Chapter 21
Dray’s smile was too smug, and Jameson wished he could flatten his fist into the fellow’s mouth and wipe that smile away.
Something didn’t feel right about Dray being here. Jameson wasn’t sure what it was, but the fellow couldn’t just ride back after months of being gone, of claiming to be dead, and then expect Lottie to take him back.
She wouldn’t, would she?
From atop his horse, Jameson shifted his attention to Lottie. She was dismounting, and each movement was rigid, almost angry.
Good. That meant she would send Dray away. He’d treated her lousy when he’d been around, and he’d treated her lousy to leave her as often as he had. Now, he was also lousy to show up after months of letting her think he was dead.
Lottie reached for Bo’s hand and drew him to her side. “What are you doing here, Dray?”
“This is my home.” He bent and scratched at Rascal’s head. “I came to see you and the boys.”
“If you care so much about seeing us, why didn’t you come back earlier?” Her voice held accusation. “Why now?”
Rascal rolled over onto her back and seemed to smile up at Dray, begging him to scratch her belly. The traitor. Didn’t she know she wasn’t supposed to like Dray?
“I knew you could take care of things just fine.” Dray rubbed at Rascal’s belly. “You always made it clear you could.”
“I made it clear I didn’t need you to take over for me.”
“You sure did, darlin’.”
She heaved an exasperated breath. “Listen, I don’t want to have this conversation with you at all, much less in front of the boys.”
Dray straightened, his expression too calculated. “Good, because neither do I.”
She just shook her head. “What do you want, Dray?”
“I told you. I want to see you and the boys.”
She released a scoffing laugh.
Jameson could feel his muscles tightening with every passing second of the conversation. He hadn’t liked Dray from the first time Lottie had talked about him. Now, after meeting him, Jameson liked the fellow even less.
Kace and Bo were watching the exchange between their parents, the happy smiles from moments ago vanishing as the tension escalated.
As much as Jameson wanted Lottie to send Dray away and tell him never to come back, he had the feeling that would ultimately hurt the boys. If Dray genuinely wanted to see them, then the boys would benefit from knowing he cared, especially now that they knew he was still alive.
Lottie was watching the boys too. She was probably coming to the same conclusion. She turned an icy glare on Dray. “You can visit with the boys, Dray. But I’m married to someone else and have no interest in you.”
At her chilly declaration, Jameson let himself breathe an internal sigh of relief.
He hadn’t expected Lottie to want to rekindle anything with the fellow, but he’d needed to hear her commitment to him, especially after he’d declared his love for her that morning and she hadn’t reciprocated.
He’d been afraid all day that she would reject him and push him far away.
Having Dray walk back into her life was the perfect opportunity for her to do that if she wanted to.
“Your marriage to this here fellow”—Dray cocked his head at Jameson—“isn’t valid. Not when you’re still married to me.”
Lottie opened her mouth to respond, faltered, then closed it.
Jameson didn’t know the legalities. But he guessed Dray was correct, that Lottie was technically still married to her first husband now that they’d learned he was still alive.
Dray placed a hand on Kace’s shoulder. “Besides, it isn’t up to you whether I can visit you or the boys.”
“Are you threatening me?” Lottie jutted her chin, her eyes flashing.
“Not threatening. Just stating the reality.”
“And what’s that?”
“The boys are mine.”
“You’ve hardly spent any time with them—”
“They were babies, and most men leave the handling of babies to the womenfolk. But now that they’re bigger, I’ll take over.”
She shoved Bo behind her, then grabbed Kace, pulling him away from Dray. “You will do no such thing.”
“Try and stop me.” Dray locked eyes with Lottie, his gaze filled with a determination that said he wouldn’t be swayed.
A shiver of dread ricocheted through Jameson. Did Dray have the right to take the boys if he wanted to?
Thankfully, the boys weren’t fighting Lottie and didn’t seem eager to go with their father. From the hesitation on their faces, Jameson guessed the whole conversation was starting to scare them.
He swung his leg over his saddle and hopped down. He’d had enough of Dray’s bullying Lottie and stirring up dissension. The fellow needed to leave, and Jameson planned to make him go.
He stepped beside Lottie and the boys, then leveled his most severe look upon Dray. “Your visit here is over.”
Dray’s gaze skimmed over Jameson, his top lip curling in disdain. “You’re not their father. I am.”
Jameson rested his hand on his revolver handle. “Fatherhood isn’t a right. It’s earned.”
Dray scoffed. “Like to see you find a judge around these parts who’ll agree with you.”
Lottie stiffened. “You wouldn’t dare fight me for the boys.”
“Oh, you bet I would, darlin’. And most judges will agree that sons should have their fathers raising them.”
“You’re despicable,” Lottie whispered, her face turning pale.
Dray was proving to be worse than a low-down dirty rat. But the boys were listening to everything, and they didn’t need to hear it.
Jameson took hold of both of their arms and pointed them in the direction of the house. “Go on in and stay with Mimmi.” He spoke calmly. “And I don’t want you coming outside until your mother or I tell you to.”
Kace, with Rascal in one arm, grabbed onto Bo with his free hand and began to race to the house.
Dray wasn’t watching the boys, was instead staring at Lottie with a calculated look.
Again, Jameson had the feeling that Dray’s whole visit had an ulterior motive, that he hadn’t come because he truly cared about Lottie or the boys. No, something else was going on.
At this point, however, with Lottie being technically married to Dray, Jameson didn’t have any authority or rights. If a judge really would allow Dray to take the boys, Jameson wouldn’t have the ability to halt the order.
That hadn’t happened yet, though. And Jameson knew he would have to find a way to prevent it.
In the meantime, he wasn’t above using force to make Dray leave. “You best be on your way.” Jameson tightened his grip on his revolver, enough for Dray’s attention to drop to his hand.
Dray’s hand slid to his holster.
Jameson had his gun out, aimed, and his finger on the trigger before Dray could withdraw his revolver. “If you pull your gun out, I’ll shoot it from your hand, and I can’t guarantee you’ll keep all your fingers.”
Dray didn’t bother looking at Jameson’s gun, almost as if he didn’t believe Jameson would really carry through on his threat.
Jameson narrowed his eyes. Go ahead, he silently beckoned. Try it.
“If you didn’t hear,” Lottie added, “Jameson is the one who single-handedly drove off Vinnie and his men.”
“Good for him.” Dray’s voice held a note of sarcasm.
“Leave,” Lottie commanded, the one word containing a mountain of bitterness.
Dray straightened his shoulders, then glanced at his horse tied up near the barn. “You should know that if I go today, I’ll be back. Next time, I’ll come with a judge’s order that proves I have the right to raise my boys.”
“Why are you doing this, Dray?” Lottie glanced in the direction of the house, then lowered her voice. “We both know you don’t care about them and haven’t been around.”
“Like I said, I left the baby part to you. But now that they’re getting older, they need their father.”
“They have Jameson.”
“He’s not your husband or their father.”
Lottie blew out a frustrated breath. “What are you really after? Are you hoping I’ll offer you a deal? Is that it?”
Dray hesitated.
It was enough for Jameson to know they were getting to the bottom of why the fellow had come today. Dray hadn’t succeeded in getting Lottie’s money or ranch through marriage. Now he was using the boys to pressure her into giving him something.
Maybe Dray hadn’t really almost died the way he was claiming. Maybe he’d been biding his time someplace else, waiting for Lottie to move on from him. Or maybe he’d been waiting for the boys to be a little older. Whatever the case, the man was a swindler of the worst kind.
“What are you suggesting, Lottie?” Dray raised his brows, clearly feigning innocence.
“You know exactly what you want,” she said hotly. “The same thing you wanted all along.”
“Us to be a family?”
“The ranch and my money.”
Jameson waved his revolver from Dray to his horse. “Go on and get out of here.”
Dray glared back at Jameson.
A shot rang out, and a bullet whizzed past Dray’s hat.
He ducked and swore.
For a moment, Jameson thought Enrique had fired the shot. The older man had made an appearance in the barn door and had been watching the exchange for a short time, probably lip-reading as best he could.
But Lottie stood with her gun pointed at Dray, the barrel smoking. “Don’t want to have to tell you again. Leave.”
Dray held up both hands. “All right.” He started toward the barn.
Jameson kept his gun out and his focus on the fellow. Lottie stood beside Jameson, watching Dray too, her gun unwavering in its aim. Jameson wasn’t surprised she’d taken the first shot. She was tough and decisive and not easily scared.
Even so, Jameson was glad he was here for this showdown with Dray.
Dray reached his horse and mounted quickly. As he started away from the ranch, he shifted in his saddle. “Next time I ride out here to the Longhorn, I’ll be coming to collect the boys, and there won’t be anything you can do to stop me.”
With that, he dug his heels into his mount and galloped off.