Much Ado About Mavericks (22 page)

The cowhands started laughing again.  Ben glowered at them and they quieted.  Luckily, the musicians began
Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair
.  Thankful for a nice, slow tune, he couldn’t help but think Jeannie would have been more interesting with blazing red hair.

“I’ve been wanting to dance with you all night.”

She smiled a bit.  “Nothing stopping you.  I wore my garter just like the rest of the cowhands what drawed short straws.”

“I like your topography better.”

“I ain’t got a topography.  Don’t want one, either, whatever it is.”

He wanted to hold her tighter but they were the center of attention already.  Mostly, he just enjoyed the moment.  Because that’s all they had.

“I did a few errands when I went to
Silver
City
.”

She looked at him with raised eyebrows, questioning.

“I’ve got something for you.”

Grimacing, she said, “You already done enough harm giving me that stupid dress.  Every cowhand this side of
Denver
’s been funning me.”

“You know I meant for you to have the Colts.”

“I know it, and you know it.  But unless you want Suzanne to find out, no one else knows it.”

He brushed his lips across her cheek, hoping no one would notice.  Her breath caught, and he smiled.  “I thought you might wear it tonight.”

“Hrmph.”  She stomped on his toe.  “I’m making curtains out of it.”

“Why don’t you give it to Suzanne?  It’s her size.”  Toe smarting, he danced her toward the front door.  “I need to talk to you alone.”

“No, you don’t.”  She held back when he urged her to go outside.  “I don’t think what’s on your mind is what’s on mine.”

“Oh, I think it is,” and he pulled her with him, two-stepping into the chilly darkness.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the papers.  His heart raced, not entirely from the anticipation of her reaction.  “Jake, these are yours.  You’re now Henrietta’s mother.  Her name is Henry O’Keefe.”

“Mother!  I ain’t no mother.  I ain’t got no idea how to be a mother.”

He wished he could see her face, but the darkness hid it.  “You can do it, Jake.  And the papers are filed for Teddy and Homer, too.  It’ll take a little longer since we don’t know who their parents are, but they’ll be ready by the time roundup’s over.  Judge Glover’s working on it.”

“But . . . I . . .”

“Don’t worry, Jake.  It’s for the best.”

“I just hired ‘em on.  That’s all.”

“You’ve kept them fed and dressed.  You’ve taught them their manners.  They love you as their mother.”  He raised his eyebrow and added, “Or father.”

“I am right attached to them strays,” she finally conceded.  Ben thought it sad that she had such an aversion to admitting she loved them.

“There’s another thing.  If their parents try to take them away, you now have a legal right to keep them.”

She sighed.  “That did fret me some.  A little.”

He waited, for what seemed the longest time.  Then she flung her arms around him and kissed him right smack on the lips.  Hallelujah, he thought for a moment she’d throw those papers right back at him. 

“There’s one thing,” she said as she drew back, leaving the cold to penetrate where her breasts had pressed against him.  “Don’t tell the strays that I’m their mama.”

“Why not?”

“Hell, I don’t know!”  She grabbed his arm.  “Let’s go dance.  They’re playing again.”

He followed her into the barn, pulled her to him and started
waltzing
before she could escape again.  She didn’t seem so resistant this time
and she danced as gracefully as any Eastern debutante
.
  More gracefully than most.
  Oh, how he wished he could have a woman like
Jake
.  Her, in fact.  There would never be another woman remotely as interesting as Jake.

And how he liked the slow songs.
  He pulled her just a little closer, but not so close that she’d have reason to push him away.

“Benjamin!” 
A blonde hussy in a gaudy red dress that displayed her bosom quite prominently flounced into the barn.

He studied the woman.  She did look familiar but he hadn’t consorted with any ladies of the evening.  Maybe she was calling someone else.  He turned Jake around the dance floor and waltzed to the other side.

“Benjamin Stoddard Lawrence!”  He knew that voice and when she tapped his shoulder, he dreaded turning around.  Patience Morris. 
He shut his eyes and groaned, then broke away from Jake.  “
Patience, w
hat the hell are you doing here?”

“Benjamin, what common language!”

“Sorry, you just surprised me.  And your dress is...” He couldn’t think of anything flattering to say so he let it go.
  Her brother stood behind her, smirking.
  “Reggie?”

Patience didn’t belong in cattle country any more than
her brother,
Reginald.  Neither of them could exist without the comforts of
Boston
society.  But
Ben
refused to let her ruin this dance
—
he’d waited all evening for Jake. 

Gathering his wits about him, he told Patience, “Have some refreshment,” and cocked his head toward the tables.
  “I’ll be over after this song.”
  He pulled Jake close to him and resumed dancing.

Patience, scowling, marched straight to them and tapped Jake on the shoulder.  “I’m cutting in.  He’s
my
fiancé.”

“May be,” Jake retorted, “but he’s my partner for this here dance, ma’am.”

“I’m not a ma’am, I’m a miss.  You may call me Miss Morris.”

The musicians stopped and everyone in the barn gawked at them.

“I’ll call you shit if I want to, ma’am.”  She snuggled up to Ben
and she felt every bit as good in his arms as he’d imagined
.  “Start playing music.”

“Go back to
Boston
, Patience,” Ben said.  “I’ll see you at the end of November just like I said in the last telegram.”

Patience pursed her lips and sniffed.  “So that you can play with your little strumpet?  I think not.”

Jake’s raised eyebrow warned Ben that he’d better get these two women separated in a hurry
.

“Strumpet?”  The shapely Bar EL foreman scowled at Patience. 
“Ma’am, you’re the only
female
here dressed like a whore.  Take a deep breath and your ti--uh, well, they’ll fall out.” 

Jake
took the lead and swung Ben to the other side of the
barn
. 
“I’ll let her have at you, b
ut dammit all,
Boston
, you’re stuck with me
for this
one
dance.
”
 

Ben didn’t want to be the bone for them to fight over.  All he wanted was this one dance with the best foreman in
Idaho
Territory
, who also happened to be the most beautiful, and probably the smartest, too.  He enjoyed the waltz and held Jake as closely as he dared, which wasn’t nearly close enough.  Or long enough.

When the song was over
, she stepped aside and drew herself another beer.  “Go to your woman,
Boston
.”  She took a long draw of her brew.  “Take her to your mama, or whatever the hell you folks do.”

Ben
didn’t want to lose
the moment with
Jake
because he knew this was one of the few, if only, moments they’d have
. 
“I’ll try to get
Patience
out of here.”

Jake
shook his hand off.  “You don’t get it, do you,
Boston
?  She
is
here.  And she’s fixing to legshackle you, so you better damn well get used to it.”

“She doesn’t belong here.”

Reginald walked up to Jake, bowed, and offered his hand.  “May I have this dance?”

“
No
.”  She slugged down the rest of her beer and slammed the mug on top of the barrel.  “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Miss Morris’s brother, Reginald.”

“Hrmph!  If you come to take Ben back to
Boston
, then do it.  And leave me the hell out of it.”

“Just one dance?”

Instead, s
he grabbed Fred, the
lucky
bastard. 
Ben wanted to choke the snake.  Fred didn’t deserve the belle of the ball
.

“I s’pose Ben’ll be leaving shortly,”
Fred
commented
and threw down the last few swallows of beer
.

“I s’pose.
”  Jake spun him around
, the glass still in his hand
.
 
“
Now shut up and dance.”

*   *   *   *   *

Ben tracked Patience to the refreshment tables, where she was practicing her wiles on a few of the cowhands.  They hopped around her, acting like a bunch of starving sparrows, each begging for the next dance.  Patience beamed and preened, obviously enjoying the attention.  Ben had never seen her act so vain
n
or
had he
noticed her conceit.

She denied all of them with a wave of her fingers.  “I’m simply famished.”  And with that, several men presented her with plates of food and glasses of cider
, all of which she ignored
.

“Is there no champagne?  I’m
utterly
parched.”

Ben had enough.  “This is a barn dance, not a
Boston
ball.”  He put out his arm to escort her to the house.  Instead she took his action as an offer to dance.

“I’d be delighted.  We dance so well together.”

He obliged and led her to the dance floor.

After they’d danced a few steps, she wrinkled her nose.  “The music is crude.”

“Local ranchers
make up the band
.  It’s all in good fun.”

“You call this fun? 
I don’t
k
now how you can tolerate living with these peasants.” 

“Some of these
peasants
have bank accounts as large as your father’s clients.”

Patience rolled her eyes. 
“
Benjamin, you need to get back to
Boston
where you belong.  Daddy needs you and so do I.
  Besides, it’s dirty and smelly here.
”

He doubted she’d be impressed that the barn had been thoroughly swept, or that in his opinion, fresh hay smelled good. 
“I’ll be back when my business here is finished.”

“You mean playing around with a woman dressed in man clothes?”  She sniffed.  “That woman is no lady and never will be.”

He pushed Patience away as he swung her around. 
“I’m not playing with her.”

“You’d better tell her that.” 
Patience
tilted her head toward little Henry.  “
Someone needs to teach these obnoxious children to be seen and not heard.  Some decent attire might help. 
What are all
of them
doing here?”

Ben hadn’t noticed the kids being ornery or noisy. 
“Dancing and having a good time
, just like the rest of us
.  The round-up dance is a family affair.”

“Peasants do have strange customs.
  The serving woman at the refreshment table had the nerve to ask my name.
”

“Serving woman?”

“The dark-haired woman—she’s dancing with that tall, coarse-looking cowhand now.”

Ben scanned the crowd
in the direction of Patience’s gaze
.  The only woman who matched her description was his mother.  “I think you’re referring to my mother.  When the estate is settled, she’ll be the owner of a couple thousand acres
with
prime water rights, a
five
-bedroom house
and outbuildings including this barn
,
a hundred horses,
and twenty thousand head of cattle.  She’s not a servant.”

The music stopped and Ben led Patience
outside. 
“Patience, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Don’t curse, Benjamin.  It’s not fitting for a gentleman.”

“Fitting? 
Fitting?”
  He thought his head would explode.  “You and your brother traipsing across the country, showing up at the dance looking like a hussy, telling everyone that we’re engaged--is that fitting?”