Hawk's Way: Rebels: The Temporary Groom. Joan Johnston

feeling. The words spilled out before she could stop them.

      “Nobody wants anything to do with you, because you’re different,” she said in a quiet voice that carried in the dark. “To prove it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, you break their rules. When they look down their noses at you, you spit in their eyes. And all the time, your heart is aching. Because you want them to like you. And respect you. But they don’t.”

      Billy eyed her speculatively. “I guess you do understand.”

      For a moment Cherry thought he was going to put his arm around her. But he didn’t.

      She turned to stare at the pond, so he wouldn’t see how much she regretted his decision to keep his distance. “I’ve always hated being different,” she said. “I was always taller than everyone else, thanks to my giant of a father, Big Mike Murphy.” When she was a child, her father’s size had always made her feel safe. But he hadn’t kept her safe. He had let her be stolen away from him.

      “And I don’t know another person with hair as godawful fire-engine red as mine. I have Big Mike to thank for that, too.” Cherry noticed Billy didn’t contradict her evaluation of her hair.

      “And your mother?” Billy asked. “What did you get from her?”

      “Nothing, so far as I can tell,” Cherry said curtly. “She walked out on Big Mike when I was five. That’s when he started drinking. Eventually someone reported to social services that he was leaving me alone at night. They took me away from him when I was eight. He fell from a high scaffolding at work the next week and was killed. I think he wanted to die. I was in and out of the system for six years before the Whitelaws took me in.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      “It doesn’t matter now.”

      “Doesn’t it?” Billy asked.

      Cherry shrugged. “It’s in the past. You learn to protect yourself.”

      “Yeah,” Billy said. “You do.”

      Billy had inherited his six-foot-four height and dark brown eyes from his Scots father. His straight black hair and burnished skin came from his Comanche mother. They had been killed in a car wreck when he was ten. He had developed his rebellious streak in a series of foster homes that treated him like he was less than human because he wasn’t all white.

      He opened his mouth to share his common experiences with Cherry and closed it again. It was really none of her business.

      “Too bad you aren’t looking for a wife,” Cherry mused. “That would solve your problem. But I guess after what happened, you don’t want to get married again.”

      “No, I don’t,” Billy said flatly.

      “I certainly wasn’t volunteering for the job,” Cherry retorted. Everyone knew Billy Stonecreek had made his first wife so unhappy she had killed herself. At least, that was the story Penelope Trask had been spreading. On the other hand, Billy Stonecreek had been nothing but nice to her. She couldn’t help wondering whether Billy was really as villainous as his mother-in-law had painted him.

      They sat in silence. Cherry wished there was some way she could have helped Billy. But she knew Zach Whitelaw too well to believe he would allow his daughter to move in with a single man—even if she was his housekeeper. Not that Zach could have stopped her if she wanted to do it. But knowing Zach, he would find a way to make sure Billy changed his mind about needing her. And she didn’t want to cause that kind of trouble for anybody.

      “Having you come to work for me wouldn’t really solve my biggest problem, anyway,” Billy said, picking up the beer can again.

      Cherry took it out of his hand, set it down, and asked, “What problem is that?”

      He hesitated so long she wasn’t sure he was going to speak. At last he said, “My former mother-in-law is taking me to court to try and get custody of my daughters. Penelope says I’m not a fit parent. She’s determined to take Raejean and Annie away from me.”

      “Oh, no!” It was Cherry’s worst nightmare come to life. She had suffered terribly when she had been taken from her father as a child. “You can’t let her do that! Kids belong with their parents.”

      Cherry was passionate about the subject. She had often wondered where her birth mother was and why she had walked away and left Cherry and Big Mike behind. Cherry had died inside when the social worker came to take her away, and she realized she was never going to see Big Mike again. It was outrageous to think someone could go to court and wrench two little girls away from their natural father.

      “You’ve got to stop Mrs. Trask!” Cherry said. “You can’t let her take your kids!”

      “I’m not letting her do anything!” Billy cried in frustration. His hands clenched into fists. “But I’m not sure I can stop her. Over the past year I haven’t exactly been a model citizen. And I haven’t been able to keep a steady housekeeper. Especially once Penelope fills their ears with wild stories about me.”

      Billy made an angry sound in his throat. “If Laura hadn’t died… Having a wife would certainly make my case as a responsible parent stronger in court.”

      “Isn’t there somebody you could marry?”

      “What woman would want a half-breed, with a ready-made family of half-breed kids?” Billy said bitterly.

      Cherry gasped. “You talk like there’s something wrong with you because you’re part Comanche. I’m sure you have lots of redeeming qualities.”

      Billy eyed her sideways. “Like what?”

      “I don’t know. I’m sure there must be some.” She paused and asked, “Aren’t there?”

      Billy snorted. “I’ve been in jail for fighting three times over the past year.”

      Cherry met his gaze evenly and said, “Nobody says you have to fight.”

      “True,” Billy conceded. “But sometimes…”

      “Sometimes you feel like if you don’t hit something you’ll explode?”

      Billy nodded. “Yeah.”

      “I’ve felt that way sometimes myself.”

      “You’re a girl,” Billy protested. “Girls don’t—”

      “What makes you think girls don’t get angry?” Cherry interrupted.

      “I guess I never really thought much about it. What do you do when you feel like that?”

      “Cause mischief,” Cherry admitted with a grin. Her grin faded as she said, “Think, Billy. Isn’t there some woman you could ask to marry you?”

      Billy shook his head. “I haven’t gone out much since Laura died. When I haven’t been working on the ranch, I’ve spent my time with Raejean and Annie. Besides, I don’t know too many women around here who’d think I was much of a catch.”

      Cherry sat silently beside Billy. Her heart went out to his two daughters. She knew what was coming for them. She felt genuinely sorry for them. For the first time in a long time she regretted her past behavior, because it meant she couldn’t be a help to them.

      “I wish we’d met sooner. And that I had less of a reputation for being a troublemaker,” Cherry said. “If things were different, I might volunteer to help you out. But I’m not the kind of person you’d want as a mother for your kids.”

      Billy’s head jerked around, and he stared intently at her.

      Cherry was a little frightened by the fierce look on his face. “Billy? What are you thinking?”

      “Why not?” he muttered. “Why the hell not?”

      “Why not what?”

      “Why can’t you marry me?” Billy said.