“Oh,” was all Ray could say.
So, Billy’s perfect woman was required by law to marry Billy or return to New York—effectively dashing her dreams to start over in Dry Bayou. That made matters so much worse.
She’s obviously a much better choice for Billy. He’s already fallin’ in lo…lo…love with her.
She couldn’t even bring the voice in her head to say the words.
Who am I kiddin’? I’ll fight tooth and nail for Billy—I don’t care if the fool thinks he’s in love with Miss Rebecca DuCastille. She’d changed his mind about wearing fringed shirts, she could change his mind about marrying Rebecca. She could, with a little help from Tilly and Mrs. Piers, also find a way for Rebecca to stay in Dry Bayou without having to fulfill that ridiculous contract.
She just had to figure out how.
Chapter Nine
It was late when Ray finally returned to the house she shared with her ma and the memory of her pa. When she’d left that morning, she’d only meant to visit Tilly and give back all the dresses she and Dora had given her. She was ready to give up on the silly plan to entice Billy by being as refined as Rebecca.
Now, she knew better. Trying to be like Rebecca wasn’t going to win Billy. She had to become something else. She had to become a woman Billy had never seen before. She had to be a better Ray.
“Yer finally home, I see. Missed supper, but I left ye some taters and mutton in the oven.” Ray’s ma was seated in the living area near a small, crackling fire. She was mending a pair of socks.
Mrs. Moira MacAdams was born and raised in Fraserburgh, Scotland, but left home at seventeen when she married a local farmer’s son with a desire to make his own way in America.
Ray took a moment to study her mother. Her once bright, auburn hair was now a dull light brown, fringed with grey at the temples. She seemed to have aged ten years overnight.
They both had since her pa died.
“Sorry, Ma. I didn’t mean to be gone so long. Did you have trouble with my chores?” Ray was so wrapped up in Rebecca and Billy and trying to figure out how to get Billy to love her, she’d plain forgotten about her responsibilities.
Her ma placed the mending in the basket beside her chair and winced as she sat back. “Oh, aye, I had trouble, but Pedro helped.”
Feeling like a thoughtless, selfish brat, Ray knelt at her ma’s feet and gripped her calloused hands in hers. “I promise I won’t forget ever again, Ma. I didn’t want you to do those chores.”
Ma cupped her face. “I ken what’s goin’ on, bairn. I ken Billy’s gettin’ betrothed to that new girl, the one his ma and pa ordered from a catalog, as if she were a new set of pots. I ken ye’re havin’ a hard time wrappin’ yer mind around Billy leavin’ ye and being wit another woman.”
Her ma was speaking truth.
“I ken ye’re in love with the rancher’s son, bairn, and I ken yer heart is achin’ somethin’ fierce. But what I don’t ken, is how I’m gonna make all that go away.”
Tears streamed down her face. “Ma, you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine. I need to find a way to get him back, that’s all.”
“I ken ye will. Ye’re a fighter, just like yer pa. He asked me to marry him near forty times before I finally gave in. It was his persistence that won me.” Her ma’s sorrow-filled smile warmed her heart.
“Ack, lookit me, gettin’ maudlin in my auld age. Here, take this. Billy stopped by right before supper and left this for ye.” Her ma pulled a folded sheet of paper from her breast pocket and handed it to her.
“Billy was here?” Ray asked and her mother nodded. “Did he say what he wanted?”
She shook her head. “Nay, but I’m assumin’ an explanation is in the letter.”
Ray thanked her ma, gave her a kiss, then practically ran to her room.
Heart in her throat, she unfolded the paper and read it.
MEET ME AT THE CREEK AFTER SUNDOWN. WE NEED TO TALK.
–BILLY
A thrill zapped through her. He wants to meet me?
“It’s already an hour past sundown, so I’ll have to get goin’ right now to make it to our spot before he gets tired of waitin’,” she muttered to herself as she turned to head right back out the door.
It wasn’t their spot, anymore. He’d taken Rebecca there, smiled and laughed with her there, and called Ray the shepherd’s daughter there.
No longer their special place, Billy was out of his mind if he thought she was going to meet him there. Besides, he was getting married to another woman in a few short weeks. If his parents and Rebecca had their way. Ray knew she meant no more to him than someone who worked for his pa.
She threw herself back on the bed and stared up at the knotholes in the ceiling.
Whatever Billy wanted to talk about would have to wait until the bright light of day.
The creek was the worst place to meet a man betrothed to another woman.
But what did he want to talk to her about?
She groaned. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not goin’.” It took all the strength left within her to change into her night clothes and douse the candle on the bedside table.
Her stomach growled for the food her ma had left for her, but the thought of eating only made her ill.
She didn’t know how long she laid there, watching the shadows dance across the ceiling as they mocked her, sniggering at her that she’d never dance with Billy like that, that she’d never get to kiss him in the dark, or touch him as she so wanted to. As the minutes ticked by on the clock beside her bed, she wondered if she’d ever be happy again.
*
Billy rounded the bend toward Ray’s house and stopped for a moment. “What am I doing?” He kicked at the dirt and groaned.
He’d written her the note and waited like a fool down at the creek. But he’d guessed she wouldn’t come.
Why would she after what he’d said to her, after how he’d treated her in front of Rebecca? After not telling her that she was the most important thing in his life?
He’d spent the last three days in pain—somewhere between living and dying. With everything in him, he wished he could go back to the day of the fishing derby, kiss the taste right off of Ray’s lips, and then ignore his ma’s calls to come to the house. He just wanted to go back to the way things were before Rebecca arrived and his world became so complicated.
No, maybe he didn’t want to go back to the way things were. He didn’t want to be Ray’s best friend; a friend who was more brother than actual man. He was a man who wanted Ray to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her.
With that thought in mind, he continued walking to Ray’s house. He knew which window belonged to her because of all the times they had snuck to the creek at night over the years. Tonight wouldn’t be much different, except he didn’t want to hunt frogs with her.
Thankful for the light of a nearly full moon, he sucked in a deep breath and tapped on the glass. He waited.
Would she come to the window? Would she come with him? Or, would she ignore him as he knew he deserved?
The questions in his mind came to an abrupt halt when he picked out movement in the shadows of her room.
She’s coming…
Ray snapped the lock and opened the window.
He couldn’t help the smile when he saw the surprised expression on her face.
Tired, annoyed, and oh, so adorable.
How did I ever think of her as boyish?
“Willem Ducharme, what in the world are you doin’ at my window at this hour?” Her whispered reprimand didn’t carry the weight she’d probably intended and that made him smile bigger.
“You missed our meeting. I figured I’d come get you so you didn’t get lost on the way.”
“I didn’t miss anythin’. I read your note and decided that anythin’ you had to say to me could be said in the mornin’. At a respectable time.” She pulled her wrapper tighter around her shoulders and withdrew from the window. “Goodnight, Billy.”
His hand was under the frame so she couldn’t close it.
“Baby Ray, I think you owe it to me to come out and talk to me.”
That’ll get her.
Her head appeared through the opening again, but this time the expression on her face wasn’t as adorable. “You good-fer-nothin—what is it you think I owe you? I haven’t seen you long enough over the last three days for me to have done anythin’ to you.”
No, they hadn’t spent any time together and he felt that emptiness right down to his soul. “That’s why you owe me. We haven’t had any time to talk like we used to and I find there’s a lot I need to get off my chest. I could use a listening ear to help me think through all my troubles.”
He knew he was laying it on thick, but he had to—needed to—talk to her, be around her. Touch her. If it were possible, his next breath depended on her answer.
She let out an agitated sigh. “Fine. It wasn’t like I was sleepin’, anyway.”
He stepped away to give her room to climb through, and once she was standing before him in her night clothes, her fragrant hair loose, and her precious face pointed up at his, the urge to kiss her nearly overpowered him.
“Well, what’re you waitin’ for? Lead the way, lest I get lost.” She snickered openly and moved around him to start the short trek to the creek.
He laughed and turned to follow her.
He’d follow her anywhere.
Chapter Ten
Ray shook herself for her stupidity; first for coming out to the creek with Billy, and second, for not putting on her shoes first. Her feet were freezing. At least she’d thought to grab her wrapper off the chair beside her bed when she’d heard someone tapping at her window.
She’d been laying there, numb, trying to force her eyes closed and to keep her mind from overthinking everything, when she’d heard the tap, tap, tap.
It didn’t take long for them to get to the creek; they knew the way there, even in the dark. Once Ray stopped, right in front of the rock she’d claimed as hers, Ray planted her hands on her hips.
Billy stopped and she could tell he was nervous, maybe even troubled.
“Well, what did you need to talk about so bad that you dragged me out of bed?” Best get this over with.
He stared down at her. Remembering that she was only wearing her night clothes, she crossed her arms over her chest. She decided that if he wasn’t going to talk, then neither would she.
Finally, Billy let out a loud breath. “How’s your ma doing?”
“You asked me out here to talk about my ma?” She couldn’t keep the irritation from her voice.
He chuckled. “No, but I figured that was as good a place to start as any.”
Start what? she wondered, still momentarily incapable of forming words after his unexpected question. “She’s fine.”
“Good. You two doing alright since, well…”
“Since Pa died?” Why did he want to know? “Of course we took it hard, you know that, but I think…I think we’re gettin’ along fine now.” Her pa, Brian MacAdams, had died suddenly when the horse he was riding got spooked by a coyote and he got thrown.
He’d died in her arms.
That experience would haunt her for the rest of her life. But that wasn’t what she was out here for. Billy wanted something. And she had no idea what it was.
“Billy, you said you wanted to talk. What’s troublin’ you? Out with it. My toes are freezin’.” She glanced down at her feet and wiggled her toes.
When she glanced up again, Billy was closer and she had to fight the urge to step back. At only five and a half feet, Ray was a pipsqueak compared to Billy’s six-foot frame. So, when he stood up close like that, she felt small and vulnerable.
Not that she’d complain, she enjoyed feeling like a real woman beside the man she loved. It took everything in her not to melt into a puddle at his feet.
“Ray, I’m sorry about how I acted and what I said the other night. I’m sorry for not telling you about Rebecca sooner.”
“What do you mean?” She heard his words all right, but what she interpreted was that he was sorry he was caught acting like a fool in front of his betrothed.
She flipped her hair over her shoulder and wished she’d had the forethought to braid it before she climbed into bed. She huffed out a breath, trying to get the hair out of her eyes, and then licked her lips to be sure none of the wayward strands stuck to her mouth.
Billy groaned, stepped back and closed his eyes, visibly frustrated.
“Billy, what—” She gasped.
Billy’s head whipped down and every nerve in Ray’s body fired at the same time.
“Ray, I need to tell you something important.”
“What?” she whispered.
“I feel bad that…I never meant to… Aw-dingit, I’m not doing this right.” He surged forward, cupped her face between his large, warm hands, and brought his mouth down on hers.
In shock, she froze and almost stopped breathing altogether. His mouth was firm, but the kiss was soft and seeking, as though he was asking her permission.
She reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders, then stood on her tiptoes to get closer to him, to press closer to the heat of his body.
She was chilled and hot at the same time, her whole body turned into apple jelly.
As quickly as he began, Billy pulled back. “Ray…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, it’s just that…”
Ray sucked in two, three, four deep breaths then glanced up at Billy through the sudden haze in her eyes. “If that’s how you say you’re sorry to everyone, it makes me wonder why your parents had to look in New York to find you a wife.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Like I said, I’m doing this poorly.” He tugged her close again. “Ray, I only meant to bring you out here to tell you how I feel—”
“I think you’ve apologized enough, don’t you? Besides, no girl likes to hear a man kissed her simply because he felt bad about hurtin’ her feelings.” She laughed humorlessly.
“Goodnight, Billy,” she said before walking away.
She moved as smoothly as she could despite the fact that her knees were wobbly and her stomach was doing a jig. She held her breath and hoped he’d stop her and kiss her again.
What a silly, silly thought, she chided herself.
Truth be told, she didn’t really know if she would stop if he wanted her to. But when she finally turned the bend and he still hadn’t made a sound, her heart nearly broke in half.
Chapter Eleven
“Today’s the day, Tilly. I’m gonna tell Billy I love him, then make him choose between me and Rebecca.” Ray didn’t know how her voice rang with such confidence when her mind wasn’t singing the same song.
She was pacing between Tilly’s chair and the window that opened on to the alley between the Mosier house and their store. Tilly was working on another length of fine lace, but she nodded her head and “hmmmed” where appropriate, just to humor her nutty friend. Ray had only intended to stop in and hear the latest town gossip after a long day of chores and trying to forget Billy’s kiss.
She touched her mouth where she could still feel the sensation of Billy’s lips against hers. He’d kissed her and she ran away.
Never kissed before, it pleased her that Billy was her first, like a blessing from heaven. Except for his motivation. He felt sorry for her; more a pity gift than expressing how he felt about her.
Tilly clicked her tongue and dropped her work into her lap, giving Ray a sympathetic look. “Well, if that’s your plan, I think you need to go ahead and get to it. There may not be much time left.”
That took the wind right out of Ray’s sails. “What do you mean? What did you hear?”
Tilly was a treasure trove of secrets, which is why she always seemed to know everything about everybody, even before everybody else knew it.
“I heard that the Ducharmes are planning a welcome party for Rebecca. They’re holding it in the town gardens
and plan to invite everyone to meet the woman they plan for their son to marry.”
Ray felt sick to her stomach. “They’re forcin’ his hand.” His parents knew darn well, though they hadn’t said it outright, planning a party for Rebecca was as good as calling it an engagement party.
“Seems like it—but don’t count yourself out just yet. You can use that party as your chance to show Billy you’re the better woman for him.”
“How?” Ray was desperate. She’d try anything at this point.
“Well, you can put on your prettiest dress, your prettiest manners, and charm him right down to his boot heels.”
“But…what if that doesn’t work?” Her faith in her own ability to charm him was at an all-time low. “What if I make a fool of myself and have to spend the rest of my life watchin’ Billy and Rebecca livin’ their happily ever after?”
The words conjured an image of Billy smiling down at Rebecca on their wedding day; love shining on his face. It felt like a fire was raging inside her chest and she fought off the tears filling her eyes.
Tilly stood up and came to stand beside her. “Ray, I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose the man you love and then have to watch him live happily ever after with another woman.”
Ray groaned, heartache spreading into her belly.
“Tell you what… I have an aunt in Boston. She wrote to me just this week about a room she has to let. She’s studying be a chemist and needs a little help paying for room and board. You can go live with her; maybe find a job and stay with her for a while until you figure out what to do next.”
Is that what it would come to? Me leavin’ my ma to run like a coward and hide in the big city…away from the man I love?
“Do you think she’d have me?”
Tilly tapped her chin, then gave Ray a reassuring smile. “Of course, but that option won’t be necessary. You’re going to win Billy’s heart at the party.”
Her friend had more confidence in Ray than she had in herself. The look of determination on Tilly’s face stirred something deep within Ray. Something that she’d been pushing down and trying to snuff out since she’d come up with the plan to try and be a refined, genteel lady.
The Shepherd's Daughter (Dry Bayou Brides Book 1) Page 6
