Southern Charms Read online

  Taking pity at last on the valet’s stricken look, Shane crossed to the bar and poured them each some brandy. He handed Withers a glass and waited until the valet downed it in one gulp.

  “We really better start preparing for the trip, Withers.”

  “Yes, sir,” Withers squeaked.

  * * * *

  Ellie dismounted with a groan of relief and knocked her hat from her head. With it hanging down her back by leather thongs, she whipped her bandanna off and wiped her forehead, then draped the sweat-sogged bandanna across the top fence rail. Both hands free, she re-secured the pins holding her fine, platinum blond hair off her neck. It took more than a hat to hold her hair against its flyaway nature; sometimes she wished for something more like an iron helmet to fasten down the dadblasted mess. Except a helmet would be even hotter than her hat.

  The humid, pre-storm air hung as heavy as a blanket. Her split riding skirt and high-topped boots were as hot as the devil, too, and they wouldn’t have let even a faint breath of air through to cool her skin, had there been one stirring. Due to propriety, the closest thing to a cooling gesture she could get in addition to removing her hat was unbuttoning her top two blouse buttons.

  As hot and sweaty as Ellie, her men dismounted, pulling their hats off to fan their faces and revealing a variety of heads from sweat-soaked locks to utter baldness. Dust from the churning hooves of horses anxious to be turned loose didn’t help matters. A haze of dust particles attached itself to the humidity in the air, then to the sweat beads on human bodies. Ellie grimaced at the dirt streaks on her bare arms.

  Turning, she loosened her gelding, Cinder’s saddle cinch, while the horse stood patiently waiting for a rubdown. Unlike the other cow ponies, Cinder would be agreeable to Ellie taking her sweet time caring for the horse. Cinder could unleash a nimbleness afoot far and above any other pony in the remuda when needed, but his patience was legend. That’s one reason he meant so much to Ellie, in addition to the fact she absolutely adored the sleek gray gelding.

  She didn’t much adore the idea of what was waiting for her at the end of this day, though. Reluctance filled her at the thought of going in to supper.

  No, dinner, she reminded herself. The ranch hands had supper; she and her adoptive mother and sister had dinner.

  “Ellie!” Darlene called from the back veranda. “You’re late!”

  Ellie tensed and repressed a sigh of annoyance that her sister had already spotted her. Gosh darn it, what was Darlene’s hurry? They had plenty of time, and Ellie wasn’t late—not really, if you compared the time now to the time she usually crawled in off the range. She had only come in early this afternoon because Darlene and their mother, Elvina, insisted.

  “We plan on dinner in fifteen minutes, Ellie,” Darlene called. “That barely leaves you time to bathe and change. Rockford has tickets for us to attend the evening performance of the circus. Remember? It starts at seven.”

  “I’ll take care of Cinder,” Shorty said from beside Ellie.

  Ellie raised her head and gave the wiry man a grateful look. “Thank you. I knew we were going to be late getting in, but we couldn’t leave that calf stuck in the ravine.”

  “Me and the men could’ve got it out by ourselves,” Shorty reminded her, but the expression on his face divulged he knew why she’d stayed to help.

  Shorty respected Ellie way too much to say anything to upset her. However, Ellie had overheard him telling one of the other hands a few evenings ago, a shudder in his voice, that Ellie must be adopted, given the differences between her and that hoity toity mother of hers.

  Little did Shorty know, he was right. But the adoption, while not actually a deep, dark secret, wasn’t an every-day topic of conversation, either.

  “Ellie!” Darlene repeated. “Mother wants to see you for a moment before we eat, and I’m starving. Please come on.”

  “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

  Ellie understood her sister’s impatience. Rockford Van Zandt was the first man Darlene had truly fallen for. But for heaven’s sake, if they arrived early they would have to wait on Rockford in the heat. It was bad enough that Rockford couldn’t come out to the ranch and escort Darlene from here, since he’d received word an important business acquaintance would be arriving that day. Giving in to her sister’s pleading and knowing Elvina was perfectly capable of disallowing Darlene to go into town to meet Rockford alone, Ellie agreed to accompany her. It also meant her ranch hands could end their work day early and attend the circus, a good will gesture they would repay her in loyalty.

  Steps dragging, Ellie headed for the house. It was just as grand from the rear as the front, if you didn’t examine it too closely. She had been trying to find enough money to have it painted for over a year now. Three stories, with a wraparound porch, it looked similar to pictures of Southern mansions Ellie had seen. When she let it, the towering structure also reminded Ellie of her yearning to see some of those actual mansions one day. A trip somewhere outside of Texas once a year would be nice, not that she ever wanted to be away from her beloved ranch overly long.

  No, not her ranch, she reminded herself. The Leaning G was now legally Elvina’s and Darlene’s ranch. As the adopted family member, she didn’t own an inch of the five thousand acres of pasture and sagebrush Darlene and Elvina inherited when George Parker died unexpectedly five years ago.

  Darlene went back inside before Ellie reached the rear veranda, and Ellie stole up the back stairwell to her bedroom without being caught. Birdie had filled the tub in her bathing room with tepid water, just the way Ellie liked it when she came in from a hot day on the range. But she couldn’t enjoy her bath this afternoon. Elvina waited, along with dinner.

  Barely an hour later, Ellie had explained once again to Elvina why they couldn’t afford new carpet for the entire house right now and finished a meal made up of foods covered with such thick sauces she had to hunt in them to figure out what she was eating. Now she drove the buggy toward the outskirts of Fort Worth. Darlene sat beside her, restrained eagerness in every inch of her frame, which was more generous than Ellie’s.

  Ellie couldn’t imagine that sort of zeal to be in the company of a man, even Rockford’s company. Her sister’s suitor was nice enough, she guessed, but nothing special. For one thing Rockford preferred his existence in town to living on a ranch, and Ellie didn’t understand men like that at all. As long as he treated Darlene respectfully, though, she would tolerate Rockford. She could even support her younger sister’s wish for Rockford to propose, since all in all, she really did think Rockford was the right man for Darlene.

  Maybe Rockford, given the stable but not very profitable state of the family business, wouldn’t have the financial resources to help them get out of the ever-deepening financial hole the ranch was sinking into. But if he made Darlene happy, that would be what mattered. They would solve their financial problems somehow.

  The circus had set up on the edge of town, and for once Ellie had to grudgingly agree with Elvina. It wouldn’t do for Darlene to meet Rockford there alone. After all, Rockford hadn’t actually proposed yet. Darlene continued to quake with anticipation, however, though she attempted to effect a studied calm. Ellie just wanted to get the evening over with and return to the ranch’s accounting books. Somehow she had to squeeze enough money out of their tight budget to meet payroll in two weeks.

  Rockford waited on the edge of the area roped off for buggies and wagons to park. Sunlight lingered in summertime, and even at six o’clock, there were a good three hours of daylight left. A good three hours of heat and humidity, also, although Ellie had read the signs enough times in her twenty years on this earth to know a storm would hit before morning. Summer storms in their part of Texas were rare, but normally a deluge while they lasted.

  “Now remember, Ellie,” Darlene reminded her, her hands flittering all over the place as she patted and probed her already perfectly attired figure, “give Rockford and me some privacy this evening. I just know he’s going to
ask me to marry him any minute. But he won’t do that in front of you.”

  “I doubt he’d do it at a circus, either,” Ellie said. “Nor would I think you’d want him to. It doesn’t sound very romantic, a man asking you to marry him among all those smells of greasy food and animal dung.”

  “Ellie!” Darlene gasped. “You’re my sister, and I love you. But oh, you are so blunt at times! Do please try to curb your tongue in front of Rockford. After all, his father is one of the scions of Fort Worth, and I’m sure he wouldn’t want a daughter-in-law in the family with a sister who talked like an uneducated ranch hand.”

  Ellie shot Darlene a hurt look, and her sister clapped a hand over her mouth, then dropped it.

  “Oh, Ellie, forgive me,” Darlene said. “I wasn’t thinking of what I was saying, because I’m so eager to see Rockford. But dear, it’s not as if you don’t know better. You’ve had the same training as I have in manners. And the same education, too.”

  “But you get to sit around and practice your needlepoint and pour tea for your friends all day, Dar,” Ellie reminded her. “I have a ranch to run.”

  Darlene reached over and hugged Ellie briefly. “That doesn’t mean you have to become one of those foul-mouthed ranch hands. I want to see you happy, too, Ellie, but I can’t imagine having one of those ranch hands for a brother-in-law.”

  Ellie sighed and gave up. Darlene wasn’t a bad person, but she was very full of herself. She couldn’t much help it after being raised the favored daughter—the blood daughter. And she did desperately love Rockford Van Zandt, or at least, she had convinced herself she did. The love of Darlene’s life just wouldn’t take that final step into matrimony for some reluctant, hidden reason.

  The love of Darlene’s life walked toward the buggy as Ellie whoa’ed the horse and wrapped the reins around the brake handle. Glancing up, Ellie saw another man following Rockford. Clearly the two were together. The other man—a huge man—took the lead rein from Rockford when Darlene’s love started to tie the horse and nodded for him to go on over to Darlene. Holding the lead rein, the man watched Rockford, but for some reason Ellie felt his corner-eye gaze on her.

  She stared at the large man in fascination. Rockford wasn’t small, but this other man dwarfed him. He had to be well over six and a half feet. Along with Rockford, he had removed his hat as the buggy with the women in it approached. Blond and thick, his hair was tawnier than her own nearly white, sun-bleached tresses, and she sensed without confirmation that his eyes would be as amber as hers were blue.

  Amber, the color of a lion’s eyes. His rugged face reminded her of a lion’s face, also, stark and blunt with a don’t-mess-with-me haughtiness. She thought Rockford had mentioned that his business acquaintance was from New York City, but he almost looked at home amid the horses, wagons and buggies.

  For some silly reason, Ellie looked down at her dress, wishing she hadn’t chosen her second best Sunday dress to wear to the circus. At once she shook off that feeling of inadequacy. Second best was her ultimate place in life anyway.

  She was vaguely aware of Darlene and Rockford murmuring greetings as though they hadn’t just seen each other for tea the previous afternoon. The buggy swayed, and Darlene giggled appreciatively as Rockford swung her to the ground with ease. The other man quickly tied the lead rope to a fence post and strode toward Ellie’s side of the buggy.

  “This is Shane Morgan,” Ellie heard Rockford say as the man stopped in front of her.

  Nodding a greeting, Ellie tore her eyes away from the man’s craggy face. Propriety allowed men to remove their frock coats in a lady’s presence during the hot summer months, and Mr. Morgan wore a long-sleeved, white shirt with a black, bolo string tie. The expensive material of the shirt was tailored to leave no doubt as to his physique. He also wore a pair of brand spanking new jeans and gray, snakeskin boots, which must have cost him as much as her entire monthly payroll.

  “Sister, dear,” Darlene said, drawing Ellie’s attention and making her realize she and Rockford had walked around to her side of the buggy. “Close your mouth. It’s open large enough to catch a bat flying by in the evening air.”

  Ellie closed her mouth with a pop, and warmth totally disassociated from the hot weather flushed her cheeks. She realized the man—Shane—was holding out his hands, waiting to help her down from the buggy. Not knowing what else to do and not wanting to appear rude in front of Darlene’s love, she gave herself over to the huge paws. She barely noticed that one of his hands was mottled with what appeared to be a scarred-over burn; she was lost too deeply in a mental contemplation of those amber eyes, while avoiding being caught in their gaze again.

  Chapter 2

  Damn, she was tiny. Soaking wet, she probably wouldn’t top the scales at ninety pounds. But Shane didn’t for a minute forget a tiny woman could rule a man every bit as effectively as a larger one. Ellie Parker, nee whatever else her name might be if the Pinkerton’s report proved true, was the exact same size as his mother.

  His huge hands could crush her tiny ribs if he weren’t careful, so Shane forced himself to barely grasp Ellie’s waist when she placed her hands on his shoulders. Swinging her out of the buggy, he barely noticed the feather weight of her. He set her down as easily as if he had picked a fluff of dandelion seed and blown it into the air.

  Rockford babbled something beside him, and Shane caught the words “New York City.”

  New York City. Home. His mother. The Pinkerton’s report.

  Shane quickly re-routed his thoughts about dandelions, summer days and pretty women into the air and paid attention to Rockford’s comments. He reminded himself that he was in this decadently hot and uncivilized state of...Texas at his mother’s behest. He needed to keep his head about him.

  “Yes,” he replied to Rockford’s introduction. “Rockford and I are discussing expanding our mutual business entities. There appears to be quite a wide open market in—” He thought he covered up his distaste at even speaking the state’s name quite well as he continued, “—your delightful state of Texas.”

  Did he imagine it, or did Ellie’s eyes fill with disappointment, then glaze over somewhat as he spoke? He should have remembered that women preferred not to have men discuss business in their presence. However, Ellie seemed extremely interested in Rockford’s next comment, although the other man focused entirely on Darlene as he spoke.

  “It’ll be very beneficial to mine and my father’s business interests here in Fort Worth if we can talk Shane into investing in our area,” Rockford said. “I, for one, don’t understand how he could overlook the charming company available to him, either.”

  Darlene preened and took the arm Rockford held out, but when Shane offered the same courtesy to Ellie, she didn’t notice for a second. The look on her face wasn’t so much disgust as puzzlement as the other pair strolled off.

  Shane cleared his throat, and Ellie slowly turned her head. Evidently used to much shorter men, her gaze fell on his chest, although she tipped her head back. Then tipped it back further in order to meet his eyes. He muffled the urge to tell her not to get a catch in her neck.

  Funny, there were a lot of tentative things rolling around in his mind he wished he could say to this tiny mite of femininity. If only he could find someone like her in New York.

  His jaw tightened. Damn, he’d forgotten for a minute. He would never subject a woman anywhere to his marred body—New York woman or Texas woman.

  “It’s really not necessary for you to escort me, Mr. Morgan,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll find plenty of friends to visit with.”

  Mariana Catalina Morgan’s voice whispered a reprimand to him as Shane briefly thought of telling her fine and stalking away. To be honest, he thought in answer to the urge, she was proving a distraction to him he didn’t need, and he would just as soon get out of her presence for a few minutes. But his mother would have his hide if he failed to fulfill her most recent request.

  He unclenched his jaw. “It truly would be my
pleasure to escort you, Miss Parker,” he assured her, watching her eyes glaze over again. What was it about him? Every time he spoke, she looked like it pained her to hear his voice. Surely she could appreciate his more cultured tones when compared to that hard-to-understand drawl infiltrating the speech of the rest of this state’s population. Come to think of it, she had that drawl, too, but it sounded charming on her, not illiterate.

  “Absolutely not.” She reached out a tiny hand and patted his arm. “I know Rockford and Darlene want to be alone, and I’ve had practice busying myself before while they court. I’ll see you when the circus starts.”

  Before he could move, she flitted into the profusion of buggies, wagons and horses. As small as she was, he lost sight of her immediately.

  Hell, how was he going to get to know this woman if she clearly didn’t fancy being in his company? Forget the fact that for a moment he’d thought of deserting her disturbing presence on his own. He’d agreed—well, acceded to orders—to come here, and the faster he got his job done, the faster he could leave.

  He sighed, a mixture of resignation and—yes, he had to admit a tad of eagerness. He would just have to find her again.

  * * * *

  “Here she comes, Pandora.”

  The cat opened its eyes, but spoiled the pretense of alertness by yawning. Fatima scowled at her companion, then dropped the tent flap back into place. Hurriedly she swung her black, silver-tipped wand, and a full-length mirror appeared amid a cloud of gold-dust sparkles. Waving the sparkles away so they didn’t cloud the mirror surface, Fatima examined herself.

  Her red hair was carefully coiffed, thick and luxuriant, not a tress out of place. The black and white ostrich feather curled above her left ear, then swept around and cupped the back of her head. The little black dot beside her mouth perfectly complemented her pretty features.