Kimberly Nee - The McKenzie Brothers (16 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

It was well into the morning when Katherine opened her eyes. She blinked the sleep from them, then rubbed one slowly.

The feel of warm metal against her cheek caused her to snatch her hand away from her face. It took her a moment to remember that she was not in her room on the third floor. She was in the spacious bedroom on the second floor of Ravenswood, her husband sound asleep beside her.

Garrett.

Her
husband
.

She brought her hand up to study the gold ring on the fourth finger of her left hand.

She was safe now. The man lying beside her made certain of that. Sanders could no more touch her than he could walk on water.

Garrett McKenzie.

Her husband.

She sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. The polished wood beneath her feet was pleasantly cool as she stood up and walked over to the chair in the far corner. A dressing gown was draped over its arm, so she shrugged into it.

“It suits you.”

She turned to see Garrett awake, lying back against the pillows and watching her. She gave him a shy smile. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. That’s why I put it there in the first place.” He yawned, reaching his arms overhead in a luxurious stretch. “How did you sleep?”

She crossed her arms, rubbing her hands absently over the smooth, deep blue silk. “Fine, thank you. As I’ve said before, I find your bed to be comfortable.”

He sat up, bare to the waist, the sheet pooling about his hips. “I’m delighted you think so.” He held out one hand. “Come here.”

Katherine did as she was told, perching on the edge of the bed. “Yes?”

“I’d like a more proper good morning on the morning after our wedding,” he replied softly, drawing her into his arms.

“Well, far be it from me to deny you that, Mr. McKenzie.”

His laugh was throaty as he gave her a squeeze. “Ah, love, if you do not start calling me Garrett this moment, I’ll take a switch to you.”

“It will take some getting used to, you know.” She wrinkled her nose at the wonderful shiver that swept over her as his lips moved over her temple, his fingers skimming over her back. Katherine felt as if she could stay there in his arms forever and be content.

Garrett gave her another squeeze. “I suppose we ought to think about getting out of bed. Our servants are going to burst if they can’t pelt you with questions soon.”

A funny flutter turned her stomach as his words penetrated through her veil of happiness.
Our
servants. She was no longer one of them, but was now their mistress. How odd, knowing she now had the authority to put Mrs. Riley in her place.

That is, if Garrett didn’t mind. After all, the decisions regarding Ravenswood and the staff were ultimately his.

She didn’t know how Patsy and Marie would react to having to treat Katherine as a better rather than an equal. No doubt, it would be strange at first, but hopefully, they would quickly rise beyond that.

As if he could hear her thoughts, Garrett gave her another squeeze and said, “Get used to giving the orders, Katherine. That will be your job, you know.”

She craned her neck to gaze at him over her shoulder. “What?”

“Household matters are a wife’s duty and I am happy to relinquish them to you. I’ve had more words with Mrs. Riley than I care to think about. She is
your
headache now, love. And I do believe you have a little abuse to make up for?”

Her brow furrowed. “What are you talking about, Garrett?”

“Victoria was telling me how Mrs. Riley is fond of raking you over the coals.” He arched one brow. “Keeping my clothing separate from everyone else’s?”

Heat crept into her cheeks. How silly it seemed, making certain Garrett’s clothes never touched those of the household staff. “I thought it rather odd, but figured it was one of those little quirks everyone has.”

He shook his head. “I may be fussy about my clothes, but I don’t think there is a body out there who is
that
fussy. Had I known about it, I’d have put a stop to it at once. Sounds as if there were many things I would have put a stop to.”

“On my behalf?”

He sighed, combing his fingers through his hair to push it back from his forehead. “Yes, on your behalf.” He kissed the top of her head. “Katherine, I did not want you as a maid. I never wanted you as a maid. From the moment I laid eyes upon you, I simply wanted
you
.”

“So you thought you’d lure me away from my charmed life as a barmaid?”

She couldn’t keep the teasing from her voice and he smiled as well. “Something like that, love. Something like that, indeed.”

“You might have simply asked me to be your mistress, you know.” She couldn’t help her grin as she gave him a sidelong glance.

“And offend your delicate sensibilities? I would never do something so rakish.”

She couldn’t help but let out a silvery peal of laughter at the look of utter horror on his face. “You are terrible, Garrett. Do you know that?”

“Me? You are the one suggesting I should have propositioned you, sweetheart. I might have to rethink the wisdom of making you my wife. What would people think?” As he spoke, he shifted to lay atop her, his voice lowering to a husky whisper. “What would people think?”

She gazed up at him, unable to believe that he was hers. And for a man who had never expressed any interest in marriage, he seemed comfortable enough with their situation. The last thing she would have expected was to be privy to this playful, teasing side so quickly. It was one thing when he sought her out previously. Then, he was trying to charm her into surrender. Now however, everything was different.

She slid her arms about his waist, letting her fingertips skim up over his back, over his smooth skin, thrilling at the solid muscle beneath his flesh. As her fingernails trailed up toward his shoulders, Garrett shivered, goose-bumps rising beneath her fingertips.

He kissed her lightly. “Feels so very nice when you do that, love.” A soft sigh accompanied his words and she smiled, increasing the pressure of her strokes. A heady feeling, to be sure, to evoke such a reaction from him. A heady feeling, indeed.

“Ah, sweetheart.” He caught her earlobe between gentle teeth. “as much as I would love to strip this dressing gown from your beautiful body and spend the morning right here, we have a few things we need attend to first.”

Her eyes closed at the first heady caress of his lips against her skin and the last thing she felt like doing was moving. “They cannot wait?”

“Ah, such a lusty vixen you are, Madam McKenzie. I think I am going to enjoy being your husband, lady.” With that, he did pull away. “But, there are a few things we need to address — such as my family. I should think they would care to know I’ve up and married right under their noses. I can hardly wait to present them with their lovely new daughter-in-law.”

Katherine had met Rebecca and James McKenzie on the afternoon of the ball, but now she was even more nervous about it. She could only imagine what they would think when Garrett presented her to them as his wife.

A soft groan floated to her lips, convinced they would be aghast to learn their son, the scion of the McKenzie family, had taken a barmaid as his wife. And that would most likely be their
happiest
emotion on the subject.

He rose from the bed to cross to the wardrobe, where he extracted a pair of buff-colored trousers to slip into. “Get that look of complete horror off your face, love.”

She brushed her hair away from her face. “I wish I could, Garrett. Your parents are going to be upset to learn you’ve married me.”

“Surprised? Most assuredly. Upset? I doubt it. Why would you think that, Katherine?”

“I was a barmaid, then a parlormaid. I thought I killed a man — ”

“A man who deserved it had you been successful,” he broke in darkly.

“Either way, it isn’t the sort of background that is normally welcomed into prominent families.”

He drew on a shirt of snowy white lawn. “I don’t give a damn about it, and neither will they. Besides, there is no reason they even need know. I am certainly not the first man in the history of the world to take a fancy to his lovely little parlormaid.” He smiled as he spoke, turning to face her.

“Still…”

“No
still
, lady.” He crossed over to her, taking her by the hands to pull her to her feet. “And you are a maid no more, so try not to dwell on it, do you understand? You are my wife now, and a perfectly acceptable lady at that.” He caught her chin in one hand and lifted her face to brush her lips with a gentle kiss. “Perfectly acceptable.”

She wasn’t entirely convinced he was right, but decided it was best to let the matter drop. Besides, as they were already married, it was a bit late to worry about. Whether his family found her acceptable or not, Garrett was now her husband and that was not about to be undone.

Still, she wasn’t entirely convinced, but there was no point in arguing. “I’ll have to go up to my room — that is, my former room — and find something that is not completely inappropriate to wear. I’m afraid I have very little that will be.”

“Let me fetch one of the maids to help you, love. We’ll have to see about bringing a ladies’ maid on staff now, I suppose. I don’t know if either Patsy or Marie is skilled enough to serve in that capacity.”

The thought of Patsy or Marie having to help her dress and complete her toilette every morning made Katherine uncomfortable. They had been her friends. She couldn’t ask either of them to serve her now. “Couldn’t
you
help me?” At his long look, she exhaled heavily. “Oh, fine. I wish I could just dress myself.” She glanced at the armoire and tapped a forefinger against her now-pursed lips. “I do, however, need to re-think my wardrobe.”

“You may not wish to ask one of them to take care of you, but I am not so shy about requesting it,” he said, striding to the door. “And as for your clothes, do not trouble yourself. It would be my pleasure to change whatever needs changing. Now, if you will excuse me, I will be back in a moment, love.”

“Garrett — ”

He ignored her, closing the door behind him firmly as he went in search of one of the maids to help her.

“Oh, dear,” she whispered, sinking down onto the edge of the rumpled bed. “This is going to be more complicated than I thought.”

A few minutes later, Garrett was back with Patsy in tow. “My wife needs your assistance in dressing, Patsy.”

Patsy’s voice was lighter than air as she bobbed her head and said, “Of course, Mister Garrett.”

“And have her personal items brought down here as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Mister Garrett.”

“Good.” He crossed over to Katherine, leaning forward to nuzzle her gently. “I’ll wait for you downstairs. What would you like for breakfast this morning?”

“It doesn’t matter. Anything is fine with me.” And it would be. She had absolutely no appetite. She forced a smile to her lips. “I’ll be down as soon as I can.”

He kissed her lightly on the lips. “No rush, love. Take your time.”

And with that, he left the room again. Katherine glanced at Patsy, only to find the petite blonde glaring at her with the purest of venom in her blue eyes.

“You never mentioned that you and Mister Garrett were something other than maid and employer, Kath — that is —
Miss
Katherine.”

Though she expected it, the bitterness in Patty’s voice tempered her happiness. As much as she wanted to explain, she knew to do so would mean to lose any chance of commanding any respect from the servants. She could not let that happen.

“As you can see, things have changed,” she said as briskly as she could. “Now, if you will. Please help me.”

Patsy’s lips disappeared into a tight, white line, but she did as she was told, helping her new mistress into a day gown of sunny yellow muslin, one of the few nice gowns Katherine owned. The color was far brighter and bolder than a married woman ought to wear, but there was nothing she could do about that until she had the chance to replace her wardrobe.

Patsy worked in silence as she attended to Katherine’s hair. Of course, she did jerk the brush through several tough snarls with a bit more force than was really necessary. Katherine let the first one pass without comment, but when it happened again, she took the maid to task over it.

Finally, her toilette was done. Without a word, Patsy stalked from the room, slamming the door behind her. Katherine jumped as the bang reverberated through the room and painting slid from its nail. Now she would have to scold Patsy about her behavior before it became too out of hand.

She leaned up against the closed door and reached up to rub her eyes. “Today is going to be the longest of days.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

The sunlight faded as Garrett and Katherine cut through the woods separating Ravenswood and Stonebridge. He didn’t know why he suggested they walk, other than he just wanted to spend that much more time with her.

However, it wasn’t quite the peaceful stroll he’d envisions. It seemed she clung to him, as if afraid to let go of him, and more than once, she stopped short and jerked about to stare back at the path.

The fourth time she peeked, Garrett also turned. “What is it you’re looking for?”

“I don’t know,” she said, still staring at the empty path behind them. “I hate these woods.”

“Why do you females hate the woods so much?”

“What is
that
supposed to mean?”

“Victoria told me the same thing the other afternoon. Marie has remarked upon it several times. So tell me, why are you womenfolk afraid of a bunch of trees and underbrush and little furry creatures?”

“To begin with, they are eerie. The woods, that is. Not the birds or furry creatures,” she replied, tightening her hold on his arm. “I always have the feeling someone is lurking about behind me.”

“Have you seen anyone lurking?”

“No.”

He patted her hand, which was resting on his forearm. “So, why are you so convinced that there is someone?”

Katherine frowned up at him. “Remember the — ” She swallowed hard. “ — the squirrel?”

“Do you think he’s living here?”

She turned slowly, as if trying to see around every swamp maple and red oak, through every stand of white pines, their draping needles the perfect veil to hide whatever lurked beyond. “No. That would be silly, a pampered gentleman living in the woods. The man
I
know is far too spoiled by creature comforts to even attempt to live in the wild.”

“The wild?” Garrett looked about at the thick-trunked swamp maples and tall, sturdy red oak trees surrounding them.
Wild
was not exactly the word he would use to describe the woods. Wild meant untamed, where dangerous animals and snakes lurked. True, the occasional copperhead would slither out but for the most part, the most dangerous animal to be found was a raccoon or squirrel. Not exactly the sort of beasts to instill fear in a body.

“Well, it’s wild to me, then. I am nervous enough as it is, so may we please drop the matter? I feel about ready to jump out of my skin.”

He gave her hand a gentle pat. “Love, you’ve nothing to be afraid of now. Even if Sanders has become some sort of mountain man, he cannot touch you. And if he is foolish enough to try something, he will quickly regret it. I fully intend to find
him
first.”

She said nothing, but stared down at the hand now resting on hers. She noticed the scrapes along his knuckles. “What did you do to yourself?”

“What?”

“Your hand. What did you do to it?”

“I banged it against my desk at Eagleton.” He looked down at the healing cuts on the back of his right hand that were a result of his encounter with Bradley. He flexed his long fingers, which were bruised and stiff. No need to tell her the
real
source of his injuries. Somehow, the less she knew about Bradley and their silly wager, the happier
he
would be.

He had the feeling she would not be happy were she to learn about that wager.

It surprised him to some extent, his concern with her happiness. It seemed to have a direct correlation to his own. It was all new to him, this concern with someone else’s well-being.

He had to admit, in the very short time since they were married, a sense of peace had settled over him — a peace he’d never felt before. A peace he hadn’t expected to feel. Considering how strenuously he’d been opposed to the idea of marriage, it surprised him that he should feel this way. He was happy — truly happy — and had the distinct feeling that was
also
in direct correlation to the fact that Katherine was now his wife.

His wife.

The word
wife
sounded a bit odd to him, but he was rapidly adjusting to it. In fact, he was looking forward to introducing her to his family as his wife. That would be a first, his springing a surprise of this magnitude on them. Normally, he let such things fall to Drew.

He gently pressed her arm against his side as they emerged on the Stonebridge’ side of the woods. “There’s no need to look quite so terrified, sweetheart.”

“Oh, but there is. Remember, they know me as your maid. What will they think when they learn you married me?”

“It’ll be nothing compared to what they’ll think when they learn that
you
married
me
.” He chuckled as they made their way up the front steps and to the double mahogany doors. “They are going to wonder if you are in your right mind.”

She slid her hand from his arm. “Now, I do believe you are exaggerating, Mr. McKenzie.”

“We shall soon see, won’t we?”

With that, he pushed open the front door and tugged her into the entrance behind him. He reached back to catch her hand in his. Hers was cold and her fingers twitched against his as the distinct hum of conversation rushing toward them from the depths of the house. It sounded as if his family was still enjoying their morning meal.

“Don’t look so terrified. It’s the same I’m-going-to-my-death look you had on your face at Adler’s house.” Garrett grinned as he gently tugged on her arm to lead into the dining room. There, his family chatted softly over eggs and ham. Drew McKenzie was the only one
not
seated at the black walnut table, as he was somewhere between Brunswick and London.

Katherine stiffened as six very curious stares rose in their direction. Garrett heard her swallow, felt her hand tremble in his, and he squeezed gently. Her cheeks were deathly pale.

“Good — ” Katherine winced as her voice cracked suddenly. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Good morning.”

James McKenzie sat at the head of the table. He smiled and rose from his chair. “Good morning, Katherine. To what do we owe this pleasure?”

Garrett gave her hand another squeeze. “I apologize for disturbing your meal,” he said, looking around the table at each face. “But, I’ve a bit of news I’d like to share, rather than have the gossips bend your ears first.”

Rebecca McKenzie turned in her chair to give them a puzzled look. She brushed a wayward wisp of silver-white hair away from her face. “Gossip? Oh, dear. Garrett, what have you done this time?”

He gave her a slow smile. “I hope you all remember Miss Bainbridge. I suppose I ought to say, Madam McKenzie. Yes, it would be more appropriate, as we were married last evening.”

Thick, suffocating silence fell over the bodies at the table. Eyes went perfectly round, jaws went slack, and then, silverware clattered against china. Everyone stared up at them in stunned silence. Everyone that is, save for the dark-haired little girl who was busily playing with her scrambled eggs.

Rebecca was the first to break the silence. “You were
what
?” she gasped, eyes narrowing to icy blue slits. “Garrett, if this a joke, it’s a very poor one. A very poor one, indeed.”

He glanced over at Katherine. She was still pale, but now spots of bright color bloomed at her cheekbones. This was
not
going at all as he hoped it would. “It’s no joke, Momma. Katherine and I were married last eve.”

James’s expression was no warmer than his wife’s. “What goes on here?” Before Garrett could answer, Julian burst out laughing. “Ah, good ruse, old man! You were married last eve!” He slapped the tabletop, ignoring the glare Emma shot at him from across the table.

When Garrett stared at him, Julian’s laughter died away and his eyes widened again. “You mean to say, you are serious?”

“Dead serious, McCallister. See? Gold ring and all.”

“Is that your
grandmother’s
ring?” Horror rang through his mother’s words.

“Yes. Seeing as how you were the one who shoved it at me for just such an occasion not too long ago, I fail to see how you are surprised by that.” He wanted to just turn and stalk out of the room. It would probably be best if he did, since that would make losing his temper impossible.

However, he’d have to face them sooner or later so he ignored the prickling of his temper along his innards as his youngest sister, Mary, looked up with serious blue eyes. “Garrett, are you truly not jesting with us?”

“I am truly not jesting with you. Katherine and I were married in Judge Adler’s home last evening.”

“Why?” Emma broke in.

Garrett gave her a knowing look. “Because I have fallen in love with her and could not stop myself. Why do you think?”

James looked none too pleased. “You married last evening? Without so much as a
hint
to your family that it was in the works?”

“It was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision.” Garrett shrugged. No need to tell them
why
it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, however.

“Well, I am not at all certain what to make of this,” Rebecca replied, setting down her knife to reach for her tea. “I don’t suppose you would care to share why you rushed into this so hastily that you could not even let your family know?”

Garrett rubbed his chin with his free hand. “I didn’t wish to wait.”

Mary snorted. “She is your
maid
, Garrett! How could you do something as mad as this? What will people
think
?”

“Mary!” Rebecca gasped.

Garrett glared at his sister. “I understand this is a surprise to everyone, but — ”

“Of course it’s a surprise!” Emma burst out, throwing down her fork and turning toward them. “She is your
maid
! Why are
you
so surprised that
we
are shocked?”

“I would ask that you
not
speak of me as if I was not in the room, if you’d be so kind,” Katherine’s voice rang out clear and crisp. “I
do
have perfectly working ears, you know.”

There wasn’t a hint of paleness in her face now, but she didn’t avert her eyes as everyone stared at her now, including him. “It’s terribly rude. If you wish to discuss me, I will be more than happy to take my leave until you are finished.”

Without waiting for anyone to answer, she pulled her hand free of his, turned on her heel and stalked out of the dining room.