TEN

Katie listened to the hollow sounds of Montana’s footsteps as he walked off the porch. Every footfall carried the man she loved further out of her life.

And there was nothing she could do. From the first she’d told him that her family and her plantation were the only important things in her life. Now both were gone and what did she have?

Empty arms and lost dreams.

The night they’d made love she’d covered her need with a lie—that she wanted him for one night only. She hadn’t known then how foolish she’d been. A house was just a house. Her parents were gone, and Carson? The thought of her brother made her first sad, then happy. He was free.

This Louis Gaspard had been able to do what she hadn’t. No, not Mr. Gaspard, Carson. He’d been the one to take his life back, to start again and find a new direction.

Wasn’t that what she’d wanted?

Yes. She just hadn’t expected that Carson’s freedom would take him away from her. For the first time in her life she, too, was free.

Why then did she feel as if her heart was shattered into a thousand pieces?

Because in getting what she thought she wanted, she’d lost the one thing Mary Katherine Carithers never allowed herself to honestly need. Someone to love her.

She heard the sound of the car engine as it roared to life and the spray of gravel as Montana tore off into the night. Full speed ahead, just as he always drove. Facing danger head-on. Never in doubt. Always sure of himself. A man who knew what he wanted and went after it.

She sighed and started up the stairs. It was just as well. Under other circumstances, she might have gone after him. The lady in red would have. But she was just Katie Carithers, and her heart hurt for what might have been.

Cat Boulineau’s dark eyes flashed. Her red fingernails drummed the top of Katie’s desk as she struggled for words. “You told him you cheated?”

“I did. It was the only thing to do. Anything else would have … complicated matters.”

“And things aren’t complicated now?”

“No. I’m looking for an apartment. And after the charity fund-raiser, I’ll sign the house over to Big Jonah. Carson will stay at Mr. Gaspard’s. When he’s ready, he’ll find a teaching job. I’ll keep working here at the hospital, and life will get back to normal.”

“All tied up in a neat little package, huh?”

“I hope so.”

Cat simply shook her head. “I don’t understand you, Katie. You’re simply going to walk away from the most exciting man you’ve ever met? You aren’t even going to let him know that you’re in love with him?”

Katie came to her feet and walked to the window. “I’m not.”

“Rats! Of course you are. I’ve watched you take care of everybody and everything in your family for years—except Katie. Now Katie has a chance to have someone care about her and you’re just giving up?”

“I’m not giving up, Cat. I’m not—I mean—I can’t—”

“Can’t fall in love? Too late, girl. You’re already there. Admit it. You’ve fallen in love with Rhett Butler Montana.”

Katie leaned her forehead against the windowpane. “Yes. I’ve fallen in love with Rhett Butler Montana. But I’ll get over it.”

“Maybe, but I don’t know why you’d want to.”

“Because he doesn’t love me,” Katie whispered. “He can’t. We’re too different.”

“Well, you could have fooled me. The way he’s been running all over the country helping you look for Carson makes me think he might be interested. Of course, I don’t know. Most men would probably do that, wouldn’t they?”

“But he’s a gambler, Cat. He’s used to taking risks, betting on the future. If he loses, he’ll just bet again.”

“Look, Katie. If you’ve learned one thing in the last six years, you ought to know that all life’s a gamble. The question is whether the pot is big enough to take the risk.”

“I guess I’m just scared,” Katie admitted. “I could fight for Carson, but for me? I don’t know how.”

“Maybe Katie Carithers is scared, but Montana’s lady in red isn’t. For once in your life, Katie, go after what you want.”

Katie turned slowly around. “What makes you think I can do it?”

Cat waited a long time before answering. “You’ll never know, will you? Unless you try.”

“You’re right, Cat. Let’s go shopping.”

“Again? What about the office? Who’s going to run the show?”

“I’m in charge,” Katie said, straightening her shoulders. “I figure the hospital owes me a couple of years in overtime. Let it take care of itself for an hour.”

“What are we shopping for this time?” Cat asked, hurrying to keep up with her boss.

“A dress and a mask.”

“Anything special in mind?” Cat asked.

“Very special. It has to be something red.”

“Still sounds crazy to me, Montana,” Big Jonah said as he signed the legal form spread out on Montana’s desk. “I’ve seen that old house, and it’s practically falling down on its foundation.”

“Just sign the paper, Jonah. I want to make certain you’re relinquishing any claim to Carithers’ Chance before I pay off Katie’s debt.”

Big Jonah leaned over and scrawled his signature with a flourish. “There. It’s done.”

“And,” Montana said in a voice that brooked no argument, “you’ll never gamble with anybody named Carithers again.”

“You got it.”

Montana turned to Royal, who hovered in the background. “Give him the money, Royal.”

Royal shook his head and counted out the bills.

Jonah gathered them up, stuck them in his jacket pocket, and held out his hand. “Pleasure to do business with you, Montana. I’ll gamble with you anytime.”

Royal closed the office door behind Jonah and turned back to face Montana. “You know you could have talked him down on the amount, don’t you?”

“I didn’t want to give him any grounds for reneging.”

“So now you own a plantation. What are your plans, boss?”

“The only plans I have right now are to rent a tux and a mask.”

“You mean one of those with the stripe down the pant leg and a pleated shirt?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Montana agreed. “Where can I find one?”

“Ask Cat, she’ll know.”

“Sure you don’t want to go to the ball?”

“Not me,” Royal said. “I got a gambling boat to run.”

“Oh, and Royal,” Montana said with a half smile.

“Get yourself a black frock coat and string tie, will you?”

“You mean you’re asking me to join the Earp gang?”

“As of tonight,” Montana said, “you’re in charge of it.”

The night was perfect for Halloween. Dark clouds swept across the sky in a water-filled smear of boiling black. The limos glided up to the door, dislodged their glamorous occupants, and moved away.

Katie was grateful that in the eerie shadows, Carithers’ Chance didn’t show its shabby exterior. Inside, the elaborate decorations concealed the water-stained walls and worn carpets. The entire lower floor, as always, had been transformed into a casino. Volunteer dealers from local establishments manned the tables. Gaudy lit wheels and rented slot machines blinked, jingled, and whirled.

The covered veranda had been transformed into a dance floor with the study doubling as a bandstand. Once, the occasion had simply been a night to gamble for charity, but over the years, the guests had gradually turned it into a masquerade. Since it was Halloween, elaborate masks had become the order of the evening. The men wore more simple ones; the women wore feathers, jewels, and satin. Each patron vied for the grand prize for best mask, to be awarded at midnight.

Katie stood in the foyer, greeting each attendee. This time her red dress was long. It covered every inch of her like a shimmering skin. Her mask was a creation of feathers and sparkles. She didn’t know whether or not Montana would come, but she’d made certain he’d received an invitation to the five-hundred-dollar-a-person event. She hadn’t seen a check from him, but it could have come in today and she wouldn’t have seen it.

By eleven o’clock her feet hurt and her heart was heavy. Cat was wrong. If Montana had been interested in her, he would have come. She gave up watching the doors and turned to the guests. The gamblers had been unusually generous tonight. Katie was certain that the hospital fund would be large. That should have made her happy, but she could barely force herself to smile.

“Hey, Katie,” Cat’s familiar voice called out. “Come and show these people how to play poker.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Katie said, trying to back away. “It wouldn’t be fair—proper,” she amended.

“Sure it would,” the head of the hospital said. “Your assistant has been telling us how good you are. I’ll stake you to some chips. It’s for a good cause, isn’t it? We’ll even let you deal.”

That was when she felt his presence. Montana was here. She couldn’t see him, but her body suddenly felt alive. That brief moment of intense connection rattled her so that she dropped into the empty seat without being aware that she’d done so.

Helplessly, she looked to Cat. But Cat was looking at someone moving through the crowd toward them, someone Katie couldn’t see.

“Mind if I play?” Montana stopped on the other side of the table.

“Not at all,” Cat said, coming to her feet. “You can have my chair.”

“No,” Katie protested weakly.

“Certainly,” the hospital director said. “Everybody’s money is welcome here.”

“Is that true?” Montana asked, his question directed at Katie. “Everyone is welcome?”

Money, Katie thought. That’s why we’re here. To raise money for the hospital. Without making an utter fool of herself, she had no choice but to play. And this time she wouldn’t lose.

“Of course. What’s your game, stranger?” she said, glad that her face was covered by a mask.

“Stud poker,” he said smoothly. “If that’s all right with the rest of you. I feel lucky.”

The others agreed.

Katie tried not to look at him, but with him being directly across from her, she couldn’t avoid it. If he’d been wicked in his riverboat-gambler attire, he was absolutely devastating in a tux. Tonight, he was a pirate, wearing a black satin mask with no adornment. Other than not revealing his name, he’d made no real attempt at concealing his identity. The chances were that most of the people here wouldn’t have known him anyway.

To Katie, he seemed intent on the card game, not allowing his attention to focus on her.

To Montana, focusing on his cards was the only way he could sit across the table from Katie and not touch her. What she’d exhibited freely before, she concealed now, with a dress that covered her arms, her neck, every inch of her—until she turned her back. There was no back. It dipped so low that she couldn’t have been wearing anything beneath it.

If he’d thought the short skirt and nothing little straps had been sexy before, he’d been wrong. It took him two hands of poker to get his breathing under control.

They played four hands, the hospital head winning one, Montana winning one, and Katie taking the other two. On the fifth hand, the cards went to Montana as the dealer. He gave Katie a long searching look, reached inside his pocket, and pulled out a cellophane-wrapped deck, exactly like the one she’d brought on the Scarlet Lady.

“Let’s have a new deck,” he said, unwrapping the cards and allowing the covering to fall to the floor. “And I’d like to raise the stakes, Miss Carithers. If you’re interested.”

“What did you have in mind?” she managed to say.

“Why don’t we make it one final hand? Double or nothing.”

In her subconscious, she’d known it was coming. They’d been rushing toward this moment all night. And until she spoke, she hadn’t known how she’d answer. She had nothing to give up if she lost. She had to win.

“One hand, sir. Double or nothing.”

“Too rich for my pocketbook,” one of the players said.

“I think I’ll pass,” the hospital director said.

The game would be between her and Montana. A showdown at midnight, just as it had been the first time they’d met.

Montana shuffled the cards, then held them out for Katie to cut them. She shook her head.

He dealt himself a card, facedown, then one to Katie. He took a casual look at his card, smiled. Katie did the same. The next card was exposed. A ten of hearts for Montana, a nine of spades for Katie.

Montana slid a stack of chips to the center of the table. “Ah yes. I do feel lucky.”

Katie smiled, matched his bet, and added more chips. “That’s good. The hospital appreciates your confidence.”

The third card for Montana was a nine of clubs. “Possible straight for me.” He turned over Katie’s card, a ten of diamonds. “Well, now. Possible straight for the lady in red. But what is she holding?”

“It will cost you to find out. Are you betting, sir?”

“Oh, yes.” He added another stack of chips to the table. “And you? Are you ready to concede?”

“Give up? Not on your life.” She added chips. “I think I’ll raise you another ten.”

Montana tried not to grin. This was working out just the way he’d planned. Except for that dress. Even though he could only see the front, he knew her back was bare. And he could feel her skin beneath his fingertips.

“I’ll match you.”

“Of course you will.” The crowd grew quieter, as if it knew there was more going on here than a game.

Montana dealt the fourth cards, a seven of diamonds to himself and the eight of hearts to Katie. Katie looked at the table. Ten, nine, and seven to Montana. Ten, nine, and eight to her. When had she ever seen two such similar hands before? Could Montana’s hole card possibly be an eight? She was beginning to have a funny feeling about what she was seeing.

He turned over his last card. She’d been wrong. The hole card wasn’t an eight, the card he just dealt himself was. Now he was showing seven, eight, nine, and ten. How could that be? He bet, shoving the rest of his chips into the pot.

“An unusual fall to the cards, don’t you think?” she observed. “I don’t suppose my last card would be a seven, would it?”

“I sincerely hope not, darling,” he said, “but one never knows.” He turned over her card and placed it on the table. The seven of clubs. “Well, well. If I weren’t dealing, I’d question these hands.”

Katie studied the cards and swallowed hard. Concealing her nerves would have been impossible without the mask. Once again she checked her hole card, just to make sure she hadn’t forgotten. This time she took a better look, sliding her finger tips across the top and sides as if she were trying to decide what to do.

Then she felt it, the tiny nick in the corner of the card. She’d been right. It was the same deck, the one he’d threatened her with, the one he’d said he locked away in his safe to use as evidence against her. He’d come here prepared to cheat to win. What was he doing?

“I think I’ll just bet it all,” he said. “After all, it’s for a good cause.” He shoved the rest of his chips forward, reached into his coat, and pulled out a stack of bills, which he added to the pot. “I believe the bet is double or nothing?”

He must know that she couldn’t keep up with him. She didn’t have enough chips left to cover his cash. She was going to lose the director’s money to Montana. Even with the cut of it to the charity, she’d still lose her stake.

“Let’s see what we have here. Looks like there’s about five thousand dollars in the pot, wouldn’t you say? Double that would make it ten.”

Katie gulped. There was no way she could cover that. What to do? If she folded, the stake was gone. If she went with the bet and lost, she’d be back where she started, but she had nothing to cover her losses. Besides that, the deck was marked. Montana knew what she had. If he was going to cheat, she’d find her own way to match his bet.

“Can’t handle it, darling?” he asked.

“Not unless you’ll accept my personal IOU.”

“Oh? And what would that be?”

“Would it matter?”

“Not as long as it covered your bet.”

She paused a long moment. “Will someone get me a piece of paper and a pen?”

Seconds later Katie had written something on the paper, folded it, and slid it to the center of the table. “Will you trust me on this?”

“Of course. But let me make a suggestion,” he drawled, pulling the familiar cheroot from an inner pocket and clasping it between his teeth.

“I’m listening.”

“Instead of double or nothing, if you win, you get the pot for the hospital. I don’t have the cash with me to double it, but I’ll throw in the contents of this envelope to make up the rest, with one stipulation. The envelope goes to you personally. Will you trust me, Kate?”

Did she trust him? It was simple. “Yes. But if I lose, the hospital loses?”

“No. I wouldn’t do that. In either case, the money goes to charity. If you lose, I get you—forever.”

The suggestion was outrageous. Montana knew it and so did Katie. He was challenging her. Katie Carithers’s family name against that of a professional gambler. How much did she trust him? What was she willing to give? What did she want forever?

There was a collective gasp around the table. “Now wait a minute,” the director began. “I don’t think you need to do something like that, Katie.”

A warm flush spread over her. Montana had set the game up from the beginning so she’d lose. Why else would he bring a marked deck? And there was nothing she could do about it. What was even more astounding was, she didn’t want to.

“It’s for charity, isn’t it? I think that’s an acceptable idea, sir. I’d just like to make one small change in the bid, if I may.”

“Of course. What would you change?”

“If I win, instead of the contents of the envelope, the lady in red gets you—forever.”

Montana let out a devilish laugh. “My lady in red, if you win, you get both. Let’s see what you have.”

She turned over her hole card, revealing the jack of spades.

Montana looked at her for a long minute. Everyone around the table held their breath. Katie waited, pulse pounding, her heart in her throat. Finally, Montana slid his cards together and looked across the table.

“You win,” he said.

The table went into an uproar. Onlookers slapping Katie on the back, the director beaming from ear to ear, Cat fighting back a look of disbelief.

“I’ll just take care of our collateral,” Montana said, claiming the envelope and the paper and replacing them inside his coat pocket. “According to your conditions, I belong to you.” He held out his hand. “Will you dance with me?”

“Yes,” she agreed. Anything to get away from the eyes of all those who were hearing about their bet. Moments later they were beyond the gambling areas. Montana slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“I’ve wanted to do this ever since I watched you dance with René,” he said, holding her close.

“Montana, what did all that mean, back there?” Katie asked, realizing as she did that the question was foolish.

“We gambled. You won.”

“But what are you doing now?”

“I’m dancing with my lady.” And he was finding out that he was right about the dress. There was nothing underneath.

Katie knew she ought to be asking more questions, but she couldn’t seem to think what she wanted to know. The moonlight, shining through the trees, cast lacy spears of light across the grounds.

The music was romantic. The man holding her was wickedly handsome and her feet felt as if they had wings. Katie gave a little moan.

“What’s wrong, darling?”

“Nothing. It’s just that in all the years we’ve had the ball here, I’ve never danced the last dance. And this is the last dance, isn’t it? Last dance at Carithers’ Chance.”

“You never know,” Montana said, planting a kiss behind her ear. “You just never know.”

At that moment the music stopped, the drummer gave an attention-getting roll, and the crowd grew quiet. The hospital director, with Cat at his side, took the microphone.

First he gave out the awards for the most spectacular masks. Then he asked for another drumroll, followed with: “And I’d like to announce that the preliminary figures appear to be at least a third more than last year’s total. But what is even more exciting is a special donation to the hospital in the name of the Stewart family of Charleston, South Carolina, by their son. Will Mr. Stewart please come forward.”

Everybody looked around, puzzled expressions on their faces.

Katie turned toward Montana. “The Stewart family of Charleston, South Carolina?”

“Well,” he explained as he took her hand and started toward the podium, “like you said, family is important. If I’m going to marry a Carithers, I’d better do something to make peace with mine.”

Her feet and legs responded, though she would never have made it had it not been for Montana’s strong arm around her.

Amid ear-shattering applause, Montana and Katie took their places on the platform. “You’re asking me to marry you?” Katie asked, her voice carrying through the sound system.

“Of course, darling. If you’ll have me. What do you think forever means?”

“Are you Mr. Stewart?” the hospital administrator asked incredulously. “Of the Charleston Stewarts?”

Katie stepped forward, bringing Montana with her. “Yes. I mean, no. The man who made the donation is Mr. Rhett Butler Montana, the man I’m going to marry.”

She pulled off her mask and turned toward him. This was the biggest gamble of her life. There was no tomorrow. “Are you sure, Montana?”

“Why, Miss Katherine,” he said, ripping his mask from his face, “you won me fair and square. You know Montana always makes good on his bets.”

Then, before half the old blood of Louisiana and a good portion of the new, he kissed her.

Only when he finally let her go did he hear the small voice whispering in his ear. “You scoundrel, I know the truth.”

“The truth, Kate? Whatever do you mean?”

“Those cards were marked. You cheated.”

“Sure I did. Are you going to tell?”

“Not in a million years.”

It was later, much later that night, when Rhett slid out of bed and emptied his jacket pocket. He handed Katie the envelope and a small box. “I love you, Katie. This is my wedding gift to you.”

She sat up in the bed and leaned back against the padded headboard, pulling the sheet over her bare breasts and tucking it beneath her arms. “But we’re not married yet.”

“We will be, just soon as you and Cat can shop for a dress.”

“Does it have to be red?” she asked seriously.

“Come to think of it, forget the dress, just open your present so we can get back to the honeymoon.”

Katie opened the envelope, unfolded the legal document inside, and felt her eyes fill with tears. “A clear title to Carithers’ Chance? You paid off Jonah? How did you do that?”

“Well, I do have a little problem with that. I’m going to need your signature.”

“On what?”

“On a bill of sale?”

“What bill of sale?” she asked.

“For the Scarlet Lady.”

Katie leaned forward, allowing the sheet to fall to her waist. “You can’t sell the Lady.”

“Why not?”

“Because—because I own her, or did you forget?”

Montana took her hand in his and raised it to his lips. “No you don’t, Katie. We own her.”

“I’m telling you one last time, Rhett Butler Montana Stewart, I didn’t cheat.”

“I know. But I opened the paper, your collateral on the bet. You signed the boat over to me, win or lose. This will just make everything nice and legal. Open the little box.”

She looked at the box, wrapped in red foil and tied with a glittery bow. “You knew?”

“I know you didn’t cheat. You may be the best poker player I know and I’m never going to play with you again—at least not poker.”

Katie slipped the ribbon off the package and the paper fell to the bed. She removed the top and gasped. Inside the tissue was a small fluff of white. “Cotton? This is cotton.”

“Yep, the kind of cotton we’re going to grow on Carithers’ Chance, once we sell the boat and buy back the land.”

“You want to grow cotton?” She couldn’t hide her surprise.

“Yes, ma’am. I always did. I just wanted to do it for the wrong reasons. Now I want to sit on my veranda with a baby on each knee, a mint julep in my hand, and my beautiful wife at my side.”

Katie looked at her wicked lover and smiled. She reached into the drawer of her night table and pulled out a deck of cards. “I’m not sure I trust you, Montana. Cut the cards. High card decides how many children we have.”

He took the deck and shuffled the cards, letting them fly into the air. “I told you, no more gambling, Katie. I love you. To me, forever is a sure thing.”

She reached out and put her hand on his leg. “You really mean it, don’t you?”

“I do. You’ve filled all the dark places in my life and given me a future. Tell me that you love me, Katie. I want to hear the words.”

“I do. I love you. You’ve given me my past and a future I never expected. I’ll marry you whenever and wherever you want. We’ll drink mint juleps, grow cotton, and make babies.” Her hand began to move forward. “What do you say to that?”

“Ah, my lady in red, I can say with certainty that the South’s going to rise again.”