The housekeeper had miraculously found more clothes for Hannah and Maverick. He had to admit, it was nice to be able to wear clean clothes than to put back on the worn and ripped clothes they had been wearing when they were kidnapped.
Instead of going directly to his house, they rode to Bryan’s. He was probably worried by now, and Maverick couldn’t put off telling his brother. It was time the truth came out.
“We’re here,” Maverick said as he pulled up to Bryan’s log cabin and stopped. “Are you ready?” He squeezed Hannah’s hands softly.
“As ready as I’m ever going to be.”
Maverick hopped out of the buggy and started walking around to help her down just as the front door of the cabin swung open. Bryan ran out, heading toward Maverick, looking angrier than an irritated hornet. The man’s hands were fisted as if he was ready to pummel someone’s face. Maverick needed to make sure to calm him down before he received any more bruises.
“Mav, you son-of-a—”
“Hold your tongue around the lady,” Maverick snapped at his brother. “And before you go flying off the handle, you might want to hear what happened and why I’m bringing her back.”
Bryan stopped inches in front of Maverick. His older brother’s nostrils flared as the man’s chest heaved quickly.
“Your explanation better be good, and it had better help me to understand why my cook saw you taking Miss Ross away from the house right after I left to go to the sawmill for an emergency that wasn’t even an emergency.”
Inwardly, Maverick groaned. Maybe he shouldn’t have done that, but at the time, he couldn’t think of any other way to get his brother away from the house. “I hope my excuses will ease your mind. Now, will you allow me to help Hannah out of the buggy?”
Growling, Bryan pushed past Maverick and over to help Hannah out himself. Her gaze was cautious as it jumped between Bryan and Maverick. He was sure the situation was awkward for her, and he wished he could settle her nerves. The ways he’d done it before was by kissing her, but right now, that probably wasn’t the best thing to do.
Bryan made sure she hooked her hand around his arm as they led the way into his log cabin. Maverick followed, clenching his teeth the whole time. Hannah was his woman, and he did not like sharing. He kept reminding himself that she would legally be his very soon.
They walked to the couches and sat. Bryan made sure he sat by Hannah, which irritated Maverick even more. Since he couldn’t be right beside her, he took the single chair closest to her and sat.
“Fine.” Bryan sighed. “We are here now. You can proceed with your lame explanations.”
“Hannah was kidnapped,” Maverick began.
“Yes, I know. You took her from my house.”
Maverick swished his hand through the air. “No, I wasn’t exactly kidnapping her when your cook saw me take her. However, once we reached my place—”
“Your place?” Bryan jumped to his feet as his voice grew louder. His glare could kill a small animal, Maverick was certain.
Inhaling deeply and breathing it out slowly, he tried to collect his thoughts. He wanted to calm his brother down, and yet, if roles were reversed, Maverick would be livid. Maybe he just needed to skip the details and jump right into the meat of the explanation. “Bryan, I’m in love with Hannah, and she is in love with me. We are going to get married in a few days.”
Bryan’s wide eyes blinked as confusion filled his face. “How did that happen?”
Maverick pushed his fingers through his hair. “If you’ll let me explain without interrupting me, then you’ll understand.”
Bryan threw Hannah a look of betrayal before focusing back on Maverick. “I can’t wait to hear this.”
As Maverick told his brother about why he wanted to keep Hannah from marrying Bryan, the older brother walked to his liquor tray and poured himself a shot of whiskey, tossing it down quickly before pouring another shot.
Maverick explained how Stormy gathered some men to help him try and get money from the Easton brothers, using Hannah as bait. Maverick wasn’t going to let Bryan know that Stormy and Hannah had known each other previously, and Maverick did all he could to tell the story without mentioning anything about her pregnancy.
Gradually, Bryan seemed to calm down. Either that, or it was the whiskey weakening his mind.
Maverick ended by telling his brother about Stormy’s arrest – and then getting shot and killed. Bryan didn’t hold any sympathy in his expression. The whole family knew what kind of person Stormy was, and so, it wasn’t a sad moment to hear of his passing.
After Maverick was finished, he moved beside Hannah and placed his hand on her shoulder. She reached up and grasped his hand, giving him a light squeeze.
“Bryan,” she began, looking at his brother, “I’m very sorry about how everything happened. I didn’t expect to fall in love when I agreed to be a mail-order bride, but...” She glanced up at Maverick and smiled. “I was swept off my feet.”
Slowly, Bryan moved back to them, but sat in a different chair, still with his whiskey drink in his hand. A gush of air escaped his mouth. “So, now tell me more about Coralie.”
“I’d heard,” Maverick began, “that she and her family have lost everything, and that they don’t live very far from here.” He left Hannah to walk over to his brother. He looked down at the man’s sad face. “Joel and I feel that you need to make amends with
