Rustlers and Ribbons

by Kirsten Osbourne

  “Then there you have it. Does that free up any time for you to spend with the horses?”

  “It just might.” He flashed her a smile, and she nearly missed a step. He really shouldn’t disarm her when they were stepping on uneven ground. “Now, what about you? What secret ambitions are you hiding?”

  “I was receiving my education to be a governess when my parents passed away,” she said.

  “You’d like to become a governess? That’s rather odd for a secret ambition.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant. I’d like to finish my education. I might not ever use it for anything, but I enjoy learning things. I enjoy thinking about history or art while I’m doing something else.”

  “Doing what kinds of other things?” he pressed.

  “Oh, like sewing or baking.”

  He paused and touched her elbow, bringing her to a stop as well. “I understand your desire to finish your education, but isn’t there something more that you want besides sewing and baking? Come now—if any wish in the world could be granted you, what would it be?”

  She looked away, feeling ashamed. She’d never voiced it aloud because it seemed too daring, too masculine—too something. “I’d like to go into business,” she said at last. “I’d like to own a fabric and notions store. But I don’t just want to be the clerk—I want to keep the books.”

  Gabriel let out a low whistle. “Now I’m even more impressed.”

  “Because I’m a woman who enjoys arithmetic?”

  “No, because you’re anyone who enjoys it. I can’t stand it myself. I plan to make Hope do it all once we’re running the hotel—if I can get her to come on board, that is.” He pulled out his pocket watch. “We’d better head back so we can meet with Mother.”

  “Oh, that’s right.” Collette watched her feet as they turned to go back. The last thing she needed was to slip in the mud and get Hope’s dress all dirty.

  They rode back to the hotel and gave the horses to the stable hands, then took a moment to wash up. When Collette joined Gabriel in the lobby, his hair was a little damp around the ears, likely from washing his face, and it made him look like a little boy. She smiled—she liked it. He seemed vulnerable and endearing—not that he hadn’t been plenty endearing before.

  She took a deep breath. She would have to stop thinking that way. She was here as a guest, nothing more.

  “Our family quarters are down this hallway,” Gabriel explained as he showed the way. “You go through the office to get to them. My father was very keen on keeping our family life separate from hotel life. It worked . . . somewhat.”

  They reached a door that stood slightly ajar, and he knocked on it. Collette found that her heart was pounding. Why was she so nervous to meet Gabriel’s mother? Why did she have an aching need to be liked and approved of by this woman? She couldn’t explain the emotions, and yet, they were there.

  The door opened the rest of the way, and Hope stepped out, all smiles. “We’ve been visiting, and I’ve told her all about you,” she said to Collette. “She’s been prepared to adore you.”

  Collette didn’t know how to reply to that, especially when her thoughts had been so much along the same lines.

  Gabriel, however, had a reply. “You’re a nuisance,” he called after her as she flounced down the hallway. Then he turned back to Collette. “Shall we go in?”

  “Yes, please,” she replied.

  He tapped again softly, then pushed the door open. They stepped through into a comfortable room that looked to do double duty as both a bedroom and a parlor. A lovely woman with dark hair lay on a couch in the corner, propped up with pillows. She held out a hand as they approached.

  “Gabriel, bring me our lovely guest so I can meet her.”

  He placed his hand on the small of Collette’s back and guided her forward. “Mother, this is Collette Barnard. Collette, this is my mother, Elizabeth Brody.”

  The woman clasped Collette’s hand between her own. “I’m so glad you’ve come to stay with us,” she said warmly. “I remember Sybil well. She wasn’t here long, but she was so sweet and so good, and we’ve written to each other a few times a year ever since.” She chuckled. “Although I suppose I should call her Lady Douglas, shouldn’t I?”

  “She’s never been too concerned about formalities,” Collette assured her. “May I sit near you?”

  “Oh, of course. I’m sorry—I don’t mean to make you stand all day.” She motioned to the chair nearest her couch. “Gabriel, why don’t you drag that other chair over too. Then I can see both of you at the same time without trying to break my neck doing it.”

  He chuckled as he did what he was told, and Elizabeth looked at them with a smile on her face once they were seated.

  “I think we all know that time is a fleeing thing,” she began. “We can’t predict how much of it we’re given or how much of it we have left. Therefore, I’m not going to beat around the bush. Hope, my most romantic child, has just been telling me how perfect you are for my son, Collette.”

  Collette swallowed. “She does seem to have a romantic streak in her, Mrs. Brody.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “That’s a very polite way of putting it. I want to know what you think—are you perfect for my son?”

  Collette glanced at Gabriel. He showed no emotion, but his ears were bright red. The look on Elizabeth’s face told her that she wanted to hear the entire truth, and Collette supposed she could give her that.

  “I only just met him yesterday,” she replied. “I think he’s handsome, and I enjoy spending time with him, but I don’t know any more than that.”

  “Ah, but you do think he’s handsome.” Elizabeth wagged a finger in the air. “That’s always an excellent place to start. I remember when I first saw Mr. Brody. I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. It was all I could do to speak.”

  “Mother,” Gabriel said, a pained expression on his face.

  “What? Have you forgotten that I was a young lady too once upon a time? Is there something wrong with me finding your father attractive?”

  “It’s just . . . a little awkward,” he said. “You’re my mother.”

  She laughed merrily. “Yes, I am. And as such, I’m telling you to get over this embarrassment or whatever it is and let me chat with this young lady.” She turned back to Collette. “Anyway, the Brody men have a special charm about them, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Should you choose to succumb to it, well, there’s nothing wrong with having a good-looking husband, is there?”

  “No, I can’t say that there is,” Collette said, risking another glace at Gabriel. He looked as though he wished the floor would swallow him whole. “But as I said, we’ve only just met. I can’t possibly know what the future holds, and neither can he.”

  “And no way to speed up the process just for me.” Elizabeth sighed. “Such disobedient children I have. First I told them not to grow up, but they did it anyway. Then I begged them to marry and have children so I could have grandbabies. Rose is married, but no grandbabies yet. And the other two? Incorrigible.” She gave Gabriel a look that was likely supposed to be disapproving, but it was utterly filled with love. “In the end, I just want my children to be happy.”

  “We are happy, Mother,” Gabriel said. He leaned forward and took her hand. “You and Father gave us a wonderful life, and there’s no reason to think that will change.”

  “But I won’t be here to see it. I want to see you be happy.” She patted his hand. “Never mind me. I’m just taking a rare moment to feel sorry for myself. I’ll be all right again soon. In the meantime, Collette, tell me about yourself.”

  Collette told her story yet again, feeling as though that was all she’d done for a week now. Elizabeth smiled at the conclusion. “And now you’ll stay with us until you decide your next step. I’m so pleased. Hope can’t say enough good things about you—she’s needed a true friend for a long time.”

  “She seems to know quite a lot of people,” Collette replied, but Elizabe
th shook her head.

  “She may have quantities of friends, but she does not have quality of friends. She discovered that the hard way when they all started making plays for her brother. You have a depth to you that I like, even if you don’t marry my son.” She gave a wink. “I’d like to take a rest now, if you don’t mind. Will you come back and see me again tomorrow?”

  “Of course,” Collette promised, and she and Gabriel stepped out of the room.

  As soon as they were back in the hotel proper, Collette said, “Oh, I like her, Gabriel. She’s elegant, but she’s spunky.”

  “That’s her in a nutshell.” He paused. “I’m sorry about all this marriage talk—I know it’s uncomfortable, and I’d like you to ignore all of it.”

  She understood what he meant, but at the same time, being told to ignore “all” of it was disappointing. She’d almost begun to think about it and to find it appealing—well, all right, she had begun to think about it. Until she made herself stop. Until she thought about it again. Logically, it was the silliest thing she’d ever heard. Emotionally . . . she could still feel his hand on her back, even though it had been twenty minutes since he’d touched her there. She could see the flash of his smile even though he was now somber. He was having an effect on her, logic or no logic, and it couldn’t be denied.

  “I won’t put too much stock in any of it,” she replied, and he visibly relaxed. “I’m quite curious, though. She mentioned all these young ladies buzzing around you and how much she dislikes that . . . but she’d like me to start doing some buzzing myself?”

  He chuckled. “I think she likes having the ability to choose the bee.”

  Her reply was interrupted by the whistle of a train. She flinched as it grew nearer.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. “I’ve grown up with it, so I barely notice it.”

  “I imagine you’d get used to it, but still, it’s quite loud.”

  She watched as the waitresses assembled in the lobby, waiting to greet the train passengers and escort them to their tables so they could be fed as quickly as possible. “It doesn’t really matter, though, because you’re not ready for a bee,” she said quietly.

  He turned to her. “What do you mean?”

  “Little comments you’ve made. I’m sure quite a few young ladies have been disappointed by your focus on work, but it’s admirable. You’ve been doing what need to be done. There’s time for marriage and family later.”

  “Not according to my mother. I’m twenty-five, you see, and that’s just too old not to be married.” He paused, his focus now seemingly on the passengers streaming into the lobby. “If there were to be a bee . . .”

  “I’m just not a bee type,” Collette said brightly, turning to him with a smile. “I don’t buzz around frantically, trying to attract attention. That’s not my way, and if that’s what is wanted, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.” She was proud of herself for articulating what had been bothering her for the last few minutes, but it didn’t feel good to say. She excused herself and slipped into the dining room, finding a spot in the corner with ladies on either side who would do all the chatting and let her sit quietly. She imagined that there would be quite a contest for Gabriel’s hand—after all, he was to inherit quite a nice estate. She, however, was not about to become a contestant. She might be a simple girl with a simple background, but she was not about to lower herself any farther just to get someone’s attention.

  Chapter Seven

  Gabriel stood there speechless, trying to figure out what had just happened. He wanted to go after Collette but he couldn’t—he was on duty in the lobby just then, collecting payment for the meals that were being served. It would have to wait.

  Hope came past a moment later, and he called out to her. “Explain women to me,” he demanded.

  “Why, my dear brother, are you finally ready to start taking Mother seriously? What would you like to know?”

  “Why do they think the way they do? Why do they . . . smell so good even when they’ve just been riding a horse? Why do they stomp off into the dining room when you can’t follow after them?”

  Hope smiled and leaned against the counter. “Someone’s falling for a certain stranded ladies’ maid.”

  “I can’t say that I am and I can’t say that I’m not. I’m just trying to understand her, that’s all.”

  Hope drew a circle on the counter with the tip of her finger. “Understanding women . . . you are trying to unravel the secrets of the universe. The thing is, no one understands women . . . not even us.”

  “Women don’t understand women? Then all of us are doomed.”

  “I didn’t say women don’t understand women. I meant that we don’t understand ourselves. Tell me what happened with Collette.”

  “We’d just been in to see Mother, and all of a sudden, Collette says something about not wanting to buzz, and then she went into the dining room.”

  “Not wanting to buzz . . . Oh, dear. Did Mother use her terrible bee analogy again?”

  He nodded.

  Hope sighed and stood upright. “As much as I love our mother, she needs to keep bees and all other sorts of insect life out of it. It’s quite simple, really. Collette doesn’t want to fight for your attention. She wants you to notice her because you do.”

  “I do notice her. Believe me, I do. When I walked into that hotel in Colorado and saw her for the first time . . . I can’t tell you this. You’re my sister.”

  “Who better to tell?”

  He shook his head. “Fine. The first time I saw her, it was like the entire world stood still and it was just the two of us. But the timing, Hope . . . it’s dreadful.”

  “And why is it so dreadful? Don’t start blabbering about how you’re getting ready to take over the hotel and all that. Yes, that’s a big change, but what if she’s here to help you through it?”

  “I was actually thinking I’d ask you.”

  She looked surprised. “I’m not marrying you!”

  “I mean, I thought I’d ask you to be my business manager. We’d work side by side, you’d help supervise the employees—you’d basically take over Mother’s responsibilities. You’ve helped her with them for years—you could do them in your sleep.”

  “I already do them in my sleep. They’re so boring, Gabriel. I appreciate the fact that you trust me so much, but this isn’t what I want to do with my life. I’ll help you, but I can’t be in charge.” She smiled at him. “If you need someone to fill Mother’s role while you take over Father’s, doesn’t it make sense that your wife would be your business manager? Isn’t that part of what makes the Brody so successful?”

  She didn’t wait for a reply. Instead, she walked down the hallway to the dining room, leaving Gabriel there with his mouth slightly open. It had never occurred to him to marry his business partner. Or to make his partner his wife—whichever came first. But he had to agree, it was a rather brilliant idea.

  And as much as he wanted to reject his sister’s goofy idea and his mother’s prodding, he couldn’t see anyone but Collette in that role.

  “And there you have it. The final paperwork is finished, and you, young Mr. Brody, are now the owner of the Brody Hotel,” Mr. Fitzpatrick said, holding out a hand to shake Gabriel’s.

  Gabriel felt numb. He couldn’t believe it had actually happened—he owned the Brody now. It was his to be a success or an utter flop. If he kept on the way it had been run for twenty-six years, surely he couldn’t fail, but as Collette had said the day before, they couldn’t see the future.

  Collette. He hadn’t seen her at all the remainder of the day before, or that morning. He didn’t know if she was busy or angry. Perhaps she was both. He wanted to charge up to her room, bang down her door, and insist that she talk to him, but his father had needed him to run a new advertisement for waitresses down to the newspaper office, and then it was time to do payroll. Now he’d been in the attorney’s office for two hours, going over every last detail, things he was sure he’d never n
eed and would instantly forget. All of it had kept him from speaking with Collette, and it was irking him terribly.

  He accepted the papers he was given and slid them into his leather portfolio, then turned to give his father a handshake. Adam Brody’s eyes seemed a little brighter than usual, and he wiped at them. “This is a momentous day, son,” he said. “Never forget it. This is the day an entire legacy became yours.”

  The weight settled into Gabriel’s chest, but he accepted it as part of the stewardship he was taking on. “I’ll remember it, Father,” he said. “As well as your trust in me.”

  Adam clapped his son on the shoulder. “Good man. Now let’s go for a ride so I can show you all the holdings you just inherited.”

  Collette was not a bee. Neither was she going to cling or demand or do anything else bee-like, but when she didn’t see Gabriel again that night or the next morning, she wanted to hunt him down. They needed to talk—they needed to clear the air. She wouldn’t feel right until they had, but he was nowhere to be found.

  He and his father didn’t arrive home until hours after dinner. She heard them grabbing something to eat from the kitchen, but she didn’t barge in there and demand that he speak with her—he was likely worn out. Instead, she carried her glass of milk upstairs, trying not to be noticed, trying to understand why she felt this hole in her heart.

  People couldn’t fall in love in just a couple of days. It wasn’t realistic. Love took months and sometimes years to develop. You had to know all the other person’s quirks and their strengths. Yes, he made her heart beat strangely, but that was the power a handsome man had over a woman. It didn’t mean they were meant to be together—it meant that she found him attractive, and that was possible with any two people in the world who were remotely good-looking.