Chapter 26
Angus quietly closed the bedroom door behind him as he came in. Sarah Jo, propped against the pillows on their bed, laid her book aside and peered at him over the rims of the glasses that were perched on the tip of her nose. “Coming to bed so early?”
She looked about as harmful as a butterfly, but Angus knew that her frail appearance camouflaged an iron will. If she ever gave ground it was out of indifference, not defeat. “I want to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“About what happened this afternoon.”
She pressed her fingers to her temples. “It gave me quite a headache. That’s why I didn’t come down to dinner.”
“Taken anything?”
“Yes. It’s better now.”
They had repeated this same exchange regarding her headaches nearly every day of their marriage.
“Don’t sit on the bedspread,” she scolded as he lowered himself to the edge of the bed. He waited until she had folded back the quilted satin spread, then sat down close to her hip. “My, you look so downcast tonight, Angus,” she said with concern. “What’s the matter? Not more maniacs on our property, I hope.”
“No.”
“Thank God the only horse that was injured belonged to Reede.”
Angus let that pass without comment. Sarah Jo resented Reede, and Angus knew why. Her feelings toward him would never change, so berating her for the uncharitable remark would serve no purpose.
What he had come to discuss was a delicate subject. He took a moment to choose his words carefully. “Sarah Jo, about this afternoon—”
“I was quite upset by it,” she said, drawing her lips into a pretty frown.
“You were upset?” Angus forcibly tamped down his impatience. He needed to hear her side of the story before jumping to conclusions. “What about Alex’s feelings?”
“She was upset, too, naturally. Wouldn’t you be if you’d found out you were a bastard?”
“No,” he said with a gruff, humorless laugh. “Wouldn’t surprise me if I was. I never checked to see if my parents had a marriage license, and it wouldn’t have mattered to me if they didn’t.” His brows drew together. “But I’m an ornery old cuss, and Alex is a sensitive young woman.”
“I felt that she was strong enough to take it.”
“Obviously, she wasn’t. She ran past me without even seeing me. She was practically in hysterics when she left.”
Sarah Jo’s smile crumpled. “Are you blaming me for telling her? Do you think it was wrong?”
When she looked up at him with that apprehensive, little-lost-girl look, his heart melted. It always had. Angus took her hand. He could have crushed it like a flower between his rough palms, but he had learned over the years not to exert too much pressure when he caressed her.
“I’m not blaming you for telling her, honey. I’m just questioning the wisdom of it. I wish you had discussed it with Junior and me before you did. It was something she could have gone throughout her life not knowing.”
“I disagree,” Sarah Jo argued petulantly.
“What difference does it make now if her mama and daddy weren’t married until after she was in the oven? Hell, that’s so commonplace now it’s not even considered a sin anymore.”
“It makes a difference in the way she views Celina. Up until now, she’s had her on a pedestal.”
“So what?”
“Celina hardly deserves a pedestal,” Sarah Jo snapped. “I thought it was time everybody stopped pussyfooting around with Alex and set her straight about her mother.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because she’s trying to ruin us, that’s why. I decided to stop catering to her and to fight back. I used the only ammunition I had.” As usual, during scenes like this, Sarah Jo became overwrought. “I was only trying to protect you and Junior.”