by Sarah Hegger
“What!” Joy shrieked and sat up straight. “That’s unforgivable.”
“Well, I thought so.” Ellie shrugged, because she didn’t like a nice lady like Joy getting all bent out of shape about her life. “And so did Cole, and he helped me get away from Jake. Actually, my plan was to find Theo, but he’s in California, and I’m not sure where.” Or if he was still alive, but she didn’t want to deal with that possibility yet. “Cole said he could help me find Theo. He was going to set me up in business in Denver, but somebody recognized Sugar Ellie.”
“Recognized?” Comprehension lit Joy’s face. “Of course! There is no Mr. Pierce and there never was.” She chuckled. “Oh, that is very clever, Sugar. Nobody ever questions a widow, particularly not one in heavy mourning.”
Ellie nodded. She tried to read how Joy had taken the entire sordid story.
The carriage stopped, and Joy peered out the window. “We’re here.” She sat back with a smile. “Hopefully the location of your new beginning, and I, for one, am delighted to be even a tiny part of it.”
Turns out, Joy was even better at picking stores and locations than Cole, and the one he’d picked out in Denver had been perfect.
Joy chose a busy road with businesses all around it that gave work to the sort of women she wanted to cater to. Women working in the businesses would pass by her window every day on their way to work.
The premises had a big work room area in the back, and had been a milliner’s before, so long work benches were already set up along with shelving for bolts of fabric. She would only have space for one changing room, but it would do. Best of all, it had a small apartment above it. One room with a tiny kitchen in an annex at the back, but it would be enough for her.
She and Joy returned to the hotel brimming with plans for the premises and dress styles. Joy was invaluable in helping Ellie bridge the gaps in her thinking between Denver and New York.
Dust and dry heat were not quite the same problem in New York as they were in Denver. Also the women who were her customers needed dresses that were practical in the workplace, skirts that didn’t drag on the ground, sleeves that couldn’t get caught in machinery, and made of hardy fabrics that would justify a higher price.
Ellie had so much to think about. Her mind whirled with ideas as she opened the door to her hotel sitting room, Joy on her heels.
Cole pushed to his feet and strode toward her. “There you are.” He wore the most ferocious frown.
“Oh? Were you waiting for me?”
“Ellie.” He took a deep and careful breath. “I returned to find you gone and with nobody any the wiser as to where you had gone. Need I remind you—”
Joy bustled between them and held her cheek up to be kissed. “Good afternoon, darling. If you must be cross with someone, then let that be me. I swooped in and carried Ellie off.”
“I didn’t mean to worry you.” Ellie needed the physical connection, and she took his hand. “I should have left a note.”
“Yes, you should have.” Cole was still glaring but not quite as ferociously as before. “I would not take kindly to my Sugar Ellie being carried off.”
“Neither would I.” Ellie smiled up at him. “Pigeon Pete was quite enough of that, thank you.”
Joy’s face lit up. “Pigeon Pete.”
“An old trapper.” Cole looked at his mother. “He got it into his head Ellie would make a good bride for his son.”
Gaze darting between them, alight with interest, Joy said, “My goodness. What happened?”
“Cole rescued me.” It still made Ellie glow inside that he had. “Pete took me to his cabin and Cole rescued me.”
Joy studied her son. “I’m sure he had his reasons.”
“He’s a good person,” Ellie said, not understanding the shades of meaning in Joy’s statement.
Joy gave her a sweet smile and cupped her cheek. “He is a good person,” she said. “And with you, he is especially good.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ellie answered Cole’s knock on her bedroom door the next morning, heart pounding and already inventing reasons why inviting him in wouldn’t be the worst idea ever.
“Good morning.” Cole’s warm whisky gaze touched her from head to toe and his voice warmed. “Did you sleep well?”
Not at all. She hadn’t slept well since she’d slept entangled with Cole in the train car. “I did.” She slapped a big smile on her face. “I’m not sure what they do with the beds here, but they’re like big clouds.”
“Down.” Cole propped his shoulder on the doorjamb, slumberous warmth creeping over his expression. His gaze strayed to her breasts, as tangible as a touch. “Goose down. It makes them soft and warm.”
“I like it.” Ellie wanted his hands, not his eyes, on her.
“I do too.”
She could get lost in the husky rasp of his voice. She knew what that voice meant as well. It meant Cole wanted her. “It makes it hard to get out of bed.”
“Hard.” Cole nodded. “Yup, it sure does make it hard.”
“Cole?” The need to giggle overcame her. “Are we still talking about the same thing?”
He chuckled and gave her a sheepish look. “To be honest, I have no damn idea, Sugar. My mind is stuck on how sweet and warm and tempting you are in the morning.”
Oh, this man said things that made a sensible girl get stupid. “Did you want anything?”
“So many things.” Wicked intent was written all over his beautiful face.
Ellie clenched her hands to stop from reaching for him and dragging him into her bed. “This morning. Did you knock for anything specific?”
“Again, I’m having memory issues.” His chuckle grew rueful. “But we’re not doing that anymore. Are we?”
Dear God, how much strength did one girl have to have? “No.” She found those two letters the hardest she’d ever spoken in her life. “No, we’re not doing that anymore. It’s better this way.”
“I know you’re right, Sugar.” And the gaze that met hers was stripped of pretense and prevarication. This was a view straight into Cole. “But for the life of me, I can’t remember why.”
“Victoria,” she said, and the name scraped her raw.
Cole nodded and straightened. “Right. Victoria.” He held up a piece of paper. “My mother is demanding our presence for luncheon today at the house.”
“Demanding?” That didn’t sound like Joy.
Cole’s smile was equal parts wry and fond. “In the politest possible terms, of course.”
Cole’s house in Denver, Ellie discovered, didn’t hold a candle to the Maddison avenue mansion the carriage stopped in front of. This was old money, and more of it than she was likely to see in her lifetime.
Feeling like an interloper, she followed Cole into the house.
A butler took their outer garments and led them into a palatial salon.
Ellie stuck close to Cole. She so didn’t belong in a place that beautiful.
The room was decorated in shades of blue so pale it was almost white. A grouping of elegant chairs clustered close to the fire. Beneath a bank of windows, a second grouping was positioned to take advantage of the sun streaming through the windows.
Joy rose from a chaise near the window. “Darlings.” She held her hands out to both of them. “I’m so glad you could join us.”
Ellie stifled her giggle at Cole’s quick sardonic glance her way. She obediently kissed Joy’s cheek and then tucked her hands behind her back. No way she was sitting on that pale as milk furniture and getting it all dirty.
“Cole.” A man entered the room. He looked so much like Cole that Ellie stared at him.
Fortunately, the man was too busy scowling at Cole to notice.
“Brett.” Cole’s tone was no warmer than his brother’s. He turned to Joy. “Is this why we’re here?”
“No.” Joy smiled at him. “This is why you are here. Ellie and I have a store to get ready.” She looked at Ellie as if she had no idea she’d tossed t
he verbal equivalent of a rattlesnake between her sons. “I thought we’d visit some fabric warehouses. We need to establish what sort of price we can get cloth for.”
“Mother.” Brett’s voice was little more than a growl. “I’m not staying for this.”
Cole stiffened. “Neither am I. This is pointless.”
“No, it’s not.” Joy smiled up at him. Moving to Brett, she patted his cheek. “You’re both my sons, and I love you both. I’ve lived the last twelve years without one of you, and I’m not prepared to do it again.” She rang the bell for the servant. “I am determined to have both the men I love in my life.”
The butler appeared. “Mrs. Mansfield?”
“Ah, yes. Could you have my carriage brought around?”
He bowed his way out.
“This is ridiculous.” Brett paced to the window.
Ellie couldn’t get over how much he and Cole looked alike.
Cole shoved his hands in his pockets. “Look, Mother, I know why—”
“No.” Joy cut the air with her hand. “You really don’t know. Unless you’re a mother, you couldn’t possibly know how it feels to pine and ache for a child every living moment of every living day.” Joy sucked in a breath and composed herself. “Now, you can either stay here and talk it out like adults, or I’ll lock you in until you do.” Her voice hardened. “But I want Christmases with all my children and grandchildren around me. And you two”—she pointed at Brett and then Cole—“are going to see that I get that.” Turning to Ellie, she gave her a tight smile. “Shall we?”
The fabric houses Joy took Ellie to were another revelation. Ellie stopped trying to be nonchalant and straight up gawped at everything around her. Never in her life would she have guessed so many different types of fabric existed.
Standing in front of endless shelves of red silk, red in every shade imaginable from scarlet to aubergine and all hues in between. Then there was flocked silk, flubbed silk, raw silk, silk shantung, silk organza, silk charmeuse, dupion silk, crepe de chine, broadcloth and brocade. All of them variations of silk and all of them red.
If she even tried to conceive of all the other colors and types of fabric in one warehouse alone, she would lose her darned mind.
Joy took it all in her stride. Eyes sparkling, and chattering to merchants constantly, Joy looked to be having the time of her life.
“The trick is this, Ellie,” she said as she charged after the merchant to where he kept the linens. “Don’t get dazzled by the choices. Pick what works for what you need and stick with that.”
Easier—a lot easier—said than done.
By the time they’d visited their fourth warehouse, Ellie had a handle on not staring. Her mind, however, was churning, and she desperately needed a break.
“Poor darling.” Joy patted her hand. “You look worn out.”
“Overwhelmed is more like.” Ellie shook her head in disbelief. “My head feels like its crammed full.”
“Ah.” Joy led the way down the sidewalk. “Just what we need. A cup of tea.”
Ellie followed Joy into a light, airy tearoom. A black and white patterned floor spread beneath white iron tables, at which sat elegant women of all ages. Their hats alone made Ellie want to sink into the floor.
“Mrs. Mansfield.” A dapper little man in a canary yellow waistcoat closed in on them. “How lovely to see you again.”
“Thank you, Andre.” Smiling, Joy drew off her gloves. “My friend and I are in desperate need of a cup of your excellent tea.”
“Mrs. Mansfield.” Andre chuckled and looked coy. “You flatter me. Perhaps I can suggest a little light accompaniment with your tea. I have a delicious chiffon creme, or perhaps a delightful sponge that has left the ovens not five minutes ago.”
Ellie followed Joy through the room, trying not to notice the discreet but avid interest following their progress.
“There now.” Joy sat down and smiled around them. “It’s a mercy to be off my feet for a moment.”
“Joy.” A woman dressed in a gorgeous lilac afternoon gown appeared at the table. “How lovely to see you.”
The woman was beautiful. Honey colored hair was skillfully arranged beneath a beautiful hat festooned with tiny lilac blossoms. Her bone structure was classically beautiful and made warm and inviting by a pair of large brown eyes.
“Victoria.” Joy rose and kissed the other woman’s cheeks. “You look well.”
“As do you.” Victoria’s glance shifted to her.
Joy slid smoothly into the gap. “Ellie Pierce, allow me to introduce you to Victoria Bonnington.”
“How do you do, Mrs. Pierce?” Victoria took her hand.
“I’m well.” Ellie nearly forgot her manners. “And you?” Victoria was perfect. Perfect for this place, perfect for New York, and perfect for the man Cole was determined to be once again.
“Ellie joins us from Denver,” Joy said.
“Denver?” Victoria raised a delicate brow. “How very courageous of you. I’m sure I could never have survived such a feral place.”
Ellie felt like she needed to defend herself and Denver. “It’s not so bad.”
“Hmm.” Victoria’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, and she turned to Joy. “You must be happy that our Cole has reappeared from that savage place and in one piece.”
Savage seemed a bit much, and Ellie hadn’t missed the our either. Somehow, she didn’t think she was part of that our Cole club.
“I am.” Joy’s entire being lit up. “And he looks so well.”
Victoria tittered. “He certainly looks robust enough. He cuts quite the brawny figure of late. His tailor must be quite at a loss as to how to make him look more the gentleman.”
“I think he looks extremely well.” Joy’s tone cooled. “I think he looks the better for the meat on his bones.”
Ellie agreed with Joy, not that she’d seen Cole before.
Victoria smiled and rushed into the silence. “Of course, you are quite right. It’s just that in my mind, he’s the man I was engaged to, and I hold that memory dear.” Her gaze drifted over Ellie. “You did not say how you and Cole knew each other.”
“Friends,” she blurted. Victoria made her feel like her face was smudged and her dress grubby. “We’re old friends.”
“Indeed.” Victoria raised her brow. “We must have tea, and you can tell me all about it.”
Ellie made some noise of agreement, which she had no intention abiding by. She sipped her tea as Victoria and Joy chatted easily about mutual acquaintances and places they both knew.
Here was the reason she had kept Cole out of her bed this morning. Ellie had a mirror, and she knew she wasn’t a coyote, but Victoria was lovely. Tall, slim, elegant and beautifully spoken, the way she moved through her world was refined and graceful in a way Ellie would have to be three days a ghost to mimic.
After a bit more chatter, Victoria said her goodbyes and glided out of the tearoom.
“So.” Joy studied Ellie. “That was Victoria. The Victoria.”
Ellie tried to find a brave smile but lost. “No wonder Cole never forgot her.”
“Hmm?” Joy stared out the window at Victoria being helped into her carriage by a footman. “She is beautiful. But twelve years is a long time, my sweet Sugar Ellie, and a lot can change in that time.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ellie was surprised to find Cole in when she returned to the hotel. She had invited Joy to join her for dinner, but she’d declined, and Ellie was alone with Cole for the night.
“Dinner.” Cole stepped aside to reveal a white-clothed table set with crystal and silver by the window.
Ellie stopped and stared at the beautiful table. It was a table set for romance, and it made her want to cry.
“Hey?” Cole bent to peer into her face. His voice gentled. “Sugar? This was supposed to be a celebration.”
“Celebration?” She forced her tears back and took a careful breath. “I’m just tired.”
Cole looked li
ke he might argue, and then took her hand and led her to the table. “Tonight, we are celebrating your new venture.”
“It’s not a venture yet.” She laughed at his enthusiasm.
Looking suspiciously arch, Cole held out the seat for her. “That’s what you think.”
“Cole?” Ellie tried to give him a stern look as she sat. “What have you done?”
“So suspicious.” He clicked his tongue at her and held a glass up. “Champagne?”
“Yes, please.” She didn’t trust the hint of smug to his smile. “You may as well tell me, because I’ll get it out of you eventually.”
“Where’s the fun in that, Sugar?” He whipped the domed silver top off a plate. “Oysters?”
Ellie had never seen an oyster, and she stood and stared at them. “Are you sure we’re supposed to eat those? They don’t look like anybody should put that in their mouth.”
“Trust me.” Cole scooped up one of the shells and poked at it with a strange looking fork. “Open up.”
Still not sure about eating that thing, Ellie opened her mouth. The oyster slid into her mouth briny and slimy and she nearly spat it out. Shuddering, she swallowed it. “Ugh! Cole!”
“Not an oyster lover?” Cole was doing a bad job of hiding his amusement. He took an oyster, tipped it into his mouth and followed it with a sip of champagne. He took another silver dome off a second plate. “Try the smoked salmon.”
Not on her life was she letting him put another food she hadn’t tried before in her mouth. Taking a sliver, she squeezed lemon juice over it as Cole instructed and tried it.
He could keep his oysters, but she liked the smoked salmon. “Are we going to get to the celebration part?”
Cole stood and took away their first course. He pushed a dining cart with more silver domes on it over to the table. “Not before we eat.”