a woman your size would be capable of. They’re fairly certain they can prove Darrin did it, so he’s after ready cash for a quick getaway.”
“Oh, dear.” She wasn’t remembering just Cameron’s question about the will, she was remembering the way he was studying the diamond ring on her finger. Quick cash. Yes, that ring could be pawned for a small fortune, certainly enough to get Darrin out of Aspen, even out of the country in a hurry, before murder charges could be filed against him.
“Even if he got the will, it would have to go through probate,” Butch was saying, although she was only half listening.
“Well, yes, but Mama had things he could pawn,” she replied. She didn’t mention the ring.
“You don’t have any of her stuff with you, except that fox fur,” he said. “So you’re safe if we can get that will in a secure place.”
She hadn’t told him about the ring. Why hadn’t she taken it off and left it at home? It was going to put a target on her back!
“Esther, did you hear me?” he asked.
She looked up. “Yes. Sorry. I was thinking about Mama.” She fought tears. Even though her mother had been a trial to her, she was the last parent Esther had, and now she was alone in the world.
“Don’t cry,” Butch said gently. “I’ll take care of you,” he added. “Nobody is going to hurt you here. Benton is a very small town. Everybody knows everybody else’s business. If any strangers come looking for you, nobody’s going to tell them anything,” he told her.
She grimaced. “Butch, somebody told Cameron where I was.”
He frowned. “I guess so. He must have been very convincing.”
“Darrin knows people everywhere, people who do bad things,” she told him. “I was always afraid of him, even from the first. Mama had no judgment about men, ever.”
“There are women who look for dangerous men,” he said. “I always thought of it as like an addiction. You know, people go nuts over gambling and have to go into rehab? Stuff like that.”
She nodded. “That was Mama. She had a different man in tow every few months.”
“What a hell of a home life that would have been for you,” he said, imagining it. “You’re shy and pretty.” His lips flattened as he considered that, and added her sad expression to his collection of facts about her past. “How many times did you have to find ways to get out of the house?”
“A lot,” she said. “I had places I could go, even schoolmates who would hide me out for a few days. It made Mama furious, but sometimes it was the only way out. Some of her men liked threesomes,” she added with evident distaste.
“Good Lord,” he said reverently. “You’ve had some hard times.”
“Well, they do say that steel has to be tempered.” She smiled at him. “I guess I’m really tempered.”
“Tempered,” he agreed. His eyes dropped to her soft mouth. “And sweeter than honey,” he added in a husky tone.
She sighed and smiled up at him. “We don’t know each other very well,” she said out of the blue.
“Don’t you think we should?” he asked seriously. “After all, we are engaged. We could, you know, get married. If you wanted to, that is.”
Her heart flew up over the world. “You want to marry me?” she asked, and the pleasure she felt was as clear as a sunny day.
Butch saw that and it amazed him. “Yes,” he replied. He hesitated. “I mean, it wouldn’t be a bad idea, since you’re living with me.” He grimaced. “I’m sort of old-fashioned. My former fiancée was a wild girl and I was younger. But now, I guess I’m getting more conventional. It doesn’t look good, you living here without us being married.”
She smiled with her whole face. “I love it that you’re sort of old-fashioned,” she said gently.
He smiled back. He’d done more smiling with her than he had since his fiancée departed. She made him feel strong, courageous, all the things he hoped he really was.
They got out of the truck and walked into the house.
“I’d love to marry you, Butch,” she said huskily, as they walked through the door and into the living room
His high cheekbones flushed. “You would?”
She nodded, moving closer. One soft little hand smoothed up the front of his shirt. “You want a real marriage, don’t you? I mean, we wouldn’t have separate bedrooms and live like friends, or . . . anything like that?” she faltered.