“What do you mean?”
“My lawyer was able to get ahold of your dad.”
Nell’s eyes brightened. “And?”
“Apparently he really wants to be with this woman who’s moving to Oklahoma, but she isn’t exactly the nurturing kind. She doesn’t want Vinton to live with them.”
Nell gasped.
“Your dad is willing to give you...us...custody.”
Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped. It opened and closed several times, and no sound came out.
Ryder wasn’t sure what that meant.
He thought he’d just given her good news, but she didn’t seem overly happy.
“I feel bad for Vinton. His dad doesn’t want him.”
He hated seeing her sad. “If we get custody, we...could adopt.”
“We?” Awareness swept over her face. “Us? You and me?”
“All of the above.”
“Oh... Wow.” She looked like she was having trouble breathing.
“If that’s okay with you. That was the last obstacle between us. Everything working out is not a sure thing. These things never are, but we could take the chance tonight. No matter what happens, I need you to stick with me.” He didn’t add that it was the only way for him to get the inheritance. She already knew it.
“Your lawyer thinks it’s a safe bet?”
“Unless your dad changes his mind. But we can have it done pretty fast.” Money had a tendency to grease these things. Nell wouldn’t know that.
“We’d let Dad visit.”
“Of course. But I think Vinton likes me okay. Maybe he’d start to think of us as his real parents.”
“I can’t believe it’s going to work out.” She put her hands on her cheeks. “This has gone from an awful day to one of the best days ever.” Her eyes shone up at him, and she smiled the smile that made him feel like the whole world was an amazing place, full of potential and possibilities and he could access them all.
“So, when I choose you tonight, you’ll say yes?”
Her smile got even bigger. “Yes.”
“I’d better go. I’ll see you this evening.” And the last thing he saw was her glowing, trusting face. Which made what happened later so much worse.
Chapter 19
At five o’clock, Nell was back in her maid’s outfit and filling trays to carry among the guests. Her mask made her face itchy and wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the one that went with her dress, but everyone had to wear them, so she tried to ignore the discomfort.
The decorations were just as magical as she thought they were going to be. Roxie could be proud of her efforts. The outside, especially, was beautifully done. Roxie’s insistence that she do it all herself had been the right one. Nell was proud to have had a hand in it.
As people began to arrive, Nell had to remind herself to remember to continue to serve. She wanted to just stop and stare at all the beautiful people and the amazing clothes they wore. Especially the women. She finally realized that a woman wearing a deep midnight blue fitted gown was actually Michelle.
Roxie looked like royalty in a deep purple gown with red trim.
Nell didn’t recognize many other people. Most of the folks she knew in Sweet Water were staying home. Something like this was a curiosity, but it was also out of most peoples’ price range. Just the cost of Nell’s dress was more money than she’d ever spent in her lifetime, and it wasn’t nearly as fancy as most of the dresses she saw.
Finally, she saw her dress. Beth looked amazing in it. The gauzy confection shimmered when she moved and sparkled in the lights. The shoes somehow picked up the deep pink undertones and reflected them back. No doubt about it, Beth was breathtaking.
Nell could hardly wait until her break. She tried to temper her excitement, though. It wouldn’t completely shock her to have Beth change her mind about sharing the dress. It wouldn’t matter, though. Beth could keep the dress. Nell was getting everything she wanted, including the man she...
Her hands stilled as she set the empty, long-stemmed glasses off her tray onto the counter in the kitchen. Someone was busy washing them, but Nell didn’t listen as the girls working chattered together.
Did she love Ryder?
She knew when he chose her tonight, it was with the assumption that she’d marry him. He hadn’t asked and hadn’t said, but that’s what had to happen for him to fulfil the stipulations in the will.
She thought clear back to him stopping along the interstate, dressed in a suit and tie and changing her tire anyway. How kind he was to Vinton. How he stayed up until two a.m. helping her make baked goods for the church bazaar. The touch of his hand. The hardness and comfort of his body. The glint of his eye, and the smile that had been coming more and more easily to his lips.
His kiss. She touched her fingers to her lips, like she could still feel the firm softness of his on hers. She could get lost in thoughts of his kiss.
But she shook herself.
She’d never seen him in his role of business owner and manager. It wasn’t hard to picture him in a suit, standing in a boardroom in downtown Manhattan, giving orders and solving problems, the blue of the sky behind him in the floor-to-ceiling windows. She wasn’t sure where she fit into that picture, but she was sure that he would do his best to see that she and Vinton were with him.
So did she love him?
The thought of him made her smile. The thought of leaving her ranch in North Dakota and moving to Manhattan only made her a little sad. And thinking about being together with Vinton and Ryder made her happier than she’d ever been before.
She set the last glass down, knowing she had a big, goofy grin on her face but not even caring.
Briefly she wondered what Beth and Brit would do when their dad moved, but she didn’t want to think about that. He was surely selling the ranch like he’d told Beth he was going to do, and that pulled at her heart and made her chest cold.
So, she held the idea that she was in love with Ryder close to her chest and carried a full tray of new glasses, walking on tired feet that she didn’t feel out to serve the guests for another hour until it was time for her to change.
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, DELICIOUS food, and the company of some of the most famous business people in the world.
This was the kind of thing, maybe on a bigger scale, that he did all the time in New York. Funny, but Ryder hadn’t thought about his business in the city all day. He’d been worried about the cows getting out, talking to his lawyer about Vinton, and trying to avoid Michelle while looking for Nell.
“Great party. Someone spent a lot of time planning and arranging the decorations.” A deep voice spoke at his side.
He turned. He was wearing a mask, and most people didn’t recognize him.
A tall man with a patch over one eye and a stunningly beautiful, vaguely familiar woman on his arm stood with his hand out. A hand that was missing two fingers.
Ryder took it, shaking it and looking into the man’s deep blue eye. This had to be Ford Hanson. He knew him from their teenaged years and had heard of the accident that took his leg, fingers, and eye. Preacher had told him he’d married a supermodel, which had to be why the tall woman beside him looked so familiar. He’d seen her on magazine covers at checkout stands.
“You must be Ford Hanson.”
“I am. This is my wife, Morgan.”
Even with the mask on, even obviously pregnant, Morgan was gorgeous. Ryder took her slender fingers in his. Her smile was genuine. There was no mistaking the loving look she gave her husband before she settled her eyes on Ryder. “It’s good to meet you. Sweet Water Ranch has been a bit of a mystery and has given a lot of prosperity to ranches around the area.”
Ryder knew of the money his uncle had willed to various ranchers, but he wasn’t involved in the disbursement. He wondered if Ford and Morgan had been recipients. He decided not, since Preacher had mentioned Ford’s brilliance and his business success long before his uncle died.
“It was kind of y
ou to invite the folks around here. We don’t usually get to see this kind of opulence and sophistication.” Ford’s one eye held a twinkle.
“I would say that’s probably a good thing. It’s funny, but I had just decided that I would rather be out in the field than in here tonight. I think I might be growing up.” He and Ford exchanged smiles. They talked for a while about the weather and ranching and the price of beef. Things he hadn’t known anything about two months ago, and he now found them more interesting than the fate of Chinese tariffs. Which wasn’t to say he didn’t appreciate his knowledge about tariffs. They would affect him here eventually. Just not in the same way.
After they’d talked a lot longer than they should have, they agreed to meet some other time, and Ryder moved away, checking his watch.
Someone touched his elbow, and he turned hope-filled eyes to his right. It was Roxie.
“You don’t have to look so disappointed.”
“I’m not disappointed.”
“Now you’re lying.”
“I’m happy to be talking to you, Roxie. That’s the truth.”
Her lifted brow said she didn’t quite believe him, but she just smiled.
“You’ve outdone yourself. This is amazing. Everyone is saying so.”
“Now you need to uphold your end of the bargain.”
He tried to keep his face straight. “Oh, I intend to.”
“You look like you’re up to no good. Like you looked when you were ten, slipped past our limo driver, and got on the bus to go to the public school.” She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “You’d better not let me down.”
“If I do, I think you’d look really good on the auction block wearing that dress.”
“Uncle Edwards was a sexist jerk.”
“He was a nice old man, and you always had fun when we came here.”
“That’s true. I did. Then I grew up and realized that life sucked.”
He’d been standing shoulder to shoulder with her, speaking as they looked out over the crowd, but at that comment, he turned to face her, grabbing her shoulders. “What’s wrong? That comment isn’t like you.”
If he didn’t know her better, didn’t know that she had a backbone stronger than tempered steel, he’d say those were tears in her eyes. But it must be her mask.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Nothing. Everything. I feel trapped, desperate, and desperately unhappy, but I don’t even know what’s wrong. I just...I just want to make sure that you get married tonight, so I don’t end up being the main course at some stupid hick show auction.”
“I’m sorry.” He pulled her close. He never hugged his cool, standoffish sister. But he did so now. “I had no idea you were so worried about that. Don’t worry. I have everything worked out. I’ve even talked to the girl I’m going to choose. She’s agreed, and her word is better than the gold standard. She won’t stiff me.”
To his surprise, his sister’s stiff body didn’t relax but seemed to draw in even more tension. She lifted her head. “Don’t you dare tell anyone this, but the idea of being sold at auction isn’t that repugnant.”
He snorted, thinking she was joking.
“Not that I want to marry a stranger, but it would take all the stress and strain out of the equation. The man would obviously want me if he were willing to pay for me. It’s even a little exciting and would sure beat the boring monotony that my life has become.” She sighed. He’d figured out by now that she was being dead serious. “You have no idea how hard it is to watch other people fall in love and be happy and know that my dreams of a forever love are shattered in pieces around me.”
He was stunned. He’d never thought, not for one second, that Roxie felt like this. She was always so controlled and unaffected.
“Why did you throw yourself into this party then? If you don’t care whether I find someone or not, or if you actually prefer that I don’t?”
“Because I might feel that way, but I’m still lucid enough to know that I can’t act on my feelings!” she exclaimed. She sucked in a deep breath, her chest expanding. As she did so, her face developed a calm façade. “If you ever breathe a word of this, I will deny it to my dying day.”
“Your secret’s safe with me, sis.”
She gave him a look like she didn’t quite believe him. “I know how to kill a man without waking him up.”
“You act tough, and you look tough, too. But I know you’re a cream puff under all that fearsome glowering.”
“I’m going to take my fearsome glowering to someone who appreciates it. You, brother dear, need to dance with some of these ladies.”
He did what Roxie suggested and danced with women he didn’t know. Maybe he did know them, but it was nice to not know who they were. After several hours, he was tired of simpering and banal chatter. He was frustrated, too, because he couldn’t figure out where Nell was. He’d never thought to ask what color her dress was. He’d seen several pairs of shoes that were silver, but he couldn’t remember exactly what the shoes he’d given her had looked like. They were silver, but did they have buckles that clasped around the ankle? Or over the foot. Was the toe pointed or square? He couldn’t remember.
Plus, he couldn’t be rude to the ladies he was dancing with and stare at other women while he turned them around the dance floor.
At five ’til eleven, he’d had enough. He was supposed to announce his choice at eleven forty-five. It would have been more dramatic to do it at midnight, but the ball officially ended at midnight, and they needed time to dance together.
He couldn’t wait to have Nell in his arms.
Chapter 20
Nell slipped into her dress. The cool satin felt good against her skin. Much better than the scratchy maid’s uniform. It fell around her in shimmering waves, making her feel like a real princess. She twirled, even though she was in a hurry, because she’d always dreamed of having a dress that fanned out when she spun, and this one did, full and waving and beautiful. Not many things were as perfect as a dream, but this dress exceeded any dream she’d ever had.
She put the mask on, then picked her scarf up and wrapped it around her head, leaving her bangs out but covering her exposed back, neck, and shoulders where the skin, brown from being out in the sun, contrasted with the ghost white skin that always lay under her shirt, protected from the sun, but was exposed by the dress tonight.
Beth had put her maid outfit on and left. Nell had assumed she’d just wait in the room upstairs, but at the last minute, the room she’d been staying in had been turned into a changing room, since the rooms in the basement were full to overflowing. Nell had ended up changing in the pantry.
She bent down, picking up the shoes. They’d fit her perfectly the first and only time she’d tried them on. But Beth’s feet were bigger than hers, and they were too big for Beth. But they looked like the perfect size for her. Biting her lip, she pulled out the tissues Beth had stuffed into the toes to keep the shoes from falling off and slipped the silver dress shoes on her feet.
They fit perfectly. Light as a cloud and soft as cotton.
Lastly, she grabbed the gloves. Beth had pulled them off so they were inside out. Nell stuck her hand in the right glove and pulled it right side out. A red stain marred the perfect white of the wrist.
She sighed and bit her lip. Her tanned arms looked awful with the soft pink of the dress. Elaine had said she needed the gloves. Otherwise she should have picked a bolder color. But she didn’t want to wear the gloves when they were stained.
She didn’t want to waste any more time, either. So she straightened the other glove and put them both on. A little punch stain wasn’t going to ruin her enjoyment of the most magical night of her life. It certainly didn’t dim her eagerness to go to Ryder, wherever he was.
Descending the large staircase slowly, she soaked in the glittering lights, the cheerful yet mysterious atmosphere, the amazing smells, music, and swirling colors.
No one noticed her particularly as she walked through the
crowd. Grateful for the mask and scarf that kept her identity secret, she glided along, looking for Ryder. All of these other things were just temporary enjoyments, but Ryder was a rock. He would stand by her forever.
But she couldn’t find him. Not wanting to be obvious about searching for him, she meandered outside and stood by the fountain where she could see her Blue Girl rosebush, heavy with blooms. She couldn’t look at it without her heart warming.
Turning slowly, she searched the area. A man stood on one of the paths, just at the edge of the light. He shoved his hands in his dress pants’ pockets and turned his head. She’d recognize that profile anywhere.
Trying to walk sedately, loving the feeling of floating in her gown and shoes, she came within three feet of him and stopped. Breathless.
“Ryder?”
His head snapped up. He closed the distance between them in two long strides. “Where have you been?” He took her in his arms, pulling her close. “I’ve looked everywhere for you tonight. These crazy masks make it tough.”
“I think that’s the point,” she said with curved lips.
He looked down into her eyes for a moment. “I want to kiss you, but maybe that’s not a good idea at the moment. Dance with me instead,” he whispered.
“I don’t know how.”
“It doesn’t matter as long as your arms are around me and you’re holding me tight.”
They held each other and swayed with the music as the string quartet played something Nell had never heard before. The tight harmonies and haunting melody stirred her soul and made the fairy tale seem real.
They were quiet for a while, content just to let the enchanted evening pull them in, flowing around them and making anything seem possible—even a relationship with a New York billionaire and a North Dakota farm girl. If they could happen, anything could happen.
The music finally floated away on the breeze, and the trickle of water was the only background for the murmur of voices.
“I think it’s too cold out here for everyone else,” Ryder murmured.
Cowboys Don't Believe in Fairy Tales Page 16
