by Nancy Bush
“Want to dance again?” Billy asked, somewhat tentatively. The light in his eyes had died when the girl with the blond ringlets flipped her skirt as she swept across the floor with a handsome dark-haired partner.
“Sure.” Miracle’s voice sounded strange, and she cleared her throat. “I’d be delighted,” she added formally when inside she felt sick. For some strange reason she’d never fully accepted Kelsey Garrett as a rival.
Lord, I’ve been a fool once again. But I’ll be wiser from now on. You have my word.
### #
Across the room, Harrison’s gaze fell on Miracle and Billy as they twirled rapidly from one corner of the room to the other. In that one moment he forgot Kelsey and the fact that she, for reasons he truly couldn’t fathom, seemed to have forgiven him for his unjust rejection of her and, at the same time, had grown delighted with her newfound independence. That no one else knew their engagement was over didn’t seem to bother her. In fact, Kelsey seemed serenely unaware of the situation, to the point of smiling at him sheepishly, as if she’d been somehow to blame.
One look at Miracle, however, and his problems with Kelsey were jolted out of his head. He hadn’t expected Miracle to be here. The little savage had never shown any social skills yet, other than a cultured voice which was otherwise damaged by a tongue wicked enough to cut through metal.
Yet here she was, bold as brass, trying to hold Billy to the waltz with an iron grip, meanwhile looking as softly sweet and luscious as any well-bred lady.
Softly sweet? Well-bred? He snorted. Luscious was the only compliment that truly fit, because she was definitely, unerringly luscious. That blue gown molded every slender, voluptuous curve; that black hair glowed like ravens’ wings, smooth and straight and silken; those long, lightly bronzed arms dazzled beneath a cluster of suspended oil lamps.
His mouth went dry, and he fervently clamped down on his rampant, lusty thoughts but to no goddamn avail. Memories of Miracle flowed like wine. He did remember her beneath him. He did remember her cries and moans. He did remember the suppleness of her skin and the incredible warmth of her surrounding him.
Lord help them, he was going to be an embarrassment to himself and the Danner name if he didn’t learn some self-control, he thought angrily, shoving his hands in his pockets to disguise a truly unworthy reaction.
He saw Isabella on the other side of the room and concentrated on her. Anything was better than thinking of Miracle.
“Harrison?”
He jerked to attention. Kelsey was regarding him searchingly, her lovely brows drawing together in a frown.
“I’m sorry for what I said the other night,” she apologized. “I’ve been giving the – situation – a lot of thought these past few weeks, and I’ve realized a few things.”
He nodded, aware that this was one of those times she deserved his entire attention, but every time blue satin circled this side of the room his ears refused to hear anything but Miracle Jones’s husky voice.
“– was never meant to be,” Kelsey’s voice was saying. “I wanted to be out of Jace’s house, and you weren’t following your –”
Black hair swung seductively in his peripheral vision, a thick curtain so rich and silken he wanted to crush it in his palms, taste it on his lips.
“– best all around. I haven’t found a way to tell Jace yet, though. It seemed better to wait. Tonight seemed a good time to ask your advice, so I told Lexie I’d go with you to –”
He heard Miracle’s laughter, a ripple of velvet, sultry yet somehow soft and innocent and inexorably inviting.
“What do I have to do to get your attention?” Kelsey demanded. “Stab you in the back like Miracle did?”
“What did you say?” She had his full attention now!
“Harrison,” Kelsey said with forced patience. “I faced the fact that my main reason for wanting to marry you was to get out from beneath my brother’s thumb. But since I have a new plan, I don’t want any hard feelings between us. However, if you can’t face how you feel about Miracle Jones and let the rest of this town know it, you’re going to do both me and Miracle an injustice that she may never forgive you for, even if I will!”
Kelsey’s voice had risen with each and every syllable until the members of the Ladies Aid Society, the other good residents of Rock Springs, Jace and Emerald, and Lexie and Tremaine all turned to look at them.
“How did you know Miracle stabbed me?” Harrison demanded.
“I didn’t. I guessed. It must have been cupid’s arrow because it sure as hell turned you deaf, dumb, and blind to me!”
His jaw dropped. Her gray eyes were filled with annoyance, anger, and a little bit of injured pride, but they were not filled with jealousy. In fact, Kelsey looked more exasperated than wounded.
“Now, are you going to listen to me or must I scream at the top of my lungs?” she demanded, her hands on her hips.
“I’m yours,” he answered dryly as the music stopped and Miracle ended up right by his side.
He couldn’t look at her for fear his good intentions would vanish. But she sensed her. Lord, how he sensed her!
¤ ¤ ¤
Miracle’s chest was heaving from the exercise Billy’s dancing took from her. It was just as well, for it gave her something to concentrate on, a reason to fan her face and gasp for air, when it was Harrison’s words that knocked the air from her lungs, the hope from her heart, the strength from her knees.
I’m yours.
“Did I do better that time?” Billy wanted to know.
“Magnificent,” Miracle lied. She had to get away. Now. Before she was forced to face Harrison.
“Hello, Miracle.” Kelsey Garrett’s voice greeted her in a cautious tone.
She turned her gaze on Kelsey. Better that than to have to look at Harrison. “It’s nice to see you again, Miss Garrett,” she said stiffly.
Kelsey smiled distractedly. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
“How’ve you been?” Harrison’s deep voice intoned, causing Miracle to nearly jump from her skin.
“Fine.”
“She taught me how to waltz,” Billy said with gratitude. “Didn’t you, Miracle?”
“Quite a feat,” Kelsey observed, and Miracle could have sworn a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth.
“Billy’s an – ah – eager pupil,” Miracle said. She still hadn’t looked at Harrison. But he’d spoken to her, and rudeness would only emphasize how much he affected her. Pulling herself together, she gazed directly at him and realized his handsome face was drawn into an unhappy scowl.
“Would you be willing to waltz with me?” Kelsey asked Billy, and Miracle was touched by her kindness.
Billy swallowed. “It would be a good thing if your shoes were not your best, Miss Garrett.”
Kelsey laughed. “I’ll take my chances.” She was whisked across the dance floor without further ado, a whirling magenta cloud.
Miracle glanced at Harrison. He was leaning against one of the grange hall posts, his hands thrust in his pockets, his expression not encouraging in the least. He met her gaze with bland green eyes. “You look –” he began. She held her breath, waiting for him to finish. “Astounding.”
“What does that mean?”
“Only that you’ve caught the attention of everyone in this room.” He straightened. “Do you have your knife under there?” he asked, pointing to her flowing skirts.
Miracle flushed. “No.”
“Why not? God knows you look lovely enough for some rapist to take advantage of you.”
“I told you it wasn’t rape,” she hissed, glancing anxiously over her shoulder.
“What was it then?”
She could feel the weight of his gaze on her. Even with his words of love for Kelsey still ringing in her ears, she knew she had to take away his guilt. “I – desired you, and you were – under the effects of Uncle Horace’s elixir, so I – took advantage of you.”
“Horse shit,” he mocked softly, his gaze dr
opping to the swells of her breasts. “Let’s dance.”
He dragged her onto the dance floor, pulling her into his arms, Miracle was aware of a sea of faces along the walls, all seemingly watching them. Harrison kept a circumspect distance between them, however, and she relaxed. Except that the feel of his hand at her waist was in the forefront of her mind. There was something lean, supple, and catlike about the way he moved – a Danner trait, she mused somewhat bitterly; Tremaine had exhibited the same feline grace.
On the sidelines, Jace Garrett watched Miracle and Harrison attentively, though he took great pains to appear as if he weren’t. Emerald, however, fairly shivered with injustice.
“Danner’s mistress,” she crowed on a soft laugh. “Do you hear what they’re saying?” She swept a glance to the front line of the Ladies Aid Society.
“Who the hell cares?” Jace growled.
“She’s Harrison Danner’s mistress, and she’s stolen his attention from Kelsey. She’ll be the shame of the town.”
“Harrison Danner wouldn’t dare,” was Jace’s only comment. But hell, there was something incredibly earthy about Miracle that invited a man’s lust. If she wasn’t Harrison’s mistress, she ought to be.
He slid a glance at his wife. Emerald’s dark eyes danced with malicious delight. But for a wildly passionate creature, she was certainly a cold lump in bed. Once she’d been interested in him, but that brief flare of passion had soon subsided, and Jace, having suspected all along that wives didn’t make good lovers, had gone back to his philandering ways.
Not that Emerald had been such a model of propriety before their marriage, either, Jace had learned to his disgust. She hadn’t been a virgin when they married, even though he’d plucked her from the arms of her wealthy family in Malone. No, there’d been another man first, one she wouldn’t discuss to this day, but if she’d even seen her lover again Jace didn’t know how. Emerald’s behavior had been scrupulous. The spark of passion that had once ruled her had obviously just burned out.
Kelsey appeared, gasping for breath, her eyes full of laughter. “Billy’s fast on his feet!”
“I see Harrison’s dancing with Miracle Jones,” Emerald was quick to point out.
Kelsey regarded her with irritation. “Harrison and I have ended our engagement. He can dance with whom he chooses.”
“What?” Jace thundered, so loudly that heads turned in his direction. He gripped Kelsey by the arm and hauled her to the back of the room.
“Get your hands off me!” she hissed, furious.
“Who broke the engagement? Danner?”
“It was a mutual decision. We –”
“The hell it was!” He shook her, and was rewarded with a stomp on his highly polished black shoes. “Danner broke the engagement, didn’t he? Don’t lie to me, Kelsey.”
“I was in complete agreement,” she answered coolly, but Jace had heard enough. He strode across the room, his mind full of the humiliating treatment he’d received at Tremaine Danner’s hands, ready to do battle with Harrison, who it appeared was running true to Danner form.
But he stopped short upon seeing the way Danner’s gaze was narrowed on Miracle Jones. Jesus, the man was smitten. Jace knew enough about those feelings himself to recognize them in someone else. Once, a long time ago, he’d wanted Lexington Danner so badly it had kept him awake nights. He’d suffered at her hands; the Garretts were not about to suffer again.
He would make all the Danners pay when the time was right.
Chapter Thirteen
The memory of Harrison’s strong arms around her played havoc with Miracle’s good sense over the next few days. She couldn’t get the thought of it from her mind. And it didn’t matter that once their dance had ended he left her. He also left Kelsey. Miracle had stayed long enough to watch Kelsey go home with Emerald and Jace. And though Harrison hadn’t asked Miracle to dance again, she’d felt him watching her through the rest of that evening. She was beginning to understand him well enough to know exactly what was on his mind.
Maybe he wouldn’t marry Kelsey. He hadn’t married Isabella, and, by all accounts, she was the woman he’d been so taken with in his youth. From bits of gossip and remarks Harrison himself had made, she’d learned that he and Kelsey’s proposed marriage was more a matter of Danner-Garrett convenience than a union of passion.
Incredible. Especially after the way, Kelsey looked at the dance. Especially after the endearment Miracle had overheard Harrison murmur to her. But passion was a strange beast, it seemed. Though Kelsey and Harrison seemed suited to each other, there were obvious problems. Miracle’s instincts told her so.
She was lost in thought behind the counter, when two customers, a man and a woman, walked through the door and purchased several herbs and a bottle of Uncle Horace’s elixir. The man gave Miracle a dirty smile as he left, and she was reminded of Gil, the bounty hunter. She’d been so wrapped up in her own preparations for the dance that she’d neglected to tell Uncle Horace.
“Uncle Horace,” she said now as he came downstairs, whistling tunelessly, looking almost respectable in a clean white shirt and a pair of new suspenders, his hair freshly combed, his gold tooth gleaming as he grinned a “good morning” to her.
“What, Miracle, my girl?”
She launched into her tale about Gil. Uncle Horace listened attentively and said, “Seems to me, since you told him to see the sheriff there isn’t much more you can do.”
“I just don’t like it. I didn’t like him.”
“Bounty hunters isn’t that likable as a whole, I reckon. They’re not much above criminals, as far as I can tell.”
The shop door opened again, and Miracle looked up, her eyes widening in alarm. But it was only one of Uncle Horace’s new friends from the Half Moon, weaving a little unsteadily as he made his way toward an upended crate. Miracle caught him by the arm a second before he crashed into their makeshift table.
“Durn fool.” Uncle Horace glared at him.
“I’ve been talkin’ to Mr. Roarke at the Half Moon, and he told me you was lookin’ fer yer pa,” the man wheezed out to Miracle as he thumped down on the crate. He grinned lopsidedly. “I had me an Injun woman once. About the right time to make you my daughter. Thought maybe I could be the one you’re lookin’ fer.”
Uncle Horace made a sound of total disgust. “Not a chance, Ezra!”
“Sure, and why not? She was quite a woman,” he added, as if this would somehow strengthen his case. “Hot-blooded. Yessir, I liked her a lot.”
Miracle didn’t know whether to be repulsed or amused. “My father was supposed to be quite wealthy.”
“I got some money.”
“Not enough, Ezra.” Uncle Horace growled. “Miracle’s father wore the best clothes, not shiny, dirty ones like those.” He flicked a scornful glance at Ezra’s breeches and shirt. It was anyone’s guess how long it had been since they’d seen a washing. “He always carried money. Lots of it.”
“I got some money.” He turned out his pockets, and a few coins jangled to the floor.
“A lot more’n that’ll be needed! I got a description of her pa, and believe me, you ain’t him!”
“It was nice of you to try and help,” Miracle told him kindly, to which Uncle Horace looked downright horrified.
Ezra sighed in disappointment. “Ah, well. I woulda been proud to be your papa.”
A part of Miracle almost wished he were. It would at least answer a burning question for her. No one else in Rock Springs seemed likely to be the man she sought.
Later, after Ezra had weaved his way back to the Half Moon, Miracle grabbed Uncle Horace’s arm, stopping him from making the same trip, and said, “We’ve been here long enough to find my father. I don’t believe he’s in Rock Springs, if he ever was.”
“Maybe not,” Uncle Horace agreed. “Are you anxious to leave, then? Business has been mighty good.”
Thoughts of Harrison flitted across her mind. “I’d like to stay a while longer,” she admitted. �
��But I think I’ll quit asking about my father.”
“We’ll find him someday. You’ll see.”
She watched him walk across the street toward the Half Moon. Sighing, she wondered if there was any chance left that he could be right.
¤ ¤ ¤
Jace Garrett leaned back in his chair in his office behind the Half Moon Saloon, his thoughts dark and dangerous where Harrison Danner was concerned. Kelsey, blast her, didn’t seem to care that she’d been tossed aside like so much garbage. Jace, however, felt differently, and when he figured out just what to do about it, he was going to have Harrison’s hide.
But some of his ire had cooled a bit since the night of the dance. After all, Kelsey had been singing and smiling and acting like a bird freed from a cage. Her attitude rattled Emerald’s nerves so badly that Jace couldn’t help being amused. What the hell. Kelsey only consented to marry Harrison because he was the best choice in Rock Springs; Jace had known that from the start. There were other, more suitable men who were positively panting for a wife as well trained, beautiful, and wealthy as Kelsey. Jace would simply find someone else, and Danner-Garrett relations be damned. The hoped-for easing of their feud had been Eliza Danner’s wish, rest her soul; for Jace it had only been a means to wrangle some more Danner land away from them, but now he would have to find another way.
But, he would save his revenge for later.
Thrusting back his chair, Jace decided to examine the contents of his safe before he went home to his loving wife. He counted the money quickly, checked the total against the amounts recorded in the account book his manager, Conrad Templeton, kept for him, and grunted in satisfaction. Templeton wasn’t entirely trustworthy, and Jace routinely checked up on the Half Moon’s daily take. Yet for his faults, Conrad was a good barman, just as Walter Pennington was a good man to have at the mercantile, and Syd Barto made Garrett Livery & Feedstore what it was.
From what Jace could tell, no one had been fiddling with the money. The amount matched exactly. Still, there was no harm in keeping Conrad on his toes.