“What’s so funny?” John asked.
“Nothing,” Cain said, his hands tightening around the sorrel’s reins. “Go on with your list, I’m listening.”
John seemed to require a few moments to think. “If Linette hasn’t said anything yet, she will. Remember to remove your spurs before going into the house.”
“The slang for spurs is ‘can openers’?” Cain had heard one of the other hired men say something along those lines recently.
“You got it.”
Cain had soon learned that cowboys had their own lingo. He was picking up a few words here and there, but there were several he hadn’t quite figured out. The day before, he’d heard Pete, a wiry fellow in his early fifties, talk about a gelding who was cut proud. Cain still hadn’t figured out what that meant. Ah, well, he’d learn soon enough.
“Anything more?”
“Plenty,” John assured him. “This one’s important. Don’t ever cuss out another man’s dog.”
“You make it sound like writing a check without any money in the bank.”
“It’s worse than that.”
“They throw you in jail for bouncing checks.”
“You don’t want to know what happens to someone who cusses out a neighbor’s dog. You can say what you will about his wife, but leave his dog alone.”
That wouldn’t hold true with Cain, but he didn’t want to be teased about being a newlywed, so he kept his mouth closed. Glancing at his watch, he calculated how long it’d be before they’d head back to the house.
The day before, he’d arrived home just as Linette was taking a loaf of freshly baked bread out of the oven, and the earthy scent of yeast had filled the house. Her eyes had lit up when she’d seen him, and his heart had done a little flip-flop just knowing she was his. Cain had never suspected life could be this good.
“Another thing,” John said, cutting into Cain’s musings. “Always drink upstream from the herd.”
Cain chuckled. “I suppose the next thing you’re going to tell me is that a horse in the barn is worth two in the bush.”
John rubbed his hand down the side of his face as if testing to see whether he needed a shave or not. “You’re learning, McClellan. Won’t be long now before the creak’s out of your saddle.”
Linette hummed as she polished the cherrywood end table. Soon she was meeting Patty Stamp and the two were driving into town. Generally they made the drive only once a month, and the men tagged along, but this trip was special. Something Cain didn’t know about. A surprise of sorts, although it shouldn’t have been.
Linette suspected she was pregnant.
She didn’t want to say anything until she was positive. The test kit Patty Stamp had provided read positive, but Linette wouldn’t believe it until she heard it directly from the physician himself.
Other than missing her period, she suffered none of the obvious symptoms heard about. No morning sickness. Nor was she overly tired. Perhaps it was too soon. They’d been married less than six weeks. From what she’d heard, it wasn’t supposed to be this easy.
The sound of an approaching vehicle prompted Linette to set aside her dusting rag and look out the front window. A large oversize pickup barreled down the driveway.
Thinking something must be wrong, Linette reached for her jacket and stepped onto the porch. She wrapped her arms around her to ward off the cold wind, which howled like a stray calf.
Her heart staggered at the sight of Murphy, Cain’s former colleague, who leapt down from the cab. He stood with his feet braced apart as if he expected to do battle with her.
“Where’s Cain?” he asked, and the wind howled louder behind him.
“On the range.”
“Can you reach him?”
A chill raced up Linette’s arms. “Would you care to come inside? We may have had our differences in the past, but that isn’t any reason to stand here in the cold and shout at each other.”
He nodded once, giving the impression he was lowering his standards to do as she requested. Linette gritted her teeth to keep from saying it didn’t hurt her any to leave him outside to freeze if that was what he wanted. To her credit, she managed to swallow the sarcastic comment.
Murphy took the porch steps two at a time. “How long will it take to reach Cain?” he demanded.
Linette ignored the command in his voice. The mercenary might be accustomed to issuing orders and having them obeyed, but she wasn’t one of his men.
“Would you care for some coffee?” she asked instead.
Murphy glared at her. “I asked about Cain.”
“And I asked if you’d like some coffee.”
“I don’t want coffee, I need to talk to Cain,” he said with a decided lack of patience.
“All right.” Linette left him and headed for the kitchen but was saved the effort of contacting her husband. Just then Cain walked in the back door, looking dusty, tired, and so damn loving that it was all she could do to keep herself from running into his arms.
“You’re early,” she said, forcing a smile.
“Yup.” He devoured the short distance between them and took her into his arms. He kissed her before she could tell him about Murphy. Once her husband’s mouth was over hers, it demanded every ounce of will she possessed to remember the other man herself.
“How about taking a shower with me?” he whispered close to her ear.
“Cain—”
“How long has it been since we last made love?” he asked, then answered the question himself. “Too long.” He kissed her so thoroughly, she felt her knees would go out from under her.
“Cain—”
“I believe she’s trying to tell you I’m here,” Murphy said from the kitchen doorway. One hand held open the door and the other was braced against his hip, his eyes disapproving.
“Murphy.” Cain stepped away from Linette, and the two men exchanged hearty handshakes. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“We’ve got a problem.”
Linette noticed the reference to “we” even if Cain didn’t. Her husband had promised her his warring days were over. He’d given her his word of honor. Never again, he’d said.
Linette forced herself to relax. She was leaping to conclusions. Just because Murphy showed up unexpectedly and announced he was in trouble, even if he had prefaced the problem with “we,” that didn’t mean Cain would become involved.
“What’s wrong?” By tacit agreement the two men moved to the kitchen table. Linette took down three mugs and poured them each a cup of coffee. Unwilling to be excluded from the conversation, she pulled out a chair and sat next to Cain.
Murphy hesitated when Linette sat down.
“You can speak freely,” Cain assured him.
Murphy began, “Does the name Enrique mean anything to you?”
Cain frowned. “Just the one name?”
Murphy nodded.
“Should I know it?”
“He was the man who shot you.”
“Ah, yes. Pretty Boy.” He wasn’t someone Cain was likely to forget, Linette suspected, although she wasn’t sure he’d ever known the other man’s name.
“He’s back in action,” Murphy said, and his mouth thinned just saying the words.
“Another CEO this time?”
As Linette watched her husband, a knot began to form in the lower part of her stomach. His eyes lit up, and a half smile touched his lips.
“No. This time he’s got Jack.”
“Jack Keller?”
Murphy nodded.
Cain frowned fiercely. “What the hell does he want from Jack?”
“I don’t know.”
“Has he demanded a ransom?”
“That’s the funny part. He hasn’t asked for a dime.”
“You’re sure Jack’s alive?”
“No.”
“What are your plans?”
“Rescue Jack if I can, then kill Enrique. Either way the bastard’s taken his last man. The problem is I’m go
ing to need help.”
Linette stiffened. The two men talked about life and death with stark indifference as if neither was of any real consequence.
She wanted to stand up and shout at them to look at themselves, to listen to what they said, to really listen. It might have been her imagination, but it seemed to Linette that Cain, the man she loved, the man she shared a bed with each night, the man who was the father of the child she suspected she carried, became a stranger to her. His heart grew hard and cold before her very eyes.
“When are you leaving?” Cain asked.
“Within the week.” The other man’s eyes held Cain’s. “I want you with me.”
Cain hesitated and looked to Linette.
“You promised me never again,” she whispered, her voice sounding scratchy and weak.
“This is Jack,” Murphy exploded, and stood. “If it wasn’t for Jack, Cain wouldn’t be here now. None of us would be. Jack’s a good man. He doesn’t deserve to die friendless. You know damn good and well that if the situation was reversed, he’d be the first one to volunteer to go in after you.”
Still Cain hesitated. “Let me talk to Linette.”
Murphy glared at her, then turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the door to swing in his wake.
For a long moment neither spoke. Linette knew what Cain wanted. He was waiting for her to absolve him from his promise. Waiting for her to tell him that these were extenuating circumstances and it only made sense that he be the one to rescue his buddy.
Linette, however, wasn’t willing to be that generous.
“Honey?”
“It doesn’t matter what I say. You’ll do what you want anyway.”
“It does matter,” Cain insisted.
“We haven’t been married two months and already you’ve got an excuse to go back into the field.”
“This isn’t like any other operation. This is for a friend, a man I’ve worked with for years. This sort of thing has never happened before. It won’t again.”
“You promised me before we were married that you wouldn’t go back.”
Cain forcefully expelled a sigh. “Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t. But this is for Jack. I owe him my life.”
Linette closed her eyes. It might have been paranoid of her, but she wondered if Murphy had his own agenda as far as Cain was concerned. She wouldn’t put it past the mercenary to bring Cain back into Deliverance Company little by little.
“Why does it have to be you?” she asked.
“Because I’m good. Jack’s chances are better if I’m the one heading the mission. Sweetheart, Jack’s a friend, a good friend. And Enrique’s the bastard who shot me.”
“In other words you want to go?”
It took Cain a long time to answer. “Yes.”
Something died inside of Linette.
If it hadn’t been for the gunshot wound and his close brush with death, Cain would have been content to leave matters between them as they were. His injuries had reminded him of his mortality. He was lucky to be alive, and given a second chance, he wanted to make the most of it. For a time he’d managed to convince himself he could change his stripes.
“What about your other promises?” she asked, staring straight ahead. She discovered she couldn’t look at him and focused instead on an inanimate object on the counter.
“What promises?”
“Love, cherish, the vows we spoke in church. Do you want me to absolve you from those as well?”
“Linette,” Cain said on the tail end of a sigh that revealed his exasperation with her. “You’re making more out of this than necessary. A friend of mine is in trouble. He needs help, and I’m in a position to rescue him. It doesn’t mean I’m going back to Deliverance Company.”
“What is it you want from me?”
“I was hoping we could talk about this sensibly.”
“You’re looking for me to release you from your promise. Admit it, Cain. Be honest enough to own up to the truth.”
“All right, if that’s what you want me to say, then I will. You’re right, I did promise you I wouldn’t go back into the field, but then I didn’t count on one of my best friends being taken captive, either.”
There was a knock at the back door and Patty Stamp stepped into the kitchen. “You ready, Linette?” she asked cheerfully, then hesitated when she saw Cain. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”
“You didn’t,” Linette said, forcing a smile. “Let me get my coat and purse and I’ll be ready.”
“I’ll wait out in the car,” Patty said.
“I’ll only be a moment,” Linette promised, and headed out of the kitchen.
“Linette.” Exasperated, Cain called after her.
“Yes?” she answered lightly as if not understanding why he would delay her.
“What about Jack?”
“I’ll tell you what, Cain. I’ll leave the decision in your hands.”
“No,” he said forcefully. “I refuse to accept that.”
“Then go,” she said without emotion, “but don’t kid yourself into thinking this is the last time. There’ll always be a good reason. It’ll always be just this one time. Always be someone else who needs you more than me.”
“You’re overreacting,” he snapped.
“Maybe,” she answered, “but I doubt it.” She didn’t wait for his answer. With tears blurring her vision, she hurriedly reached for her purse and jacket and raced outside.
Linette joined Patty on the front seat of the minivan and ran her glove-covered hand across her face. Patty glanced at her as if she weren’t sure what she should do.
“I’m fine,” Linette said with a shaky laugh.
“You don’t look so good to me. Did you two have your first spat?”
“You could say that.”
“Don’t worry, everything will work itself out.”
Linette couldn’t help but wonder. Patty eased the car into drive and headed down the long dirt driveway that led to the main road.
“I didn’t know you had company,” Patty said when she spied Murphy’s truck.
“It’s a friend of Cain’s.”
“Don’t you fret,” Patty said a second time. “By the time you get home, Cain will be so pleased to see you, he’ll want to kiss and make up soon enough.”
“Cain won’t be here.”
“Nonsense. Where else would he be?”
“God only knows,” she said chokingly.
Several hours later the physician had confirmed what a test kit and nature had already told her: Linette was pregnant. The certainty that Cain’s child grew beneath her heart was what helped her through the long drive back to the ranch.
“Wait until Cain hears this,” Patty said. “Boy, would I love to be a fly on the wall when he learns you’re going to have a baby.”
Linette knew Patty was trying to lift her spirits, but she didn’t try to kid herself into thinking Cain would be waiting for her when she arrived home. Yet she couldn’t help hoping.
It was dark by the time they arrived at the ranch.
“See, what did I tell you?” Patty said, sounding wise and smug. “Cain’s home.”
Murphy was there as well.
Patty dropped her off, and Linette walked in the back door off the kitchen. Cain and Murphy were sitting at the table, going over some papers.
Cain’s eyes held hers. “Where’d you go?”
“Town,” she said, going over to the oven to check on the roast she’d left slow cooking there. “I had some errands to run.” She wouldn’t tell him about the pregnancy now. She refused to use their child as a weapon.
“Murphy and I’ve been talking, and I’ve made up my mind. I’m going with him after Jack.” He announced his decision as if he expected her to argue.
There was no fight left in her. “I figured you would.”
“We leave at first light.”
Her hand tightened around the pot holder, and she nodded.
That evening Cain and Murphy talked long after dinner. Linette finished the dishes, put a load of wash into the machine, and casually announced she was going up to bed.
“If I don’t see you in the morning, Murphy,” she said smoothly, “have a safe trip.”
He eyed her as if he weren’t sure he should believe her. “I’ll do my damnedest.”
“Take care of Cain for me.” Her eyes held his for a lengthy moment before he nodded.
“Thank you,” she said, and, turning, walked slowly up the stairs.
Linette was asleep when Cain joined her several hours later in the large king-size bed. She sighed when he started to nibble on her earlobe.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” he whispered, his voice low and seductive. His hand massaged her gently.
“Is it morning already?” Her eyes burned, and she felt as if she hadn’t slept more than a hour. It seemed impossible that it was time to wake up.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got four or five hours. But I didn’t want to waste our last bit of time together sleeping,” Cain told her, expertly unfastening the buttons to open the front of her pajamas.
“You want to talk?” she asked, and yawned loudly.
“No,” he said, gently rolling her onto her back. “I want to make sure you miss me as much as I’m going to miss you.” Already he’d eased his hand beneath the elastic of her pajama bottoms.
Her response to her husband was instinctive. He helped her out of her pajamas, then shucked off his own. She raised her hips off the mattress in order to meet his first thrust and then whimpered at the intense pleasure they were capable of giving each other.
“Baby, I promise—”
Linette stopped him. “Don’t make me any more promises,” she told him.
It was over almost before it started, their need was so great. They were both too exhausted to speak afterward, for which Linette was grateful. As a result Linette fell asleep tucked securely against her husband, his arms around her.
His kiss against the side of her neck woke her.
“Again?” she asked groggily, thinking he wanted to make love a second time, an occurrence that wasn’t uncommon in the weeks since their marriage.