Brazen (26 page)

"What's her name?"

"Casey Turner."

"Casey? What an odd name for a woman," Dorothea
remarked. "We can start asking around town discreetly,
of course. That way you'll be ready for anything that happens at the social."

"I'll be ready, all right. You'll see." She gave her mother
a confident, superior smile.

"How did it go?" Nick asked when Michael arrived at the
building site. He'd been watching and waiting for his
cousin.

"About like I expected it would."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yes, but it's over. Now all I have to worry about is
Casey."

"She was one angry woman when she rode away this
morning."

"She sure was."

"It's a good thing she knows how to shoot, she could
have done you a lot of damage if she'd missed or aimed
too high." Nick had been hoping to lighten Michael's
mood, and he was glad when his cousin finally laughed.

"You're right about that. I'm just glad Karen didn't have
a gun this morning."

"I bet." Nick was chuckling. "Think about it, though.
You've got women fighting over you."

"Impressed, are you?"

"Absolutely. I've never had any women fighting over
me."

"Trust me, it isn't as great as it sounds," Michael assured
him. "Let's get to work."

"You know there is a church social this Saturday night,"
Elizabeth informed Michael and Nick over dinner that
evening.

"Do you think Anne from the general store will be
there?" Nick asked hopefully.

"Everybody will be there. It's quite the event. You will
be taking Casey, won't you?" she asked, looking at her
son. "It will give you the perfect opportunity to set things
straight with her and show everyone in town that there
are no problems in your relationship."

Michael had told her everything that had happened
with Karen. Elizabeth was coming to genuinely care for
Cassandra, and she wanted to protect her from any ugly
gossip.

"I haven't talked to Casey about it."

"Why don't you plan on going?" She said it in a way
that would not allow him to refuse.

"What if Casey doesn't want to attend?"

"Cassandra and I have to go into town tomorrow for her final dress fitting with Sissy. I'll speak to her about it
then."

Michael could tell he was trapped. "Fine. Make the arrangements with her, and we'll go."

Casey had worked extra hard all day just to keep her mind
off Michael. She was furious with herself for the way she'd
reacted when John had told her Michael was engaged to
another woman.

She'd actually been jealous!

Casey told herself she could not allow herself to care
about Michael. He certainly didn't care about her.

It was late when she returned to the house, exhausted
and ready for a quiet night.

"One of the boys from the Circle D brought this by for
you," Jack said, handing her an envelope when she sat
down at the dinner table with him. "He said it was from
Elizabeth."

"Oh." Casey opened it and quickly read the note.

"What does she want?"

"I have to meet her in town tomorrow for the final fitting
on the wedding dress."

"That's good. The wedding is getting close."

"And she wants me to attend the church social with
Michael on Saturday night."

"That's not a bad idea," Jack encouraged, "especially
after what you told me about the gossip in town."

Casey hadn't wanted to tell him any of it, but she had
explained everything when she'd returned from the Circle
D that morning. She'd realized everyone in town knew about Michael's "other" fiancee, so her father would undoubtedly hear about it sooner or later. The news would
be better coming straight from her.

"All right. I'll tell her I'll go when I see her tomorrow."

Casey wasn't looking forward to spending time with
Michael, but there was no way to avoid it. They were
engaged, and soon they would show the whole town just
how much "in love" they were. She grimaced inwardly at
the thought and hoped the rest of the week went real
slow. She was in no hurry to see her "beloved" fiance
again.

"There you are!" Sissy greeted Casey the following day.
"Elizabeth is already here. Come on in."

They went back to the dressing room where Elizabeth
was waiting for her.

"Hello, Cassandra, dear, how are you?" Elizabeth said
warmly.

"Fine." She hesitated to say much more, for she didn't
know how much Elizabeth knew about Karen Whittington.

"Michael told me about this whole awkward situation
with the young lady from Philadelphia. I'm sorry if it upset
you. I was just telling Sissy about the misunderstanding."

"It was awkward, but Michael straightened everything
out."

"That's good," Sissy said. "You don't need that kind of
excitement so close to your wedding day."

"No, we don't," Elizabeth agreed.

Sissy brought out the wedding dress.

Casey quickly shed her clothes.

Both Elizabeth and Sissy noticed she was wearing her
old undergarments.

"Why aren't you wearing the pretty new things you got
the last time you were here?" Sissy asked.

Casey blushed uneasily at her question. "They were so
delicate-looking, I was afraid to wear them on a regular
day.,,

"Nonsense, Cassandra. You start wearing them now.
That's what we bought them for," Elizabeth said encouragingly.

With the seamstress's help, Casey slipped into the wedding gown.

Sissy arranged the skirts and adjusted the bodice, then
stepped back to study her handiwork. Elizabeth stood
with Sissy, and they both looked Casey over.

The white satin gown was perfect on her.

"What do you think?" Sissy asked Elizabeth.

"She looks positively radiant. You did a fine job."

"Thank you."

"Look at yourself in the mirror, Cassandra," Elizabeth
urged.

Casey moved to the full-length mirror and stared at her
reflection. "It's lovely."

"No, you're lovely," Elizabeth insisted.

"You are going to be the most beautiful bride Hard
Luck has ever seen," Sissy complimented.

"I wouldn't say that." Casey had never been told she
was beautiful before.

"We would," Elizabeth said.

"Now let's see how the other gowns I made for you fit.
I think you're going to be pleased with them, too."

The first dress Casey tried on was a simple day gown.
It required little in the way of alterations, and Sissy promised to have it ready before the wedding.

"This next one is special. It's going to look lovely on
you," Sissy told Casey as she left the room for a minute.

Casey was expecting another day gown. She was awed
when Sissy returned.

"What do you think?" Sissy asked, smiling in delight at
Casey's surprised expression as she held up the lovely
confection. "This will be perfect for the social Saturday
night."

"Oh, yes, it will," Casey agreed, staring at the dark blue
gown. She'd never owned anything as nice as this.

"We thought you might like it," Elizabeth said. "Try it
on.,,

With their help, Casey donned the gown and,after Sissy
had fastened the back, turned to the mirror. She almost
didn't recognize herself. In the wedding gown, she had
looked radiant and pretty. In this gown, Casey was
shocked to think she almost looked seductive. The color
complimented her, the silk clung to her curves, and the
bodice, though modestly cut, revealed enough to let the
world know she was a woman full-grown.

"I have a pearl necklace and earrings you can wear,"
Elizabeth said, studying her critically. The transformation
was more complete than she'd dreamed possible. She'd
always believed Cassandra was pretty, but now she knew
her son's fiancee was beautiful. "We'll have to do some thing with your hair. Do you want me to come to your
house and help you get ready Saturday afternoon?"

"Would you?" Casey looked at Elizabeth in delight, appreciating the offer of feminine guidance.

"Of course. This will be fun. We'll surprise Michael."

"He'll be surprised, all right," Casey agreed.

"Sissy, you've done a wonderful job. Thank you," Elizabeth told her.

"1 loved every minute of it." Sissy had to admit the
change in Casey was the most exciting she'd ever seen.
Casey was lucky to be getting a mother-in-law who cared
so much about her.

Sissy boxed up the gowns, and Casey put them in the
buckboard she'd driven in to town that day. After thanking Elizabeth and saying good-bye, Casey drove to the
general store, hoping that Anne might be working.

Ernest was just coming on duty at the hotel when he noticed Casey driving her buckboard down the street. He'd
had to clean up the mess Miss Whittington had made
when she'd had her showdown with Michael Donovan,
and he wondered if she knew what Michael's real fiancee
looked like. He went into the hotel and hurried upstairs
to knock on the Whittingtons' door.

"Yes, who is it?" Karen called out.

"It's Ernest."

She opened the door to see what the desk clerk
wanted. "Yes?"

"I know this ain't none of my affair, but seeing as how
you're interested in Donovan and all, I thought you might
want to get a look at Casey Turner while you had the
chance."

"She's here?" Karen was eager to see the woman who'd
stolen Michael from her.

"She's outside, driving by right now if you want to take
a look." Karen ran to the window, and her mother joined
her there. They were all but hanging out, trying to see the
woman outside.

"I don't see her," Karen complained.

"There's only a boy driving by in a buckboard," Dorothea told him.

Ernest snickered. "That's no boy, ladies. That's Casey
Turner."

"Are you serious?" Dorothea asked, then turned to look
out again at the driver of the passing buckboard.

"That's Casey?" Karen said in a shocked tone. The girl
was wearing men's pants.

"That's her," Ernest affirmed.

"Thank you, Ernest," Dorothea said, signaling it was
time for him to leave them.

"You're welcome, ladies."

When he'd gone, Karen looked at her mother, feeling
quite smug. "I am going to have a wonderful time at the
social this weekend. So Michael thinks he wants to marry
a woman who looks and dresses like a boy. I'll show him
what he's missing."

"Good girl!" her mother exclaimed.

"I was almost dreading the thought of going, but now
I'm excited about it."

Karen couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive.

"Why, Casey! What a pleasant surprise," Mrs. Lawson said
as Casey entered the general store. She and Anne were
working together behind the counter.

"Hello, Mrs. Lawson. I had to come in to town for the
final fitting on my wedding dress, so I thought I'd drop by
and see you."

"This wedding is so exciting," Mrs. Lawson said.

"Yes, it is exciting," Casey agreed, but for different reasons. "Anne, are you going to the social Saturday night?
Elizabeth thinks Michael and I should go together, so
we'll be there."

"Oh, yes, we're going," Anne answered. Then she
asked, "Casey, is Michael's cousin Nick going to attend?"

"I don't know. Do you want me to ask him to come?"

"I don't want to seem forward, but yes!" Her eyes lit
up at the thought of seeing the handsome Easterner again.

"I'll do my best. It'll be a good chance for you to get to
know each other better. He's going to be Michael's best
man, and you're my maid of honor."

"I can't wait."

"I've never known you to be so interested in a man
before."

"Well, Nick is really different. He's a gentleman. I've
never met anyone like him before, and I want to get to
know him better."

"You have good taste in men, Anne. I like Nick, too."

"He reminds me of a hero out of one of the dime novels
I read."

"You are such a romantic."

"I know," she sighed and smiled. "Some day my prince
will come."

"Prince Nick?" Casey said thoughtfully.

"Oh, you!" Anne laughed at the thought. "But it would
be nice, wouldn't it? To be swept off your feet by a handsome nobleman and live happily ever after."

"Yes," Casey said, hiding the sadness in her heart. "It
would."

But it was never going to happen to her.

Saturday came far too quickly for Casey. The thought of
seeing Michael again made her decidedly uneasy. Elizabeth had assured her that Michael had taken care of
everything with the other woman, but even so, she wasn't
sure how thrilled he was going to be to see her again.
After all, the last time she'd shot at him.

Casey kept herself busy working around the ranch all
morning. She returned to the house for the noon meal and
to start getting ready. She knew it was going to take a while
to go from being a cowgirl to becoming the lady Elizabeth
hoped she could be. She just hoped she could do it.