A Chance at Love (8 page)

Loreli couldn't remember being around such a menagerie; she was a city girl—however, once she grew accustomed to the smell of the hogs, and she prayed it would be soon, she didn't think it would be too bad being here.

Her thoughts drifted back to Reed. She was certain she'd thrown him for a loop by showing up this morning and asking to speak with the girls, but he impressed her as a man needing a bit of upheaval and spontaneity in his life, and she felt well qualified for the job.

Loreli spent a few more moments looking over the
house. The roof appeared to need some work as did the planks of the porch beneath her feet. Hastily glancing around to make certain she wasn't being observed, Loreli pulled on the porch columns to test their strength. They didn't budge. It was a well-built place.

It was a warm humid day and Loreli now wished she'd worn a different gown. She could feel her body beginning to perspire as the sun rose higher in the sky. Opening her handbag, she withdrew her small ivory fan. After easing the bodice of her dress a discreet distance away from her skin, she fanned the breach. The effort didn't help much. Heat like this, so early in the day, was not a good sign. If the temperature continued to rise, it would be sweltering by noon.

Still fanning, Loreli turned, then froze at the sight of Jake Reed standing on the ground beside the porch, watching her.
Where had he come from?
She saw his gaze settle on her hand holding her dress open. He appeared to disapprove of the way she was attempting to cool herself, so an irritated Loreli stopped fanning and confronted him:
“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You have that look on your face again, Reed.”

“What look?”

“The one you had the night I played cards with the sheriff. I suppose
good
women don't fan themselves?”

He didn't respond, thus raising her pique even higher, but remembering the girls, Loreli kept her voice low as she told him, “All I was doing was fanning myself.”

“Wearing a lighter-colored gown might help.”

Loreli held on to her patience. “Thank you, doc. I'll be certain to remember that for the future.”

“Where are the girls?” he asked.

“Inside deciding whether they want me or not.”

“Did you tell them I'd be looking for a real wife in the meantime?”

“I did.”

Loreli had a question. “You didn't tell them about coming to see me yesterday. Why?”

“I didn't want their hopes dashed if you said no.”

Loreli understood his reasoning. In spite of Loreli's problems with him, she still couldn't get over what a fine specimen of a man Reed was. Chocolate brown skin; dark, nearly black eyes. The jaw was strong, and the lips full beneath a provocative moustache. He stood just over six foot tall, and the shoulders in the faded blue shirt were broad. In reality though, she thought such handsomeness a waste; a man as irritating as he had no business resembling a dark-skinned sculpture by Michelangelo.

As if he'd read her mind, he asked tightly, “Something you wish to say, Miss Winters?”

Loreli shook her head. “Nope.”

The twins appeared on the porch, thus ending further conversation. Loreli turned away from him to ask the girls, “So, what have you decided?”

“We want you to stay, Loreli,” Bebe replied.

Loreli's smile met theirs. “Even if it's just for a year?”

“Even if it's just for a year,” Bebe echoed, then added, “a year's a long time when you're eight, Loreli.”

The honesty in the little brown face made Loreli's heart swell with sweet emotion.

Dede then looked up at her uncle and asked earnestly, “May Bebe and I be in the wedding like Aggie and her sister were when her pa got married?”

The question stunned Loreli. She stared down at Dede, then over at Reed.
Wedding? Nobody said anything about getting hitched!

Before Loreli could reply, Reed said to Dede. “Of course you can be.”

Loreli fought hard to keep the surprise from her face.

“How about you two go back to your lessons?” Reed said to the girls. “Miss Winters and I have some talking to do.”

The happy girls nodded, then giggling with glee, hurried off.

Once they were out of earshot, Loreli whispered fiercely, “You didn't say anything about marrying up!”

“How else are you going to be their mother?”

“By just moving in.”

“Maybe where you come from, but not here.”

Yesterday, Loreli had accused Reed of not having thought his proposal through fully; apparently she hadn't either. “I don't need your name to do this, Reed.”

He folded his arms across the braces on his chest and said easily, “Yes, you do. Had you not been so quick to show me the door yesterday, I could've explained this then.”

Loreli ignored his attempts to make this her own fault. “I thought you weren't concerned about the gossip.”

“Directed at myself, no, but at the girls, yes.”

Loreli realized his worries mirrored her own, but marry—
him
? Every inch of her body knew this wouldn't work; she'd only wind up snatching him off his high horse and then stepping aside so she wouldn't break his fall. Her word had been given, however, and as she told the girls, a woman always keeps her word.
Good lord!

“Problems?” he asked, and she swore he was smiling behind those unreadable eyes.

“Frankly, yes. I'm no wife, Reed.”

“And I'm no husband, so we're equal in that respect.”

“Then why not do this my way? Hire me as a governess or something.”

“No,” he said, his voice quiet but final. “We'll marry next Saturday. If you want one of the other women to stand up with you, let them know. I'll contact the preacher.”

“You always this bossy?”

He didn't flinch. “If you don't want to do this, then there's your buggy.”

Loreli studied him. “Had I not given my word, the buggy and I would be gone, so don't tempt me.”

“That means a lot to you, doesn't it—giving your word?”

Loreli paused a moment to think about her answer, then replied, “Yes, it does. Your word and how you treat folks are the only things you're judged by where I come from.”

“That's good to know.”

“Why?”

“Because that's how my sister would've wanted her girls to approach life.”

Loreli was a bit taken aback by what sounded like praise. “Are you giving me a compliment, Reed?”

“I think so.”

She smiled. “Well, thanks, but back to this wedding.”

“Yes?”

“Is this supposed to be a love match?”

The question seemed to catch him off guard because he stared at her. “I'm not sure what you mean.”

Loreli sighed. She was glad he wasn't a train robber. His lack of planning would land him and his gang right in jail. “Reed, if you and I are going to be getting married all of a sudden, your neighbors will be expecting us to act as if we're in love.”

He stared.

Loreli threw up her hands. “You really haven't planned this out, have you?”

When he met her eyes, his mustached lips were tight. “Apparently not.”

She chuckled and shook her head. He had the face and temperament of a god, but the sow in his barn could've thought this out in more detail. “Well, the other choice is, they can see us at each other's throats—which, personally, I have no problem with, but it won't go a long way in squashing the gossip.”

His jaw tightened even more.

Loreli raised her palms in a show of innocence. “You're the one all fired up about having a wedding.”

Jake wondered when and how he'd lost control here. One minute he'd been in charge and laying down the law. Now he felt as if he'd just laid down in front of a train. Love match? With her? Without a doubt, Loreli Winters was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, but she made her living playing cards, for heaven's sake. Men like him didn't have love matches with gambling queens!

Loreli had no trouble reading his thoughts. For the first time since meeting him, she could see the emotions plainly on his face. He was appalled by the thought of having to pretend to be her love. Not that she expected anything different, but deep down inside her feelings were hurt. She shrugged it off. Over the years she'd become
quite adept at burying the effects of the sleights sent her way by the decent church-going folks of the world.

Not bothering to mask the coolness in her voice, she asked him, “So, how do you propose we act instead?”

Jake knew he had no alternative, so he replied. “No, you're right. It will be expected.”

Loreli wanted to ask him how he expected to troll for a new wife while still married to his old one, but decided to save that query for another day. She could only shake her head at his naiveté.

Hoping to cover his earlier misstep, Jake said, “I don't expect this to be easy, Miss Winters, but we can at least be civil for the girls' sake.”

“I'll have no problem. You might, though.”

“Why?”

“Because you're accustomed to giving orders, and I'm not accustomed to taking them.”

He didn't seem to appreciate her candor, but Loreli didn't plan on surrendering even an inch of herself to this arrogant man, handsome or not. “I'm assuming you want me to move in here with you and the girls?”

“Yes, but after the ceremony.”

Loreli had no problem with that. “Then I'll head back to town. I need to make arrangements to have some of my things shipped here from back East. Where will I sleep?”

Their eyes met.

“My room.” he told her. “I'll bed down in the barn.”

“The barn?” she echoed skeptically.

“Yes, the barn. That a problem?”

“No, Reed.”

“Anything else need discussing?”

She shook her head. “Not that I can think of, no.”

“Then I need to get back to work.”

Without another word, he turned and walked back toward the barn.

Loreli watched his departure with both hands on her hips. This plan of his was destined to blow up in his face. She didn't know how, where, or when it would occur, but she hoped to be downwind when it did.

Putting the maddening Jake Reed out of her mind, Loreli went back into the house to find the girls.

Seated on a bench behind the barn, Jake pondered a future that included one Loreli Winters, soon to be Mrs. Loreli Reed. How in the world did he plan to integrate such a flamboyant woman into their lives? She was right, he hadn't thought this out fully. It never crossed his mind that there would be the expectations she'd described, mainly because his plans were to turn the raising of the girls over to her and then go back to his own life. In his eagerness to get this situation settled, he hadn't thought past that or about any of the rest. He just wanted to get the girls settled in and reclaim his life. When the twins first arrived he'd refused to make a choice between seeing to their needs and to his own, and so tried to do both. Rebecca, the Gibson family, and a few other trusted acquaintances had been called upon to keep the girls when he had to be away overnight for doctor calls, political meetings, and the like, but after the fifth or sixth time, he'd been unwilling to impose upon them anymore and so sent out the word that farmers who lived more than a day's ride away would either have to transport their sick animals to the Reed place or find help elsewhere. There'd also been political rallies he'd wanted to attend around the state, and he toyed with the idea of taking the girls along, but knew they wouldn't
be interested in listening to day-long speeches on anything. Trying to make a living and keeping track of one's personal goals while trying to raise two grieving little girls had to be the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. But when the Winters woman arrived this morning and hinted she might say yes to his proposal, he'd secretly wanted to jump for joy.

Yes, she was a very controversial choice; and no, he wasn't sure how it would all work out, but at this point he didn't much care. The twins adored her and she them. She could see to their raising and he could go back to making a living so he could provide for them all. Rumor had it that a small brouhaha was brewing between the area's older women and the mail-order brides. Taking the Winters woman as his wife would place the Reed household squarely in the center of the “hussy contingent”, as he'd heard the new women were being called. Jake planned to be too busy to be a part of such divisiveness. He knew the wedding wouldn't deflect all the talk, but it was better than having folks brand Winters his mistress, or worse, his whore.

 

Inside the house, Loreli took a slow stroll around, looking at the walls, windows, and evaluating the rooms' empty spaces. The curious but silent twins walked at her side.

Bebe finally asked, “What're we doing, Loreli?”

“Trying to decide where we're going to put the paintings when they arrive.”

“What paintings?” Dede asked.

“The ones I'm having shipped from back East to put on all these bare walls.”

The girls shared a stunned look. “You have paintings?”

Loreli gave Dede a smile. “Yep, I do. Lots.”

It was Bebe's turn. “What else do you have?”

“Settees, tables, china cabinets, drapes, tableware, beds, dressers, you name it.”

Dede gushed, “I'll bet you're richer than Mr. Diggs.”

“Mr. Diggs, the banker?”

The girls nodded yes.

Loreli shrugged, “Maybe.”

Loreli decided if she was going to live here, it would have to be in a style she was accustomed to. She'd seen closets furnished better than this place. She wondered why this fine old house had next to nothing inside. Was it because Reed hadn't been able to afford any? She had many questions, but decided it didn't much matter why the place was so empty; her things were coming. It might take a month to get everything shipped out, but she didn't mind the wait. “Now, let's go see your room.”