Hiram shook his head grimly. “Nope. I wired the Dyer County sheriff in Tennessee and he met me when I got into town. We decided to personally check on those orphans you’ve been paying for. Imagine our surprise when the Hearth and Home turned out to be a fancy hotel.”
Clearly Hiram didn’t want to deliver the information, but he did just the same. Ben and Laura didn’t bother with a denial.
“All that money you supplied for the schooling, feeding and day-to-day tending of seven children ranging in age from three to twelve—there is no Bobbi, Alice, Jeannie, Jimmy, Caroline, Lollie or Seth. You’ve been investing in a mighty nice hotel. I brought these two along because if you didn’t hear it from the miscreants themselves, I knew you’d never believe you’ve been swindled.”
Deacon didn’t expect Miri to cry or show her upset, but he didn’t expect her to laugh either.
“No kids, huh?” She skewered Laura with a shrewd look. “I bet this was your idea, wasn’t it? You always were good at laying out a plan and following through.”
Miri seemed completely unperturbed when she escorted her two former friends to the kitchen where she served them pie and coffee.
“You’re in charge of her now, McCallister. I can quit worrying.” Hiram settled down with his dessert, listening to the story Ben and Laura told. According to them, they’d seen the hotel as a grand investment of Miri’s money. They, of course, had intended to tell her the truth but hadn’t gotten around to it.
“You were so excited about the children, I didn’t want to tell you the way of it and let you down.” A fat tear trickled down the woman’s cheek and Deacon felt momentary sympathy.
“Forget about the tears. As I recall, you could turn them on and off.” Miri laughed again.
Deacon decided Miri had her old friend pegged right, because the tears evaporated as soon as it was clear they wouldn’t buy any sympathy.
“We need to get back,” Ben muttered, glaring at Hiram. “We had to leave the manager in charge.”
“A manager, huh?” Miri went into peals of laughter again and Deacon worried that maybe she was hysterical. But when she sobered up, she said slyly, “Me and my husband will have a look at the books come the first of the year. Sounds like we own a fair share of the hotel. Wouldn’t that be right, Deacon?”
“Yep. And Hiram says it’s right smack in the middle of town, with twenty-five rooms to let.”
“The Dyer County sheriff says they keep ’em full most of the time.” Hiram poured a second cup of coffee and leaned back, studying the two.
“We have worked hard to build—” Laura began defensively.
“Using my wife’s money,” Deacon cut off her excuse.
“A third each,” Ben offered. “Our work should count for—”
“Half,” Miri said and smiled. “I appreciate your labor. But I worked hard too to get you the money.”
“Are you going to have us arrested?” Laura asked tensely.
“Naw,” Miri answered and let Deacon draw her out of the room. “Best not tarry long in Eclipse. You’ve got a business to keep running so my investment wasn’t for naught.”
She even stood in the doorway and called after them, “Merry Christmas” when Hiram ushered them back into the night. Before he left, he said he’d let the law know about the new ownership details.
Instead of traveling back to their cabin by the river, Deacon and Miri elected to stay over and have breakfast with the rest of the McCallister family. The women had decreed it a new tradition, an idea that warmed Deacon’s heart in places he’d not realized were cold.
His former bedroom lacked the warmth of Annie’s cabin and he almost regretted staying over. It also lacked privacy. He propped a chair against the bedroom door to keep it shut and divested himself of his clothes, but Miri beat him in her disrobing and jumped in the bed first.
“I ’spect you think I’m a ninny,” she said self-consciously, sitting in the bed with her knees drawn up, staring at him.
“Nope,” he answered smugly. “I think you’re a force of nature, a gift from God to Laura and Ben as well as me. I think you’re a miracle.” He slid under the blanket and pulled her into his arms, nuzzling her behind the ear until she dissolved into giggles.
“I love you, Deacon Robert McCallister,” she whispered. “Don’t take on about the kids. I reckon we’ll have our own young’uns someday.”
Deacon didn’t explain that he’d developed no fond yearnings for seven unknown youngsters. Instead he settled next to her, leaving the lamp on as he handed her the paper Hiram had left behind.
Miri unfolded the letter, scanning the contents, and Deacon watched her expression change from curious to ecstatic. The letter identified Miri and Robert McCallister as legal agents of the state of Texas.
“It’s stretching the truth a mite, isn’t it?” she asked cautiously.
“Nope. Hiram said he cleared it with Logan Doyle before he wrote it. The state bankers and lawmen are grateful for us bringing in the counterfeiters and stolen plates.”
“Well, I reckon we’ve got some detecting to do then, partner. Where to next, preacher man?”
“Anywhere is home when I’m with you, Mrs. McCallister.” Deacon pulled Miri into his embrace and settled himself between her thighs. “I’ll love you forever, sweetheart,” he whispered before sliding deep inside her wet heat, where he needed to be.
Gem Sivad is a multi-published, award-winning author. She crafts stories about fictional worlds of half light and half shadow. Gem writes about roaming alpha males, unsavory outlaws, and fearless women who use their wits and powers of seduction in their struggles to survive.
Because Gem believes romance is the essence of life, every hard-bitten male finds his mate, and even a strong-willed woman accepts the lover who is the other half of her soul.
Visit her website for her current projects and books coming soon.
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Eclipse Heat 1: Five Card Stud
Eclipse Heat 2: Quincy’s Woman
Eclipse Heat 3: Perfect Strangers
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Trouble in Disguise
ISBN 9781419938368
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Trouble in Disguise Copyright © 2013 Gem Sivad
Edited by Jillian Bell
Cover design by Mina Carter
Cover photography by MJTH and Catmando/Shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication June 2013
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