“And apparently we’re going to spend our honeymoon measuring bull penises.” She turned back to Serena. “You should run as fast as those heels will take you.”
Henry frowned at the whole group. “I think I’m going to talk to Stef about bringing in a therapist. Maybe we could get a group rate.”
“You’re not marrying Hope,” Noah shouted.
“I am, too.” James squared off with his brother.
“I think I had this dream already,” Hope muttered under her breath. She stopped and walked down the steps toward Serena, who now clutched at her trench coat. “Serena, did you leave a flower on James’s truck earlier today?”
She was back on that? James thought they had cleared that up. “I told you it was Serena. But I doubt now that you and Noah have explained to her what a crap-ass catch I am that she’s going to be leaving me any more flowers. She gets it. Hope is the only woman in the world who wants to put up with my shit.”
Serena ignored him for once. She shook her head. “No. I didn’t leave anything for him. I was at rehearsal earlier today. I’ll be honest, I only pulled this dumb stunt because I heard a rumor that he was hanging around you. I kind of thought he was loaded. Now that I know the truth, uhm, you can have him. I mean he’s hot and all but he talks way too much about cows and feed and stuff.”
Would his humiliation never end? “Well, you talked about stuff I didn’t know anything about either.”
“James,” Serena protested. “I talked about the news and art.”
Bingo. City talk.
“Hope, are you all right?” Henry moved forward. “Do I need to call Doc again?”
“No. I’m fine, but I need to leave. Henry, will you give me a ride out to Nate’s place?” She didn’t look at James.
Noah walked straight up to her and took her hand, feeling her pulse. “You’re anxious. You need to sit down and you need to talk. Henry said a man was in town asking questions about you.”
“What the hell?” James forgot about Serena. He stared at his brother. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“You were busy,” Noah shot back. “You were too busy screwing her to take care of her.”
James’s blood was pounding through his system. “Someone should have come to get me. I’m her man. I’m the one who’s marrying her.”
“You’re not marrying her,” Noah insisted.
Hope turned away from both of them. “I’m not marrying anyone. I’m leaving.”
Noah nodded as though making a decision. “I’ll take you, darlin’. I’ll grab my stuff, and we can get out of here.”
She shook her head. “No. I am not going anywhere with either one of you. I will not be the toy you two fight over one minute more.”
“I told you I want to marry you, Hope.” James couldn’t let her walk away. He really couldn’t let her walk away with Noah. He would lose his woman and his brother because Hope wouldn’t fuck it all up. She would be a good wife, and Noah would be gone.
He would lose everything.
Hope wouldn’t look at him. “It doesn’t matter now, James. In a couple of hours, you’ll be very happy I left.”
“Why don’t we move this into the house?” Trev said, his face closing off. “We’re not alone out here, and I think Hope needs to talk.”
“I do not need to talk, Trev,” Hope insisted.
Trev took a step forward, his mouth a grim line. “Oh, I think you do. Do you understand what you’re risking? Tell me you don’t want it right now. I see the way your hands are shaking. If you need me to, I’ll take you into Alamosa. There’s a meeting at five o’clock. We can make most of it.”
Serena looked around at the group. “These people are all crazy. Damn, Hope, just come with me. We can go back to my place in Creede. I think we both need a good long drink.”
“That is the last fucking thing she needs,” Trev said, his voice harsh.
It was all out of control. Hope looked pale and fragile. What had happened to put that look on her face? And why was Trev McNamara, the poster boy for drug rehab, talking like he was Hope’s sponsor? The only meetings Trev went to in Alamosa were AA meetings. Hope? An addict?
Was that what she was covering up?
He was going about this all wrong. He was letting Noah get him riled up when he needed to be focused on Hope.
He took her hand and pulled her into his arms, something inside him relaxing when she laid her head on his chest. “Baby, if you need to go to some meeting, I’ll take you. I’ll take you into Alamosa, and I’ll come in with you or I’ll wait outside. It’s going to be okay. Noah can come with us if you want.”
If she was this close to the edge, he damn sure wasn’t going to put more pressure on her.
“I want to go to Nate’s. I want to see Nate.” Even as she insisted, her arms wound around him.
Nate Wright. What the hell did she have going on with Nathan Wright, and why did the sheriff know more about Hope than her own lover? Jealousy burned in his gut. He’d watched Noah make love to Hope and he’d been irritated, but Nate Wright knowing her secret pissed him off.
“Why do you need to talk to Wright?” Noah’s voice was a hard growl. He must be feeling the same brutal jealousy.
“It looks like the sheriff’s already on his way.” Henry pointed to the long drive that led from the highway to the house.
Sure enough, there was the Bronco charging up the drive, dust flying behind its wheels. The lights weren’t on, but there was zero doubt that whoever was driving was in a hurry.
Hope shrank back, coming out of his arms.
Cameron Briggs, the acting sheriff of Bliss County, got out of the car, his face set in deep lines. This wasn’t the Cam that James drank with on occasion. This Cam was a lawman, and he’d come to do a job.
A deep fear settled in James’s heart. Something very bad was about to happen. He stepped in front of Hope only to find his brother was already standing there. They formed a phalanx, attempting to hide Hope.
Cam wasn’t fooled. “Hope, I need you to come to the station with me.”
“She’s not going anywhere.” James said the words before he thought them.
“What’s going on?” Noah asked.
Cam stared through them as though he could see Hope. “I need you to come with me, Hope. Your husband is here.”
James felt the world tilt out of place.
Husband.
“All right.” Hope stepped around them. “I’d like to talk to Nate before I go in.”
Cam nodded. “You can talk to Nate on the radio in the car, but Hope, this man who claims to be your husband has some mighty nasty accusations against you. And he has the paperwork to back it up. If you want to head out, I could always say I couldn’t find you.”
James still couldn’t get that one word out of his brain. The only woman he’d ever loved was married to another man. His head was reeling. His stomach felt sick. Hope was married. She hadn’t argued with the accusation. She’d just asked to talk to Nate.
“She’s not going anywhere.” Noah reached for her, but she moved toward Cam.
“I am. I have to know if it’s really him. I have to see it. Good-bye.” Hope turned toward the Bronco.
“Good-bye? All you can say is good-bye?” Noah practically screamed at her. He slapped James across the chest. “Are you going to let her walk out?”
He wasn’t sure of anything anymore. He took a step back, his feet stumbling. Hope had lied. Hope was married. She belonged to another man.
He watched as the Bronco took her away toward her husband and wondered if he would ever feel whole again.
Chapter Thirteen
Noah wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. He only knew that his brother was sitting on his ass while their woman was being driven away in a goddamn cop car.