“I don’t want anything of his.”
“Then sell it all, but they’re yours. The hanging’s in three days.”
She couldn’t think of a thing to say. Here she’d condemned Reese for owning one brothel, and she’d have a dozen in three days.
“One of the saloons is across the road, so you don’t have to go far to see it. The others will require some traveling. All in all, you’re wealthy.”
“All those poor women.” The very thought made her sick.
“I’d say they were all lucky women, to work in a house owned by an honorable woman such as yourself.”
Even stunned, her mind leapt with ideas. All those women needed help, and she was just the person to do it. She stood and paced the room.
“He told me something else.” The sheriff pointed to her chair. “You’d better sit back down.”
She complied, but her turmoil worsened and her mind raced.
“Do you know who your father is?”
Her father? She knew little, only his title and last name. “Mama told me his name was Lieutenant Sharpe, and he was killed in battle.”
“No, his name is Zachary Milner Sharpe and at the time of your birth, he was the mayor of a town just outside of St. Joseph. He’s still alive, still married, so Hank says.”
“Still?”
“Apparently, he got your mother with child and the Hurdalls planned to take the baby to an orphanage, so she took you and ran off. Nearly starved before she found a place to live. You know the rest.”
It all made sense. The Hurdalls had taken her in after her mother was lynched but neither Lucinda nor the community knew they’d done it for any other reason than to give a young girl a home. Even then, they’d shipped her off to Miss Hattie’s School for the Refinement of Young Ladies the moment there was an opening.
The sheriff took a thick packet of papers from his duster pocket and laid them on the table. “Here are the deeds. Hank has signed everything over already. He’s sitting in the jail cell reading his Bible, preparing for Judgment Day, which won’t be too kind on him, I’m afraid.”
* * * * *
The ride back from the ranch had been long and cold. Reese left Buster with Gus and hurried into the Comfort Palace to see his bride-to-be. She greeted him at the door with a hug.
“I must apologize to you, Reese.”
“Good, there’s only one way for a woman to apologize to her man and I’m ready.”
She whapped him on the shoulder. “Would you be serious?”
“Darlin’, I couldn’t be more serious.” He gave her a big bear hug and nuzzled her neck.
“Stop!”
The ladies giggled and he saw they had an audience. He set her back.
Lucinda dabbed at a curl behind her ear. “I can’t think when you do that.”
“Good reason to kiss you, then.”
Fannie opened the office door. “You two lovebirds argue about who’s kissing and who’s thinking in here. Sadie’s got some coffee on to boil.”
Lucinda grabbed his hand and pulled him into the room. He kicked the door shut and captured her by the waist. “Let’s do a little more kissing before we do all that thinking.”
Her gaze looked with his. She seemed so vulnerable, he wanted to hold her forever. He lowered his lips to hers and all thought left except for his desire to make love to her again.
Sadie knocked on the door and Lucinda backed away. “Reese, I mean it. I have to apologize, and we have a lot to discuss. You may not even want to marry me.”
After the cook deposited their coffee mugs on the desk and left, Lucinda walked to the window and stared out. “I thought terrible things about you when I first arrived at Dickshooter.”
“I know. I understand. I feel the same way about brothel owners, including my own father. No apologies necessary.”
“I don’t apologize for that. I apologize for not understanding your situation.”
“You did jump to conclusions, not unjustifiable, given how things looked.”
She turned to face him. “And now I find myself in the same situation.”
“Darlin’, I told you the Comfort Palace is as good as sold. The ladies haven’t been working for weeks.”
“Not about that.” She recounted what the sheriff hat told her. “And now I own a dozen brothels.”
He crossed the room and gathered her in his arms. “So you’re a madam now?”
“Reese!” She pushed at his arms, but not very insistently. “Be serious for a moment.”
“Oh, I’m serious all right.” He held her tighter. “We can be married, and we can kiss and make babies.”
“No, we can’t. Don’t you see? I have to take care of all those women, and you have a ranch to run.” A tear welled in her eye. “I don’t see how we can be married with you working the ranch and me traveling around the West, educating all those downtrodden women.”
“I think of you more as an administrator.” Administrators can be married and have babies.”
Lucinda brightened. “Especially with the aid of an assistant. Maybe I could hire Fannie!”
“She’d be a good organizer, all right.”
“And maybe...” she squeezed her lips together, “maybe Miss Hattie could give me some pointers.”
“Good idea.” He ran his hands over her breasts. “Let’s make babies.”
“Is that all you ever think about?”
“No, I also think about practicing making babies with you.”
Chapter 20
What a way to celebrate Christmas! Lucinda felt like a princess in her beautiful green dress, the one Reese had purchased so many weeks ago. Gus escorted her down the stairs as Felicia played Silver Threads Among the Gold—not exactly a wedding song but pretty music, and Felicia knew it by heart.
When she saw Reese standing by the fireplace, dressed in a black suit with a sprig of juniper berries on his lapel, her heart pitter-pattered and she faltered.
“You don’t have to do this,” Gus whispered. “We’d be happy to keep you right here.”
“No, I’m fine.” She smiled as Gus guided her to Reese’s side and placed her hand in his.
Sheriff Tucker did the honors with all the Comfort Palace ladies, the twins, Logan, Gus, the neighbor ranchers and cowhands, some of whom had been in the lynching party, and a few people Lucinda didn’t recognize.
Afterwards, the guests partied. Lucinda waited for an appropriate time for them to make their escape. Reese smiled stiffly and held her by his side, and she knew he had the same thoughts.
He squeezed her hand. “Let’s get outta here.”
She hugged him tight, the crowd cheering. “Want to go upstairs, cowboy?”
THE END, MOSTLY
Stayed tuned for the Soiled Dove mini-series featuring Fannie and the Comfort Palace ladies.
Coming up next in the Much Ado series:
Much Ado About Mavericks
Much Ado About Madams
by Jacquie Rogers
Copyright Jacquie Rogers 2012
Mélange Publishing, Kindle Edition
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.JacquieRogers.com
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Angie Butterworth, Ann Charles, Eilis Flynn, Judith Laik, Ken Walker, Moriah Herod, Sherry Walker, and Wendy Delaney for helping whip this book into shape. Special thanks to Amber Scott for designing the ebook cover. And, as always, hugs to Mark Rogers for doing everything he can to help me succeed.
I’m also grateful to Owyhee County friends Vivian Lilly, Mark Evans, and Tresa Hiatt for helping me with research. Wow, you have given me not only a bunch of great information, but fodder for even more ideas. Mercedes and Rodney Christesen spent a
day taking pictures of Silver City and the surrounding area, so thanks for that.
Author’s Note
Dickshooter really is a town in Owyhee County, Idaho. When I saw it on the map, well, that just had to be the location for the Comfort Palace. Taking considerable literary license, however, I moved the town to the west of Silver City.
Also, Mark Evans couldn’t find a pre-1900 establishment of the town, so it may not even have been in existence in 1882 when Much Ado About Madams takes place. One nice thing about fiction is that you can manipulate geography to suit your fancy.
Also, I doubt there was ever a brothel in Dickshooter. A friend is considering a trip to see the town and take photos, so if she does, the pictures will be posted on my website.
The road to Silver City is in much better shape than it was when I lived in Owyhee County, but you’re still better off with a four-wheel-drive because of ground clearance.
The Owyhee Avalanche was born August 19, 1865 in Ruby City, and later moved to Silver City. Yes, the newspaper office really was next to the undertaker. By 1882, the paper had been renamed The Idaho Avalanche, but since the newspaper goes by The Owyhee Avalanche today (now located in my hometown, Homedale, Idaho), I decided to keep the original name.
In Silver City, Lucinda and Reese stay at the Idaho Hotel, now over 150 years old. If you want a fun weekend, you can stay there, too. Bring your own electricity. The hotel is open during the summer months, and hey, I’ve even heard they have a ghost or two.
Much Ado About Madams Page 26
