WG2E All-For-Indies Anthologies: Summer Fling Edition

by Scott, D. D.

  “Yes,” said Jenny from the doorway. “Yes, it is. You talked about wanting me, about marriage. How can we ever build a marriage on half-truths?”

  “It wasn’t a half-truth. My previous marriage has nothing to do with us. My father has nothing to do with us.”

  “You don’t think I deserve to know that the rumors are untrue? You don’t believe that any children we might have should know their grandfather? I did that Rafe. It’s not fun. I know I had grandparents, but father had disowned them years before. I never met them. Then they were gone. Influenza. I don’t want my children raised like I was. Our children would have to know their grandparents.”

  Rafe started smiling like the cat that ate the canary.

  “What are you smiling at?”

  “You.”

  “Me?”

  “You said if we have children. So, there is hope for us and now I know you think so, too.”

  She shook her head. “It’s Richard we have to worry about.”

  “What if I can get him to agree? Would you marry me then?”

  “Of course, I would. But he’ll never agree.”

  “Jenny. I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you everything before about my first marriage and my wife. Just promise me that when he says yes, so will you. I’ll get him to agree.”

  She took his beloved face in her hands. “I promise.” Then she kissed him, finally letting loose all the love she held so close in her heart. Finally, allowing herself to believe it was possible.

  * * * *

  The next morning Rafe rode hard to the Cooper ranch determined to meet Richard. He’d learned when he went to apply for the foreman job that most of the Cooper cowboys were Spanish. That would give him some leverage.

  He rode up to the front of the house, dismounted, slapped the reins around the hitching rail and went up the steps to the front door. He rapped on the door and then waited and waited. He began to think no one was home when the door opened and an old Spanish women stood there.

  “Hello, Senora. I am here to see Mr. Cooper,” Rafe said firmly.

  “Mr. Cooper don’t want to be disturbed by the likes of you,” she sneered back.

  “Senora, please tell Mr. Cooper it concerns his sister, Jenny. I’m sure he’ll see me.”

  The woman’s angry demeanor softened immediately. “You know my Jenny? Is she all right?” She stood back and waved him in. “Please. Please, come in and tell me about my Jenny.”

  “Jenny is fine. She’s more than fine. I’m here to ask for her hand in marriage.”

  The old woman stepped back and shook her head. “He will never allow it. Not to you. Not to anyone who is not white.”

  “Senora. What is your name?”

  “Maria.”

  He took her hands in his. “Maria. I guarantee that before I leave today I will have Mr. Cooper’s consent to marry Jenny.”

  Marie looked at him skeptically. Her dark eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “It would be a blessed day if that could happen.”

  “Trust me,” he said simply.

  “What is your name, young man, that I may know who to pray for to bring about such a miracle?”

  “I am Rafael Montoya.”

  Maria nodded and smiled. “I knew your father, Don Carlos. Does he still live?”

  “Si. He and my mother are both quite well. How do you know them?”

  “My sister, Sophia, worked for them.”

  “Sophia. God rest her soul. She was my nanny and then our housekeeper.”

  “I know. She used to write to me and tell me what a fine boy and then young man you were.”

  “She was a treasure. I still miss her sweet voice. She sang to me every night. She’d give me milk and cookies and then sang while I fell asleep. As I grew, it was difficult to go to sleep without hearing her lullaby to me.”

  Maria had tears in her eyes. “You come to the parlor,” she said walking quickly. “I will bring Senor Cooper to you.”

  “Gracias, Maria.”

  Rafe followed the little white-haired woman through the house to the formal parlor. Then he waited as patiently as possible. After a just a few minutes he was pacing.

  “Who are you?” a deep voice asked from behind him. “And what do you want?”

  Rafe turned and watched hatred mar Richard Cooper’s handsome features.

  “You. I’ve said all I’m going to say to you. Now get out.” He turned to leave.

  “I’m here about Jenny.”

  Richard stopped and turned to face Rafe. “What about her?”

  “I want to marry her,” Rafe said.

  He laughed. A more evil sound Rafe didn’t think he’d ever heard.

  “When pigs fly.”

  Rafe remained calm. “Mr. Cooper, I will have your consent to marry her before I leave.” He stepped forward so he was toe-to-toe with Richard Cooper. “Let me tell you how this is going to work. You have two choices. You can give me your blessing and receive twice your sister’s dowry payable after our wedding or you can lose all of your employees today and then your ranch and I’ll marry Jenny anyway. I only make this offer once, so choose wisely.”

  “You can’t do that. Who do you think you are coming into my house and threatening me?”

  “I’m Rafe Montoya and all I need to do is tell your employees that I will pay them twice what you do if they leave with me today. What do you think they will choose? More money and a better place to work where they are treated with respect or staying here where they are treated like vermin because of the color of their skin?”

  He could almost see the wheels turning and the steam escaping as Cooper weighed his options.

  Jenny burst into the room. “Listen to him Richard. It’s the only choice you have.”

  “You’re here now. I refuse to let you leave. You’ll never marry this man.”

  “You can’t keep me here. I’ll run away and marry Rafe without your approval. I would rather not do that. I want to be able to have a church wedding and have my friends there. Take the offer Richard, or you get nothing. “

  “Very well. I don’t have much choice. Marry her. I want the money quickly so get the damn deed done.”

  “I intend to. Reverend Black can perform the ceremony on Sunday. That will give me two days to get your $10,000. After the wedding I don’t ever want to see your face again. Do we understand each other?”

  “We do. Now leave my house and don’t you or that whore of a sister of mine ever come back here.”

  Rafe took one step forward and landed his right fist to Cooper’s jaw. He went down like a rock.

  “Don’t you ever call your sister that again.”

  Cooper rubbed his jaw and wiped the blood from his lip. “Get out!”

  “With pleasure.”Rafe put his arm around Jenny’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Let’s leave before I kill the bastard.”

  Outside the parlor Maria waited. “You did it.” She put her arms around Rafe. “You saved my Jenny.”

  He hugged the little woman back. “She’s our Jenny now.” He smiled over her head at Jenny. “Maria, would you come work for Jenny and me? I know she misses you and you obviously love her very much.”

  “Nothing would make me happier. I will have my belongings with me at the wedding on Sunday.”

  He smiled down at her. “See you Sunday.”

  Rafe took Jenny into his arms and kissed her hard. “Don’t you have faith in me?”

  “Of course, I do. I just don’t trust my brother. I couldn’t imagine what you could say that would change his mind. I never thought of blackmail. You know we could run away and then you wouldn’t have to pay him anything.”

  “I’d rather pay him and be done with it. I don’t want to be looking over our shoulders wondering when some lawman or bounty hunter comes to get you and take you back home or me to jail. This way we have him out of our lives forever.”

  “So you’ll buy me from him?”

  “Yes and no. You didn’t hear the choices that I gave him
other than the money. But I agreed not to destroy his business by taking all his employees away. When we get our own place finished in a year or so, I’m going to offer every one of his cowboys work with us before I hire anyone else. And, of course, we will also have a little, tiny woman named Maria will be coming to live with us after our wedding on Sunday. Guess I better get busy on that house of ours. The foreman’s house on the JC is going to be a little cramped with Maria staying there.”

  “Oh Rafe.” She gave him little kisses all over his face then kissed him properly on his mouth. “I do so love you.”

  “You don’t mind being a June bride? I couldn’t wait any longer to make you mine.”

  “I don’t mind. I’d already decided I’d run away with you if I had to. You’re my only love. I’d be a fool to let Richard or anyone else stand in the way of our happiness. I’m not a fool anymore.”

  EPILOGUE

  Nine months to the day after Rafe and Jenny’s wedding, Rafael Montoya, Jr. was born. With his daddy’s black hair and his mother’s blue eyes, the girls in the valley were going to be fighting each other for this little one’s attention when he got older.

  This is the recipe for my grandfather’s tea cakes as mentioned in the story. Hope you enjoy them.

  Grandpa Ben’s Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

  1 cup shortening

  1 cup sugar

  3 eggs

  1/2 tsp. salt

  3 cups flour

  1 tsp. soda

  1 tsp. cream of tarter

  1 tsp. vanilla

  Cream shortening and sugar then add eggs. Beat well. Mix all dry ingredients; blend well. Work flour mixture into shortening mixture.

  Roll thin and cut. Bake at 400 to 425 degrees until very lightly browned.

  About Cynthia Woolf

  Cynthia Woolf was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.

  Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend. That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.

  Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.

  She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after graduation and there was little time to write. Then in 1990 she and two friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates. She found that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories. In 1992 she joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded the she not renew her memberships and her writing stagnated for many years.

  In 2000, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by CRW and decided she’d attend. One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker. Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat at Ms. Coulter’s table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she needed to get back to her writing. She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day and hasn’t looked back.

  Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she’s made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.

  Other books by Cynthia Woolf

  TAME A WILD HEART

  TAME A WILD WIND

  CENTAURI DAWN

  CENTAURI TWILIGHT

  CENTAURI MIDNIGHT

  CYNTHIA WOOLF WEBSITE

  Wild Child

  By L.C. Giroux

  “Hey kiddo! Come in here a sec!”

  Delia rolled her eyes. She hated when he called her that. She was twenty-two and had graduated at the top of her class and he still treated her like she was the eighteen year old kid who walked in four years ago. She didn’t know how, but Jonah Hutchinson was going to figure out she was a grown woman if it killed her.

  She got up from cataloging the photographs she was working on to stand in the door to his office. He bent over a putter and lined up his shot. Damn, the man did have the cutest butt. She might overlook it if it weren’t combined with the shoulders and back of your average Greek god. The end result always left her tongue tied. To make matters worse, he wore his unofficial summer uniform of a tank and cargo shorts so she couldn’t pretend not to see all his masculine perfection.

  “You bellowed?”

  Jonah turned around and even though she knew what to expect, the sight of him took her breath away as usual. When Uncle Cam had gotten her the job he never said, “Oh by the way, your new boss could have posed for Michelangelo.” He forgot to mention the man that was Hutchinson Investigations had eyes that made women’s knees weak and their clothes fall off. Something about the piercing aquamarine color and the healthy dose of mischief was a sucker punch to her gut. He had probably been blonde as a kid but his hair had mellowed to a burnished gold that on a lesser man would have been mousy. On Jonah, it still had sparks of copper that caught the light, not that she would have noticed, really!

  “Forgot to shave again?”

  She hated stubble on guys her age. They always looked like they were trying too hard to be dangerous. In Jonah’s case, it functioned like the rattle on a snake, or at least it should. Mostly, it made her palms itch with wanting to run her hands over the planes of his face. For most women, by the time they realized how much trouble they were in, he was already halfway out the door and they were lying there dazed, wrapped in a sheet, and with a wistful smile on their face. The real problem with stubble on Jonah was it seemed to highlight his mouth. Delia had never really considered the male mouth as sexual until she started working for him. Now she always had him repeat everything because she’d get wrapped up in some fantasy involving that particular piece of his anatomy and miss the last half of whatever he said.

  She should just give her notice and move on. She had her degree; she could do way more for his business than he’d ever let his “Shortstuff” or any of the other stupid, cute nicknames he called her, do. Someone else would be happy to let her do what she wanted. Information security was a hot area right now. Hackers weren’t content to just go after banks and the government anymore. With the right team she could offer a real service to prevent disaster to companies. Not that Jonah would let his “Littlebit” do it. She had to make him see she could be a fantastic asset, grow his business. She even had money to invest, not that he would even consider it.

  Oh sure, she wanted to be his partner in business. But what she really wanted was to find out if all the women calling here looking for him, begging for him to come back to their beds, were telling the truth. According to sources that should know, Jonah Hutchinson was the bomb in bed. As in, would ruin you for any man after him. If the theory of “you get better at what you do the more you do it” were true, Jonah had to put Don Juan to shame. Jonah loved women. He liked the way they looked, smelled, tasted, sounded, and felt. He was happy to show them too, as long as they didn’t want a repeat performance or, if he granted one, didn’t expect a third, ever. Besides, they always had fun at work. The same little boy charm that made him completely unreliable marriage material also made him a hell of a lot of fun.

  “Hello, Shortstuff? Off in Na-Na land?”

  “What did you want or did you just need an audience while you lined up your shot?”

  “Ooh, aren’t you touchy this morning? Be nice or I won’t tell you the surprise I have for you.”

  Delia bit her lip. Jonah’s surprises usually meant she was going to be taking on some extra hours, which meant extra cash. Always a good thing.

  “How much is it gonna cost you this time?”

  “Actually I was kind of hoping we could come to some kind of arrangement because I need three weeks.”

  “Three weeks! As in 24/7?”

  “Wait, I haven’t gotten to the really tough part yet.”

  “What
? Do I have to sleep with you?” She added the eye roll for extra credit.

  “No, just pretend to.”

  “I was kidding.”

  “I’m not. I need you to pretend to be my wife…”

  Delia choked. “Obviously this is very deep undercover because anyone knowing your reputation would realize you can’t possibly be married.”

  “Very funny; don’t be a brat. Seriously, I need you to meet me at the Paradise Resort in the Bahamas in a week and a half. I need you to look like a girl too.”

  “Hey! That was a cheap shot. Considering the amount of hard labor I end up doing around here these clothes are just fine. It’s not like you get dressed up.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m the boss. Here, take some cash to get yourself something pretty.” He handed her a wad of bills.

  “Jonah, there must be close to a thousand dollars here!”

  “You’re going to need three weeks’ worth of clothes, girl’s clothes!”

  “Fine. What’s your cover?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Well, if you are a beach bum,” she held her hand out to indicate his present state of dress, “then I would get different clothes than I would if I were married to a successful business man.”

  “I can’t be both?” Damn the man for grinning at her. How was she supposed to be righteously angry if all she could think about was how she wanted to trace the corners of his mouth with her tongue?

  “No, not really, not even on vacation. So what is the job and how are you playing this?” She tried to cover her discomfiture with a look of boredom.

  “I guess business man; you just need to look pretty and not too flashy.”

  “Okay, I’ll need some time to go shopping and put stuff together. You gonna mind me working short hours for the rest of the week?”