Mistletoe Courtship (3 page)

Then Colter glanced at Petey and wondered what he was missing. The man's eyes were bulging out like he'd swallowed something with a pit in it.

“Oh, for goodness' sakes,” Virginia finally said. She stepped around the older man and looked Colter straight in the eye with a snap of annoyance he found rather endearing. “They think it's you.”

“Me? What'd I do?”

“Well, you up and got married,” Petey stammered, finding his voice finally. “A woman like Virginia naturally expected—”

“I'm not married.” Colter heard Petey talking, but he kept
his eyes on Virginia. She had turned pink and it was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. It was too bad about the two of them. He had hoped to be back months ago while the memory of that kiss would be fresh in her mind. Now, of course, everything was different.

“What about your Patricia?” Petey finally finished.

And that, Colter thought to himself, was where his life now began and ended. He turned around. “This is Patricia.”

V
irginia looked at the open door of the saloon in consternation. There was no woman standing there. A few more men from the saloon next door had drifted in and there was a boy who she didn't recognize standing beside the doorjamb. It was late afternoon and the boy was probably waiting to see Danny when school let out. She thought she knew all the boys in town, but she had missed this one.

“Patricia must have left,” Virginia said as she turned back. She was relieved. She knew she'd have to meet the woman eventually, but she'd rather not do it when she had soot on her face. And her hair was coming undone. This was no time to meet anyone. Besides, she had been prepared to be polite to Colter's wife, but she wasn't sure how she was supposed to act now that she found out he hadn't even married the woman he brought back here. Virginia felt sorry for her. No wonder she was embarrassed to face everyone. At least Lester would never shame a woman this way, Virginia thought to herself in satisfaction.

“Come say hello, Patricia,” Colter repeated calmly.

Virginia wondered if she should say something to Colter
about being more patient with his—she hesitated—his friend. After all, he was putting the woman in an awkward situation. She was probably just outside the door waiting for him to come out again.

“I got nothing to say,” the boy Virginia had seen earlier spoke up. She no sooner noticed that than she realized his voice sounded suspiciously like a girl's.

“This is Patricia?” Virginia whispered as she realized what it all meant. Now she really did want to crawl into a hole somewhere and wait for the awkwardness to pass. She looked over at the men who'd come in earlier and they were all gawking at the child as though she was a changeling. But it was clear that the woman was a girl, which meant—Virginia had been wrong.

“You must be thirsty,” she said gently as she took a step toward the child. Now that she was more focused, she could see unmistakable clues that it was a girl inside those rough clothes. The girl's nose was feminine and her dark eyelashes curled. A beaten-up old hat was pulled down over her hair. Her eyes might be defiant, but they were a lovely shade of green.

“I have some tea ready to brew in back.” Virginia offered with a smile. She'd heated the water when she was peeling the potatoes.

“It's a fine thing to drink,” Petey said, adding his voice to the murmurs from the other men. They'd all had her tea at one time or another. She added a little cinnamon to it. And sometimes honey. “It'll warm you right up.”

“I'd rather have whiskey,” the child said, taking a step forward into the saloon as if she expected to get it.

“Surely, you don't—” Virginia gave a horrified glance at Colter.

 

Colter had seen looks like that before. When the good church women of Helena had realized that the saloon boy they
knew as Patty was really a little girl named Patricia, they'd decided that Colter wasn't a fit parent for her.

He couldn't fight them on that, but he still didn't like their judgmental nature. On one point he was firm though. God had lots of people to care about Him. Patricia only had Colter. Even the women in Helena, as indignant as they were, hadn't stepped forward to take care of the child.

Colter refused to look over at Virginia. She was no doubt planning how to scold him. He knew a saloon was no place to raise a child. But he didn't have time to worry about it, not right at this minute anyway.

“Little girls don't drink whiskey.” Colter repeated the words he'd had to say a few times already.

That made the girl look up, her eyes defiant. “My mother lets me have whiskey when it's cold outside. For my bones. I have thin bones.”

Colter didn't answer. He didn't need to. He saw the dawning misery spread in Patricia's eyes. Her mother, Rose, had done a lot of unfortunate things in her life, but the worst of them had been to abandon her daughter.

Rose had sent a letter to Colter saying he was the father of a ten-year-old and he'd better come to the Golden Spur and pick up the girl or she would likely starve. Rose didn't even wait for Colter to get there before she took off with some miner named Rusty Jackson who had struck it rich in one of the gulches outside of town.

“You've got to have whiskey,” the girl continued, her voice clipped to show she didn't care about the other. “You own this saloon. Mama told me.”

Colter walked over and put his arm on her shoulder. He supposed Rose had embellished everything to make it sound like he owned the biggest and richest saloon west of the Mississippi. Rose had been like that. She would have promised
her daughter anything if it meant Patricia would do what she was told.

Colter had been one of the woman's many admirers years ago when he'd been hired to keep the peace in the Golden Spur. He'd been fast with his guns back then, having more bravado than common sense. Rose hadn't been his only mistake.

Colter supposed at some time he would need to tell all of this to Virginia, but he could see from Patricia's face that now was not the time to talk about anyone's mother.

“I might not open up the saloon again,” Colter settled for saying instead. He could ignore the problem if that's what Patricia wanted. “Especially not after the fire here.”

“I plan to fix the floor,” Virginia said stiffly.

Colter looked up. “You don't need to do that.”

“Of course I do. It was my job to take care of things. You need the building now that you have another child to care for.” She nodded toward the girl.

He could see by the set of her jaw that Virginia had a rush of emotions that she was keeping inside. She looked distressed, which surprised him. Most women looked outraged with him, especially when Patricia said she wanted whiskey to drink. He looked at Virginia more closely. She appeared tired, as though she hadn't been sleeping well. And she was thinner. He didn't like to see that. She must be worried about something.

“A burnt floor won't trouble Patricia,” Colter said. “Not after what she's been through.”

“That's why she needs a home,” Virginia persisted. “I bet she doesn't even have a pillow to sleep on.”

Colter relaxed. He recognized a mothering instinct when he saw it. “She needs a family more than anything.”

Virginia nodded. “You've been good to Danny since he started living with you. I'm sure you'll do fine with Patricia, too.”

Her approval felt like a blessing poured over him. It made him relax inside.

“I'd do better with a wife,” he said without thinking. He hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. What was wrong with him? Now of all times, he couldn't afford to forget everything he knew about women.

Virginia blinked. “What?”

The men from the saloon had started to walk to the door, but they all stopped in midstride to look back at him.

“There comes a time to get married.” Now that Colter had started, he decided it was worse to back down than to go forward. It probably didn't matter how he said things anyway. He hadn't had much hope even before he left here that Virginia would agree to marry him; he'd half expected her to be someone else's wife by the time he got back. Besides, he'd been a different man when he kissed her. A man with children had to think more about marriage than a man alone.

“Do you have—” Virginia started.

By now the men were all gathered around again as though this was even more entertaining than a blaze threatening to burn down the town. He supposed it was.

Colter tried to ignore his audience. “Every man has dreams.”

He looked directly into Virginia's eyes, willing her to understand what was in his heart. Maybe if he hadn't been staring at her so intently he would have noticed his daughter's reaction earlier.

Patricia had walked into the middle of the circle of men and then glanced at Colter in triumph. “He means my mother.”

It took a moment for the words to make it to Colter's brain.
“What?”

Where had Patricia gotten that idea, he wondered?

“My mama's his dream. He's pined away for her for years and years. She told me she's going to come and marry him
someday.” Patricia jerked her thumb at Colter. “That's why I'm with him. We're just waiting until she comes.”

It must have been the letter Rose left for her, Colter thought in dismay. Trust Rose to saddle him with the explanations. He'd tracked the woman down to San Francisco just to talk to her so he knew she had no intention of marrying any man. Not even her Rusty.

No one spoke for a moment. And then Petey burst forth. “You mean you aren't marrying our Virginia here?”

Everyone's eyes turned to Virginia.

“I—No—” Virginia sputtered. “Of course, he needs to marry the girl's mother. They have a child together. Besides, I have plans. And there's Lester—I—”

Colter wished he could set everyone down and explain. But before he did, he asked, “What's this about Lester?”

“Oh, you know women,” Petey said with a marked lack of enthusiasm. “If there's one bad apple in the barrel—”

“Lester is not a bad apple. Just because Lester is a sensitive musician—”

Petey snorted. “That's why I'm hoping you get that job in Denver. Maybe some time away from Lester will do you good.”

“Virginia's going to get a job at some fancy school in Denver.” Petey turned to Colter and informed him. “Teaching music.”

“So she's not getting married?” If he'd known Virginia was going to take up with Lester, he wouldn't have left her here. Now if it was a banker or a shopkeeper, he'd wish her well. Maybe even a railroad man if any of them ever got here. But Lester? There was something he didn't trust about that man. And it had nothing to do with music.

“A woman can have a job even when she's married,” Virginia replied tartly. “Besides, who I marry is my own business.”

Colter's heart sank. She had that look about her that said she was rattled over some man. He should have followed his impulse and asked her to marry him before he left. She hadn't loved him, but she might have married him. And, once she did, she'd stand by her word.

When he was driving the wagon over from Helena, he'd kept thinking that things between him and Patricia would go more smoothly once there was a woman like Virginia around. He'd been captivated by her during all those days when she'd played piano for the men in his saloon. She might have been exasperated with them at times, but she always looked at them with kindness. Even if she wouldn't marry him, he'd thought on the way here, she might be able to help Patricia adjust to her new life.

Not that he could ask Virginia to do all of that now. She was so caught up with Lester that—he looked around and his eyes settled on the piano in the corner. She'd been polishing the wood, he could tell that even with all of the soot that had filtered down to the piano's surface. And she had some fancy brass bells set out like Christmas decorations.

“Even if you are getting married,” Colter said in a rush, “you're the best music teacher around and I'd like you to give Patricia piano lessons. I'll pay you your usual fee, of course.”

“There's no need to—” Virginia said.

“I'm not gonna—” Patricia muttered.

“Double your fee,” Colter interrupted them and kept going. “Triple even. I know it might take extra lessons since she's a beginner, but she doesn't need to be able to play any of those classical songs. Just some carols—maybe before Christmas.”

That seemed to leave both Virginia and Patricia speechless, although he wasn't sure whether it was the price he was offering or the speed with which he was hoping for results.

“That's not even a week away,” Virginia finally said. “If
she's not already playing the piano, I don't think—I mean she's awfully young to—”

“A teacher like you can handle it,” Colter said.

“Nobody wants to listen to any carols—” Patricia protested with a touch of scorn. “Babies get born in mangers all the time in that part of the world.” She gave a vague wave of her hand. “It's no reason to go out and play a song about it.”

That made Virginia turn to the girl. “You might want to surprise your mother,” she said as she knelt down so she was eye level with Patricia. Virginia got a soft look on her face that made Colter regret he didn't have more to offer her. “Parents always like to hear their children play music.”

Colter would have pointed out that Rose wasn't coming so she wouldn't hear anything, but he didn't want to interrupt the two.

“Not my mother—” Patricia shook her head. “She says that all Christmas is good for is getting people to give you things 'cause they feel sorry for you. So the best thing to do is look sad so people give you nice things. Or money. She never mentions any songs.”

With that, Patricia wrinkled her face up until she did look pathetic.

Colter turned and saw Virginia's mouth tighten in disapproval.