Diana Palmer Long Tall Texans 07 Harden

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

or learn to ride a horse, or especially, to get to know me. God knows, I'm the flower of the family."
Harden raised his eyebrows. "You?"
Evan glowered at him. "Me. I'm the eldest. After I was born, the rest of you were just an afterthought.
You can't improve on perfection."
Miranda managed a smile at the banter. Evan was kind.
Theodora came down the steps and paused in front of her son and the other woman. "I've done this
badly, and I'm sorry. You're very welcome in my home, Miranda. I'd like you to stay." Miranda
hesitated, looking up at Harden uncertainly.
"You'll never get to see all my sterling qualities if you leave now," Evan said. She smiled
involuntarily.
"And I just baked a chocolate cake," Theodora added with an unsteady smile. "And made a pot of
coffee. You probably didn't have much to eat on the plane."
"We didn't," Miranda confessed. "I was too nervous to eat."
"Not without cause, either, it seems," Harden said with a glare at his mother.
"Cut it out, or we'll go for a walk behind the barn," Evan said with a smile that didn't touch his dark
eyes. "Remember the last one?"
"You lost a tooth," Harden said.
"I was thinking about your broken nose," came the easy reply.
"You can't fight," Theodora told them. "Miranda probably already thinks she's been landed in a brawl.
We should be able to be civil to each other if we
try."
"For a few days, anyway," Evan agreed. "Don't worry, honey, I'll protect you from them," he said in a
stage whisper.
She did laugh, then, at the wicked smile on his broad face. She clung to Harden's hand and went back
into the house.
Theodora was less brittle after they'd had coffee, but it wasn't until Evan took Harden off to see some
new cattle that she really warmed up.
"I'm sorry about all this,” she told Miranda earnestly. "Harden...likes to make things difficult for me,
you see. I didn't know you were coming with him."
Miranda paled. "He didn't tell you?!"
Theodora grimaced. "Oh, dear. You didn't know, did you? I feel even worse now." She didn't, couldn't
add, that she'd thought Miranda was a woman of the streets. That tragic young face was wounded
enough without adding insult to injury.
"I'm so sorry...I can get a room in the motel," she began almost frantically. Theodora laid a gentle
hand on her arm. "Don't. Now that Donald and Jo Ann have their own home, like Connal and Pepi, I
never have much female company. I'll enjoy having someone to talk to." She studied Miranda's wan
face. "Harden's never brought a woman home."
"He feels sorry for me," Miranda said bluntly. "And he wants me." Her thin shoulders rose and fell. "I
don't know why he wants to marry me, really, but he's relentless, isn't he? I was on the plane before I
knew it."
Theodora smiled. "Yes, he's relentless. And he can be cruel." She drew in a steadying breath. "I can't
pretend that he doesn't have a reason for that. I...had an affair. Harden was the result."
"Yes, I know." She replied, her voice gentle. "He told me." Theodora's eyes widened. "That's a first! I
don't think he's ever told anyone else."
"I suppose he isn't on his guard so much with me," Miranda said. "You see, I haven't had much spirit
since the accident."
"It must have been terrible for you. You loved your husband?" she asked.
"I was fond of him," Miranda corrected. "And sorry that he had to die the way he did. It's my baby that
I miss the most. I wanted him so much!"
"I lost two," Theodora said quietly. "I understand. Time will help." Miranda's eyes narrowed as she
looked at the older woman. "Forgive me, but it's more than just the circumstances of Harden's birth
between the two of you, isn't it?" she asked very gently. "There's something more..."
Theodora caught her breath. "You're very perceptive, my dear. Yes, there is something more."
"I don't mean to pry," Miranda said when Theodora hesitated.
"No. It's your right to know. I'm not sure that Harden would ever talk about it." She leaned forward.
"There was a girl. They were very much in love, but her parents disapproved. They had planned to
elope and get married." Theodora's eyes went dull and sad with the memory. "She called here one
night, frantic, begging to speak to Harden." She grimaced. "He'd gone to bed, and I thought they'd had
a quarrel or something and it could wait until morning. Harden and I have never been really close, so
I knew nothing of their plans to elope, or even that he was honestly in love with her. She seemed to be
forever calling at bad times. I was trying to finish up in the kitchen because it was late, and I was tired.
I lied. I told her that he didn't want to talk to her at the moment, and I hung up." Miranda frowned
slightly, not understanding.
Theodora looked up. "Her parents had found out about the elopement and were making arrangements
to send her to a school in Switzerland to get her away from Harden. I can only guess that having
Harden refuse to speak to her, as I made it sound, was the last straw. She walked out onto the second-
story balcony of her house and jumped off, to the stone patio below. She died instantly." Miranda's
eyes closed as she pictured how it would have been for Harden after that. He was sensitive, and deep,
and to lose someone he'd loved that much because of a thoughtless phone call must have taken all the
color out of his world.
"Yes, you understand, don't you?" Theodora asked quietly. "He stayed drunk for weeks afterward."
She dabbed at tears. "I've never forgiven myself, either. It was twelve years ago, but it might as well
have been yesterday as far as Harden is concerned. That, added to the circumstances of his birth, has
made me his worst enemy and turned him against women with a vengeance."
"I'm sorry, for both of you," Miranda said. "It can't have been an easy thing to get over."
Theodora sipped coffee before she spoke. "As you see, Miranda, we all have our crosses," she mused.
"Yes." She picked up her own coffee cup. "Thank you for telling me." Theodora's eyes narrowed. "Do
you love him?"
The younger woman's face flushed, but she didn't look away. "With all my heart," she said. It was the
first time she'd admitted it, even to herself.
"Harden is very protective of you," Theodora observed. "And he seems to be serious."
"He wants me very badly," Miranda said. "But whether or not he feels anything else, only he knows.
Desire isn't enough, really."
"Love can grow out of it, though. Harden knows how to love. He's just forgotten." Theodora smiled.
"Perhaps you can reeducate him."
Miranda smiled back. "Perhaps. You're sure you don't mind if I stay with you? I was serious about the
motel."
"I'm very sure, Miranda." Theodora watched the young face relax, and she was glad she hadn't made
the situation worse than it was.
Evan and Harden were on their way back to the house before Evan said anything about Miranda's
arrival.
"I can't believe you brought her home," he murmured, grinning at his younger brother. "People will
faint all over Jacobsville if you get married."
Harden shrugged. "She's young and pretty, and we get along. It's time I married someone." His eyes
ran slowly around the property. "Even if there are four of us, we'll need sons to help us keep the place.
I'd hate to see it cut up into subdivisions one day."
"So would I." Evan shoved his big hands into his pockets. "Mother thought you were bringing that
streetwalker you threatened her with once. Not that I expect you'd know a streetwalker if you saw
one," he murmured dryly, "considering your years of celibacy." Harden let the insinuation go, as he
always did, but he frowned. "You didn't tell Theodora who Miranda was?"
"I started to, but there wasn't time." His expression sobered. "You should have called first. No matter
what vendettas you're conducting against Mother, you owe her a little common courtesy. Presenting
her with a houseguest and no advance notice is unforgivable."
Harden, surprisingly, agreed. "Yes, I know." He broke off a twig from the low-hanging limb of one of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Linki