The Rocky Mountain Heiress Collection (20 page)

The scent of roses would never again conjure the same image. Daniel tugged at his collar and cleared his throat. “Where are my manners? Might I offer you ladies something to drink? Perhaps a treat from Elias’s kitchen?”

“My, but you’re quite the host tonight, Mr. Beck,” Anna said.

“Am I?” He never took his eyes off Miss Cooper.

Anna shook her head. “Yes, you’re acting like you don’t even know who—”

“Actually,” Miss Cooper interrupted, “I am a bit parched.”

“Coffee.” He shook his head. “No, lemonade perhaps. Or tea. Oh, I’ll see what I find. How’s that?”

Daniel left his chair so fast he didn’t bother to ask what she’d like or even extend the courtesy to Anna. He retreated to the kitchen, where he wondered what he’d done to have the Lord reduce him to the state of a blathering schoolboy.

“He’s acting very odd,” Anna said. “And I should know. I’m usually the one making a fool of myself.” She gave Gennie a sideways look. “What’s going on here, really?”

Gennie sighed. “I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Daniel Beck could not possibly be the horrid ogre who regularly abandoned his daughter and bullied governesses from the other side of bathroom doors. He also could not possibly be the man who’d swept her off her feet in the Fisher’s Dry Goods Store.

And he certainly couldn’t be the man she’d just decided to match up with her new friend Anna Finch.

Gennie leaned against the back of the settee and closed her eyes. How could one man possibly be two?

She bolted upright, her eyes opening to see Anna’s shocked expression as she grasped her friend’s hands. “Anna, please tell me Daniel Beck has a brother.”

Anna smiled. “Yes, actually, he does. Remember, I mentioned him just a bit ago?”

“I knew it!” She let go of Anna, then rose, only to fall back into the settee again and slap her knees with her palms. “I knew he couldn’t be the same man I met. He just couldn’t. Oh, the voice was the same, and he certainly looks like him, but that man and Daniel Beck absolutely cannot be one and the same.”

“What are you talking about, Gennie?”

How to explain to her new friend that she’d shamelessly flirted with a stranger, then actually entertained romantic thoughts of him? Even someone who’d known her for years would likely not understand. For that matter, Gennie didn’t understand.

And yet there was no denying her meeting with the stranger in Fisher’s would remain forever etched in her memory. At least until she accepted Chandler Dodd’s offer of marriage.

But that had not yet happened.

“Gennie?”

“It’s all very complicated.” She turned to Anna. “Mr. Beck’s brother, they’re twins, right?”

“Twins?” Anna laughed as she shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never met him.”

“But he’s here in Denver, and it’s possible they could pass for twins?”

“No, and no. From what I understand, Daniel and his brother had some sort of falling out years ago. Something to do with the family business Daniel built, then gave to his brother to run. Cook surmised a woman must have come between them. I always wondered if it might have been Charlotte’s mother, but I was never brave enough to ask.”

“And there’s no possibility of a recent reunion? Perhaps a mending of the ways?”

Anna looked confused and then, by degrees, thoughtful. “I’m just going to admit this to you, Gennie. I’ve got my spies, and I know almost everything that happens over here. If some kind of long-lost reunion had happened with Daniel and his brother, I would have heard about it.” She looked away. “And, yes, I am that pathetic. I can’t explain why, but Daniel Beck has always fascinated me.”

“I understand completely.” And then it hit her. First the realization, then a sinking feeling that began in her gut and traveled quickly to her brain. “Oh, no, no, no. I flirted shamelessly with a man I abhor, detest, and despise. The man I couldn’t stop thinking about is the man I’m plotting to make my escape from.”

Anna grasped Gennie by the shoulders. “What is going on, Gennie? You’re babbling on and not making a lick of sense. In fact,
you
sound like
me.
”

“That’s because it makes no sense. I actually liked him, Anna. I
liked
him.” Gennie leaned back once again and closed her eyes. “I’m
such an idiot. A Wild West adventure does not include donning buckskins and boots and playing the coquette with Daniel Beck, no matter how much I enjoyed it.”

“Wait a minute.” Anna’s grip on Gennie’s arm caused her eyes to fly open. “You flirted with Daniel Beck?”

“Yes. No. Oh, I don’t know.”

Anna’s eyes narrowed. “Explain yourself.”

“I can’t. I don’t know what happened. I was at Fisher’s, and then he was at Fisher’s, and then there was the Mae Winslow novel and a pair of boots and the fringed jacket that looked and smelled just as I imagined the Wild West to look and smell. Well, not the West but the people who populated it.” She paused to take a breath. “I’m not making a lick of sense, am I?”

All poor Anna seemed capable of was shaking her head.

“Look, here’s the thing,” Gennie quickly said. “I don’t even like Daniel Beck. He’s an absent father and a complete autocrat who undermines my authority as governess. And while I’m on the topic, I never intended to be a governess at all. I only traded train tickets with the real governess so she could get married. She and her husband are expected in a few weeks, and then the jig’s up and I’m gone.”

Anna rose and backed away from the settee, nearly upsetting an awful beaded floor lamp in the process. She caught it before it—and she—hit the floor, but neither appeared to have the ability to remain upright much longer.

“I’m leaving, Gennie. It’s late and there’s obviously something wrong between you and Daniel that Daniel has no idea about. I might be a goose-headed fool, but I notice things, and I’ve seen how he looks at you.” Dissolving into tears, she made short work of retracing her steps to the door.

“No, wait!” Gennie scrambled to catch Anna. “I’ve got a plan, and it won’t work without you.”

Her new friend paused, one hand on the doorknob and the other swiping at fresh tears. “What plan? To steal my chance of having Daniel Beck notice me? Well, congratulations. It looks like your plan’s working.”

She yanked at the door and ran out into the night. Gennie chased after her and caught her hand.

“Listen to me,” she said in a tone just harsh enough to get the sensitive woman’s attention. “I do not have any interest in Daniel Beck. Yes, I admit I felt a temporary attraction to him at the dry goods store, but only temporary, and only because I had no idea who he was. I am a soon-to-be-betrothed woman from Manhattan who has no intention of remaining in Denver beyond the end of the month.”

Anna said nothing.

“Are you listening?” Gennie continued. “When you saw me at the Windsor, I’d left my job and was trying to get a room there until my friend Hester wired money.”

Anna shook her head. “Why should I believe you?”

“I don’t suppose you have any reason to.” Gennie released her grip. “If someone had told me two weeks ago I would be standing in front of a silver baron’s mansion in Denver explaining why I flirted shamelessly with someone I now find an atrocious excuse for a man, I’d have called them crazy. And if I were told I’d finally be given the chance to have a Wild West adventure only to waste precious time trying to find a mother for a child who detests me, I would have, well…”

Gennie ran out of words. She looked up at the clear night sky and took a deep, long breath of Wild West air. To her surprise, Anna began to giggle.

Gennie reluctantly swung her gaze from Orion and the North Star to Anna Finch. “I fail to see what’s so funny.”

“That’s just it,” Anna said. “It’s not funny. And yet, it’s so—well, I don’t know—remarkable.”

“Remarkable.” Gennie shrugged. “Well, I suppose one could make an argument for the use of that term. I can think of a few others, however.”

“No,” Anna said, “don’t you see? I’ve been praying for a wife for Daniel and a mother for Charlotte since Georgiana’s funeral. Somehow over time, that wife and mother became me.”

“And that’s what I want too.” Gennie pointed back to the house, every window save one lit up like Christmas. “That’s a house in dire need of a woman’s touch. Would you believe there’s a jungle-themed guest room upstairs? And have you
seen
the jeweled chicken?”

Anna doubled over laughing, even as she continued to swipe at her tears. “I think it’s supposed to be an ostrich. Tova is quite proud of it, though I understand Daniel refers to it in less-than-glowing terms when his housekeeper’s not in earshot.”

“Well, imagine poor Charlotte growing up in a house where she must face the jeweled chicken every time she walks up the staircase.”

“I heard that!”

Gennie looked up to see the object of their discussion hanging halfway out of the nursery window. “Go back inside this instant, Charlotte Beck, or you’ll fall.”

“I’m going to tell my papa you were laughing at his chicken.”

“Say what you want,” Gennie called, “but you’ll have better luck telling him if you’re inside and not lying on the ground in a heap.”

The girl seemed to ponder the point only a moment before disappearing back into the nursery.

“Well,” Gennie said with a sigh, “I’ve won that battle but will likely lose the war. Do you see why she needs a mother? I’m hopeless at this.”

“You did keep her from landing on her head.” Anna shrugged. “I’d say you’re not completely hopeless.”

“That may be true, but I never set out to do this, Anna. I want an adventure.” She wrapped her hands around her midsection. “Does it look like I’d find a Wild West adventure here?”

The door opened, spilling a golden light that reached just beyond where Gennie stood.

“Ladies?” Daniel called.

“I should go,” Anna said.

“No, don’t.” Gennie caught her friend’s arm. “I’d feel better if we talked about the plans I have. I want you and Daniel to be wed so Charlotte can have a suitable woman’s influence.”

“I want that too, Gennie, but I just don’t see how it will happen.”

“Oh, believe me, it will. And soon, for my time in Denver is limited.”

“But it’s been so many years and he’s never indicated the slightest—oh no. Here he comes.”

Gennie glanced back at the house, completely unprepared for the flip her stomach did when she saw Daniel Beck’s silhouette in the doorway.

Think of Chandler. Think of what an awful father this man is. Think of anything else…

Daniel moved toward them in long strides, and Anna backed up at the same rate. “It’s been lovely seeing you again, Mr. Beck,” she called. “And Gennie, I’ll see that the trunk is delivered first thing tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Gennie replied, “and don’t forget we have plans. I’d like it very much if we get together soon to discuss them.”

She barely finished her sentence before her new friend disappeared
behind the thick hedges that divided the property from the Finch home, leaving her alone with Daniel Beck.

Alone with Daniel Beck.
Gennie swallowed and tried to muster enough good sense to either walk back up to the open front door or out the open front gate.

Think of Chandler.

Chandler Dodd was a fine man, a man not given to bad behavior or, likely, lax parental duties. A man who, for a moment, paled in comparison to the one she’d met at the dry goods store.

Think of what an awful father this man is.

Spending time with a child was essential to proper development. It should be no surprise that Charlotte was so unruly.

But the moon showed off his sandy hair to its best, and behind the shadows covering his face were eyes she remembered as kind, yet teasing. She glanced up at the sky and searched for any constellation she might identify, but her gaze drifted earthward to the man headed down the path toward her.

Think of anything else…

Like how she felt when she wrote the letter demanding he return and take charge of his child. Gennie tried to work up enough anger over who he was to forget who he used to be, but all she saw was the charming man from Fisher’s who played the gentleman and the rogue in equal measure.

When he stepped from the shadows, moonlight played over features that wore concern. He reached to touch her sleeve, then seemed to reconsider and let his arm fall to his side.

“Miss Cooper,” he whispered, leaning close enough for her to see the stubble of a day’s beard on his chin, “what are you doing on my lawn?”

The voice. The… No.

The plan. Think of the plan.

“Anna Finch is lovely, isn’t she?” Gennie said.

“Anna Finch is a beautiful young woman.” His smile gave her hope he might play along with the diversion. “As,” he said slowly, softly, “are you. And
you
are here.”

Gennie straightened her spine and her resolve. She’d not be cowed into soppy sentiment by a man with whom she had nothing in common nor held any respect for.

“How did you find me?” he said with the slightest chuckle in his lovely Cambridge-meets-Charleston accent.

Not that anything about this man was lovely. Not in the least. He was a poor example of a parent and a—

“I see you’ve been rendered mute. You found me, and that’s all that matters.” He moved closer. “I don’t know what it is about you, Miss Cooper, but I find myself acting like, well, I’m not myself.”

She took a step back and collided with something sharp. Shock propelled her forward, and Daniel Beck caught her.

“The hedge,” he said against her ear. “You bumped it.”

Her heart hammered furiously as she scrambled to right herself. While Daniel assisted in her finding safe footing, he kept his arms firmly around her.

“I’m fine,” she said, though she felt anything but. She met his unwavering gaze.

Think of the plan.

“As I was saying,” Gennie began, averting her eyes, “Anna Finch is a lovely woman.”

“Lovely,” he echoed.

“And she’s quite clever, actually.”

“Clever,” slipped from his lips as his hand moved from her shoulder to the small of her back.