Westmoreland's Way - Brenda Jackson [55]
“That’s a lie!” Fletcher said loudly. “How dare you come here spouting lies!”
“It is not a lie. Pam can verify everything I’ve said with Gadling. You weren’t counting on her finding out the truth until after the two of you were already married, and by then you were hoping she would be so beholden to you that it wouldn’t matter.”
Pam turned to Fletcher, shocked at Dillon’s allegations. “Is that true, Fletcher?”
Fletcher reached out and grabbed her hand. “Pamela, sweetheart. Please understand. I did it to give you all the things you deserve. I had to get you to marry me some way.”
She angrily shook his hand off her and took a step back. The expression on her face was one of total rage. “You deliberately lied to me. Just to get me to marry you?”
“Yes, but—”
“Please leave, Fletcher, and don’t come back.”
He looked at her and then shifted his gaze to Dillon before moving it back to Pam. “Don’t hold out for Westmoreland to marry you, if that’s what you’re thinking about doing,” he snarled. “Remember that article I showed you? The one from the Denver Post. He already has a woman back in Denver, so I’m the best catch around these parts. When you want to renew our relationship, call me.” He then turned and angrily stalked out of the house.
“Pam, we need to talk,” Dillon said once the door had closed behind Fletcher.
She glanced up at him and narrowed her gaze. Placing her arms across her own chest, she said, “No.”
His lips curved into a dimpled yet predatory smile and Pam had the good sense to step back. But she wasn’t quick enough. Dillon reached out and swept her off her feet and into his arms.
“Put me down, Dillon!”
He gazed down into her angry face. “No. You are going to listen to what I have to say.”
He then glanced at the minister’s shocked expression before smiling at Pam’s sisters and Iris. “Excuse us for a moment. We need to discuss something in private.”
Ignoring Pam’s struggles, he headed toward the kitchen and closed the door behind them.
“Put me down, Dillon!”
“Certainly,” he said, sitting down in a chair and keeping her pinned to his lap. He looked down at her. “It seems I need to get a few things straight. First, that picture Fletcher was referring to that was in the Denver Post was about a date I had agreed to months ago. The woman, Belinda Harper, is the sheriff’s sister. I owed him a favor for all the times he’s helped me keep Bane out of jail.”
When she didn’t say anything, just continued to glare at him, he continued. “And the woman who answered my phone Sunday night was my cousin Megan. She stayed over at my place until Monday. In fact, I left her there to catch my flight into Laramie to check on things at Gloversville Bank.”
Now, that got her attention. He watched as she lifted a brow. “She’s your cousin?”
“Yes, I told you I have three female younger cousins. Megan, Gemma and Bailey.”
He paused and added, “I would have gotten back to Gamble sooner, but we had trouble with Bane again, which I had to return to Denver to take care of. And then there was that blasted snowstorm that hit Denver. I got stuck at the airport.”
Pam held his gaze. “You were trying to get back?” she asked as if still uncertain.
“Just as soon as I could. I made you a promise that I intended to keep. And then once I discovered the loan was actually paid off, I tried to call several times.”
She glanced away, to look out of her secret window, before returning her gaze to his. “I didn’t have anything to say to you. I wouldn’t let my sisters answer your call.”
“Because you thought I was involved with someone else.” He’d made a statement rather than asked a question.
“Yes.”
“And why did the thought of