Free Montana Bride by Joan Johnston

your favors.”
    Hetty stared at him, aghast. She’d known Grace and Griffin weren’t Mrs. Templeton’s children, but she’d never imagined they had different fathers. Then she realized what else he’d suggested. She’d never let any man into her bed, let alone an army of them! “How dare you accuse me—”
    “Who’s Clive?” he interrupted.
    Hetty’s heart suddenly began beating so hard she thought Karl must be able to hear it. “How do you know about Clive?”
    “You were yelling his name in your sleep.”
    “Oh.”
    “So you’re not denying he exists?”
    “He’s dead,” she said flatly. “He was killed.”
    “By another one of your lovers?”
    Hetty thought she might faint. She’d never had a lover, but she’d flirted with another man to make Clive jealous. She kicked her horse to escape back to the wagon, but Karl caught the reins and pulled her mount to a halt.
    “Were you in love with him?”
    “Yes, I loved him! So what? Clive’s dead, and I’m married to you.”
    That shut him up for a moment. But only a moment. He shot back, “How long ago did he die?”
    Hetty knew to the day when Clive had died, but she didn’t think she should share that with Karl. “A few months ago,” she hedged.
    Karl winced. “You were corresponding with me a few months ago.”
    “After Clive died I was looking for a new start.” Hetty was tempted to add more, to embellish the lie. But her stomach was churning, and she was afraid it would erupt if she kept telling whoppers.
    “So you’re still grieving.” Karl made it a statement rather than a question. Then he muttered, “Well, I suppose that answers one question.”
    “What’s that?”
    He met her gaze and said, “Why you resisted my kiss last night.”
    “Oh.” Hetty’s throat had swollen closed, preventing more speech. She hung her head, feeling anew the overwhelming remorse for what she’d done. And for what she was doing. She wished fervently she could go back and give Mr. Lin a different answer. But it was too late to make some other choice. She was trapped.
    “Look at me, Hetty.”
    She lifted her gaze and glared resentfully into Karl’s brown eyes, which glowered back at her. She felt a shudder of fear run through her. The man looking at her now was different from the one she’d married. There was nothing ordinary or mild mannered about this formidable man.
    “I don’t care what you did in the past,” he said. “That’s over and done. We start new from here. But I want the whole truth. What else haven’t you told me?”
    Hetty wanted so much to tell him about Grace and Griffin. But she didn’t dare. “Nothing.”
    “There’s nothing else? Everything’s out in the open?”
    Hetty wondered what else it was he expected her to confess. She decided to tell him how difficult life had been for all of them in the past, and began, “The children had—”
    “I know they had different fathers,” Karl interrupted. “I don’t care whether you got pregnant before you were married, or cheated on your former husband. That’s between you and him.”
    Hetty stared at Karl aghast. “Is that what you think?”
    “I’m a botanist, Hetty. I study the biology of plants. Which is how I know Grace and Griffin are at most half siblings and likely older than the ages you gave me.”
    Hetty didn’t know what to say. All those lies brought into the open should have cleared the air, but she felt suffocated by the truth. Or at least, as much of the story they’d concocted as Karl had been able to unravel. Luckily, he still seemed to believe she was Grace and Griffin’s mother.
    “What do you want from me?” she asked.
    “I want you to stop lying,” he said bluntly.
    Hetty’s face felt hot. She was having trouble meeting Karl’s gaze, but she made herself look him in the eye when she said, “All right. Is that all?”
    “Do your grieving, Hetty. Get over Clive. Because there’s only room for one man in this marriage.”

Karl offered a