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When she got to Corbin’s, Jesse’s truck and another white truck were parked in the yard so she parked just outside the rusty chicken-wire fence. As she headed toward the front door, she could hear laughter coming from the trailer. It looked like Mama had been right and Jesse and Corbin were so busy catching up that they had lost track of the time. She took the laughter as a good sign that everything had gone well with Corbin.
But she wasn’t concerned about the ranch now. All she was concerned about was Jesse feeling the same way she did. She thought he did. But what if she couldn’t convince him that what they had was special enough to give a chance?
Her hand shook as she knocked on the door. The laughter inside faded and a few seconds later the door swung open.
It took her a moment to recognize Corbin. In high school, he had been a tall, skinny kid with shaggy, unkempt hair and acne. Now he was an even taller, muscular man with styled hair that swept back from a handsome face with a smooth complexion. As soon as he saw her, the smile he had on his face turned to a scowl.
“Well, if it isn’t Liberty Holiday. Or are you Belle? I always struggle to tell the difference.” There was a sarcastic tone to his voice that made Liberty more than a little leery.
“Hey, Corbin. How have you been?”
Before he could answer, a woman moved next to Corbin. Jesse stepped up behind her. The similarity in his and the woman’s features was startling.
“Libby?” Jesse said.
She pinned on a smile. “Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to talk to you, but we can talk later.” She looked at the woman. “I didn’t realize you had family in town.” She held out a hand. “Liberty Holiday.”
The woman took her hand and smiled brightly. “We’ve already met. I’m Sunny Whitlock, Corbin’s sister.” She glanced over her shoulder at Jesse. “And Jesse’s.”
Her words completely blindsided Liberty. “You’re Jesse’s sister?” She glanced at Jesse. “I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t,” Corbin said. “Your parents didn’t switch partners like ours . . . but you and your sister didn’t mind switching boyfriends.”
Liberty was so stunned about Jesse being related to Corbin and Sunny, she didn’t even try to grasp what Corbin was talking about.
“That’s enough, Whitty.” Jesse stepped out the door and closed it behind him. He took her arm and led her down the rickety steps. Still stunned, she allowed it. But once they were at the bottom, the truth finally sunk in and she jerked away from his grasp and whirled on him.
“You’re Corbin’s brother!”
He held out his hands. “Calm down, Libby.”
“Calm down? Calm down? Like hell I’m going to calm down. Answer the question. Are you or are you not, Sunny and Corbin’s brother?”
He sighed. “Half brother. We have the same father.”
She felt like she had the time she’d been tossed off a horse and had all the wind knocked out of her. She had trusted Jesse. She had completely trusted him. And he’d been lying to her all along. Her voice shook with anger and hurt.
“So you’re not friends. You’re family. Not once when you were telling me about your adoptive family did you mention Sunny and Corbin.”
“Because I didn’t find out about them until a couple years ago. That’s when we went into business together.”
“You’re business partners? What business?” When Jesse didn’t say anything, she knew. Once again, she felt the searing pain of betrayal. “So it’s not just Corbin foreclosing on my family’s ranch. It’s you too.”
He shook his head. “No. I didn’t have anything to do with your family’s loan. But I still should have told you that Corbin was my brother and business partner. At first, I didn’t because I didn’t think you needed to know. Later, it was because . . .” He let the sentence drift off, but Liberty didn’t need him to finish it.
“You wanted to get me into bed.”
“That’s not it at all, Libby.” He went to reach for her, but she stepped back.
“Oh, come on, Jesse. There’s no need to lie anymore. That was the bet, wasn’t it? And you won. You got me in bed. Not just for one night, but for many.” She forced a laugh. “Damn, you are good at getting the most out of a deal.”
“Stop it, Libby. It wasn’t like that and you know it.”
“Then what was it, Jesse? Was it love?” Even in the darkness, she could read the panicked look on his face. A dagger sliced her heart and she struggled to keep her voice from trembling. “Of course it wasn’t. It was just a little fun while you waited for your brother to get back.” A thought struck her. “You never planned to talk to him about the eviction notice, did you? I bet you never even planned to talk him out of foreclosing on the ranch.” Her temper flared and she swung at him. “You bastard!”
He easily caught her wrist. “Stop it, Liberty. You’re letting your temper keep you from thinking logically.”
“Don’t tell me I’m not thinking logically. I know exactly how you think, Jesse Cates. You said yourself that you and I are two peas in a pod. My family will always come first with me. Then business. Everything else comes after that. Which means the deal you made with a woman you had a spring fling with is third on your list.”
