Nova heard the crunch of footfall on the driveway. She dashed to the door and swung it open. "Jese?"
Brandon McCabe stood, with his hat clutched in one hand and the other raised to knock. "Nova?" He said. "That was real quick."
Any thought, or possible reply, was frozen in time. The countless things she'd imagined she might say on his return were a distant memory.
After a long silence she managed to speak. "Brandon?"
"Look at you," he replied. "All growed up!" He was chewing on something, talking slowly like this wasn't affecting him anywhere as much as it was affecting her.
"Brandon McCabe?"
"The one and only!"
"I thought you were dead," she managed to whisper.
"Me?" He blinked in surprise. "I'm beginning to think death isn't an option!" He laughed at his own joke. "I'm invincible."
Nova tried to smile, but only managed an angry grimace. Lucky for some! To be born a male with a silver spoon wedged firmly in his mouth. Had she had half that luck she would be in a pretty position indeed. "Where have you been all this time?"
"Where do I begin?" He grasped at his head with his free hand, feigning exhaustion at the prospect of recounting all of his tales.
"Just cut to the bit about not coming home after the war finished."
He flinched at the sharp tone in her voice. "As I was coming back I got an offer I couldn't refuse. If I didn't take it there and then..."
"Well." So something came up. Something unavoidable. "You're home now."
"I have been for some time," he said sheepishly.
She waited for the overwhelming urge to slam the door in his face to pass. "Come in," she said finally. "I'll make you a coffee. You must remember my dear Mama?" Nova asked before telling him haltingly, "she might not remember you so clearly for her memory comes and goes now."
"Hello Mrs. Radcliffe. You couldn't forget me could you?"
"Mama?" Nova called to her mother's vacant statue. "Mama? Brandon McCabe is here. Do you remember Brandon?"
Her mother's face lit up instantly. "Brandon? Little Brandon?" her tone was warm and welcoming.
"Not so little anymore." He said.
"Bless me! I thought you must have died out there. Where have you been all this time?"
"A little adventure." He chuckled, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"A little adventure?" Nova's mother scolded her voice thick with endearment. "You've not changed at all!"
He surely hadn't, Nova decided. He still seemed to have the same minimal amount of responsibilities. Look at me! When did I turn into such a hard done by Harry?
"Not one bit!" He replied with pride.
"Here let me look at you." Nova's mama motioned him forward eagerly. "Well, what a fine coat that is! You look awful dapper!"
"I have to look smart for my occupation, Mrs. Radcliffe. I'm a bounty hunter now. I round up all these lowlife outlaws. It is a tough job. But luckily I'm good at it."
"Ah." Helaku whistled with admiration. "What a job!"
"I'm making the country safe, one scoundrel at a time."
Nova had been listening so intently to every word he spoke that she didn't hear the horse approaching. Only realizing that her fiance had returned when Jese strode through the door, letting it slam behind him.
"Jese! You're safe!"
He nodded curtly. His eyes, narrowed on Brandon's frame. "You didn't get rid of me so easily."
If he'd known the feeling of relief which swept over her when he'd come marching into the house. like it was already his. Her eyes drifted to Brandon McCabe. It seemed to be a male trait.
"And the men you were following?" She asked Jese.
"I lost sight of them in Little River," he said. Nova could tell by the way his jaw twitched unmercilessly, that he hadn't finished his search. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
Nova couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic, or not.
"Brandon McCabe," the gangly man lurched forward to shake Jese's hand. "I'm a childhood friend of Nova's."
"This is Jese Calhoun," Nova quickly inserted, before Brandon could keep talking. "He is... my -"
"Fiancé," Jese finished.
Brandon's face displayed shock. "Fiancé?" He dropped the hand that he had been fervently shaking.
"She didn't tell you?" Jese's gaze was accusatory.
"No." Nova answered. "He has only been here for a few moments." Nova wished she could disguise the tangible sound of guilt in her voice. She could see that Jese wasn't impressed. But what more could she say in front of company?
"We are to marry in three days' time," Jese informed the man.
"Oh." His tone was empty. "That is quite soon."
Interesting. Nova glanced at Brandon in shock. He seems put out by it all. Maybe he isn't so immune to caring about me after all.
"It would have been sooner," Jese confessed. "If it weren't for having to wait for the Clergyman to be free."
Nova cleared her throat. "It was a quick courtship."
"We just knew, within hours, that we were meant to be together forever." Jese nodded in Brandon's direction. "Nova is a very direct woman-."
She felt a crimson blush burning its way up her neck. How could he! Making her sound like a common whore!
"Well," Brandon stood up suddenly. "I'd best be off. So many things needing to be done by sun down."
"Thank you for coming." Nova followed him to the door. "It is so good to know that you are safe and well."
With muttered goodbyes Brandon left. No sooner had the door slammed behind him than Jese's hands closed over her upper arms dragging her backward against him, his voice dangerously low. "So you are already trying to find a replacement?"
She couldn't decide what shocked her more. His words, or the strange sensation that was invading her body due to his presence. It was doing strange things to her heartbeat. "It is not like that at all!" Her heart was beating so erratically that she felt completely unstable. "This is the first time I've seen him in years! He just dropped in by chance."
"I don't believe in chance when it comes to a woman like you, Miss Radcliffe. You make your own fate." His breath was hot on her ear, teasing the tendrils which hung free below it. His lips tormentingly close to her neck. "Don't think that I will sit back and watch as you fawn over every eligible bachelor in town whilst you search for a better substitute."
"Trust me Mr Calhoun, it isn't as simple as that!" She wriggled her shoulders hoping to pull herself free, but he held her still. "Finding a substitute is not how I hope to get out of this arrangement. I'm hoping to stumble across money. For why would I want to replace one devil with another?"
"You promised yourself to me, you gave me your word. Now it is time for you to keep that promise."
"Nova?" Her mother's frail voice came from the corner. She was slipping out of her slumber. "Who is this?"
Jese dropped his hand's immediately and Nova turned to her mother. She could hear her fiance say under his breath, "Yes Nova. Tell her who I am."
"This is my fiance, Mama. The man I was telling you about."
Her mother's face crumpled in confusion. "You never told me you were engaged."
"Of course I did, Mama. I told you this afternoon. His name is Jese."
"Jese Calhoun." Her fiancé strode forward to shake her fragile hand. "At your service."
"Oh." The cloud of confusion hadn't lifted. "Have I met you before?"
"Never," he replied smoothly.
"Oh," her tone was guarded like she was stewing on something that was just about to reveal itsself. "Aha!" She held a finger up. Her face had cleared magically, "I remember now! The weather was fine that morning, but when the cyclone began all of the animals were lost."
Jese's face was now surprised. "I'm sorry... I don't understand."
"Of course you don't understand mother nature... for she is a fickle beast. Is my husband here? I made him a stew."
"She isn't here anymore," Nova told him under her breath. "She comes and goes. Don't take it to heart."
"Oh." He gazed at the woman with compassion in his voice. "Well, I must be off. There is a bottle of whiskey waiting for me in my Hotel room and some matters I must attend to."
She gave an open sniff of disdain. Nova knew his type well. Her father would have admired her fiance.
"I shall be back tomorrow. We can continue the tour then."
"If you managed to drag yourself out of bed." She knew what men were like. He wouldn't reappear from his alcohol induced fog for three days. Which meant he might not be there for his nuptials.