Both women entered with smiles on their faces. Sidney was dressed in a different skirt and blouse, not new, which looked vaguely familiar. He tried not to stare, but days had passed since he’d seen her, and his eyes wouldn’t obey.
“Mr. Knutson, I’d like you to meet my wife, Lily McCutcheon,” John said, leading Lily over to the man. “She owns the most successful dress shop in Rio Wells.”
Lily beamed. “The only dress shop in Rio Wells,” she corrected.
“That too,” John agreed. “Still, you can’t deny it’s very popular with all the women. You’ll have to bring by your wife and daughters. Lily’ll be happy to show them around town. This is her assistant, Miss Sidney Calhoun. She’s sister to Noah here.”
The man smiled and made a small bow. “I’m happy to make your acquaintance, Mrs. McCutcheon and Miss Calhoun. It’s good to know other young women live in town for my daughters to befriend. They weren’t eager to leave Wisconsin. Once the store opens and they get involved in town and meet people, I believe they’ll cheer up. Now that I’ve met you, I have hope for the situation.”
“Store? What kind?” Lily asked. She glanced at John and smiled.
“A general dry goods, as well as items that are popular with the ladies,” he responded. “My wife and daughters help in that department, of course.”
“That’s wonderful. A few days ago, John shared that a new merchant with five daughters had moved to Rio Wells.” She held out her basket. “I’ve brought you two jars of jam I put up last week. For you and your family.”
“That is very kind of you. Thank you. Would you like to go to the house? Deliver the fruits of your labor yourself? I’d be happy to introduce you.”
“Oh no,” Lily responded. “The hour is much too early to show up unannounced.” She shared a secretive glance with Sidney. “But I do hope I’ll have the pleasure of meeting them soon.” She handed him her basket.
“Of course you will,” he replied, darting a glance out the barn door and to the large house beyond the garden. “Soon.” The word was feeble. “Just not quite yet. They’re still adjusting to the heat.”
Dustin frowned. The weather was quite mild this year.
John put his arm around Lily’s back. “When they’re ready then.”
Mr. Knutson nodded and smiled, fine lines fanning out from his eyes. “I will do that, Dr. McCutcheon. And you all must come and visit my new mercantile on Church Street. I don’t know yet when we will open, but I will let you know.” He pulled a watch from his pocket and flipped open the lid. “I must be on my way. I have an appointment at the bank, and I don’t want to be late.” He lifted the basket. “Thank you for your kindness.”
They watched him walk away.
“A new mercantile,” Lily said with pleasure. “I do wonder how Nel and Betty will feel about another store.”
“Competition is good. Keeps prices down,” John said.
Dustin closed the space between him and Sidney. “Can I talk with you for a moment? In private?”
This growing closeness he’d been nursing for the past four days was about to overflow. He needed to speak with her, to see if this crazy notion that he had of them actually being together and building a life was just wishful thinking. He had enough information from Diaz that he just might sway her.
Since Monday night, when a sliver of hope had been given, he’d spent every waking moment thinking about her—whether lying in his bed, stretched out on the cold, hard ground next to a campfire, or riding his horse. Sidney Calhoun had occupied his every thought.
Her glance bounced around the occupants of the barn. “Of course. Where?”
He took a gentle hold of her elbow, guided her outside, and then to the side of the barn, shaded by a thicket of pines. The location was private and they wouldn’t be overheard by the others.
Still happy over her unexpected appearance, he had to tamp down his eagerness. “I’ve missed you.”
She pulled up, her eyes wide. “What did you say?”
“I said, I’ve missed seeing you these last few days. I’ve grown accustomed to you scowling at me and calling me names.”
Dustin realized he wasn’t always the most congenial man, and was often scolded by Madeline and Becky to cheer up and smile, and not be so cynical. But he was working on that. He was serious by nature, which wasn’t all that bad of a quality. Especially when he thought of Billy Burger, who spent almost every living day in the saloon, getting snockered.
Several women had told Dustin he was handsome. He was tall and fit. Surely, Sidney found something in him attractive.
But your name’s McCutcheon. That’s all she needs to scorn you forever.
Sidney glanced away and then back into his face, her eyes troubled. Her fingers fiddled with an ivory button on the front of her blouse. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not that bad.”
“You’re not? That look on your face right now says you’d like to kick me, or do me other bodily harm if I let you. There’s no other reason I can think of for your peevishness except our growing attraction to each other. I’ve felt the spark ever since our meeting in the store in San Antonio. I’ll bet you have too.”
She blinked at his directness. “You big oaf!”
“See what I mean? That’s just another way of saying I like you. Because of our family history and your obvious dislike of anyone or anything McCutcheon, I didn’t want to admit this to myself. Well, now I am.” The hand he had pressed to a nearby tree trunk he let fall to his side. “I like you, Sidney. I like you a lot.”
First, she looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. Judging from her expression, he thought maybe he had. When she whirled and was about to march off, he stopped her by grasping her arm.
“Wait,” he said, and she threw cobalt daggers his way.
As if those will do anything to change my mind.
“It’s understandable, Sidney. You’re scared. Worried how your family will react. But I’m begging you, if you can’t think anything nice about me or the rest of the McCutcheons, don’t think anything at all.”
Impatience and a bit of confusion marked her face. “You’ve bungled the saying. If you can’t say anything—”
“No, not with you. I stick by my rendition. You don’t say much, but I can see the wheels in your head turning so fast, I expect to see steam coming out of your ears. Still, you keep everything all bottled up inside. You may smile and make nice when you’re with us, but I can hear your thoughts railing against the McCutcheon name.”
Frustrated with the situation, he took a few steps away and then paced back. “Those beliefs are what you’ve been taught. You worry over your loyalty to your family, and that mixes you up. And hurts you. I wish, just for a little while, you could forget all that. Like you did Monday night in the alley. You forgot about the past and your father’s anger. You sat at my side and enjoyed the evening. The night was about the best of my life. We could have so much more.”
“That’s not the way of it at all,” she said, but it was. He could tell by how quietly she said the words.
“Judge us for who we are now, not on what you’ve been told over the years.” That was the longest speech he’d ever given, but the look on her face said his words hadn’t made a lick of difference. “If I weren’t a McCutcheon, I know you’d like me well enough. Hell, you’d be in love with me. I can’t fight a wall of lies that keep us apart.”
“I think you’re mad,” she whispered, gazing into his face.
“Do you?”
Knowing she would pull away if he dared to take her in his arms, he stepped forward, and without touching any part of her body, leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
A spark jumped between them. Desire surged.
He sucked in a breath before he leaned back just far enough to search her eyes. “I am mad. Mad for you. I admitted that shocking fact to myself yesterday. You’ve cast your Calhoun spell over me, Sidney, and I never want to be free.”
Chapter Th
irty-Six
Girlish laughter seeped into Sidney’s shocked system as Dustin’s proximity kept muddling her thoughts. She still felt his lips on hers, pressing, claiming, even though he’d drawn back.
She swung around to find three girls standing not five feet away, arm in arm, watching them as if she and Dustin were a super-secret science experiment.
“Oh!” Sidney said in surprise, heat springing into her face.
Dustin took a respectable two steps back. She didn’t dare look at him just yet, fearful he’d see just how much his brief kiss had affected her.
“You must be the Knutson girls,” she said, struggling for something to say.
She hoped she hadn’t scandalized them too much with her and Dustin’s behavior. They were sure to tell their mother. They looked young, perhaps somewhere between thirteen and sixteen. All three were tall and slender with the same honey-colored hair that hung down their backs in ringlets. Each had light blue eyes that were uncannily similar. Their dresses of varying shades of blue were each accented by a lovely crochet lace collar and cuffs. So close in appearance, the girls almost looked like triplets.
“My name is Miss Calhoun, and this is Dustin McCutcheon,” she forced out through her lips. “I’ll bet you’re looking for your father. I believe he went into town.”
They unhooked their arms. “No. We’re not looking for Father,” the tallest and apparent oldest said. Her gaze kept slipping back to Dustin’s face. “My name is Breezy Knutson. This is my sister, Sunny Knutson, and our baby sister, Rainey Knutson. We’re pleased to make your acquaintance.” When she smiled and nodded, her golden curls bobbed up and down.
Dustin barked out a laugh. “Let me guess. The other two sisters are named Stormy and Snowflake.”
His earnest glance caused a warm and wonderful sensation inside. When had she let him under her skin?
Dustin in love with her? Could that amazing thought be true? He’d been on her mind almost constantly since the dinner in the alley. Why was fate so cruel? The only man who set her world spinning was an impossibility.
The smallest girl laughed and then snorted. She playfully batted her eyes. “No. You’re wrong, Mr. McCutcheon. Their names are Wendy and Misti. Misti is nineteen and Wendy, the old maid, is twenty-one. But don’t tell her I said so.”
“How unkind!” The second the words were out, Sidney wished she could call them back. “I didn’t mean to say that. I just wonder how . . . how your parents keep you all straight,” she said, unable to come up with an excuse for her surprised outburst. The young girl had seemed so innocent and sweet. “You look so much alike, and with the similar names, telling you apart must get confusing.”
Breezy didn’t look quite so curious anymore. Her lips puckered. “Sometimes.”
Rainey glanced over her shoulder at their house and then wrinkled her petite, upturned nose, scanning the area. She turned back. “What’re you two doing out here anyway? Alone and unchaperoned,” she whispered conspiratorially. “Mama wouldn’t be pleased if one of us was kissing in secret.”
Sidney felt Dustin straighten beside her.
“Rainey!” Breezy said sternly, once again making her curls bounce. “That is none of your business!” She held out a placating hand. “Please forgive my little sister, Miss Calhoun. Mama said things out here in Texas were different than in Wisconsin. People are wild and uncouth. They don’t hold to the norms of society. Nevertheless, we’re bound to hold fast to our standards of upbringing and what we’ve been taught, even if we will appear different. That was thoughtless of Rainey to point out your immoral behavior.”
Wonderful. My reputation has been ruined in one swoop of Dustin’s lips.
She cut a censoring gaze to Dustin. “We’re beside the barn,” she said tersely, feeling about a foot tall in the midst of her growing agitation. “Not behind it. The gesture was nothing more than a friendly little peck.”
Why she was explaining was beyond her. Except that she had come to love and respect Lily, and didn’t want to bring any shame down on her in any way.
Sidney looked from face to face. Nothing she could say now would change their minds. She was a tainted, loose woman. Probably someone their mother would make them cross the street to avoid.
She let go a breath. “Shall we go back inside with the others? Would you like to meet Lily McCutcheon?”
Sunny, the middle girl who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. “Oh no. We’re not even supposed to be outside without our nanny. We wanted to explore when we heard all the activity out at the barn, and sneaked out. Since Nanny’s still napping and Mother is engrossed with accounting, no one will be the wiser to our investigation. But we better not stay out any longer.”
At that, they smiled before they turned and hurried away.
The girls still have a nanny? Sneaked out? This will be interesting.
As they stepped back inside, Sidney was surprised to find Chaim in the middle of the fray. Lily gazed out a back window, and John was handing Tucker a shovel.
“With all the crates cleared away,” he said, “we’ll level out the dirt footing and begin laying a wooden floor by tomorrow. Things will stay much cleaner if we have a floor.”
Dustin pulled her to a stop and whispered, “Sidney, I’m sorry the girls caught us kissing. I know you’re probably upset about that.”
“We weren’t kissing; you were kissing me. Once. I had nothing to do with it.” She hated to sound so peevish, but a romance with Dustin was bound to end in sorrow. Best to nip the desire in the bud first thing.
He looked at her for a long time, his lips pulling down at the corners. “Whatever you say.” His voice was hard.
She hated hurting his feelings.
“What are you doing for money?” he asked. “Has your father sent the transfer yet?”
“I’m going to the bank this morning on my way to the shop. I’m sure more than I’ll ever need will be waiting.” I hope the money is there. How nice to have some extra again.
“I wish you would have used the money I left at the hotel. The clerk said you haven’t touched a penny. Seriously, sometimes—”
“I’ve made it this far with no help except the cost of the first telegram. I’ll be fine after today. But I do appreciate your concern,” she said quickly in a low voice. Lily was on her way over and would be there in only a moment.
“What if I told you I might have evidence my pa is innocent of all the charges your pa holds against him? Would that change your mind toward me?”
Sidney’s heart slammed against her breastbone. The feel of Dustin’s lips on hers still had her rattled.
“Do you?”
“I’m working on it. I’ve been busy out at the ranch, but tomorrow—”
“Sidney, are you ready to leave?” Lily asked, touching her arm. “We still have a little time if you’d like to stay and enjoy the sunshine outside. Maybe the Knutsons wouldn’t mind if we walked through their gardens.”
“Actually, Lily, I need to go to the bank. See if the money transfer has arrived.” She glanced over at John and Chaim in conversation. “When did Chaim arrive?”
“Just a few minutes ago. Said Winston was wondering about Dustin, and sent him into town to check on him. Seems strange to me, but who knows.” Lily looked up at Dustin and shrugged.
Sidney couldn’t miss the way Dustin straightened at the news. His pa most likely thought he was with her, which he was. She didn’t want to cause strife within the family. The sooner she and Noah got out of Rio Wells, the better for everyone concerned.
“I better be going too,” Dustin said, his mouth still set in an angry tilt. “We’ve moved all the heavy trunks. John, Noah, and Tucker should be able to handle the rest.” He touched the brim of his hat in good-bye. “Lily.”
Then he turned to her. “Sidney,” he said, his eyes softening. “We’ll finish this discussion this evening when I come back to collect your brother.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“I’ll see y
ou in a few minutes, Lily. This shouldn’t take me long,” Sidney said, holding open the door to the bank.
The squat building’s bat-and-board siding looked newly painted, and the two small windows were sparkling clean. The structure might not be much to look at in terms of a bank—at least not like the one they had back in Santa Fe—but whoever owned the establishment was trying to do a nice job. She guessed the beauty of the bank didn’t matter as long as the money inside was safe.
“Take all the time you need,” Lily replied. “We still have almost an hour before the shop opens. You know where to find me.”
Sidney stepped inside and glanced around.
“May I help you?” a young man asked from behind the counter. A straight part divided his slicked-down hair.
“Yes. I’m expecting a money wire sent to me here from my father in Santa Fe. My name is Sidney Calhoun, and his name is Jock Calhoun. Do you know if anything has arrived?”
Please, Lord, let the transfer be here.
He pursed his lips. “No. I don’t recall any wires coming in. Let me go ask Mr. Jorgensen. But don’t get your hopes up too high. I usually know everything that transpires, since I’m the only clerk besides the owner. We haven’t had a transfer of funds for weeks.” He smiled and nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
Sidney twisted her hands as she tried to hide her disappointment. “Thank you so much.”
She was too keyed up to sit. First the kiss from Dustin unleashing a torrent of desire and love bursting in her heart, and now this. Something was up with her father. If the money hadn’t arrived already, she felt almost certain nothing ever would. Why? She didn’t understand his motivation. How did he expect her to live?
A bubble of anger pushed up her throat. How mean! She was his only daughter. What was he doing?
She was ashamed when she thought of the McCutcheons and how good, kind, and generous they’d been with her and Noah since their arrival. She could have as much money as she wanted, a comfortable room in their gorgeous home, and three square meals a day, if she only said the word.
Texas Lonesome Page 20
