As much as Mariah longed to lounge in the water for
an hour or more, she didn’t wish to keep her hostess waiting, so she washed up
quickly, dried herself and dressed. Upon leaving, she glanced back at the tub
with the hope that sometime in the near future she’d be able to linger for as
long as she desired.
After dinner, Mariah and Mrs. Yates sat outside at
a table in the courtyard while dusk rolled in. The sun dropping below the
mountains was a beautiful sight to behold but she was so tired she was having
difficulty keeping her eyes open. Her day had begun that morning on the train
and ended with the emptying of her pigheaded employer’s home. Dinner had
consisted of spicy beans and strips of meat wrapped in what Mrs. Yates called a
tortilla,
and the best lemonade she’d ever had.
The wonderful meal in tandem with the work-filled day were threatening to put
her asleep in her chair, but she was too polite to excuse herself from her
hostess so she could make her way back to her room and bed.
“I believe you will be good for my son,” Mrs. Yates
was saying. “Other than myself, he’s unaccustomed to a woman who’ll stand her
ground as you did today.”
“Hopefully, we’ll find a way to get along. I don’t
wish to spend every day wanting to boil him in oil.”
“In spite of all the head butting, Logan is a
decent, honest man. You could work for worse.”
Had she the strength, Mariah might’ve debated that,
but the weariness was weighing her down like a thick winter coat.
It must have showed. “You look ready to keel over,
Mariah.” She suddenly looked up and smiled over Mariah’s shoulder. Without
turning to see who might be approaching, Mariah somehow knew it was her
employer.
“Good evening, Logan,” his stepmother said
brightly. “Have you eaten?”
He took a seat at the table. He was dressed in blue
shirt and denims.
“Yes. I ate with Bonnie inside.”
“Good. Mrs. Cooper needs to go to bed.”
Mariah glanced his way and saw him as she had in
his room without his shirt and she immediately looked elsewhere.
“How are your hands?” he asked.
“Fine.” Mariah wanted to be distant and aloof, but
it was difficult to do so around a yawn wide enough to stick a mountain
into.
“This is why you should’ve rested up today instead
of tackling the house.”
“Thank you for pointing that out, Mr. Yates.” It
was a weak response but she was too tired for another round of verbal fencing
with him.
He said to his stepmother, “She needs a lamp and a
chair for her room. Do you have anything she can use?”
Mariah was surprised that he’d remembered, and
inwardly pleased that he had. She heard them discuss searching a barn, but it
was the last thing she remembered. She’d fallen asleep in her chair, thus
missing Logan shake his head and utter softly, “Fool woman.”
She also missed him gently scooping her up into his
arms.
“Take her inside,” Alanza said. “She can sleep here
tonight.”
At first, Alanza thought he might challenge her
decision. She studied the determined set of his features and the way he held the
young woman against his heart and found both actions quite surprising. Rather
than questioning him about it, she stood and led him into the house.
Once he laid her down, Alanza discreetly watched
his face as he observed his sleeping housekeeper, and saw an uncharacteristic
softness that was also surprising. “You can come back for her in the
morning.”
He nodded but took a moment to remove her shoes.
Alanza covered the fully dressed young woman with a quilt and they both tipped
out.
In the hallway, they returned to their earlier
conversation concerning furnishings for Mariah’s room. “Take whatever you think
she can use from the stores, and definitely replace that old mattress.” The room
used to be the place where the tack was stored.
“Will do.”
“How’s your knee?”
“Sore.”
Although Mariah Cooper had been in her son’s life
less than a day, Alanza could see that she’d affected him in a
grande
way. Even now he was staring at the closed door
as if he could see her sleeping on the other side. She doubted he was even
conscious of what he was doing. “Go home and rest your knee. She’ll be fine
here.”
He gave one last look at the door and departed.
Logan was sitting in the dark on his back porch
smoking a cheroot and recalling the day. He’d gone to the train station to pick
up a woman he figured wouldn’t last any longer than the previous women he’d
employed, but instead found a golden-eyed virago with more temper than a teased
rattler, and as prickly as a desert cactus. In less than twelve hours, she’d
called him out on his manners, accused him of being judgmental, given him a kick
in the knee worthy of an irate mule, and made him buy lumber for a bunkhouse
he’d had no intention of building until he got good and damn ready. And now, she
was sleeping in one of Alanza’s spare rooms. From the peaceful look on her face,
one would never know that with her eyes open, she was hell-bent on making his
life, well, hell. He’d gotten a clean house out of the deal, however, and
although he hadn’t been a party to the decision, he was grudgingly pleased by
the outcome. What didn’t please him was the idea of having to do battle with her
every time she got it into her head to take charge. She was so fiercely
determined, not even slicing open her palms on that wire bed frame had slowed
her down, but
dios,
she was lovely, and that was the
part that seemed to be giving him the most trouble. Were she as dried up and
ugly as he’d assumed she’d be, he’d’ve spent the day growling at her until she
quit and fled like the others. However, there was no quit in Mariah Cooper, just
a body that drew his eyes, and a mouth he wanted to kiss until spring—neither of
which was something he needed to be dwelling upon, considering the steep price
he’d already paid. He rubbed his knee. A man with any sense would leave her to
her duties as housekeeper and forget about the draw of all that loveliness.
Deciding that was the safest road to travel, his reverie was interrupted by Eli
Braden stepping up on the porch. “Thought you’d gone home,” Logan said
suspiciously.
“Nope. Too scared I’d miss something. How’s the
knee?”
“Knee’s fine, and she’s sleeping up at Alanza’s, so
show’s over for today.”
“Too bad.”
Logan reminded himself that Eli was his best
friend.
“Couldn’t believe she kicked you like that.”
“Noticed how funny you thought it was though.”
“You have to admit it was.”
“Not as funny as that pan of dishwater that was
dumped on your head a few months back.”
“Let’s not talk about that. That suit cost me half
a week’s pay and it’ll never be right again.”
“Told you trying to make her jealous was a
harebrained idea.”
Eli was in love with a woman named Naomi Pearl. She
owned a diner on the outskirts of Guinda, and was as much a handful as Mariah
Cooper.
“Nobody ever said love was easy,” Eli pointed
out.
“Uh-huh.”
“Did you get the lumber ordered?”
“Yes. Crane says he’ll have it ready for us to pick
up the day after tomorrow. And don’t ask me why I changed my mind. I don’t want
to talk about it.”
But Eli was smiling.
“What?”
“Nothing, just enjoying the show. Regardless of how
you feel about her, she worked her fancy little behind off today. Not afraid of
work.”
Logan agreed. “No, she’s not. Not afraid of much
else either, apparently.” He kept remembering the soft weight of her in his arms
while carrying her to bed. For some unknown reason it felt right and he found
that oddly disturbing. “I may go see Valencia in a few days.”
“Need a female that asks ‘how high’ when you say
‘jump’?”
“Don’t you have a house and a bed a few miles from
here?”
“I do, and I’m going, but I’ll be back first thing
in the morning for a ringside seat. Sleep well, my friend.”
With that, Eli mounted his horse and galloped off
toward his home, leaving Logan alone to contemplate the questions and chaos
brought into his life by his golden-eyed housekeeper.
I
n the dream it was night, the moon was full, the
stars twinkled like diamonds in the sky, and Logan was on the seat of the
buckboard slowly opening the buttons of Mariah’s white blouse. Her lips were
parted and swollen from his kisses. He moved his mouth down to the hollow of
her bared throat and inhaled her sweet scent while his tongue tasted the
soft skin. He felt her tremble and sigh with rising passion. Taking a moment
to recapture her lips, he slowly set about coaxing more response while his
hands lazily explored her form. More buttons were conquered and he greeted
each newly exposed patch of skin with hot flicks of his tongue until nothing
stood between his lips and her breasts but the lace-edged top of her shift
and the corset beneath. Wanting her with a need as broad as the mountains,
he moved the shift and corset aside and freed one dark-tipped beauty.
Lowering his head, he savored it lustfully. She crooned in the silence,
whispering his name, and when he had his fill, he freed the twin; sucking,
licking and biting her gently. Her lilac-scented skin was warm, the sight of
her bare breast in the moonlight so arousing he wanted more, so he gently
eased her skirt and slips up her thighs. When he touched her in the dark
valley that held her treasures she was wet with wanting. He played and
parted and teased the tiny nubbin that anchored a woman’s delight until she
was gasping, twisting, and arching against his hand. He placed her astride
him and gently pushed his near bursting erection home. Stroking her with an
increasing pace, he filled his hands with her tantalizing hips. Moments
later, she cried out her release and he came tumbling after, laid low by an
orgasm that made him shout her name to the night. And then he woke
up.
L
ogan
sat up panting. Disoriented, he looked around and realized he was in bed and
that he’d been dreaming. Dragging his hands down his face, he couldn’t believe
how erotic the dream had been or how incredibly hard he was. Falling back
against the mattress, he quietly cursed her and closed his eyes, but the dream
kept replaying itself. Frustrated by his inability to escape the images, he
threw back the sheet and got up. Walking out to his back porch, he sat down, but
the lust-filled memories continued to tease and taunt. It was his hope that the
cool night air would bring him relief, and it did, but it took a while.
M
ariah awakened groggy and confused. Nothing looked familiar—not the room, not the bed, not the room’s heavy, ornate furniture or the quilt she was lying beneath.
Where am I?
Puzzled, she peeled the quilt back and sat up. She noticed that she was still dressed in yesterday’s skirt and blouse. Then everything came back. Last night. She’d fallen asleep. Concern filled her that she might be in Logan Yates’s bedroom, but the draperies and furniture were too feminine in appearance to have been chosen by a man, so she relaxed, though her location remained a mystery. A knock on the closed door sounded. She replied with a wary, “Come in.”
Bonnie, Mrs. Yates’s housekeeper, entered, carrying a tray of covered dishes. “Good morning, Mrs. Cooper. Brought you something to eat.”
Mariah now knew where she was, but was surprised that the plump, red-haired housekeeper was waiting on her as if Mariah was her employer. “Good morning. But you aren’t supposed to be bringing me breakfast. I’m help just like you.”
“I know that, and so does the senora, but she insisted, and said you are to eat before you return to Mr. Logan’s place.”
“But—”
“No buts. Bathing room’s down the hall.” She set the tray on the vanity table and exited.
Mariah fell back on the bed. She doubted Yates would be pleased, knowing his housekeeper was being catered to like quality. She imagined him at home twiddling his thumbs and fuming over her late appearance. Hoping he wouldn’t be spoiling for a fight, she left the bed to begin her day.
With her needs taken care of and her breakfast consumed, she managed to find her way down to the front parlor, where Bonnie was sweeping the hardwood floors. “Mr. Logan’s outside waiting on you,” she said, taking the tray from Mariah’s offered hand. “If you need any help at his place, just let me know. Oh, the senora has gone to town. She said she will stop in to see you when she returns.”
“Thank you.” Girding herself for the day’s first encounter, Mariah hurried outside. She found him seated on the bench of the wagon they’d ridden on yesterday. The bed was piled high with something covered beneath a large tied-down tarp. “Good morning. Sorry to keep you waiting, I didn’t know you were here until a second ago.”
“Morning.”
Mariah could see the grumpiness in his face, and even though it probably stemmed from her tardiness, she was determined to be pleasant. It wouldn’t do to begin the day arguing. “My apologies for not being at your place this morning. I don’t remember much after you arrived here last evening.”
“You fell asleep at the table and Alanza thought it better if you stayed with her, so I carried you up to the room.”
“You carried me?”
“You weren’t in any condition to make it on your own.”
That she’d been asleep in his arms left her somewhat speechless.
“Let’s get going.”
She went around to the passenger side of the wagon. He slid across the bench and stuck his hand down for her to grab. She glanced at it and then up at him, and since she had no other choice, placed her hand in his. He held on while she found a toehold and climbed aboard. His hand was strong, warm. Once seated, she chose to fuss with her skirts rather than look him in the face, but she couldn’t resist for very long. A quick glance showed his tersely set profile. He put the team into motion and drove them away.
It was Mariah’s first morning in California and putting aside the distant man beside her, she shivered a bit beneath her shawl in the crisp, chilly air. The sun hadn’t fully revealed itself, so the sky still held hints of dawn’s gray. She found herself marveling again at the beauty of the mountains now shrouded in a wavering coat of fog. The orchard workers were out and busy, as were the men tending the cattle and horses. Men on horseback rode by and shouted greetings to Logan. A few even called out to her, which she found pleasing. This was to be her home, so it was nice to be acknowledged, even if she was just the housekeeper.
“How’re your hands?”
“They sting a bit but Mrs. Yates gave me some plasters yesterday. They’re more comfortable than the gauze.” Then she ventured to ask, “How’s your knee?”
“Still sore, but nothing I can’t handle.”
He glanced her way. Even though he appeared angry about something, all she could think about was the sight of his bare chest. The few men she’d known back East paled in comparison in both stature and handsomeness. He was as overwhelming as the mountains rising against the horizon.
When they reached his place, he pulled back on the reins and set the brake. “Furniture in the bed’s for your room.”
Surprised, she looked back at the tarp.
“The hands and I will unload it.”
“I can help.”
“Don’t need you.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. “All you get to do is point and tell us where you want things to go. Think you can do that?”
Wondering what rocker he’d gotten his tail caught under, she nodded.
“Good. I’ll come around and help you down.”
But this time he didn’t give her a hand. Instead he picked her up and set her on her feet before him. She wanted to chastise him for going against her wishes again, but she was so vividly aware of just how off balance he made her feel, she didn’t say anything.
“Problem?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good. Go on in. I’ll get some help.”
She went inside.
Even though Mariah participated in the big cleanup, she was nonetheless amazed by the interior’s transformation. Yesterday when she first arrived she hadn’t noticed how the parlor flowed so seamlessly into the dining room, or that its windows offered such a spectacular panoramic view. Once the new stove was picked out and delivered, and the carpenter Alanza suggested be hired started and finished the new kitchen cabinets, it would be a comfortable place to live. If and when Yates married, he’d have a home his wife wouldn’t be ashamed to call her own. A cloud crossed over her at the thought of another woman living in the house, but she refused to dwell on it.
The furniture the men were bringing refocused her attention. The thin mattress on the bed was replaced by one more substantial. To her delight, the men, Logan, and Eli carried in a bed frame for it to rest upon, and there were even sheets and pillow slips. Added to that was a chest of drawers, lamps, a small wardrobe, a nightstand, and the sitting chair she’d requested.
Once everything was positioned to her satisfaction, she thanked them. In response, they politely touched their hats and left her and Yates in the room alone.
“Do you need anything else?” he asked.
“No. This is far more than I ever expected.” She thought back on the tiny little space that served as her bedroom back in Philadelphia. Although this new room was small as well, it felt as large as a cathedral in comparison. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She eyed the small undressed window. “Once I save up enough money, I’ll buy fabric and make curtains. My aunt promised to send my sewing machine once I arrived here, so I’m hoping it will get here soon.”
“Thanks to my brother, the sea captain, Alanza has more fabric than she’ll ever use. Have her or Bonnie show you where it’s stored. You may be able to find something you like.”
“I’ll do that. Thank you.”
Silence rose and an awkwardness rose in Mariah, too. He was watching her with such intensity, she felt the heat from across the room. “I sew well enough to make you new shirts or trousers if you are in need of any.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Your mother said I was to speak with you about purchasing a stove, and about hiring the carpenter for the new cabinets.”
“I suggest the two of you get together and decide what’s needed. Just leave me enough money in the bank to buy feed and pay my hands.”
“I wouldn’t purchase anything without your approval.”
“If Alanza’s involved, my approval or disapproval won’t matter. Get whatever you think the house needs.”
“I’ll try and be frugal.”
“I appreciate that, and as for the carpenter, decide how many cabinets are needed and I’ll talk with Max Rudd. That was who she suggested?”
“Yes.” Mariah hadn’t expected the conversation to go so smoothly. She’d had visions of them locking horns over not only prices but the necessity of some of the items on the long list of items she thought the house needed. Yet, they hadn’t exchanged one cross word, which made her wonder if he’d suffered some sort of brain malady as a result of the kick she’d given him yesterday.
He must have seen some of what she was thinking on her face, because he asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Truthfully, I expected us to argue.”
“I can be cooperative when it’s in my best interest.”
“That’s good to know, because I’d like for us to get along. I don’t expect us to be friends, but being able to deal civilly with each other will go a long way toward making our dealings less acrimonious.”
“I agree.”
“I have two requests.”
“And they are?”
“I’d like to take a tour of the ranch and I’d like you to teach me to ride, or at least drive.”
Logan had been grumpy all morning because of the dream he’d had about her last night, and now, her talk of riding instantaneously transported him back. She was again astride him and he had the sweetness of her hardened nipples in his mouth. The reason he was so attracted to her continued to confound him because he didn’t even like short women. Yet she had the ability to undo the control he was accustomed to exercising over himself and that left him not only wanting her, but even more irritated. “Have Alanza give you a tour and we’ll see about the riding when your hands heal.”
“Can’t I wear gloves?”
“Did you challenge Henry this way, all day?”
“If we leave my deceased husband out of this maybe we can come to a compromise. You were the one who insisted I needed to learn, and I heartily agree.”
He ran his eyes over her gorgeous smart-alecky mouth and thought about the kisses he’d drawn from it last night in his dream.
“If you don’t wish to teach me, just say so, and I’ll ask Mr. Braden or someone else.”
Logan didn’t want Eli teaching her anything. “I’m going to ride over and talk to the carpenter. I’ll be back later.” And he left her. It was either that or risk being injured again.
Mariah was so outdone by his abrupt departure, she wanted to call him back so she could shake him. She’d tried her best to be cooperative, but he seemed intent upon being difficult. “He really needs to stop having vinegar for breakfast,” she drawled sarcastically and picked up the sheets to make her bed.
O
utside, Logan walked over to the corral where the hands were still breaking the horses. He stood next to Eli and watched for a moment as the big chestnut mare threw her rider again and again. “You and the little lady at it again?” Eli asked.
“How can you tell?”
“Your face looks like a Texas thunderstorm. What happened this time?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Logan refused to reveal that she’d infiltrated his dreams and that he was as randy as an adolescent in a whorehouse as a result. “I’m going to ride over to Max’s to talk to him about the bunkhouse build. Keep an eye on things until I get back.”
“You want some advice?”
Logan snorted. “From you? No. Not a chance.”
Eli laughed.
Logan felt a bit less stormy as he and Diablo reached the road that led to Max’s ranch, but the approach of a familiar-looking buggy brought back the clouds. The driver was rancher Jim Deeb, president of the local cattlemen’s association. Some of the other ranchers were encouraging Logan to run against him in the upcoming election because not only was Deeb a braggart, but he was also taking money under the table from some of the distributors they all depended upon to move their beef to the markets back East.
As Deeb’s buggy neared, Logan hoped the man would drive on by, but of course he didn’t.
“Morning Logan.”
“Jim.”
“I hear you hired a new housekeeper. What’s she like?”
“Why?”
“Seeing as how I got one of the biggest spreads in the county, something always needs cleaning. Just wondering if maybe she’d like to work for me, if she’s looking for extra money.”
“She isn’t.”
“Hear she’s quite a looker, too. High yella and eyes to match. Val know you got a woman like that living with you?”
“Why do you care?” Deeb reminded Logan of those small yappy dogs women had taken to carrying around. He was half Logan’s height yet insisted on challenging him as if he weren’t. They’d known each other since childhood and had more than a few fights in their younger years. Deeb invariably lost, but that hadn’t deterred him from continuing to be an aggravating son of a bitch. “Felicity know you’re trying to hire someone without asking her permission first?” Felicity Deeb was a nice enough woman but rode her husband like a caballero in a horse race.
Deeb took immediate offense. “I don’t need her permission.”
“You need her permission to piss and we both know it. So how about you drive on and do whatever it is she sent you out for before she comes looking for you.”
And while Deeb puffed up angrily and began to sputter, Logan rode away.
Max Rudd had been one of his father’s best friends. He was a rancher, horseman, and did carpentry on the side. After Abraham’s death, when life became hard for the family Abe left behind, Max did what he could to help. He paid some of the taxes, took Logan and his brothers hunting so there’d be fresh meat to eat, and anything else Alanza needed to ease her burdens. Logan was fairly certain Max was in love with Alanza, but loyalty to his late friend kept him from acting upon it. Alanza was a force of nature; few women could match her tenacity and strength. Were Logan to choose someone to take his father’s place in her life, Maxwell Rudd would get his vote because he wouldn’t try to change her, or more importantly, tame her.
Logan found him in the barn that served as his wood shop.
“Well, hello there, Logan. How are you?”
“I’m faring.”
“Hear you got yourself a new housekeeper.”
“Is there anyone who doesn’t know?”