“You don’t know what the hell my mother would’ve wanted. You don’t know how bad Hank Dalton hurt her. I do. He was married, Rose. He had no intention of ever leaving his wife. My mom...she would cry at night. She loved him. She missed him. She also couldn’t risk anyone in town knowing. I could never let any of them know, Rose, I wouldn’t betray her like that. Then people would know she’d been with a married man and she was so ashamed. And Hank? Where’s his shame? When it comes to Hank, he’s that kind of man. It means nothing to him. It cost him nothing. He runs around hurting his wife, hurting other women. He doesn’t care.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know what Hank does or doesn’t care about...”
“His infidelity is pretty damned infamous, Rose.”
“Yes, but West has gotten close with Hank. Maybe he has changed. I’m sure that...”
“I know a little bit about all of it from West. Because he’s talked about it. He still doesn’t sound like anyone I want to know. And I don’t want to get involved with someone, anyone, who would treat my mother the way that he did.”
“But maybe he wouldn’t now.”
“Doesn’t matter. That’s the thing. You have to treat people right. The whole time you’re alive, because then they might die. You might die. And you don’t have any time to make up for it. And if I were to go to him now...my mom was proud, Rose. He broke up with her, he told her he didn’t want to be with her and only later she found out she was pregnant with me. She didn’t ask him for a damn thing until she had to. She hated that she violated her own moral code, getting involved with a married man and hoping he’d leave his wife and kids for her. You can’t know how much it hurt her. But I do. I remember how she punished herself. Never dated, never let herself find love. I remember how afraid she was people might realize I was a Dalton. Might judge her the way she judged herself.”
“I understand that, Logan, I do. But West...he didn’t do this to your mom. If life is so short, then maybe you should make a relationship with your brothers. With your sister. There are so many Daltons, you have... You have this whole family.”
“I had my mom. She was my family. And now I have your family,” he said. “They’ve been there for me. That’s the most important thing.”
She looked at him, at the hurt written so clearly across his face. And she wondered if there was more. “Why didn’t Hank come for you?”
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t have gone with him anyway.”
“He didn’t come for you.”
“No. He damn well didn’t. But don’t think for one second that matters to me. It doesn’t. I wouldn’t have gone with that bastard anyway. I would rather have been with you all. With Ryder. I owe him big. It’s why I worked the ranch. It’s why...”
“Why you won’t touch me.”
“You’re a little brat, Rose, that’s why I won’t touch you.”
The lie settled between them. She knew it was a lie. Because he had betrayed the way that wanting her tortured him. He had shown her. It was too late for him to take it back. She knew. And because she knew, he couldn’t pull this on her.
But then, she supposed that went the other way, as well. He knew that she wanted him. And...there just wasn’t a whole lot of defense to be had there. They both knew each other just a bit too well.
“Well, maybe if life is short I should start fucking you now and worry about the consequences later?”
She stilled. He had said it to be mean. He had said it to push her.
Except... Language aside, it didn’t sound so bad.
Though, she didn’t really know what all went into fucking. Making love sounded a little bit more like something she could handle. A little more like something she could wrap her mind around. Because it seemed gauzy. The other sounded very physical. A little bit harsh. She was interested. But she had some concerns about whether or not she could withstand it.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he growled.
“What? You were the one who said it.”
“You’re supposed to get mad at me, dammit. That was disrespectful.”
“Was it? Sounded like a promise to me. And now you’re telling me it’s a promise you had no intention of keeping.”
“You couldn’t handle it.”
“Let’s make a deal. I can’t meddle in your life, and I can’t tell you that you should have a relationship with your family—when you clearly should—maybe you don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t handle.”
“But I know.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” she said. “You know an awful lot for an emotionally constipated dick who won’t even tell his half brother who he is.”
“Great. So glad we had this talk.”
“If I’ve figured it out, then he’s going to,” she said. “He’s marrying Pansy. If he doesn’t figure it out, she will. I’m not sure that I can keep it a secret from her.”
He reached across the table and put his hand over hers. “Keep the secret.” Something burned in his blue eyes, and it wasn’t anger. It wasn’t superiority, or any other things that she could get easily mad about. That was annoying. Because she would really like to be able to go ahead and stay angry at him. To keep on fighting.
But she couldn’t yell at sincerity.
“I will,” she said. “But the original statement stands. He’s going to figure it out. Whether by himself or through Pansy, you know he will. I...I didn’t notice until we kissed. And then West walked into the police station. At first I thought
