“I am.” Little Ace smiled at his mother. “I want this one. It’s soft and smells good.”
Caitlin ruffled his hair. “Mind that you are gentle, then.”
Rachel lifted the mewling feline she held to admire its markings. “I stand corrected, Daphne. This is the one for you. A baby girl with a diamond shape on her forehead. If you take her, you’ll always have baby kittens to love, too. Just make sure your papa approves and commits himself to supplying plenty of milk and food for your cat family.”
Daphne took the kitten, her blue eyes round with wonder. Looking up at Brianna, she whispered, “Do you think Papa will let me have her, Mama?”
In that moment, Brianna would have believed anything was possible. “He might.”
“I’m going to call her Diamond!” Daphne cried.
Dory entered the barn and came to sit on the hay with them. The circle was now complete. She admired Daphne’s kitten. “I don’t think Diamond is the right name for her,” she said thoughtfully, her brow creasing in a thoughtful frown just the way Daphne’s did. “See how the diamond shape is up between her little ears? I think she should be called Tiara.”
Daphne took the kitten back to study her markings. “Like a princess, Grandma?”
“Absolutely,” Dory said, dimpling her cheek. “My granddaughter deserves nothing less than a cat with royal blood.”
Brianna stared stupidly at her daughter and Dory Paxton. The resemblance between the older woman and little girl wasn’t only physical. They shared mannerisms and facial expressions. Watching them together and knowing that the two were not related by blood, Brianna could scarcely believe her eyes. Dory even had the same strawberry mark on her neck.
“Well,” Rachel said, springing to her feet, “we can no longer count on Grandma Dory to be watching over dinner. I’d better get back before the men take over.”
“Oh, lawzy.” Caitlin jumped up, too. “Ace will start playing with Dory Sue and forget all about my bread.”
Little Ace started to cry because he didn’t want to leave the kittens. Caitlin quickly dispensed with his tears by saying, “Run, Daphne! I bet Little Ace can’t catch you!”
And the race was on. Brianna fetched her hat. As she departed from the barn in the company of David’s female relatives, she swatted at her silk skirts to dispense with the hay. “I think I need to visit the dress shop for some more practical gowns. I can see right now that silk will never do for everyday wear.”
“The dress shop? You needn’t do that.” Caitlin grinned impishly. “Rachel and I both sew, and our husbands have supplied us with the loveliest sewing machines you’ve ever clapped eyes on.”
Rachel nodded. “I have some yellow gingham that would look fabulous on you! I thought it would work for me, but when I got it home and held it up in front of a mirror, I looked like a yellow blob.”
“And I have a length of pink!” Caitlin exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to wear pink, but it simply isn’t usually possible for me. It clashes with my hair something awful.”
“You both sew?”
Dory, trailing slightly behind them, answered that question. “Sew? They are masters of the art.”
“I have heaps of patterns,” Rachel cried. “Just wait until you see. I’ve got all the latest fashions.”
Brianna was delighted to have sisters-in-law who shared her passion for creating gowns. “Uh-oh. That won’t bode well for a dress shop. David mentioned buying me the one in town. It doesn’t sound as if I’ll get much business.”
Caitlin’s eyes lighted up. “Are you a designer?”
Brianna considered the question. Normally she would reply with modest understatement, but these women made her feel as if she was one of them, and it didn’t seem wrong to state the truth. “It is my aim to one day become famous for my originals. I’ve only had the opportunity to design a few gowns, with cost always a drawback because it was in a small town, but with what I had to work with, I feel that I created some smashing successes.”
“Truly?” Dory stepped forward to lock arms with Brianna. “How lovely! The dressmaker in No Name is older and doesn’t keep up with the trends. If I want something high quality and fashionable, I must go back to Frisco for fittings. It would be so much easier if I could do that here. Are you really that good?”
Brianna thought about it for a moment, and deep in her heart of hearts, where impossible dreams had taken root, she did believe she was. “Well, it’s all very subjective, isn’t it? What I can definitely say is that I’m talented at sketching and producing what I draw. So perhaps we could spend a day creating some lovely gowns on paper to see if we share the same vision.”
“Oh, lands!” Rachel planted a hand over her breasts and spun in a circle. “I must ask Joseph to fill out a blank draft so I can go a little crazy. I’m due for at least
two
really fabulous gowns. My aunt Amanda is in Paris right now! She sent me some pamphlets of the fashions there. How lovely would it be to greet her when she gets home wearing an eye-popping Parisian look-alike?”
In that moment, Brianna felt as if she was truly a part of this family. It was a heady, wonderful feeling. There was only one fly in her ointment: the inescapable fact that she didn’t truly belong.
The early supper, which Brianna helped to prepare, was mind-boggling to both her and Daphne. So much food for only one family! There was fried chicken and pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans, canned corn swimming in butter, fabulous yeast rolls fresh from the oven, two huge pitchers of chilled milk, and salad, all the ingredients of which Dory had collected from the grasslands around Ace’s house. Little Ace was perched on a stack of books on the side bench of the long plank table. The toddlers each sat at a corner in elevated chairs with swing-around eating trays that Ace had made.
Just as the family surrounded the table to say the blessing before sitting down, the front door swung open, and another man who greatly resembled David stepped inside,
dusting his jeans with a brown Stetson and stomping his boots on the threshold rug.
“Sorry I’m late. Had a heifer go down while calving. She almost didn’t make it.”
David unfolded his hands and went to hug his brother. As he turned back to the room he said, “Brianna, my baby brother, Esa. Esa, my wife, Brianna, and my daughter, Daphne.”
Esa, with his David-like face and blue eyes, pushed at his short blond hair and whacked his hat against his leg again. “I’m too dirty to shake hands, but I’m glad to make your acquaintance, Brianna.” His mouth relaxed into a grin. “Hey, Daphne. It’s good to finally meet you.”
Ace, who loomed like a dark sentinel behind his chair at the head of the table, said, “Between kittens and dinner preparation, I’ve barely met them myself.” Inclining his head at the one empty place setting, he added, “Go wash up. We’ll wait for you if you hurry and don’t let the food get cold. Just remember to scrub behind your ears.”
“Jesus, Ace, I’m not a pup anymore.”
Dory spoke up. “Another word like that, young man, and I’ll be scrubbing your mouth with lye soap. You’ll not take the Lord’s name in vain in front of the children.”
Brianna jerked her gaze to David’s. His lean cheeks went a bit pink; then he winked at her. She ducked her head to hide her smile.
“Sorry, Ma.” Esa paused before heading up the hall to the washroom, which Brianna had visited and knew held a commode, a sink, and a tub, all with piped-in hot and cold water. To her, those were incredible luxuries. Glancing at the children, Esa said, “Jesus and I are best friends, so I say his name real regular during prayer. I meant no disrespect.” He plucked a small, leather-bound book from the waistband of his jeans. He wore a hand-tooled belt and also a gun belt much like David’s, which sported a holstered Colt revolver at each hip. “My Bible,” he said. “I plan to be a preacher someday soon.”
“A
what
?” Ace asked.
Esa drew up his shoulders, met his older brother’s gaze
with eyes that suddenly sparked like flint, and said, “You heard me. I’m going to be a preacher.”
“Jesus H. Christ,” Ace whispered.
Dory said, “Caitlin, where is your lye soap?”
“Ma,” Ace said with a warning note in his voice. “This is no time for that. He’s serious.”
“The two of you are talking like sailors, and I won’t have it in front of the children.”
Brianna totally agreed and was mentally applauding Dory for speaking her mind when David broke out with, “For Pete’s sake, Ma, Esa just said he’s going to become a preacher.” He gestured toward his younger brother with a spread hand. “You can’t blame us for questioning his sanity. He’s a gunslinger, same as we are. How in the hell does that make sense? He can’t read from the Good Book and tell people how to live their lives when he’s packing six-shooters.”
Esa took a step back into the dining area. “Why the hell can’t I? I can believe in the Good Lord and still wear guns. Where does it say I can’t defend myself against violence and still be a Christian? You need to read the Bible, David. Jesus was no pansy ass. I’ll wear my Colts and quote Scripture, and I’ll reach people who are struggling to survive in this harsh country, carrying a rifle in one hand and a shovel in the other.”
“I don’t think defending myself is wrong,” David retorted. “But given the fact that I do defend myself and will continue to do so when I’m threatened, I don’t think I’m fit to be a man of the cloth, and neither are you.”
Brianna glanced at her daughter. Daphne’s eyes were as round as supper plates. Returning her attention to the Keegan-Paxton family, Brianna decided that her arrival as a fallen woman, with a heretofore illegitimate daughter in tow, had just taken second seat.
Bless you, Esa.
He’d drawn all the attention away from her.
The next instant, Brianna wasn’t so sure Esa was a godsend. Joseph, David, and Ace all surged away from the table in a wave of formidable masculinity to confront their youngest brother, who stood with his worn Bible clutched in one brutal fist. Brianna feared there might be a physical clash. Just the possibility had her racing around the table,
grabbing up her daughter, and retreating to a far corner of the front room. To her amazement, Rachel and Caitlin never moved from behind their chairs, leaving their children in harm’s way. Their only concession to the heated debate was to place their folded hands on the backs of their chairs, as if they were still waiting for a reverent blessing and eats.
“You don’t have what it takes to be a preacher, Esa,” Ace intoned firmly. “I’m with David. What the hell are you thinking?”
Joseph chimed in, “For God’s sake, Esa, you cuss worse than I do. Some impression you’d make.”
David capped it all by saying, “Son of a bitch. I bring my wife and daughter here for a first family dinner, and what does Esa do but make the announcement of the year and ruin everything! Do you always have to be the center of attention?”
Dory sent Caitlin a pointed look. Caitlin hurried into the kitchen and returned with a bar of soap in her hand. Dory caught hold of it, straightened her narrow shoulders, and to Brianna’s horror, waded right into the middle of the fray, with men towering around her. She looked each of them directly in the eye.
“Enough! You’re behaving like ill-mannered galoots!” She held up the bar. “You can continue with this foolishness and eat lye soap, or you can return to the table, bow your heads for the blessing, and dine like the gentlemen I raised you to be.”
With a bit of groaning, the men returned to the table while Esa went to the water closet for a quick scrub. He returned with dampness darkening his blond hair. His face, ears, neck, and hands were free of dirt. Brianna repositioned herself and Daphne in their former places, and Ace, at the head of the table, commenced with the blessing.
As the food was passed, Brianna expected the men to remain silent, but before the mashed potatoes reached her, David said to Esa, “You aren’t going to get all preachy, are you? I don’t think I can handle having a holier-than-thou brother.”
Esa swallowed, dabbed at his mouth with his napkin, and
said, “That’s where most preachers fail, by acting holier-than-thou. They set standards no normal human being can live up to, and then they become laughingstocks when they fail to do as they preach. I’ll never claim to be without sin, and I’ll never expect anybody else to be, either. We’re all just people doing the best we can to live decent lives.”
“Since when did you decide to wear a white collar?” Ace asked.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while.” He glanced apologetically at Caitlin. “I’d honor you by becoming a priest, Caitlin, but I’d like to marry and have children someday, so I don’t think that’s my calling.”
Dory piped in with, “I, for one, am very pleased to hear that Esa is considering a religious calling. At least some of our Bible study at night rubbed off on one of you.”
The remainder of the meal passed with mostly pleasant exchanges, the only exceptions being when the males of the family ribbed one another. At one point, Dory excused herself to collect her childhood scrapbook and show off a daguerreotype of herself at about Daphne’s age. Brianna could only gape at the likeness when the book was passed to her. The resemblance to Daphne was uncanny. Upon closer inspection, however, Brianna determined that any blond little girl with fine features might resemble the image in the daguerreotype. Granted, the similarities were there; that was undeniable. But the Keegans and Paxtons were making more of them than was warranted.
“Daphne has Dory’s chin,” Rachel noted. “And she even has the Paxton birthmark!”
Caitlin remarked, “That dimple in the child’s cheek is another dead giveaway.”
Ace laughed and said to David, “That is one child you can’t deny.”
David beamed with pride.
Brianna went with the flow of conversation, nodding and smiling in agreement. What else could she do? Even if she blurted out the truth and convinced these people to believe her, it would destroy Daphne.
When it came time to clear the table, Brianna had
started to relax around the men. The fearsome Ace Keegan was a gentle giant with his children and wife. Joseph spent more time holding Little Joe than Rachel did and was wearing a goodly amount of mashed potatoes by the time he’d finished trying to feed his son.