Lorraine Heath (20 page)

Tyler furrowed his brow. “Yesterday, she said they were fine.”

Removing his hat, Dallas studied the distant horizon. With featherlight touches, the sun stroked the dawn with soft hues, much as his wife gently brought sunshine to his days. “You ever been married?”

“No, sir, can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.”

“I don’t know how much of a pleasure it is. Women are contrary. When Dee says something is fine, it’s not fine at all. When it’s fine, she gives you a smile … a smile that will steal your breath away.” Dallas settled his hat on his head. “When she comes to see you today, make certain you do whatever it takes to give her that smile.”

Tyler nodded. “I’ll do that.”

“I’d appreciate it.” He turned his horse.

“Dallas?”

He glanced over his shoulder.

“What should I do with the plans I drew up a few months back for the hotel you wanted to build?”

Dallas shrugged. “Do whatever you want with them. This town only needs one hotel.”

Cordelia had never in her life been as nervous as she was now. She stood back and watched as the surveyor team pounded markers into the ground and roped off the lots where the hotel would one day stand.

Mr. Curtiss had finished the blacksmith shop and the livery. He was ready to begin construction on the hotel.

She squeezed Dallas’s arm as he stood beside her, dressed much as he had been the day she married him: brown trousers, brown jacket, a brown satiny vest. He looked like a successful businessman, not the cowboy who rode in at dusk, covered in sweat and dust. He glanced at her.

“It’s really going to happen, isn’t it?” she asked.

His lips spread into a warm smile, a smile that touched his deep brown eyes. “Yep.”

Holding Precious close within the nook of her arm, she looked over her shoulder. People were gathering behind them, watching the surveyors with interest. She could see all of Dallas’s ranch hands.

She saw Houston weaving his way through the crowd, holding Maggie, her arms looped around his neck. Amelia trudged along beside him, her arm entwined through his. As they neared, Amelia released her hold on Houston and hugged Cordelia close. Precious barked. Amelia laughed.

“This is so exciting,” Amelia said.

Cordelia couldn’t contain her smile. “Mr. Curtiss thinks he can have the hotel completed by October.”

“Four months?” Houston asked. “He thinks he’ll need that much time?”

Cordelia nodded. “It’s going to be a large hotel, a grand hotel.” She squeezed Amelia’s hand. “That’s what we’re going to call it. The Grand Hotel.” She glanced at Dallas. “Aren’t we?”

“We’ll call it whatever you want to call it,” he said.

Houston chuckled. “Sounds like naming a hotel is sorta like naming children.”

Dallas scowled at his brother. “Ain’t nothing like it at all.”

In long strides, Austin walked up to Dallas and whispered something in his ear. Dallas nodded. “Good.”

Austin smiled at Cordelia. “Hard to believe it’s been less than three weeks since you walked into Henderson’s bank. I think you work faster than Dallas when you get an idea burning.”

She blushed and lowered her gaze. “I think this will help the town grow. It will give people a nice place to stay when they visit Leighton.” She glanced at Amelia. “We thought we’d have a special room where the schoolteacher could live.”

“That would be wonderful,” Amelia said, “although much to my shame I haven’t done anything to see about securing one for the town.”

“I haven’t helped you either.”

“That’ll have to be our next order of business,” Dallas said.

Cordelia’s breath caught when she saw her brothers striding toward her. Only Cameron smiled at her. He reached out and took her hand. “Hi, Dee, you’re looking well.”

She felt well, felt happy. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

“Dallas sent word that he had an announcement to make,” Boyd said. He dropped his gaze to her stomach. “Reckon we all know what that announcement is since your husband seems to think everyone cares about his business.”

The animosity surprised her. She hadn’t realized until this moment that she’d grown accustomed to living in a house where anger didn’t always reign supreme. “Where’s Father?”

“He couldn’t make the trip,” Boyd said.

“Is he ill?” she asked.

“Age just catching up with him.”

She looked at Dallas. “I really should go see him soon.”

“I’ll make the arrangements.”

One of the surveyors approached. “We’re done.”

Dallas nodded and turned his attention to Cordelia. “Do you want to walk around the edge of the property before the ceremony begins?”

“The ceremony?” Boyd asked.

With obvious satisfaction, Dallas smiled at her brother. “The groundbreaking ceremony. Our announcement involves the hotel Dee plans to build in Leighton.”

Boyd visibly paled. “Hotel? You’re not announcing that she’s carrying your child?”

“Nope.”

Boyd’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the matter, Leigh? Aren’t you man enough to get her with child?”

Cameron shoved his oldest brother back. “That’s uncalled for, Boyd.”

Boyd held his shaking finger in front of Cameron’s nose. “Never do that again. Never.”

Cameron shook his head. “This is Dee’s moment. Don’t ruin it for her.”

“You knew she was building a hotel?”

Cameron’s gaze darted to Austin before returning to his brother. “Yeah, I knew.”

“I don’t give a damn about any hotel. All I care about is the land that bastard stole from us.” Boyd stormed away.

Cordelia looked at her two remaining brothers. They shifted from one foot to the other as though uncomfortable.

Duncan finally grinned. “I hear there’s gonna be dancing, free food, and free whiskey. I plan to stay.”

“Me, too,” Cameron said with less enthusiasm.

“We’re glad to hear that,” Dallas said. He turned to Cordelia. “A quick walk around the edge? People are getting anxious for us to begin.”

She was anxious for it to end. It always came back to the land, to her giving Dallas a son.

Yet, the man who wanted the son, the man who should be angry because she had not shared her bed with him, was the one standing beside her now, walking around the property that had cost her little more than a smile.

The day she had met him, she had deemed him to be a man of little patience. Yet in the past month, he had never badgered her for what was his by right. He had patiently listened to her plans for the hotel, offered advice, and given her the chance to reach for something that she wanted.

He had asked for nothing in exchange.

“What do you get out of all this?” she asked as they rounded the first corner and walked along the side that would be the back of the hotel.

He seemed surprised as he glanced over at her. “I like to see you smile. Building the hotel seemed to give you plenty of reasons to smile.”

“It’s that simple?” she asked.

“It’s that simple.”

They walked around the next corner. “It’s going to be big, isn’t it?” she asked as her gaze stretched from one taut rope to the other.

“Biggest building in town.”

They returned to where they had begun. Mr. Curtiss was standing at the corner, holding a shovel. Dallas and Mr. Curtiss stepped over the rope and walked to the center of the property.

Cordelia felt Amelia slip her hand around hers and squeeze gently. Houston stood behind Amelia. Maggie wrapped herself around Cordelia’s legs. Austin moved in beside Cordelia and put his arm around her shoulder.

Cameron and Duncan stood off to the side. With a mixture of sadness for the family she seemed to have lost and resounding happiness for the family she had gained, she turned her attention to her husband.

He swept his hat from his head and a hush descended over the gathering. Pride rang through her heart at the sight of the man she had married standing so tall, so bold before the crowd.

She wanted the women who came to Leighton to have a choice. As for herself, she was no longer certain if she would have chosen differently if she had been given a choice.

“A little over a month ago,” Dallas began, the deep timbre of his voice reverberating around him, “I had the pleasure of sharing with you—our friends and neighbors—my joy as Dee became my wife. Today, we want to share with you the beginning of what will be a landmark building in Leighton. Dee’s vision for her hotel will set the standard by which all future buildings in Leighton will be judged.” He held his hand toward her. “Dee, the dream is yours. The land is yours to break.”

Cordelia’s breath caught, her heart pounded, and her knees shook. Surely he didn’t mean for her to join him in front of all these people. She stepped back and rammed into Houston’s hard body.

“Go on, Dee,” Houston urged her quietly, gently.

Austin squeezed her shoulder and smiled broadly. “If you can walk into the bank and ask for a loan, you can walk into your own hotel.”

Her own hotel.

She looked at Amelia, whose eyes were filling with tears. “I told you,” she whispered, “that given the chance, he’d worship the ground you walked on.”

Cordelia snapped her gaze back to her husband. His hand was outstretched as he waited for her. She clutched Precious more closely, took a deep breath, and stepped over the rope.

The crowd clapped and cheered, Dallas’s smile grew, and her shaking increased. She walked across the plot as quickly as she could and slipped her hand into her husband’s, surprised to find his trembling as well.

Mr. Curtiss held the shovel toward her. “You’ll need this,” he said, grinning brightly.

“Give me the damn prairie dog,” Dallas grumbled past his smile as he released her hand.

She handed Precious off to him and took the shovel. Mr. Curtiss helped her to position it. She tightened her hold on the handle, pressed her foot on the shovel as he instructed, and flipped aside a small portion of dirt.

She glanced at Dallas. “How big should I make the hole?”

Shaking his head, he took the shovel and handed it to Mr. Curtiss. “That’s all you need to do.” He crooked his elbow. She placed her hand on his arm, and he led her toward the waiting crowd.

She clung to Dallas’s arm as people surrounded her, asking her questions.

“I won’t leave you,” Dallas whispered near her ear.

She relaxed her fingers. No, he wouldn’t leave her. Had she ever noticed how often he was there when she needed him?

“How many rooms will the hotel have?” someone asked.

Cordelia smiled. “Fifty.”

“I hear it’s gonna have a restaurant.”

“A very nice restaurant,” Cordelia assured them. “The finest food in town.”

“Speaking of fine food,” Dallas interjected, “we’ve got beef cooking near the saloon. You’re all invited to enjoy it.”

As people wandered away, Cordelia turned her attention to Dallas. “Why didn’t you tell me I was going to have to dig a hole in front of all these people?”

“Figured it would just make you nervous, and you might decide not to come. I didn’t want you to miss your moment.”

Her moment.

“Mrs. Leigh?”

She turned. A young man stood before her, holding a pad of paper. “Mrs. Leigh, I’m a reporter with the Fort Worth
Daily Democrat.
Since the same railroad that touches our town will eventually touch yours, I was hoping you could spare a few minutes to answer a few questions about your hotel.”

Cordelia looked at Dallas. He smiled. “Your moment.”

As he walked away, she began to answer the earnest young man’s questions about The Grand Hotel. She explained the fact that women would manage the hotel and work in the restaurant. When she answered his final question, she began to walk toward the other end of town where people were congregating. She could hear the sweet strains of a waltz. She saw Austin standing in the back of a wagon, playing his violin. Houston and Amelia danced, as did Becky and Duncan. Several men danced together.

“Dee?”

She stumbled to a stop and smiled at her youngest brother as she took his hand. “Cameron, I’m so glad you were here today.”

“You look happy, Dee. Is Dallas treating you right?”

She glanced toward the saloon. She could see her husband leaning against the wall, Precious nestled within the crook of his arm as he talked to Mr. Curtiss.

“He treats me very well.” She squeezed his hand. “You should come visit us. I think you would like Dallas if you stopped looking at him through Boyd’s eyes.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of black streaking by. “Excuse me,” she said to her brother as she scurried away. “Rawley! Rawley Cooper!”

The boy staggered to a grinding halt and dropped his gaze to the dirt. She knelt in front of him.

“Hello, Rawley. I don’t know if you remember me. I saw you at the general store one day.”

“I ’member.”

“I was wondering if you could do a favor for me.”

His black gaze darted up, then down. He started digging his big toe into the dirt. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hug him fiercely. She wondered if anyone ever had.

“I’ll pay you,” she said softly.

His gaze came up and stayed focused on her, but she could see the doubt and distrust swimming in his eyes.

“How much?” he asked. “A dollar.”

He bit into his bottom lip. “What I gotta do?”

“Take care of my prairie dog so I can dance with my husband.”

“Fer how long?”

“Until tomorrow morning.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You gotta pay me first.”

“All right.” She rose and held out her hand. “Let’s go talk to my husband.”

With his fingers curled, he reached for her hand, then quickly drew it back. “Holding hands is fer sissies.”

She wondered briefly if her brothers were of the same opinion. As far back as she could remember, Cameron was the only one who had ever touched her, and then his touch had always been hesitant. She didn’t want that for her children.

She walked toward the saloon with Rawley shuffling along behind her. She knew the exact moment Dallas saw her. His attention veered away from Mr. Curtiss, and although the architect and builder continued to talk, she felt as though she had Dallas’s undivided attention.