“For heaven’s sake,” Cate scolded in a whisper as she changed the baby. “One would think you were on fire, the way you carry on. That is no way for a young lady to behave. Has anyone ever told you that?”
Once finished, she lifted Violet into her arms. “Perhaps we’d better find out from Mrs. Davis what her feeding schedule is. She might be hungry. And I ought to be on my way with her soon.”
Phoebe looked skeptical, to say the least. “Are you certain this is the right course of action?”
“Naturally. Listen, she’s barely making a sound now.” Indeed, her screams had quieted to little more than pitiful whimpers, her tiny face scrunched up. “I’m sure she’s only hungry. Otherwise, she has no fever and seems to be in good health. Once she eats, she’ll settle down.”
Phoebe still frowned as she turned and left the room—fled was more like it. Cate supposed she was glad to be away from the little one for a while.
Now that they were alone, Cate looked down at her. “I have to admit, I have no idea what I’m doing,” she whispered, sitting because her knees suddenly felt shaky. “I need you to agree to meet me halfway, darling. Because if we’re going to make this work, we have to work together. That means behaving yourself and allowing me to take care of you. Otherwise, I’m afraid my sisters will be awfully upset with both of us.”
Violet let out a tiny cry and kicked out with both legs.
“All right, they will be awfully upset with me,” Cate sighed. “It isn’t your fault. They’ll be upset with me. I’m only trying to do the right thing. Why does it seem that whenever I try to do the right thing, I get myself into trouble?”
And this time, she’d pulled a baby into it with her. A baby who could very well wail throughout the drive to the ranch and throughout the duration of their time there.
“If there was a way to avoid taking you, I would, but I feel your father needs the time to get himself in order before your grandparents come. And it would do well for us to at least appear as mother and daughter, would it not? By the time they arrive, we’ll have to make it look like we’ve been together all your life. I am an actress, but I don’t know if even I’m good enough to fool them.”
She took Violet’s hand, the tiny fingers and their tiny nails looking all the smaller next to her own. “I suppose we’re in this together. At least I have one friend.”
A friend who could only communicate by crying.
It was going to be a long week, indeed.
9
She would be leaving soon, if she had not left already.
Landon’s gaze shifted toward the window, where he’d found himself gazing throughout the day. Good thing Mr. Witherspoon hadn’t caught him doing it.
He could hardly look at the bank president without remembering his disparaging attitude toward Cate when she’d entered the bank. How brave she’d been to even consider such a thing, yet the man had treated the entire event as a joke.
At least he’d been on his way out of the bank for the day by the time it had all transpired, and there hadn’t been a need to face Witherspoon again until the following morning when his anger had cooled somewhat.
“Landon.” Bill Jones waved a hand from just inside his office doorway. “Is there something wrong with your hearing?”
“No, no, of course not.” He straightened himself out and sat upright, the way a bank’s vice-president was supposed to.
“I’ve been calling out to you,” Bill informed him with a good-natured wink. “Too much carousing last night?”
Carousing. Hardly. What he wouldn’t give at times for the opportunity to carouse. Those days were already in the past, unattainable. The man he’d once been.
Bill was unaware of this. While the two of them had become good friends in the five years since Landon’s arrival in Carson City upon accepting the bank position, Landon didn’t feel he could even confide in perhaps the one person who would understand best.
While Bill had never found himself in this position—to Landon’s knowledge—he’d known his share of encounters with obliging young women and in fact seemed to make a sport of convincing them to give into his wiles.
There were times when Landon thought his favorite part was sitting down to recount these adventures over a whiskey and a cigar at the saloon, or even sometimes in one of their offices.
But this? This was an entirely different matter, and no one could be trusted. What would Witherspoon think if he knew Landon had fathered a child and now scrambled like a madman to provide proper care for the infant? What would any of them think? What would they whisper behind their hands when he strolled Carson Street?
How would it affect his position at the bank?
And how long would it take to reach his father?
He’d consoled himself many times over with the knowledge that he no longer had to rely on his family’s wealth. Oliver Jenkins might have insisted on that Italianate mansion for no Jenkins could live in anything less impressive, but that had been the extent of the assistance Landon would accept.
Even if his father threatened to disown him and cut him out of any inheritance, he had more than enough set aside to live comfortably the rest of his days. He could even repay the costs of the house if called upon to do so.
Of course, that would leave Cate without the money for her theater.
Perhaps he’d spoken too soon, offering her the money as he’d done.
Bill waited for him to answer. He managed a smile. “Something of that nature.”
Bill’s eyes lit up, as they normally did when the subject turned to women. “Well? Who was she? That Ida of yours? I told you she’d wait for you to return.”
Ida. Yes, she’d been waiting for him to return, all right. She’d wasted no time arriving at his doorstep, and he could not blame her in the least. “No, another one. You don’t know her. We only recently met.”
“In the week since you returned? I should’ve known.” Bill winked before entering the office and taking a seat at one of the two chairs before Landon’s desk.
“No, it isn’t like that.”
“Oh, isn’t it? Then I haven’t known you for all these years.”
Landon reminded himself that he was speaking to the president’s nephew. He then reminded himself that for all his faults, Bill was not a bad person. He had no way of knowing the strain Landon had been under.
Or that Landon was referring to his infant daughter and not a young woman from town. The thought of Violet sent him looking out the window again, as if he would catch sight of her.
“Are you waiting for something to happen?” Bill asked. “I can’t help but be concerned when you won’t stop looking out the window that way. As if you expect an explosion.”
Landon laughed genuinely this time. “Hardly. I admit, I’m distracted, but it isn’t anything so terribly serious.”
“I’m glad to hear that, as I have an important engagement this evening and would hate to be injured in a blast.”
Landon’s brows lifted. “Oh? What sort of engagement?”
“I’ll give you three guesses.” Bill leaned back in the chair, crossing ankle over knee. He was, on the surface, the perfect gentleman. A blue blood from back East whose father had followed the wave of Easterners seeking fortune along the Transcontinental Railroad.
Beneath the polished surface, the education, the fine taste in clothing and impeccable manners, he was a man who lived by his appetites and did not believe in denying himself.
In fact, he indulged whenever possible. How he’d never gotten himself into a situation such as Landon’s was a mystery.
“I hope you enjoy yourself.”
“I hope you do, as well, since I need you to join us.”
“What? Why me?”
“You see, she has a sister…”
Landon rolled his eyes. “I should’ve known.”
“All you need do is join us at the restaurant and enjoy the evening. I’m sure the young woman is nice company.”
“Then w
hy is she accompanying her sister rather than stepping out with a suitor of her own?”
“She’s quite shy.”
“Regardless of the reason why the young woman cannot find a suitor to take her to supper, I’m afraid I cannot join you.”
Bill’s face fell. “Why not? You owe me from the last time I joined you in a situation like this.”
“Over a year ago.”
“And?”
Landon laughed. “I have other things to do tonight.”
“Such as?”
“Such as personal matters that need attending to. Which are none of your business,” he added when Bill opened his mouth to ask.
“What will I do now? I cannot take this woman to supper without her sister in tow.”
“I’ve never heard you complain about being in the company of two women at once.”
“This is hardly the same situation.”
“Because you wanted to push one of them off on me.”
Bill’s head shook mournfully as he left. “You make it sound so unpleasant.”
Life had changed such a great deal in such a short amount of time. He was now a man with responsibilities, and as his wife had reminded him, he needed to start thinking as a married man would.
He also needed to purchase the items on her list, which meant visiting the general store and making a spectacle of himself. What would the store’s clerks think of his sudden interest in setting up house?
He told himself it did not matter, especially if it made his wife happy and comfortable. His wife! What would Bill think? How hard would he laugh if he had the first idea what Landon had been up to?
At least there was one item he would not have to purchase. He’d forgotten about its existence until after he’d left for the bank. His mother had given it to him on his last visit to his childhood home, and while he’d protested the gift at the time, he was now infinitely relieved that she’d insisted he take it.
“Just in case,” Hermione had winked while slipping the gold band into his pocket. A gold band set with a pearl, flanked by a pair of small rubies.
He’d give it to Cate when she returned to play the part of happy, doting wife. It would make his mother so happy, and she needed all the happiness available to her.
This was hardly the way he’d imagined giving that ring to a woman, but it was all for a good cause.
Once his parents were out of town, he could find a way to settle the situation to his liking. He would find a governess or some such woman to care for the baby while he worked, and life could return somewhat to normal. There were three spare bedrooms in the home, as Mrs. Davis did not live under his roof—with only himself to care for, there was little need for her to do more than report in the morning and go home after his supper had been seen to.
Yes, this would all work out. So long as his parents left on schedule and allowed him the privacy he craved, and the time he needed to create an actual life for his daughter. She deserved that much, at least, after starting out the way she had.
And so long as Cate was the actress she made herself out to be. That remained to be seen.
If anyone had ever told him he’d stake his future and his parents’ happiness on a girl with the sorts of strange notions she entertained, he would have laughed himself sick.
10
Only once had she experienced such apprehension upon approaching the ranch and its sprawling house. At the time, she’d not known what she and her sisters were headed for, and any number of unsavory scenarios had raced through her head as the wagon carrying the family had approached for the first time since their early childhood.
This was hardly the first time she’d watched the house come into view as she came to the end of a long drive from town. By now, she practically knew each piece of the land by heart. She knew what to expect from it, its dips and turns, the areas to avoid.
She did not, however, know what to expect from her sisters upon coming to a stop in front of the porch.
“That isn’t quite true, either,” she admitted to Violet, who slept beneath a pile of blankets near her feet. It was warm and cozy down there, with a hot brick nearby to add extra comfort and safety.
Amazing, all the things one needed to consider when traveling out-of-doors with a baby. She would never take her freedom for granted again. Nor the ability to think of only herself and her comfort and safety.
No, it was not quite true that she did not know what to expect from her sisters. In fact, she could predict exactly how the event would unfold.
Molly would demand to know why an infant suddenly arrived at their doorstep and might even listen with sympathy as Cate told a tale of woe regarding a friend who had suddenly developed sweating fevers and a heavy cough. A friend who feared for her child’s health, who also had neither the strength nor the means to provide care while in such a condition.
What a dramatic tale she would tell, full of emotion. Perhaps this friend of hers was on the verge of death.
Molly was a practical person. She would see the necessity of sending a child elsewhere when one was so ill. Near death, even.
What she would not understand, however, was why the task of caring for this infant had fallen upon Cate’s shoulders.
No matter how many times she’d assure Molly that she need not interrupt her life in the slightest, that Cate had every intention of taking the child’s care into her own more than capable hands, Molly would refuse to listen. Just as she normally refused to listen to reason when it came from her youngest sister.
She would simply have to bear it, just as she bore all of the little indignities and slights to which she was routinely subjected.
“All right, little baby.” Cate drew the team to a halt, her heart racing to the point where she felt ill. It was now or never. To her credit, Violet had slept through much of the ride. For a moment, Cate considered taking the team out for a drive at night when the baby couldn’t sleep. Perhaps that would help her—along with helping the inhabitants of the house, who would undoubtedly hear the baby’s cries.
That was something that worried her greatly. She’d had no idea babies could scream so loudly, and that their screams could carry so far.
Surely, when she worked herself up into true fit, Violet’s squalls would be audible from one end of the house to the other.
This would earn Cate little sympathy. In fact, it might earn her outright animosity, perhaps hostility.
Yet that was still preferable to being found out as having married Landon. Oh, the screaming that would follow such a discovery would put even Violet’s most terrible fits to shame.
Lewis came from the stables, waving an arm over his head. He would come to unhitch the team, undoubtedly. She braced herself. This was the first test.
He was a reasonable man. Mild-mannered, intelligent. He had a good deal of sense, and often acted as a go-between for Molly and the rest of the girls. He tended to smooth her rough edges, to soften her sharp words. This was true more than ever now that she was with child and sometimes irritable and generally tired.
Cate favored him with her biggest smile while lifting the basket from inside the buggy and descending. “Before you ask,” she called out, “this is only temporary. My friend is ill and cannot care for the baby at the moment. I offered to help.”
Lewis came up short when he realized what she carried. “A baby?” he asked, his brows knitting together beneath the wide brim of his hat.
“Yes, a baby. See? This will be excellent practice for when your baby comes.” She even managed to giggle, as if feeling playful and not at all as if she might lose the contents of her stomach at any moment.
“You brought a baby to the ranch without asking if anyone would object?”
There were limits to her patience, even when she knew how important it was to gain sympathy and an ally against what was surely to come. “You and Molly are going to have a baby, and you didn’t think to ask if any of us objected.”
He merely shook his head, smirking. “Oh,
and I thought today would be a quiet day.”
“It isn’t going to be as bad as that,” she assured him, hoping this was not a lie. “It will only be for a few days, until my friend is on the mend. She will send for the baby when she is well enough. For now, it didn’t seem prudent to expose the child to such illness when she is so small.” Cate dipped her hand into the basket and eased back the blanket which half-covered Violet’s face. Her downy skin, so soft and smooth, her little rosebud mouth puckered as if she were deep in thought while dreaming sweet dreams.
That did it. She’d known it would. Under his tough exterior, Lewis had a tender heart. The corners of his mouth tugged upward.
“She’s a pretty one,” he admitted.
“And an angel,” she lied. No sense in destroying his illusions too quickly. “I had better get her inside, as she is due to be fed shortly.”
His head snapped up in surprise. “Do you have everything you need?”
“Of course, I made certain to bring along everything the baby needs. I’ve thought of everything.”
The front door opened, and out came Holly with Edward on one hip. “What’s taking so long? You ought to come inside out of the cold.”
“If it’s so cold, why did you come out?” Cate asked, laughing merrily. Best to keep spirits up, she knew. To keep the mood light and airy. “Lewis was just admiring my new friend, who I brought to stay with us for a few days while her mother recovers from illness.”
Holly gasped loud enough to startle Edward, who immediately began to fret.
“You have nothing to fear,” Cate assured him with a peck on his cheek. She held out the basket for them both to admire the baby. “See? You were once a baby like this, dear. So small and weak and helpless.”
“You don’t know the first thing about caring for a baby!” Holly reminded her, as if she needed reminding.
“Now, as I said it will only be a few days. I know how to feed her, how to change her, how to dress her and how to bathe her. What else is there to know?” She sailed into the house as if nothing bothered her in the least, though her heart continued to race madly, and her palms were slick with sweat. Perspiration even began to dampen the nape of her neck.
A Bargain For A Bride (Westward Hearts Book 8) Page 7