The Intriguing Billionaire Cowboy [Wives for the Western Billionaires 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (13 page)

Sylvia gave them an abbreviated version of what happened. “I’m glad the sheriff let me go along with him,” she added at the end.

“You are being much too modest. I heard you saved the sheriff and deputy from being injured or killed,” Marian said.

“We all three protected each other.” Sylvia sighed with relief when they started on another topic. She’d always hated being the center of attention. She watched the faces of the women at the table. She liked them all, and they had accepted her. As soon as she got to the table, they’d made room and welcomed her. Gina glanced at Sylvia and winked. None of them noticed Millie walking toward them with another woman.

“Ladies, this lady said she is related to two of you.”

Sylvia and Gina both looked around and at the same time said in unison, “Mother?”

“I love surprising my girls.”

“Where’s Ralph?”

“We split a few weeks ago. I was feeling sad and thought it would brighten my spirits to see you two.”

Chelsea spoke up. “Millie, can you find us a table big enough to include all of us?”

“I have a nice round table over in the corner. How’s that?”

“Great.” Chelsea pushed against Marian. “Get up, you all, and we’ll move.”

Too stunned to speak, Sylvia and Gina followed the group. Their mother walked in front of them. Sylvia noted she hadn’t changed. She still wore her hair a bright blonde color, and a short dress hugged her curvy figure. High heels completed her ensemble.

“What are we going to do?” Gina whispered to Sylvia. “I’m afraid to take her home to meet Graham.”

“I know what you mean. As much as he’s changed, he won’t do well with Mom. I guess she’ll have to bunk with me at the cabin.”

“Thank you.” Gina gave a sigh of relief.

“My girls are dragging their feet. I’m Pearl Piercy.”

“Mom, you took back Dad’s name?”

“He wouldn’t mind.”

Sylvia introduced her mother to Marian and Chelsea. Then she and Gina sat on either side of her.

“We were congratulating Sylvia on helping the sheriff out yesterday with some cattle rustlers,” Chelsea explained.

“Oh, the sheriff filled me in. I stopped in to ask how to get to Gina’s house. He said I looked so much like Sylvia that we must be related.” Her mom puffed her hair up at the bottom and pushed out her chest.

“I’m sure they thought we were sisters,” Sylvia mumbled.

Gina squeezed her leg. “Be good,” she whispered.

“He directed me to Millie’s establishment.”

“Have you eaten? We were going to order lunch.”

“No, I haven’t, Chelsea. How nice of you to invite me to join the group. I think my daughters must still be shocked by my arrival.”

Afterward Sylvia couldn’t remember what she ate. She ate very little while watching her mother take over the group.

When an older man stopped by to ask Chelsea about Dirk and the family, their mother tried her best to get his eye and flirt with him. Sylvia wanted to hide under the table by the time they were ready to leave.

“I have to go back to work,” Sylvia told her mom. “But Gina will drop you off at the cabin where you’ll be staying with me.”

“What?” She frowned at Gina. “I’m not welcome in your new home? You wrote me all about it.”

“I think you’ll enjoy the cabin more. I’ll cook supper for us all tonight, and you can meet my husband then.”

Sylvia put her hand on her mom’s arm. “Gina’s pregnant. Don’t upset her. Come on back to the sheriff’s office with me. We can visit until Sam comes to take me home.”

“Sam? Who is he?”

Sylvia waved Gina on and guided her mother on down the street. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Sheriff Grady gave her the afternoon off and drove her and her mom to the cabin. He waved as Sylvia unlocked the door and motioned for her mother to enter.

“This place is tiny and barely furnished. Is your sister ashamed to have me at her new home?”

“Mom, why are you here?” Sylvia sat in one of the two chairs in the small living room. Her mother had been looking around. She faced Sylvia.

“I missed my daughters and came for a visit. Why is that such a shock?”

“You haven’t missed us for a number of years and suddenly you arrive unannounced right after you and Ralph divorced.”

“I said we split.”

“You took Dad’s name back. It must have been an ugly divorce.”

Her mother’s face flushed. “You know I don’t do well in relationships. I can’t help it. I get bored after a few years and have to move on. Ralph didn’t take rejection as well as Dan did. Dan was a good man. I should have stayed with him. He did well by Gina and you. Another man would have sent you away with me.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know.” Her mother slumped onto the couch. “I try to tell myself I’m still attractive, but I know the lines are beginning to show. It’s scary being alone at my age.”

“And yet you sought the divorce.”

“Not exactly.” Her mother’s face flushed. “Ralph found someone else. He always did have a roving eye.” Suddenly she looked close at Sylvia’s face. “What in the world happened to you? I immediately noticed your scar, but I didn’t want to ask about it in front of your friends. It ruins your looks.”

Sylvia felt the knife go in and turn. Mom had a sharp tongue and knew how to use it as a weapon. Involuntarily, Sylvia’s hand went to her face.

“I was tortured. They cut my face.”

“What kind of people do you associate with?”

“In my last job, not always the best.”

“And now you’re working for the sheriff, and you shot a man. What are trying to prove? No man will ever want to marry you.”

“I’ve had offers and turned them down. I was afraid I’d be like you. I’d get bored and leave my small children behind crying for their mother.”

Her mother stiffened. “I knew Dan would be better for you than I would. I had to have my independence to do what I wanted. You are like me, so you must understand.”

“Am I? I hope not.”

Her mother stood, walked the short distance to Sylvia, and slapped her face. “You will show respect to your mother.”

“I have no mother. She ran away and good riddance.” Sylvia stormed into her bedroom. When the phone rang, she started not to answer, and in that brief hesitation her mother picked up the phone in the kitchen. Sylvia carefully lifted the receiver, of the phone by the bed, and listened in.

“Hello, this Sam Brodie. Is Sylvia there?”

“She’s in her room. I think she’s dressing for the dinner with Gina and her husband. I’m Gina and Sylvia’s mother, Pearl Piercy.”

“I didn’t know you were coming. Sylvia didn’t mention your arrival.”

“I surprised them. I’m very anxious to meet you, Sam. Sylvia hasn’t told me much about you, but maybe she wanted me to make up my own mind.”

“I’ll meet you at five when I pick you two up to go to Gina’s. Tell Sylvia I called.”

Sylvia waited until her mother put down the kitchen phone. Then she laid hers in the cradle. Her mother had already begun her manipulations to get what she wanted.

She stepped into the bathroom and stared in the mirror. Her fingers brushed across the scar. With Sam’s help she’d almost forgotten how it looked. Tomorrow, she’d call the doctor in Washington, DC, and set up an appointment. Her wrist had recovered pretty well. She wasn’t going to wait any longer to take care of her face.

Deep inside she knew she should ignore her mother’s cutting remark, but if she thought it was ugly, others would, too. Sylvia had relied on her beauty for a long time. She needed to feel good about her appearance. Otherwise, it might undermine her confidence. She walked back to the bed and lay down. Then she hugged her pillow and silently cried.

How does my mother manage to bring me to tears every time I see her? She reduces me to a small child yearning for approval, and I never get it, not from her.

It was only three thirty. She’d rest until it was time to dress. That way she’d avoid any further one-on-one conversations.

Voices woke her. Sylvia sat on the side of the bed and tried to get awake. When she glanced at the clock, she was surprised to see the time was five o’clock. Someone knocked on her door.

“Sylvia, it’s Sam. Are you OK?”

“I took a nap and overslept. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“Don’t rush. We have plenty of time. I’ll talk with your mother and get to know her.”

That’s what I’m afraid of.
She hurriedly showered and dressed in jeans and a red shirt. She needed more makeup than usual to hide the red under her eyes and the scar. Leaving her hair down, she pulled on her boots and went to rescue Sam from her mother.

Sam stood when she entered the living room. “Your mom has been telling me stories about when you were young.”

Sylvia eyed her mother. “I’m sure she doesn’t know many since she was seldom around. Shall we go?” She put her arm around Sam’s and pulled him along with her. He tried to wait for her mother, but Sylvia wouldn’t let him. “She can find her own way, believe me.”

He gave her a strange look, opened the front door of the car for her, and waited to open her mother’s door. When he closed the door, he walked around to the driver’s side.

“It isn’t far, Mrs. Piercy. We just drive down this lane behind the cabin. My brother lived here until he and Gina married. But he started building the house once he knew he wanted to marry her.”

“I’m glad she found a good man. Gina had always been the quiet one. I feared no one would ever notice her.”

“Graham did. We never thought he’d find a woman he’d want to live with, but she moved right in and straightened him out.” Sam grinned. “We all loved watching their courtship.”

“I can hardly wait to meet Graham.”

“I hope Sylvia warned you. He’s not much of a people person. Don’t feel slighted if he goes off to his den to write.”

“Gina mentioned that her husband was a writer in her letter to me.”

Sylvia couldn’t wait for Sam to park the car at Gina’s and to get out. Everything about her mother irritated her. Was it because she feared she had the same self-absorbed personality?

When Sam parked, he opened the door for Pearl first. Sylvia got out and walked quickly to the front door, where Gina waited to greet them.

Gina looked at Sylvia’s face. “It’s been that bad, huh?”

“Worse.” She walked on inside and stopped. “Mrs. Brodie, I didn’t expect to see you.”

“Gina invited me. I’m looking forward to meeting your mother.”

Realizing she’d sounded rude, Sylvia sat by Mrs. Brodie. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said to come out that way.” She glanced at her mother and Gina headed toward them. “My mother and I don’t get along.”

“Mom, this is Mrs. Brodie. Mrs. Brodie, my mother, Pearl.” Gina did the introductions.

“Where’s Graham?” Sam asked.

“In his workroom He’ll be out in a moment. He’s killing off one of his characters, and he couldn’t stop right then.”

“I’m done.” Graham came walking from the direction of his study. Gina introduced him to Pearl.

Graham put his arm around his wife and leaned down to whisper in her ear. The anxiety on Gina’s face cleared as Graham shook hands with her mother. Sylvia took a breath of relief to see Graham on his best behavior. But what had she expected? Graham would do anything to keep his wife happy. Gina was very lucky.

The dinner went well. Sam kept the conversation general, told a couple of funny stories, and Graham even told a few of his own. Mrs. Brodie and Pearl, as Sylvia preferred to think of her mother, were polite, but distant.

Sylvia thought they’d made it safely through dinner when Pearl looked her way and asked, “Dear, when are you going to get cosmetic surgery for your face? The chandelier lights really make it very noticeable.” She turned to the group. “Sylvia was so beautiful. It must be very difficult for her to look in the mirror each day and see how her beauty has been taken away from her.”

The group all looked stunned at her mom. Sylvia felt her face flush. She swallowed hard to keep from crying.

To make matters worse, Pearl added, “When I start losing my looks, I’ll have surgery. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, dear.”

Sam, who was sitting by Sylvia, took hold of her hand. Then he turned to Pearl. “If you weren’t in my sister-in-law’s home I’d ask you to leave. None of us see Sylvia as anything but beautiful. Even when the cut was healing, her beauty shone through.”

“It’s all right, Sam. My mother is right. I’m planning to have the surgery soon. Can we talk about something else now?”

The congeniality of the evening never got back to where it was before Pearl’s remark. Sylvia had a headache by the time Sam suggested they leave.

When he stopped at the cabin, he stopped Sylvia from getting out. “Come stay with me for the night.”

“I’ll let Mother in and get a change of clothes for tomorrow.”

Her mom followed Sylvia into her bedroom. “You’re going to leave me alone in this godforsaken place for the night?”