Luke’s Runaway Bride by Kate Bridges Page B

pistol.
    She swallowed and stared up at him. He was serious.
    “Go ahead. Take it. It’s loaded, so be careful. You can use it on me, or you can listen to what I have to say.”
    Her heart began to drum. She glanced at the boy. Adam was preoccupied with a mare and foal, out of earshot.
    She grabbed the gun, stepped back and pointed it at Luke. “You’re so damn cocky. What makes you think I won’t pull the trigger?”
    His gaze dropped to the barrel. He gulped and his eyes glinted. “I’m betting you won’t. I’m betting you’re a listening type of woman.”
    “You’re the most arrogant, conceited—”
    “It’s about Adam.” Luke glanced earnestly toward the boy, who was climbing to the top of the boards. “That’s why I brought you here. That’s why Daniel and I are fighting.”
    She looked at the boy, then back at Luke. He didn’t make sense. “What are you talking about?”
    Luke looked her square in the eyes and calmly said, “Adam’s father, the one he’s been waiting for, the one we’ve all been waiting for, is Daniel.”

Chapter Five

    J enny’s mouth felt as dry as dust. She stared into Luke’s clear dark eyes. His expression stilled, and she felt the color drain from her face. A voice of alarm whispered in the back of her mind. It couldn’t be. Adam was not Daniel’s son. Luke was mistaken.
    “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that,” Luke said, his black-clad figure towering over her. “I should have warned you.”
    Stunned by his accusation, Jenny blinked. She absently watched the light bounce off an unruly lock of hair that touched his collar.
    Her arms grew weak. She looked down at the gun in her hands. Lowering it, she stepped away and slumped against the rough boards for support. Her long skirt fluttered around her ankles.
    Slowly, her gaze sought the quiet little boy. A dozen yards away, sitting in a pile of straw, his face barely visible behind his unkempt hair, Adam stroked the foal’s white muzzle.
    Daniel’s son?
    She shook her head. “It’s not true.”
    “It is. ”
    She watched Adam whisper something to the colt with the sweet affection only a five-year-old could give. Her Daniel could never desert this child. Gooseflesh rose on her arms.
    Luke turned his face away from her to the heartwarming picture of boy and animal. A streak of sadness touched his composed features. “It’s hard to believe.”
    “He doesn’t look like Daniel. He could be anyone’s boy.”
    “Maria said he was, and I believe her.”
    Maria. A real woman with a real name.
    “Maria Ramirez was twenty-one when she started working in my saloon.” He slid a hand into his pocket. “She’d come straight from Mexico. She could barely speak English, and was about as innocent as that foal over there. When Daniel started coming around every lunch hour to have her serve him meals and drinks, I warned him to stay away. She was very naive when it came to men. I thought he listened, because I never saw them together after that, but I guess I was wrong.”
    Jenny’s lips tightened with sympathy. That situation would be horrible for any woman to go through alone. And poor Adam! With his mother gone, he needed a father now more than ever.
    But Jenny couldn’t allow herself to believe Daniel was responsible, because if she did…
    Rebellious emotions flared in her chest. Luke was the criminal, not Daniel. Luke was the one who couldn’t be trusted. “Daniel wouldn’t keep this from me.” Running a moist palm along her skirt, she tried to regain her balance, tried to deny the accusation. “He would have told me.”
    “Told you what? That he’s a fool? That he deserted the woman and the boy?”
    Suddenly woozy, she backed away.
    “Listen, I’m sorry you had to find out this way. And half of me doesn’t know whether I should be telling you. But I figure you’ve got a right to know the truth.” He draped his arms over the stall, leaned against the boards and continued watching