Kimberly Nee - The McKenzie Brothers (23 page)

“Very well, Garrett, you win. Guilty,” he replied sheepishly. “I figured I’d be able to buy myself a little time before the hanging.” He glanced around the room. “Figured the house would be finished by now. Guess I was a little off with that estimate, eh?”

“It’s taking longer than I expected, but there are only finishing touches left to be done. You are damn lucky I didn’t blow your fool head clear off. What the hell were you thinking, sneaking in here in the middle of the night like you were?”

“Well, I didn’t expect to find you armed,” Drew told him, rubbing his jaw once more. “However, I certainly did expect to find you
alone
. When did you get married? And, more importantly,
why
did you get married?”

“Four weeks ago.” Garrett cast a glance over at Katherine, who was still glaring at Drew.

She froze, waiting for his answer to the second question. Would Garrett tell him the truth, or continue their ruse?

Before Drew could repeat his question, Garrett threw his arms around his brother. His joy was very real as he gave a squeeze and said, “Welcome home, wanderer. It’s good to know you are in one piece.”

“We’ll see how many pieces I’m in once Momma gets hold of me,” Drew replied dryly, returning the hug. “And I notice you avoided my second question.”

“Come along. Questions and answers will wait until the morning.” Garrett motioned for Drew to follow them. “You can sleep in the far bedroom. Aside from ours, it’s the only one even remotely furnished. However, it isn’t much.”

It was Katherine’s turn to go slack-jawed as she listened to him give away
her
room. However, she wasn’t about to argue with him in front of Drew. If Garrett wished to let his brother believe theirs was a happy union, she was quite willing to go along with it. She slipped her arm through his, saying, “I think you will find it most comfortable.”

As long as you don’t mind sleeping on the floor with a rag for a blanket.

“Right now I am so tired, the back yard would have sufficed. Luckily for me, you left the kitchen door unlocked.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “The door was unlocked? Did you at least lock it when you broke in?”

“My dear sister,” Drew replied smoothly, “I did not
break
in. I merely turned the handle and
let
myself in. And, yes, I did lock it, so stop glaring at me.”

She didn’t answer, but pulled away from Garrett to stalk up the stairs ahead of them. She gritted her teeth as she heard Drew chuckle, “You certainly have a handful there, Garrett.”

“Hush up.”

She waited patiently in Garrett’s room for his return. When he did, she was perched on the edge of his bed, arms crossed.

He sighed as he closed the door. “Please, let’s not get into it tonight, shall we? It’s late and I would like to get at least an hour’s worth of sleep.”

“How could you give away
my
room?”

“Where else am I to put him? There is no other place.”

“And how could that kitchen door have been left unlocked? How could you be so careless?”

“I doubt it was left unlocked. I checked it before I came up here. Most likely Drew forced the bolt. I have no doubt he has made certain useful friends in his travels. I know I used to when I traveled the world.” He unfastened his trousers and moved to tug them down.

“Garrett!”

He grinned at her. “We
are
married, Katherine. Not to mention that you are hardly a stranger to the sight of me naked.”

“Still, it’s not proper.”

“Oh, the hell it isn’t. You need to relax.” He kept the trousers on, but left them unfastened as he moved over to her. He cupped her chin in one hand, tilting her face up to his. “Admit it — you don’t really mind being forced to look at me, do you?”

She sniffed. “That is neither here nor there.”

He released her and stepped back. “You are a cold woman, Katherine.”

“What I am is practical. Now, if you’d not mind, I should like to get some sleep.”

Darkness flashed in his eyes as he shrugged. “As you wish. Good night, then.”

She swallowed her sigh as she skirted the foot of the bed to slip beneath the light sheet. To her relief, Garrett kept his trousers on and he deliberately made certain to not so much as brush her leg with his.

As darkness descended once more, it wasn’t long before Garrett’s deep, even breathing was the only sound in the room. But sleep refused to come to her and she lay there for what seemed an eternity, wishing for the hundredth time that she could simply reach for him. She knew that was all she needed to do, but it seemed an impossible feat. Her pride was a bully and refused to cede even an inch.

Chapter Thirty-Two

When Katherine opened her eyes the next morning, she was alone. Deep, clearly male, voices sounded down below. Apparently, Garrett and Drew were catching up on the past fourteen months.

She dressed quickly, in a simple muslin gown of deep russet. She combed her hair out, winding it into a braid that hung halfway down her back.

“Good morning.” Her voice was bright as she breezed into the kitchen.

Both men smiled up at her, and Victoria hurried to fetch an extra cup, into which she poured coffee and brought it over to her.

“Thank you.” Katherine smiled at the cook before turning back to her husband and Drew. “I do hope I am not interrupting anything,” she asked, adding generous amounts of sugar and cream and taking a sip.

Drew shook his head. “Not at all. I was merely filling Garrett in on how I spent the last year.”

“And how have you spent it?” she asked, lowering herself down onto the bench across from him, next to Garrett.

“I sailed to Europe and spent some time in England, France, Spain.” He ticked each country off on his fingers. “If you need to heal a broken heart, Europe is the place to lick your wounds.”

“Where in each country did you go?” she questioned, lowering her cup to gaze at him over the rim.

“Let’s see.” He pressed a fingertip to his lips. “In Spain, I spent the majority of time in Barcelona. France? Well, there is nowhere else to go but Paris. The women are something altogether different in Paris. In England, I stayed mostly in London, but occasionally ventured into the countryside.”

“Depending on where a lady’s husband was sure not to be, I assume,” Garrett piped in with a wry grin.

Drew put on the most angelic of faces. “I’ve no idea what you are talking about. And, even if I did, I’d never admit to such a thing in front of a lady.”

Garrett shook his head. “You’ve nothing to fear. It’d take more than a rake such as yourself to offend my wife.”

“I should have known that, seeing as how she’s married to you,” Drew retorted.

Katherine lifted her cup to her lips once more. “Now, now. There will be no fighting at the table. Have you been offered any breakfast?”

Drew nodded. “Yes, I have. And I’m fine.”

Katherine’s brow furrowed. “We’ve several maids and a housekeeper now, but I’ve no idea where they’ve all got to.”

Drew grinned. “I believe I may have met one of the maids. A tiny blonde?” he asked. “Almost walked into a wall when I came out of my room.”

Katherine sighed. “That would be Patsy.” A quick shake of her head accompanied by, “Sounds like the way she stares at you, then, Garrett.”

He cleared his throat. “I’ve no control over that, you know.”

Drew shook his head. “No. Unfortunately, I’ve put off this dreaded confrontation long enough. It’s time to go and confess my dastardly defection from the family for over a year. With any luck, Emma will ignore me until at least tomorrow.”

“Care for a little moral support?” Garrett asked.

“Lord knows I could use it.”

“Katherine, would you mind?”

She shook her head. “Of course not. I’ll be fine here. I wanted to measure the windows upstairs and get started on finding the perfect material for draperies.” She gave an airy wave of her hand. “I’ll be fine.”

Garrett hesitated, as if uncomfortable with the thought of leaving her alone. “If you are certain?”

She avoided his stare. “I’m certain.”

“Fair enough, I suppose. Come along, Drew. Time to face the consequences of your actions.”

He rose from his chair. “I’ll be home for supper.”

“Very well.” Her voice remained flat and cool.

Drew slipped away from the table and out the kitchen door, leaving them alone. Garrett faced her, and she couldn’t miss how his eyes grew tender as he reached out to touch her cheek. “Katherine, about last night. I — ”

She stepped back, shaking her head. “I stand by what I said. Last night was the exception to the rule. And it’s to be the
only
exception. Tonight, I will return to my vacated room.”

“Katherine — ”

“No. Go on, now, your brother is waiting.” She gathered her skirts to rise from her chair, and turned from the kitchen before her resolve weakened.

Garrett grumbled under his breath as she strode out of the kitchen. Patience was never one of his strengths and his was rapidly depleting. He was at a loss as to what else he could do to bring her around. A deep, frustrated sigh leaked through his teeth as he left the kitchen, stepping outside and slamming the door behind him.

Drew waited for him just beyond the shadow of the house. “Lovely piece you have there, Garrett. I still cannot believe it. You with a wife.”

“It’s far too early for this. I’ll warn you once to drop it.”

“Ah…” He gave Garrett a knowing smile, crossing his arms over his chest. “I take it there is trouble in paradise?”

“I am not joking, Drew. Drop the subject right now.”

It had never been in Drew’s nature to take his brother’s threats seriously and that apparently had not changed. “Come now, Garrett. She is lovely.” He nudged his brother’s ribs slightly. “Tell me, what is going on? I know you better than you think, even if I have been gone for a while. There is quite a bit of tension in that house.”

Garrett sighed, rubbing his eyes. “You caught us at a bad time.”

“A bad time, eh? You’ve only been married a short while, isn’t that right? Four weeks, I believe you said.”

“Yes. Now, can we please just drop the subject?”

“Hell, no,” Drew chuckled. “This is far too rich. I may never leave home again.”

“Please, don’t threaten me like that. In fact, I’ll help you ready the
Aphrodite
later today.”

“Oh, you know you don’t mean that. After all, for fourteen months, you’ve had only McCallister for company.”

“Don’t remind me,” Garrett groaned as they neared Stonebridge. “But, as much as it pains me, I must admit, he’s not such a bad fellow. When you get to know him, that is.”

Drew looked horrified at the thought. “Say it isn’t so, Garrett! Have you gone mad?”

“Hardly.” Garrett couldn’t suppress a chuckle as he mounted the front steps. “But, as you said, I had him alone for company. Had no choice but to become friends with the blackguard.”

Drew shook his head. “My world has gone completely upside down now. You’re married, McCallister is a friend. What next?”

What next was lost as they stepped inside to find Martha treading down the front hallway. She turned at the noise and her shriek of surprise could be heard throughout the entire house.

“Mister Drew? Is that you?!” she yelped, bounding toward them and throwing her arms about his neck.

Rebecca came running at Martha’s yell. She also threw her arms around Drew, laughing and crying at the same time. Garrett stepped back, not wanting to interfere with either the reunion or the scolding he was certain would follow. Rebecca had a year’s worth of worry and frustration to get out and he didn’t want to be anywhere within arm’s reach of her.

Garrett returned to find Victoria in the kitchen, carefully measuring out flour into a slightly battered cup. “Good afternoon, Victoria,” he said, sinking down at the kitchen table.

“A good afternoon yourself, Mister Garrett,” she replied with a smile, setting down her flour. “Would you care for a cup of tea?”

“No, thank you.” He glanced around. “Where are the others?”

“I haven’t a clue. I do believe Mrs. Riley is in the parlor, taking Marie to task over something silly. As for Patsy, I believe she was up on the second floor, dusting a bit there. Where Sidwell is would be anybody’s guess, as today is his day off.” She looked up at him. “You look as if something’s troubling you, Mister Garrett. Come to think of it, Miss Katherine also looked troubled this morning. Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing that cannot be fixed,” he replied, not really wishing to discuss his marital problems with his cook. “Very well. I shall be in my chambers, if anyone needs me.”

“Of course.”

With a sigh, Garrett rose from his seat and left the kitchen. As he passed the parlor, he could hear Mrs. Riley saying, “But, Miss Katherine, it isn’t my duty to oversee the laundry. It’s Marie’s.”

He grinned as Katherine replied with, “No. You mean, it
was
hers. I find she has more than her fair share of chores about this house. Therefore, you will assume that one.” A brief pause. “Oh, which reminds me. Please make certain to separate the servants’ laundry from that of mine and my husband’s, if you would be so kind.”

He almost burst out laughing, remembering how Mrs. Riley had requested the same silliness of Katherine. He managed to remain quiet as he moved into the doorway. He leaned up against it, crossing his arms over his chest, and peering in. Katherine stood with her back to him. Mrs. Riley stood before her, looking properly chagrined.

“Of course, Miss Katherine.”

Garrett heard the meek tone in the housekeeper’s voice, feeling a hint of satisfaction that his wife was finally able to draw a bit of payback for her treatment. He’d wondered how long it would take before she exacted her revenge. Too long, as far as he was concerned.

“Will that be all, Miss Katherine?”

“There is one other thing,” Katherine replied. “I have noticed that Mister Garrett’s stocks are limper than they ought to be. I think, perhaps, you might wish to take special care with them. I realize he does not wear them all that often but when he does, he should at least look proper.”

“Of course, Miss Katherine.”

“That will be all, then. You may go.”

Mrs. Riley’s lips were pressed together into a thin white line as she bobbed her head and moved around Katherine. She glanced up at Garrett as she passed by him, “Good afternoon, sir.”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Riley,” he replied to her retreating back as Katherine whirled around to face him.

Heat went streaking through her face as she realized he must have overheard her nitpicking. “I do hope I was not overstepping my bounds,” she said softly, lifting her eyes to his.

He grinned. “Not at all. In fact, I think it’s something you should have done weeks ago. It’s about time you put her in her place.”

Her smile was almost childlike in its pure pleasure. For the first time in the six days since Bradley had told her about their wager, some of her anger seemed to have eased a tad. Was a thaw forthcoming?

Rather than ask and possibly ruin the moment, he uncrossed his ankles and pushed away from the frame saying, “But there is nothing wrong with my stocks, Katherine. I’ve no complaint about them.”

“I know that. But she doesn’t.”

He threw back his head and let out a roar of laughter. “You are enjoying this, love, aren’t you?”

She couldn’t hold back her satisfied smile. “Actually, I am. Isn’t it terrible of me, that?”

Garrett shook his head, seeing the hint of warmth now glowing in her hazel eyes. It was the first such warmth he’d seen in what felt like years. “Not at all, Katherine.”

“You’ll not spoil it for me, will you? I mean, by telling her?” She crossed over to him and with a hint of hesitation, eased her arm through his.