A Bride for Jericho Bravo

The doors to the study were open. She could hear voices in there, male voices: Ash and his brother. She would have to cross the open doorway to get her purse. The thought of doing that, of having the two men see her and wonder what she was doing wandering around the main house without Tessa, made her nervous—which only proved Mark was right about her. She was scared of her own damn shadow.

Where had her brave self gone?

As she hovered there at the foot of the stairs, admitting how pitiful and silly she was being, she heard Jericho’s rough voice, painfully clear, from inside the study.

“No, man. I mean really. You probably ought to get her to a shrink or something.”

Ash said, “She’ll be fine. She’s had a rough couple of days, that’s all.”

“She didn’t say a word through dinner. Just sat there, staring. Didn’t you notice?”

“Rico. Come on.”

“She got a drug problem, maybe?”

“Her boyfriend dumped her and she drove all the way here from Santa Barbara. She’s beat and her life’s in chaos. And you scared her.”

“I didn’t do crap. I was just standing there. That woman is not okay, I’m telling you. She needs—”

Marnie didn’t stick around to hear what she needed—let alone, to get her purse. Her cheeks burning and her heart pounding hard and fast with shame and fury, she whirled to go back the way she had come, pausing only to yank off her flip-flops so neitherAsh nor his bigmouth butthead of a brother would hear her retreat.

Barefoot, clutching her flip-flops in her fist, she took off down the hall, racing through the family room and the kitchen and, at last, out the French doors to the backyard. Once outside in the gathering dark, she stopped and sucked in a few deep breaths of the cool night air.

The deep breaths didn’t help much. Her heart still knocked against her ribs like it wanted to break right through the wall of her chest. Her cheeks still flamed with humiliation. She started running again, not quite so fast now, jogging back the way she had come.

The chopper was still waiting there, chrome shining, metal flake blue giving off a kind of sparkle even in the growing darkness. She slowed as she approached it and then veered toward it instead of running on by. A helmet waited on the seat.

In her head, Jericho’s voice now warred with Mark’s.

She got a drug problem, maybe?

What happened to you?

You probably ought to get her to a shrink or something.

You used to take chances.

That woman is not okay, I am telling you.

… willing to rise to any challenge. The bravest girl I ever knew.

… didn’t say a word through dinner.

I think you have to ask yourself …

Just sat there, staring …

Where is your spark?

Marnie put on her flip-flops.

Her spark? Mark wanted to know what had happened to her spark?

Well, maybe she’d just show him. Maybe she would show them all, on Jericho’s fancy bike. Maybe she would take that chopper for a nice, long ride.

Yeah, okay. She knew it was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

It was not only dangerous, it was also grand theft.

Where is your spark?

She’d learned a thing or two back in North Magdalene, in her dad’s garage. Like how to start an engine without a key.

The job required something to pry with. So she hustled into the garage, flip-flops slapping concrete as she went, and got a screwdriver from the tool kit she kept in her trunk. Once she had that, she ran back outside. She stuck the screwdriver in a pocket, grabbed the helmet and put it on. It was too big, but she tightened the strap as much as she could.

Squeezing the right brake lever to avoid any surprise wheelies, she straddled the bike and eased it upright between her legs. From atop the beautiful machine, it was a long way down those front forks to the front wheel.

In fact, the bike seemed bigger, now she was straddling it. Really big. And really dangerous. Even if she could get it started, the thing weighed more than she did and it would be a stretch for her feet to reach the pegs. It was way too much bike for her to handle….

She shut her eyes tight and called up Mark’s words in her mind.

Where is your spark?

When she opened her eyes again, she was ready. She was going to do it. She would not wimp out.

Using her heel, she guided the side stand up. She put the bike in neutral, released her grip on the brake and walked it around so it faced the driveway on the side of the house.

Then she turned the fuel valve to the on position and used her screwdriver to pry off the metal ignition cap, revealing the battery and ignition wires.

After that, it was so simple. She stuck the screwdriver in one back pocket and the ignition cap in the other and she twisted those wires together.

The big engine roared to life. She turned on the lights, pressed the clutch, shifted into gear and eased the clutch out as she gave it gas.

Chapter Two

“Did you hear that?” Jericho frowned at his brother.

The sudden roar began to travel. It rumbled along the side of the house, back to front.

“Sounds like your bike,” Ash said, looking puzzled.

Jericho glanced over his brother’s shoulder, out the window that faced the front of the house, just in time to see Tessa’s crazy sister rolling off down the street under the golden light of the streetlamps. She was riding his bike.

He said, “Your sister-in-law just stole my bike.”

Ash looked at him like he was the one with a screw loose.

Jericho decided not to argue. “I need to borrow a car.”

“Rico …”

“A car, Ash. Now.”

Ash let out a weary sigh and fished a set of keys from his pocket. “The Mercedes. First door on the end, by the fence.”

It took a few minutes to get to the Mercedes, get it started, get the garage door up and get rolling. That was a few minutes too long, as far as Jericho was concerned.

By the time he reached the street, Tessa’s disturbed sister was long gone. He rolled down all the windows so he could hear the bike if he got anywhere near it and he turned the car in the direction she’d been headed when she passed in front of Ash’s study.

At the corner, a T intersection, he took a wild guess and went right, figuring a rider unfamiliar with a big bike would take the easy turn, given a choice. After that, he went straight until the fork in the road, where he veered to the right again and tried not to think about the damage that could be done to an expensive piece of machinery with a crazy woman riding it.

And what about the crazy woman herself? What could happen to her was even scarier. At least she’d been wearing his helmet when she drove past the front window. If she ended up eating pavement, she might break every bone in her skinny little body—but just maybe she wouldn’t kill herself.

He kept going, ears tuned for the bike’s distinctive sound. As he turned the circle around a doughnut intersection where five streets came together, he heard the familiar rumble.

From there, he just followed the sound.

He caught up with her as she turned—right again—onto the street that circled the park. She wasn’t going very fast, which was really good news. Plus, the street was essentially deserted. Two pickups went past going the opposite direction, headlights cutting the thickening darkness. But no vehicles blocked the space between the Mercedes and the bike.

Once he found her, it was simple. He got a bit too close, showing her some wheel, and she guided the bike nearer to the curb, wobbling a little as she went, to let him pass.

But he didn’t pass. He just got up parallel with her and drove along at a matching crawl. Any slower and she’d kill that big engine. In fact, how she’d managed not to kill it before then was a mystery to him.

She glanced over, her face all pinched and pissed off inside his too-big helmet. And she saw it was him. The surprise on her face might have been funny, if he hadn’t been more than a little freaked that she would hit the gas and lose control.

But the fates were kind. The sight of him had her easing off the throttle rather than gunning it. The bike sputtered and died. She rolled toward the shoulder. When the bike stopped, she put her feet down. He pulled the Mercedes in behind her.

Leaving the car’s engine running and the headlights on to see by, he was out the door and heading for her as she lowered the stand and climbed off. She undid the helmet strap. Her light brown hair caught static and crackled when she lifted the helmet free of her head.

He reached her. Moving slowly and carefully, she set the helmet on the seat. And then she turned and met his eyes. He had all kinds of things he was going to yell at her, all kinds of names he was going to call her.

But those big blue eyes looked so sad and so lost, he forgot about how he thought she was crazy. He even let go of the proud rage she had stirred in him when she took him for a burglar in his own brother’s house.

It seemed only natural. Just to hold out his arms. She stared at him for a moment, a small space of time that somehow became endless. In the headlight’s hard glare, her expression showed surprise. And then, in an instant, acceptance.

With a heavy sigh, she sagged against him. He gathered her in.

A couple more cars went by as they stood there, embracing in the wash of bright light. She hooked her arms around his waist and buried her face against his chest. A soft, wordless sound escaped her. He felt the warmth of her breath, easing its way through the cloth of his shirt, touching his flesh.

And then she pulled back. He had the strangest urge to keep holding on. But he tamped that urge down. He let her go and she stepped away.

She hung her head. “I didn’t even have the guts to go fast.”

“And that’s a good thing.” He spoke sternly. “It would have been a seriously bad idea to do that.”

“Yeah. I guess.” She pulled something from her back pocket and held it out. It was the bike’s ignition cap.

He took it from her, suddenly remembering that her father was a mechanic. He’d met Patrick Jones at Ash’s wedding. “Your dad runs a garage, right?”

“Uh-huh. He taught me a thing or two about engines. Enough to make me dangerous, I guess.” She was still looking down, subdued now.

He just didn’t get it. “I gotta ask. What’s this about? Why would you steal my bike? What’s the point?”

She shook her head. “It’s a long story.”

“Try me.”

“My boyfriend dumped me.”

“I heard. I’m sorry. But … why take it out on me?”

She sent him a narrowed glance, and then looked at the pavement some more. “Because … I’m insane and possibly a drug addict?”

“What?”

She looked up again, a flash of anger in her eyes and then, as before, back down. “I heard what you said to Ash.”

He winced. But still, she shouldn’t have been listening in. “You were eavesdropping.”

“No, I wasn’t. It just … happened. I left my purse on the front hall table. Don’t ask me why, I don’t why. But when I realized I’d left it there, I went back to get it. I heard you guys in the study, talking. I knew I had to go past the open door to get to the table. I knew you would see me, and I would feel foolish to have wandered off without my purse—the family idiot on the loose without a keeper. It would be just one more proof that I’m a can short of a six-pack, you know? So I hesitated. That was when I heard what you said.”

Regret tugged at him. “Look, I really am sorry. I can see now I had it all wrong about you.”

“Yeah, well. It seriously ticked me off at the time. But now that I’ve cooled off a little, I guess I have to admit that I completely get why you would think I’m out of my mind.”

“So this, taking my bike, was payback?”

Still staring at the pavement, she shrugged. “In a totally wussy, pitifully ineffective sort of way, yeah.”

He touched her strong little chin with his finger, guiding it up so that she was looking at him again. “We can call it even from here. Start fresh. How ‘bout that?”

She made a disbelieving sound. “You sure you don’t want to have me arrested?”

He held her gaze. “It’s tempting, but I’ll pass.”

“Maybe a little time in jail would do me good,” she said half-jokingly, mocking herself.

And suddenly, he wanted to shake her. She didn’t have a clue about what happened behind bars.

His exasperation must have shown on his face. Her eyes widened. “Yikes. What did I say this time?”

Gruffly, he advised, “You don’t want to go to jail. Take my word on that.”

“Uh. Okay.”

He gentled his tone. “So, you think you can drive Ash’s Mercedes back to the house without running into anything?”

She hung her head again. “I could. If I could only find my way there.”

He understood. “You’re lost.”

“Oh, yeah. In more ways than one.”

He felt a surge of something that could only be called protectiveness. It surprised him. He wasn’t the protective type. “Here.” He took her small, soft hand, turned it over and put Ash’s keys in it. “You’re gonna be fine.”

“Oh, I hope so.”

“Just follow me.”

Marnie felt a little better about everything as she followed Jericho through the dark, quiet streets of Tessa’s neighborhood. Her very, very bad day was looking up a little.

Yeah, she’d let her whacked-out emotional state get the better of her and screwed up royally, stealing Jericho’s bike like that. But somehow, it had worked out all right. She even had a strange feeling she might end up calling Jericho a friend.

Who would have guessed that might happen?

Life was no rose garden. But it could surprise you in a good way now and then.

Even in the dark, she recognized Tessa’s street when they reached it. And she wasn’t far behind when Jericho turned his bike into the driveway beside Tessa’s house.

Tessa and Ash were waiting on the front step. Ash had his arm around her and she huddled close to him. The headlights of the Mercedes swept over them and Marnie saw that her sister’s face was pale and drawn with worry.

Way to go, Jones.

Guilt tightened her stomach and made her feel crappy all over again. She really needed to get her act together. Making Tessa suffer for her erratic behavior was not the way to treat her loyal, generous, loving big sister. Tessa would do anything for her and she knew it. She needed to start showing a little consideration and respect.

Things got worse in the house. Ash and Tessa were there in the kitchen when Marnie and Jericho came in through the glass doors.

“Marnie!” Tessa’s relief was painfully evident. “I’m so glad you’re all right….” She started to come to her.

Ash held her back with a hand on her shoulder. His blue eyes were dark with fury. Marnie realized she’d never seen him angry before. But he was now—angry at her. “What is the matter with you? You had your sister scared to death.”

“Ash, don’t …” Tessa gave him a pleading look. “It’s okay. She’s okay.”

Ash was not pacified. He pinned Marnie with an unforgiving glare. “You’re family. That means you’re welcome in this house. But you damn well better not pull any more stunts like this one tonight, or there is going to be big trouble between you and me.”

Marnie felt his harsh words like blows. They were true words. And that made them hurt all the more. She opened her mouth to say she was so sorry and she would never do anything like that again.

But Tessa spoke first, her gentle voice soothing. “Ash. Come on.” She turned to Marnie, her eyes moist with tears. “He worries about me. Please don’t take offense.”

Marnie let out a cry. “I don’t. Of course, I don’t. He’s absolutely right.”

Ash nodded. “You better believe I am.”

Jericho stepped in then. “Come on, Ash. Dial it back. She knows she did wrong.”

Ash shifted his furious gaze to his brother. “What? Now you’re defending her? What’s up with that?”

Marnie cleared her throat. “We, um, we came to an understanding, Jericho and me. He still thinks I’m weird—but not crazy or on drugs.”

Jericho explained, “She overheard us talking in the study.”

“Talking about what?” Tessa demanded.

Ash answered reluctantly, “Jericho was saying that maybe she needed professional help.”

Jericho snorted. “I wasn’t nearly that diplomatic about it.”

“Oh, no …” Tessa stared at her pityingly.

Marnie shrugged and looked down at the floor. Since Jericho had caught up with her on his bike, she’d done a lot of looking down. “I did overhear what Jericho said. And I was a little crazy. But I’m pulling it together, as of now.” She raised her head, straightened her spine, and made herself meet her brother-in-law’s still-angry gaze. “I’m past the nervous breakdown phase. I swear I am.”

Ash gave her a long once-over. Finally, he nodded. “Well, all right, then. Sorry for jumping down your throat.” He pulled Tessa closer and pressed a kiss to her temple.

She nudged him in the side. “You went a little overboard, you know?”

“Yeah,”Ash admitted. “Maybe. But I don’t like to see you freaked out, especially now, with the baby coming.”

Marnie wondered if she’d heard right. “Uh. The baby?”

Jericho let out a low chuckle.

Tessa sighed.

Ash’s brows drew together. “You didn’t tell her.”

Tessa sent him a weary glance. “I was waiting till she at least had a good night’s sleep. But so much for that.”

Marnie groaned. “That’s right. You didn’t have even one margarita, just to be sociable. And no wine. Only sparkling water. Am I oblivious or what?”

Tessa eased out of Ash’s protective embrace. “You have a lot on your mind.”

Jericho said, “Hey, Ash. Walk me out.”

Marnie sent him a grateful look. “Thanks, Jericho. For everything.”

“Later.” One corner of his mouth twitched in what could almost be called a smile as he turned again for the French doors.

When the men were gone and the sisters were alone, Marnie grabbed Tessa in a long, tight hug. “I can hardly believe it. A baby. My sister’s having a baby….” She took Tessa by the shoulders and held her away enough to look up into her sweet face. “When are you due?”

“Late October.”

“You’re going to be an amazing mother, you know that?”

Tessa’s cheeks flushed. It was good to see some color back in them. “I’m going to give it my best shot.”

“I’m so sorry I scared you. Never, ever again.”

Tessa’s eyes gleamed. “Well, at least if you could try and wait until after the baby’s born …”

“It’s a promise.” She caught both of Tessa’s hands. “You were always on my side—well, except when we were little. Then you tried to run my life.”

Tessa looked suddenly prim. It was a look she used to wear a lot when she was a kid, back when Marnie would constantly razz her, calling her Saint Teresa. “You were a wild child,” Tessa said. “You used to swear like a sailor on shore leave, remember? And you were always running away, freaking everybody out….”

Marnie felt her shoulders slump. “Looks like I’m up to my old tricks, huh? Only minus the wild part. Somewhere I lost track of that—of my wild side. Lately, I’m about as wild as a stale slice of white bread.”

Tessa pulled her close again, whispered, “You’re still wild at heart. You know you are.”

“Oh, yeah, right.”

“You are.”

Marnie couldn’t help asking, hopefully, “You think?”

“I know.” Outside, Jericho’s chopper roared to life. The sisters were quiet as the rumbling moved along the driveway and then faded away down the street. Then Tessa spoke again. “I’m so glad you and Jericho seem to have worked out your differences.”

“I hated him at first.”

“No kidding.”

“But you know, I can see now that he’s an okay guy after all. A really good guy, actually.”

“He’s got a lot of heart. And in the past few years, he’s turned his life around.”

Marnie wondered what exactly that meant.

But before she could ask Tessa about it, Ash came in. Marnie apologized again for everything.

Ash said he wanted to let bygones be bygones. “I’m glad you came to us. And I meant it when I said you’re welcome to stay as long as you want to.”

Marnie told them good night and went back to the guesthouse, where she drew a bath and sank gratefully into it, sighing in pleasure as she let the hot water ease all her tensions away.

Things could be worse, she was thinking. And then she laughed at her own sudden optimism. Her life, after all, was still a great big mess. But somehow, she felt better about it.

It wasn’t even forty-eight hours since the breakup, but she was already beginning to see that her relationship with Mark really hadn’t been that good for her. In the years they were together, she had slowly relinquished her life to him, until she lived in his shadow.

His friends became her friends. His world, hers. He had a big trust fund set up for him by his dad. And he also made a lot more money than she ever would. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, to just stop working, to let him support her. After all, her jobs never brought in much anyway.

Without Mark to pay the bills, she had almost nothing to call her own.

But there was a bright side. All of a sudden, she was nobody’s shadow. She’d stepped into the light. She could see her life clearly now. Too bad what she saw wasn’t all that great.

Mark had offered her money “to hold her over,” when he told her they were through. She had proudly refused him, which had seemed really noble at the time—but was actually kind of stupid, when you got right down to it. Bottom line, she was on her own with five hundred dollars in her checking account. She had two years of junior college and a hodgepodge of subsistence-level work experience to recommend her to a prospective employer.

But she could get crazy all over again if she started dwelling on her chances of finding a decent job with her minimal skills in a not-so-great economy. She closed her eyes and let her body float in the cooling bathwater and tried to turn her wayward mind to soothing things.

For some reason, her thoughts drifted to Jericho. She could see him now, behind the dark screen of her shuttered eyelids, in the hard glare of the Mercedes’ headlights, when he caught up with her on his bike.

He’d held out his arms to her.

It was the last thing she’d expected him to do.

But he had done it.

And somehow, that moment—when his big, tattooed arms closed around her—that was the turning point. That was when she knew: in time, she was going to be all right.

The world had simple kindness in it after all. How strange that a big, scary biker guy like Jericho Bravo had ended up being the one to make her see that.

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