There had been a general announcement to the people of Sweet Water and the surrounding area; the other guests were by invitation only.
Beth practically bubbled in her excitement as she followed Nell up the stairs. More people would be arriving tomorrow, and every bedroom in the house was in use. Roxie had even had Spencer and Vinton share a room for the night.
“I can’t believe I’m actually here,” Beth gushed as they walked in. “Did you see the driveway? A tunnel of lights and water. Outrageous and so beautiful. Amazing.” She turned around in the room as Nell shut the door, taking in the canopied bed and wide windows. “Wow. They give the hired help really nice rooms.”
“Thanks.” Nell took Beth’s things. She didn’t think that the “hired help” was originally going to get such nice rooms, but she’d never gotten around to asking Ryder whether he’d pulled strings. She’d enjoyed being in his arms last night and the questions hadn’t even come to her. She smiled at the memory.
“That one bag has my hair things in it. Set that on the dresser. I’m assuming you’re going to do it for me.”
“I have to have it done by five.” Nell didn’t even try to get out of it. No point in rocking the boat.
“That’s fine. No one does hair like you.” Beth narrowed her eyes at Nell. “Tell me how much chance I have at snagging Prince Ryder.”
“He’s not a prince.”
“He’s as rich as a prince, and that’s what matters.”
Nell looked away, feeling bad for Ryder. How many girls tonight were saying the exact same thing? It had to be awful to have people only wanting one for one’s money.
“I know,” Beth said grumpily. “You live on a higher plane than the rest of us.”
Nell’s head jerked up. “I wasn’t thinking that.”
“That’s what your face looked like.”
Nell bit her lip. She needed to ask before she ran out of time. “I’ll have a half an hour off tomorrow evening. I was wondering if I could borrow your dress for just that long?”
It galled her to say “your dress” when the dress actually belonged to Nell, but she was really hoping...
“No way. There is absolutely no darn way I’m going to give up one second of time at the ball tomorrow.” She tilted her head. “Unless you want to pay me for it?”
“How much?” For some reason, Nell was almost desperate to mingle on the dance floor and look beautiful, even if it were just for a few minutes.
“One hundred thousand dollars.” Beth smiled, big and fake.
“I’ll have to think about it,” Nell said, biting her tongue. She could be nice. She could.
“That reminds me. You’d better get my dress and the scarf and mask out and hang them up.” Beth set a box down. “There’s the shoes. I’ll need tissues stuffed in the ends of them.”
“Okay.”
“Is there food downstairs? I’m starving.”
“Um. Yes. If you give me a minute to shake this out and hang it up, I’ll come down and help you.”
Beth opened the door. “You can come find me when you’re done. This house is so beautiful. I’m gonna go check things out.” She walked out and closed the door.
Nell dropped to her knees then stretched out face-first on the carpet. She felt like crying, but no tears would come. Which was just as well. Tears were a waste of time, and they didn’t help anything.
There was no point in getting angry, no point in retaliation. Either of those two things would just make Beth complain to Tom, and she’d lose Vinton. She was already losing Ryder, not that he’d ever been hers to begin with. Last night had been beautiful, but it was only a fairy tale. His world. Her world. There was no in-between.
She couldn’t stand to not have Vinton, which is what would happen if she didn’t do what Beth wanted... She shoved the thought aside. She was only going to depress herself if she borrowed trouble like that.
Pushing herself up, she grabbed the garment bag and pulled the dress out. It was as fantastical as she remembered. Shaking it, then smoothing it lovingly, she took it to the closet and hung it up, placing the scarf and mask on the shelf. She took the shoes from the box, silver and sparkling and more exquisite than she remembered, and put them on the floor.
She didn’t want Beth to roam around and get in trouble, but she hadn’t quite gotten herself to the place where she could talk to her without being bitter and resentful after she’d so blithely refused to share the dress that was Nell’s to begin with.
Couldn’t Beth give up thirty minutes so Nell could enjoy it, too? Taking a deep breath, Nell walked to the window and looked out.
Full dark had settled, but the walk was lit, and people were milling around, some with cameras, some like they were admiring the view, and a few striding with purpose. As she looked around, a couple facing each other, deep in conversation, caught her eye.
She didn’t have to look long to know it was Ryder. She had to wait for the woman to turn her head for her to realize it was Michelle. She’d gotten her hair cut in a style very similar to Nell’s. Odd, since Nell’s style wasn’t exactly the latest fashion.
The hair slipped from her mind when Michelle crossed her arms over her chest. Ryder put a hand on her shoulder and seemed to be pleading as he gestured with his other. Michelle shook her head back and forth.
Nell turned from the window. She couldn’t keep watching. The ball that she’d looked forward to six weeks ago could end up being a nightmare. She’d thought she’d been prepared all along for Ryder to choose Michelle. Had known it was going to happen.
But maybe, in her heart, she’d hoped that things could work out differently. Especially after last night. She could still feel his lips on hers, his body pressed close, his arms holding her tight.
She walked across the hall and rapped on Vinton’s door.
“It’s open,” one of them yelled. She stepped in.
They sat on the bed, video controllers in their hands, playing some kind of game with obstacles in it.
They paused it, and both heads turned to her. She walked to Vinton’s side of the bed. “Did you brush your teeth?”
“Yep.”
She leaned down, and he blew on her. “Smells like you only brushed for thirty seconds.”
“Whoa. How can she tell?” Spencer said, his eyes big.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. You get a knack for it.” Nell gave Vinton a flat-lipped look but didn’t hide the twinkle in her eye.
“I wanted to hurry so we could start playing Kanga King.”
“It’s paused. Go brush for fifteen more seconds.” Nell figured he’d probably only brushed for five seconds to begin with.
She raised her brows at Spencer. “Do I need to smell your breath?”
“I’d better put fifteen more seconds in, too.” He slipped off the bed.
Nell’s heart swelled as Vinton came back, running, and jumped into her arms, squeezing her around the neck with his thin, little boy arms. How could she leave him? Even if she hadn’t promised her mother to take care of him, she loved him, loved him with her whole heart and soul, and had to do her best to keep his world stable and nurturing.
“Lights out at ten.” She walked to the door.
“I already have my phone alarm set.” Spencer held his phone up as he got back on the bed.
“Okay, I’ll be checking.” She closed the door softly behind her, a small smile still on her face.
Tomorrow, the tutor was taking the boys to see some of the sights in the area—a school field trip. They’d be home during the ball but had already been given permission to watch all the episodes of their favorite series, which they’d been too busy being outside and running around to watch. Being little boys, they weren’t the slightest bit interested in the ball, although Vinton had asked if he could be a parking attendant. She’d given the classic parenting response—maybe next time.
Nell walked slowly down the stairs, wondering if she even wanted to look for Beth. It wasn’t like Beth didn�
�t land on her feet wherever she went, and Nell didn’t really want to run into Michelle or Ryder.
Halfway down the stairs, she could see through the door off to the right—a sitting room that connected to the ballroom. Beth and Michelle stood just inside. The light in the room was off, but Nell could see their heads bent together. Michelle’s lips moved fast, and Beth nodded, a little grin on her face.
Nell didn’t believe in running. She had always tried to face her problems head-on. It was always the best way to handle things. No ducking. No dodging. Deal with it.
But tonight, she just couldn’t handle one more thing. She whirled on the step and ran back up and sprinted to her room, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. Enough was enough. Tomorrow was another day.
She’d taken her shower and checked on the boys and was about to get into her side of the bed when Beth burst in.
“Hey, sis. You going to bed already?”
“Yes. It’s late, and I’m tired.”
“There’s a theater room and wet bar in the basement. Some of the girls that came are going to get together and hang out down there. I’m sure you could come if you wanted. You were invited, right?”
“No.” She’d been told that her first duty tomorrow was to clean up the basement. That was probably why.
“Oh.” Beth pursed her lip and tapped her chin in a fake, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that” look.
Nell didn’t even care. “Have fun.”
“Oh, Nell.” Beth walked over and stood on Nell’s side of the room. “Did you hang up my dress?”
“Yes,” Nell said without opening her eyes.
“And put my scarf and mask where?”
“In the closet, along with the shoes.” Nell’s shoes.
“Great. You know, I was thinking, maybe it was a little selfish of me to not share the dress.”
Nell’s eyes shot open, but there wasn’t a trace of trickery on her sister’s face.
“You can wear it for thirty minutes on your break. Not a second longer.” Beth gave a little smile then flounced out before Nell could get over her shock enough to thank her.
Chapter 18
The next day was a blur of activity. By the time Nell got the basement cleaned up, there was food to make and a delivery of chairs to set up. The string orchestra that had been hired needed some things changed around, and there was cleaning up to do after that.
She did get about fifteen minutes shortly after one to walk out and see that her Blue Girl rose was blooming in profusion. All the plants that they’d potted almost two months ago were lining the walks in a carefully coordinated, riotous display of color. The fountain was on and working, and all the thousands of lights that would turn the house and grounds into a close approximation of a fairy tale were carefully strung.
Maybe because of how hard she’d worked to set everything up, Nell gave an inward groan at the thought of the many days’ worth of work it would take to take everything back down.
She hadn’t talked to Tom, though. He’d only given her permission to work though the ball. Vinton and she might be back to their old life next week. Although if she didn’t get ahold of him, she would be staying and working.
All morning, she watched for Ryder. She assumed he’d want to avoid all the attention, although maybe he thought it would be good for business. There were certainly a bunch of people with cameras and official-looking badges walking around.
None of them gave her a second glance in her black-and-white maid uniform. Which suited her just fine. The uniform made her fade into the woodwork, but it also emphasized the differences between her and Ryder.
She finally saw him just before two in the afternoon. It looked like Will and he were just getting in from working outside. She’d known there would still be cows to feed, fence and water to check, and other ranch work that needed to be done, but she hadn’t thought Ryder would be working.
She’d been carrying fresh arrangements of flowers and setting them in their designated spots, and only paused for a moment when she saw him striding up the walk. He was looking around, maybe for her? But Michelle came from the direction of the big fountain and her Blue Girl rosebush.
Michelle spoke with him for a couple of minutes. He shook his head. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away.
Nell turned back to her flowers.
“There you are.” Roxie hurried out of the dining room and into the grand front hall where Nell had set her arrangement down. “Everyone that is working the ball tonight gets off from three to five.”
“Yes, I heard.”
Roxie had already told her yesterday, but she seemed more frazzled than Nell had ever seen her.
She put a hand on Roxie’s arm. “Everything looks amazing. I know tonight is going to be a phenomenal success.”
“It needs to be.” There was no mistaking the desperation in her eyes.
Nell tilted her head and raised her brows.
Roxie’s knuckles whitened as she held her iPad with all the coordinating information on it.
Nell wanted to ease her fear, but she wasn’t sure what it was. “Are you afraid Ryder isn’t going to choose Michelle? I’ve seen them together, talking, several times.”
It had hurt her heart, but it’s what needed to happen.
Roxie took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly.
Suddenly a thought occurred to Nell. “What happens to the business and money and everything if Ryder ends up not getting married?”
Panic entered Roxie’s eyes, stronger than before. “We can’t even think that Ryder might not get married. It can’t be an option.”
“Why?”
“Because if tonight is not a success, I have to marry the man who chooses me...at an auction.”
Nell laughed. She couldn’t help it.
“I’m serious.”
Nell’s eyes widened. “An auction?”
Roxie nodded.
“I hope you don’t take this wrong, but your great-uncle must be the oddest person ever.” Nell knew Roxie well enough that she was certain she wouldn’t take it wrong. But she needed to say something to hide the sinking of her own heart. She hadn’t even realized that she’d been maybe hoping that Ryder would back out, refuse to choose, or call the whole thing off. But it made sense now why Roxie was pushing so hard for everything to be perfect. She had a lot riding on it.
As far as Nell knew, Roxie not only didn’t have a desire to get married, she was completely against it.
Roxie’s fingers were white-knuckled again. “He had a wacky sense of humor.”
“I’ll say.”
“I’ve got to go. Don’t forget to take a break this afternoon.”
“I won’t.”
Roxie walked off.
Nell finished carrying the flowers. By that time, most of the activity had settled, other than the press people milling around. The decorations were in place, and the food was well in hand.
It was easy to see the masked ball was going to be magical.
Nell went upstairs with a wishful smile on her face.
RYDER WAS SICK OF TRYING to keep the frustration he felt from showing on his face. He and some other hands had been working on rounding up cattle and fixing the fence where they got out all morning. That wasn’t bad. But being dragged by Michelle around the house and grounds had him clenching his teeth together. Especially when he’d wanted to talk to Nell. He’d spoken with his lawyer who had talked to her stepfather, and he’d wanted to share what he’d learned with Nell.
He should have bought her a phone.
“You definitely don’t want to stand over here. These lights will make your face look washed out, and the cameras will pick up on that.” Michelle was still going on. He’d tuned her out for the most part.
He interrupted her. “I think we’d better separate. We don’t want anyone getting any ideas about us.”
She gave him a coy look. “You’ve never actually said that you’re going to pick me.”
“The will specifically says that I can’t choose until the ball.” He honestly wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He’d needed to talk to Nell. She was probably in her room getting ready. He knew she had shoes, and Preacher had said that a couple that she’d babysat a lot for had bought her a dress. She was coming, he was sure she was. He just wanted to let her know what had changed.
He’d never gone to her room. It just didn’t seem right. After last night, he really didn’t trust himself in her room. But time was flying by, and he needed to speak with her.
“I just remembered something I have to do.” He disentangled his arm from Michelle’s grip.
“But...”
He strode away. Michelle would be upset with him, but it didn’t matter. She would land on her feet. She always had.
He took the stairs two at a time and rapped on Nell’s door.
There was rustling and a thump before she opened the door.
“Hey,” he said, suddenly feeling a little tongue-tied.
She wore soft pants and a pink t-shirt. Her feet were small and bare. Her hair was ruffled, and her face looked like she’d been lying down.
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t look disappointed to see him.
“Can I come in? Just for a minute.” He looked up and down the hall, not wanting to get caught standing at her door.
“Sure.” She stepped back. “Beth is sharing a room with me. She was downstairs getting a facial, and you’ll need to hurry. I was expecting her back twenty minutes ago.”
He stepped in slowly.
She closed the door behind him and leaned against it. He turned to look at her. Soft and pretty, smiling as always.
His heart pounded slow and heavy in his chest, and his fingers ached to reach out and hold her.
He tried to speak, but his mouth was dry. He swallowed, his throat tight. Anticipation and excitement rose like fireworks in his chest.
“I think we can have it all,” he said, hoping with his whole heart, mind, and soul that’s what she wanted too.
Cowboys Don't Believe in Fairy Tales Page 15
