“I guess you’ll just have to keep sowing for a while, Jeffrey. I don’t love you and I have no intention of marrying you.” She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her own words. Here she was talking to one man about marriage while already married to another. And neither man wanted her for anything resembling love.

“You’re making a big mistake. You know without my help, without your mother’s backing, you stand to lose everything. Your daddy’s precious company will be taken from your control at the meeting tomorrow.”

The suspicions she’d harbored for months finally coalesced into a very real fear. “How did you know about the meeting change?”

Jeffrey simply smiled. “I have my sources. And I have my own influences.” He stood, carefully pulling the creases of his trousers straight. “Think about it. Use all that business knowledge your stepfather taught you. You have everything to lose and nothing to gain if you stay with the cowboy.”

His words had the vague sound of a threat. Pausing, he watched her carefully, but she refused to react, refused to let him see just how much he’d thrown her. She just wanted to get home to Cole, to have him hold her and reassure her.

“You know where to reach me if you change your mind tonight. We can go into the meeting together tomorrow and set everything straight. By next week, I’ll make my mark by pulling your little business out of its slump.”

Anger wiped away all the other emotions. “You’re awfully confident, Jeffrey. Do you know something I don’t?”

He just smiled and walked out the door.

She wanted to chase after him, to shake the truth from him, but she knew he would only laugh at her. Darci eased into her chair slowly, her fingers massaging the tension from her forehead.

She had taken a terrible chance by marrying Cole, but if given the same choice tomorrow, she’d do it all over again. The teenaged boy who had carried a pesky tagalong piggyback down a rocky trail wouldn’t deceive her, wouldn’t betray her trust. And the man he’d become wouldn’t, either. She had to believe that, had to cling to that trust.

And she could never forgive Jeffrey for what he’d done, never forgive him for not loving her at least enough to be faithful to her. She’d known from the beginning of their engagement that it wasn’t the wild, passionate love of her dreams, but she’d thought it would be enough, had thought a warm affection would sustain her through all the years to follow.