Janelle Denison - Bride Included

Refusing to dwell on past mistakes, he casually added, “Just so you know, I’ll be marrying Josie by the end of the week.”

Jay’s eyes nearly bugged right out of their sockets. “What?” he wheezed.

A satisfied smile quirked Seth’s mouth, and he decided that he enjoyed having the upper hand for a change. Very concisely, he explained the stipulation Jake McAllister had added to the deed to the Golden M, which included offering his daughter the benefit of marriage in order for her and his granddaughter to remain on the ranch.

Jay’s blistering curses filled the office, and he paced the length of space behind his desk. “And you actually agreed to those outrageous terms?”

Refusing to be baited, Seth shrugged nonchalantly. “I’d be a fool not to. I want the Golden M.”

Jay stopped his agitated pacing and whirled to face Seth His stare turned hard and bitter. “Yeah, you’re a fool all right. An idiotic fool for marrying that little tra—”

“Don’t say it,” Seth interrupted, the chilling tone of his voice menacing enough to make Jay reconsider his derogatory remark. He stood and faced his brother squarely. He was taller than Jay by at least three inches and more muscular from the physical labor of working the ranch and herding cattle.

Now he used that superior strength to send a silent but unmistakable warning. “In fact, I’d appreciate it from hen on that you keep any insulting comments about Josie to yourself.” As much as Seth had his own personal grudges with Josie, he wouldn’t tolerate his brother, or anyone else for that matter, slandering the woman who would be his wife.

“Good God, Seth,” Jay breathed incredulously, “you’re not still hot for her, are you?”

Oh, Josie made him plenty hot all right—in ways than her becoming his wife would certainly appease. “She’s a means to an end,” he said, stating a fact. “However, since she’ll be my wife, I’ll expect you to give her the same respect you would any other woman I would have married.”

Jay shook his head, his eyes wide and wild, as if he was searching for a way to make Seth see reason. “Are you totally and completely out of your mind? You can’t marry a McAllister!” He spit the word out like an expletive.

If Seth wasn’t on the verge of letting his own anger get the best of him, he would have found his brother’s in amusing. But he didn’t care for the ominous slant of their conversation or the hostility burning in Jay’s gaze. For crying out loud, it wasn’t as though Jay had to marry Josie.

He let out a deep breath that did nothing to ease the tense muscles in his body. “I can marry a McAllister, and I will.” His brusque tone left no room for debate. “I suggest you get used to the idea.”

Jay raked him with a scathing look. “You’re going to marry her even after what she did to you?”

Seth didn’t want to think about Josie’s deceit, knowing if he dwelled on that aspect of their time together it would eat him alive. “What happened in the past has nothing to do with the present.” Josie was a business deal, part of the package for the Golden M, which he wanted so badly he could taste the sweetness of freedom owning his own place would provide.

“She used you, Seth!” Jay pointed an angry finger his way for emphasis but didn’t dare actually jab Seth with the offending digit. “And she tried to pawn off that brat of hers as yours after sleeping with God-only-knows how many guys!”

Seth’s jaw clenched. Unbidden, visions of Josie’s daughter filled his mind, momentarily taking the edge off his rising temper. The timid young girl looked just like Josie, with curly auburn hair and big green eyes. Nothing about her physical appearance gave any indication as to who her father could have been. Seth wondered if Josie even knew who’d fathered Kellie.

Shoving the disturbing thought out of his mind, he decided then and there that he wouldn’t punish the girl for her mother’s past indiscretions. It just wasn’t fair.

He headed toward the door, ready to end their discussion, but paused in the threshold to glance back at Jay. He leveled his steady gaze on his brother, who looked absolutely livid at the turn of events. “That ‘brat’ is going to be my stepdaughter and your niece. I’ll expect you to treat her with the same kindness I give your own two children, or you’ll answer to me.” With that, Seth left the office and headed down the long corridor to the entrance of the stable

“Don’t expect me to be at the wedding!” Jay yelled furiously after him.

Seth shook his head. He hadn’t realized until that moment how his brother’s spiteful attitude was so much like their father’s. David O’Connor hadn’t cut anyone any slack especially not a McAllister, and he’d allowed old resentments to fester until it had totally consumed his life. Jay was on that same collision course, straight to emotional destruction.

And there wasn’t a damn thing Seth could do about it.

As he walked out of the stables and felt the warmth of the sun on his face, Seth had the invigorating thought tha he was no longer under his brother’s thumb, no longer an employee of the Paradise Wild.

He grinned. He was a free man with a spread of his own

And it felt pretty damn good.

The heartache was already beginning, starting with the letter Josie’s father had left for her.

Sitting on the wooden bench just outside the barn, she read the brief correspondence Jake had scrawled on a scratch piece of paper. She read his words over and over trying to understand why he’d risk the Golden M in a poker game, add an outrageous stipulation that would ruin her lift and bind her to Seth O’Connor, when he knew there was every chance of losing to the last man in Montana she would have chosen for a husband.

But there were no answers in his letter. Just verification that the deed and stipulation were indeed real and blinding and an apology for what he’d done, for failing her and letting his gambling addiction force him to resort to desperate measures, though he’d done his best to secure her future. He knew she’d be disappointed in him, angry even and he couldn’t bear to face her condemnation, so he’d decided it was best if he left. The note ended by saying that he hoped she’d finally find happiness and not hate him too much for what he’d done, and that he loved her and Kellie.

There was nothing about his returning, and that tore her up more than anything because she couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her father again.

The hot tears welling in her eyes finally spilled over her lashes. Tears because she would miss her father. Tears because she was so afraid of what her future would hold.

“Oh, Dad,” she whispered around the ache in her heart. She was upset, yes. But she could never, ever spurn him despite the fact that he’d sold her soul to the devil himself. Together, they could have figured a way out of this mess. Alone, she had no way of defending herself from someone as formidable as Seth. He wanted the Golden M, and he wanted it badly enough to marry her for it.

Oh, what a doozy fate had delivered! If she wasn’t so devastated, she would have been laughing hysterically at the twist.

She heard the screen door to the house slam shut and glanced up to see Kellie heading across the yard. She stopped and picked up Seth’s hat, paused briefly to consider the hole in the crown, then continued toward the barn, carrying Josie’s trophy with her.

Quickly, Josie wiped away the wetness on her cheeks and reached deep inside for some much needed fortitude to explain what changes lay ahead. She had to be strong for Kellie’s sake because she was all her daughter had.

The little girl stopped in front of Josie, a frown creasing her delicately shaped brows. “He made you cry,” she accused.