Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

E vie came in from the garden with a sigh. She couldn't put it off any longer. With the children and their mothers down for their naps, and everyone else busy elsewhere, it was the perfect time to work on payroll.

In truth, it was not a chore she enjoyed. Lucy had been doing it for the past few years, but Lucy was married now and living in Serenity with her new husband, so the task once more belonged to her.

She strolled down the hall and stopped short in the doorway to the study. The desk chair was already occupied, the payroll ledger, neat piles of coins, packets of greenbacks, and little envelopes spread out on the desk's shiny surface. Steam rose from a coffee cup. The door to the safe in the corner stood wide open. Pleasure swept over her in an instant. She'd recognize the back of her niece's head anywhere—there was no mistaking those ringlets of dark brown, nor the pencil shoved into those glossy locks. "Lucy! What are you doing here? I thought you'd still be setting up the house." She entered the room with quick footsteps, her paralysis broken.

"Hello, Tia Evie." The young woman smiled at her as she swiveled the chair around to face her and leaned back into the soft leather, a smudge of ink on her chin. "The house is set up, everything put away exactly how I like it. We're just waiting for a few more pieces of furniture that Ben is having made, and it'll be done. He decided to leave his medical office where it is for now, because all his patients know where it is, but eventually, he'll move his practice to the house. It's certainly big enough." Undeniable happiness shone from her eyes, obviously proud of her accomplishments over the past two weeks. "Thank you for our home. The house is perfect."

"Thank your brothers, too. It was their decision as well. They wanted you and Ben to have a good beginning."

Lucy stood as Evie gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek, then flounced back into her chair.

"I'm glad you're here." Evie took a seat on the sofa and studied her niece. "I have some questions for you, young lady."

Lucy settled herself more deeply into the chair and leaned forward a little, giving Evie her undivided attention. Her eyes were wide and twinkled with mischief. "I'm sure you do."

"I find myself in the strangest of circumstances and it's all, as I understand it, because of you." There didn't seem to be a bit of remorse on Lucy's face. In fact, it seemed that she was trying hard not to laugh. "You think this is funny?"

The young woman nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Well, I don't." She stared at her niece. "Would you mind explaining to me why you put an advertisement in the newspapers for a…a…mail order husband? Exactly how many newspapers did you put it in?"

"Oh, a few." She giggled, her exuberance almost contagious. Almost. "You'd be surprised how many men responded to my advertisement. Apparently, you're quite the catch, Tia Evie!"

"Lucy!" She very rarely raised her voice, but this time, she did. "Please be serious. How many advertisements did you place? And where?"

"Seven." She counted off the cities. "Santa Fe. San Francisco. Denver. Phoenix. Sacramento. New Orleans. Even Atlanta."

Seven ! Evie groaned. "And how many men are going to show up here claiming that they are my future husband?"

"Well, I corresponded with several men, but only chose the best five, in my opinion, based on their letters. I wanted you to have a choice."

Her stomach clenched with the information. Five! Oh, dear Lord! On the heels of that, another thought occurred to her. How had Lucy managed all this without her knowing? The answer was simple. Lucy often rode into Serenity to see Ben, and picked up the mail before returning home. That's how she kept all this secret. Until now.

"How many have shown up so far?"

Evie stiffened. "Three."

Another giggle escaped her. "Three is good. For a start."

"No, it's not." Evie glared at her. "This isn't funny, Lucy!"

"Oh, yes, it is. You've played matchmaker for my brothers, but you don't like it when someone plays matchmaker for you."

Lucy was correct. She had played matchmaker for Teddy, Esteban, and Heath.

"Yes, I did help your brothers choose the right wife," she admitted, "but this is different. I didn't interfere. I didn't…place advertisements in newspapers, for heaven's sake. I didn't correspond with them and invite them to show up on my doorstep. I am not happy with this entire situation, my girl." She rose from her seat and walked toward the desk where Lucy sat, her hands on her hips. "I want it to stop. Right now."

"Yes, ma'am." Lucy's smile disappeared, so did the humor that had been dancing in her eyes, as if the realization struck her that nothing about this was funny. "You're angry with me."

"Yes, I am." Evie paused, determined not to let her emotions get the better of her, but it wasn't working. "Why did you do it? Why did you advertise for a husband for me?"

Lucy looked down at her hands then back up at her, wide eyes suddenly brimming with tears. "I didn't want you to be lonely."

"When have I ever been lonely? This ranch is filled with people. There isn't a chance to be lonely."

The girl dropped her gaze. "I wanted you to be happy," she whispered.

Evie threw up her hands, frustration getting the better of her. "Why does everyone assume I'm not happy? I am. I have everything I need or want. Stop interfering in my life. I will decide when or if I want to meet someone. I don't need help. I don't want it."

Still fighting with her emotions, Evie lowered her voice and knelt down in front of her niece. She reached for Lucy's hand and held it within her own. "It could have been dangerous, too, Lucy, which Teddy has brought up a few times. I'm sure you didn't consider that, did you?" She didn't give her a chance to answer. "I don't know these men and neither do you. Who knows what kind of man could show up here? He could be an outlaw. Or a thief. Or a murderer. People aren't always what they seem, especially on paper. It's very easy to write lies just as easily as it is to lie to one's face."

The tears filling Lucy's eyes spilled over and rolled down her cheeks as the full implication of her actions hit her. She gulped in air. "I'm so sorry, Tia . I hadn't thought of that." She swiped away the wetness. "I never intended to hurt anyone."

"I don't want your apologies, Lucy. I want you to fix this. No more prospective husbands. I mean it."

"Yes, ma'am." Lucy nodded, sniffing away the tears. "Do you forgive me?"

Evie raised her hand and cupped Lucy's cheek. "Yes, I will forgive you but only as long as you promise never to do something like this again. It isn't fair. Not to me or any of the gentlemen coming here looking for a wife, especially since I have no desire to marry." She dropped her hand then stood but maintained eye contact. "Since you're so good at correspondence, I want you to write to those men who haven't shown up yet and rescind any offers you may have made."

Lucy nodded, swiped at her eyes once more. "Yes, ma'am."

"Today."

"I will." She picked up a fancy fountain pen from the desktop and grabbed a sheet of paper from the drawer. "Just tell me who you've met."

Evie closed her eyes for a moment and paused before she said something she'd regret then answered once she had full control of her thoughts. "Horace Quinn arrived yesterday, but, as he stated to me before he left here like someone put a burr under his saddle, ‘we won't suit'." She began to pace but her gaze never left Lucy's. "Did you know he expected me to leave here and live with him in Santa Fe where he has a hardware store? He even had the audacity to arrange for a Justice of the Peace for the very afternoon he came here! Like I would ever leave Monta?a del Trueno."

She shuddered, remembering her revulsion when he kissed her hand, his lips soft and wet, like a child's. Or a fish. "And another thing—he doesn't like children. Did you know that? Did he tell you that in his letter? The look on his face when Toughie interrupted our conversation and offered him a cookie was one of pure disgust. And fear. I got the distinct impression that he just wanted a wife to take care of him and work for him in his store."

"I am sorry, Tia Evie. He did not mention in his letter that he didn't like children. Or that he expected you to leave the ranch and move to Santa Fe." She made a note on the paper. "Mr. Quinn wasn't what you would consider a good husband. What about Mr. Pe?a? Did you meet him?"

"I did. He seems like a nice enough man, I suppose. Attractive. I've offered him a job, so he'll be staying. For a while, at least. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't stay long."

"What aren't you telling me about him?"

Evie continued to pace, going from one end of the room to the other, stopping only to pick up a picture in a frame, this one of Toughie, who, surprisingly, sat still long enough to have his photograph taken. "He's…too young.

"Too young? How young is too young?"

"He's more than ten years younger than I am, Lucy." She put the picture back where it belonged and turned slightly to see Lucy studying her intently.

"A younger man could be…interesting."

"That may be so, but he only responded to your advertisement because he wants a ranch of his own and assumed, incorrectly, that Monta?a del Trueno would be his if we married."

"I'm sorry. That wasn't anything he mentioned in his letter." She frowned and some of the teasing light that had been in her eyes dimmed. "I'm crossing Mr. Pe?a off the list as well. A potential husband he is not." She wrote another note. "Mr. Robicheaux? Have you met him?"

Evie just looked at Lucy then shook her head at the audacity of her niece. "No, Mr. Robicheaux has not arrived at the ranch yet."

"What about Mr. Ambrose?"

"My God, Lucy, what have you done? Sending all these men here? What am I supposed to do with them?"

"Marry one of them," she said, rather flippantly in Evie's opinion, which didn't help the situation at all. "If you want. Did Mr. Hannigan come?"

"On your wedding day, in fact." Her face warmed at the mere mention of his name. She averted her eyes and studied the photograph sitting on the desk of Serafina, the children's grandmother, Savannah in her arms. "He strolled into the yard just after you and Ben left for Serenity. He was quite the surprise."

"Did you send him packing like you did Mr. Quinn?"

"I didn't send Mr. Quinn packing. He left of his own accord. Rather quickly, I might add," she defended herself. "As for Mr. Hannigan, I offered him a job, even though he doesn't know how to ride, doesn't have his own horse or saddle. In fact, he didn't seem to know anything about ranching at all." She felt Lucy's intent stare and focused on her once again, even though her heartbeat seemed to pick up its pace. "I will admit that he's learning and picking things up rather quickly though he hasn't learned how to ride yet."

"What did you think of him?"

Evie stiffened. It was one thing to harbor thoughts about Jake in her head. It was another thing to admit to her niece—or anyone else for that matter—that Jake Hannigan made her knees go weak when he smiled. Or that sometimes the look in his eyes made her want to melt into his arms. Or admit that she watched him as he went about his chores and admired his physique. Or that she thought about kissing him and running her fingers through the crisp hair on his chest. Or that?—

" Tia Evie?"

Startled out of her thoughts of the man, she wrestled control of her wayward emotions. "What?"

"You were going to tell me what you thought of Mr. Hannigan."

Instead of answering her niece, she asked again. "Why did you do this, Lucy?"

"I thought it was time."

Evie sat heavily on the sofa and stared at her niece.

"You've spent the last twenty years taking care of us, sacrificing for us," Lucy confessed, the light in her luminous dark eyes showing her love. "It's your turn to live a little, and you always said that once we were all settled, you'd look for your own happiness." She smiled, trying to look innocent. "I thought I was helping you."

"I didn't need this kind of help, mi corazón ." Evie frowned, crossing her arms over her chest, as if trying to ward off any more help. "I'm perfectly capable of finding a husband if I so choose."

A dark eyebrow rose on Lucy's forehead and the expression on her face clearly said she didn't believe her. "Oh? Is that why you've been alone all these years? Is that why you pushed Marshal Corwin away? I know he asked you to marry him. I know you said no."

Evie wasn't aware anyone had known that Travis had asked her to marry him—or that she had turned him down. It had happened last year, long before Lucy had gotten it her head that she needed to be married. As a result, Evie had lost a good friend. She felt the need to defend herself. "I've never been alone, Lucy. I have all of you. And Marshal Corwin is a wonderful man."

"But he wasn't the man for you. I understand." Sympathy crept into her eyes. "It was his profession, wasn't it? You'll never fall in love with another lawman."

"Let me make myself clear, mi amor ," Evie told her. "I'm not interested in marrying just to be married. There's much more to a marriage. You should know that. You've been in love with Ben since you first set eyes on him, and you were what? Six? Seven? And he felt the same, even though he was a few years older. I see the way you look at each other. I feel the love between you. And when he went off to school to get his medical degree, that love didn't diminish. It grew and flourished, despite the separation. He was always the one for you."

"Even Hilde found love with Antonio, though she swore up and down and three ways from Sunday that she wasn't in love with him. Look at them now. Eighteen years later and they still look at each other like there is no one else in the world for them."

She stopped speaking, stunned. That's what she wanted—someone to look at her like she was the reason they got up every day, the reason they put one foot in front of the other. "So no, I'm not going to marry someone just to be married."

"You want someone to sweep you off your feet."

She shook her head. "No, I don't want someone to sweep me off my feet. I don't need flowers or candies. I don't need someone to fill my head with sweet words. Those things aren't important to me." That was the truth. She was too practical for that, and yet, that very feeling of being ‘swept off her feet' seemed to be happening every time she caught sight of Jake Hannigan. No, there were no flowers or candies or whispered words of professed love, but her heart seemed to beat a little faster whenever she caught sight of him, and her stomach felt like it was filled with butterflies.

"If that's not it, then what do you want? The truth, Tia Evie." Lucy leaned forward in her seat, the fountain pen in her hand finally still.

"The truth? I want someone to grow old with. Someone to sit on the patio with me and watch the sun set. I want late night conversations about nothing and everything. I want laughter and tears." She gazed at her niece, her eyes roaming over her lovely face. "I want someone who loves you all like I do. Someone who knows that family comes first. Someone as committed to Monta?a del Trueno as I am."

Lucy nodded, seeming to absorb the information. Looking at her, one would think she was mentally marking off a checklist in her head. She probably was. "Lucy!" she raised her voice again. "Just stop and listen to me. Love doesn't happen with lists and agendas. It just happens. And sometimes, it doesn't happen at all, no matter how much a person wants it to."

"That is true, but it doesn't have to be." Still, Lucy put down the pen, properly chastised, but only for a moment. "Sometimes it helps to know what you want." She eyed her aunt. "What do you want?"

Evie didn't answer. Lucy pressed the issue. "Passion? Companionship?"

Evie sighed and stared at her niece. She didn't want to be talking about this with her, and it took a long time before she admitted, "Yes, I suppose."

"Can none of these men fulfill what you want?"

Evie leaned forward a little. "Aside from that Horace person, Jake and Oscar seem like…nice men, although I'm hardly in a position to know them. And there are still those men I haven't yet met."

Her stomach knotted just a little more, and suspicion, entirely warranted, raised its ugly head. "What aren't you telling me?"

Lucy tilted her head and smiled. "There might be one more. I just met him. His name is Ryland Parrish. He's a widower and seems very sweet. He's renovating the old Serenity Hotel."

That little bit of information was the one that pushed Evie beyond her limits and irritation swept through her. "One more? Another complete stranger will be showing up at my door?"

"I'd like you to give these men a chance," Lucy argued in that way she had. She never raised her voice, but she always got her point across. "Get to know them. You don't have to marry any of them, Tia Evie, but you do owe it to yourself to at least consider the possibilities. What have you got to lose?"

"You're not listening to me, Lucy. I am not interested in having a parade of men waltzing in front of me like they're auditioning for the role of ‘husband.' This is my life. You have no right to interfere in it." She rose from the sofa and strode to the door, then turned and pinned her niece with a look Teddy would recognize. "This is the end of it. Write to those men who haven't shown up yet and tell them you were mistaken. There will be no weddings in their future. Or mine." She stepped through the door and closed it behind her, willing her frustration away. She started walking down the hall, then slowed when she distinctly heard Lucy comment about stubbornness through the closed door.

Her lips pressed together in annoyance. What gave Lucy the right to think she knew what was best? Who gave her the authority to interfere in her life, like Teddy was trying to do? And it was her life. She was perfectly capable of making her own decisions. She'd been making them for a long time, and the majority of those were usually right.

She understood Lucy's motivation though, and her exasperation faded a bit. Lucy was happy, therefore she wanted everyone else to be happy. It's just the way she was. Still, she didn't appreciate the fact that her niece had advertised for a husband for her and invited strange men to Monta?a del Trueno. That was just taking it a step too far, and her choices, so far, seemed to fall far short of ideal.

Except for Jake.

She rushed through the kitchen, opened the door, and ran smack into the man she'd been thinking about. A muffled "oof" escaped them both as her nose smashed into his hard chest and her body pressed up against the rest of him. The clean scent of soap filled her senses as his strong arms came around her, perhaps to steady her. Or maybe, just to hold her. At this moment, she didn't care which. If he let go, she just might fall.

He was a solid wall of muscle, and she fit so comfortably against him. His hands splayed across her back, the heat of his palms seeping through the sheer fabric of her blouse. "Are you all right, Miss Evie?"

She looked up into his face, his amber eyes warm and filled with concern. For once, no smile spread his lips, which, for reasons she couldn't explain, devastated her more than his smile usually did.

If she wanted to kiss him, now would be the time. Right now, while he held her. Right now, when she was off balance, and not just physically. He really was the most handsome man she'd ever met. She pushed back. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

He released her then and took a step back, the smile she adored coming to his face, and all at once, in addition to feeling off balance, her heartbeat picked up its pace.

"No harm done."

His voice struck at her very core, but her chance to kiss him, to touch her lips to his, disappeared, mostly from her own cowardice, which struck her as strange. She was no coward—never had been—so why was she now? With him? Wasn't this what she wanted? Hadn't she wondered what kissing him would be like?

"Where are you going in such a hurry? Is there something I can do for you?"

Evie shook her head, her tongue as twisted as the ropes filling the tack room. She took a moment—an eternity, it seemed—as her gaze roamed his face. Her focus fell to his mouth, the upper lip a little fuller than the bottom, and she noticed the beginnings of a mustache. "You can kiss me."

A strange expression came over his face and something warm and exciting sparkled in his beautiful amber eyes.

Heat infused her, from her toenails all the way to the top of her head. Had she said the words out loud? Apparently, she had, but before she could even begin trying to explain, his grin widened. He tipped his hat back and moved closer, filling the small gap between them. Once more, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her even closer.

"Yes, ma'am, you're the boss." There was humor in his voice as his head dipped and his lips touched hers, gently at first then with more pressure as his arms tightened around her.

The world ceased to exist the moment his lips touched hers. The kitchen disappeared in a flash as his clean scent of soap surrounded her, the warmth of his mouth on hers and his strong arms the only things she could feel. Perhaps she was out of practice—after all, Tom had passed away a long time ago and no one had kissed her since, but this? This was a full-on assault of her senses!

He broke the kiss but didn't release her.

Evie blinked, crashing back to reality. Her face was on fire. Indeed, her entire body thrummed with both embarrassment as well as excitement. She had never been so bold and yet, he didn't seem to mind. Not one bit.

She pulled out of his arms and took a wobbly step back, her gaze focused on him and the warmth emanating from his eyes. "I'm sorry. This was a mistake. I have to go." She squeezed past him in the doorway, her body brushing up against his, and escaped, running across the lawn and out to the paddock, where Spitfire met her at the fence. She didn't bother with a saddle or bridle, simply opened the gate then climbed up on the fence and settled herself on Spitfire's back and raced out of the barnyard.