The Bride Backfire by Kelly Eileen Hake Page B

cussing.”
    â€œYes, there is.” A muscle worked in his brother’s jaw. “She was mine, Adam.”
    â€œNo.” Bile seared the back of his throat. Can Larry be the father of Opal’s child? My own brother , Lord?
    â€œYes,” he hissed the word. “She was for me, and you took her. You knew it, and you took her anyway!”
    â€œI didn’t know.” Adam pushed his hair back. Didn’t I? A memory fell into place. The day he’d gone looking for the cow skull and startled Opal, hadn’t she called Larry’s name before she turned around? “This is why you kept crossing the boundary? To see Opal?”
    â€œYou read the note.” Larry loomed over him. “Knew I claimed her.”
    â€œFool!” On his feet now, Adam looked down on his younger brother by a good two inches. “And if you caught a bullet for your sneaking and started a war? You put us all at risk for an infatuation?”
    â€œAnd you did any different?” Larry threw back his shoulders. “Don’t pretend to be righteous now, Adam.”
    Red hazed his vision as the pieces fell into place. Larry, determined to cross Speck lines. Larry, eager to start a fight over any little thing as a pretext to go over there. Larry, adding the damning extra lines to Pa’s threat. Larry, so preoccupied with Opal he didn’t mend the fence he should have. His brother’s selfishness paved every step of the journey leading to this impossible situation.
    Dear God, what if Larry is the father? What am I to do then? How is it Your will that I’m wed to this woman?
    â€œHow did you do it, Adam?” Larry’s hands fisted, the most prominent vein in his forehead springing to life. “How did you get to her?” A heartbeat of silence then, “If you forced her, I’ll kill you.”
    â€œI didn’t force her.” Even through his anger, Adam could see Larry’s sincerity.
    â€œDidn’t think so.” He lowered himself onto his bunk. “So what was it? What made her choose you? ”
    The crimson halo around everything eased away at his brother’s disconsolate look. Larry hadn’t been with Opal. My brother isn’t the father.
    For a split second, Adam considered sharing a part of the truth—that between Larry’s note and Adam’s trespassing in search of the missing milk cow, Opal’s interference had saved his life. Just as quickly, he rejected the idea. But how to soothe Larry’s pride without making things worse? “I saved her life.” And now she’s saved mine, but we’re far from even. Adam’s jaw tightened. She owes me a name, for starters.
    â€œYou used that against her?” Larry’s head came up like that of an enraged bull. “Held it up as a debt?” The shove, when it came, didn’t surprise Adam. “As though she owed herself to you?”
    â€œNo.” Adam hadn’t toppled from the push, but he planted his feet. “There’s just a bond that’s formed when something like that happens.” Like the way I never forgot how it felt to hold her, even for a few minutes. “It’s not something I can make you understand.”
    â€œYou don’t have to.” Larry pointed at his scar. “Opal helped save my life. It’s part of what lies between us.”
    â€œPart?” A chill crept up the back of his neck.
    â€œYes.” A fervid gleam entered his brother’s eye. “Opal and I were destined to be together.”
    â€œYou were together?” There was a sharp note to his question, but Adam had to ask.
    Larry’s bark of laughter did nothing to ease his mind. A long silence stretched between them, Larry obviously turning over his answer in his head. A hint of triumph rimmed his response. “What do you think?”
    ***
    I’d rather be anywhere but here, Lord. Opal swallowed back a lump of grief and scooted closer to