Texas Brides Collection by Darlene Mindrup

God is never mean!”
    She could see that her brother was rapidly losing control. He closed a fist and shook it at her.
    “I
needed
them, and He took them away!”
    “Ted…”
    “No! I don’t want to hear any more. Say another word and I’ll leave!”
    April closed her lips on the angry torrent of words begging for release. Tears threatened her composure.
    “What about me, Ted?
I
needed
you
, and you left me.”
    She couldn’t read the expression that flashed across his face. “You’ve never needed anybody,” he disagreed, his voice lacking inflection.
    How wrong could a person be? Had she seemed so self-sufficient to him? After her parents had died of the fever, she had quickly taken charge of their lives. Having been apprenticed to a wonderful seamstress at the age of twelve, by the time her parents died four years later, she had developed quite a reputation of her own. She had an uncanny knack of mixing just the right colors and styles to make women look their best. Her business had thrived, bringing in the money they needed to survive.
    It was only when Ted had started getting into trouble that she had listened to the advice of one of her customers and come west to Abasca, Texas. The woman had told her that it was a growing, thriving area yet still free of many of the vices of larger, more settled towns. Thinking to remove her brother from the temptations to which he had so readily succumbed, she had quickly made arrangements and left Chicago far behind.
    She had hoped to influence her brother to make the right decisions, but somehow or another, she had failed miserably.
    Having lived on his own in Chicago for four years, the constraints placed upon him by the remote location of Abasca had finally gotten to him. After two years here and thinking that he was man enough at the age of twenty, he had set out on his own to make his fortune. The loss of her parents had been devastating enough, but losing her brother as well was almost more than she could bear. Still, she had survived, though her lonely heart often ached with the need of someone to love.
    That had been over two years ago, and she couldn’t help but wonder what had brought her brother back now.
    “Does it ease your conscience to believe that?” she asked quietly. He looked away, and for the first time, she noticed the Colt revolver holstered on his hip. Her eyes widened, lifting quickly to meet his enigmatic look.
    “What do you need that for?” Her voice squeaked. “What have you been up to, Ted?”
    Taking her by the shoulders, he tried to calm her. “It’s for protection, all right?”
    She wanted to ask him if that protection included killing people, but she didn’t have the courage. Seeing the set look on his face, she was afraid to find out.
    “I need your help, April.”
    The very words she dreaded hearing. How many times had she heard them in the past and lived to regret it.
    “What…what do you need? I have a little money.”
    Tenderness filled his eyes, and he smiled. “I don’t need your hard-earned money, sis.”
    Releasing her, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began to unwrap it. When he held it out to her, she drew back, gasping at the beautiful diamond necklace nestled among the blue and white folds.
    “Where did you get that?”
    “A friend gave it to me to keep. I want you to keep it in the bank for me.”
    April threw him a suspicious look. “This
friend
, why couldn’t she keep it herself?”
    He chuckled. “You sound almost like a jealous wife.” The smile slid from his face and he became all at once grave. “She had to go somewhere in a hurry. The only thing she has left in the world is this diamond necklace, and she’ll need it when she gets back.”
    April wrapped her arms tightly around herself, her teeth chattering with the cold seeping into the cabin. “W–why can’t she j–just put it in the bank…herself?”
    Seeing her shivering, Ted pulled her close, holding her against his warmth. She