The Texan and the Lady (16 page)

Jennie tried to ignore him, but she was drawn to the strong outline of his jaw and the way he moved with assurance and inner strength. Finally, when she could resist no longer, she’d look in his direction, always to find him staring at her. His close scrutiny split her nerves, unraveling the very core of calmness her family had wound around her so tightly for so many years.

She wanted to run to him and beg him to hold her. She longed to feel his lips playfully teasing her mouth. If only she could place her hand over his heart once more and feel the pounding that warmed her blood with desire. Yet all except thoughts were lost to her. He’d made it plain he could never care for a woman who lied, and she could never betray Delta.

One evening, after Audrey had watched in silence for almost a week, she mumbled as Jennie came through the kitchen door, “Honey, you got to do something about that man. He’s becoming such a regular they’re likely to paint him to match the furniture.”

“What can I do?” Jennie set the tray of dishes down and wiped her hands on her apron. “We have nothing more to say to one another.”

“Maybe not.” Audrey peeked through the crack in the pass-through door between the kitchen and dining hall. “But there may be other things he’s needing besides talk. That man looks so unhappy eating his food every night, he’s liable to run off business. If there wasn’t proof of an empty plate at the end of each meal, I’d swear from his look that he was forcing down dirt.”

Jennie laughed. “We could probably serve him sand pies for all the attention he pays. I don’t understand. I think he knows I lied about Delta, though he has no proof. He said he could never care for a woman who lied.” She pushed damp hair off her forehead. “So why does he come here every night, watching me, but never talking to me?”

“Men are a great puzzle. Sometimes I think the Lord made them the way they are just to keep us women guessing, ‘cause there sure isn’t a drop of logic in their actions.” Audrey flour-dusted the huge wooden bowl she used for making her bread. “Take Wiley, for instance …”

“Wiley who?” Jennie raised an eyebrow.

“You know, the farmer who delivers meat twice a week. The one I patched up the other morning.”

“Oh.” Jennie smiled, remembering the huge man who couldn’t stop staring at Audrey. Despite his build, he’d reminded her of a little child passing a store window. He enjoyed the view so much, he should have been charged for looking.

“Well, when Wiley comes in delivering meat,” Audrey moved her dough bowl out of the reach of anyone who might accidentally wash it, “if I’m not in the kitchen, the cooks say he hangs around until I appear. He acts all nervous, too, like he was waiting for the Second Coming or something. Then, when I come down, the big oaf doesn’t have a thing to say to me.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to offer something more than coffee and conversation,” Jennie teased.

Audrey straightened. “Well then why doesn’t he come calling some evening? I wouldn’t mind taking a walk beneath the moonlight even in the dead of winter. But it’s hard to think romantic at dawn-thirty.”

Jennie agreed. “Maybe he’ll come to the dance next week.”

Audrey’s smile spoke of possibilities. “And maybe the marshal won’t.”

AUDREY’S PREDICTION DIDN’T hold. Marshal Austin McCormick was one of the first men to show up at the Harvey House dance. He put his four bits on the table and stepped into the decorated dining area as if he’d had a special invitation. He looked even taller dressed in a black suit and thin string tie. His boots were polished and his sandy hair tamed to almost lay down flat.

Jennie watched him scan the room full of women all dressed in colorful calico prints for the party. She wondered why she’d even gone to the trouble of making her dress. No doubt, just as at the few dances she’d attended at home, she’d spend the entire evening sitting on the edge waiting for someone to ask her to dance. It had been humiliating enough in the past having her family always around encouraging her to go home and stop making a fool of herself. Now Austin would be watching as every other girl danced except her.

“I’m glad you picked the blue print,” Audrey whispered as she sat down beside Jennie and sampled one of the tiny cakes she’d made for the party. “It looks good on you.”

Jennie tried to smile without saying that this had been the only color that fit her mood. All the other women wore bright calico, reminding her of a wild flower garden, but she’d found hers at the bottom of the stack. A blue on blue calico print. Calico was the only material in abundance besides black, and after wearing black uniforms all day, there wasn’t a Harvey girl who would have worn even a black ribbon tonight. Also, the cotton fabric was inexpensive, and no single working woman had money to order a silk or satin from back east.

“Thanks for the compliment.” Jennie smiled at Audrey. The brightly colored fabric did little for her friend. With her red hair and warm brown eyes, she was one of the few women who looked very becoming in the black uniform she wore each day. With calico, her coloring seemed to compete with the material. “I’m glad we got the dresses finished. I was getting worried at one point that I’d be selecting from my traveling dress or my uniforms.”

Audrey chuckled. “Me, too. Yesterday, I was trying to cook and sew the hem at the same time. I’m surprised someone didn’t find a straight pin in their pie.”

The band interrupted all conversation by practicing loudly, sounding very much as if they’d all just met, instead of like a group who planned to play the same tune. Men, dressed in their best, continued filing in. Ranchers, farmers, railroad workers. They each stopped to pay, then handed Mrs. Gray their hats as she inspected each man for sobriety. Old Spider Morris stood beside the little lady collecting guns.

The musicians lined one end of the dining hall, while food tables stretched across the other and the women huddled together waiting near the kitchen door.

Audrey shifted nervously. “I’m about to decide to call it a night. I’m not much of a dancer, and there won’t be many men tall enough to even ask me.”

Jennie’s eyes widened. “Why, Audrey Gates, I can’t believe you’re admitting not knowing how to do something.”

Audrey looked guilty. “All right. I lied. I’m a great dancer. My brothers were always looking for someone to practice with. But the other part’s true. I find it hard to dance with a man when I can look over his head. I always have the urge to grab him by the ears and pull him up an inch or two while demanding he look at me in the eyes for a change.”

“How about that one?” Jennie pointed toward the huge man folding through the door. The farmer’s suit was homespun, but well fitted. Unlike most of the men present, he didn’t have cotton padding across his shoulders, but rock-hard muscle.

“Wiley!” Audrey’s entire face seemed to smile. “He came.” She glanced back at Jennie. “Not that I care, of course.”

“Of course,” Jennie echoed as Mrs. Gray raised her hands to quiet the crowd.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Harvey House’s Calico Dance. All men check your weapons at the door, and all ladies make sure you’ve removed your aprons.” Nervous laughter circled the room as she continued. “As is the tradition at our dances, ladies pick your partners for the first come-together, the grand march.”

Audrey moved straight toward Wiley Radcliff, leaving Jennie standing alone.

She marched up to within a foot of the huge farmer and raised her hands to dance position. “Well,” she said loud enough for half the room to hear, “can you dance the grand march, Mr. Radcliff?”

A slow smile spread across his tan face. “I reckon I could do anything with you in my arms, Miss Gates.” His hands moved around her waist, and he pulled her close, his gaze never leaving her eyes.

Several men hooted in laughter, and all at once the room exploded in noise as the women followed Audrey’s lead and picked their partners for the first dance.

Jennie watched, laughing at the way the women picked their partners. Some were bold like Audrey, but most simply walked up to stand in front of the man they’d chosen.

“Aren’t you going to ask a man to walk the grand march with you?” Marshal McCormick’s low voice sounded behind Jennie. “I was hoping you’d offer me the honor.”

Whirling, she looked into his smoky brown eyes. “I might, but I didn’t think you’d want to dance with me. We seem to have developed a habit of not speaking to one another.”

“I don’t see that a dance could break up our pattern. We can go back to staring at one another in silence as soon as the music stops.”

Jennie could almost taste the tension between them. He was close enough that she could smell the leather and soap about him, but his words blocked any nearness she might feel. “I’m not much of a dancer,” she answered.

Austin nodded his understanding. “I guessed if you had trouble telling your right hand from your left, you had the same problem with your feet.”

She would have looked down, but his gaze held hers. “I polished my boots, so I might as well take a few spins around the floor if you’re agreeable.” He took her in his arms. “Don’t worry, the way I dance, you’ll probably think I don’t know my feet apart either.”

The music sounded, and suddenly calico whirled around the room. Austin was a better dancer than he’d claimed. His steps were sure and simple, easy for Jennie to follow. After a few false starts, she picked up the rhythm of his movements. He made a habit of pulling her hand slightly when he wanted her to move with her right foot.

They danced three reels before he stopped to allow her to catch her breath. He didn’t try to make small talk, and Jennie was grateful. She could have remained in his arms forever, but when she looked in his eyes, she still saw the anger. He’d never forgive her, she decided. As far as he knew, she’d lied to him twice. First about True and now about Delta.

“Excuse me,” he whispered and disappeared from her side before Jennie even had time to thank him.

The moment he was gone, men lined up to ask her for the same privilege. At first Jennie thought it must be some mistake. She was nervous as she stepped onto the planked floor with first one then another. However, she soon learned that most of the men couldn’t dance even as well as she could, but they all politely asked for another opportunity even after she tramped all over their boots.

Tears came to her eyes when she found herself wishing her brothers and sisters could see her. They’d always made her feel that every man who’d ever asked her to dance had done so as a favor to one of them. Well, there were no Mundays but Jennie here tonight, and men were asking.

After an hour, the band stopped to rest and everyone moved to the food table. Jennie found Audrey in the crowd. “Are you having fun?”

Audrey nodded. “Haven’t had to pull a man up by the ears once tonight.”

Wiley moved toward them, trying to carry two dainty cups in his huge hands. When he was within a few feet, he handed one to Audrey and politely offered the other to Jennie.

Downing the cider in a single draw, Audrey handed her empty cup to Jennie and addressed Wiley. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in escorting a lady outside for a little fresh air.”

Wiley’s smile was almost boyishly shy. Then he silently offered her his arm.

Audrey winked at Jennie and wrapped her fingers around his wide forearm. But when she turned toward the door, she hesitated in midstep at the sight before her.

Suddenly everyone in the room seemed to stop talking at once. It was as if someone had called an order for folks to be silent and stare. Jennie turned toward the entrance to see what could have caused such a reaction.

There, standing apart from everyone, was Delta. Her white-blond hair was piled in a halo of curls atop her head. Her face and blue eyes were as pale as ever, but the dress she wore of dark jade made her look like a pearl inside velvet casing.

Jennie couldn’t stop the cry that whispered past her lips. For two weeks she’d worried about Delta, wondering how her month was going with Colton Barkley. Audrey had told her a hundred times that she was sure everything was fine, but that hadn’t erased the tiny doubt in Jennie’s mind.

As Jennie took a step, Audrey’s free hand reached out and stopped her. Her face was smiling, but her eyes were not, as she stared at Jennie and said loud enough for everyone around them to hear, “Look, Jennie, it’s Mary Elizabeth, the girl from the train wreck. Doesn’t she look well?”

Pulling herself in check, Jennie nodded. Several others commented, then were silent once more as a man in black moved behind the lovely young girl.

Colton Barkley might have been dressed in a fine black waistcoat and tailored pants, but he still seemed cold and distant to Jennie, like the north wind. He studied the room, as if waiting for a challenge from someone, then stepped beside Delta.

When no one moved, he offered his arm to Delta with the grace of a polished gentleman and walked toward Mrs. Gray. “I hope it’s proper for us to attend.” His manner and his words were perfect as he addressed the older lady. “Mary Elizabeth tells me your girls saved her life, and she wanted to come to the first dance and say thank you properly.”

Mrs. Gray nodded. “You’re more than welcome.” The old woman turned to Delta, a warm smile on her lips she reserved only for the house’s very special guests. “You’re recovering well. I see no sign of the head wound.”

“Thank you,” Delta whispered. “I’m lucky it was only a few bumps. I don’t remember much about the night of the wreck.”

“I’m sure that’s a blessing,” Mrs. Gray answered. “I’ll never forget the rain that night.”

Delta nodded, her gaze already searching the room for Jennie and Audrey. When she saw them, she lightly touched Colton’s sleeve, and he released her hand from where he’d trapped it on his arm.

As Delta glided across the floor like a tiny angel, Jennie couldn’t help but notice that Colton’s gaze never left her as she moved. He reminded Jennie of a bodyguard who took his job very seriously.

Delta’s face was void of emotion as she approached. “I’ve just made a long drive. Could I impose on you two wonderful ladies who patched me up two weeks ago to borrow your room for a few minutes to freshen up?”