CHAPTER 7
As Adam predicted, her family understood how difficult this was for her. She placed the box with
the key in the dresser drawer for the time being and went back downstairs to help prepare the
Christmas dinner with her sisters.
After dinner, Beth had a long, private talk with her father about what had happened over the past
year. She wished she could share all of it with him. She'd never held so much back from him
before, but that was impossible. Adam's existence depended on her discretion.
She got her father to open up about the deep pain he felt now that her mother was gone. They
talked about the stress of not knowing what had happened to her, but her father would not let her
shoulder the responsibility. "You could not help what that man did to you and to Craig. You had
to do whatever it took to survive … and to come home to us. If anyone was to blame for your
mother being taken from us early … it is Asher Devan."
For a long time Beth just sat next to her father and looked out the big picture window, his arm
around her shoulders, just as they had done so many lazy afternoons when she was growing up.
She'd always been secure about who she was and that was mainly because her father gave her
the security to try whatever she dreamed, knowing that if she failed he would be there … just as
he would with every success.
"I know you are worried about me Dad." Beth opened up the subject of her upcoming wedding.
"But I really do know what I am doing … and who I am doing it with."
"I just wish I knew him better Leandra." He admitted. "He is a man with secrets … and I worry
about what those secrets will do to you, and to the baby."
Beth thought long and hard about her response. "I know his secrets. And I know his heart. And
you don't need to worry about us Dad. Adam will protect us with his life … he already has."
"He killed a man … I know Devan was evil, but he spoke of it as if he were reading yesterday's
weather … as if he hadn't thought twice about taking a life. It made me think Devan wasn't the
first."
"He killed a man after watching him hold a dagger to my throat, and to the child I carried." Beth
replied, her father gasped at the horrible image. "Devan kidnapped me and was going to kill me
in front of Adam …" she waited for the shock to die down before continuing. "Having seen that,
would you have thought twice?"
Peter Harris shook his head. He knew that Devan had come close to killing her once … he had
no idea how close he came the second time. And as uneasy as Adam's cold side made him, he
couldn't help but be glad for it, for his daughter's sake.
"He's a good man Dad. I wouldn't raise my daughter with him if I didn't believe that with my
whole heart." She confided. "And now … I am tired and Cassie is probably hungry." She kissed
her father's cheek and went back into the main room to take her daughter from the arms of her
younger sister, who couldn't get enough of her new niece. Adam had disappeared somewhere
with Chris and her husband … She suspected they were driving him around the area and trying to
get to know him a little better.
"She's a really good baby Lea." Rayna said as she passed the child to her. "And Adam is uhm
… nice … not to mention that accent." Her sister rolled her eyes and fanned herself a little.
Beth's eyes sparkled playfully as she agreed with her sister. "Nice doesn't begin to cover it
Rayna. And yeah, he could read the Sears catalog and I'd want to be all over him and that voice
of his." She laughed as the two of them went upstairs to their room to talk some more while she
fed Cassie.
"Are there any more like him?" Rayna continued. "I mean … any hot younger brothers?"
"I thought Chris said you were dating some guy who lives in Franklin … airline pilot … drives a
jag." Beth replied with a grin.
"Well yeah … and he's great, but …" Rayna started giggling like a school girl instead of the 23
year old she was. Old habit among sisters.
"But?" Beth drew out the word the way she hoped to draw out her sister's reason for her
giddiness.
"I am so lame." Rayna flushed as she shook her head. "I was in the hall when Adam came out of
the shower … before he had his shirt on. Geezus Lea … who would have known under the
baggy sweaters he wears just how buff he is. I mean I think I ovulated on the spot." She
admitted, falling backwards onto her bed.
Beth let out a light shreak of laughter at her sister's vivid description, briefly startling Cassie who
was in the midst of her meal. Rayna hadn't changed a bit, she still had the most unique and
direct way of putting things, and she always spoke exactly what was on her mind. It was so good
to be sitting together in their old room and letting the years just drop off as they shared 'girl talk'.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this Rayna, but Adam is one of a kind …" Beth replied when they
both stopped laughing enough to talk. "And off limits." She added, raising one eyebrow to look at
her sister, playfully claiming territory.
"You have nothing to worry about with me or any other woman Lea. I've seen the way that man
looks at you. I'd give anything to have a man worship me like that. I'm happy for you Leandra,
you deserve to be happy."
"Sometimes I have trouble understanding how I could be fortunate enough to find love so intense
twice in my life … and what I've found with Adam just blows me away." She admitted.
"Well what about these friends of his? The one's coming for the wedding. Any potential
candidates?" Rayna asked, rolling onto her stomach and propping her chin on her hands as she
talked with her sister.
"Oh I'm sure you are going to need oxygen when you meet Duncan MacLeod." Beth told her.
"Drop dead gorgeous with a Scottish accent, and is probably one of the kindest men I've ever
met."
"But" she finished when she saw her sister's face light up "Like Adam, he's spoken for. Our
friend Amanda and he have been an item for quite a while."
"Ugh" Rayna buried her face in the comforter and screamed lightly in frustration.
"And then there is Richie." Beth continued. "Very nice guy … and as you would put it … totally
buff." She laughed. "Unfortunately for you, he just started seeing the other woman who is
coming with them, Claudia. Not sure where that is going because they are so different … but … "
"You still haven't forgiven me for that prank at the Campbell's stable have you?" Rayna asked.
"Oh God … I'd forgotten about that." Beth began to laugh.
"So you bring 3 totally hot but unavailable men home, just to torture me." Rayna rolls back over,
letting her blond hair dangle over the edge of the bed as she stares at the ceiling.
Beth could only laugh as she shook her head at her sister's theatrics. Rayna had always been
the flirt of the three, and had a list of guys falling all over her since she was barely out of braces.
"Somehow I think you'll survive." She replied, moving to put a sleeping Cassie in her crib.
"Are you going to be up here for awhile?" she asked.
"I'm calling it a night. I may come down for a snack later, but my plan tonight is mindless TV and
sleep." Rayna replied with a grin. "Go find Adam, I'll watch her."
"Thanks" Beth said as she straightened her clothes and left the room.
She was surprised to find Adam sitting on the bottom step, stroking the head of her father's
beagle Bandit.
"So did Chris and Gary give you the grand tour?" she asked, as he stood up when he heard her
coming down.
"It's a nice little town." He replied, covering the real reason he'd been with Chris and her
husband. He had a little surprise that required their help, and the drive had been an excuse.
Beth stopped on the bottom step, making her almost eye to eye with Adam as she wrapped her
arms around his neck. "The little princess is asleep and her Aunt Rayna volunteered to watch her
… so … if you aren't too tired I thought we would go somewhere."
Adam raised one eyebrow. "We aren't going cow tipping are we?" remembering a joke her
brothers had mentioned the night before.
"Not tonight." She replied, taking his hand and pulling him toward the door, this time
remembering her coat.
She fished the keys from under the mat of her father's pickup and told Adam to get in and hold
on. He got a bad feeling about this when instead of going down the driveway, she turned the
truck through the pasture gate and began driving over the rolling fields toward the back of the
property.
"Can I ask why we couldn't take the road?" he asked as his head hit the top of the truck for the
third time, wondering if she could see where she was going with only one headlight.
"ooops … sorry." She laughed, slowing down a bit. "We could have taken the road, but this is
faster." She replied.
"And here we are." Beth announced, hopping out of the truck. She'd taken the short cut to the
stable, the place Adam remembered her talking about spending half her life when she was
growing up.
"Beth we are not riding tonight." Adam told her firmly.
"Don't worry … I can wait till tomorrow for that, but I couldn't wait another minute to see my
babies." She replied, flipping the big switch that illuminated the very modern stable.
"Wow." Adam said as he stepped in. The interior was amazing. By a quick count he realized
there were separate stalls for over two dozen horses along with a big area in the middle. "When
you said stable I sort of envisioned a large barn."
Beth beamed with pride when she realized he was truly impressed. "We built this together about
fifteen years ago. The horses are an important part of our lives … so we scrimped in other areas
to make sure they had the best."
She walked about halfway down the center, greeting a few of the familiar heads that peered out,
until the excited winee of one of the horses rose above the others.
"Renegade!" she exclaimed, rushing over to wrap her arms around the neck of the palomino.
"How's my handsome boy? Did you miss me?" she asked as she stroked his nose.
Adam walked slowly through the interior, his hands in his pockets as he studied one fine animal
after another, giving Beth some time to get reacquainted with her horse. It had been a long time
since he'd been around horses of this caliber, and he missed riding. Aside from the days he'd
spent with Kronos and Silas a year ago, he hadn't really been riding for ages it seemed, and that
last time had been anything but pleasurable.
When he came to the stall where Beth was doting over her favorite, he held out his hand to stroke
the animal, but received an angry snort for his trouble.
"Guess I should have warned you … he's the jealous type." She laughed. "Isn't that right you
naughty boy?" she kept stroking his nose and behind his ears.
"And spoiled no doubt." Adam commented.
"No doubt." She laughed. "Do you see any that interest you? A few of the horses don't take to
new riders well, but most of them just love a chance to get out."
"With my luck I'd pick your Father's favorite."
"We aren't territorial about the horses. I might ride Renegade most of the time, but there are
several others that belong to my brothers or my Dad that I enjoy taking out. We all swap around,
and it's not a problem."
"Then how about that one over there?" he pointed to the crème colored horse with the dark main
and tail.
Beth couldn't help but smile that he would select that horse. "That's Galahad … you'll probably
enjoy riding him. A lot of energy, and loves it when you give him his head to run … but very
steady too."
Adam walked over to the animal and began to stroke his face and nose. The horse seemed to
enjoy the attention. "What do you say we have a go at it tomorrow?" he asked as he gave the
horse a few firm pats on the shoulder.
"Galahad it is then." Beth said. Galahad had been Craig's horse, but she wasn't going to make
Adam feel uncomfortable by mentioning it. She wanted to share the activity she loved the most
with him and didn't want any of her ghosts getting in the way of just enjoying it.
She squeezed Renegade's neck one more time before coming to visit with Galahad. "I thought
maybe tomorrow morning after Cassie's had her breakfast we could slip off and take a long ride.
My Dad and Rayna will both be happy to watch her."
"She's usually in a good mood early, so that's probably the best time." He replied, looking
forward to enjoying the morning with her. "But are you sure you should be riding so soon?" He
knew that she would be all right because of the power of the quickening, but didn't want her to
experience any more discomfort because of pushing things. They really didn't know the scope of
how quickly her healing would work.
"Amanda and I made a little detour the other day when we went shopping. I wanted to be sure
about everything before our trip." She confessed. "I used one of the aliases that they had given
me in the program and we went to a hospital in Seattle. A doctor checked to be sure everything
was all right, and I'd healed amazingly. In fact … if I weren't breast feeding, she would have had
a hard time believing I'd delivered at all."
"One of the benefits of the quickening … your body will heal faster. I didn't know how quickly
though." He replied. "But why didn't you tell me? I would have taken you?"
Beth flushed a little and ran her hand through her hair. "I didn't mean to hide anything from you,
but after I had Cassie … there were things I wasn't sure about … woman things … and it was
easier for me if Amanda took me and I could ask the doctor questions on my own. Can you
understand?"
He nodded. "I'm glad there are no worries."
"Could you be any more understanding?" she replied, wrapping her arms around his waist.
They stayed at the stable a little longer before going back to the house and to their separate
rooms.
As Adam predicted, her family understood how difficult this was for her. She placed the box with
the key in the dresser drawer for the time being and went back downstairs to help prepare the
Christmas dinner with her sisters.
After dinner, Beth had a long, private talk with her father about what had happened over the past
year. She wished she could share all of it with him. She'd never held so much back from him
before, but that was impossible. Adam's existence depended on her discretion.
She got her father to open up about the deep pain he felt now that her mother was gone. They
talked about the stress of not knowing what had happened to her, but her father would not let her
shoulder the responsibility. "You could not help what that man did to you and to Craig. You had
to do whatever it took to survive … and to come home to us. If anyone was to blame for your
mother being taken from us early … it is Asher Devan."
For a long time Beth just sat next to her father and looked out the big picture window, his arm
around her shoulders, just as they had done so many lazy afternoons when she was growing up.
She'd always been secure about who she was and that was mainly because her father gave her
the security to try whatever she dreamed, knowing that if she failed he would be there … just as
he would with every success.
"I know you are worried about me Dad." Beth opened up the subject of her upcoming wedding.
"But I really do know what I am doing … and who I am doing it with."
"I just wish I knew him better Leandra." He admitted. "He is a man with secrets … and I worry
about what those secrets will do to you, and to the baby."
Beth thought long and hard about her response. "I know his secrets. And I know his heart. And
you don't need to worry about us Dad. Adam will protect us with his life … he already has."
"He killed a man … I know Devan was evil, but he spoke of it as if he were reading yesterday's
weather … as if he hadn't thought twice about taking a life. It made me think Devan wasn't the
first."
"He killed a man after watching him hold a dagger to my throat, and to the child I carried." Beth
replied, her father gasped at the horrible image. "Devan kidnapped me and was going to kill me
in front of Adam …" she waited for the shock to die down before continuing. "Having seen that,
would you have thought twice?"
Peter Harris shook his head. He knew that Devan had come close to killing her once … he had
no idea how close he came the second time. And as uneasy as Adam's cold side made him, he
couldn't help but be glad for it, for his daughter's sake.
"He's a good man Dad. I wouldn't raise my daughter with him if I didn't believe that with my
whole heart." She confided. "And now … I am tired and Cassie is probably hungry." She kissed
her father's cheek and went back into the main room to take her daughter from the arms of her
younger sister, who couldn't get enough of her new niece. Adam had disappeared somewhere
with Chris and her husband … She suspected they were driving him around the area and trying to
get to know him a little better.
"She's a really good baby Lea." Rayna said as she passed the child to her. "And Adam is uhm
… nice … not to mention that accent." Her sister rolled her eyes and fanned herself a little.
Beth's eyes sparkled playfully as she agreed with her sister. "Nice doesn't begin to cover it
Rayna. And yeah, he could read the Sears catalog and I'd want to be all over him and that voice
of his." She laughed as the two of them went upstairs to their room to talk some more while she
fed Cassie.
"Are there any more like him?" Rayna continued. "I mean … any hot younger brothers?"
"I thought Chris said you were dating some guy who lives in Franklin … airline pilot … drives a
jag." Beth replied with a grin.
"Well yeah … and he's great, but …" Rayna started giggling like a school girl instead of the 23
year old she was. Old habit among sisters.
"But?" Beth drew out the word the way she hoped to draw out her sister's reason for her
giddiness.
"I am so lame." Rayna flushed as she shook her head. "I was in the hall when Adam came out of
the shower … before he had his shirt on. Geezus Lea … who would have known under the
baggy sweaters he wears just how buff he is. I mean I think I ovulated on the spot." She
admitted, falling backwards onto her bed.
Beth let out a light shreak of laughter at her sister's vivid description, briefly startling Cassie who
was in the midst of her meal. Rayna hadn't changed a bit, she still had the most unique and
direct way of putting things, and she always spoke exactly what was on her mind. It was so good
to be sitting together in their old room and letting the years just drop off as they shared 'girl talk'.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this Rayna, but Adam is one of a kind …" Beth replied when they
both stopped laughing enough to talk. "And off limits." She added, raising one eyebrow to look at
her sister, playfully claiming territory.
"You have nothing to worry about with me or any other woman Lea. I've seen the way that man
looks at you. I'd give anything to have a man worship me like that. I'm happy for you Leandra,
you deserve to be happy."
"Sometimes I have trouble understanding how I could be fortunate enough to find love so intense
twice in my life … and what I've found with Adam just blows me away." She admitted.
"Well what about these friends of his? The one's coming for the wedding. Any potential
candidates?" Rayna asked, rolling onto her stomach and propping her chin on her hands as she
talked with her sister.
"Oh I'm sure you are going to need oxygen when you meet Duncan MacLeod." Beth told her.
"Drop dead gorgeous with a Scottish accent, and is probably one of the kindest men I've ever
met."
"But" she finished when she saw her sister's face light up "Like Adam, he's spoken for. Our
friend Amanda and he have been an item for quite a while."
"Ugh" Rayna buried her face in the comforter and screamed lightly in frustration.
"And then there is Richie." Beth continued. "Very nice guy … and as you would put it … totally
buff." She laughed. "Unfortunately for you, he just started seeing the other woman who is
coming with them, Claudia. Not sure where that is going because they are so different … but … "
"You still haven't forgiven me for that prank at the Campbell's stable have you?" Rayna asked.
"Oh God … I'd forgotten about that." Beth began to laugh.
"So you bring 3 totally hot but unavailable men home, just to torture me." Rayna rolls back over,
letting her blond hair dangle over the edge of the bed as she stares at the ceiling.
Beth could only laugh as she shook her head at her sister's theatrics. Rayna had always been
the flirt of the three, and had a list of guys falling all over her since she was barely out of braces.
"Somehow I think you'll survive." She replied, moving to put a sleeping Cassie in her crib.
"Are you going to be up here for awhile?" she asked.
"I'm calling it a night. I may come down for a snack later, but my plan tonight is mindless TV and
sleep." Rayna replied with a grin. "Go find Adam, I'll watch her."
"Thanks" Beth said as she straightened her clothes and left the room.
She was surprised to find Adam sitting on the bottom step, stroking the head of her father's
beagle Bandit.
"So did Chris and Gary give you the grand tour?" she asked, as he stood up when he heard her
coming down.
"It's a nice little town." He replied, covering the real reason he'd been with Chris and her
husband. He had a little surprise that required their help, and the drive had been an excuse.
Beth stopped on the bottom step, making her almost eye to eye with Adam as she wrapped her
arms around his neck. "The little princess is asleep and her Aunt Rayna volunteered to watch her
… so … if you aren't too tired I thought we would go somewhere."
Adam raised one eyebrow. "We aren't going cow tipping are we?" remembering a joke her
brothers had mentioned the night before.
"Not tonight." She replied, taking his hand and pulling him toward the door, this time
remembering her coat.
She fished the keys from under the mat of her father's pickup and told Adam to get in and hold
on. He got a bad feeling about this when instead of going down the driveway, she turned the
truck through the pasture gate and began driving over the rolling fields toward the back of the
property.
"Can I ask why we couldn't take the road?" he asked as his head hit the top of the truck for the
third time, wondering if she could see where she was going with only one headlight.
"ooops … sorry." She laughed, slowing down a bit. "We could have taken the road, but this is
faster." She replied.
"And here we are." Beth announced, hopping out of the truck. She'd taken the short cut to the
stable, the place Adam remembered her talking about spending half her life when she was
growing up.
"Beth we are not riding tonight." Adam told her firmly.
"Don't worry … I can wait till tomorrow for that, but I couldn't wait another minute to see my
babies." She replied, flipping the big switch that illuminated the very modern stable.
"Wow." Adam said as he stepped in. The interior was amazing. By a quick count he realized
there were separate stalls for over two dozen horses along with a big area in the middle. "When
you said stable I sort of envisioned a large barn."
Beth beamed with pride when she realized he was truly impressed. "We built this together about
fifteen years ago. The horses are an important part of our lives … so we scrimped in other areas
to make sure they had the best."
She walked about halfway down the center, greeting a few of the familiar heads that peered out,
until the excited winee of one of the horses rose above the others.
"Renegade!" she exclaimed, rushing over to wrap her arms around the neck of the palomino.
"How's my handsome boy? Did you miss me?" she asked as she stroked his nose.
Adam walked slowly through the interior, his hands in his pockets as he studied one fine animal
after another, giving Beth some time to get reacquainted with her horse. It had been a long time
since he'd been around horses of this caliber, and he missed riding. Aside from the days he'd
spent with Kronos and Silas a year ago, he hadn't really been riding for ages it seemed, and that
last time had been anything but pleasurable.
When he came to the stall where Beth was doting over her favorite, he held out his hand to stroke
the animal, but received an angry snort for his trouble.
"Guess I should have warned you … he's the jealous type." She laughed. "Isn't that right you
naughty boy?" she kept stroking his nose and behind his ears.
"And spoiled no doubt." Adam commented.
"No doubt." She laughed. "Do you see any that interest you? A few of the horses don't take to
new riders well, but most of them just love a chance to get out."
"With my luck I'd pick your Father's favorite."
"We aren't territorial about the horses. I might ride Renegade most of the time, but there are
several others that belong to my brothers or my Dad that I enjoy taking out. We all swap around,
and it's not a problem."
"Then how about that one over there?" he pointed to the crème colored horse with the dark main
and tail.
Beth couldn't help but smile that he would select that horse. "That's Galahad … you'll probably
enjoy riding him. A lot of energy, and loves it when you give him his head to run … but very
steady too."
Adam walked over to the animal and began to stroke his face and nose. The horse seemed to
enjoy the attention. "What do you say we have a go at it tomorrow?" he asked as he gave the
horse a few firm pats on the shoulder.
"Galahad it is then." Beth said. Galahad had been Craig's horse, but she wasn't going to make
Adam feel uncomfortable by mentioning it. She wanted to share the activity she loved the most
with him and didn't want any of her ghosts getting in the way of just enjoying it.
She squeezed Renegade's neck one more time before coming to visit with Galahad. "I thought
maybe tomorrow morning after Cassie's had her breakfast we could slip off and take a long ride.
My Dad and Rayna will both be happy to watch her."
"She's usually in a good mood early, so that's probably the best time." He replied, looking
forward to enjoying the morning with her. "But are you sure you should be riding so soon?" He
knew that she would be all right because of the power of the quickening, but didn't want her to
experience any more discomfort because of pushing things. They really didn't know the scope of
how quickly her healing would work.
"Amanda and I made a little detour the other day when we went shopping. I wanted to be sure
about everything before our trip." She confessed. "I used one of the aliases that they had given
me in the program and we went to a hospital in Seattle. A doctor checked to be sure everything
was all right, and I'd healed amazingly. In fact … if I weren't breast feeding, she would have had
a hard time believing I'd delivered at all."
"One of the benefits of the quickening … your body will heal faster. I didn't know how quickly
though." He replied. "But why didn't you tell me? I would have taken you?"
Beth flushed a little and ran her hand through her hair. "I didn't mean to hide anything from you,
but after I had Cassie … there were things I wasn't sure about … woman things … and it was
easier for me if Amanda took me and I could ask the doctor questions on my own. Can you
understand?"
He nodded. "I'm glad there are no worries."
"Could you be any more understanding?" she replied, wrapping her arms around his waist.
They stayed at the stable a little longer before going back to the house and to their separate
rooms.