The Soldier's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek) Read online

  Julie ran down the steps to meet him, throwing her arms around his neck. “I’m so glad you could make it!”

  “I called in a few favors,” Zane said. “I figured Austin needed some guidance on this important occasion.” He reached Austin and gave him a light punch to the arm.

  Richard, who’d joined them, watched the exchange wide-eyed. “You two look exactly alike!”

  “Not really,” Austin assured him. “Not once you take a closer look.”

  Richard trailed after them as they entered the house, looking from one to the other and back again. “You do look exactly alike. I bet no one can tell you apart.”

  “I can,” Julie said confidently. “Austin, go upstairs and find Zane a room. Help him get settled. Then you all get right back down here. I want to hear all your news, Zane.”

  “Can I come?” Richard asked, following the men and Ella to the stairs.

  “Sure,” Austin said. “Zane, meet Ella and Richard. Richard and Ella, meet Zane. If you haven’t guessed, Zane’s my twin. And this is my son.” He put a hand on Richard’s shoulder.

  Zane exchanged greetings with them and they began the climb to the third floor. “I wish I had a twin,” Richard said.

  Austin smiled, but he was a little worried about Zane, who’d become subdued during the introductions. When they reached a small bedroom that stood empty except for a plain twin bed, he ushered Zane inside. “These aren’t the fanciest accommodations, but the bigger rooms downstairs are already full.”

  “That’s okay. I’ve slept in worse conditions.”

  “I’ll bet,” Austin said. “Do you want a few minutes to yourself to settle in?”

  Zane dropped the duffel bag he carried on the ground. “Actually, now that Mom’s not around, I wanted to talk to you. And Richard. This concerns him. I guess it concerns you, too, Ella. I came because I know something you don’t, Austin.” He looked around as if for a place to sit and chose the only option—the bed.

  Richard dropped down beside him, Ella leaned against the doorjamb and Austin stayed where he was, not liking Zane’s tone. “What do you mean it concerns Richard?”

  Zane drummed his fingers on his knee for a minute. “Well, I might as well come right out with it. Richard—when’s your birthday?”

  “November sixteenth!” Richard said brightly. “When’s yours?”

  But Austin was already doing the math. A wave of ice swept down his spine. “No. Don’t—”

  He wanted Zane to stop right then. He didn’t want to listen to anything else his twin had to say, but Zane set his jaw and kept on going. “So he was conceived in March,” he said in a quiet but firm tone.

  “No,” Austin said again, shaking his head. Heather had broken up with him in February. Richard looked from one to the other.

  “My birthday is November sixteenth.”

  Austin straightened, the rushing in his ears making it hard to hear. “It better not be you,” he said to Zane. “You son-of-a-bitch, tell me it’s not you.”

  Zane stood up, holding a hand out to keep Richard where he was. The boy’s jaw had dropped open at Austin’s tone.

  “It’s not me,” Zane said.

  “Then who? Tell me!”

  Zane lifted his other hand as if warding him off. “It’s Colt. Now Austin—Richard’s right here—”

  Austin couldn’t listen anymore. He couldn’t stand to hear another word. He pushed past Ella into the hall. He wasn’t aware of the stairs under his feet as he pounded down two flights to the ground floor. Then he was out the front door, striding toward the woods, his only thought to get away.

  “Austin?” A female voice called after him when he was half-way across the lawn. “Austin, wait!”

  He kept going, unable to keep his temper under control and unwilling to let anyone see him like this. Richard wasn’t his son. Richard was Colt’s. Colt had slept with—

  “Austin! Stop!” Heather called after him.

  Her words brought him up short when he realized who it was. He turned, his hands balling into fists. His feelings must have been plain to see, because she stopped too, some feet away from him.

  “Shit. You know.”

  He could only nod.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Why? Why didn’t you tell me about you and Colt?”

  “Why do you think?” She held her hands out wide. “What choice did I have back then, Austin?”

  What could she possibly mean? “You had the choice to tell me the truth—that you were fucking my brother!”

  “So I could tear your family apart? After you’d just lost your father?” She shook her head, her blond hair bouncing against her face. “What I did was wrong; I knew that as soon as I did it. Colt did, too. We promised each other never to be together again—but then your Dad died, and then you all left town, and then I found out I was pregnant.” Her eyes begged him to understand. “I knew if I told either of you, you’d hate him forever and he’d hate himself. He was just a kid—he was younger than me, for god’s sake—just sixteen. I couldn’t do that to you, not either of you.” She lifted her hands. “Don’t you see, Austin? You’d just lost your father. I couldn’t destroy the rest of your family.”

  “So when I came back? You thought you’d keep on lying?”

  “I never said you were his father. You were the one who decided that.”

  “You could have explained.”

  “What’s changed, Austin? Do you care for your brother any less now than you did back then? Is Colt any more likely to settle down in Chance Creek? I didn’t know what to do. I hoped you’d go away again. I hoped you’d keep away from me! I hoped the problem would disappear.”

  Heather was quickly losing control over her emotions. He felt like losing control, too. “I think I need you to disappear,” he ground out.

  Heather recoiled and her eyes filled with tears. She took a shaky breath. “I’ll get Richard and take him home. But Austin—you’re not the only one hurt. Remember that. Whether or not you’re his father, Richard loves you. He needs you. I realize that now. He needs all of you Halls. I shouldn’t have kept him from you. I just didn’t want you and Colt to fight. Please believe me.”

  “Heather, just… go.”

  She nodded and turned away, trudging slowly back toward the Hall. He knew he was being unfair in some ways. Heather was right—the knowledge that she had slept with Colt would have devastated him back when he was seventeen, and would have driven a wedge between him and Colt forever. Now he was angry, but not because Colt and Heather had been together twelve years ago, but because Richard wasn’t his. He’d grown accustomed to the idea of being the boy’s father. It had helped to pull him out of the funk he’d fallen into for so long. He looked forward to Richard’s visits. He liked sharing his knowledge with him, liked goofing around with him. Liked being someone Richard could depend on.

  He turned on his heel and marched toward the woods, needing to be alone. If he was truthful, he’d thought that helping to raise Richard could be his first step toward atoning for the wrong he’d done to Donovan. But life didn’t work that way, did it? The two weren’t connected. Donovan was dead and he couldn’t bring him back.

  Richard wasn’t his son.

  Once he’d reached the forest, Austin sagged against a thick pine truck, unable to bear the weight of the loss.

  “I’m sorry I was the one to tell you.”

  Austin stiffened at the sound of Zane’s voice.

  “Colt confessed to me what he did years ago. He felt like shit about it, but the past was the past and I told him to let it lie. As soon as I heard about Richard and put two and two together I couldn’t let you go on thinking he was yours. It would just make it worse when Colt came home.”

  “Colt isn’t coming home.”

  “Maybe he will now.”

  “I wanted to be—I would have—”

  “I know.” Zane moved to face him. “And you still will mean the world to that boy. You’ll still help raise him. We all w
ill.”

  Austin sighed. He supposed he could still help raise Richard, even if Colt was his real father. Heather was right; Colt had no plans to leave the service and his visits would be few and far between. Austin, Mason and Zane would have to fill in for him. Maybe things didn’t have to change that much.

  Ella was pregnant, too. He would soon have children he could call his own. He supposed he could share Richard. He didn’t like it, but what choice did he have?

  “You’ll get past this,” Zane said quietly. “Think of all the good things you do have.”

  Austin saw an image of the future in his mind’s eye. All of his brothers home and living on the ranch, each with a wife and a family. Children of various ages playing together, working together, learning alongside their parents. In a way, they were creating their own tiny village here at Crescent Hall, and soon he’d have no chance to be lonely. Maybe it would be okay.

  Maybe.

  “It’s been a hard run for you, hasn’t it, since Donovan died?”

  Austin jerked around to face him. “What do you know about it?”

  “A little. I started looking into things a month or so ago. You weren’t yourself.”

  That twin connection again. He should have known he couldn’t fool Zane.

  “It’ll get better. You’ll see. You want to talk about it?”

  To Austin’s surprise, he found that he did.

  Chapter 36

  ‡

  When Ella went looking for Austin twenty minutes later, she found an exasperated Heather and a tearful Richard still on the property. They stood by Heather’s truck, which from the looks of things Richard refused to enter.

  “I don’t care if he’s not my real dad. I’m not leaving until I say good-bye.”

  “He doesn’t want to talk to us right now, honey. He’s angry.”

  “With you. Not with me. I’m angry, too!”

  Heather caught sight of Ella and straightened. Richard followed her gaze and turned around. “My Dad—Austin—hates me because of what my mom did, doesn’t he?”

  “Of course not.” Ella came to stand beside him. “Austin loves you so much, Richard. That’s why he’s sad—he wanted to be your father just as much as you want him to be.”

  “Then he should be my dad. I don’t care about… Colt.”

  Heather rubbed both hands over her face. “I can’t believe this.”

  “It’ll be all right,” Ella told her. “I know it will be.”

  “Really? How? All I ever do is screw things up. I kept Richard from his Dad—from all of his family. I’ve been alone for years. I’ve barely made it this far. I’m behind on my rent. I just… suck at everything.”

  Ella could tell she was close to tears, but before she could offer any sympathy, Heather stiffened and Ella turned to see Austin and Zane approaching.

  “Oh, no,” Heather said. “Richard, come on—we have to leave.”

  But Richard raced toward Austin and threw himself into his arms. Austin wrapped his arms around the boy and rested his cheek on Richard’s head. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

  Heather watched them, her face pale. “I should have stayed with him,” she whispered to Ella. “We would have been married for years now, but I fell for Colt so hard.”

  “You were very young,” Ella said, grateful Heather hadn’t stuck with her first love. She didn’t want to be Heather’s confidant, so she was relieved when Austin approached with Richard.

  “I’m still angry,” he said to Heather, “but that’s not going to solve anything, is it?”

  “No.” Heather’s voice was very small.

  “You have to tell Colt. Just as soon as he gets back from his current assignment.”

  Heather nodded, her face pale. “When will that be?”

  Austin and Zane exchanged a glance. “It’s going to be a couple of months,” Zane said.

  She took a breath. “That gives me a little time to figure things out. I’d like to do it in my own way. Will you let me do that?”

  Austin’s expression hardened. “What does that mean?”

  “I loved him, Austin. And I let him walk away from me for your sake—and for his. He’s going to be just as angry as you are when he finds out what I did. I want to try to make that right.”

  “He’s not in love with you.”

  “Austin!” Ella felt a pang of sympathy for the other woman.

  Austin visibly pulled himself together. “He doesn’t want to leave the service. I know that much.”

  “Will you give me a chance to speak for myself? To tell things my way? I’d like to write to him—to explain what happened. To see—” She trailed off with a glance at Richard, but her meaning was clear to Ella. Heather still loved Colt. She still wanted to be with him.

  An idea occurred to Ella. “You could answer the Wife Wanted ad,” she blurted. “The original one that Mason set up.” Austin had told her all about it and how he’d made a new one to fit his needs better.

  Heather turned to her. “A Wife Wanted ad? What do you mean?”

  Austin cocked his head and to Ella’s surprise, he grinned. “That just might work if you do it right, Heather.”

  “Do what right? I don’t understand.”

  “I’ll explain,” Ella said to her. “If that’s all right?” She looked to Austin for confirmation.

  He nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll keep Richard busy for a while. Hey, buddy—you want to help me check that my uniform’s ready for tomorrow?”

  “So you are getting married in your uniform? That’s so cool!” Just like that, Richard was happy again. He stuck close to Austin on the way into the house, Ella noticed, and she hoped when Colt came home, Richard could learn to love his real father as much as he loved Austin.

  “So here’s what happened,” Ella began and outlined Aunt Heloise’s conditions for the Hall brothers to inherit Crescent Hall. “Mason made a Wife Wanted ad—”

  Heather nodded, and soon she was on board with Ella’s plan.

  Chapter 37

  ‡

  “Ella?” Austin’s voice penetrated the sound of the shower a day later, and jolted Ella from a reverie about the upcoming ceremony. In four short hours she’d tie the knot with Austin for a second time. She couldn’t wait.

  “What?” she called, letting the water sluice over her. She had washed and rinsed her hair, conditioned it, too. Her legs were smooth and hairless, her body fresh with scented soap. Every inch of her was squeaky clean, ready for her nuptials, but she wasn’t ready to step out from under the luxurious stream of hot water.

  Austin banged on the door. “Ella!”

  With a sigh she shut off the shower, wrung out her hair, stepped out onto the bath mat and wrapped a towel around her. “What?” She opened the door.

  Austin leaned against the frame, a smile on his handsome face. “I’ve got a situation in the bedroom. Would you come help me check some measurements?”

  “Now? You’ve got to be kidding!” But she let him lead her into the bedroom. How could she refuse?

  “Just be thankful I’m not asking you to do it on the balance beam again.”

  “Or the salmon ladder,” she agreed.

  “Now, the salmon ladder has possibilities.”

  She giggled as he pulled her close, unwrapped the towel, picked her up and tossed her on the bed, diving onto it after her.

  “Austin! You’re going to break the bed!”

  “Babe, I haven’t begun to break this bed.” He straddled her and bent to kiss her thoroughly.

  “I just showered.”

  “Shower again,” he said, unbuttoning his fly. “Or don’t. We could send everyone home and spend the day here.”

  “No way! Do you know how much food Regan ordered? I refuse to miss out on Camila and Fila’s cooking.” She gasped as he moved lower, taking one of her breasts into his mouth. “Austin. Are you listening to me?”

  “Food. Catering.”

  “Plus my dress. I like this one even
better than the last one.” Regan had helped her find it at a local shop called Ellie’s Bridals. It hugged her every curve before flowing into an elegant train.

  Austin moved to the other breast and Ella ran out of excuses to stop him. She didn’t want to stop him anyhow. It wasn’t long until she was begging him for more and when he finally sheathed himself within her, the long, strong stroke filling her up and making her cry out, she thought her heart would burst with love for him.

  “How do you want it?” he said in her ear.

  “Fast. Hard.”

  “I can do that.”

  He started slowly, though, easing in and out as if he was testing the waters and found them just fine. His languorous motions were driving her crazy and she splayed her hands over his ass trying to control the movement of his hips. Austin chuckled as she struggled against his strength. “Who do you think is running this dog and pony show?”

  “I would if I could,” she complained.

  “Should we head out to that balance beam?”

  She made a face. “Not today, the place is crawling with guests.”

  “Then you’ll have to lie back and take what you get.” Austin sped up. “How’s this?”

  “Better.” Now she clung to him, arching her hips up to meet him fully. She wanted him deep within her. Wanted to feel every inch of him. Soon she forgot all about his teasing as his motions brought her close to coming.

  “Do you love me?” he asked.

  “Yes.” Her fingers gripped his hips, digging into his skin.

  “Do you want me?”

  “God, yes. Austin!”

  He thrust within her once, twice and pushed her over the edge. She cried out with the joy of it, and bucked against him until her head swam from the waves of release that pulsed through her.

  He followed her swiftly, his own masculine sounds a tenor counterpart to hers.

  Ella collapsed back against the mattress, tugging Austin down on top of her. She wanted to feel the solid weight of him. Wanted to know he was really, truly there.