by Nan Ryan
Anna’s speedy retreat had been missed by neither. Buck commented, “Guess Miss Anna is too busy to come out and visit with us.”
“I guess.”
“I’ll bet she’s never too busy to visit with Doc McCelland though.”
There was no reply from Brit.
“Yes sir, looks like Doc McCelland is pretty much smitten with Miss Anna,” Buck said as the two rode knee-to-knee, heading home after a hard day down at the Sierra Blanca, pasture.
Brit’s dark head finally swung around. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Buck shrugged. “Well, all I know is the good doctor has been out to the house several times recently, and I figure it’s to see Miss Anna.”
Brit was involuntarily irritated. “Jesus, you’re as bad as an old woman,” he scoffed. “Doc McCelland isn’t interested in the girl. He routinely visits the ranch to check on LaDextra. Make sure she’s in good health.”
“Maybe,” said Buck, “but one of the house servants said just yesterday she heard the doctor ask Anna if he could sit at her table for the evening meal at the Fourth of July celebration.”
“So?”
“So, sounds to me like he’s sweet on LaDextra’s granddaughter.”
“Damn it to hell, Buck, I’ve told you a thousand times, this woman is not LaDextra’s granddaughter!”
One evening a few days later, LaDextra and Will Davis lingered at the dining table long after Brit and Anna had both hastily excused themselves. The two old friends drank their after-dinner coffee and discussed plans for the upcoming Fourth of July celebration.
“Brit’s driving me into town tomorrow so I can make the final arrangements,” said LaDextra.
Will took a pull from his cigar and nodded. “Engage the musicians, order the food and liquor?”
“Yes, and I plan to hire a couple of carpenters to build a temporary dance floor out on the west lawn.”
Again Will nodded. “The Hall brothers would probably be your best bet there. Shall I have them come to my office tomorrow to meet with you?”
“Why don’t you? Make it afternoon, though. I have to get the food and liquor ordered. Then I’ll need to check with Hap Kinney, see if he’ll come out twenty-four hours early again this year and start the barbecue.”
“He’s the best,” commented Will.
“I know, and I really want this year’s celebration to be the best one ever.” Will was puzzled by the wistful look that came into LaDextra’s expressive blue eyes as she spoke.
“I’m sure it will be a huge success, just as always,” he offered. “What about the fireworks?”
LaDextra nodded. “I contracted an El Paso outfit some time back. They’ve promised to put on quite a pyrotechnic spectacle at straight-up midnight.”
The two continued to discuss the upcoming Fourth of July festival, recalling amusing incidences that had happened at past celebrations. Fondly remembering old friends who came every year, some of whom were no longer alive. Laughing about the liquor-induced arguments and fistfights that occasionally broke out.
“We’ve had some mighty good times out here on the Fourth, haven’t we, Will?” LaDextra mused, tears of laughter shining in her pale eyes.
“We sure have, my dear,” said Will with a smile. “And we’ll have many, many more.”
Eleven
Brit’s trousered knee slowly slid across the smooth leather and lightly brushed Anna’s thigh. She quickly scooted nearer to the far edge of the carriage seat. She cast a covert glance at him and caught him grinning.
Anna clamped her jaw angrily. She couldn’t say anything to him and he knew it. She could do nothing but quietly simmer.
Anna folded her arms over her chest and gazed unseeingly out at the stark, flat countryside.
If she had known that Brit was the one who’d be driving LaDextra and her into town today, she would have begged off and stayed home. Since the unnerving meeting at the springs, she had managed to successfully avoid him. Except at dinner when both Will and LaDextra were present, she hadn’t so much as caught sight of him.
And that’s just the way she wanted it.
Now here she was, seated beside him, his strong masculine presence making her both angry and anxious. She would have gladly done without a new frock for the Fourth of July shindig if she’d known that it meant spending a day in his presence. She was more than a little annoyed with LaDextra for not telling her Brit would be driving them into town. It was almost as if LaDextra had kept it quiet on purpose. Although why, Anna could not imagine.
She made a face and softly sighed.
For days she had been eagerly looking forward to this all-day outing. She’d been as excited as a child when she’d come out of the house that morning. She had skipped down the steps, rushed down the sidewalk, then looked up and seen Brit lounging negligently against the big double-seated carriage.
Her face had immediately turned red with irritation and embarrassment. After what had happened at the springs, it was impossible for her to look at him and not recall him naked.
“I’m fully dressed today,” he said when she reached the carriage, as if he’d read her guilty thoughts. “Which way do you like me best, Anna?”
“Will you lower your voice!” she had scolded hotly under her breath, looking nervously over her shoulder at the slowly approaching LaDextra.
Unfazed, Brit leaned close, whispered, “Tell the truth, don’t you like me best bare assed?”
“I don’t like you at all, Caruth!” she muttered. “With or without clothes, I do not like you!”
“I don’t believe you,” he said with calm assurance. “You don’t want to like me, but you like me. Too much.”
“Shh!” Anna warned as LaDextra neared them.
She would just die should LaDextra ever find out about their meeting at the springs. But she suspected that the devilish Brit wouldn’t much care if LaDextra did find out. He would probably think it was amusing.
Grinning sunnily, Brit reached for Anna. But she was having none of it. She swiftly slapped his hands away. “See to LaDextra,” she snapped. “I can get into the carriage with no help from you.” She turned away and started to climb up into the rear seat.
“No, no, dear,” LaDextra called out, stopping her. “You ride up front with Brit, please. I’d like the entire back seat to myself so I can stretch my stiff old legs. If you don’t mind.”
Anna forced a smile. “Of course I don’t mind.”
While Brit very gingerly helped LaDextra into the rear seat of the carriage, Anna irritably swung up onto the leather front seat, smoothed her skirts and folded her arms across her chest. She would, she decided, silently stare straight ahead for the entire six-mile journey.
But she didn’t do it.
Brit wouldn’t let her.
Much as she wanted to totally ignore him—pretend he didn’t exist—it was impossible. By the time they reached the outskirts of Regentville, Anna was grudgingly laughing at Brit’s humorous stories, just as LaDextra was. He was funny. And he was fun. Lively and entertaining, with a self-deprecating wit that made him likable. Lovable. It wasn’t fair. It just was not fair for one man to possess so much natural charm.
Anna was loath to admit it, but she was helplessly, hopelessly fascinated with this tall, dark Texan. He was, it seemed to her, everything that a man should be and more. Innately intelligent. Strikingly handsome. Incredibly captivating. Seductively virile.
But, she reminded herself, he was, above all, extremely dangerous.
Regentville, Texas, was a small community set on the high flat southwestern desert in the middle of nowhere. Built around a central plaza, it was named for the Regent family. The town had sprung up to serve the many people who worked at the big cattle ranch, but it had grown over the years as more and more settlers migrated to far west Texas.
Elm trees had been planted on the plaza, their spreading limbs casting welcome shade on a scattering of stone benches. The benches were always filled, with fri
ends and neighbors visiting, talking, eating, enjoying a day in town.
Built around the plaza were the usual businesses. A blacksmith shop, a feed store, a saddle maker and a funeral parlor lined the square’s east side. On the south was a bakery, a butcher shop, a general store, the telegraph office, the William R. Davis Law Firm and Dr. McCelland’s clinic.
The west side was home to all of the town’s rowdy saloons, lined up in a row. The Red Rose. The Last Chance. The Bloody Bucket. The Plainsman. The Corral.
Dominating the north side of the plaza was the brick, three-story Regentville Hotel. Next to the hotel, its only entrance located inside the hotel’s grand lobby, was Lily’s Ladies’ Wear Salon. Lily offered the finest in ladies’ ready-to-wear garments. Well-made, stylish clothes that couldn’t be found at the general store. Or anywhere nearer than San Antonio.
Brit pulled up on the reins directly in front of the Regentville Hotel. A smiling young boy rushed out to assist the ladies and tend the carriage.
“Will you be staying in town long, Mr. Caruth?” asked the boy.
“All day,” Brit told him. “Make sure LaDextra’s room is ready in case she wishes to rest.”
“Yes, sir.” Brit handed him a silver dollar. The young man smiled broadly. “Thank you, sir.”
Expecting—and secretly hoping—that Brit would part company then and there and go directly to one of the saloons, Anna was surprised, and grudgingly impressed, by his insistence that he help LaDextra with the many celebration arrangements. Anna could see that LaDextra depended on Brit, took his counsel, deferred to him.
He completely took charge. Slowing his steps to match hers, he patiently escorted LaDextra around the square, stopping at those establishments where provisions for food, drink, flowers and the engagement of musical groups were to be made. If LaDextra was indecisive, couldn’t make up her mind how many cases of champagne or how many gallons of ice cream would be needed, Brit did some fast figuring in his head and promptly supplied the numbers.
By one o’clock, when the three of them returned to the hotel for a late lunch, they had taken care of everything, save hiring Hap Kinney to cook the barbecue and meeting with the Hall brothers to discuss the cost of building a temporary dance floor.
For Anna, there still remained the pleasant chore of choosing a pretty new dress for the festivities.
Brit noticed, as they were having a leisurely lunch, that LaDextra was looking extraordinarily tired and pale. It had been a busy morning for her. She needed to rest.
“I’ve a suggestion,” he said, as they finished the rich custard dessert.
“Which is?” said LaDextra.
“You go upstairs and have a nice long nap. I’ll run down Hap Kinney and then meet with the Hall brothers at Will’s office.”
“I would agree to that,” said LaDextra, “but I promised Anna I’d help her shop for a new dress to wear on the Fourth.”
Brit looked at Anna, but addressed LaDextra.
“Anna’s a grown woman. Surely she can select a dress by herself.”
Feeling somehow as if this were a trap into which she was falling, Anna said, “I can choose a dress, LaDextra. You do look tired. You really should rest.”
LaDextra sighed. “Well, children, I believe I’ll take you up on that suggestion. A little nap sounds mighty tempting.” She smiled at Anna and said, “Get any dress you want, dear. Two or three if you like. Just tell Lily to put them on my bill.”
“One will be plenty. Thank you so much,” said Anna.
“You’re very welcome, child,” said LaDextra, then turned to Brit. “Will you get the room key and help me up the stairs?”
Together, Brit and Anna got LaDextra settled into the luxurious second-floor suite that the Regent family had retained since the hotel’s opening. The suite was reserved solely for the family. Brit stayed there overnight occasionally. LaDextra used it for long day trips into town.
Closing the door on the weary woman, Brit and Anna silently descended the hotel’s broad center staircase. At the base of the stairs, Brit paused, laid a hand on Anna’s forearm and said, “Come with me to Will’s office, then I’ll help you choose a dress.”
“No, thank you,” she said, brushing his hand away, genuinely nervous at the prospect of being left alone with him. “As you pointed out, surely I can select a dress all by myself.”
She turned and flounced away, hurriedly crossing the marble-floored lobby and rushing out the open front doors, her full skirts swaying with her quick, determined steps.
Unhurriedly, Brit exited the hotel after her. He stood on the wooden sidewalk under the portico and watched Anna. She was several yards down the sidewalk now, having reached the glass-fronted ladies’ wear shop. She hesitated, stopped, looked around, puzzled. Then it hit her. The only entrance into Lily’s was through the hotel lobby.
Brit knew the exact instant she realized it. She made a sour face and slapped her hands against her full skirts. Brit grinned and leaned a muscular shoulder against the hotel’s heavy door frame. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
Anna had no choice but to return to the hotel. Whirling around, she started back.
But when she saw Brit standing there, radiating amused arrogance, she did a quick about-face. She would do without a new dress forever rather than be subjected to his infuriating insolence.
Brit’s cocky smile remained in place. He knew why she had turned away. With his heavily lashed lids lowered, he watched her stroll aimlessly around the plaza, stopping to look in store windows, killing time, waiting for him to leave. Bent on avoiding him. What, he wondered, would she do if he stayed here all afternoon?
Brit fished his gold watch out of his vest pocket. Time to meet with the Hall brothers. Afterward, maybe he’d have a couple of drinks or a card game at the Plainsman.
Twelve
Anna waited until she knew it was completely safe.
If the tormenting Brit watched her, she watched him as well. She kept a close eye on him until, finally, she saw him disappear into Will Davis’s law office. She then heaved a great sigh of relief and hurried back toward the Regentville Hotel.
A bell above the door tinkled softly as she entered the plushly carpeted Lily’s Ladies’ Wear Salon. At the back of the elegant shop, rose velvet curtains parted and a tiny, handsome middle-aged woman with upswept dark hair appeared.
Smiling warmly, she came directly toward Anna. “I am Lily,” she said, extending her bejeweled hand. “And you are Anna Regent Wright.”
“Yes, I am,” said Anna. “But how did you know?”
“Two ways, really,” said Lily, with a musical laugh. “LaDextra sent word that the two of you would be coming in today. And you’re so extraordinarily pretty. Blood does tell. You would have to be Christina Regent’s only daughter.” Anna nodded, smiled, said nothing. Perfectly arched eyebrows lifting, Lily asked, “And where is LaDextra? Not ailing, I hope.”
“Oh, no. She’s fine, just a little tired,” Anna assured the woman. “She’s upstairs in the hotel resting. I told her I could choose a dress myself.”
“But, of course, you can,” said the diminutive Lily, clasping her hands together. She looked Anna up and down, determining her size. “Shall we gather several for you to choose from?”
“Yes,” said Anna, eager to get started. “Please do.”
The tightly corseted, stylishly bustled Lily swept around the large salon, selecting those dresses she thought most suited the tall, slender beauty. Leading the way to the dressing room, Lily carried a half-dozen frocks over her arm. She hung them around the large room, turned, smiled and asked, “Shall I help you dress and undress?”
“No, thanks,” said Anna. “I can manage.”
“Very well. You change your mind, just call me.”
When a half hour had passed and Anna had not emerged from the dressing room, a concerned Lily called out, “You are having trouble deciding, no? Come and let me have a look.”
Anna came out into th
e main salon wearing an emerald-green organdy. The dress had small puff sleeves, a high round collar and at least thirty tiny, covered buttons going from throat to waist.
“Ah, yes, how lovely you look!” exclaimed Lily. “I knew this dress would suit you.”
“You think?” asked Anna doubtfully, not at all certain that this was the dress for her.
She stood in the middle of the large, plushly carpeted shop before a freestanding, full-length mirror, critically studying herself. When she turned slowly about to look over her shoulder at the back of the dress, she promptly frowned.
Brit Caruth was standing on the sidewalk just outside Lily’s, looking directly at her through the clear plate glass window. Leisurely he inspected her, his unhurried gaze sliding over her slender frame before he finally lifted his eyes to meet hers.
Looking straight at her, Brit shook his head. His dark expressive eyes clearly said, “That’s not the dress for you. Don’t get it.”
Flustered, Anna turned away and rushed back into the dressing room, determined she wouldn’t come out again. She hurriedly shed the green organdy, dismissing it as a possible choice. She didn’t like it. It didn’t suit her. Not at all. Her decision had nothing to do with Brit’s disapproval. She couldn’t have cared less what he thought.
Anna slipped on a pale blue silk with a square neckline, tight bodice and elbow-length sleeves. It suited her better than the green organdy. Still she wasn’t sure. It was of the latest style and the color was flattering, but…
As she stood there scrutinizing herself, Anna couldn’t help but wonder what Brit would think of the gown. Chiding herself for being so vain and so foolish, she nonetheless ventured back out into the salon, wondering if he would even still be there.
Probably not.
He was.
Brit was standing just as she had left him, booted feet slightly apart, arms crossed over his chest, looking through the plate glass at her.
Anna shyly glanced at him, blushed, then stepped up before the full-length mirror and turned this way, then that. Knowing he was watching her every move, she drew in her breath so that her breasts would swell against the tight, blue silk bodice.