Love's Silver Lining (Silver Lining Ranch Series Book 1)

by Julie Lessman

  He paused midway through gutting a drawer, the fire in his eyes singeing her to the spot while an entire waiting room looked on. “No, Miss Mullaney, you’re the one who’s made the scene by refusing a totally innocent request.”

  Her chin lashed up. “True innocence is generally fully clothed, Mr. Donovan,” she said with a jut of her brow, determined that this swaddled Lothario would not pin any blame on her. “And possesses far more patience—not to mention clothing—than you appear to own at the moment.”

  Cauterizing her with a truly scorching look, he chose to ignore her while tearing through another two cabinets, linens and medical paraphernalia flying through the air.

  “Brendan Zachery Donovan—halt!” Everything froze mid-air except the linens when Sister Frederica’s booming voice paralyzed Maggie and every other living thing on the first floor.

  He spun around to do battle like a patched-up Roman, but the sheet flaring around his straddled legs managed to steal a bit of his thunder. “Where-are-my-clothes?” he bit out, the sound as hard as the cut of his jaw.

  “Safe and sound, Mr. Donovan,” Sister Frederica said in an equally clipped tone, circling the counter with an amazing amount of grace given her wide girth. She slapped a large clipboard down on the counter to face him head-on, and Maggie stifled another grin when the sheet-clad Romeo took a step back. “Which is more than I can say for you, young man, if you don’t get your carcass back to your room this instant.”

  He had the audacity to lean in, sheet cinched high. “Get this and get it good, Sister Fred. I am not going back to that cage, so unless you want me to continue making a spectacle of myself in your fine hospital here, I suggest you return my clothes to me right now.”

  Maggie pursed her lips to thwart a chuckle when Sister Frederica’s intimidation ramped up with a fold of burly arms, her black habit expanding and contracting with a loud huff of air. “Don’t you threaten me, young man. I wear a cornette headdress referred to as goose flaps in this town, so ‘spectacles’ hold no sway with me.” Checking the watch pinned to her white bib, she invaded his space, the starched flaps of her white cornette jerking up along with her head to sear him with a fearsome glare. Despite merely coming to his mid-chest—or mid-gauze as it were—she poked a thick finger in obvious warning. “Now I promised your uncle you would get the rest and care you need to heal properly, so if you plan on leaving on my watch, Mr. Donovan, I assure you most wholeheartedly—it will be without your clothes.”

  One of the nurses tittered, and the scoundrel wasted no time in homing in on the poor girl with a perilous smile, eyes and tone softening considerably. “Do you know where my clothes are, Cassie?” he asked quietly, his tender smile assuring her she was the only woman in the room.

  Honeyed curls bobbed in consent, and his smile lit up like one of those mirrored lamps used in the operating rooms of Bellvue, eyes sparkling more than the cobalt poison bottles lining its shelves. Maggie smothered a grunt.

  And just as toxic.

  “Well, then, I’d sure love to take you out for a steak dinner tonight, Cass, at The Gold Hill Hotel if you like. All I need is for you to tell me where my clothes are, darlin’, and I’ll even get them myself.”

  Maggie watched in total fascination as the girl—a petite blonde with longing in her eyes—nearly swayed on her feet, eyes locked with Donovan’s as if he were a snake charmer instead of a snake. Maggie suppressed a second grunt.

  A misnomer if ever there was.

  “Cassie?” he whispered, and the sound actually fluttered Maggie’s own stomach, much to her dismay, so she knew poor Cassie had to be sucked under his spell. The girl wet her lips as if she could taste the steak in question—or the man offering it—then glanced at Sister Frederica to plead his case.

  Before poor Cassie could even utter a word, Sister withered her with a scowl so potent, it eradicated every smile in the room. “Trust me, Cassandra, I am saving you a lot of heartbreak when I say …” Thunderous dark brows piled low into a threat. “The bedpans on floors three and four need attending, so I suggest you begin right now.”

  Thwack! Maggie startled when Donovan’s fist bludgeoned the counter. “That is pure, unadulterated blackmail, Sister, and you know it!”

  “Not at all, Mr. Donovan,” Sister said in an unwavering tone, “there is nothing ‘pure’ about it, much like the bribe you offered that poor girl, I might add.” She jutted her chins—all three of them—in challenge.

  Beads of sweat glazed the man’s brow as his desperate gaze darted from face to face, the fail-proof smile appearing about to crack. “A five-dollar gold piece to anyone who delivers my clothes, boots, and gun,” he rasped, voice hoarse with desperation, “and an evening out I promise you will never forget.”

  “My, what an incredibly generous offer, Mr. Donovan,” Sister said with a stony smile, one thick brow rising in question as she surveyed her staff. “Although I doubt a five-dollar gold piece can provide the ongoing security of a salary, despite the pleasure of your company.” Everyone flinched when she clapped her hands loudly, shooing the rest of the nurses back to their jobs. “Back to work, ladies. I assure you Mr. Donovan will soon be back in your charge.”

  “The devil I will,” he muttered, retying the sheet around his waist with a hard jerk of the corners. “Out of my way, Sister.” Shoving past the perfectly calm nun, he stomped around the counter and strode straight for the front door, still ridiculously handsome in nothing more than gauze and lumpy cotton.

  “And just where do you think you’re going?” Sister Frederica demanded, bustling around the counter to keep up with the cowboy’s long-legged stride. “You cannot leave here in that state of undress!”

  “Watch me,” he shouted over his shoulder, ignoring an elderly woman who fainted dead out as he passed.

  “You come back here right this instant, young man,” she called, the loud boom of her voice apparently less effective the closer he got to the door. “Your dressings need to be changed twice daily and medication applied to avoid infection. And you need to rest.”

  “I don’t have time to rest—I have work to do,” he growled. Almost knocking a man down, he slammed through the front double doors to fly down the steps like a specter, his sheet—and any pride he may have had—blowing in the wind.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The double doors banged closed, and Sister shook her head in apparent dismay, the flaps of her cornette in obvious agreement. She exhaled a noisy sigh. “A mule with second-degree burns,” she muttered before issuing orders to one of the nuns to take smelling salts to the unconscious woman. She turned to make her way back to Maggie, who stood wide-eyed at the counter.

  “Goodness, is he going to be all right?” Maggie asked, legitimate concern lacing her tone.

  Sister’s answering chuckle managed to escape from a mouth pursed in a tight-lipped scowl. Snatching her clipboard up, the nun made a beeline for her office, flicking impatient fingers behind her in a directive for Maggie to follow. “Well, the burns will eventually heal, Miss Mullaney, but I’m afraid the pig-headed obstinacy is here to stay.”

  She nodded to a row of wooden chairs parked in front of her desk and then closed the door as soon as Maggie took a seat. “Nonetheless, a good dose of humility via a traipse through town in a sheet will do that boy good.” She dropped into her own chair with a groan, eyes lidded with heavy folds of skin that suddenly narrowed as if weighing her down. “A mite too cocky for his own good, Miss Mullaney, and in case you haven’t noticed, a wee bit too handsome for it too. Seems to think he can charm anything in a skirt, so you best be on your guard.”

  Blood blasted Maggie’s cheeks and her only defense was the thrust of her chin. “I assure you, Sister Frederica, that type of man holds absolutely no appeal to me whatsoever.”

  The edge of Sister’s lip quirked, creating a rather endearing dimple to emerge in her overly generous cheek. “And I assure you, Miss Mullaney, that that type of man has stolen the affection of every female from here to C
arson City. And that was before he risked his life to save one of Virginia City’s most celebrated citizens from a fire over a week ago.” She lowered her head, piercing black eyes pinning Maggie to the chair. “Liberty O’Shea’s father,” she emphasized, “which is why I believe you’re here in the first place?”

  Maggie nodded, never more grateful for Liberty O’Shea, her mother’s dearest friend, who had just rescued Maggie from a fate—and a marriage—worse than death. “Yes, you see, Aunt Libby—” She paused, feeling the necessity to explain. “Well, she’s not my aunt, of course, but I’ve always called her that because she’s my godmother and was my mother’s best friend. At any rate, she asked me to come with her after she received the awful telegram about her father’s heart attack and her parent’s house burning down. So, since I attended Bellvue School of Nursing, we both felt that St. Mary Louise Hospital might very well be the ideal place to apply for a job.”

  “Indeed.” Sister squeaked back in her chair, meaty hands clasped over a formidable stomach. “I’ve already researched your credentials, Miss Mullaney, when Miss O’Shea telegrammed her request that I interview you, and her recommendation goes a long way in this town. So, I’m well aware you are more than qualified from a technical standpoint.” She hesitated, lips compressed so much, they seemed to disappear altogether. “My concern would be more along the emotional risks involved, given your youth and naïveté.”

  Maggie blinked, somewhat taken aback at Sister’s remark. “I don’t understand, Sister. I’m twenty-two years old—that hardly qualifies as either young or naive.”

  “Perhaps not in New York, Miss Mullaney, but this is Virginia City, where there are over one hundred saloons, give or take a few, within a very small radius. That means a lot of what we see in this hospital has to do with a very rowdy and very lascivious male component.” She lifted in her chair ever so slightly to assess Maggie’s House of Worth coral silk dress, from its voluminous skirts to its tightly fitted bodice. Her gaze instantly flicked up to Maggie’s chestnut hair, which she’d jumbled on top of her head in a cluster of ringlets and a sweep of soft bangs. A weary sigh escaped her lips. Sagging back in her chair, she studied Maggie through slatted eyes that held a trace of a twinkle. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to wear a sack?”

  Relief coursed through Maggie’s veins, assuring her she would do whatever it took to acquire this position. “Absolutely,” she said without hesitation, “I would be more than willing to wear whatever you like, Sister, including a gunny sack.”

  Sister’s mouth curled into a dry smile. “Over your head?”

  Maggie stilled, all blood ceasing to flow until she realized Sister Frederica was joking. Her face flushed so hot, she was certain she resembled a saloon girl with rouge on her cheeks.

  Wonderful. I should fit right in.

  Sister hovered over her desk with a squeak of her chair, hands clasped and thick brows knit low as she bent to meet Maggie eye to eye. “Frankly, Miss Mullaney, I’m a wee bit worried you can’t handle the element here. Suppose you tell me why I should hire an innocent like you, merely to expose you to one of the most sinful cities in this nation?”

  With everything in her, Maggie strove to remain calm despite the awful hammering in her chest, knowing full well that the fate of her future lay in this woman’s hands. Silently drawing in a deep swell of air, she met Sister’s gaze head-on, a slow smile wending its way across her lips at the memory of a near-naked cowboy decorated in cotton and gauze.

  She arched a brow. “Because the arranged engagement I fled from, Sister, was to a man just like your bandaged cowboy and all womanizers of his ilk. Rest assured I have no interest in men like that or really any men at all at the moment.” She sat straight up in the chair, shoulders back and lips firm, unflinching as she locked gazes with a woman she’d come to respect in mere minutes. “In fact, I find myself greatly inspired by women like Florence Nightingale and you, Sister, wondering if perhaps my calling isn’t to remain single altogether.”

  Pride swelled in Maggie’s chest as she thought of her godmother, Liberty O’Shea. Aunt Libby was a single woman who, up until her engagement to a professor at Vassar last month, had chosen service over servitude to a man, just like Maggie hoped to do. The thought lifted her chin with resolve as she gave the nun a bright smile. “And to be frank, Sister Frederica, I’ve been greatly influenced by brilliant career women like my Aunt Libby, in whose steps I hope to follow, opting for mercy to many rather than marriage to just one.”

  A smile flickered at the corners of Sister’s mouth. “Which I assure you will be more than a challenge in a city where the number of men far exceed the number of women, my dear.” She paused, her eyes narrowing in scrutiny. “May I assume, then, that our ‘near-naked cowboy’ had no effect on you whatsoever?”

  Some of Maggie’s bravado faltered a bit when blood coursed into her cheeks, but she ignored it with an unyielding square of her shoulders. “I won’t lie to you, Sister. Mr. Donovan does have a certain”—she swallowed hard—“charm, I suppose, but I quickly proved to myself and to him that I am immune.”

  “And how exactly did you do that, young lady?” Sister asked, forehead in a squint.

  Maggie nibbled at the edge of her smile, the memory warming her eyes to a twinkle. “Well, you see, he was hiding in the stairwell at the end of the hall when I went to look out the window, and the poor man tried every tactic in the book to coerce me into retrieving his clothes.” She lifted a hand, ticking off Mr. Donovan’s methods in a sing-song manner. “Flirting, teasing, begging, guilt, seduction—”

  “Pardon me?” Sister jutted a brow.

  Maggie’s smile took a twist. “He flexed a bicep,” she explained with a dusting of heat in her cheeks, adamant that no cowboy—half-naked or otherwise—would ever get past her defenses.

  The nun’s low, throaty chuckle surprised her, and the satisfied grin on Sister’s face immediately unraveled any knots in Maggie’s stomach. “Well, young lady, you may be just what I’m looking for, then, as long as you can steer clear of handsome heartbreakers like Mr. Donovan. But it won’t be easy. There are a number of handsome rakes in this town who have proven to be a menace to the female society, and I assure you, our Mr. Donovan is right at the top.”

  “And why is that?” Maggie wanted to know. Yes, no doubt the rogue was one of the finest-looking examples of manhood Maggie had ever seen, but it would take a whole lot more than a chiseled face and body to turn her head.

  “Because, my dear, Brendan Donovan is not only handsome and charming to a fault, but he is also the foreman for his uncle’s Silver Lining Ranch as well, which he has helped parlay into the largest, most profitable ranch in all of Nevada.

  Maggie swallowed. All right, a hardworking example of manhood on top of handsome and charming. But still, it wasn’t enough.

  “And then, of course,” Sister continued, an unmistakable look of affection flitting across the old nun’s face, “he’s utterly devoted to his family, a veritable hawk when it comes to watching over his two little sisters. And, I might add, a staunch mentor for his younger brother who works in a bar, much to his uncle’s disdain.”

  “His mentor?” Maggie’s smile tipped. “In drinking and womanizing, no doubt?”

  Sister sighed. “Regrettably, you’re correct about the womanizing, but the man has never touched a drop of alcohol as far as I know. Which is why he’s so dangerous to the young ladies of Virginia City. Especially since he scaled a burning staircase to save little Frannie after rescuing both Liberty’s mother and their housekeeper, who were asleep in their rooms.”

  “No!” Maggie could do nothing but gape, absently wondering if a cowboy could be canonized. “Please tell me the child wasn’t hurt!”

  Sister’s mouth took a tilt. “A ferret, actually, and no, Maeve’s beloved pet came through unscathed, which is more than I can say for Mr. Donovan. The poor man incurred several nasty nips from the ferret in addition to second-degree burns.” The twitch of Sister�
��s lips hinted at humor. “A female ferret, of course, lending credence to the saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” She gave Maggie a wink. “Or in this case, a ferret mourned.”

  Maggie couldn’t help it—she grinned.

  Sister sighed. “No, there’s no question about it. Brendan Donovan is a hero with a heart of gold,” Sister continued with a shake of her head, “but with more stubbornness in his veins than silver in the Comstock.” She bent in, smile dry. “Ironically, he’s also one of my top volunteers at both our school and orphanage. Not only does he lend his carpentry skills when needed, but he is also a mentor for many of our young male orphans. He and several of his cowhands actually train a good many of them almost every Sunday at his ranch, teaching them how to ride and become future ranch hands for his uncle.”

  Another heavy sigh deflated the bib of Sister’s habit as she pierced Maggie with a pointed look. “Regrettably, even a hero has flaws, my dear, and Mr. Donovan is no different because trust me—they don’t call him ‘Blaze’ for nothing. He has a reputation for setting hearts on fire, and as the town’s confirmed bachelor, I’m afraid he’s left a lot of charred ruins in his wake.”

  Sister lumbered to her feet and extended a hand, which Maggie instantly took, the nun’s warm and welcoming palm flooding her with a sense of safety and peace. “Which means, young lady, I am going to take a chance on you if you can safely avoid Mr. Donovan and any rogues like him, understood?”

  “Oh, yes, ma’am,” Maggie breathed, hardly able to believe she had landed her very first job!

  “Good.” Sister toddled around the desk and gave Maggie’s arm an affectionate squeeze. “You start on Monday, Miss Mullaney, and your job will be to put those impressive skills to work on behalf of our poor wounded. And my job, my dear,” she said with an outrageous wink that took Maggie completely by surprise, “is to keep you from being one.”

  CHAPTER THREE