by Bobbi Smith
They went inside to wait as Jack drove off in the stage.
A short time later Ben returned.
“I managed to find you a room,” he told the Turners.
“What about me?” Kenneth demanded. He wasn’t accustomed to being ignored.
“For to night, I can let you sleep in the back room here at the office. There’s a cot back there.”
“There’s no room at the hotel?”
“No. This is the best you’re going to get to night. Go on back while I take these folks over to the house where they’ll be staying.”
“Thanks,” was all Kenneth could manage as the clerk left him alone there.
Picking up his bags, Kenneth made his way into the small room, which contained a stripped-down cot and a washstand. He had hoped for far more comfortable accommodations after all his days of travel, but at least he knew this was better than bedding down in the stable with the horses. He found that thought completely repulsive.
Kenneth turned his thoughts to finding Emmie over at the dance. He stripped off his jacket and shirt and started to wash up. It excited him to know that she was so near.
Chapter Twenty-one
Millie was having a wonderful time. She’d danced with several men and had been stepped on only a few times. George stayed close by and she was glad. He had just handed her a cup of punch and she’d taken a deep drink when she heard the voice behind her.
“Hello, Millie,” Kenneth said. He’d been a bit worried about finding Emmie in the crowd, but his worries had disappeared the moment he’d spotted Millie at the refreshment table.
Millie recognized his voice right away and spun around to face him. She was wide-eyed with amazement and shock as she found herself face-to-face with Kenneth. She choked on the punch she was drinking, but managed to swallow it down as she gasped. “Oh, my heavens, Kenneth!”
George was looking on, and he was startled by Millie’s reaction to the stranger. He stared at the man, who was obviously from back East, and wondered at his connection to her.
“Yes, it’s me,” Kenneth, forcing himself to smile though he was not the least bit amused by the look on her face.
“What are you doing here?” She was still all but gaping at him.
“I came for Emmie. Have you seen her? Is she here?” he asked.
“She’s dancing—with Josh,” she answered quickly.
Kenneth turned his attention to the couples on the dance floor, and it was then that he saw Emmie in the arms of another man, gazing up at him most adoringly.
A shot of pure possessiveness shot through him.
Emmie was his. She had no business dancing with anyone else, let alone looking at another man like that.
“Nice to see you, Millie,” Kenneth said as he started off, making his way toward Emmie.
Millie could only watch as Kenneth moved through the crowd toward Emmie.
“Who is that?” George asked.
“His name is Kenneth St. James—he’s a friend from Philadelphia,” she explained awkwardly.
“‘A friend’?” George asked.
Millie looked up at him. “Emmie’s friend.”
George glanced toward his brother to see what was going to happen.
Kenneth was not the least bit happy about seeing Emmie dancing with another man, but he was about to put an end to all that. He had their future all planned. He’d certainly had enough time to think it out during the endless hours on the filthy stagecoach. He knew that within the next few days she would become his wife. He was certain there was a reverend or at least a justice of the peace somewhere in town who could marry them, and now that he was willing to stay on the Rocking R with Emmie for the necessary two years, there was no reason for her not to accept his proposal. Eager to have her in his arms, he tapped the stranger on the shoulder.
“Mind if I cut in?” Kenneth asked smoothly.
Josh was surprised by the interruption. He turned to find a man he’d never seen before standing there, looking down at Emmie with open affection.
“Kenneth?” Emmie gasped.
“Hello, love,” Kenneth said in an affectionate tone. He smoothly stepped in and, keeping his back to the other man, danced Emmie away.
Josh moved off to the side of the dance floor, but he kept an eye on Emmie as the other man squired her expertly about. He couldn’t believe the way Emmie had reacted to seeing the stranger, and he couldn’t help wondering just who he was and what he meant to her.
“What are you doing here?” Emmie asked as she looked up at Kenneth. She was still in shock over his unexpected appearance.
“I came after you, darling,” Kenneth told her. “I was missing you so much, I just had to come here and tell you how much I love you.”
“Oh, Kenneth…” Emmie’s expression was guarded as she listened to his profession of love.
“Don’t say anything now. We’ll have plenty of time to talk later. Right now I just want to enjoy dancing with you again.” He went silent as he played his role of ardent suitor to perfection.
Emmie pretended to be happy but in her heart it was Josh she wanted to be dancing with.
Millie had watched Kenneth cut in on Josh, so she went with George to speak to him.
“His name is Kenneth St. James,” Millie offered before Josh could say a word. “He and Emmie were seeing each other in Philadelphia.”
Josh said nothing, but he wondered why Emmie had never mentioned the other man. Josh turned away and went to see what Burley and the other hands were up to.
When the dance ended, Emmie and Kenneth left the dance floor and went to stand with Millie and George. Emmie quickly made the introductions.
“It’s nice to meet you, George. So, you’re one of the ranch hands?”
“That’s right.”
“How do you like the Rocking R?” Kenneth knew little about the ranch except what Emmie had told him after her annual trips.
“It’s one of the finest spreads around,” George bragged.
“That’s good to know,” he said, thinking the ranch was obviously worth a lot of money if it was considered a “fine spread.”
Josh saw them gathered together talking and he went over to join them.
Kenneth didn’t waste any time when he saw the other man coming. He arrogantly stepped forward, and, assuming his role as future owner of the Rocking R, he put his hand out to shake the other man’s hand. “I’m Kenneth St. James. I take it you’re one of the hired hands, too?”
Josh couldn’t help smiling at the fool standing beside Emmie. He shook his hand as he answered, “Nice to meet you, Kenneth. I’m Josh Grady. I’m Emmie’s partner, and the foreman at the Rocking R.”
“Partner? I thought your father was the owner.” Kenneth turned to Emmie for an explanation. He’d always been led to believe the ranch was her inheritance.
“My father and Josh became partners about a year ago. We’re running the ranch together now,” Emmie explained.
“And from what George was telling me, the Rocking R is doing fine.”
“We like to think so,” Josh said.
“Why, Kenneth, is that you?” Miss Harriet exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere to greet him.
“Hello, Miss Harriet.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came for Emmie. I’ve been missing her.”
“You certainly must have, to travel all this way.” Miss Harriet knew her job had just become even more difficult with Kenneth in Texas.
There was little chance to say anything else as someone called out, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the last dance of the night.”
Emmie knew she shouldn’t have been surprised when Kenneth took her arm in a possessive grip and drew her out onto the dance floor. She caught only one glimpse of Josh walking away as they began to dance, and she wondered if she would have a chance to see him any more that night. This certainly wasn’t the way she’d hoped the evening would end.
“I can’t believe I’m actually here, dancing with
you,” Kenneth told her.
“Neither can I,” Emmie said, and that was the truth.
“Are you going back to the ranch to night?” he asked.
“No, we’ve taken rooms at the hotel. We’ll go home in the morning. Where did you take a room?”
“The stagecoach was very late getting in, because we broke down. There weren’t any rooms left here in town, but the clerk said I could spend the night at the stage office. What time should I meet you in the morning?” As far as he was concerned, it was understood that he would be a guest at the ranch for the rest of his visit.
“We’ll be attending church services first. If you’d like to go with us, why don’t you come to the hotel a little before eight.”
“I will.”
Emmie was grateful for Miss Harriet’s presence and Millie’s and George’s company as Kenneth walked her back to the hotel, but she missed Josh and didn’t know where he’d gone.
As Kenneth parted from Emmie at the hotel, he was angry that they’d had no time alone. He’d wanted to kiss her, to claim her for his own. He felt the whole day had been a disaster—and the night to come promised no better. He was dreading the prospect of bedding down on the cot in the back room of the stage office.
Millie and George lingered downstairs in the lobby for a few moments after Kenneth had gone and Miss Harriet and Emmie had retired to their rooms.
“Let’s go outside so we can talk,” she said.
She took George’s hand and they left the building, moving to a quiet spot near a small grove of trees.
“What’s troubling you?” George asked. He’d known she’d been unsettled by Kenneth’s sudden appearance.
“What makes you think something’s troubling me?” she asked, looking up at him in the moonlight. “I just wanted to be alone with you.”
“I like the way you think, Millie,” he said, slipping an arm around her to draw her near.
Millie lifted her arms, linked them around his neck, and drew him down to her for a kiss. It was a sweet kiss, but the gentle exchange served only to light the fire of their desire for each other.
George had wanted her from the first time he’d seen her, but after the distress caused by her encounter with Steve, he’d been hesitant to move too fast. Now he knew hesitation was behind them. It seemed she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
Deepening the kiss, George held her close. Millie returned his kiss, thrilled at his nearness. When at last they broke apart, she gazed up at him, all the adoration she was feeling for him showing in her eyes.
“I love you, George,” she whispered, lifting one hand to caress his cheek.
“You do?” George stared down at her, reveling in her beauty and innocence, and he knew in that moment that he loved her, too.
“Oh, yes.” Millie sighed. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but it was love at first sight for me.”
George slowly bent down to claim her lips in another passionate kiss. “It was for me, too.”
“Oh, George.”
They clung together in the sweetness of the night until the sound of someone coming down the street forced them to break apart.
“We’d better get inside before Miss Harriet comes looking for me.”
“And she will, too,” he said with a smile.
“I know. She takes her duties very seriously.”
George walked her back to the lobby. He had a room in the hotel, too, but he wanted to see if he could find Josh before he called it a night.
“Good night.”
“Good night,” she returned. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
George waited until Millie had gone up the staircase, then he left the hotel in search of his brother. It didn’t take him long to find Josh at the saloon.
“I wondered where you went,” George said as he joined his brother at the bar. After ordering a whiskey for himself and a refill for Josh, he said, “Let’s go sit at a table.”
“Sure, why not?”
They settled in at a table near the back of the crowded room.
“Why did you leave the dance early?” George asked.
“I figured Miss Harriet wasn’t going to dance with me again, so there was no reason to stick around,” Josh quipped, managing a wry smile.
“She likes me best,” George bragged.
“It seems that way.”
“What did you find out about this Kenneth?”
“Millie told me he’d been courting Emmie for some time now, but she was real surprised that he’d come all the way to Texas to see her.”
“He must be serious about Emmie.”
“What about you? Are you serious about her?”
Josh looked uncomfortable for a moment.
“Well?” George pressed him.
“I think I am,” Josh finally admitted. “I sure didn’t like seeing her dancing with Kenneth.”
“You’re jealous.”
“I am not!”
“You’re jealous of a city slicker!” George was laughing at him. “Do you love her?”
“I don’t know.” Josh paused and then finally said, “Yes.”
“Then do something about it.”
Josh looked up at him, an expression of determination in his eyes. “I will.”
“Good.”
“What about you and Millie?”
“I love her, but…”
“But what?”
“I never thought about marrying and settling down before, but that little lady could make me want to stay in one place for a long, long time—if she were there with me. The trouble is…”
“What?”
“She’s a lady, and I’m a man who’s spent the last years doing nothing but gambling for a living. I’m not good enough for her.”
“But how does she feel about you?”
“She says she loves me.”
“Have you told her about your past?”
“Yes. She knows.”
“Then ask her to marry you. You’ll find out real quick if she’s a gambler, too. You might be made for each other.”
“I think we are.”
“Then don’t let her get away.”
George took a deep drink of his whiskey. “You’re right.”
They shared a companionable silence as they finished their drinks and headed back to the hotel.
Chapter Twenty-two
Emmie was waiting anxiously for Millie to come up to the hotel room.
“What took you so long?” Emmie asked as her friend came through the door.
Millie blushed. “Oh, Emmie, George told me he loves me!”
Emmie jumped up from where she’d been sitting on the bed to give her friend an excited hug. “That’s wonderful!”
“I know! I love him, too, but it’s all happened so fast!”
“That is so romantic! Did he propose or anything?”
“No, not yet. It’s enough just knowing that he loves me.” She sat down on the bed with Emmie. “But what about you? I couldn’t believe my eyes when I turned around and found Kenneth standing there.”
“I was shocked, too. I never dreamed he would come out here.”
“He must care a lot about you to make the trip.”
Emmie looked uncomfortable. “He did propose before I left, but I couldn’t marry him, not with the terms of my father’s will. I have to stay here and run the ranch for at least two years. I just couldn’t see how he would fit in on the Rocking R.”
“How do you feel about him?”
Emmie was silent for a long moment and then looked up at her friend. “I don’t love Kenneth. I don’t think I ever have. I know now that Josh is the man I love.”
“He is wonderful.”
“I know.”
“Have you told Josh yet?”
“No.”
“Don’t you think you’d better tell him?”
“I will, but first I have to deal with Kenneth, and, knowing him, he’s not going to make this easy for me.”
Millie gave her a reassuring hug. “What really matters is that you end up happy with Josh. You know, if Josh and George really do propose to us, we wouldn’t just be friends; we’d be related.”
“I guess I could stand having you for an in-law,” Emmie teased.
“I would think here in Shotgun that would be a whole lot better than an outlaw!”
They were laughing as they got ready for bed. The morning was not far off, and they had to be up and ready to meet the men for church.
Emmie and Millie both rose early the following morning. Emmie hadn’t slept well, troubled as she was by Kenneth’s unexpected arrival. She wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation she had to have with him.
They went down to the lobby to find Miss Harriet there with the men, waiting for them. Without stopping for breakfast, they made their way to the church for the Sunday-morning service.
It was nearly noon by the time they managed to get a bite to eat and pack. George brought the carriage around to pick them up, and then they were on their way to the Rocking R, with Josh riding along beside them. Millie and Miss Harriet were sitting together, while Kenneth sat beside Emmie. The heat was intense, and Emmie could tell that Kenneth was suffering in his suit.
“You’re going to have to get used to the weather,” Emmie told him.
“Is it going to be this hot every day?”
“It is,” Emmie said. “It’s summertime.”
Kenneth could only imagine how hot the late-summer months would get if the temperature was this high already. He studied the lay of the land as they drove along, and as they traveled mile after mile, he came to understand just how far from town the Rocking R was.
“How soon will we get to the ranch?” he asked.
Miss Harriet couldn’t help laughing at his question. “I asked the same thing on my first trip to the ranch. I do believe we’ve been on the Rocking R for quite a while now, haven’t we, Emmie?”
“You’re right, Miss Harriet.”
“This is a big ranch,” Kenneth said, impressed.
“Yes, it is. My father and Josh worked hard to make it what it is today.”
Kenneth fell silent at the mention of the other man. He went back to studying the landscape and wondering how he was going to like living there, once he married Emmie.
