“I’m never bad,” Dani protested. “Well, hardly ever and I never, ever, locked anyone in the attic.”
“Then we won’t have a problem, will we? Now then, I think that’s enough reminiscing for one night. I think it’s time we were getting home.”
As they were driving back to the ranch, Kelly sensed Jordan’s gaze on her. He’d been in an odd mood ever since they’d left the restaurant, a little withdrawn, maybe a little nostalgic.
“Do you remember what I was tormenting you about that day in the attic?” he inquired eventually in a lazy drawl.
Kelly glanced into the back seat and saw that Dani had fallen asleep. “I remember,” she admitted. Even now the memory had her scowling. “You wanted to practice kissing.”
“I wanted to be sure I got it right. I didn’t want to kiss my first date and get it wrong. It would have been humiliating.”
“And kissing me wrong wouldn’t have bothered you?” she inquired just as irritably now as she had then.
“Nope. I knew you’d forgive me. I was trusting you with my fragile ego.”
“Do you have any idea how infuriating it was to a teenage girl to be considered target practice for some boy? What you were telling me was that I was not good enough for the real thing.”
His expression sobered. “I never meant for you to see it that way.”
Unexpected tears gathered in her eyes. “Then why would you be doing the same thing to me now?” she asked quietly.
He looked over at her, shock written all over his face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Aren’t you asking to practice marriage on me, just the way you did with kissing back then?”
“Of course not!”
“Sounds that way to me.”
“Marrying you won’t be practice, Kelly. It’ll be for keeps.”
He said it so emphatically that she almost believed him. Still, there was no getting around the point that he had never once, not in all the years she’d known him, said he loved her. Even Paul Flint had given her that much. Maybe the words hadn’t meant much in the end, but at least they’d started off with a promise of undying love. If that hadn’t been enough to sustain a marriage, how could she possibly trust a commitment that started with anything less?
* * *
After he’d dropped Kelly and Dani off, Jordan drove home, pondering the evening. He wasn’t exactly sure where he’d gone wrong. He’d thought the entire day was going really well. He’d actually enjoyed being with Dani, answering her endless questions, awestruck by her inquisitiveness. He’d loved teasing bright patches of indignant color into Kelly’s too pale cheeks. He’d thought the taunting and the memories had stirred exactly the right kind of amorous thoughts.
But there had been no mistaking the sudden souring of the mood on the drive home. He had no idea how to combat this absurd notion Kelly had gotten that he viewed a marriage between them as practice. That wasn’t it at all. When he made a commitment, he kept it. Businessmen he dealt with trusted him on the basis of a handshake. Why couldn’t a woman he’d known all his life trust him on the basis of a sacred vow?
He was still mulling over what had happened when he glanced into his rearview mirror and noted a pair of headlights bearing down on his car. Whoever it was was driving erratically and far too fast given the nighttime conditions on the winding country road. Jordan clung to the wheel a little more tightly.
There was a sharp curve coming up just ahead and even though he knew the road like the back of his hand, he felt his palms turn sweaty. That curve was no place to be with a crazy driver on his tail. Opting not to take a chance, he pulled off onto the shoulder of the road to let the car pass. As it whizzed by, he realized with a sense of dismay that the bright red pickup was Cody’s.
“What the hell?” he muttered, pulling out behind his brother and speeding up a little.
The truck took the curve on two wheels, causing Jordan’s breath to lodge in his throat. A sense of impending tragedy made his stomach tighten. Dear God in heaven, he wasn’t sure the family could take another loss. Erik’s death had shaken them all, especially Luke, who had been there when that tractor overturned, and their father. Harlan Adams was tough, but they had all known he felt a terrible burden of responsibility for not recognizing that Erik wasn’t suited for ranch work. If anything happened to Cody on the heels of that, it would destroy him.
Staying a safe distance behind—not that he was willing to drive fast enough to catch his brother—he followed him all the way to the turnoff that led to the small house Cody had built for himself a few miles from the main house at White Pines.
Dust churned and rocks flew on the unpaved lane. By the time Jordan pulled to a stop, Cody had already leapt from the truck and stormed into the house.
Whatever had him in such a state must have been pretty bad, Jordan surmised. He’d left the truck door and the front door of the house standing wide open. Just to be on the safe side, Jordan leaned inside the truck and nabbed the keys Cody had left in the ignition. His brother wasn’t getting back on the road tonight, if he had anything to say about it.
Jordan approached the house cautiously and peered inside. “Cody?”
The sound of objects slamming against walls carried from the bedroom. He followed the clatter. The sight that greeted him almost made his heart stop. Cody’s face was twisted in fury. When he wasn’t throwing lamps and boots against the wall, he was haphazardly jamming clothes into two open suitcases on the bed. He was cursing a blue streak at the same time.
Jordan tried to make sense of what he was saying, but
