by Kit Morgan
“‘Tis obvious they love her. Still …”
“Should we do something about them?”
He cocked his head and smiled. “Are ye suggesting we give Rufi and C.J. a helping hand, Flower?”
She looked at the pair behind them. Rufi was looking at the sky while C.J. was looking at Rufi. Yes, he was definitely smitten. “How else will he have a fighting chance? You saw the way she was looking at Melvale the first night.”
“Everyone was looking at him.” He rolled his eyes. “The irritating dandy.”
“Hush. You like him and you know it.”
“Och, he’s handy in a pinch, but dinna tell him I said so.”
“Cyrus told me C.J.’s grandfather sent C.J. here specifically to meet Rufi.”
“Aye, he told me the same. Thought the lad might have guessed it by now. But even if he has, she’s not getting with the plan. Too much interference and he’s likely to give up and go home.”
“Well, that will not do.” She began to swing their hands back and forth.
He noticed and smiled. “What are ye thinking, Flower?”
“That sometimes a couple needs a little help. Personally, I think they are a good match. She will be good for him.”
He stopped and turned to her. “As ye’re good for me?”
She gazed up at her husband and smiled. “Yes.”
He bent down, his face inches from hers. “Then let’s give them something to stir their hearts in the right direction, eh?”
Her smile broadened, right before he kissed her.
C.J. froze in his tracks and gawked at the MacDonalds atop a small rise. Not that he hadn’t seen people kissing before, but when those two kissed, something was … different. “Stop.”
Rufi did and also stared, looked away, then gawked some more as the couple deepened their kiss. “Oh my …” They were a good twenty yards away, yet still close enough that if they kept walking, they’d break up a tender moment. Neither wanted to do that.
C.J. smiled. “We’ll give them a minute.” He half-turned away and sighed.
“What’s the matter? Have you never seen anyone kiss before?”
His eyes darted to her lips. He licked his own and forced his gaze to the ground. “I thought I had.”
“What?”
“Oh, Rufi.” He waved his arm in a wide arc. “We’re out on the prairie at sunset surrounded by beautiful flowers, mountains and …” He looked right at her and swallowed hard. “Other beautiful things.”
She stared at him as her lips parted. “Like what?”
Oh Lord, did she have to ask? But he was no coward. “Like you.”
She gasped and backed up a step.
He licked his lips again and stared once more at the ground. “If I wasn’t such a gentleman I’d kiss you right now, Miss Cucinotta.”
She took a step forward. “You would?”
He looked at her again. “Of course. You’re so beautiful. What man wouldn’t kiss you in a setting like this?”
She crossed her arms. “You.”
That rankled. But it was the truth. “As I said before, if I wasn’t a gentleman, I would.”
“Oh.” She let her arms fall to her sides. “I see.”
He could see the pink rising in her cheeks. She couldn’t argue with that and she knew it. He glanced at the other couple … but they were no longer there. “Huh. Probably headed off again while we were talking. Let’s go.”
They climbed to where the MacDonalds had shared their kiss and looked around. “I don’t see them anywhere,” Rufi said.
C.J. studied the landscape. “Me neither. Maybe they’re on the other side of the next rise.”
“Maybe,” she agreed and faced him. “Would you really kiss me?”
His whole chest tightened. Did she want him to? His eyes darted to her perfectly formed lips. “Yes. But …”
She looked into his eyes as if searching for something. “Do you really think I’m beautiful?”
His mouth dropped open. “Is that a trick question?”
“I am serious,” she said, her cheeks bright red.
A tiny spark of alarm went off. Did the woman not know she was one of the most beautiful creatures that walked the earth? “Rufi,” he said gently. “You’re incomparable.”
She continued to stare into his eyes. “What does that mean?”
He gazed back, searching hers. “It means no one compares to you.”
“Not even my sister Bella?”
He shook his head. “Not even her.”
Her eyes rounded to saucers. “R-really?”
He took a step closer. “Really.”
She turned away and gazed at the rolling prairie. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
She looked at him again. “All my life I’ve been compared to Bella. I always fall short. And many tell me so.”
He took her hands in his without thinking. “Don’t ever think that. And don’t compare yourself with your sister.”
“But I do. I do all the time.” Rufi pulled her hands away and walked off.
C.J. stood there, stunned for a moment, wondering what in blazes just happened?! Then he roused himself and took off after her.
Chapter Twelve
Rufi grumbled as she walked. Great, her secret was out. But increasingly she couldn’t stand to be compared to Bella. All her life, she’d heard how beautiful her older sister was. And though she didn’t think she was bad to look at, she still couldn’t help feeling lesser by comparison. She could walk into a room and get plenty of looks, but once Bella showed up, all eyes would be on her. That was just the way it was.
At least Bella was married. Now that Rufi was of age herself, she could at least hold her own. And Bella wasn’t the man-stealing type – no, she was happy with Calvin. But there were still the constant comparisons by others. They never really voiced it, but they didn’t have to. She’d watch their eyes dart between Bella and herself, before they all settled on Bella. No one ever said Rufi was the prettier one.
Until tonight. Until C.J.
“Rufi!” Aideen called from the dining room. She ran into the lobby and tackled Rufi around the legs, almost knocking her over.
“Aideen, be careful!” Rufi scolded. “Why are you so excited?”
“You’re back! Mrs. MacDonald said she would take me treasure hunting.” The child did a quick survey of the empty lobby. “Where is she?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know where they went.”
“Weren’t they with you?”
“Yes, but …” C.J. entered the hotel, stopped and closed the doors behind him, as if giving her a moment. Not that she minded – she needed one. She turned back to the child. “If you wait here, I’m sure they’ll be along soon.”
“Okay.” Aideen, taking her literally, sat on the floor.
Rufi laughed. “I didn’t mean in the middle of the lobby.”
“Little Aideen takes things right to heart, don’t you, sweetheart?” C.J. said.
Aideen nodded and grinned up at him.
“I’ll wait with you.” He sat next to the child.
“What are you doing?” Rufi asked.
“Just what I said I was doing. Besides, given how we saw them last, I don’t know if the MacDonalds are coming back too quickly. I don’t want her to be disappointed, do you?”
She sighed and shook her head. “No, of course not.” She sat on the other side of Aideen.
The little girl clapped her hands. “I like you two. You do things with me.”
“So does everyone else in town, I’ve noticed,” C.J. commented.
Aideen giggled into her hands.
C.J. leaned back to peek into the dining room. “Where is everyone?”
Aideen shrugged. “I don’t know. Ma and Da are in our rooms.” She looked at Rufi. “I don’t know where your family is. I think some of them left the hotel and the rest are upstairs.”
“That’s all right,” Rufi said. “I don’t need to see them right t
his minute.”
C.J. glanced at her, then smiled at Aideen. “And what about Mr. Melvale? Have you seen him?”
Unable to help it, Rufi looked at Aideen. She hoped the sudden anticipation wasn’t showing on her face. C.J. was obviously attracted to her – he’d said so before they headed back to town. That he didn’t try to kiss her was a little irritating, but it still made her feel good. She smiled at the thought.
“You like Mr. Melvale, don’t you?” Aideen asked.
Rufi gasped. “Well, I … I mean he’s … well, he seems nice. Do you like him?”
“He talks funny,” Aideen said. “But he did play a lot of games with me today.”
“He did?” they both asked.
Aideen nodded. “All kinds of games. He had a bag full of them. He said it was to see how smart I am.”
“What sorts of games?” C.J. asked, his brow creased with curiosity.
Rufi was just as curious. She could picture Melvale on the floor with the little girl and playing. For Heaven’s sake, the child was a master at getting people to do so.
“We played with wooden blocks and circles and shapes. Like puzzles.”
“How many did you solve?” C.J. asked as he looked at Rufi and back.
“All of them. They were easy.”
“Maybe I can get him to play with our children,” Rufi commented.
Aideen’s mouth dropped open. “You have younguns?”
“No, I just take care of everyone else’s.” She suddenly noticed how sour she sounded about it. She’d have to watch that.
“Oh. I was wondering who they belonged to.”
C.J. laughed. “Well, at least you’ll have lots of practice by the time you have your own children.”
Rufi leaned back on her hands with a sigh. “So everyone keeps telling me.”
Aideen crawled onto her lap. “I like you.”
She smiled at the child. “I like you too.”
Aideen looked at C.J. “I like you too. You’re nice.” She glanced at Rufi and back. “Do you like her?”
“I like Miss Cucinotta very much,” he stated.
Rufi briefly met his gaze and her chest warmed. C.J. Branson was a sincere man. That much she could tell.
“And do you like him?” Aideen asked Rufi.
What was the little imp up to? But what did it matter? “Yes, I like Mr. Branson.”
Aideen put a hand on either side of Rufi’s face and leaned toward her. “His name is C. … J.”
C.J. burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Rufi managed as Aideen squeezed her cheeks together, pursing her lips.
C.J. took one look at her face and laughed so hard he fell back onto the floor.
“What’s going on down here?” Calvin asked as he descended the stairs.
“I’m squeezing Rufi’s face!” Aideen said gleefully.
Calvin joined them, took one look and smiled. “Ya never looked better, Rufi,” he said then looked at C.J. “What are ya doin’ on the floor?”
“Aideen,” they said in unison.
Rufi pulled the child’s hands from her face. “That’s enough, you little monkey. Let me up.”
Aideen scrambled off her lap and hopped to her feet. Calvin helped Rufi up as C.J. climbed to his own feet. “Ya two have any luck?” Calvin asked and eyed C.J.
C.J. pulled the feather out of his shirt pocket. “Sure did.”
Calvin’s eyes rounded as he grinned. “Well I’ll be! That’s somethin’!” He took the feather from C.J. and examined it. “Sure is purty. Ya find anything else?”
“Mr. MacDonald got four rabbits,” Rufi said.
“Yeah, I saw him head downstairs with that big bow of his. Judging from the size of them arrows, I’m surprised there’s any rabbit left to bring back.” He looked right at C.J. “Ain’t it time for ya to get back to the men’s camp?”
C.J. stared right back. “I’ll go when I’m good and ready.”
Calvin took Rufi’s arm. “Better get ready, then.” It was an obvious dismissal.
Rufi pulled her arm from his grasp. “Don’t be rude.”
“I ain’t being rude, just tellin’ him he needs to get goin’.”
“Which is rude,” she countered.
Calvin took her by the arm again, more gently. “C’mon upstairs. Bella’s waitin’ for ya.”
Rufi again pulled away, then smiled at C.J. “That was fun.”
He smiled back. “Yes, it was. We’ll have to do it again.”
“Upstairs, Rufi,” Calvin ordered.
“Sei un coglione, Calvino!” Rufi scowled at him and, with a swish of skirt, marched upstairs.
C.J. watched her go, then faced Calvin. He knew he’d be having this confrontation eventually with one or both of the twins. He sighed and waited for the inevitable.
“So how much fun are we talkin’ here?” Calvin asked.
C.J. tried not to bristle. “We searched for the bird. We talked. We had the MacDonalds keeping an eye on us.”
“Is that so?” Calvin came nose-to-nose with him. “And what’ll the MacDonalds say if’n I ask ‘em?”
C.J. looked him up and down. “I don’t like your tone, Mr. Weaver.”
“I don’t care if’n ya ‘like my tone.’ I wanna know what went on!”
“I just told you what went on, and the MacDonalds will confirm that. I was a perfect gentleman the entire time. If you’re looking to give me a thrashing, you’ll need a different excuse.”
Calvin squinted at him. “Really?”
“Really. What do you take me for?”
Calvin rubbed his chin with hand. “Ya better hope the MacDonalds don’t say otherwise. I notice they ain’t here.”
C.J. glanced at the doors and back. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know where they are.”
“Aha!”
C.J. scowled. The brute was obviously looking for a fight, and he was tempted to give him one. He liked the Weavers, but the twins were of wild stock – get them riled and watch out. He wondered how they’d like to deal with someone who actually knew the Marquis of Queensbury’s rules. “Look, they were out there with us, then left after we were done. Just ask Rufi.”
“That ain’t all I’m gonna ask her. Just remember this – she’s off limits, ya hear?”
C.J. stared at him tight-lipped. He didn’t want Rufi to lose respect for him by being a brawler, but he didn’t want to yield respect by letting this hotheaded bumpkin push him around either. “No, I don’t think I do hear. Ask the MacDonalds when they return. They’ll tell you no differently.”
Calvin raised a calloused fist. “Ya better watch it, or I’ll give ya what for.”
C.J. had had enough. “You do, and you’ll pull back a stump.”
Calvin clearly wasn’t sure he wanted to press the issue that far. “Ya heard me,” he finally said, then headed for the stairs.
C.J. watched him disappeared out of sight then sighed in exasperation.
“The man giving ye trouble?”
C.J. almost jumped out of his skin as he turned to find Dallan MacDonald standing behind him. “Where were you when I needed you?”
The big Scot smiled and peered at the empty dining room. “It’s quiet in here.”
“It wasn’t a moment ago.”
“Almost wasn’t, ye mean. Dinna fash yerself, ye handled it well. I’ll speak wi’ him and his brother.”
“You heard all of it?”
“Aye. I was sitting just outside.”
“I see. And you heard him tell me to stay away from Rufi?”
“Aye. And I heard ye no agreeing to.”
C.J. began pacing. “I’m not sure I could if I tried.”
“Dinna try, lad. Yer heart wilna let ye.”
“But what do I do about her family if they don’t want her to be with me?”
“They’ll come around. They’re protective, is all.”
“There’s protective and there’s possessive. I think in this case it’s the latter.”
C.J. stopped pacing and stared at him. “You’re right. But that’s only if Miss Cucinotta – Rufi – is …” He sighed. “… interested in me.”
“Isna she?”
C.J. glared at him. “Have you seen the looks she gives your friend Melvale?”
“Aye, her and everyone else that meets him. And I do mean everyone – some more than she does. He’s like the Pied Piper – he canna help it.” Mr. MacDonald’s eyes flicked to the stairway and back. “So what do ye have in mind?”
His heart skipped a beat. “About Rufi?”
“Of course.” The Scot folded his arms.
C.J. chuckled. Calvin Weaver just told him to stay away from her. Now this man was telling him to pursue her. “What can I do?”
Mr. MacDonald put one long arm around him and crushed him to his side. “Leave that to me, lad.”
“Your husband is impossible!” Rufi flopped into the nearest chair.
“What did he do this time?” Bella said as she laid a sleepy Hugh onto a bed next to his brothers. Alastair and Thatcher were already fast asleep.
“He accused me of … of … being unladylike!”
“He did what?”
Rufi stood up again. “And he’s speaking with Benjamin now.”
Bella’s eyes widened. “Oh, that cannot be good,” she groaned.
“No, it can’t. Those two conspire to ruin my life.”
Bella went to her. “No, that cannot be. Why would they do such a thing?”
“Because they never want me to leave the farm, that’s why.” She fell into the same chair as before. “They want me taking care of all the bambini until I’m an old hag.”
“Oh no, mia dolce sorella. They would do no such thing.”
Whenever Bella referred to her as “my sweet sister,” Rufi knew something was up. “You’ve been talking with him.”
Bella straightened. “We have … had discussions, yes.”
“About me?”
“Some.”
Rufi sighed. This was not good. “Bella, I want to marry.”
“Of course you do. One day.”
“Not one day. Now.” There, she’d done it. Now to brace for the storm that would follow.
“What?!” Bella’s face went red and she looked ready to cry. She went to the door, opened it, ushered Rufi out into the hallway and followed. Not a good sign – it meant she was concerned she would wake up the boys.
