Trouble in Texas (29 page)

The hum of a wheelchair drew Brant’s attention, and he turned to see Minnie rolling
out from around the staircase. Gone was the hideous magenta wig, and in its place
was a head of soft silver hair and artfully done makeup. Instead of the gaudy negligee,
she wore a pretty red gown that reminded Brant of Miss Hattie’s.

The swift kick of pain that punched him in the gut took him by surprise. It shouldn’t
have. Since stepping from his truck, Elizabeth had never been far from his mind. Luckily,
Minnie didn’t notice his reaction. It appeared she only had eyes for the little old
man standing next to Brant, holding his water-stained felt hat over his heart.

“Hello, Millicent. You’re lookin’ as pretty as ever.”

Millicent?
Brant looked back at Minnie, who was actually blushing. Without the thick makeup
and wig there was something very familiar about her features.

“Hello, Moses,” Minnie said with a smile. “Long time, no see.”

Brant’s gaze shifted back to the man. Moses? As in Moses Tate? But before he could
confirm the man’s identity, Baby came hurrying into the room. If she had looked like
Marilyn before, it was nothing compared to how much she looked like the actress now.
In the white dress and red lipstick, she was a carbon copy. All she needed was a puff
of air blowing up her skirt to finish the picture.

She leaned down to Minnie. “She threw up three times while I was getting her ready,
but I think she’s going to go through with it.” She glanced up and saw Brant, then
gasped and covered her mouth.

“Who threw up?” he asked.

Baby started to stammer, but Minnie cut her off. “Starlet. She’s performing tonight
and has a little stage fright, is all.” She noticed Brant’s face for the first time.
“What the hell happened to you?”

Brant ignored the question. “I’m warning you, Minnie. If you are intending something
else for Starlet, I’m going to have you carted off to an old folks’ home.”

“Over my dead body,” Moses said as his eyes narrowed on Brant.

“Enough,” Minnie held up her hand. “I don’t want any fighting tonight.” She looked
around and a peaceful smile slipped over her face. “Not when my dream has finally
come true. I just want to sit back and enjoy it. And as far as Starlet is concerned,
I would never do anything to harm that child. She’s going to make us hens proud. If
you stick around for a while, you’ll see just what I’m talking about.”

She whipped the chair around and spoke in a voice loud enough to be heard clear to
Dogwood. “If you fine gentlemen will follow me into the ballroom, we have something
very special in store for you.”

If Starlet was performing, special didn’t quite cover it. The poor girl was about
to be completely humiliated, and Brant wasn’t about to let that happen. Unfortunately,
the men didn’t waste much time following after Minnie. They emerged from every room
like ants on the way to a picnic and proceeded to block Brant from getting to her.

It was an eclectic group of men. Brant recognized a
banker, an older senator, a natural gas mogul, Sheriff Hicks, and one of the contractors
he’d hired to restore Miss Hattie’s. When the contractor saw Brant, he tried to hide
behind one of his carpenters, but Brant reached out and stopped him.

“Hello, Hank,” Brant said. “You care to explain how Miss Hattie’s got finished? Especially
since I instructed you to stop the renovations.”

Hank swallowed hard. “Well, sir, uhh… those hens can be pretty persuasive. And the
boys and me didn’t see any harm in doing a little extra work for them on the side.”

“A little?” Brant glanced around.

Hank coughed. “Well, maybe more than a little. I couldn’t seem to keep the boys away
once Miss Minnie told them that they were all invited to the grand opening and would
be the first to get to spend the night once the place was in full operation.”

“Is it in full operation, Hank?” Brant asked.

“No, sir,” he said. “We still need to do some work in the upstairs bedrooms, but Miss
Lizzie thought it was important to get people talking.”

Brant’s heart thumped in overtime. “Miss Lizzie as in Miss Elizabeth Murphy?” He must’ve
looked a little angry because Hank took a step back.

“Yes, sir. Miss Liz—Elizabeth has been the one in charge of all the renovations. And
I’ll tell you one thing, that woman runs a tight ship. I’d hire her myself if she
wasn’t going to run Miss Hattie’s.”

Brant’s shock was such that the foyer was completely empty by the time he snapped
out of it.
Elizabeth was going to run Miss Hattie’s?
Hank had to be mistaken. There was no way that Elizabeth wanted to be associated
with the house. Once he and Beau had signed the letter of intent, she couldn’t get
away fast enough.

Still, Hank didn’t seem like the type of man who got his information wrong.

The soft strum of a guitar had Brant moving toward the ballroom. The room was so crowded
that he couldn’t see who played the instrument. But he could hear. He braced himself
for Starlet’s off-key voice. Instead, a sweet youthful sound swelled over the heads
of the gathered men. There was something about the voice that made Brant feel lonely
and, at the same time, completely loved.

It must’ve had the same effect on the other men in the room because they collectively
moved closer. Brant skirted the edge of the ballroom until he could see who it was
that was singing. The young woman perched on the edge of the bar stool with the guitar
strapped around her shoulder looked like Starlet, yet completely different.

Gone was the awkward girl in a too-tight prom dress. In her place was a shy young
woman in a simple blue dress that fit to perfection. She sang with her eyes closed
and her chin tipped toward the ceiling. Sang like a woman who had known love and lost
it. The song ended on a soft, sweet note, and her hand rested against the strings
of the guitar.

There was a slight hesitation before the men applauded, but no one louder than Brant.
He couldn’t explain it, but he almost felt like a proud father. When Starlet’s gaze
fell on him, he couldn’t help but give her a broad smile and a thumbs-up. She answered
with a smile of her own before mouthing one word.

Beau?

Brant knew how she felt. He still worried about Beau,
but he had also come to terms with the fact that there wasn’t a thing he could do
about it. Beau was a grown man with his own mind. A man who wouldn’t want Starlet
to waste her youth worrying about him. He touched his forefinger and thumb together
in an okay sign, and Starlet’s shoulders sagged in relief as Minnie rolled in front
of her.

“If you gentlemen will move back a few steps, we have one more surprise for you. This
next performance was started way back when Miss Hattie’s first opened. Since then
it has been handed down from one hen to the next, and it just wouldn’t be a grand
opening without the feather dance being performed.” She backed out of the way. “I
hope you enjoy it.”

A hush fell over the room as a man that Brant didn’t recognize stepped over to the
piano and began to play. Baby appeared out of a side door, having changed from the
white dress to a deep midnight blue. As she slowly walked to the piano, she lifted
the microphone and started to sing.

“There’s a somebody I’m longing to see. I hope that he… turns out to be… someone who’ll
watch over me.”

A fluttering drew Brant’s attention back to the doorway. Two huge feathered fans filled
the opening, quivering like leaves in a strong breeze. They moved forward, propelled
by two shapely legs and a pair of glittery gold spiked heels that clicked against
the parquet floor. Brant had to admit that for an old gal, Sunshine had a great set
of gams. Although he worried a little bit when a few steps from the middle of the
floor, she twisted her ankle. She covered her falter by turning around and lowering
one fan to reveal a creamy white shoulder and a fall of blond-streaked hair.

Brant blinked.

Sunshine had dyed her hair? It didn’t seem likely knowing her earthy nature. Still,
Minnie and Starlet had changed for the grand opening so it made sense. She moved hesitantly
at first, the feathers of the fans trembling with each step she took. Then slowly
she grew more confident and started to manipulate the fans around her body.

Brant might’ve stopped the dance if he could’ve actually seen something. But the way
Sunshine was twirling the fans, you couldn’t see more than her legs and an occasional
glimpse of skin. It was enough to rile the crowd. The men inched closer, and a few
whistles split the air. Brant really couldn’t blame them. In the dim lighting, Sunshine’s
body looked years younger. And after she stopped moving so awkwardly, Brant had to
admit that the quivery feathers and swaying blond hair were pretty seductive.

It was too bad that this would be Sunshine’s last feather dance.

He wasn’t about to let Miss Hattie’s become a peep show.

If Hank was right, and Elizabeth was in charge, what had she been thinking to allow
this kind of craziness to take place? Of course, she probably had no idea what was
happening. She was probably back at her little house on Maple Street, snuggled on
her bed next to her fat cat.

Why the thought would make him hard, Brant didn’t know. One second he was half-watching
Sunshine strut around, whipping huge feather fans around her body, and the next, he
was as hard as a stone. Talk about awkward. He started to move toward the door when
the song ended
in a flurry of feathers. The men applauded much louder than they had with Starlet
as Sunshine moved back to the doorway. But before she slipped inside, she lowered
the fan enough to smile brightly at the crowd.

A smile that quickly replaced Brant’s desire with cold, hard anger.

E
LIZABETH WAS SO THRILLED
to have finished the dance without falling on her butt that it took a moment to notice
the man walking toward her. And not walking so much as stalking like a predator after
his prey. She couldn’t see his face beneath the brim of the cowboy hat, but she didn’t
need to. His body, in jeans and a starched western shirt, was familiar enough.

She didn’t know why she turned in a flurry of feathers and hurried up the stairs.
She had never been scared of Brant. Maybe it had nothing to do with being scared and
everything to do with being caught in a tight beige leotard that crawled up her butt.
Or the fact that he had just witnessed one of the most embarrassing moments of her
life.

What had she been thinking letting Minnie talk her into doing the dance? Or believing
her when she said that she hadn’t invited anyone that Elizabeth would know? No, she
had just invited the only man Elizabeth had ever loved! And that was the main reason
she was running away. She was terrified that she would be unable to keep that love
from showing.

Fortunately, it was easier climbing up the stairs in the painful high heels than it
had been climbing down them. What wasn’t easy was trying to maneuver the huge fans
through the narrow passageways. The tread of cowboy boots on wooden stairs had her
dropping the fans and hurrying down the narrow corridor at the top. There were a number
of rooms she could’ve come out in, but she chose the one that had more things to hide
behind.

Except the paneled door that led to Miss Hattie’s closet got stuck, and no amount
of shoving would get it opened. Before she could turn and head in another direction,
a hand settled around her waist, and she was pulled up against a hard body she remembered
all too well.

“It looks like the shy librarian has come out of her shell,” Brant breathed close
to her ear.

Since his words were rather snide, she shouldn’t have felt desire. Yet, there it was,
heating the crotch of her leotard and taking all the air out of her lungs. If Brant
had turned her around and kissed her, she would’ve let him and even fully participated.
But instead, he turned into a bit of a Neanderthal.

Scooping her up in his arms as if she weighed no more than one of the feather fans,
he kicked open the door and maneuvered her through the small doorway. Once inside,
he carried her through the dark closet into the bedroom where he tossed her down on
the bed.

“Just what the hell did you think you were doing?” he said as he took off his hat
and sent it sailing over to the chair in the corner.

Now that he wasn’t touching her, she could think a little more clearly. And the first
thing that popped into her head was that she didn’t particularly care for his arrogant
attitude.

“I believe it’s called the feather dance. Not to be confused with the one done by
the Southwestern American Indians.”

He stepped closer to the bed. “I’m not kidding around.”

“Ha!” Elizabeth snorted. “As if I would ever think that Branston Cates was kidding
around. No, I realize you’re mad, Brant. But since it seems to be your natural state,
I’m not overly concerned.”

It was too dark in the room to clearly see his features, but she thought she detected
a flash of white teeth. It had to have been her imagination because his next words
had no smile in them whatsoever.

“Well, you should be concerned,” he said. “I’m still the owner of this establishment,
and I never intended for it to be a strip club.”

“I did not strip!”

“No, you just made a bunch of men horny as hell by dancing around half naked.”

Anger fizzled right out of her, and a bright smile lit her face. “I did?”

He stared at her for a few seconds before he sighed in frustration and sat down on
the edge of the bed. “What happened to the virgin who prefers the light off? A virgin
who would never be caught dead doing the… feather dance?”

It was a good question. One she really didn’t have the answer for. She didn’t know
what had happened or why she had agreed to put on a skin-toned leotard and dance for
a room filled with men. She could blame it on Sunshine’s flu, Baby and Starlet’s pleading,
or Minnie’s reverse psychology—telling her she couldn’t pull it off. But she realized
none of those reasons would have forced her into doing something she didn’t want to
do.