Jack looked warily at Jesse. "Uh…Adam is mom's…uh…friend," he said by way of explanation.
"That's what your mom said," Jesse agreed.
Jack relaxed when it appeared Jesse wasn't upset by the situation. He turned to his mother and asked, "Are you going to tell Adam tonight that you won't marry him?"
Honey clutched her hands together, frustrated by the situation Jack had put her in. The gleam of amusement in Jesse's dark eyes didn't help matters any. She simply said, "Adam deserves an answer to his proposal. And yes, I intend to give it to him tonight."
"And?" Jack prompted.
"After I've given Adam my answer, I'll be glad to share it with you," she said to Jack. "Until then, I think you should sit down and eat your supper."
Honey escaped upstairs to dress, where she managed to consume most of the two hours until Adam's expected arrival at eight.
Shortly before Adam was due to arrive, Jack knocked on her door and asked if he could spend the night with a friend.
"What time will you be home tomorrow morning?" Honey asked.
"Well, me and Reno were thinking maybe we'd go tubing tomorrow. I figured I'd stay and have lunch with him and spend the afternoon on the river."
"Jack, I don't think-"
"It's the first Saturday of summer vacation, Mom! You aren't gonna make me come home and work, are you?"
Jack knew exactly what to say to push her maternal guilt buttons. "All right," she relented. "But I don't think you can make a habit of this. I'm depending on your help around the ranch this summer.1'
"Believe me, Mom, it's just this once."
Moments later Jack came by with his overnight bag thrown over his shoulder to give her a quick, hard hug. Then he scampered down the stairs and out through the kitchen. She heard the screen door slam behind him.
If Honey thought she had managed to avoid a confrontation with Jesse by staying in her room until the very last minute, she was disabused of that notion as soon as she descended the stairs. He was waiting for her at the bottom.
"You told me you aren't going to marry that Philips guy," Jesse said.
Honey postponed any response by heading for the living room. She brushed aside the lacy drapery on the front window and looked for the headlights of Adam's sports car in the distance. No rescue there. She turned and faced Jesse, who had followed her into the room and was standing behind the aged leather chair that had been Cale's favorite spot in the room.
"I've never given Adam an answer to his proposal," Honey said. "He deserves to be told my decision face-to-face."
"Tell him here. Don't go out with him."
Honey felt a surge of anger. "I may not be willing to marry Adam, but I care for him as a person. I agreed to go to dinner with him, and I'm going!"
She watched Jesse's eyes narrow, his nostrils flare, his lips flatten. His anger clearly matched her own. But he didn't argue further.
Neither did he leave the room. When Adam arrived five long minutes later, he found Jesse comfortably ensconced in Cale's favorite chair idly perusing a ranching magazine.
Jesse looked up assessingly when Adam entered the living room, but he didn't rise to greet the other man. He kept his left ankle hooked securely over his right knee and slouched a little more deeply into the chair, concentrating on the magazine.
"Don't be too late," he said as Adam slipped an arm around Honey to escort her out the door. Jesse smiled behind the magazine when the other man stiffened.
His smugness disappeared when Honey replied with a beatific smile, "Don't wait up for me."
Jesse would have been downright concerned if he could have heard what passed between Honey and Adam in the car on the way to the restaurant.
"That hired hand sure made himself at home in your living room," Adam complained before too many minutes had passed.
Honey sighed in exasperation. "It wasn't what it looked like."
"Oh?"
"He was trying to make you feel uncomfortable," Honey said.
"He succeeded. I wouldn't have been half as upset if it weren't for the things I know about him."
"You've only seen him twice!" Honey protested. "You don't know anything about him."
"Actually, I did some checking up on him."
"Adam, that really wasn't necessary." Honey didn't bother to keep the irritation out of her voice. Men! Really!
"Maybe you'll change your mind when you hear what I have to say."
Honey arched a brow and waited.
"Did you know he's got a criminal record?"
"What? Jesse?" Honey felt breathless, as though someone had landed on her chest with both feet. " Dallas vouched for him."
" Dallas obviously covered for his friend. The man's been arrested, Honey." He paused significantly and added, "For rustling cattle."
Honey leapt on the only scrap of positive information Adam had given her. "Arrested. Then he was never convicted?''
Adam released a gusty breath. "Not as far as I could find out. Probably had a good lawyer. It was only by chance that there was any record of the arrest. Don't you see, Honey? He might even be one of the rustlers who've been stealing your stock. He probably moved in so he could look things over up close."
"I lost stock long before Jesse showed up around here," Honey said coldly. "I refuse to believe he's part of any gang of rustlers."
But she couldn't help thinking about the night Jesse had been gone until three in the morning. Where had he been? What had he been doing? And Jesse hadn't wanted her to call the police when she had spotted someone suspicious on her property. He had said he would rather tell Dallas about it. Had he?
Adam had given her a lot to think about, and Honey was quiet for the rest of the journey to the restaurant in Hondo. Hermannson's Steak House was famous for its traditional Texas fare of chicken-fried steak and onion rings. A country band played later in the evening, and she and Adam danced the Texas two-step and the rousing and bawdy Cotton-eyed Joe.
Adam was always good company, and Honey couldn't help laughing at his anecdotes. But she was increasingly aware that the end of the evening was coming, when Adam would renew his proposal and she would have to give him her answer. She felt a sotnberness stealing over her. Finally Adam ceased trying to make her smile.
"Time to go?" he asked.
"I think so."
She tried several times in the car to get out the words I can't marry you. It wasn't as easy being candid as she wished it was.
Adam wasn't totally insensitive to her plight, she discovered. In fact he made it easy for her.
"It's all right," he said in a quiet voice. "I guess I knew I was fooling myself. When you didn't say yes right away I figured you had some reservations about marrying me. I guess I hoped if I was persistent you'd change your mind."
"I'm sorry," Honey said.
"So am I," Adam said with a wry twist of his mouth. "I suppose it won't do any good to warn you again about that drifter you hired, either."
"I'll think about what you said," Honey conceded. She just couldn't believe Jesse had come to the Flying Diamond to steal from her. She had to believe that or die from the pain she felt at the thought he had simply been using her all this time.
The inside of the house was dark when they drove up, but it was late. Honey was grateful that she wouldn't have to confront Jesse tonight about the things Adam had told her.
"Good night, Adam," Honey said. She felt awkward. Unsure whether he would want to kiss her and not willing to hurt him any more than she already had by refusing if he did.
Adam proved more of a gentleman than she had hoped. He took her hand in his and held it a moment. The look on his face was controlled, but she saw the pain in his eyes as he said, "Goodbye, Honey."
She swallowed over the lump in her throat. She hadn't meant to hurt him. "I'm sorry," she said again.