Sixteen

Marty didn’t speak on the trip to her hotel or on the ride to the McRaes’. Her thoughts tumbled around in her head. She couldn’t believe her feelings toward Gina Sadder. The woman had certainly done nothing to make Marty dislike her so. Then what was it? The frilly clothes and refined talk certainly weren’t reasons to dislike a person, not really. After all, Marty’s sister-in-law Cinda was as feminine as any woman, and Marty didn’t dislike Cinda anymore. So what was it about this woman? It was. . .it was the way she—the way she what? What was it? The way she attached herself to Reece. Yes, that was it! Gina was possessive of Reece. That’s what bothered Marty. Oh good heavens! Marty was jealous. She stole a look at Reece. He looked back at her and smiled.

Marty quickly looked back to her hands in her lap. It infuriated her that with a simple look and dashing smile he could evoke weak, mushy feminine feelings in her.

“You’re awfully quiet.” Reece turned slightly on the seat. “You look deep in thought. What are you thinking?”

How could she answer that? You see, Mr. Keegan, I know you kidnapped my nieces and are a despicable lawyer, but I just can’t seem to get you off my mind.

“It’s Daphne and Daniella, isn’t it?” Reece said, interrupting her thoughts.

“What?”

“That’s why you’ve been so quiet. You’ve been thinking about your nieces.”

“I look forward to being with them,” Marty said, not directly answering his question but covering her true thoughts. She looked around to try to clear her head.

“What is that building?” Marty pointed at a large building with pillars in the front. “Is it a church or something?” Marty had read of large cathedrals back east and in Europe.

“No, the churches in town are not nearly so grand.”

“Some fancy hotel?”

“No, but it’s beginning to look like one.” Reece smiled.

Marty didn’t catch his joke. “It must be something important.”

“No, it’s not important, but the people who live here would like to think so.”

“It’s a house? They must have a lot of children to need a house so huge.”

“Not children, money.” Reece pulled the buggy to a halt in front of the house Marty ogled.

Reece descended from the buggy. He turned and held a hand out to help Marty. She put her hand in his. “Who lives here?”

“You do.”

Marty’s gaze snapped to Reece as he took her by the waist and lifted her down. Fear rippled through her body. The McRaes lived here? What had she gotten herself into?

Reece retrieved Marty’s one bag and her saddlebags from the back of the buggy. He came up beside her and offered her his arm. “Are you coming, Miss Rawlings?” he asked when she didn’t take his offered arm. “You haven’t changed your mind about wanting to be with Daphne and Daniella?”

“Of course not,” she said, offended by the insinuation. She trudged up the stairs ahead of him, then she turned and looked back at him. “Are you coming, Mr. Keegan?”

Reece smiled and trotted up next to her. He looked down at her with warmth and tenderness.

She looked into his eyes. Who was this man that he could make her feel funny inside? She studied the feeling. If she could understand it, she could control it. It was as simple as that.

The door opened, startling her out of her trance. She turned to see a man in a black suit holding the door open, but it wasn’t William McRae.

“Do come in,” the man holding the door said in a slow, even tone.

Marty stepped inside and caught her breath

“I’ll announce you,” the butler said and disappeared through double doors.

A winding staircase led to the upper floor, and a crystal chandelier hung high above the foyer. Marty’s shoes tapped on the marble floor. She felt out of place surrounded by such elegance. These people could offer Dani and Davey the world. Maybe they would be better off here.

“Smile, Marty.” Reece arched his hand through the air. “You’re in the lap of luxury.”

Marty looked up at him and forced a smile. She did not belong here. If it weren’t for seeing Davey and Dani, she would turn tail and run like the coward she felt like.

“Aunt Marty!” Her nieces ran to her.

She knelt down and held them in her arms. They seemed happy. Maybe taking them home wasn’t the right thing to do.

“Daniella! Daphne!” came a sharp voice. “You were told to stay at the table.”

The girls stiffened and turned to the woman. “Yes, Aunty Dora,” Dani said. Davey lowered her gaze and said nothing.

Dora McRae looked down her nose at the girls. “Return at once and finish your lunch.”

The girls walked away slowly with their heads hung low.

Gina Sadder glided into the foyer. “Reece dear, you will stay for lunch.”

“Yes, Mr. Keegan, do stay for lunch,” Dora said without an ounce of sincerity. She turned to her cousin. “Gina, I find it interesting that it’s been so long since you have graced us with your presence. Why did you choose today to drop by?”

“I wanted to congratulate you on your success in court and extend an invitation to a party Grandmother Sadder is holding in Miss Daphne and Miss Daniella’s honor,” Gina said.

Dora’s eyebrows raised. “We’ll be there. Now shall we go to lunch?” She led the way back to the dining room, passing a matronly woman. Marty hadn’t noticed the woman standing there with her disapproving gaze.

Reece leaned close to Marty and whispered, “Silvia McRae, Aaron Senior’s widow.”

Gina slipped next to Reece and entwined her arm around his. “Shall we?” She looked toward the dining room.

Reece nodded and held out his other arm for Marty.

Marty latched on because he was the only one friendly toward her in this repugnant place and because Miss Sadder had firmly attached herself to his other arm.

As they passed Silvia McRae, she stopped them. “Miss Rawlings, while you are in my house, I ask that you not cause any further disruptions.”

Marty changed her mind. Her nieces definitely did not belong here anymore than she did. The sooner she could get them out of here, the better.

Gina, undaunted by the tension in the room, kept the meal from being consumed in silence with her light chatter. She was like visiting royalty, the center of everyone’s attention, even Reece’s. Marty told herself she didn’t care; she was with her nieces. Mentally she kicked herself because she did care and couldn’t understand why.

Upon conclusion of the tense meal, Gina wormed an invitation out of Reece to drive her home, and they left. Marty hated to see him go, but he promised to visit the next day to see how things were going. Tessy, the twins’ maid, showed Marty to her room across the hall from the girls’ room. Before long Davey and Dani joined her.

“Aunt Marty, we missed you,” Dani said, being the first one in the room.

Marty knelt down and hugged them tight. “I missed you too.”

“Are you going to take us home now?” Davey squeezed her around the neck.

“No, not yet. We have to stay here until the other hearing.”

“Then can we go home?”

“Yes. I promise we’ll go then.” Whether we win or not, the three of us will be leaving immediately following that hearing.

❧

Marty stared at the dishes before her. There were three forks, two spoons, two knives, a tea cup, two stemmed glasses, and an ornately folded napkin resting in a gold leaf china soup bowl on top of a matching gold leaf plate. She didn’t know what to do with all of it. Marty closed her eyes, trying to remember what Aunt Ginny had tried to cram into her head about “table etiquette,” as she had called it.

Each piece of silverware had a specific purpose, and if you use the wrong one for the wrong thing, it’s a social disgrace. Why hadn’t she paid more attention to Aunt Ginny? Aunt Ginny always said, “You never know when you will be invited to a formal function and need to know these basic rules of etiquette.”

Marty would just roll her eyes, wondering when she, of all people, would go to some fancy dinner out in rustic Montana. Even if she were invited by some mistake, she certainly wouldn’t go. She would probably have to wear a dress. Now look at her. In a sissy dress at a fancy table.

Concentrate now, Marty. The larger spoon is for soup, and one of the forks is for de—

“Miss Rawlings, is something wrong?” Silvia McRae asked.

Marty quickly opened her eyes to find the McRaes, Dani, and Davey staring at her. “Nothing’s wrong,” she stammered. “Just saying grace.”

“Why don’t you say it aloud for all our benefit?” Silvia looked down her straight, pointy nose at Marty.

Marty cleared her throat and tried to swallow the lump there. Me? Pray? She bowed her head and blessed the food as she had heard Lucas do at every meal. After the amen, but before she raised her head, she quickly added a silent plea to help her make it through this meal with at least a little dignity. A calmness washed over her.

She was smart, and if she just watched what everyone else did and did the same, she wouldn’t make too many mistakes. But she was not to get off that easily.

“Well, now we know where the twins learned their horrendous table manners,” Dora said, crinkling up her nose while looking straight at Marty.

Marty wanted to truly show her manner and stick her tongue out at the pompous windbag but decided it would be wiser to restrain herself.

“Absolutely no breeding, like her sister. It’s a good thing we rescued the twins when we did. Who knows what would have become of them?” Silvia’s insult wasn’t quite as direct. “I think manners are the first thing we should work on. We’ll never be able to take them anywhere with their primitive behavior. I doubt there is anyone of breeding to be found in the whole Montana Territory.”

We do too have breeding. There is horse breeding, cattle breeding, and one family even breeds rabbits. Marty smiled to herself. She had little respect for her sister, but next to this woman, Lynnette had looked pretty good.

William McRae didn’t talk during the meal but kept a critical eye on Marty. He made her nervous. She wondered what was on his mind behind those cold gray eyes. Always watching. She could handle Dora’s and Silvia’s innuendoes, cutting remarks, and the way they talked about her like she wasn’t there. But William’s quiet, methodical staring could be her undoing. It was as if he could see into her very soul and was taking her apart. . .bit by bit.