Chapter 27
Jameson finished hammering the last board into the new room he’d added to the house.
Then he stood back and examined his handiwork with satisfaction.
The ten-by-ten room was made of clapboards he’d purchased in Corpus Christi.
The addition wasn’t fancy, but it would give Lottie and the boys more space and privacy.
“Looks good.” Kace had a small hammer and had been helping him. Bo had a mallet and had been doing his best to help too.
The mid-July sun was blazing overhead, even though it was late in the day.
Jameson wiped at the perspiration on his brow. “Now we just need to put the windows in and give the clapboards a coat of paint.” The project had been just what they’d all needed to keep their minds off Dray and his insistence that the boys needed to come live with him.
Over the past two weeks since he’d shown up for the first time like a man who’d been resurrected from the dead, he’d ridden out to the ranch two more times. Each time he’d insisted Bo and Kace were his and that he could take them.
Jameson had intervened with his revolver both times and informed Dray he couldn’t take the boys unless he had orders from a judge that specifically allowed it.
Every day that passed, the wait for Dray’s return made them all more tense. But at least Jameson had been able to distract the boys by teaching them some of his carpentry skills.
“It looks good!” Lottie called from the barn door, where she stood wiping her hands on a rag after dealing with the scours affecting several cattle.
Jameson took her in as hungrily as always and wanted to call back that she looked good.
Because she was more beautiful with every day that he could only look at her and not touch her.
Her light-blue eyes reflected the sunshine, her smile was genuinely happy, and her soft skin was a warm brown from the days in the sun.
Seeing her and staying away from her was a form of torture that had left him burning inside most days and nights. But he’d done his best to keep his distance, letting Enrique go out with her on the range and work with her in the barn, while he built the addition onto the house.
The two weeks had felt like forever, but he also knew it could be two months, even two years, before they found resolution to the issues with Dray.
Jameson had to pray for patience every day.
But he was determined to remain honorable and faithful to Lottie for as long as it took, even if that meant he could never have her as his wife.
At a cloud of dust in the distance beyond the barn, Jameson stiffened. Someone was coming. Was it Dray again? This time with the necessary legal documents that would give him custody of Kace and Bo?
Jameson began to gently guide the boys around the house. “Go on in with Mimmi.” He spoke as calmly as he could, but he couldn’t keep the urgency from his tone.
As he reached the front door, a group of half a dozen riders came into view. At the forefront was the dark-haired and fierce-looking Beckett.
Jameson’s tension eased. Even so, he ushered the boys inside and closed the door.
If Beckett was visiting today, that could only mean he had news regarding Dray. Jameson didn’t want the children to hear everything. They were too young to understand all that was happening, and he didn’t want to frighten them any more than they already were with Dray’s demands.
As Beckett drew closer, Jameson frowned at the outline of the man riding beside him. Was that Coleman? It had to be. No other man had the confident set of his shoulders and tilt of the head that Coleman did.
What was Coleman still doing in Texas? Jameson had expected his brother to leave after that morning they’d met at the Double T.
Jameson had told Lottie about the encounter, and they’d talked about it for a while and the need for both of them to be able to forgive the people who had hurt them.
Jameson had finally written to his father and to Sterling.
And she was working on forgiving her mother and father.
Was it time to finally forgive Coleman? Was he ready to do so?
Whether he was ready or not, it was the right thing.
Squaring his shoulders, he drew in a breath and waited for the group to reach the ranch yard. As the men reined in, Beckett and Coleman were still at the front, with Cheno and the other armed guards at the rear.
“Beckett, Coleman,” Jameson greeted them, allowing himself to meet Coleman’s gaze.
Wearing a suit with a cowboy hat this time, Coleman nodded at him, his eyes still haunted with regrets.
“I’m surprised to see you’re still in Texas.” Jameson pushed past his hesitations. “But I’m glad you are, because I want you to know that I’m forgiving you and moving past what happened.”
In the process of dismounting, Coleman stumbled, but righted himself and faced Jameson squarely. “That means a lot, Jameson. Thank you.”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
Beckett was dismounting now too. “Glad you’re not shooting at him to leave.”
“I wouldn’t do that.” Maybe once upon a time he would have thought about it, but he’d come a long way.
“Good.” Beckett’s expression contained an excitement that set Jameson suddenly on edge. “Come on over here, Charlotte.” He beckoned to Lottie, who was still in the barn door.
She hesitated.
“We’ve been keeping our distance from each other.” Jameson could feel the flush moving into his face at the explanation. “So that we can honor her marriage vows to Dray.”
Beckett’s grin crooked up one side of his mouth. “Reckon that was mighty fine of you. But let me reassure you, the distance is no longer necessary.”
“It’s not?” The question came from Lottie.
Beckett raised his brow at Coleman. “I’ll let Coleman explain, since he’s the one who’s worked tirelessly over the past two weeks to get the information we need.”
“Coleman helped?” Jameson couldn’t hold back the surprised question.
Lottie was rapidly spanning the distance to the house. “What did you find out?”
Coleman doffed his hat at Lottie.
For an instant, Jameson had a flashback of Coleman doing the same thing when he’d first met Sue Ellen.
When he’d eyed her with appreciation and interest, Jameson had been weak and ignorant and hadn’t stood up and fought for Sue Ellen the way he should have.
This time, he’d never let anyone get in the way of Lottie being his, especially Coleman.
As Lottie approached, Jameson reached for her hand and laced his fingers with hers, drawing her to his side. He was staking his claim on Lottie. No matter what the news was, Lottie was his and always would be.
Coleman offered a half smile. “It turns out Sunshine’s investigator located Dray’s family in three different states.”
Lottie let her fingers tighten within Jameson’s. “And how does that relate to my situation with Dray?”
“Dray has two other wives and five other children.” Coleman spoke the news with a seriousness that left Jameson speechless.
Lottie’s eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything either.
“He married his first wife seven years ago and has three children with her. He married his second wife six years ago and has two young children with her.”
“Dray is married to multiple women?” Lottie finally asked.
“Yes. You’re the third wife he married.”
For a moment, Coleman was silent, probably allowing them time to digest the news.
“I feel so foolish.” Lottie leaned into Jameson. “How did I not figure that out?”
“He was good at covering his tracks,” Coleman said. “He was always very private so that none of his wives realized his scheming.”
Jameson’s mind was whirling with the news. “What was he scheming?”
“Each of the women had a fortune they’d inherited.”
“I can believe it.” Lottie’s voice hardened. “I realized that was why he married me not long after our wedding.”
“You’re lucky,” Coleman said gravely. “He drained the other two women’s fortunes very quickly, and now all he has left is yours.”
Coleman explained how Dray had been traveling from home to home for the past seven years and that he’d used the money he’d leeched from his wives to invest in several oil-well trusts.
Coleman had met with the other investors and let them know about Dray’s theft and was in the process of working with the other two wives to put the investments in their names and not Dray’s.
Coleman had clearly done a great deal of traveling and work over the past couple of weeks to sort through the whole mess.
“What about the marriages?” The question was burning in Jameson. “Can a man have more than one wife?”
Coleman smiled. “The good news for the two of you is that having multiple marriages at once is illegal in Texas, and any marriage after the first one is considered void.”
Jameson breathed out his gratefulness. Thank the Almighty Lord above. “Then Lottie was never technically married to Dray?”
“Lottie is a free woman.”
“Does that mean my marriage to Jameson is still valid?”
“As far as I could tell, you are legally married to Jameson, since your nuptials to Dray never had any binding power. But to be on the safe side, I’ve written up a marriage license that the two of you can sign today, stating your intention to remain husband and wife.”
Lottie’s smile blossomed. “What a relief.”
It was more than relief for Jameson. It was beyond anything he could have hoped for. Emotion swelled within him, making him suddenly speechless.
Beckett was watching both him and Lottie with a grin. “Looks like a happy ending for the two of you.”
“It’s not the ending,” Lottie interjected with a widening smile. “It’s just the beginning for us. Right, Jameson?”
She turned her big blue eyes on him, her face only inches from his. He swallowed past the tightness in his throat, which was filled with happiness, longing, delight, and gratefulness. This beautiful, special woman was his. And his alone.
He met Coleman’s gaze. “Thank you. Brother.” The word brother came out rusty, but he meant it.
Coleman’s eyes turned glassy. “You’re welcome. It was the least I could do to make sure you got to be with the love of your life.”
“The love of his life?” Lottie lifted a saucy brow at Jameson.
He slipped his arm around her waist, relishing the feel of her hip and the small of her back. He lowered his mouth to her ear. “You’re the only one I could ever love.”
She slid her arm around him too and then rose on her toes to whisper in his ear. “Do you remember what you said you’d do the day we got the news that we can be together?”
He remembered all right. With a smile, he pivoted her and bent and fused his mouth to hers. She met his kiss eagerly, diving in.
For a long second, he didn’t care that everyone was watching them. He kissed her with all the love and passion that he’d had to hold back and no longer could. It came rushing out with a force that threatened to buckle his knees and drag her down with him.
But not here and now. When he pulled her down, he didn’t plan to get up. Not for a long time.
As the others chuckled, Jameson broke the kiss and pressed her face to his chest while he kissed her forehead hard. “I love you,” he whispered.
She squeezed him hard back, and he knew she was telling him that she loved him too, with a special love that had been shaped in the hardships they’d faced together.
They would have more hardships to face. Jameson was certain of that. But through them all, he would always remain her faithful cowboy.