’s that’s husband of hers. The man ain’t doing right by your daughter.”

  Her father puffed up slightly as he silently weighted that. Her father didn’t know anything more about her supposed husband than what she had written him. That had been very little, given how easily a lie could trip up another one. She could see it in her father’s eyes. He had just realized that fact.

  It didn’t surprise her what words followed. “Jamie? Just where is your husband?”

  Jamie didn’t want to answer that question in front of Brodie and Caelen, but they’d left her little choice. Lifting her chin, she responded with the sure knowledge that what she had to say would change everything that came next. “I’m afraid he passed away, Father.”

  That had been her brilliant solution. Despite his threats, Jamie didn’t believe that Brodie would have touched her as long as he thought she had a husband, so… “He had a riding accident almost a year back and never recovered. It was a very difficult time that I don’t wish to discuss.”

  No husband, no virginity, the barn door was wide open.

  “You didn’t mention this in your letters over the past few months.” Not an accusation, but confusion clouded her daddy’s features.

  “I didn’t want to worry you. After all, there was nothing you could do. I had to settle out his estate and ended up with enough of an inheritance to do with my life as I wish. I just thought I’d return here for a visit before settling down back East.”

  Being enough of an explanation, her father fell to her lies. Giving her a smile, Sheridan finally came forward to wrap a protective arm around her shoulders. “I am truly sorry to hear about your husband. I’m sure it has been a very stressful and long journey, so why don’t you come on in, and we’ll get you freshened up.”

  As good as strength was, playing weak and vulnerable had its uses for a woman. Especially when dealing with a father. Jamie let him escort her into the house, not even bothering to look back to see how Brodie or Caelen had taken the news of her widow status.

  * * * *

  Sheridan waited for his daughter in her old bedroom, honoring his promise not to talk to Brodie or Caelen before she’d finished washing up down the hall. It might have been five years since Jamie and the MacAuley brothers had tangled, but they’d fallen right back into old habits, as far as Sheridan could tell.

  It wouldn’t be long now… Sheridan didn’t doubt that Brodie intended to push, manipulate, or out-right demand his daughter’s hand in marriage. That’s probably what had Jamie all in a twist. If Brodie expected to win his daughter’s heart over, he better be willing to pay a high price.

  Sheridan expected that’s what Jamie had honestly come back to collect. He knew his daughter well enough to know how her grudges worked. Five years wouldn’t have made the hurt go away. Just the opposite, it must be well hardened with anger by now. Not that Sheridan would approve of Jamie’s need for revenge.

  He’d seen Brodie and Caelen being raised from babes, and knew them just about as well as he did his own sons. Those two had spent the last five years regretting letting his Jamie go. The day after she’d left, their faces had lost that light, the intensity had hallowed from their gaze. It had been a stark contrast from vital men strained taut with the anticipation of the day to the lifeless shells that simply went about it.

  The two of them had grieved for his daughter long enough.

  Of course, Jamie wouldn’t see it that way. God help the twins if she got wind of the rumors about Rebecca and them. Yeah, he’d heard the whispers that Brodie and Caelen were preparing to settle down with Rebecca Boyd. He’d even believed them. At some point a man had to be practical, and after five years with Jamie settled in her own marriage, Sheridan wouldn’t have thought twice about Brodie and Caelen wedding Rebecca.

  Now though, he doubted that day would come to pass, though a wedding would surely be happening in the future. Wouldn’t that be nice? Then he could have all his children near to where he could keep an eye on them. If any child had ever needed firm supervision, it was Jamie.

  With as many boys as Sheridan had, Jamie had still been the one to get in the most trouble, the most scrapes, sustain the most injuries. That had been half the justification he’d used five years ago to convince him sending Jamie East would be a good thing. He’d rationalized at the time that the men would be better suited for Jamie there, and his brother had always been a lot more proper than even Sheridan.

  It seemed like the perfect solution, but he should have known that anything Jamie pushed for would end in disaster. Now it seemed so clear to him that’s just what happened. His little girl needed a man capable of keeping her safe, capable of controlling her. Whatever city gent Jamie had married obviously hadn’t been up to the task.

  How easy would it be to just give over to Brodie and let the man assume the role he should have taken five years ago?

  The click of the door knob shifting drew his a
ttention up. He watched the vision his daughter had grown into enter the room with a confident, almost regal bearing she’d never possessed before. Jamie stepped over the threshold wearing an old calico dress Bridgette had left behind. Somehow, though, she turned the faded, warn garment into a sophisticated gown just with her posture and strut.

  “You look lovely, honey.” Sheridan rose to greet his daughter with a hug he just needed to have. “Absolutely beautiful.”

  “Thanks, Daddy.” Where normally a giggle or a smart comment would have crossed her lips, Jamie’s response held all the restraint of a woman unaffected by the compliment. Releasing him, Jamie offered up a true smile. “It feels really nice to be out of those dirty clothes.”

  Sheridan sighed at that, wishing the conversation could stay pleasant, but knowing it wouldn’t. “About those dirty clothes, Jamie.”

  With a wrinkle of her nose, she separated from him, moving toward the window. “There isn’t half a story there. Not near what Brodie would have you believe.”

  “You know, darling, I couldn’t help but notice the way you were carrying on with him. It kind of made me wonder…”

  That had her head snapping to the side to pin him with a hard look. “Wonder what?”

  “You can act all cool and controlled now, but I saw that fire in your eyes when you were going at Brodie,” Sheridan argued before she could deny his statement. “I’m not the only one who you came back to see, am I, Jamie?”

  He caught a flash of something in her gaze, something dark and painful, before she turned back to staring at the fields beyond the plate of glass. “Brodie’s always been good at ticking me off. I wouldn’t read anything more into it than that.”

  She was being stubborn and Sheridan knew he wouldn’t get much further with Jamie on his own. It had been easier with the boys because he understood what they said, even when they didn’t say it aloud. Girls, though, were different.

  Bridgette and Jamie had never been competitive or aggressive with each other the way his boys had. Despite the wide differences in their dispositions, they’d always been closest of all his kids. Losing their mama had just tightened the bond and Sheridan knew that Jamie wrote more often to Bridgette than even him. Maybe that’s what she needs, her sister.

  “Fine, then. You don’t have to tell me,” Sheridan let the subject go. “You understand this, though, right here, right now, Jamie. You are in my house, and I wouldn’t be tolerating any more of your disrespect to my guest. Is that understood, young lady?”

  “Yes, Daddy.”

  She didn’t sound the least bit sincere and in all honesty, Sheridan really didn’t know what he’d do if she disobeyed. Jamie had outgrown spanking and as widow with money, he really didn’t have any say in her life. That didn’t change that he was her father, and he’d decide what was best for his daughter.

  “Okay then, tell me why you’re so mad at Brodie?”

  Even without him in the room, the man riled his daughter out of her calmness and back into her old self with a snort. “Because he’s an arrogant, controlling bastard, and I’m sick to death of him sticking his nose in my business.”

  “You been gone for five years.”

  “So?”

  “Before that it was you always sticking your nose in his business.”

  “I knew it,” Jamie snapped in disgusted. “You’re going to take his side.”

  “I didn’t say—”

  “You always take his side, and it ain’t right.” Not willing to be consoled, Jamie launched herself into a well-worn tirade. “I’m your daughter, but you give that wart-dicked—”

  “Jamie.” Sheridan glared her back to silence, outraged at the language she’d used twice now. “Did I not just say that you will respect my guest?”

  “He’s not in the room.”

  Sheridan wouldn’t nitpick that fine point. Instead, he went with the only threat he could think of. “And do you want me to go give him whatever it is he’s waiting to ask for?”

  Sullen and pouty, her chin dropped to her chest. “No, sir.”

  “No, and you’ll keep that in mind when you make a formal apology to Brodie for saying what you did on the porch.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “All right then, you might as well fess up now, and tell me what ugly story Brodie has waiting for me.”

  That got a smile back on her face. A very big one that fairly glowed with an innocence Sheridan didn’t believe for a second. Still, he didn’t object as she moved in to take his arm and lead him toward the edge of the bed.

  “Well, Daddy…”

  Chapter 5

  Brodie didn’t even bother to wonder what kind of rosy image Jamie painted for her father of the day’s events. It might have taken her over an hour to have her say with her daddy, but it wouldn’t take him more than ten minutes to get Sheridan to see things his way. That didn’t make the waiting any easier.

  As the minutes ticked by, Brodie grew more and more convinced that Jamie dragged it out to encourage his impatience. The little brat probably hoped she could tempt him into doing something rash, but Brodie’d grown up a little since she last knew him. No longer the wild hothead he used to be, instead Brodie took the time she gave him to lay out a plan with Caelen.

  The little vixen didn’t know what a gift she’d actually given him, because he could still be kind of rash. Caelen didn’t talk him out of his need for revenge or his lust, but he managed to temper them with the assuredness that he could revel in both emotions at the same time if only they got Sheridan to shift his daughter over to their ranch.

  Then they’d have little Miss Jamie all to themselves. Caelen’s plan even held the element of surprise to it. No doubt Jamie was spending all her time trying to convince her daddy not to give her to them. Well, that wasn’t what they were going to ask of Sheridan. At least, not directly.

  Finally, the old man appeared, turning the corner on the den’s door as Brodie measured himself out a shot of whisky. Without a word, he walked right up to take the drink right out of Brodie’s hand. Throwing it back, he had it waving in front of Brodie just a blink later. A silent demand for a second, Brodie filled the glass up a little higher, more than willing to get Sheridan liquored up if that increased their chances of riding out with Jamie that evening.

  The second glass got carried over to the large chair reserved just for Sheridan. Settling into it, the man appeared his age as tiredness and concern etched his wrinkles deeper. Finally with a sigh, he opened up the conversation.

  “Jamie’s settled down for a nap now. I got a bell on her door, so we’ll hear her just fine if she stirs.”

  Neither one of the brothers responded to that, recognizing just how important showing the right amount of respect was. Instead, Brodie brooded by the mantle while Caelen perched with the same tension at the edge of his seat. There would be no easing the stiffness holding their muscles taut until Sheridan agreed to Caelen’s and his plan.

  After a deep breath, Sheridan’s gaze finally lifted to meet his a second time. “Okay. I’m braced. Why don’t you tell me the real story behind this boy Danny?”

  “What did she tell you?” Caelen asked, drawing Sheridan’s somber look in his direction.

  “Well, she said he seemed like a very nice, proper young man, which I take to mean she thought he was weak and easily manipulated. She said it was her own exuberant anticipation that made her reckless enough to accept his offer of a ride to the ranch. Given that she said you were both rude and insulting when you approached her in town, I take it to mean she agreed to go with this boy out of rash spite.”

  “And did she tell you just how determined she was not to listen to reason,” Brodie demanded, feeling the hot smite of his anger boiling anew as he considered just how close Jamie had come to harm. “Did she tell you I told her it wasn’t safe and that we’d bring her home?”

  “Those are not the kind of details my daughter focuses on,” Sheridan retorted with a hint of dryness. Brodie could never tell if th
e man found humor or despair in his comments.

  “That boy was no good, Sheridan,” Caelen added in softly. “He intended to do more than just rape your daughter. He intended to make her suffer.”

  A roll flexed over Sheridan’s muscles, and Brodie could well imagine it came from the same place his did—a deep well of anguish at the very idea of Jamie suffering. “And did she lie about liberating herself before you arrived? Even shooting the man?”

  Since he couldn’t say no, Brodie’s agitation just intensified. “She got lucky.”

  “Or maybe you trained her better then you knew.” There came that odd sense of mirth in the old man’s response. It was there and then gone as he looked back at Caelen. “Either way, it appears after all these years, I find myself having to extend a lifetime debt for seeing to my daughter’s safety.”

  “It’s a debt that could easily be paid by simply changing her title to my wife.” Caelen pressed for their ultimate goal, but it didn’t surprise either brother when Sheridan resisted.

  “And why should I even consider that option?”

  Caelen set his empty glass down very carefully on the table before responding with slow precision. “I think you need to face the honest reality that Jamie needs a husband to keep her safe. A strong one…preferably two.”

  Sheridan didn’t even consider that for a second. “That’s her decision to make, Caelen. If you want her hand, you’re going to have to find a way to get her to give it to you.”

  “Your opinion does hold sway, Sheridan.”

  Sheridan finished off his drink before settling his glass onto the table. “Five years ago, you hurt my daughter something bad. Maybe that don’t mean much to you two, but it means something to her and to me.”

  “We did what was right,” Brodie shot back, not about to be taken to task for standing with honor.

  “Right for who?” Sheridan returned.