“Mr. MacBranain, sir, please pardon the intrusion. A letter has arrived that has the ladies most disturbed. Mrs. MacBranain requests your presence straightaway,” he huffed.
Motioning for Rick to follow, Sean started for the door. “Come along. Once I get them calmed down, we’ll open that bottle of wine.”
Reluctant though he was, he followed anyway, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. Women in a lather over a letter? What was he getting himself into?
Chapter 4
Slight heels clicked out a frantic rhythm as Catriona paced, their sharp sound serving to aggravate her further. Yet her mind could not stop, so her feet couldn’t either. While she paced, Ashlinn sat calmly on one of the plush couches of the parlor, bent over a coffee table, writing away. Considering her sister-in-law worked on a list of things Catriona would need on her journey, her actions were far more productive than Catriona’s own. Not even that knowledge could halt her momentum.
At last, a knock sounded on the parlor doors and upon her word, they burst open, spilling forth a flushed Deirdre with Sadie on her heels. Shoving a long, black lock that had come free from a hastily-made-looking bun, Deirdre curtsied to Ashlinn and murmured a quick greeting. In her haste, Catriona introduced them quite poorly, begging forgiveness from both women as she did so. Ashlinn waved off her apology and motioned for Deirdre to sit opposite her on a second couch.
Dark blue eyes turning up to Catriona, Deirdre beseeched. “Please, do read it to us.”
With shaking hands, Catriona unfolded the letter. Two pairs of booted heels marching into the room stopped her before she could begin. Sean in all his polished glory, looking every bit the gentleman, clashed with the wild appearance of Corporal Fergusson with his week-old beard and ankle-length duster. The very sight of Fergusson only added to Catriona’s frustration. She did not want the uncouth rogue to know her business, but then, if Ashlinn was right and he was her only hope, she had no choice.
She made hasty introductions and curtly invited Corporal Fergusson to sit. To the corporal’s credit, he barely spared Deirdre a glance and a kind word where most men all but ogled her and fell all over themselves to impress her. Not that she wanted the man to be curt with her friend… Oh, hells, her mind was simply all over in its state of unrest.
Taking a seat beside his wife, Sean nodded to Catriona. “Please, don’t allow us to interrupt. You were about to read the letter.”
Eyes shifting from Sean’s concerned expression to Fergusson’s wary gaze, she took a breath and began to read.
“Dear Mrs. O’Brian, Thank you kindly for the fine wine and chocolates that you sent all the way from New York, as well as your assurances that you will make a richly contributing patron to Sonoma County.”
She paused and gave Ashlinn an inquiring look. Her sister-in-law gave her a half-smile and shrugged. When she had read it aloud to Catriona a few moments ago, she had left that part out. Ashlinn must have done it on her behalf. She wanted to thank her, should thank her, but she couldn’t focus enough to do so. Attention returning to the letter, she went on.
“As you know, the gold rush has brought many settlers to California and the railroad is bringing even more. Demand for land is high and those who will utilize it to its full potential, a potential that best furthers the fine state of California, must be given preference. The man who originally petitioned for the grant on your land, a Mr. Ainsworth, has written to me to ask to reclaim the grant should the O’Brians fail to claim it. Seeing as you are a widow with no male children to help improve such land, I am giving you until the middle of this August to lay claim to the land, or it will revert to Mr. Ainsworth. I do so in the best interest of our fine state of California. I wish you the very best of luck.”
Her voice choked on the man’s name and title. Suddenly both Sadie and Deirdre were at her side, offering comforting words and touches.
Corporal Fergusson made a sound close to a growl. “Ainsworth, the blaggard. It figures. I’m sorry your husband had the misfortune to purchase the claim from him.” Indignation furrowed his brow.
“You know the man?” Sean asked.
“Aye. He’s an Englishman who’s been buying up as much of the valley as he can, selling off the bits of land he doesn’t want or can’t get to in time.” The way he stared hard at the fireplace as he talked made Catriona think there might be more to the story. But right now the why of it didn’t matter. What did was that someone wanted to take her dream from her before she even had a chance to fully realize it.
Face heating, Catriona blinked tears away, straightened her back, and gave her friends what she hoped was a determined look.
“I have to do this,” she told them.
Until it was being snatched away, she hadn’t realized just how badly she wanted this opportunity. To get out of this house and away from its bad memories, start a life with her friends from which the fruits would be born of her own hard labor, it was more than she had ever hoped for.
Wisps of tight black curls hair floated about as Sadie shook her head. “But it’s impossible to make it that far that fast.”
Catriona’s look hardened as her determination grew. “For a few wagons and an entourage of armed men, yes.” Gaze steady, she looked to Corporal Fergusson, whose head was cocked and green eyes were wide with curiosity, as if she suddenly intrigued him. “But not for two people on horseback.” Those green eyes snagged on hers and wouldn’t look away. The weight of interest in them both bothered and thrilled her.
“No!” Ashlinn cried as she flew to her feet in a flurry of yellow satin skirts.
Rather than grab hold of her as she expected her to, Ashlinn took hold of one of Sadie’s arms and one of Deirdre’s. “Please, turn her from this foolish idea. Such a thing is not done, a woman traveling alone with a man, with no escort. And, ’tis too dangerous.” The last part was no more than a whisper.
To her friends’ credit, they both shook their heads. A smile spread across Deirdre’s face. “I want to go as well!”
Gaze snapping back to Fergusson, Catriona saw alarm flash in his widening eyes. Now it was she who shook her head. “No. Corporal Fergusson will have an easier time keeping only one person safe. Is that not right, sir?” she asked.
“True enough. Two people can make the trip almost unnoticed, and within the timeframe, more would complicate matters,” he said, sounding impressed.
His green eyes held her a bit too intimately for her comfort. Pulling her gaze from them, she smiled at her friends. “You can leave in a week as we planned. You’ll just have to have another escort and will arrive a few months after I do. I’ll be all right. Corporal Fergusson is a war hero trusted by my sister-in-law and her husband. I could not be in better hands.” At the last, her attention shifted to the strong hands of which she spoke.
At over six feet tall and roped in muscle, the man was formidable indeed. Her friends could hardly contest that. And if Ashlinn trusted him, surely she was safe with him, despite the gleam of interest in his eyes. Most likely that had to do with her hiring him and nothing else, especially considering the nearly disrespectful manner in which he had spoken to her upon their first meeting.
Ashlinn strode to her husband’s side, hooked an arm through his and Fergusson’s, and inclined her head to Catriona. “If you will excuse us for a moment.”
“O’ course,” Catriona said.
As the three of them left the room, Fergusson’s gaze remained locked on her until the door closed behind them. Sadie and Deirdre began bombarding her with rushed questions and suggestions the moment the door clicked shut. She could scarcely keep up with them, especially with her mind going in so many directions. Half-hearted answers and reassurances passed her lips while her mind contemplated one thing, and one thing only. She would be alone with a man for a month. A wild, rugged—and admittedly quite handsome—man who seemed to have little care for propriety and boundaries. It was a b
it harsh to just him as such, she knew, but it was hard not to considering her distrust of strange men. Or all men in general, really.
“Alone on the trail with a man, it’s not done, Miss Catriona. Surely, at least I should go with you,” Sadie cautioned in a hushed voice.
Smiling, Catriona took up one of her hands. It had taken quite a bit of time for Sadie to become comfortable enough with the two of them being friends, equals in Catriona’s eyes. She wanted to be careful what she said so she didn’t undo her fragile confidence.
“He is a trusted friend of the family, and an honorable soldier to boot. You need not fear for me, and the very act of the three of us ladies settling on our own in California steps outside the rules of propriety as ’tis, so I am not worried about that,” she told her, proud that the words sounded convincing when she herself wasn’t so convinced.
Practically skipping over, Deirdre took hold of their grasped hands in both of hers. The sweet tang of her expensive perfume wrapped around Catriona. Eyes shining behind her dark locks, she grasped her bottom lip between her teeth as if trying to keep her smile from growing too large. She failed.
“Traveling alone across America with a handsome, rugged man, I envy you so! You must do it. It will be the adventure of a lifetime, one you can tell us all about in September when we arrive with the wagons,” she said.
Sadie groaned. “An adventure, oh Deirdre.”
Laughter bubbled from Deirdre. “Indeed! Now enough of this fretting; we must prepare.”
Fighting Deirdre’s enthusiasm was like fighting an outgoing tide, impossible and exhausting if one tried too hard. Catriona gave in and allowed her own smile to slip through. Part of her wanted to jump at the chance, had to, but the ever-cautious part of her that usually won out sort of hoped Corporal Fergusson would say no. The doors to the parlor opened and in walked Ashlinn, Sean, and Fergusson, as if her thoughts had summoned the man. Gazing intently at her from behind overly long brown bangs, the man all but commanded her attention. Damn, but he was attractive.
Burying the thought, Catriona cleared her throat. “Well, Corporal Fergusson, will you take on the task?”
“Aye, I’ll do it.”
And upon those four little words, her life was about to change.
Chapter 5
Three days later, as he strode into Mrs. O’Brian’s carriage house and laid eyes upon her, he wanted to eat those words. The woman stood in the aisle cinching up an English saddle onto her tall thoroughbred. In a man’s riding breeches that hugged her shapely hips and long legs, she was a sight to behold, one that had him fearing he may swallow his tongue. He had only ever seen one other woman in breeches and had enjoyed the wicked sight. This second look, at this particular woman dressed in such a manner, nearly undid his control. The morning light played across a dark red plait of thick hair that hung down between her shoulders, reaching almost to where her nicely curved behind disappeared beneath a mid-length wool coat.
Something both within him, and without, stirred at the sight, so much so that he casually closed his coat to hide the effect she had on him. He had promised Sean he would be the epitome of a perfect gentleman, and here he was getting hard at the first sight of her. Reminding himself she was just another high society woman whom he would have to keep alive helped dampen his desire.
“Mrs. O’Brian, that’ll most certainly not do,” he said.
Startling at his voice, she spun toward him. The big brown thoroughbred darted away from her as far as the leads clipped to either side of its halter and then to the opposing walls would allow. Steel clashed against cobblestone in a terrible racket as its shod hooves clattered about. The beast didn’t get far, and thankfully didn’t step on the lady’s feet, but its wide eyes and high head proved it would not settle for a while.
“Case in point.” Fergusson indicated the horse with a nod of his head.
To her credit, Catriona quickly subdued the animal with a few soothing words and a stroke of its neck. “What, my horse? She is a bit spirited, admittedly, but she is fast and reliable, the very best hunter jumper in my stable. And I can ride quite well. You have no cause to worry over that.”
Slowly, so as not to spook the beast again, he approached. Paws slapped on the cobblestones behind him, claws clicking in time to them. He spared a scathing look down at Lincoln’s gray and white head but the pup only seemed to grin up at him. Apparently the “sit, stay” commands still needed work.
“I’ve no doubt you can ride, but mustangs will steal a mare away the first chance they get, leaving you riding with me,” he said.
Heat flushed his face. He hadn’t meant for the words “with me” to come out sounding so husky, but he couldn’t help it, not with her curves looking so tempting in those tight breeches. His traitorous mind dropped the word “with,” giving him an all too intimate picture. For the second time already this morning he was glad for his long coat.
Catriona lifted her chin, her pert little nose cutting the air. “Nonsense. She may be a bit high-spirited, but I can control her quite well, I assure you.”
Unable to resist her magnetism, he took a step closer. It worked both to bring her alluring lilac scent drifting to him, and to bring a glare to her lovely face as she had to crane her neck back to look up at him. He leaned so close their bodies were only inches apart.
“I don’t doubt your powers of control over your animal. ’Tis the mustangs you can’t control. When they see a mare they want, they take her, and there is nothing you can do about it.” With his voice dropped several octaves from repressed desire, the words came out sounding breathy and dirty. The flare of desire in her eyes ensured he didn’t regret them, though.
He fingered the edge of her close-cut riding jacket. “This will not do, either. Such clothing will shred on the trail.” Saints help him, but he was picturing just that.
Huffing in a deliciously cute way, Catriona tugged away from him and tried to pull the edges of the jacket down as if she could make it longer. “Ashlinn suggested the breeches. It seemed a good idea. What do you propose I do? Ride a stallion and dress in leather like a savage?” she called over her shoulder.
Damn if the crotch of his breeches didn’t threaten to give way from the pressure of his erection at the image those words elicited. The sight of her breeches hugging her toned buttocks only made it worse. Turning away, he cleared his throat and wrangled his control.
“The trek is one that takes a special kind of horse. I’ll lend you one of mine. As for the clothing…” He had to pause and steady his voice. “You got the idea half-right with breeches, but I do recommend treated leather, both chaps and coat.”
She spun toward him, eyes wide beneath a furrowed brow, mouth gaping in a most distracting manner. “Leather? In June? I shall melt in the heat.”
He nodded. “Aye, it will feel like it at times. But you won’t catch your death in the driving rain or hail in Nebraska territory, nor the blowing wind of Wyoming territory. When the heat of the Utah territory and the state of Nevada becomes too much you can roll your coat up and strap it on the back of your horse.”
At the mention of each state and territory, her eyes grew wider, as if she hadn’t considered just how much land they would be crossing in such a short time. He couldn’t fault her. The reality of it was daunting.
“An entire continent… Is that why they call the California trail the Elephant? Because it’s so long?” she asked in a bit of a hushed voice.
Having crossed it multiple times, he found it an odd comparison, but not an altogether inaccurate one. “Partly.”
Letting out a long, dramatic sigh, Catriona stroked her mare’s neck. “Well, you’re right about one thing. I shouldn’t expect such a creature to carry me across the wilds of America.”
Not quite sure how to respond without sounding as though he were gloating, he watched in silence as she removed the horse’s tack and placed it back
into a room nearby. The view of her coming and going was well worth not getting in a jibe. When finished, she unclipped the horse from the leads and took it back into a large stall.
“Sorry, girl. You shall have to come along in a few months with my other belongings,” she quietly told the animal.
Head held high, she strode back out into the aisle and placed her hands on her nicely shaped hips, fixing him with a hard look. “We’ll have to stop at a leather shop along the way. I do not own any such garments. Let’s see this horse you would have me ride.”
With a nod that made his chin-length brown hair sweep down and cover his face, he grinned. Taking the lead, he walked toward the back of the stables where he stalled his horses.
“Oh, well hello there. I didn’t see you come in.” Catriona’s voice had taken on a gentle tone that struck an entirely different chord in him. “I’m sorry, I did not bring along any treats for you today.”
Both her tone and words told him she had discovered Lincoln. One word in particular struck curiosity into him. He looked back to where she crouched beside his pup, scratching behind its floppy gray ears. “Today?” he asked.
Face soft with a look of joy and affection, she resembled something out of tales of the fae his mum used to tell him. It almost pained him that such a look was cast on the pup and not him. But he knew better. Truly, it was an arrow best dodged, for the affections of such a woman led nowhere good.
When she finally turned her gaze to him, it was guarded, as was her tone. “I have brought Sean’s pup treats since their arrival here. I shall miss this little fellow. My late husband never much cared for dogs, but I adore them.” The last sentence faded almost to a whisper as she rose and they continued walking.
The pain in her voice stung him, especially knowing he had brought up the memory that put it there. He almost made a comment about the kind of men who didn’t like dogs, but good sense stopped his tongue before it could wag.
Courting the Corporal Page 4