The Trailrider's Fortune (25 page)

"Whatever
you're fixin' will be just fine, ma'am."

Majesta disappeared
through a doorway into what Rafe assumed was the kitchen. Sparkle frowned.
"Ma'am? You never called me Miss or Ma'am from the very first instant I
met you."

"Just tryin'
to be sociable," he parried. "She ain't happy you brought me along.
Maybe I should find a room somewhere, call on you tomorrow. Seems she's not
feelin' hospitable just now."

"She never
feels hospitable, but it doesn't matter. I'll bring home anyone I see
fit." She pulled him down beside her on the parlor sofa, sighing.
"I'm sorry. I don't like sounding mean, Majesta takes some getting used
to. She can be condescending at times, but she's wonderful with Jace. She's
just used to running the house her way. I'm not home very often, so I let her.
Looking down her nose is what she does best. She even does it to me. You should
see the poor drummers who come peddling their wares. They never get beyond the
porch."

"Friendly as a
scorpion on a hot rock. That schoolmarm tale probably encourages her to look
down on you."

"She's an
employee," Sparkle huffed. "Who can be replaced."

They lapsed into
silence. Rafe fought to ignore the walls closing in, though a bead of sweat ran
down his back. Sparkle was primly sitting beside him, hands folded in her lap.
A convincing schoolmarm. But he'd a lot rather watch her read tarot or climb
into bed next to him…as his equally convincing and loving wife.

Damned peculiar.
He'd never wanted a wife before. Never pictured himself as anyone's husband.
But he'd adjusted to the scenario during their pretense all these months. Now
having Sparkle as his mate was something he wanted with real desperation. No
funning. But first he had to impress her ailing brother, and that posed a
dilemma.

He wasn't about to
say he was a traveling salesman—not after Sparkle's remark about how the nurse
hated drummers. Jace might have the same dislike. Maybe the nurse was so
standoffish toward strangers because Jace wanted her to act that way. Admitting
Rafe was a hired gun would be just plain dumb. He couldn't admit that. Partner
in Crockhead Rest seemed a reasonable alternative. It was close to the truth.
Travis nagged him every winter about going in on the spread, and Rafe had sunk
some of his own money in horseflesh and cattle there.

That was the best
way to handle the question, he decided. If he seemed awkward at the supper
table, these city folks would excuse his manners. Cattle ranchers weren't expected
to fuss over the right fork or soup spoons. Sparkle's brother probably wouldn't
know the first thing about the beef business.

Majesta swept past
them to head up the staircase. "You folks wash up," she commanded.
"Seat your Mr. Conley across from Jace's customary place at the head of
the table. We'll be down in a moment."

Your Mr. Conley?
Rafe suspected the nurse would
have preferred to seat him in the next county. Jesus, but she was the least
sociable excuse for a female he'd run across in a good long time. He didn't
much care how she treated him, but he didn't cotton to her being snippy to
Sparkle.

"You
know," he commented as they took their places in the dining room,
"that woman doesn't treat you with the proper respect. Acts like this is
her
house, not yours. If she doesn't get her bustle on straight, there'll be hell
to pay. Won't stand for anybody showin' you any disrespect once you're my
wife."

"What's
this?" a deep voice demanded. Majesta wheeled a slender man with intense
blue eyes into the room. "Wife? I couldn't have heard correctly. It seems
Sparkle's neglected to tell me something important."

Rafe opened his
mouth to explain, but the devilish look Jace tossed at his sister said he was
teasing in mock anger. Rafe recognized that way between kin. He'd teased
Miranda all their lives. Guess he wasn't the only brother to need recognition
and attention from a sister. Even the exasperated kind.

Sparkle had found
her voice and that chin-up manner that always warmed Rafe to watch. "Jace,
this is Rafe Conley, a gentleman friend." She gave Rafe a speaking look,
silently warning him not to contest the last word. "Rafe, this is my
brother, Jace LaFleur."

Rafe came around
the table and reached down without hesitation to shake hands. He noticed the
keen intelligence in Jace's light eyes. The grasp of the man's fingers was
surprisingly strong, too. Though awkward, since he used his left hand. Rafe
amended the image of the "helpless cripple" he'd carried in his mind.
There was some steel in the fellow, despite the wheelchair.

"This is
indeed an honor, Mr. Conley," Jace grinned, glancing at Sparkle. "My
sister's never brought a gentleman caller home before. From what I caught as we
came in just now, I gather there's a good reason why she's brought you to meet
me."

"The food's
getting cold, Jace," Majesta admonished. "We'll discuss family
business later. Our guest must be hungry. Let me bring the roast out." She
adjusted his chair and drew a napkin over his lap.

Damn, but that
blonde woman was quick to order folks around. The meal was excellent, but Rafe
noticed with mounting irritation the nurse continued to speak in uppity tones
and hovered over her patient. He didn't know how Jace bore up under the
fussing. A woman seeing to a crippled man's needs was one thing—but this gal
cut Jace's meat for him, served him more peas before he'd finished the scoop on
his plate, even answered Rafe's questions before Jace could speak up. Talk
about running the house!

Sparkle also seemed
to note the fawning attention, how Majesta's hand lingered on Jace's shoulder
or brushed his wheat curls off his brow. She shot the nurse a dark frown that
went largely ignored. The nurse woman had seen it, Rafe knew she had. But
instead of backing down, she continued in the very same way. There was an
undercurrent between the two females Rafe couldn't fathom. Tough enough
figuring the workings of one woman's mind. He wasn't going to even try sorting
out two.

They all adjourned
to the parlor. "I'm pleased you surprised us like this, Sparkle,"
Jace remarked. "I'd asked Majesta to write next week to inquire if you
could come home for a few days."

Sparkle edged away
from Rafe. He was itching to hold her close or entwine their fingers, but knew
it was too soon. Jace had only just met him. Fighting his strong desire for
physical closeness with his woman, Rafe kept a safe distance, didn't even brush
Sparkle's hand. He'd find a way to be alone with her later.

"Write
me?" Sparkle repeated, glancing from her brother to Majesta and back.
"Has something happened with your health? Your memory come back?"

About what? Rafe
wondered, sensing a subtle increase in the tension in the room.

"Actually,
I've never felt better," Jace said. He turned to pin Rafe with his gaze.
"I assume you've been calling on my sister for some time, Mr.
Conley."

"It's Rafe.
And I've been sweet on her nigh onto a year. I came to ask for her hand."

"Well, it
seems wedding fever's in the air," Jace beamed.

Rafe suddenly
understood why the blonde behaved as if she owned the place.

"Majesta and I
were married last week," Jace announced brightly. "I'd hoped to have
Sparkle here for the ceremony, but our minister had prior commitments that
prevented us from—"

"
Married
?"
The color drained from Sparkle's face. She shot off the couch as if she'd just
noticed it was a cactus.

"Yes. We're
together constantly, as you know. One day I realized I couldn't imagine life
without Majesta, and not just because of my physical limitations. I'd miss her
inner strength, her understanding ear. And while I'm not certain she's made the
best choice of husbands, I was thrilled when she graciously consented to become
my wedded wife."

Sparkle
inexplicably went livid at those words. "I pay you to cook the meals and
look after this house, not crawl into his bed!"

Rafe winced. He'd
seen Sparkle upset before—or thought he had, up until this moment—but she
looked ready to swallow a horned toad backwards.

"Darlin',
ain't you happy for Jace?" Rafe tried to sound encouraging and upbeat.

"
Happy
for him?" She sounded incredulous at that perfectly natural suggestion.

"Well, sure,
since it seems—"

"Oh, shut up,
Rafe. This has nothing to do with you." She glared at Jace. "You'll
have to get an annulment or find some way to undo—"

"Don't be
ridiculous." Jace half laughed in protest.

"This is all
wrong," Sparkle insisted. "I want to see you in the other room,
Majesta.
Now
."

Majesta stalked off
to the kitchen with Sparkle right on her heels. The door closed behind them and
Rafe offered his host a wry shrug. "Can't imagine what's come over your
sis. Maybe cause the news took her by surprise. She doesn't always cotton to
surprises. Expect she'll boil over, then simmer back down."

Unfortunate
choice of words, Rafe
.
He inwardly groaned at the image of Sparkle naked and panting beneath him. He
saw her very clearly at the boiling point, gasping. Clutching at him as he
thrust a final time, spilling himself into her. Sparkle at her boiling
point…those eyes of hers turning smoky teal just before they closed in ecstasy.
Think of something else
, Rafe warned himself.
Anything else.

"We met in
Wichita," he blurted, apropos to nothing. Jace hadn't asked.

"Ah,"
Jace nodded, appearing grateful for the change of topic. "Wichita. Do you
have a business there?"

"Nope. I'm
partners with my brother. Got a spread over in Pueblo. I travel, buyin' stock
and supplies. Met Sparkle on the street one mornin'. She's got the prettiest
eyes I ever saw. Ain't been the same since I first looked into them."

Rafe forced a
smile, trying to look congenial as he pretended to ignore the angry voices
carrying from the kitchen.

"She's also
got a stubborn streak a mile wide," Jace remarked, coloring as he too
caught the disturbance through the closed door. The women were hissing in there
like two alleycats.

"Sparkle
hasn't actually agreed to marry me yet," Rafe admitted. "Guess she
wants time to decide between me and the fella she's known so long. I'm real
partial to your sister. You seem like a decent fella, wouldn't hand me no gum.
Reckon this local dandy's the right man for her?"

Jace looked oddly
baffled. Rafe couldn't detect any mendacity in his voice as he answered.
"I don't have the slightest idea. This is the first I've heard of her
seeing anyone. If she has a beau here in town, I can't imagine where she's been
meeting him. Two suitors?" he muttered. "And to think I worried she'd
end up a spinster."

Rafe frowned.
Clandestine meetings? That didn't sound good. The other fella had to be
married. Jace's comments all but proved Sparkle had been lying when she denied
it. "So you don't know this man, know if he's serious about her?"

Jace soberly shook
his head. There was no green tint to his irises, Rafe noticed. They were pure
sky blue. Rafe wouldn't have fallen so hard if Sparkle's had been that same
ordinary shade. Jace's hair was much lighter than hers, too, and he didn't have
her turned-up nose. Funny how there wasn't much resemblance in some families.

"Who does
Sparkle favor," Rafe inquired, "your ma or your pa?"

"She doesn't
look anything like Mother. I've got her coloring. Sparkle must take after our
father, but I can't be sure. I don't remember what he looked like. He died
years ago, the night I was wounded. I can't recall much from before the
injury."

"What
happened? I mean, if you don't mind me askin'."

"I was shot.
The bullet's still lodged in my brain. That's what the doctors believe keeps me
in this chair."

Rafe jerked as if
he'd been shot himself at that revelation. No wonder Sparkle got so upset over
firearms. He took a deep breath and forced his thoughts away from weapons and
gunshot wounds.

"Got an older
sister and younger brother. The three of  us are spittin' images on the
outside, but we wrangle over what's in our noggins all the time. They got their
notions, I got mine. Just the way it goes in families. Maybe Sparkle didn't
think you'd cotton to her local beau. I wasn't sure you'd take to me."

"Well, we
aren't meeting under the best of circumstances." Jace coughed. "But
you seem a decent sort. Straightforward. You're fond of my sister. I can see that
for myself."

"I just don't
know what I'm up against. Sparkle won't say much about her other fella. Got no
idea what he looks like, what he does for a livin'. Could be just some figment
of a female's imagination…you know, designed to make me jealous."

"Is it
working?" The teasing glint was back in the cornflower blue eyes.

"Too damned
well. Does that gleam in your eye mean I got your blessin'?" Rafe asked.

Before Jace could
respond, the women stalked back into the room. "It's too late to catch a
train now," Sparkle announced coldly, "but Mr. Conley and I will be
leaving first thing tomorrow. If you'd permit him to stay overnight in the
study, Jace."