Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,60
up here in the winter making a quick trip to Canada and back.” He glanced at her. “You have that hoity-toity look of someone with money, refinement, not to mention that don’t-mess-with-me attitude. You’re perfect for this. You’re above suspicion.”
She couldn’t bear to look at him. Turning her head, she stared out at the sculpted white landscape. It seemed to run on forever. “How much farther is it?”
“A few hours. Take a nap. Daydream about your long-lost dead husband. Just remember what’s at stake. You’re my fiancée.” He reached into his pocket and shoved the diamond at her. “I paid a pretty penny for that. Put it back on. Play your part, and no one gets hurt.”
She took the ring, staring down at it for a long moment before she slipped it back on her finger and closed her fist. “How did I not see what you are really like?”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Collin said. “I hid it well, but deep down, I think you knew.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You sensed it. That’s why you held me at arm’s length for so long. That’s why you probably would never have married me.”
She turned to stare at him, hearing the truth in his words. But she’d let it go this far and had only herself to blame. She’d fallen for his sweet talk and his good looks. “I let you into my family. I introduced you to my daughters. I let you into my bed.”
“But you never really let me into your heart, did you, Kate? It was always Danny. No man could stand up to the perfect ghost of your dead husband. Not even the man himself.”
The words startled her. She frowned as she said, “You proved that Jon Harper isn’t Danny.”
“He isn’t even Jon Harper,” Collin agreed.
“So, why would you say what you did?’
Collin shook his head, clearly regretting his words. “Because, as ridiculous as this all has been, you might be right. I think he really is your husband.”
“What?” Was he messing with her? “But you said his name was Justin something.”
“Justin Brown. Another of his aliases and probably the one that is going to get him killed. But who was he before he became Justin Brown?”
“You aren’t making any sense.” And yet he had her heart beating like a war drum in her chest. She felt light-headed. If he was saying what she thought he was...
“Earlier when I was at the bar, I got a call from a friend of mine who works at the police department down in Houston. He told me that Jon worked at the same refinery your husband did,” Collin explained and glanced at her as if knowing how this news was affecting her. “Quite the coincidence, huh? Apparently in the hospital, he had no memory of who he was before the explosion. But one of the other men in an adjacent bed said he recognized him and that his name was Justin Brown. So, when he left the hospital he was Justin Brown. Or was he?”
She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes in an attempt to trap the tears. Was it possible that she hadn’t fallen in love with a stranger in some small Montana town? Instead, she’d fallen again for the man she’d been in love with for years. But it wasn’t until she saw him standing in that woodworking shop that she knew in her heart that against all the odds, she’d found him.
Now she’d lost him again. Worse, finding him could get him killed.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
KATE STARED OUT at the bleak landscape. The snow-packed pavement was indistinguishable from the sky overhead or the white fields on each side. She felt a deep need for color, bright, beautiful color, feeling as if she’d gone snow-blind. Earlier she’d seen some black cows, their backs blanketed with snow. She felt claustrophobic, hemmed in by the cold and the snow in this strange part of the world Collin had brought her to for all the wrong reasons.
There hadn’t even been any cows for miles. Now nothing broke the total white landscape except an occasional yellow No Passing Zone sign. There was no traffic, no houses, nothing since they’d driven through the town of Loring, which appeared to be nothing more than several empty buildings, a church and a post office with a few houses scattered around but no movement as if everyone was staying in until winter was over.
She wanted to ask Collin how much farther it was to