by Carrigan Fox
She smiled after her sister. “You’ll probably fall asleep out there.”
Chase was nowhere near falling asleep. She needed to do something. She stepped out onto the porch, still wearing her trousers. Before she had a chance to second guess herself, she stepped back inside and grabbed one of Marcus’s hats, hanging on a rack by the door.
She stroked Artemis’s face gently while she led her out of her stall, hoping to keep her quiet until they were a safe distance from the house. As the sun sank lower in the sky, she headed in the direction they’d come from just yesterday, toward town.
Artemis walked slowly while Chase struggled to shove her hair up inside her brother’s hat. It had been days since she had enjoyed a cool glass of beer and a good game of cards. It seemed to be just the thing to get her mind off of Colton Webb.
All thoughts of forgetting the irresistible Texan vanished when she walked into the saloon in town and immediately recognized the sound of his drawl over the others. Chantal’s was not an overly large saloon, but it was big enough to house a good-sized bar, tended by a large balding man, and a number of smaller tables, fully occupied by a number of men. Scantily clad women strolled between the tables, carrying trays of beer and stopping periodically to flirt with the customers. To the right of the door, a steep, narrow set of stairs led to a second story, where according to Webb, Chantal’s girls entertained the paying customers behind closed doors.
When Chase first entered the saloon, the loud music and cloud of smoke welcomed her warmly. She felt better already. Even when a few men turned to look at her, a stranger in town, she wasn’t bothered. She nodded slightly and made her way to the nearest table. Webb’s voice bellowed across the crowded saloon, stopping her in her tracks.
“Hell, Cochrane!” he hollered. “Imagine runnin’ into you here!”
Rather than carrying on an obnoxiously loud conversation with a man who could easily humiliate her and blow her cover, she moved slowly toward his table, greeting the man who hours earlier, had been sampling her body with his hands and his mouth. “Good evening, Webb. I didn’t expect to see you here this evening.”
He grinned and lowered his voice to a normal volume as she drew closer. “It was a long day. But after a cold swim, I felt that a game of cards and a few drinks would clear my head. You?’
She only nodded in response, hoping that the saloon was too cloudy for the other men to see her flushed cheeks. Even if it wasn’t, her sunburn had taken full effect, and even the most severe flush would be masked by the blistering skin.
Webb kicked a chair out from under the table for her and ordered a round of drinks for everyone at the table. As she fell into the seat he’d offered, he flipped a cigar across the table to her. She met his sparking eyes gratefully, wanting him even more than she had at the pond.
“Gents, this man here is Chase Cochrane. Fresh from England. He’s staying with Fairfax and working the ranch with him for a bit.”
The other men at the table introduced themselves after listening to Webb’s version of her background. With the exception of the “man” and the “Cochrane,” the rest of it was mostly true.
“Cochrane here has developed a taste for playing cards, not to mention cold beer and cigars. You all had best be prepared to lose some money tonight. He’ll clean you out if you aren’t careful,” Webb continued.
They played four or five hands before the door of the saloon swung open, admitting a furious looking Marcus Fairfax. He paused in the doorway to scan the crowd, and she sunk lower in her seat, turning her back to the door.
“Isn’t that your brother storming over this way?” Webb asked innocently.
Marcus stomped angrily to stand behind her and ripped his own hat off of her head. Her hair fell down to her shoulders. “What in the hell are you doing here?” he growled. “This is no place for a lady, Chase. Much less my sister. If you’re smart, you will get your horse and high-tail it home. After all, if I can’t catch you, I can’t beat you.”
“You wouldn’t dare lay a hand on me!” she challenged.
“Try me,” he hissed.
“This little lady your sister?” the bartender asked Marcus. They had the attention of every man and woman in the saloon. Nobody seemed terribly surprised to see that she was a woman. Perhaps these Texans weren’t as easily fooled as the English. Or perhaps they had drunk too much ale this evening to be surprised by a dancing elephant waltzing through the door. Or upon further reflection, she figured it was more likely that word had spread through the small town that Marcus Fairfax’s sisters had come to town on the train the day before.
“She is. And she will not be back here again.”
“Damn shame. She’s a site to see. Warm’s a man’s insides to see something so perty here in Slaughter…no offense, Chantal,” another patron muttered.
A woman with short brown hair and too much eye makeup stood beside the bar and waved her hand at the man, dismissing his comment. Marcus grabbed his sister’s arm and hauled her out of her seat.
“Get your hands off of me, or so help me God, I will bloody you up right here,” she threatened through her teeth.
“I’d like to see you try,” her brother sneered. Nonetheless, he released her arm but stood close to her so that she had to tip her head back to meet his glare.
“I’ll leave,” she assured him. “But not because you’re ordering me to. We didn’t travel all this way, Marcus, because we needed some presumptuous ass to order us around. We left plenty of volunteers for that job behind in England.”
Chase pushed past him and headed for the door.
A vaguely husky voice stopped her as she reached the door. “Oh, Chase, honey?”
She turned to the bar and met the laughing eyes of Chantal. She took a long drag off of a cigar and blew out a puff of smoke. “A lady with that kind of smarts and moxy is welcome in my place any time.”
Chase allowed the corner of her mouth to turn up in a smile, but stopped when she saw Webb walking from his table. He was following one of the young women whose bosom struggled against the snug fabric of her tiny dress. Her long blond hair trailed down her back, ending at a very short skirt that barely covered her long, stockinged legs. He passed Chase and her brother on his way to the narrow staircase, giving her a lazy nod.
“Have a good evenin’, Cochrane,” he drawled. And then he followed the blond up the stairs. Her hips swung with exaggeration as she moved slowly toward the second floor.
Tears threatened to spill while her stomach threatened to bring up Elisa’s delicious dinner. She turned furiously and pushed through the doorway, hurrying to untie her horse and get home. She raced away, hoping Marcus wasn’t following her. She couldn’t stand it if he saw how humiliated she was. And it was only partly his fault.
***
When she had walked through the door of Chantal’s, he had nearly come out of his seat. And sitting across from him with that cigar between her luscious lips, he wanted nothing more than to be at the pond with her again. He studied her while she looked over her cards. How had he ever believed she was a boy? Regardless of the hat, trousers, and cigar, he could still see the hint of her breasts and the purely feminine face.
And when she looked at him, he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and take her upstairs. Damn her for being so beautiful and coming to Chantal’s tonight. It didn’t matter if they were in Texas or England. She was still a lady, even if she didn’t want to be.
And she was a damned tease, too. She knew how badly he wanted her, and yet she still sat across the table from him smoking her cigar and beating the pants off of the other men at the table. And then there’d been the fire in her eyes when her brother had stormed in. She was full of contradictions. And she was more of a complication than he wanted or needed.
He could see the hurt in her eyes when he followed Virginia upstairs. But it was his first reaction to the feelings she stirred. He couldn’t have her. But he would be damned if he’d deny all women. He was no monk. And he f
igured that maybe Virginia could scratch the itch that had been bothering him since the encounter at the pond.
Instead, he stood unmoving while Virginia placed a trail of kisses from his collar bone down his flat stomach. Then he pulled her to her feet and buttoned his shirt.
“What are you doing, Webb?” she asked. He had been with Virginia before, and she was usually very eager to satisfy. But it wasn’t her he wanted satisfaction from anymore. And as soon as her hands and mouth touched his body, he knew that she couldn’t help him.
“Not tonight, honey. This isn’t what I need tonight.” He paid her, although she tried to refuse to take his money.
“I didn’t do anything,” she said.
He simply dropped the money on the bed and walked back downstairs and out of the saloon. Thankfully, there was no sign of either Fairfax the whole way home.
CHAPTER 12
A week had passed with no contact with Colton Webb. Contrary to popular belief, absence had not made the heart grow fonder. Instead, she was able to put him out of her mind more easily. She spent the mornings with Marcus and Tom, helping feed the animals and clean up the barn. Then she would spend the afternoons with Elisa, Reese, and her grandmother, working in the garden and preparing a large dinner for the family.
She was beginning to grow accustomed to rising with the sun and working all day. It was hard, exhausting work, but she loved every moment of it. Marcus admitted that he hated to put his younger sister to work on the ranch, but he knew that she would be happier working with him, and in truth, he was short on men anyway.
And so the routine had been established when she woke one morning to the smell of coffee and bacon. She dressed hurriedly, certain that she had overslept. But when she stumbled into the kitchen while binding her hair at the nape of her neck, she found only Elisa, humming as she moved awkwardly around the kitchen. She flipped eggs with one hand while she rubbed her protruding belly unconsciously.
“What’s that you’re humming?” Chase asked sleepily, enjoying the domestic picture that her sister-in-law made.
Elisa smiled brightly at her. “Mr. John Phillips Sousa. He’s composed these beautiful patriotic songs that have become quite popular. There will be a small band playing this evening; you’ll get to hear them then.”
“A small band this evening?”
Elisa stopped flipping and rubbing and stared at Chase with something just short of amazement. “And you consider yourself an American?” she teased. “Have you no idea what day it is?” She waited for a response, while her sister-in-law looked on, dumbfounded. “It’s the Fourth of July.”
Still nothing from Chase.
“It’s the American Independence Day,” she explained.
“I had no idea. And why will there be a band playing the music of this Mr….?”
“John Phillips Sousa,” she finished for her. “There is a large celebration in Cloverdale this afternoon. People will travel from all over the county to join in the festivities. There will be an afternoon picnic and games. Some will swim in the watering hole. And after the sun goes down, there will be music and dancing.”
Chase couldn’t get the image of the first dance of the Season out of her mind. Although Elisa certainly looked excited about the day’s festivities, she was skeptical.
“What about the chores?” she asked, already preparing to make excuses to not attend.
Elisa grinned in response. “No reason to waste the morning. We’ll get an early start and then come in and clean up after lunch.” She studied the eggs for a moment and then met her eyes. “It’s a wonderful time, Chase. It will be your first taste of American tradition.”
“I’m sure it will be delightful,” she responded, not nearly convinced.
***
Try as she might, Chastity couldn’t maintain her sour mood. The sheer giddiness of her sister and grandmother was contagious. As they climbed out of Mr. Wainwright’s automobile, she gazed across the grassy lawn, smiling at the sight of all those Texans enjoying themselves. Children raced after each other between trees, stopping only long enough beside their mothers’ picnic blankets to grab a snack or sandwich. On the opposite side of the lawn, a group of men were kneeling beside chairs while they removed sparkling brass-colored musical instruments from leather cases.
“Didn’t I tell you it would be magnificent?” Elisa whispered over her shoulder.
“You were correct,” Chase answered softly.
To their left stood a large watering hole. Squeals of children and adults alike reached them as they leapt into the water and splashed each other playfully. Chase closed her eyes and tried to imagine her mother and father enjoying themselves that way, and the image forced her to suppress a giggle. Her grandmother, on the other hand, was looking longingly toward the water.
Marcus must have noticed her expression as well. “Grandmother?” he suggested, offering her his arm.
She grinned and latched onto him, and the two of them started toward the swimmers. Reese hesitated a moment and then followed.
“Finally,” Elisa sighed, “a moment alone.” She took the blanket she had brought from the house and shook it out.
“Are you feeling a bit smothered?” Chase asked with a sympathetic smile before taking the blanket from her hand and spreading it out on the ground herself. With Elisa’s rapidly increasing middle, she was having a hard time bending and kneeling. Chastity was happy to be of some use to her.
She shook her head quickly. “Oh no. I only meant that I’d been hoping to have some time to speak with you alone since you…galloped up our driveway,” she laughed.
She shaded her eyes and turned to look for her grandmother. “I know that I’m probably a bit of a shock to you. I didn’t know you well at Rosewood; and I was a girl then and you were probably paying more attention to my brother than his bratty little sister.”
Elisa interrupted her. “You haven’t changed since the day my father and I moved to Rosewood. Stubborn, opinionated, beautiful, and passionate. That isn’t what I have on my mind. It’s something a bit more personal.”
“Oh?”
“When you raced Marcus toward the house that evening, I couldn’t help but notice Colton Webb’s fascination with you. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you.”
Chase stood in silence, still making a pretense of scanning the crowd for the rest of their family.
“Have you noticed that he pays quite a bit of attention to you?” she asked with an irritatingly forward manner.
“Mr. Webb pays attention to everything and everyone,” she answered, dismissing Elisa’s observation.
“Chase, I want to speak to you about this…woman to woman,” she added softly. “Not as your brother’s wife. But as a friend who has made some observations and would like to help you.”
Now she had her full attention. “Help me?” she asked. Was she assuming that Webb’s advances were unwelcome? Did she have some warnings for me against this dangerous womanizer? How did Elisa intend to help her?
“Yes. Help you. Your brother, bless him, is quite dense when it comes to women. And he’s especially blind when it comes to his sisters. I think that he was quite possibly the only person on the porch that evening who couldn’t sense the tension between you and Colton. He prefers not to see it. He and Colton had a falling out recently, and he doesn’t have anything good to say about his competitor.”
“I’m aware of that. But really, Elisa, I don’t know what tension you are referring to. Perhaps you simply—”
“Don’t insult my intelligence, Chase. I know what I saw. And before you think that I am judging you or him, I have to assure you that I’m not. In truth, I have always been fond of Colton. He’s honest and hard working. And between you and me, he’s extremely handsome.”
And his kisses are capable of melting a woman, she thought to herself.
“When Marcus told me you were coming to live with us, would you like to know what my first thought was?” she asked, trying a different angle.
“That you were looking forward to the extra help with the baby coming?” she guessed.
Elisa laughed. “That was my second thought. My first thought was that I couldn’t wait for you to meet Colton. When I first met him here in Texas, I once asked Marcus if he didn’t agree that he was the perfect match for you.”
This time, Chase was the one who laughed. “And what did Marcus say?”
“He said that if your mother and father ever managed to find you a husband, he would be a noble, not a rancher.” She smiled, remembering. “I had said to him, ‘And you think that Chase, unlike you, would marry the man they selected for her?’ He laughed and said probably not. I can’t tell you how many times I started a letter to you intending to tell you about him.”
“He is an appealing man, Elisa, but neither Webb nor I have any desire to marry. So we are left at this impasse. We are better off staying out of each other’s worlds.”
She was silent for a minute or two, and Chase finally turned to find her sister-in-law studying her.
“You’re bluffing,” she responded simply. “I think that for the first time in your life, you have found a man you want to marry, and it terrifies you.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Chase replied quickly. And after a moment, “Besides, he has no intention of marrying anyone.”
Elisa shrugged. “I think you’re mistaken. He just hasn’t yet admitted to himself that he cannot live without you.”
Chase grinned back at her, deciding in that moment that she had finally found the confidante she needed in her sister-in-law. “How do I make him realize that?”
Elisa slowly and awkwardly seated herself on the picnic blanket and went about the task of unloading the picnic basket. “Now you’re talking, Chase. Have you kissed him?”
The heat in her face was enough of an answer.
“Has it gone further than that?” she whispered.
