"You can't be serious. The woman was taken advantage of. Made promises to. By a man she trusted."
She saw John wince, but he didn't give in. "I'm sorry, Regina. I know you want to help Mary, but the best I can do is to give her the means to take care of herself until she can find another job."
"Another job? What are you saying, John? You’re going to let Mary go, just when she needs her job and her place here more than ever? Why would you do such a thing? How could you do such a thing?"
John didn't answer her. Instead, he turned to Mary, "You knew the rules, Mary. I'll give you a good reference, but I have no choice but to let you go."
John had known that Mary and his bartender were close, he just didn't realize how close, until now. Mary's news was an unfortunate turn of events, but it wasn't his doing, and Regina needed to understand that running a business required him to make tough decisions.
Mary took the money. "Thank you, Mr. Kingston. You are most generous. I…I tried to tell Regina how things were, but…”
Mary curtsied and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. John kept quiet for a moment to give Regina a chance to come to grips with the situation before he spoke.
"Regina—" he began.
"How could you do this, John? How could you set that poor girl out without a second thought? What about the man who did this to her? Where is his punishment?"
"He will be dealt with, but you keep saying he did this to her, when the fact is, he did this with her. She was a willing partner if I understand the situation correctly," he explained.
"He told her he loved her, but all he wanted was—" Regina stopped short, her face pinked.
"I know what he wanted, Regina. And maybe he does love her, and things will work out between them, but that's their business. Not ours."
"He used her, John. Can't you see that? He professed his love to her, but he lied. And now, her trust in the man she gave her heart to is shattered. She will never be the same. Not ever."
John hated to hear those words spoken from Regina's lips. It was almost as if she were predicting the future. Their future.
"Regina, we don't know the whole story. And, in my defense, I make it very clear to all of my employees when I hire them that what they do on their own time is their business—as long as it does not interfere with their work on my time."
Regina didn't answer him. Instead, she sat staring at her lap where her fingers twisted a lace-trimmed handkerchief.
John watched as his wife came to terms with what he was saying. He knew her compassionate heart was in the right place, but she was naïve when it came to just about everything else. Her parents had sheltered her and kept her sitting on a shelf until the right man came along that would benefit her father's purse or his aspirations. John grimaced.
Perhaps he could offer her a new life entirely, something that would give her a more permanent place in his life. Something that would make her a part of not only his life but his world. The idea took root and before he knew it, he was making the offer.
"Regina, I know this is all very upsetting to you and I am truly sorry about Mary and her situation. But I can assure you, these rules were not made arbitrarily. There is a past reason for every present rule."
John walked to where his wife sat and pulled her from her chair. "I know you have always been made to feel like you have no voice, but I am here to tell you that you do. It would give me great pleasure if you would join me in running my business affairs."
Regina's eyes rounded in shock. "Your business? John, what do I know about running a hotel?"
He smiled down at her. "Not the hotel perhaps, but I have been thinking about starting a new business. I don’t know if you can even call it a business because I don’t know if it is a profitable venture just yet. I would like to talk to you about the possibility of creating a place to make it easier for working families. Something new that would allow people like Mary, who have no family or close friends, to have a child and still be able to work outside the home and make a living."
"What kind of business would this be?" He could tell Regina was hanging on his every word.
"It's a paid care house for young children I suppose is the best way to describe it." He had been thinking about this for quite some time. He had seen the needs of his employees and others less fortunate. He just needed a woman's perspective to get the ball rolling.
"A paid care house for young children? How would that work?" Regina frowned in confusion, but he could see the interest spark in her eyes.
"I first heard about such a thing in a book I read by Samuel Wilderspin called On the Importance of Educating the Infant Poor, published in 1819. It’s quite a forward-thinking concept, don’t you agree?”
“I suppose so, but isn’t that an odd subject for a man to be reading?” Regina said, although she thought it was just like John to take an interest in others.
“True, but it struck a chord in me because of how I grew up. And I can see there is a desperate need for this sort of thing among my own hotel staff. I thought the idea had merit.”
“It sounds very intriguing. Please, tell me more about these care houses.”
“There were forms of these care houses since the late seventeen hundreds, and there was an infant school opened in Scotland and England in the early eighteen hundreds. Some of the women in my employment are widowed or, like in Mary's case, have fallen on hard times with no husband or family to help them provide or care for their children.”
Regina frowned at him. “Are you saying you have other people in Mary’s position? And are you saying you didn’t fire them?”
“No, I’m saying I have members of my staff who have fallen on hard times. As I’ve said before, Regina, what people do on their own time is their business, but when two of my employees create an entanglement that disrupts their ability to perform their jobs, then I must intervene.
“While I do have women who have had children out of marriage, they did it before they arrived on my payroll and they were involved with someone who was not on my payroll. Now do you understand the purpose of my rules?”
Her eyes rose to meet his. “Yes, I understand. I don’t like it, but I do understand. It’s just that now Mary has no one to help with the baby when the money you gave her runs out and she tries to return to work. I’m just so worried about—"
“That’s why I think that if these women, like Mary, had a trustworthy place to leave their children during work hours, they would be less distracted worrying about their children's welfare. It would benefit the children as well. They would have a safe, clean place to play and good food to eat. I think it would be a winning proposition for everyone."
John realized his enthusiasm for the project was apparent in his every word. Embarrassed, he looked at Regina to see her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
"Oh, John. I think it’s the most wonderful idea anyone has ever had. What even made you think of something like this? It isn't as if you have children…”
John watched Regina's expression change. "Do you? Have children?" she asked.
He grinned. "No, Regina. I do not have children. You forget I was one of those children who had no mother to care for them. She left me and my father when I was but a tiny babe. And my father, well, most days he could barely get out of his bed from a drunken stupor. When he died, I was left to fend for myself. I didn't even have the benefit of a sibling to suffer with."
Regina placed her hand on his arm and looked him in the eye. "I'm so sorry you had such a rough time growing up, John. And I'm even more sorry my father added to your pain.” She squeezed his arm and her face filled with pride and admiration. “I think this plan of yours is brilliant and I am both honored and touched that you would ask me to help you. When do we start?"
"How about right now?" John suggested. "What we need to do first is find a place where the children can stay throughout the day and sleep at night, as some of my female staff work both during the day and overnight. A hotel is
a twenty-four hour, seven days a week business. It takes having staff available around the clock in order to see to the needs of my guests.”
"And it would need to be located away from busy streets so the children can play safely and sleep without fear. We would also need a place with a kitchen so someone can cook food for them," Regina added.
"Yes, that's an excellent idea." John smiled at Regina's excitement.
"Oh John, this is such a wonderful thing to do for our community. Perhaps I can enlist the help of some of The Ladies Club of Durango members and their mothers. I'm certain some of my friends would love to help and they are always looking for a good cause to support. If we put our heads together, I’m certain we can come up with a plan that is not too costly to start or too much for mothers to afford."
Regina threw her arms around John and hugged him tightly. His arms involuntarily caught her around the waist and held her in place.
She pulled back and he saw the surprise in her eyes. He started to let her go, but when her eyes dropped to his lips, a jolt of white-hot desire pulsed through his body leaving him no other choice but to answer her silent invitation.
He bent his head slowly towards hers, and when she didn't pull away, he kissed her.
Chapter Ten
Regina stood in John's embrace and realized that moment their friendship had become something more.
Her impulse to hug him had been just that—an impulse. She was so happy he trusted her. And with such an important project. No one ever bothered to ask what she thought. Especially not her parents.
She had learned long ago to keep her opinions to herself. Her mother had once told her that a good wife was meant to be seen, not heard. Thank goodness John didn't believe such nonsense.
When he pulled her closer to him, she was pleasantly surprised and the sudden urge to know what it felt like to kiss him was quite overwhelming. She waited for his lead. She was not disappointed.
John leaned his head down to hers, capturing her lips with his. The soft brush of his beard and mustache left a tingling trail against her mouth. She took a step closer, fusing their two bodies into one.
He deepened their kiss and Regina's knees threatened to buckle. The way he held her felt as if he would never let her go. She felt cherished and cared for. If only that were true.
His hand snaked up her back and stroked the base of her neck. She tilted her head back to give him even more access to her mouth. He took what she offered.
His lips blazed a trail from her mouth to her jaw and down her neck, where he nipped his way across her shoulder. She really should sit down before she embarrassed herself, but she didn't want to leave the sizzling confines of his strong arms.
"Regina, this probably isn't the best place for this. A member of my staff could walk in at any moment," he whispered against her lips.
His words washed over her, cooling her passion just enough for rational thought to return. But when he followed his words of caution with another searing kiss, his tongue penetrating her mouth, ravaging it thoroughly, she realized she really didn't care who walked in.
It was at that moment a knock sounded on the door just before it opened. Regina turned in embarrassed mortification to see John's friend, Will, standing in the open doorway grinning from ear-to-ear.
"Good morning, John. Mrs. Kingston. I see the marriage is going well."
Regina heard the emphasis on the word Mrs. and knew what he was thinking. It wasn't as if her reputation would be intact when she left Durango. After all, she would be considered a divorced woman in the eyes of the community, but Will knew she did not have the benefit of a real marriage certificate to be doing what it was he thought she was—what she was doing. What must he think of her? Did she care? She realized she didn’t, not as long as he kept her secret.
"Will, what are you doing here so early this morning? Aren't you supposed to have a—" Regina heard John's words stop short as if he didn't want to finish his sentence. Now, she was curious.
"Don't you have a what?" she asked. When neither man spoke, she asked again. "What is going on between you two?"
Will spoke up. "I think John is just trying to save your sensibilities, Regina. He doesn't want you to know that I'm an impossible reprobate and I may or may not have a woman waiting for me at this hour."
Embarrassed, Regina felt the heat in her face. "I'm sorry. I—it was none of my business and I shouldn't have asked. If you gentlemen will excuse me, I have a great deal to do today. There are places to look at and people to talk to. Oh, this is all so exciting. Thank you, John. For everything. I will always be grateful to you for seeing me as an intelligent human being and not just a pawn to be used in some kind of game where I am the prize."
She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. It was a chaste kiss for the benefit of their company, but when his eyes met hers, the spark between them flared again. John was right. This was not the time or the place for whatever was blossoming between them.
She turned away from John and in an attempt to cover up her intense feelings for him, Regina said the first thing that popped into her flustered mind, "Will, it is good to see you again so soon. I was just thinking about the wedding certificate and hoping it will pass even the most scrupulous examination. I fear if my father has anything to say about it, we will have to produce it sooner rather than later, if his behavior in the hotel lobby is any indication. My father is a very sore loser."
Will bowed to her and cut a quick look to John before he replied to her comment. "I can assure you, Regina, that certificate will convince even the most suspicious of minds of its authenticity."
She smiled at the men, bid them a good morning, and left them to their manly conversation. It was already mid-morning and she had so much to do. First thing she would do is enlist the help of her friends in The Ladies Club of Durango. They could help her draw up a list of all the things they would need to make John's care house for young children project a reality.
Regina had never felt so alive in all her born days. The drudgery of sitting—hour after hour—learning French and tatting useless lace doilies were behind her. John had given her a purpose in life. Something she could take pride in.
Thoughts of John and how he made her feel led her to a place she wasn't certain she was ready to go, but the memory of his lips, his arms, his body against hers, made her want things from him. Things a woman should only want from her husband.
She smiled to herself as she made her way down the hall to the room where the club met. In the eyes of the citizens of Durango, she and John were husband and wife. And even though it was only pretend, it gave her great satisfaction to know that—for now—John belonged to her.
John closed the door behind Regina, but he simply could not get the sight of her passion-filled eyes and kissed-swollen lips out of his mind.
The arrival of his friend hadn't helped the matter in the least.
"Looks like things are going well in the marriage department. And judging from your wife’s happy disposition, you either haven’t told her the truth yet, or you’ve already gotten her to fall in love with you. Now, I know you are a handsome devil based upon commentary from some of your former paramours, but I doubt even you can manage that effect on Miss Beckett overnight."
John needed time to process everything that had happened this morning. The early morning visit from Regina’s parents accompanied by the sheriff, the situation with Mary, his invitation to Regina to help him get his care house for young children care venture under way.
“Tell me again why you are here so early this morning.” John tried to refocus his thoughts into something more manageable.
“I’m sorry to stop by so early. I guess I should have given you some warning, but I honestly had no idea you would be spending the morning in your office with the missus.”
“I…we…were talking and things got out of hand,” John admitted.
Will grinned. “Yeah, I’d say so. You almost let it slip that I was on my way to preside over
a murder trial in front of Regina.”
“Yeah, thanks for covering it over. At least for now, but I’m going to tell her soon before I make another slip that can’t be covered. I just want to get the timing right so she’ll stay, and after this morning's kiss, I can’t help but hope she is leaning in that direction.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing, my friend, and just to remind you, that murder trial is right here in town. I would assume you are able to keep the Mrs. out of my courtroom. If she learns I’m an actual judge, she’ll know immediately that her marriage to you is as legal as it gets.”
John's thoughts drifted to Regina's participation in this morning's kiss and how it had surprised the hell out of him. He had imagined many times over the years what it would be like to hold her against his chest, feel her in his arms, and to kiss her with all the passion he held in check, but not even his wildest imaginings could compare to reality.
He stiffened just thinking about the desire that coursed between them. How her skin felt beneath his fingers and then there was that kiss. Could her feelings for him be blossoming into something more? Oh, how he hoped. With all his heart.
A knock at the door scattered his thoughts. "Come in."
The door opened to reveal his bartender, Charley Wilson, nervously anticipating this meeting with his boss.
“Oh, I didn’t know you had someone in here, Mr. Kingston. I can come back—”
“No need, Charley. I was just leaving.” Will turned to him and slapped him on the back. “Don’t take too long to take care of that little matter we talked about, John. I’d hate to see your plans fail.”
Will nodded to Charley on his way out leaving John in a whirling dervish of mixed emotions. He would have to deal with those later. Right now, he had business to take care of.
"Charley. Come in and sit down. It seems we have a serious matter to discuss." John shook the man's hand. "Would you like something to drink? I know it's a little early, but considering the nature of our business, I think the hour can be overlooked."
The Debutantes of Durango Box Set Books 1-3 Page 10
