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“They’re two different people, Colt. You keep forgetting that. Adele always aimed to please you, no matter what. Regan doesn’t impress me as being here solely to make your head larger. She’s a woman who walks beside a man, not behind.” She paused as if to let the words sink in before continuing, “I’m still trying to understand why you chose to come to me about this?”
“Because you helped me think through whether I wanted to marry her or not, and besides, who else is there for me to talk to? Ben? He was so rude to Regan today, I wanted to take a bullwhip to him. Whit? He’s a good friend, but he’d just find the situation amusing. You’re it.”
“I suppose I should be flattered but you haven’t been very brotherly these past few years.”
“And why is that, Spring? I tried to help when you were running wild and you told me what?”
“Go to hell,” she replied softly.
He nodded. “Yeah, you did.”
She looked away. When Ben kicked her out of the house, she’d signed on as a hand with one of the local ranchers and the resulting scandal was still fueling gossip today.
“Spring, I understood why you took up with Mitch. Ben left you no choice, but the rest? The drinking, the carousing. I finally threw up my hands. I had to.” He thought about all the years they’d wasted. “I miss you in my life, Spring.”
She replied softly, “I miss you, too, brother. I was young and scared and wanted to pay Ben back. I’m sorry for the pain I caused you.”
It was the first time they’d talked about those years. “I kept waiting to be told you’d been shot in a brawl or assaulted by some drunken cowhand. I was so afraid I was going to be burying you.”
“But I made it,” she said softly. “And I’m proud of that, no matter what anyone else thinks.”
“Yes, you did.”
“But I have to say, I’m enjoying watching you be turned inside out by your new wife.”
“Why?”
“It means you’re alive again. Feeling again. You’ve been encased in ice since Adele’s passing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this befuddled or confused. You’re quite taken with Regan.”
“I enjoy her company.”
“If you want to plant your flag there, fine. But it’s more than her company.”
“She’s done so much for Anna in the short time she’s been with us.”
“It’s also more than Anna.”
He mused on that, too, then admitted aloud, “I’ve never been a jealous man, Spring.”
She smiled softly. “I know. Something else adding to my enjoyment. She’s got you at sixes and sevens.”
He dropped his head into his hands. “This is all so new.” He’d spent a lifetime building a well-ordered mind based on logic and discipline; both necessary for a man of the race practicing medicine in a nation where many viewed him as unequal and unqualified. There’d been no place for frivolous emotions like passion and desire. Although he’d loved Adele, he’d not allowed himself to be distracted by such things, and she’d been content with what he had to give. Or had she? That she might not have been was a startling thought.
“What’s wrong?” Spring asked.
“Just asking myself if Adele had been as content with me as I assumed she’d been.”
“There’s no way to tell. And truthfully, you two weren’t married long enough for you to know her true feelings.”
He pulled his mind away from Adele. He was flailing enough.
Spring said, “Colt, go home. Apologize. Grovel to this woman you only like for her company and see where it leads.”
She was right of course. He’d already made a previous apology for erecting a wall after their intimate encounters. He’d just have to do it again and hope it would be enough. He stood. “Thanks for listening. Sorry to disturb you so late.”
“That’s okay. As I said, I’m enjoying watching you trying not to fall in love with my new sister-in-law.”
His eyes flashed to hers.
