Lindsay’s soft voice like soothing balm to the guilt overwhelming him, he stood and bent over her to give her a kiss. She reached up to cradle his face, her returned kiss so filled with tenderness that he felt tears burn his eyes.
“Lindsay, if anything were to happen to you…” he murmured against her lips, and she kissed him all the more fervently as if to reassure him again that all was well.
Well at least with her and their unborn child, Jared’s intense gratitude mixed with growing concern for Walker and Marguerite. He straightened to stare down at Lindsay. “Sleep now, will you?”
She nodded, though she glanced toward the door. “Go to him. It’s so terrible, Jared. His own cousin…”
Yes, it was terrible, Jared thought as he left her and strode from the room. Yet he and Walker had survived horrors before…too many to count.
Remorse once more gripping him that he’d judged his friend so harshly, Jared could only hope that his heartfelt apology would be accepted.
At the very least he’d offer for Walker to take a swing at his own jaw!
***
“Brandy?”
Walker tensed. He’d heard Jared enter the library, but he didn’t turn from the window. Instead he nodded, remaining silent.
He heard the sound of pouring, and the ring of cut crystal as the decanter struck a glass rim. He heard Jared’s low curse, too, which made Walker smile dryly in spite of himself.
Yet he sobered as quickly, his jaw still throbbing where Jared had struck him, something his friend had never done before.
Any differences of opinion in the past had never come to blows. They had always shared a respect for each other and a bond as strong as brothers. Exhaling slowly, Walker forced himself to remain calm—but damnation, he was angry!
“To your health, Lord Summerlin.”
Walker shot Jared a sideways glance and accepted the glass of brandy. Yet he didn’t drink even as Jared half emptied his glass with one swallow. Then Jared sighed heavily and shook his head.
“Dammit, Walker, a duel? Is there no other way? Notify the authorities about your cousin—something!”
Walker heaved a sigh, too, of grim resignation. “The only witnesses to identify Russell are dead. I’d swear the one that tried to stick a knife in my back was the same man I saw loitering on the street the morning Marguerite and I left for Scotland.”
Now Walker did drink, downing half of his brandy, too. Then he met Jared’s eyes. “Seemed odd to me. A dark-haired fellow, swarthy, but he tucked down his hat and disappeared around the corner before I got a better look at him. Makes sense now, though. After we left he must have reported what he saw to Russell, who guessed our plan and paid his cutthroats to come after us.Bastard!”
His vehement curse doing nothing to make him feel any better, Walker tossed back the last of his brandy. Jared did the same, the two of them standing near the window in silence for a long moment until Jared exhaled heavily.
“Probably the same man, just as you said. So no witnesses and only your word against Russell’s…and now a challenge to a duel in the morning. If there’s anything I can do, Walker, just name it.”
“Keeping your damned fists to yourself is a good start.” Walker saw at once the discomfort on Jared’s face, and knew he felt regret for what he’d done. “And to act as my second.”
Now Jared looked as grim as Walker had seen him in a long time…much like as when they had stood together on theVengeanceand watched their latest quarry burn to ashes upon the sea.
“Forgive me, Walker. For striking you. For judging you so harshly about Marguerite—”
“I love her, Jared.Love her! No matter how I might have acted before, I would never hurt her. She means everything to me…”
Walker could say no more, his throat grown tight with emotion.
He’d never before uttered those words, no, not even to Marguerite yet. Even when he had pulled her onto his lap during the punishing carriage ride home and they’d made love to forget for a time their fear for Lindsay…for Walker to forget how close he’d come to losing Marguerite forever—still, he’d not told her how much he cared.
“It’s a hard thing to accept you might be deserving of happiness after everything you’ve suffered,” Jared said quietly, guessing Walker’s tormented thoughts. “You saw how wretchedly I acted toward Lindsay aboard theVengeance. Not because I didn’t love her, but because I didn’t feel I had therightto love her. Yet she never stopped believing that one day, I’d tell her how much she meant to me. Thank God, I finally did.”
Walker sighed heavily, the pain inside him only growing in spite of Jared’s words.
