by Neva Brown
“Do you miss Australia?”
“I haven’t thought about it, so I guess not. It was a good experience, but it’s good to be home.”
Casey laughed with a hint of nervousness in her voice. “The Dark Canyon part of home didn’t look too good in the pictures the agents’ reconnoiter plane took.”
“You’re right about that. It looked like one mean, angry river with uprooted trees and broken branches tumbled in the roiling muddy water. A little unnerving to think what would have happened if you hadn’t got us out of there when you did.”
“It was a joined effort or we wouldn’t have made it before that wall of water came roaring down.” Casey shuddered to think what could have happened. If they’d gone to the cave, they would have been blown to smithereens. Had they not hustled, they would have drowned like rats stuck in a sewer.
“Everybody pulled their weight all right, but you were the only one who knew how to get us out in time.” Tres picked up her hand that had been unconsciously stroking the butter-soft leather of the upholstery. He kissed the top, then smiled as he said, “Thanks for saving our bacon. Now I’m hoping you’ll agree to help me with another little project.”
As he turned her hand over and began to lightly circle his thumb in her palm, a tingle raced up her arm, settled into the pit of her stomach, before bursting into a melting rush of desire.
She shifted on the seat. “Sure, if I can. What little project are you talking about?”
“Jordan, my dad, married earlier this year. He was in Europe on his honeymoon when J.D. died. He’s back in New York now and plans to bring his new wife out to see Mattie Lou. Of course, Mattie Lou wants them to come, but she is not up to much entertaining right now. I’m certainly not qualified nor do I have the inclination. What I’d like you to do is move into the suite next to mine and entertain this Leila like she is a guest in your home.”
Silence vibrated the interior of the Mercedes. Finally Casey said, “I’m not sure just what we’re talking about here.”
Tres glanced at her and wanted to tease her about the slightly huffy look he saw, but thought better of it. He wanted her help and he wanted her to stay at Spencer Mansion for now. “I thought we could just tell them you’re a long-time friend who is recuperating from an accident and staying at the ranch. They can think what they want, but we’d be telling the truth.”
“But by my room being next to yours, they would assume we are a couple, right?”
“That could be an extra bonus. They would think I’m permanently settled and would not be expecting me to entertain any of their high-society lady friends who are looking for a husband.”
Casey pulled her hand away and ran her fingers through her hair feeling the scars now hidden by the wavy style. “You used to love high-society women.”
He knew what he said now would influence how she responded to him, not just for helping with Leila, but also about future plans he had for them. Trying to keep a light tone in his voice, he said, “So you remember all those stories I told you about girls back in my college years. You’re right. I did date a lot of high-society girls. When Melanie and I broke up and I went to Australia, I dated the same type women. They were the ones associated with the people I knew so it was natural. After five or six years of fast living, I realized every woman I dated was looking for a husband to give her money and position. My social life was a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s what I was expecting, and that’s what I got.”
Casey watched the flicker of pain and disgust alter his face fleetingly as he talked. “Didn’t any of them see what a worthwhile person you are?”
“I doubt I was very worthwhile at that time. Hopefully, I’ve come to my senses. Anyway, I was as much disgusted with myself as I was with women, so I swore off the whole relationship game.”
Casey knew in her heart she couldn’t say ‘no’ to him, but she had to let him know how inept she was at what he was asking her to do. “I’m pretty sure I’d end up being an embarrassment to you. I don’t know the first thing about being a good hostess to guests.”
“Mattie Lou and Rosalinda keep the Mansion running like it happens by magic, so that’s no problem. You could pretend you are the pampered daughter of the Mansion with nothing to do but enjoy being with guests, couldn’t you?”
She fidgeted and adjusted her seatbelt. “I’m not sure. I never had much time for pretend. And I still have this issue to settle with Dad about going back home and helping him train horses.”
Tres check the rearview mirror before passing a lumbering propane truck. “He’s hired better help than he wants you to know. Things are in good shape at the old headquarters. Giving up his little girl, who’s a top hand, is a problem for him and I can certainly see why.” Tres watched her trace the pattern he had made in the palm of her hand. “But I think we can get you off the hook to everybody’s satisfaction.” He smiled at her. “Now are you going to help with me Jordan? I went to Australia without his blessings and haven’t seen him since. Short conversations on the phone have been our only communication. Also, there is a new wife I have ambivalent feelings about.”
Casey heard the hint of regret in his voice. “It took a lot of courage to not do what your father expected of you, didn’t it?”
He saw the look of concern on her face and knew she was thinking about her own father’s expectations of her.
“I really never thought of it as courage,” he said. “I was running from a trapped feeling. He wanted us to build a Spencer and Spencer brokerage house that would make the financial world sit up and take notice. Of course, a wife with the right social connections already established was part of it. Melanie did me the best turn in the world with her indiscretion. I escaped a life I hated by the skin of my teeth.”
The silence stretched out as her mind raced. That inner voice, the instinct that prompted her at just the right time during competitions whispered, Now’s the time. Before she could talk herself out of it, she said, “Okay, I’ll stay if Mattie Lou thinks it’s the thing to do.”
Chapter 13
Casey, with Raider keeping pace, jogged down the main entrance road. The sun had burned away the cold morning mist leaving cool, crisp air, making conditions perfect for a run to clear her mind.
The last ten days’ activities turned like a movie reel in her mind as she ran. Her dad’s scathing remarks about her uselessness as she and Tres took him home in J.D.’s Mercedes. She was frustrated with the fact that she still wanted to defend herself to him, and yet, ingrained habits had kept her silent and made her evaluate her decisions.
Her forbearance paid off. A few nights after Jake got home from the hospital, he called Tres to tell him about a young man named Todd and his girlfriend, Heather, who had come to apply for work with hopes of getting to ride the Running S horses on the show circuit. Tres turned the speaker on so Casey could hear her dad say, “These kids have a real feel for horses. With a little training, I think they’ll do us a good job.”
Casey’s guess was that Tres had contacted Todd so events could unfold with Jake calling the shots about hiring someone. She listened as the two men talked at length about the itinerary for getting the Running S horses back into competition.
Determined not to dwell on her dad’s disapproval of her actions, she spoke to Raider as she circled and headed back toward the Mansion. “My life moved as slow as molasses in the winter for a while. Now it’s speeding along a mile a minute. All at once, Brad’s gone and Mattie Lou came home bustling around, with me in tow, inspecting every inch of Spencer Mansion before she left with Tres for Austin.”
She slowed her pace to cool down. Bending down to brush her hand across Raider’s head, she added, “I’ve also been inundated with Spencer family history and given a crash course in lady-of-the-house manners and duties.”
Back at the front steps, Casey went through a series of stretches before sitting down to take off her dirty running shoes. Raider flopped down on the grass with her tongue lolled out as she watche
d Casey and even looked like she was listening.
“Mattie Lou’s ecstatic that Jordan’s coming home after so many years of estrangement. I don’t suppose you know what caused the big riff between him and J.D.?”
The sound of a car approaching stopped Casey in her tracks. She stood in faded jeans and sweatshirt, holding her shoes and socks in her hand. As the car eased to a stop under the canopy of the circle drive, her heart sank down to her bare toes. Jordan and Leila Spencer had arrived two days early.
As she watched, Raider got up and ambled off toward Dan’s house. Casey wished she could go with the old dog, but stood her ground and greeted the tall, remarkably handsome, gray-haired man as he came around and opened the door of the white Cadillac. A perfectly groomed, slightly plump woman of Asian heritage stepped out. As she took her husband’s hand, she glanced up at him and smiled, then shifted her attention to Casey.
“I’m Casey Mason and you must be Jordan and Leila Spencer.” Do I invite them into the house he grew up in? Do I offer to get their luggage? Do I say, ‘Welcome to Spencer Mansion’?
Jordan’s voice snapped her to attention. “We finished our business early in Dallas and decided to rent a car and drive so Leila could see West Texas up close instead of from a plane. You must be the friend my mother mentioned.”
“Yes, I’ve been rehabbing with J.D.’s therapist and nurse up until a few days ago. Hopefully I have all that behind me. Did you travel on the Interstate or take the smaller highways?”
They moved up the steps and Casey pushed the big oak doors open.
“We came the less-traveled way around through San Angelo. I wanted Leila to see what a contrast in landscape Texas has.”
Just inside the foyer, Leila stopped and gazed in amazement. She spoke in a soft, melodious voice. “Jordan, it’s like the castles we saw in Europe.”
“As well it should,” Jordan said. “Great-grandpa Spencer was hell bent on it being like his old home castle, but just a little bigger and better. It is somewhat of a shock when one sees it stuck out here in the middle of nowhere Texas.”
Casey picked up the house phone and buzzed Rosalinda while Jordan began to tell Leila about the ancestors from Scotland.
“Rosalinda, Mr. and Mrs. Spencer have just arrived. Can you send someone to take care of their luggage?”
Who do I think I am? But she could just hear Mattie Lou applauding her performance.
Rosalinda offered up an expletive or two in Spanish then told Casey someone would come at once for the luggage, then added, “Give me thirty minutes and I’ll send a proper tea to the blue room”.
Casey hung up the phone and turned back to the Spencers. “Mattie Lou and Tres won’t be back from the Water Conservation Conference in Austin until tomorrow night.” She saw a look of concern on Leila’s face and added quickly, “Mattie Lou made sure everything was ready for your arrival before she left.”
One of Ignacio’s helpers and two of the temporary girls who had been polishing the Mansion to perfection appeared. The young man asked, “Sir, would you like for me to put your car in the garage?”
Jordan handed over the keys with thanks and reached for Leila’s hand. They followed Casey up the wide stairs to the landing on the mezzanine. Lara met them as they reached the top step, averting her eyes from Casey’s bare feet and tousled hair.
Casey grinned at her. “Lara, would you see that Mr. and Mrs. Spencer are settled comfortably? I just returned from my run and need to freshen up before tea.” Turning to Jordan and Leila, she said, “Tea will be in the Blue Room in thirty minutes. I’m sure you know your way around the Mansion better than I do, but Lara will be glad to help you get reoriented if you like.”
As Lara led the guests to the right on the mezzanine, Casey beat a hasty retreat to the left. Once in her bathroom, she laughed with a touch of hysteria before saying to the image in the mirror, “That went well, don’t you think?”
Twenty minutes later, as she examined her reflection, she breathed a sigh of relief. “At least, you clean up respectably well.”
The wavy layers of her auburn hair framed her lightly made-up face as the stylist had intended. The soft, washed-denim skirt and over-blouse trimmed in lace and seed pearls hugged the gentle curves of her slender body. Slipping her feet into soft, blue leather pumps, she leaned in close to the mirror. “Out of all the scenarios you planned, not one of them came close to this, so stay alert or you’re a ‘sunk duck’.” Making a face at her image, she turned away and went to the Blue Room.
Casey saw Leila look at Jordan in disbelief and laugh with eyes twinkling as they appeared at the door of the Blue Room.
“She doesn’t believe that I remember when this monstrosity of stone didn’t have electricity,” Jordan said.
“It is hard to imagine,” Casey said. “How was it lighted?”
“With gaslights, kerosene lamps, and tallow candles. I can still smell the things.”
Casey handed them tea as they sat. “Of course, electricity was all over the country by the time we came here. I was eight the first Thanksgiving my parents brought me to Spencer Mansion for the traditional ranch gathering. Every chandelier, sconce, and lamp shone. I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
“Are your parents neighbors to Jordan’s family?” Leila asked.
Casey picked up the tone in Leila’s question, one that hinted at a problem with social status. Instead of feeling the weight of all her parents’ lectures on the wide social gap between the Masons and the Spencers, she saw humor in the situation. She enjoyed adding a little fuel to the fire.
“My dad manages the horse operation for the Running S. We moved into the old headquarters place and Dad supervised the construction of facilities for a state-of-the-art horse operation and implemented a breeding program that produces some of the best quarter horses in the world.” Then she turned to Jordan. “Have you seen the temperature-controlled breeding barn and the foaling barn?”
“No,” he said. “I just realized who you are. You rode the ranch horses while you attended college. Mattie Lou had the local paper sent to me all these years and your name appeared in it regularly.”
“The Running S horses are a source of pride to the whole community.” Casey diverted attention from herself. “Just a few days ago Dad hired two equestrians to start riding the horses in competition again. He and Tres are making plans to resume at the beginning of next year.”
“Why are you not riding them anymore?” Leila asked. “Had you stopped winning?” The condescending note in her melodious voice did not escape Casey.
“I sustained an injury in an accident during a horse sale a few weeks after J.D.’s death. I’ve only recently been released from a rehabilitation program with a physical therapist. I’ll probably never ride competitively again.”
After a few seconds of awkward silence that Casey did nothing to alleviate, Leila said, “I’m sure the Spencers have taken care of you admirably since you were in their employ.”
The remark raised Casey’s hackles, but she offered no response, since it wasn’t a question. She faced Jordan. “I would be happy to drive the two of you around the ranch tomorrow if you’d like to visit old haunts and maybe see some of the improvements made since you were last here,” she said. “Mattie Lou and Tres should be home for dinner tomorrow evening.”
Before he answered, he turned to Leila. “Do you think you’ll be up to riding in a pickup to see part of the ranch?”
Casey watched a look of pure adoration light up Leila’s face. “I would love to see the places that you remember from your childhood.”
As tea, tiny sandwiches and slices of rich cake were consumed, Casey kept thinking, What to do with their guests until dinnertime? She gave a prayer of thanks when Jordan nodded at Leila and said, “Since you’ll be going about on the ranch tomorrow, you probably need to get settled then rest until dinner.”
“That is so thoughtful of you. We have been quite a distance in the car the last two days.”
H
e turned to Casey. “Is there a computer here that I can get online with? I need something more than the laptop I’m carrying.”
“Yes, there’s one in the main office.” She got up out of her chair with ease, thankful that all the grueling hours of therapy had paid off. Setting her cup onto the sideboard, she punched the button that reached the kitchen.
Jordan gave Leila his hand. “I’ll see Leila settled, then be back down.”
Lara appeared, having seen Casey’s call. “I’ll be happy to help Mrs. Spencer,” she said.
Leila understood being catered to. “Thank you, Lara. Jordan, go along about the business I know you’re eager to do. I’ll be fine with Lara.”
In the main office, Casey watched Jordan stand and survey the area in remembrance. “I’m amazed at the polish this old place has now.” He turned his attention to Casey, who said, “This computer should be capable of doing whatever you need to do.”
“Will I be apt to disrupt any of Tres’ business?”
Casey shook her head and smiled. “No, his computer set up is in his private office behind that door. We all avoid that room. I don’t think he even lets the maid dust.”
Jordan clicked on the computer. “That doesn’t sound like the Tres I know. He was totally unconcerned about security the short time we were in business together.”
Casey wanted to say that maybe he didn’t know Tres, but instead turned toward the door to leave. “Maybe time and a few hard lessons made him change.”
Rosalinda had Kari serve dinner in a small dining room with a round table perfectly set with white linen, Fostoria crystal, Lenox china, and sterling silver flatware that Casey couldn’t recall the name of. She marveled at how quickly she had eased into dining rather than ‘grabbing a bite’ between workouts and study. College and circuit riding had impacted her life, but gracious living at Spencer Mansion had its impact, too.