River Song (32 page)

Laughing as he slipped her hand in his, Cole lifted her fingers to his mouth and kissed each velvety fingertip. "The name is Host. Mr. Host, if you please."

"I am
very
honored to make your acquaintance," Sunny grinned. "But I would be more honored if you would please show me how to do this polka dance."

"With pleasure, ma'am."
Cole extended his elbow to Sunny, but before she had a chance to take it, Sean stepped between them.

"I hate to interrupt your dance lesson, Sunny, but I'd like a word with Cole. Why don't you show Eileen around while we
talk.
"

Her expression ruffled with irritation, she grimaced.
"Now?"

"Yes, little sister.
Now."

Sunny rolled her eyes and made a face, but she walked stiff-legged over to where Eileen stood. "Join me in a cup of lemonade?" she asked with forced enthusiasm.

Uncertain how much Sean had told his sister, if he'd said anything at all, Eileen lowered her gaze and answered in a tiny voice. "If that's what you'd like to do."

Put off at first by the girl's overly meek nature, Sunny recalled a few of the things Sean told her, and compassion quickly replaced her disappointment. She reached for Eileen's hand, encouraging,
"
Come on. I think we should go outside for some fresh air."

Afraid to hope that Sean had already entrusted his sister with a message for her, distressed to think maybe he
had
and she was about to receive a stern lecture, Eileen reluctantly allowed Sunny to lead her from the barn to a secluded spot near Olive Fremont's garden.

Her sense of privacy secured, Sunny urged Eileen to look at her. "My brother has told me many things about you. Do not be afraid. I will try to help you."

"Help me?" she said, puzzled and alarmed. "Thank you for the offer, but the kind of help I need is, well, I don't think you'll be of much help."

"I will help Sean help you."

Eileen's pale blue eyes flew open. "You mean he's gonna take me away with him?"

"
Shussshh
," Sunny cautioned. "Yes, but I do not think it is a good idea to tell everyone about it."

"Oh." Eileen's gaze darted around the yard, then back to Sunny. "Sean's planning to take me with him?
Really
and truly
?"

"Yes, really and truly."
Sunny smiled, her heart warmed by the relief flooding the girl's features. "As soon as he has found a way to slip you away, I will bring another message. In the meantime, I think it would be best to pretend you are not acquainted with him."

"Yes, yes, of course." Her mind racing with possibilities and ideas, Eileen also tried to think of obstacles that might arise in her quest for freedom. "What if I have to get a message to Sean? How will I find him? What if I can't find you either?"

"That is unlikely, but if you think you must go to him, it would be safest at night when others sleep. Sean has made a bed for himself up in the loft in the barn. Please do not," she warned with heavy undercurrents in her voice, "go to him unless you have no other choice. My brother is very important to me. I do not wish to see him harmed."

"Oh, that's the last thing I want, too. I promise
,
I will be very, very careful."

Not entirely appeased, Sunny thought of seeking further assurances, but then she noticed Nellie standing on the front porch of her home. A small blond woman stood next to her, staring out towards the garden. Olive Fremont?

"Eileen?" Sunny said, never taking her eyes off the porch. "Is that Cole's mother over there?"

Squinting into the setting sun, Eileen nodded. "I think so. Don't see her often, but I think that's her."

Ominous warnings trailed up Sunny's spine as she felt the older woman's gaze boring into her. Should she go to her, introduce herself, and try to become her friend? Or turn and pretend she hadn't noticed her? The decision was taken from Sunny as the blond woman came to life.

Cole's mother stood rigid as a length of bamboo, waving her arm like a bayonet prodding the enemy into a cell. Her target was Sunny.

"I think now it is your turn to help me," Sunny whispered under her breath as she urged Eileen to accompany her to the ranch house. "Cole's mother has been in her sick bed since I arrived. I have not met the woman, but already I have the feeling she does not like me."

Strolling along beside her new friend, Eileen tried to encourage her. "Don't worry. I bet she'll like you just fine."

But as they neared the porch and Sunny glanced at the woman, she could feel a blast of frigid air despite the warm temperatures of early spring. She lifted her skirts and her chin,
then
maneuvered the small flight of steps.

"I'm Cole's mother," Olive announced as Sunny neared. "You must be the poor Indian girl he rescued on his way home."

Looking anxious, nervous, Nellie stepped forward. "Mom, her name is Sunny."

"Yes, sweetheart.
Sunflower," Olive sliced in, never taking her eyes off Sunny. "Why don't you see to our guest's needs, Nellie
darling.
" She inclined her head towards Eileen, then raised her skirts and gestured to Sunny. "This little Miss is going with me. We have a few things to straighten out."

"
Yes'm
." Nellie raised her brow with a sigh,
then
took Eileen down the steps towards the barn.

Longing to flee with the girls, Sunny's gaze lingered on their retreating figures until Olive's voice cracked like a whip.

"Come, dear. I've guests waiting for me."

"Oh, yes, of course." Sunny bolted through the doorway and followed the stiff-backed woman to a small sitting room.

Olive sank onto a comfortable settee, but did not offer a chair to her guest. "Now then," she began. "Are you enjoying your visit at the ranch?"

"Yes ma'am," Sunny answered cautiously.

Fanning herself with tedious, well-timed strokes, Olive scrutinized her. "Is that Nellie's dress?"

Sunny hesitated a long moment, uncertain if the woman was merely making small talk or setting her up for some kind of attack. Olive presented herself as feeble and weak, her fine small-boned body covered with pale, crinkled skin, her silver-blond hair thin and several shades lighter than Cole's. She was a starving sparrow of a woman to look upon, but her eyes belied the frailty, the image. Where her son's eyes were a shade of green as cool as spring
rain,
or warm and lush as a meadow at dawn, Olive's were cold like agate, the bitter green of
unripened
fruit.

"Well, dear?"

Those tart eyes bore into Sunny, demanding an answer. "Yes, ma'am, the dress is hers. Nellie has been very kind and generous to me."

"So she has." Olive increased the tempo of her fan,
then
narrowed her gaze. "You may keep the dress when you leave, dear."

Still wary and uncertain, Sunny gave her a short nod. "Thank you."

"And I think it's time we got down to that."

Sunny cocked her head and clasped her hands together.
"To what, Mrs. Fremont?"

"Why,
your
leaving, of course." Now the fan worked in
doubletime
. "I'm sure you and your brother have had ample time to recover from your long journeys. I also realize that Cole has invited you both to enjoy our barbecue. Most of our guests are staying tonight and joining us for supper tomorrow. You're welcome to do so as well. I see no reason, however, that you and your brother can't be on your way, say, Sunday morning?"

Sunny's breath caught in her throat and her mouth dropped open. Her brows slammed together in hurt and surprise as she tried to make eye contact with Olive, but the fan was moving so rapidly now that glimpses of the woman's face were choppy and distorted. "But Mrs. Fremont," Sunny pleaded. “Cole said we could stay for several more weeks.”

"Now, dear."
Olive collapsed the fan and dropped it on the settee. She rose unsteadily,
then
straightened her shoulders. "My son has a great many things on his mind. Don't be bothering him with all this. He has the future of this ranch in his hands, not to mention his own bright future and upcoming marriage."

This couldn't be happening. Cole mentioned nothing of marriage, of his future being tied to the Triple F ranch. There had to be some mistake, some error. "But, Mrs. Fremont, you do not understand."

"I understand all I need to, and that's quite enough of this conversation, dear. As I've said, I do have my guests to think of." Olive made her way across the room, leaving Sunny gasping in her wake.

Cole's mother turned back just as she reached the doorway and smiled for the first time. "There is one other thing."

She would apologize
now,
tell Sunny this was all a mistake, a joke.
"Yes, ma'am?"

"Be a dear, will you? On your way out to the barn, please stop in the kitchen and gather up some more supplies. I hear we're running low on chocolate cake."

 
CHAPTER
TWELVE

Cole leaned against the rough wood of the shed and blew a puff of smoke into the twilight. He waved goodbye to the Hobbs family as their wagon rolled past him, then flipped his cigarette to the ground. Turning back towards the barn, Cole caught a glimpse of light coming from his father's study in the main house. He'd last seen him doing a final square dance before the party broke up. Why wasn't he outside bidding farewell to the last of his guests? Had Nathan's bad heart finally caught him in mid-stride?

Delaying his return to the barn and Sunny, who'd been acting aloof and distracted almost since the barbecue had begun yesterday, Cole shifted his direction towards the ranch house. He bounded up the steps two at a time,
then
hurried down the hallway to the door of the study.

"Dad?" he called out as he tapped against solid oak.

"Come on in, son,"
came
the muffled reply.

Relieved to hear his father's voice, Cole stepped almost lazily into the room. "What kind of vote-gathering do you think you can do in here alone?" He laughed.

"Just taking a little rest and," Nathan held up a bottle of whiskey, "a snort. Join me in a short one?"

"Don't mind if I do." Cole kicked the door shut behind him and tossed his hat on a chair. Maybe a shot of whiskey was just what he needed to bring some order back to his bewildered brain. It suddenly seemed as if everyone he knew and loved had gone crazy as a steer on loco weed. Even his mother, bedridden a good deal of the time due to various female complaints, was acting odd and excessively friendly. Elizabeth Scott, an unusually patient woman, seemed desperate for his attention and left him with the impression she'd known how he felt about Sunny before he'd even hinted at it. And if that weren't enough, Eileen Hobbs, the shyest, most introverted girl he'd ever met, would giggle and fall all over him as if she were madly in love with him one minute, then act as if they'd never been introduced the next.
Odd and unusual behavior for all of them.

But most puzzling and disconcerting, was Sunny. Every time he got near her she bolted, her eyes darting back and forth like a wild mare on the end of a rustler's lasso. Was it just the excitement of the party, the new people, and her new look?
Or something else?
Perhaps some strange little secret was shared among all four women? Hardly likely, he had to admit to himself. Tomorrow, after all the guests had gone home, he would find whatever caused this change in her, would sit her down, talk about it, then make some plans for his future, her future, and maybe their future together.