Free Simply Heaven by Patricia Hagan Page B

us—eighteen years."
    "He sent money."
    "To try and buy freedom from his guilt over deserting us. Now he wants to do away with me so no one will ever know the despicable thing he did."
    "I swear to you that's not so. He only wants to make amends before he dies. He's a sick man. That's why he sent me to find you instead of coming himself."
    Her smile was sardonic. "Has he been sick for eighteen years?"
    "I'm not going to try to understand out why he waited so long, but sometimes it takes contemplating his own mortality to make a man want to set things right while he still has time. That's why he wants to make sure you get what's rightfully yours when he's gone. That's also the reason I couldn't say why I was searching for you. I was afraid once word got out Indian girls would come from all over claiming to be you. Keeping quiet made my job harder, but it had to be that way."
    Raven had backed all the way to where Diablo was tied to a tree, lazily nibbling chaparral. She was not about to take time to go back and get her blanket and would have to ride completely bareback. She nodded to the knife. "I don't want to hurt you, so stay away from me."
    "Come back with me," he begged. "What have you got to lose?"
    She laughed coldly. "What about his wife? How will she feel about his bastard claiming anything? And do you really think I want to come face to face with the woman he was married to at the time he planted the seed for me in my mother?"
    "They weren't married then, Raven."
    Her eyes narrowed. "That makes it even worse, because it proves everything he ever told my mother was a lie. He just used her to nurse him back to health, used her to take his pleasure the way men do with a woman, then tossed her aside. Through the years, I tried to make myself believe maybe he really did love her when they were together, and something happened to keep him from coming back. Now I know I was only fooling myself. He never intended to return."
    "You're wrong. Something did happen, and he'll explain it all to you himself, but I think you should know his wife is dead. She passed away several years ago, before I went to work for him. According to Ned, they were never happy together, but that's for him to tell you about, not me."
    Raven was unmoved. "Liars and cheats seldom find happiness." She managed to untie Diablo with one hand while still holding the knife and keeping an eye on Steve, lest he make a move toward his gun. And if he did, she would send the blade slicing into his hand before he even touched his holster. She was just that good. "So now his children can have his money."
    "They're his step children. His wife was a widow when Ned married her. Ned's wealth is rightfully yours."
    She felt a flash of satisfaction to think he'd never had any other children of his own. Still, she wanted no part of him or his money. "It doesn't matter. I was doing just fine before you came along. I wish now I had refused to be your guide, but no, I had to be nosy and try to find out why you were looking for me. I shouldn't have given a damn— because I don't ."
    It was Steve's turn to sneer. "You call it fine to rub dirt on your face to keep anyone from wanting to look at you and see you're really a girl? And what about having to wear your hair over your eyes so that you're almost blind? That's a miserable way to live."
    "That's over now. I'll go somewhere else and be me."
    "What makes you think it will be any different anywhere else? I've got a feeling those young bucks gave you a hard time because you're a half-breed. I've heard how they frown on mixing blood."
    "Well, I doubt I'd be welcomed in Alabama either."
    "Nobody would dare look down on Ned Ralston's daughter," Steve countered, hoping it was true but fearing Lisbeth and Julius would never accept her.
    "It makes no difference, because I'm not going. I've had enough of prejudice to last me a lifetime. I'm sick of feeling like I'm supposed to apologize for being born or having to pretend I'm