Strands of Love

Chapter Sixteen

Jace came awake in a rush. He leapt to his feet and drew his sword, but there was no enemy to fight, no foe to vanquish. He was back in Javara at the lake beyond Hunter Keep where they’d taken Sam. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the mountains rose behind him, tall and majestic.

He was alone.

He roared in anger and pain and dropped to his knees. His sword slipped from his hand and fell to the ground in front of him. His brother and Sam were gone. He was alone.

Jace swallowed hard, ignoring the tears filling his eyes. He was home, but home had never felt so empty before. He wanted to curse the gods even as he was grateful his brother and Sam were together. At least Darian would be happy. It was enough. It had to be.

A low moan reached his ears and he scrambled toward the sound. Lying on the ground was his brother. “Darian.” As much as it pained Jace to see him, he couldn’t help but feel glad he wasn’t alone.

But did that mean Sam had been left to pick up the pieces of her life by herself? What had the tapestry done? Was it Sam’s will that both brothers return home?

He shook his brother’s arm. “Darian, wake.”

Darian’s eyes shot open and he rolled to his feet. Jace slowly stood and faced his brother. “We’re home.” Darian spun in confusion.

“Yes.”

“Where is Sam?”

Jace shook his head and rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his eyes.

Darian roared and Jace could hear his own pain echoed in his brother’s voice. Neither of them would ever be the same again. “Why?” Darian asked. “Why did she send us both back? It had to be her will. The tapestry always allows the woman to decide.”

“Because she loved you both.” The tapestry shimmered in the air, but above it the ghostly outline of a woman appeared, as wispy as morning mist.

Both men took a step back. “The sorceress,” Darian whispered. “I heard your voice at Sam’s home.”

“Yes.” The woman was beautiful and ageless, more mirage than reality. “The tapestry is done with this generation. The magic has been used too much, but there was such need that I allowed it.”

“Why? Why did you allow it if you knew Sam wouldn’t stay?” Jace demanded.

“Jace,” Darian warned. He knew it wasn’t smart to disrespect a powerful sorceress, but Jace didn’t care.

“It is always the woman’s choice,” the sorceress reminded them. Then she smiled. “Live long in happiness. May you enjoy your sons and daughters.” She faded slowly and the tapestry faded with her.

It was done.

“What did she mean by that?” Jace demanded. “Without Sam there will be no children. I will have no other.”

He sat on the ground and stared out over the lake, oblivious to the beauty around him. It all seemed so peaceful, so normal, so very ordinary. This was his home and he loved it, but not even the mountains could fill the empty hole in his soul.

Darian lowered himself to the ground beside Jace. “I would have stayed with her. I don’t understand why she sent us both back alone.”

“I didn’t.” The familiar female voice had both men stumbling to their feet. Just beyond them, Sam stood amid the wildflowers, her hair windblown, her plain, white T-shirt dirty and torn.

“Sam.” Darian whispered her name as he ran to her. “Sam,” he yelled as he lifted her into his arms and twirled her around until she was breathlessly demanding he put her down. He quickly set her back on her feet. “I’m so sorry,” Darian began. “I know this wasn’t what you wanted.”

“Wasn’t it?” she countered. Sam looked toward him and Jace wanted so badly to reach for her but didn’t dare. She hadn’t wanted this. But his heart rejoiced that she was here. He would make her love him. Love them.

This was what the sorceress had meant about enjoying their children. She’d known Sam was here with them.

Jace frowned. If the sorceress knew about Sam then she must have known Sam wanted to remain in her own world. “Why are you here?” he demanded.

Sam swallowed hard, wondering if she’d made a huge mistake. Darian seemed happy to see her. Or maybe he was happy because he was home. Jace, on the other hand, seemed more unapproachable than ever.

“You didn’t want to be here,” Jace reminded her.

“I was afraid.” She owed them the truth. “Plus, I got so used to doing what needed to be done and forgot to ask myself what it was I truly wanted of life until Tim pointed it out to me.”

Feeling totally wrung out and exhausted, Sam lowered herself to the ground. The air was so different here, fresh and slightly cool, not dry like back in Texas. Oh God, this was her home now. There was no going back. Her breathing quickened and both men were beside her in an instant.

“Breathe slowly, Sam,” Jace instructed. Like she wasn’t already trying to do that. She kept her gaze locked on his and the calm she saw there helped drive back the terror that threatened to swamp her.

When her heart dropped from a gallop to a trot and she thought she could talk without passing out, she continued. “Home was familiar, what I’d always done, what I was expected to do, you know?”

“I understand.” And she knew Jace did understand. He knew what it was like to do what needed to be done, to fulfill everyone else’s expectations.

“I started thinking about what I really want.”

“And what do you want, Sam?” Darian asked.

“I want a family, someone to love, someone who needs me. I love to plant and watch crops grow. I love to harvest and plan for the next season.”

“You can do that here,” Darian pointed out.

“I know.” She rubbed at a spot of dirt on the knees of her jeans. “But do I have the first part?” That was what scared her the most now that she’d made the leap of faith and left her home and everything she knew behind her.

The tapestry had forced her to choose fast—almost too fast. But she’d done the best she could, made the best choice possible for everyone, but especially for herself.

Jace rolled to his feet, towering over her. He was a big man. His bare torso gleamed and his shoulders and torso blocked her view of the sun. Muscles rippled in his arms and torso as he ripped his sword from his scabbard. The razor-sharp blade caught and reflected the sunlight. He flipped it around in a motion so fast she gasped. But he caught the flat of the blade and the hilt with both hands.

His expression was totally unreadable as he went down on one knee before her and held the sword out in front of him. “You are the heart that beats in this chest and in this home and if you would take me for husband I will give you my love, loyalty and devotion for as long as I live. With me, you gain the love, loyalty and devotion of my brother as well, who will be lover to you, and would also be your husband should I die before you. In return, I ask for your love, loyalty and devotion and any children that the gods see fit to gift us with.”

Sam’s heart skipped a beat. She recognized the words. It was the same pledge Darian had given her when she’d first arrived in his world. God, was that only three days ago? It seemed like a lifetime. And in some ways it was. The life that she knew was gone and a new one about to begin.

Darian knelt beside his brother and offered the same pledge again.

Sam swallowed back tears. “How can I choose? I love you both.” She whispered the words, her emotions raw and tender, but she wouldn’t hold back, not any longer. She was determined not to be a coward.

“You love me?” Jace asked. “Us?”

She nodded and gave him a watery grin as tears seeped from the corners of her eyes. “Yes.”

Jace tossed aside his sword and pulled her into his arms. “I love you, Sam. No man could love you more,” he paused, “save for Darian.” He kissed her temple and his words were fierce. “You will not regret this. I promise you. We will make you happy.”

She held him as tightly as she could, sensing he needed the embrace as much as she did. Then she lifted one arm and looked at Darian. He was smiling as he joined them. The three of them sat in the beautiful field with the water lapping at the shoreline while the flowers perfumed the air. The moment was perfect.

Darian cupped the back of her head and drew her close for a kiss. She let herself sink into it. Nothing else mattered but being with him and with Jace.

Before the kiss could get too intense, Jace tugged her away from Darian. “My turn.” Then Jace was kissing her, his tongue tangling with hers, their breath mingling.

“We should get back to Hunter Keep. Mother will be worried.” Darian stood and held out his hand to Sam.

Their mother. She’d forgotten all about their mother. She took Darian’s hand and let him pull her upright. Jace rose, grabbed his sword and sheathed it.

“But how will I chose?” That was the biggest worry she had about this entire situation. “I can’t pick one.”

Jace rubbed his thumb over her cheek. “You can and you will. It is a mere formality,” he reminded her. “What we do in the bedroom is our business. We will share equally.”

“Equally. I like that.”

“I think she should marry you.” Darian pointed at his brother. “You’re the eldest. Plus, I think you need the binding agreement more than I do. I am content as long as I have Sam’s love.” He grinned. “And of course hot sex.”

Sam knew Darian was right and loved him even more for the way he put his brother’s needs above his own.

Jace frowned at his brother and then turned to her. “What is your choice?”

“I choose you both, but I think Darian is right. I’ll marry you.”

Jace’s lips curved into a smile and he suddenly looked like a younger version of himself. It was as though the years and responsibilities had melted away. Sam knew she’d made the right choice.

He lifted her in his arms and began to walk toward Hunter Keep. Darian laughed and fell into step beside them. “Let me know when you grow tired and I will carry Sam for a while.” Sam could hear the teasing note in Darian’s voice and frowned at him over Jace’s shoulder.

“Never. I shall never tire of carrying Sam.” The truth of that struck her like a bolt of lightning. Sam knew both men would love her, now and always.

“Take me home.” She reached out a hand to Darian and linked fingers with them as the three of them made their way home.

Tim snapped several pictures on his phone and prayed they’d come out. Mary would never believe him otherwise. The wind swirled and grew stronger until it became difficult for him to stand upright. He tucked the phone in his pocket and linked his arm around the porch railing to keep from being swept away by the powerful force of the wind.

Sam’s voice reached him over the growing din. “Tim. Check the papers on my desk. And take care of Arrow.”

He tried to answer, but his voice was swallowed by a powerful gust. The world seemed to explode and he was knocked on his ass. When he sat up, choking on dust, the three of them were gone and so was the tapestry that had appeared out of nowhere.

He’d seen the whole damn thing with his own two eyes and still couldn’t quite believe what had happened. It was all true, everything Sam and the two boys had told him.

Sam was gone. Forever.

Tim climbed to his feet and rubbed his eyes, then spit the taste of dust from his mouth. He’d never see Sam again.

The door banged shut behind him when he entered the empty house. His boots felt heavy on the wood floor and seemed to echo. It was as though the house knew the last Calloway was gone for good.

He knew where the office was, had spent many an hour there with Sam’s father and brother. There was a small pile of papers sitting on the corner of the desk just as she’d said. He lifted them and started reading.

“Sam, what have you done?” She’d given the farm to him and Mary with instructions to do whatever he wanted with it. The only stipulation she made was they weren’t to sell it to George Rawlins. As if he’d give that low-down jackass the time of day.

He plucked his phone out of his pocket and went straight to his pictures. There were two good ones of Sam standing in the rain with Jace and Darian on either side of them. There was no denying the love and concern he saw in both men’s eyes.

Tim tucked his phone away and walked to a family picture sitting on the shelf. He lifted it and rubbed his thumb over the faded images. “Well, Cal, your little girl has grown up into a fine woman. She met a couple of men who will take good care of her.” Felt strange to be saying such a thing. He didn’t know how such a relationship could work, but who was he to judge.

“Sue,” he addressed Sam’s mother. “Your little girl will be just fine.” He set the picture back on the shelf. They were all gone now.

Tim suddenly had a deep need to hold his Mary in his arms. He pocketed the papers and walked through the house, pausing long enough to shut off the coffeepot. He’d deal with the legalities in a few days. It would be easy enough to spin a story about Sam running off to marry one of the Hunter brothers. No one would wonder about her wanting to leave the backbreaking work of farming and her family tragedies behind and start anew.

He shut the door behind him and breathed in the cooler air. A light rain pattered gently onto the ground. It was the perfect kind of rain for the crops. Tim foresaw a good harvest this year.

Plenty of time to figure out what he was going to do with two farms. He would need to talk to Mary about that. He pulled the door shut behind him and trudged to his truck. His heart was heavy. Sam was like a daughter to him and Mary, and they would miss and mourn her. They’d never see her children or know that she was okay.

Arrow appeared out of nowhere and twined around Tim’s feet. He stared down at the rather large feline. “Guess you better come with me, boy.” He lifted the large black cat and carried him to the truck. Arrow quickly made himself at home on the passenger seat. Tim shook his head, knowing the cat would be ruling his barn by this time tomorrow.

He started the truck and stared back at the yard where only moments ago Sam had stood. He’d have to have faith that she was happy and healthy. If the Hunter brothers had anything to do with it, she would be.

“Goodbye, Sam,” he whispered as he drove away.