She gasped. “Oh, no! I wanted to tell him myself. Now you’ve spoiled it. Was he surprised? Was he happy?”
“Just listen. Mason swore that the baby wasn’t his. He claimed that except for a few kisses, he’d never touched you.”
Gerda’s pretty face reflected shock. Then she laughed. “That Mason! You know how he’s always joking. Of course the baby is his.”
“In that case, only one of you is telling the truth. And I don’t know who to believe. You know how people make babies, don’t you?”
“Of course. The man puts his thing in, and . . . you know.”
“Did Mason do that with you?”
“Yes. We did it a bunch of times—because we loved each other. That’s what he said.”
“And did you do it with any other man—like maybe Ezra?”
“No!” She was on her feet. “I can’t believe you’d even ask me that. I don’t want to talk about this. Can I leave?”
“Soon. I’m not trying to punish you, Gerda. You’re family. You’ve done good work here and you’re welcome to stay on as long as you like. But you need to think about your baby’s future. What will you do if Mason won’t marry you?”
“Mason loves me. He’ll marry me. And if he won’t, then my father will make him.”
“Do your parents know about the baby? Do your sisters know?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll tell them after Mason and I are married.”
“My dear girl—” Kristin reached out to comfort her, but Gerda sprang to her feet.
“Please, I need to go.” The girl was in tears. “Promise you won’t tell my family—or anybody else.”
“All right, for now. But if you wait much longer, you won’t have to tell them. They’ll guess.”
“Why can’t you just be happy for me?” Sobbing, Gerda rushed through the kitchen and out the back door. As she fled across the backyard in the direction of her home, Kristin stood in the doorway watching her go.
Maybe she shouldn’t have spoken to the poor girl—or even to Mason. She’d meant to help, but it appeared that she’d only made things worse, even for herself. Had Mason lied to her? Had Gerda? Given Gerda’s naivete and Mason’s past history, it made sense to lay the blame on him. But a nagging instinct whispered that there was more to the story.
Pausing at the kitchen sink, she filled a glass with water and drank it all. She felt drained after the long, busy day, capped by the emotional exchange with Gerda. It was time for a break. She would get her surgery ready for tomorrow, make herself a sandwich and some tea, enjoy a leisurely bath, and curl up in bed with a good book, chosen from the pile on her nightstand.
After setting the glass on the counter, she walked back into the front room to lock the door—only to stop as if she’d run into a glass wall. A gasp caught in her throat.
Webb stood in the middle of the room, a thunderous scowl on his face.
Her laugh emerged as a nervous chuckle. “Goodness, you startled me, Webb. I didn’t hear you knock. Is everything all right?”
His expression didn’t change. “It would be all right, if I hadn’t just been made a fool of by a woman I trusted—and thought I loved.”
“What—?” She stared at him.
“Logan told me everything. How you strung me along because you didn’t want to hurt me. Hurt me! Good Lord, woman, I’m not a child. I can take rejection. What I can’t stand is deceit—not just from you, but from Logan, my own kin!”
Webb’s voice was low and cold. His tirade would have been easier to take if he’d shouted at her.
“I can’t believe I was asking Logan for advice on how to win you! And he was giving it to me—telling me to leave you alone and give you time. What a pair of liars. Damn you both to hell!”
Kristin found her voice. “We didn’t plan for this to happen, Webb. I was already seeing you when we realized how we felt about each other. Logan would have told you right away. But it was my decision to save your pride by letting you be the one to break up with me.”
“Save my pride?” he snapped. “You’re making me sound like a child that needs coddling. It might’ve worked if I’d been paying attention to the signs. But I was too love-blind to see that you didn’t care. And Logan—that bastard, pretending to be my friend, and all the while chasing after my woman! He’ll pay for this.”
“Don’t blame him, Webb. He wasn’t the one doing the chasing. I was. If anybody has to pay, it should be me.”
“Since I’ve never punched a woman, I’ll skip that part. But we’re finished, Kristin. I wish you well with your new boyfriend, but I’ll never trust you again. And if you ever need a favor, don’t ask, because you won’t get it from me.”
He turned away and stalked across the room. Pausing in the open doorway, he looked back at her. “Damn it, woman, I would have given you the world—everything you could ever want and my heart along with it. But that wasn’t enough, was it?”
Without waiting for an answer to his question, he stepped outside the door and slammed it shut behind him. Seconds later she heard his auto start up and roar away.
Kristin stood where he’d left her, emotions warring. She’d treated Webb shabbily. She deserved everything he’d said to her. True, the relationship was over, which was what she’d wanted. But she hadn’t wanted it to end with Webb hurt and angry.
Blast Logan, why couldn’t he have kept the truth to himself? He’d known that was what she wanted. So what had prompted him to break his silence? Had he and Webb quarreled? Or had Logan simply run out of patience?
Whatever the reason, he’d disregarded her wishes and taken matters into his own hands. Why couldn’t he have waited—or at least warned her? As matters stood, they’d both made a dangerous enemy.
As she thought about how Logan had defied her, her anger grew from a spark to a blaze. The restful evening she’d planned was out of the question now. She couldn’t rest until she’d faced Logan and given him a piece of her mind.
Horseback would be the fastest way to get to his ranch. Daylight was fading. If she wanted to get there before dark, she would need to leave soon.
Changing into her riding clothes took only a few minutes. Saddling the neighbors’ roan gelding took just minutes more. After a word to the neighbors, she was on her way, taking the street at a trot to where the wagon road cut off, then opening the horse up to a ground-devouring lope, on a parallel course with the wagon track.
The lingering heat lay like a blanket over the landscape. The faint breeze from the west felt like a blast furnace. Kristin slowed to spare the horse. Looking back over her shoulder, she could see a faint brown dust devil dancing along the horizon. She could taste the grit in the air.
By the time she sighted the ranch, the sun was low above the western prairie. Its light, reflecting on dust motes in the air, streaked the sky with hues of flame and amber.
As she rode closer, she could hear dogs barking. Logan had mentioned that he might get a pair. She could see them on the porch now—cattle dogs, a mixed breed common to these parts, big enough to take on coyotes. They were barking and wagging their plumed tails. As she stopped at the pump and dismounted to water the horse, they came prancing out to greet her.