Fate's Intervention (14 page)

Speaking of spoiled brats
, he thought, when
Elizabeth
approached on the arm of her
father
.

“
Miss Elizabeth, Mr. Stanharbor,
”
Matthew greeted, tipping his hat. The young lady beside him stiffened noticeably and turned slowly. Her
gaze
met his briefly and flared with nervous mischief.

“
Well, hello again, Clifford,
”
Marcelle said with such an airy, high-pitched voice that Matthew visibly winced,
“
it
’
s such a
pleasure
to run into you again, and I see you
’
ve finally found a suitable wife.
”

Elizabeth
sucked in a loud breath and blushed. Matthew grinned behind his gloved hand. There was definitely a history here, he thought.

“
Miss
Weatherman
.
”
Stanharbor
’
s
stiff
manner of
speech
, as well as his address,
caused
Matthew
’
s head
to
snap up.
This
was the infamous woman who
had
rejected the great Mr. Clifford Stanharbor.
“
Where is your
father
, and why has he allowed you out without a leash?
”

“
Why, Clifford, whatever is bothering you?
”
Marcelle purred in a way that made Matthew
’
s skin crawl.
“
Not enough fiber in your breakfast this morning?
”

“
Why, you . . .  ,
”
Stanharbor took a step toward Marcelle, his hands outstretched as if he intended to strangle her, but Marcelle didn
’
t move an inch.
Matthew quickly stepped forward and in between the two combatants, drawing Stanharbor
’
s attention away from Marcelle.

“
Whoa
, you two. Whatever the matter
is, it doesn
’
t need to come to blows.
”

“
Matthew.
As
my employee, I forbid you to have communications with this madwoman!
”

Matthew bristled at that, but kept his demeanor calm. Especially since the lady in question was now eyeing him suspiciously.

“
Well, sir, while I appreciate your concern, I will not be in your employee after today, so I think that whomever I talk with becomes officially my concern again.
”

“
What?
”
The outburst came from
Elizabeth
who hadn
’
t been privy to his resignation.
“
Father
,
”
she squealed,
“
he can
’
t quit! You promised me that you
’
d get him to marry me!
”

Matthew
’
s cheeks reddened beneath his tanned complexion. He could feel Marcelle eyeing him curiously.
At
least she isn
’
t looking at me suspiciously anymore
, he thought.

“
Do calm down,
”
Stanharbor cooed, patting his daughter
’
s hand.
“
I
’
ve given Matthew our handsome offer and insisted that he consider everything
before
making a decision and I
’
m certain,
”
he emphasized, giving Matthew a warning glance,
“
t
hat
he
’
ll do just that.
A
fter
all, he wouldn
’
t intentionally upset you like this, dear. Would you, Matthew?
”

This is curious
.
Clifford has put this Matthew fellow in an awkward position. Wonder if he
’
s man enough to stand up to this fat buffoon, or will he intimidate easily?
Marcelle
wondered. She hoped that Stanharbor couldn
’
t easily intimidate him, or she
’
d be disappointed. He didn
’
t seem like a weakling that someone could dictate orders to
–
boss or not.

Well
, Matthew thought,
here it goes. I
’
m about to cause an explosive outburst that people will probably hear over ten counties, at the very least.
He didn
’
t like handling his affairs publicly like this, but the two dense-heads in front of him refused to accept the fact that he was not going to be marrying into their family
–
now or ever.

“
Mr. Stanharbor,
”
Matthew said through clenched teeth, his speech slow and clearly enunciated in the hopes that such speech would give his words time to sink in, allowing comprehension before his tirade ended.
“
I
’
ve tried tact, with both of you.
”
His gaze raked over
them, and
Elizabeth
blushed.

She flicked open her fan and started waving it in front of her face to help dispel the heated flow, but it didn
’
t work
–
her blush only in
tensified beneath
the scrutiny of his blazing
azure
eyes. She
’
d heard this tone of voice from him before, and she didn
’
t much care for it
one whit
.
Well, th
at
tone will have to go when we get married
, she decided
tacitly
.

“
A
nd
I
’
ve tried to be extremely direct,
”
Matthew continued, his eyes returning to the
father
who was blushing as strongly as his
daughter was
.
“
T
hus far, neither of you appears to have been listening to a word that I
’
ve said, so I
’
m going to try one more time to get through to you both.
”

“
Now see here, son . . . ,
”
Stanharbor started, but Matthew interrupted quickly.

“
I
’
m not your son, Mr. Stanharbor and the point I
’
ve been trying to force you both to see is that I will never, ever be your son, and nothing that either of you can try
to
bribe me with will alter my decision. It
’
s final. I have made up my mind. I will
not
be marrying your daughter.
”

“
Oh, Matthew, darling, don
’
t be silly,
”
Elizabeth said, giggling behind her fan,
“
you
’
re just a little put out with us right now, for whatever
reason
, but I
’
m certain that once you
’
ve had a chance . . .  ,
”

“
If I say it one more time, Elizabeth, I will add a plethora of colorful words that are hardly appropriate for the delicate ears of a child
–
an
d, yes, I said child. You will never be old enough, or physically attractive enough to heat my blood to where I want to procreate with . . . ,
”
Matthew didn
’
t see the fist that hurled in his direction, but Marcelle did. Unfortunately, she called out a warning too late and Matthew landed with a thud on the hard dirt ground.

Marcelle knelt beside him, but glanced up at Elizabeth
’
s cry. She rolled her eyes when
Elizabeth
placed a hand against her forehead, moaned, and fell against her
father
’
s side. She must have done that particular maneuver on prior occasions because her
father
instinctively reached for her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, all while keeping his eyes pinned on Matthew
’
s fallen form.

Marcelle controlled the urge to laugh. It was obvious that while
Elizabeth
was in distress over this turn of events, her swoon was far from real. Her perfect landing against her
father
, and the fact that she was all but holding herself upright, said it all. If she
’
d fainted dead away, she
’
d have hit the ground harder than Matthew had. She just didn
’
t want to get herself dirty
–
the little faker.

“
You
’
ll be sorry for this, Daragh,
”
Stanharbor said, shaking his fist in Matthew
’
s direction.
“
You don
’
t insult a Stanharbor this way and not suffer the repercussions.
”

Matthew rubbed his jaw as Stanharbor turned and stormed away, dragging a suddenly alert daughter along behind him.

Matthew looked up and his gaze collided with the laughing
gaze
of Marcelle
Weatherman
.

“
Nice going,
”
she said, and then both burst into laughter.

“
So
, that was Clifford
’
s daughter,
”
Marcelle said.
“
I really thought for a moment that he
’
d married the girl. I
’
ve heard that
’
s his preference.
”

“
Well, from what I heard, he tried to marry
you
, but you made him believe that you were some sort of eccentric. Ran him right out the front door.
”

“
Has it spread all over the state already?
”

“
No, his driver told me.
”

“
Oh, that
’
s right, you work for him
–
or did,
”
Marcelle said, eyeing him appreciatively.
“
That
took a lot of courage, you know.
”

“
I don
’
t know about that.
”

“
Well, I do
.
”
Marcelle turned and leaned against the corral post, watching the people as they passed by.
“
I went up against Stanharbor. Rejected him.
Already
that
’
s making it difficult for my
father
to find me a suitor. I seem to come off as a trifle unbalanced when I
’
m around the
opposite sex.
”

“
Well, I
’
ve only known you a few minutes and I
’
ve already determined that you wanted him to think just that
. To me, y
ou don
’
t
seem
crazy.
A
little fruity maybe,
”
Matthew teased.

“
Thank
s. I think,
”
Marcelle said.
“
You know, at the time, when Stanharbor was sniffing around, acting as if I had a mental disorder seemed like a
great
idea to get rid of his pompous behind. I probably shouldn
’
t say that. Sorry.
”

“
Oh, but he is a pompous behind, so apologies aren
’
t necessary.
”