Regina stopped short. Wait. Her mother said she had a choice to make. Make the best of the situation or become its victim. Make the best of the situation…make the best of—
A brilliant idea began to form in spite of her befuddled mind. Regina couldn't fathom the thought of marrying a stranger, but could she consider marriage to someone she knew? Someone she considered a trusted friend. A very dear friend, in fact. Someone she had known for most of her life. Yes, she could.
John Kingston. She trusted him. And her father detested him.
"Did you hear what I said, Regina? Aren't you excited about tonight's ball? Think about all the possibilities it holds for your future, my dear." Her mother's voice faded as Regina’s plan began to form into something solid.
Regina finally smiled and agreed in truth this time. "Yes, Mother. I must confess I am suddenly quite focused on the possibilities."
John Kingston held a royal flush in his hands. He eyed his friend, William E. Baker, Colorado Circuit Judge, who sat across the table from him. The man was an open book of emotions. He really should work on his poker face if he hoped to win at cards.
"Better stick to hangings, Will. If the look on your face is any indication of the hand you are holdin', might as well fold now."
“Damn it, John. If I didn't know you were a better man, I'd swear you were cheating." The man threw his cards face up and sat back in his chair. "Let's see that hand of yours."
John smiled and shook his head. "You folded, Will. You know the rules. I don't have to show my hand."
John turned his cards up anyway so his friend could see them. He grinned and reached across the table for the mound of poker chips sitting in the center.
"A royal flush,” Will said shaking his head. “You have the damnedest luck. How much do I owe you this time around?"
"Don't worry about it. I don't need your money, but I will put it on your tab. Never know when I might need a favor from a circuit ridin’ judge."
John motioned one of his servers over.
"Good evening, Mr. Kingston. What can I get for you?" the woman asked.
"Mary, please bring me a bottle of my best Scotch.”
"Yes sir, Mr. Kingston. Right away." The woman hurried off to do his bidding.
"The hotel business must be doing rather well by the looks of things. Though I’ve noticed you don't offer the usual, shall we say female entertainment, like most of the gambling halls I've visited," Will said.
John stacked his chips in order of value and eyed his friend. "I’m lucky. My silent partner lets me run this place as I see fit, and I don't make money off the backs of others, Will. It's not my style. I pay these girls to sell drinks and talk to my customers. Maybe a dance or two if they are willing. If they want to do more than that, it’s their decision. They’re the ones who must live with the consequences. Besides, I have a strict policy about fraternizing with customers and co-workers. It’s a distraction I don’t need in a business, which serves the public."
Will nodded his understanding and shuffled the deck of cards. "Any more talk from Ben Scott about hiring you as his Durango overseer?"
John leaned back against the wooden bow back chair and studied his friend. “Yes. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I'm hosting the party here at the hotel tonight. You should come.”
"No, thanks. I've had my belly full of conniving mothers and giggling debutantes. And the other reason?”
John shrugged. “The other reason? I didn’t say—”
Will grinned. “You said that was one of the reasons. Could the other reason be a certain young lady who might be in attendance?"
His friend was much more perceptive than John liked, but he had worked hard at learning to keep his emotions under control and his personal life private. It was one of the reasons the railroad and shipping tycoon, Mr. Benjamin Scott, called him friend. John didn't have the usual baggage that most of Scott’s wealthy counterparts displayed. He complained frequently that there was always some drama amidst his business dealings with someone’s husband sleeping with a business partner’s wife and it was sometimes very messy when a company folded and the lawyers decided who got what.
“John? You didn’t answer my question. Is the other reason that you’re hoping Miss Beckett is com—”
“Will, you should come. It isn’t often you get to spend a few days in town. It would be a chance for you to dance with a few young ladies. Maybe even take a stroll down Main Street.”
"As I said, I’m not interested in marriage-minded giggling debutantes or their mother’s machinations,” Will repeated his previous objections.
“You should be safe enough. I hear that Martin Scott is up on the matrimonial chopping block tonight. Ben has made no secret of the fact. He insists his son has had plenty of time to find a wife on his own, so he has drawn a hard line in the sand. He said it’s time for Martin to take a wife and give him grandchildren to carry-on his name and inherit his fortune. And I do believe he’s tired of waiting.” John smirked.
Will grinned and sent a sly look in his direction. John could read his friend like an open book and it was clear, he hadn’t re-directed Will’s train of thought at all.
Will shook his head. "Play coy all you want, my friend, but I know you have feelings for that Beckett woman. What’s her name? Roseanne or some such?”
“Regina,” John stated simply.
“Ah, well, I overheard someone from that group of ladies who meet here—”
“The Ladies Club of Durango,” John provided.
“Yes, the Ladies Club of Durango. They were discussing Miss Beckett just this afternoon. It seems one of the ladies present was explaining to the other ladies that Miss Beckett would soon be engaged. I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything about that have you?”
John clenched his jaws shut, but jealousy made him grind his teeth together.
“Don’t worry,” Will said, letting out a chuckle. “It seems the other ladies in the group were equally confident that their daughters were going to be engaged soon too. I fear the young Mr. Scott is in for a time of it this evening, if he actually show up for this marriage ball.”
John kept quiet, but his mind was a whirlwind of emotions. The thought of Regina getting married made him want to punch something.
“I will admit between you and me that if Ben’s son is inclined to propose to Miss Beckett, he would be one very lucky man.”
John schooled his features to act unaffected and hoped his words gave his friend the impression he couldn’t care less.
"When did you start believing women's gossip?" When Will didn't answer, he covered his reluctance with nonchalance. "I will admit Regina Beckett is a very beautiful woman, but the world is full of—"
"You might be able to bluff me in poker, my friend, but we have history. I know you, remember? And your eyes give your feelings away," Will whispered across the table just as the serving girl returned with their drinks.
Mary walked up and placed the crystal decanter of expensive Scotch on the table along with two cut crystal glasses. "Here you are, Mr. Kingston. Is there anything else I can get you, sir?"
"No, Mary. Thank you." The woman curtsied and left them to their conversation.
John ignored his friend's comment until he had poured them both a healthy portion and re-corked the glass stopper.
He raised his glass, and his eyes, to his friend's. "How about a toast to unrequited love and we’ll just leave it at that, shall we?" John tossed the drink down his throat, relishing the taste and the burn.
Will nodded in agreement. “To unrequited love,” Will repeated and followed John’s lead. “That’s some good stuff.”
“Only the best for you, my friend. Only the best for you.” John stood and motioned for his cashier. "Jake, see to it that these chips are cashed out and the money makes it to the bank before it closes."
"Yes, sir. I'll take care of it myself, Mr. Kingston." The skinny balding man, who’s hunched shoulders seemed as though he carried th
e weight of the world, scraped the chips into the royal blue velvet bag in his hands and nodded his goodbye.
John turned to Will. "And now, my dear friend, if you will excuse me, I have to dress for a particularly important party tonight. And should you change your mind about going with me…"
"I'll think about it, but don't be disappointed if I don’t show up. Although, I might go just to see how hard you try to ignore a certain young lady while mooning over her from a distance."
"Go to hell." He shook his head in exasperated amusement and turned toward the door of the poker parlor, which occupied a room off the first floor of the hotel. He heard Will's good-natured laugh echo behind him.
He and Will had met when John had gone to Philadelphia to talk to the man who owned several businesses around Durango. The man was elderly and had gone back East to live with family, so he was selling out.
Will was the budding attorney who negotiated the deal. John told him if he ever wanted to visit Durango, he would be happy to put him up.
Six months later, John had received a telegram from Will announcing his arrival and that he hoped he had a place to stay. Since that day, they’d been the best of friends.
John allowed Will room to tease, but that's where it ended. There was nothing funny about his feelings for Regina.
He had been in love with her since they were children. It was his bad luck that he’d been born to a drunken con artist from the poor side of town. It had been a rough go for a young boy growing up under the scrutiny of Durango's fine citizens.
Regina's family, on the other hand, were some of the wealthiest around. John still remembered the moment he first met Regina. Her family had just moved to town and it was her first day at school. Beautiful and fragile, she reminded him of a porcelain doll he’d once seen in a store window. But her dark eyes that held a hint of sadness made him want to protect her, and it wasn’t long before he got his chance.
He was four years older than Regina and a bit rough around the edges, so when some of his classmates laughed as they knocked her down and kicked dust all over her pretty dress, anger swelled in John's chest and he pounded the hell out of those boys.
He walked Regina home that day, telling himself he was just doing what any decent person would have done, but the truth was, he wanted to spend more time with the fair-haired, doe-eyed girl. It was a boneheaded move, and he should have known better.
Her father met them on the front steps of her home. He jerked Regina up onto the porch by her arm. "Regina, go inside. You are not to be seen in the company of this reprobate ever again."
Regina did as her father asked, but when she turned to say goodbye, he could see tears shining in her eyes. His gut had ached at the sight.
Then her father, in all his arrogance and feeling of superiority, turned on John. "If I catch you with my daughter again, I'll take a whip to you and I won't stop until you learn your place. You are not good enough to touch my daughter's shoes and I refuse to allow the likes of you to sully her reputation. Do I make myself clear?"
John's jaw clenched at the memory. Though he probably owed the pompous ass a debt of gratitude because it was that day and those words that lit the fire in his belly and changed his destiny.
Although his insecurities were still buried deep within his soul, he would never be that boy again. He shook off those old hurts and took the hotel’s ornate stairs two at a time to the elegant suite of rooms where he lived on the third floor.
A tub of scented hot water was already waiting on him in his private bath. He shucked off his clothes and stepped into the porcelain tub, sinking up to his neck.
John slid the soap against his skin and savored the luxurious feel of the expensive milled foam.
A wistful smile stretched across his lips as he remembered a time when he couldn’t afford a sliver of lye soap, much less this kind of luxury.
Twelve years had come and gone since he vowed to do something with his life. It hadn’t always been easy. He could have gone down a completely different path—the same one as his father—but John had made different choices and had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
Determined to be something more than the cast-off orphaned son of a very flawed man, John had worked his tail end off to escape not only his impoverished life but his father's tainted reputation. And now, at twenty-eight, he was his own man. He held a healthy bank account, several joint investments with some of Durango's most elite citizens, and had a reputation good enough to garner the respect of a man like Ben Scott.
And yet, he knew Regina’s father would never see him as someone good enough to court his daughter...the beautiful woman he had given his heart to years ago.
A knock at the door pulled him from his regrets. Wesley, his butler of sorts, called out to him, "Mr. Kingston, I have your suit and shirt pressed. I shall lay them out on your bed. Do you need anything further from me, sir?"
"No, Wesley. Thank you. I'll take it from here."
Chapter Two
Regina had suffered through the incessant chatter of her mother all afternoon. It was a profound relief to finally arrive at the party where her parents would be occupied with other partygoers leaving her to put her plan into motion.
She took in the large room at the hotel. The huge crystal chandeliers and velvet curtains made her feel right at home. And that was what bothered her about this place. It had all the trappings of her gilded prison. But John was nothing like her father, she reminded herself.
Could she do this? Could she find the courage to approach John with this bold proposal?
"Stand up straight, Regina. You are humped over like an old woman,” her father snapped under his breath.
"Yes, Father," she replied, straightening her spine. Oh, yes. She could do this. She must do this. Otherwise, she had no hope of outmaneuvering her father and the plans he had for her life.
Her father pulled her hand through the crook of his arm and clamped it into place with his. He held his other arm out to her mother. She took it and together they presented a united front to everyone in attendance. Only Regina knew it was a façade, just like everything else in her miserable life.
"Hello, Mr. Scott," her father pushed her forward. Her heart plummeted. Already her father was parading her in front of the man. She curtsied, praying his son was nowhere to be seen. Taking a quick glance around, she realized her prayer had been answered.
Mr. Scott offered her and her mother a stiff bow. “Hello, Mr. Bennett is it?”
Her father’s jaw tightened at the perceived slight. “Beckett. Henry Beckett. At your service, sir.” Her father offered an exaggerated bow and tugged her mother into a deep curtsey. Regina looked around the room to see how many people were able to observe her humiliation.
"Well good evening to you, Mr. Beckett. Mrs. Beckett.” It was obvious the man’s attention was somewhere else, but her father pushed.
“I hope you are having a good time, Mr. Scott. It’s a shame this establishment is all Durango has to offer, but perhaps with a few well-placed investments, and an overseer you can trust, Durango’s social status will improve in time.” Her father preened at his ability to simultaneously take a jab at John’s ownership of this hotel and get his own foot in the door of consideration for the job he coveted.
Regina saw the look Mr. Scott gave her father and she wished she could disappear into thin air. But it only got worse.
“Mr. Scott, where is that handsome son of yours?" her father inquired looking around the room as if hunting for his prey.
Could her father be any more transparent? Regina's cheeks pinked with embarrassment.
The man relaxed a bit and sighed. "Hiding. It seems my son has a deep aversion to attending parties for fear there’s a young miss expecting a marriage proposal in there somewhere."
"Perhaps he just hasn't met the right woman yet,” her father offered.
Mortified, Regina curtsied again and excused herself. "I see some of my friends, Father. Mother. Perhaps I will run into Mr
. Scott’s son among the younger people." It was the best excuse she could come up with to appease her parents.
"I think that is an excellent idea, Regina. Please bring him to meet your father when you find him," her mother suggested.
"Of course." Regina curtsied again and hurried toward her friends. A quick look backwards revealed her parents deep in conversation with Mr. Scott. This was her chance to slip away and find John.
She passed a group of her friends, giving them a quick wave. “I’ll be back in a moment,” she promised and kept walking toward the hallway where she knew the ladies’ room to be. She also knew John’s office was down that hallway as well. She prayed he would be there.
She cast another quick look back to where her parents were still deeply involved in conversation with the man of the hour. Two more men had crowded around them, and she could tell her father wasn’t happy about the intrusion. She watched her mother excuse herself and make her way to the other side of the ballroom.
Regina watched a few minutes longer to make sure everyone remained occupied. When it appeared they had no intention of breaking off their current coversations, she turned and started down the long hall toward John’s office when a waiter stopped her. “Ma’am, can I help you find something?”
“Um, yes. Do you…what I mean is…would you happen to know where Mr. Kingston is?” she stumbled over her words.
The curious look the man gave her made her add, “I have business to discuss with him this evening.”
Her comment seemed to satisfy the man’s curiosity. It would be a disaster if word got out that she was pursuing John and then he didn’t accept her proposal. Her father would…well, better not think about that right now.
“Yes, ma’am. Mr. Kingston is in the gaming room just through that door.” He pointed to the door off the ballroom. This wasn’t going to be as easy to do as she had hoped. The game room door was in full view of everyone, including her parents. Timing would be crucial.
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