"Quite." She sniffed. "My father paid handsomely for my continued stay. Out of sight, out of mind."
"Until he needed you," I commented.
Laurel looked wounded at my words. They weren't meant to be hurtful, but they were the truth and she already knew them to be true.
"I'd thought—assumed—my father had sent for me to return because he'd had a change of heart. That he wanted me. He'd wanted me all right, for all the wrong reasons." She looked down at her hands folded in her lap. "I have not seen my father since I was seven. I do not feel closeness with the man. I'd had hope, brief hope, that he wanted me." She shook her head and I could see the sadness and shame on her face. Sadness for the false hope he'd given her, shame at believing she was wanted. "I was silly to even consider."
I pulled her into my arms, tucked her head beneath my chin. "We want you, sweetheart."
"Hell, yes," Brody affirmed.
LAUREL
"But....but why?" I asked. I felt lightheaded from everything that had happened in the past ten minutes. Everyone had been so upset with me, and now that I think on it, rightly so. I should have let them know who my father was, but I was protecting myself. I wasn't used to considering others, nor did I think there actually were others on the ranch when I'd originally lied, especially a baby. "Marrying me will only make an enemy out of my father. He'll know you were fooling him today and will make him angry. Besides, you've met Mr. Palmer. He's not one to trifle with either. Marrying me might keep him from doing the same, but he'll exact revenge somehow."
Brody placed his hands on his hips. "Your father already is an enemy, sweetheart, and that started long before your return."
"Oh?"
"He approached me to try to squeeze out the smaller ranches between ours."
My eyes widened as I thought about the distance. "That's miles and miles of land!"
Mason nodded and I looked to him. "Those families in between are friends of ours. We stand behind them, help protect them from Turner now."
"They're both very powerful," I warned.
"Mr. Palmer is no match for us. You don't think we can defend what's ours?" Mason asked.
I considered his words, took in both of their very large bodies, the way they were dominant and commanding. With them, I felt safe and protected. Did I think they could shelter me from my father's wrath? Yes.
"Why would you want to protect me? I've lied to you and you can have any woman you want."
"Do you want me to turn you over my knee again?" Mason asked, his voice deep. His dark eyes narrowed.
I bit my lip. "For what reason?"
"You think we would have touched you as we didn't consider you ours, if we hadn't intended to marry you?"
I paused. "Well, yes."
Brody exhaled and shook his head slowly. "You either have never come across honorable men before or have been cloistered away from all of them."
"Perhaps both, Brody," Mason said, keeping his eyes on me.
"We're going to town," Brody replied. Mason lifted me off his lap and led me to the door and helped me into my coat.
"Why?" I seemed to continue to ask the same question over and over.
"To prove that we truly are honorable."
Two hours later, standing before the minister at the altar of the town's small church, I married Mason. Brody and the minister's wife stood as witnesses. How they decided which man I would legally wed was not shared with me. The kiss had been brief and chaste, but Mason's eyes held unspoken promises I knew he—as well as Brody—would fulfill later.
I wore no wedding dress, but my ripped dress, my coat remaining on and buttoned to prevent any questions. We didn't linger in town, for the men seemed eager to return to the ranch before nightfall, which came early this time of year. Making our way out of town, I rode with Mason, but once we were a fair distance away, Brody came beside us and pulled me onto his lap. "You may have married Mason, but you are mine as well," he said, his breath warm on my ear. "I'll prove it to you once we are home."
The journey went quickly, for I spent the time wondering exactly how he planned to prove it.
***