Her Heart's Desire (30 page)

“
Thanks, Sally.”

As the women continued talking, Sally
took the empty glasses into the kitchen. Her mother and Jenny were
checking the pumpkin pies.

“
Did I do alright?” Sally
asked.

“
You did fine,” her mother
assured her. “You said this is Ethel Mae’s recipe?”

Sally nodded. “She got it from a woman
whose husband found gold.”

Her mother poked the pie with a fork
before glancing her way. “So California really has gold in the
hills? I haven’t heard any success stories out there.”

“
Most people aren’t finding
any. This woman’s husband did, and he wrote the good news to her
and now she lives with him. She and Ethel Mae became friends almost
as soon as they met.”

“
How is Ethel Mae’s
son?”

“
She says he’s a charmer
just like his pa. He’s only three but he likes to follow his pa
around and talk to the customers of the hotel. The patrons think
it’s adorable, especially the women, and Ethel Mae says when the
women are happy, so are the husbands.”

“
I don’t think your pa
would argue with that.” Her mother winked at her and studied the
fork. “The pie is done. You did a good job on this one, Sally.” She
placed the fork on the worktable and turned her attention to
mashing the potatoes. “So, is there anything else new with Ethel
Mae?”

Sally mixed the cranberry sauce and
nodded. “She’s expecting another child next summer.” She scanned
the huge large amount of food on the worktable. “I think you have
enough here for everyone.”

“
I hope so. I’d hate to
think someone won’t get enough. I even have two turkeys. If that
doesn’t satisfy the men, then the pies should.”

“
We can only hope,” Jenny
quipped. “Should we set the table?”

“
Yes,” their mother
replied. “I can’t think of anything else to do.”

Sally joined Jenny in collecting the
dishes to take out to the dining room. “I hate to think of all the
dishes we’ll be washing later today,” she told Jenny.

“
It’ll be worth it,” their
mother replied with a large grin on her face. “It’s so nice to have
all of my children and grandchildren together.”

Amused, Sally followed Jenny out of
the room and whispered, “I don’t understand how she can spend all
day in a hot kitchen, cooking for an army, and look like she’s in
heaven. It’s my idea of torture.”

“
I think she feels useful,”
Jenny replied.

Probably. Sally, however, would be
happy if she never had to host a Thanksgiving meal for a group as
large as her family. She and Jenny set the table. Jenny finished
first, and left the room so Sally had the room to herself. It was a
relief to get a moment of peace and quiet, so she took her
time.

Now that she no longer lived in this
house, it was easy to forget how loud a bunch of adults and
children could be, but she had to admit she was enjoying the day
immensely. She and Rick had picked up his parents who lived only
eight blocks from them and had a nice ride out to her parents’
house. And now they were getting ready to eat, something her
growling stomach was very happy about.

On her way to the kitchen, someone
grabbed her by the arm and pulled her aside. “Rick?” she asked once
her shock wore off. “I thought you were on the porch with the
men.”

He squeezed her hand and gave her a
smile that made her go weak in the knees. Even after all this time,
he had the ability to excite her, and though his hand was cold from
being outside, she hardly noticed. He led her into a small bedroom
and shut the door behind him so they were alone.

“
I have something for you,”
he said.

“
Is it my Christmas present
a month early?” she asked.

“
Not quite, but it does
have something to do with Christmas.”

“
Really? What is
it?”

He pulled a mistletoe out of his
pocket and held it over their heads. “Richard told me if I use
this, I can get a kiss from the woman I most desire, and after a
lot of thought, I decided to pick you.”

She giggled. “After a lot of
thought?”

“
Well, there are so many
women to choose from.”

“
I see. It was a tough
choice, was it?” Though she tried to sound stern, she couldn’t stop
laughing.

“
Actually, it was easy to
decide who to kiss. What troubled me was picking the best place to
kiss you. Do you know how hard it is to get you alone around
here?”

“
Hmm… I suppose since you
managed to hunt me down, you might as well get your reward.” She
kissed him and stepped back. “There you go.”

He frowned. “That’s not exactly what I
had in mind.”

Finding this game fun, she raised her
eyebrow. “No?”

“
No. I was thinking of
something more like this.”

He reached out and pulled her into his
arms. He lowered his head and kissed her. She melted against him
and returned his kiss, her heart racing at the thrill of being so
wonderfully loved.

“
I think I’m going to be
sick, and I haven’t even had Sally’s pie yet,” someone grumbled
from under the daybed.

Startled, Sally spun around and rushed
for the bed before the little rat could get away. She lifted the
bed’s cover in time to see Joel trying to scamper away. In one
swift motion, she grabbed his foot and pulled him out from under
the bed. “Joel Patrick Larson! You have no right to spy on
people.”

“
Don’t be so hard on him,
Sally,” Rick said while she grabbed the little weasel by the back
of his collar and pulled him up.

“
You’re strong for a
woman,” Joel squeaked, trying to undo the first button on his
shirt.

“
Joel’s been going around
and spying on other people in this house,” Sally told Rick. “The
little rat deserves what’s coming to him.”

“
So let’s give it to him.
Let him go,” Rick insisted.

Sally judged the wisdom in doing so,
but she was intrigued by what Rick had in mind so she
obeyed.

Joel straightened his shirt and
adjusted his tie. “You got quite the grip there, sis.”

“
Well, don’t you forget
it,” she warned him.

She expected Rick to give Joel a piece
of his mind, but to her surprise, Rick ignored Joel, wrapped her in
his arms, and kissed her again. Had she not been too stunned, she
would have pulled away from him.

Joel gagged and rushed out of the
room, mumbling something about how he wouldn’t be able to eat
anything at supper.

When the door shut behind him, Rick
stopped kissing her and chuckled. “That’s how you make sure he
doesn’t spy on us anymore.”

“
That was rather devious of
you.” She ran her hands up and down his arms. “But very
clever.”

“
You think so?” he
asked.

“
My only regret is that I
didn’t think of it.”

“
Well, we can’t all be
perfect.”

Before she could respond, he was
kissing her again, and any thoughts she had for a clever comeback
eluded her. Giving up on the verbal sparring she could have had
with him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in
return, content to let the rest of the world fade away.

Coming
Soon in the Montana Collection:

another historical western
romance…

Mitch’s Win

When Mitch Grady goes to a saloon to
take his wayward brother home, he finds that his brother’s horse
isn’t the only thing being offered in a poker game. Heather
Curtiss’ brother has bet her as well. Vowing an innocent woman
won’t be forced to give up her virtue to a disreputable gambler,
Mitch joins in the game of poker, and with luck, he wins and frees
Heather.

Heather sees this as her chance to get
away from her brother and appeals to Mitch’s kindness to marry her,
offering to help him care for his ailing mother and the two
children under his roof. He agrees, and they become husband and
wife.

But Heather isn’t exactly sure what
her new role as a wife means, and her brother hasn’t gone away. Can
she find her happily ever after with her prince charming? Or will
her uncertainty and brother ruin everything?

Sneak Preview of Mitch’s
Win…

Chapter One

Lewistown, Montana

November 1890

Heather Curtiss pulled the hood closer
around her head, hoping no one realized she was a woman—and a young
one at that. She’d considered herself naïve to the ways of the
world until tonight. Scanning the boisterous saloon, she shivered
and hugged herself for what little comfort she could
find.

“
What’s wrong with your
brother?” a dirty man asked, his voice gruff as he glanced in
Heather’s direction.

Next to her, her older brother, Abe,
picked up his cards and shrugged. “He’s the quiet type,” he lied
and sorted through his cards.

She took note of the two jacks he had
in his hand. The other men at the round table studied their hands.
She couldn’t remember the men’s names, except for John who seemed
to be the self-appointed leader of the poker table. Not that their
names mattered. As soon as tonight was over, her brother would give
her part of his winnings so she could go live with their aunt in
Maryland.

She closed her eyes and prayed he’d
win this hand. If he did, they could go. The pile of cash on his
side was a good amount, and the pile in the center of the table
wasn’t shabby either. Just one more winning hand. Surely, she could
endure the suffocating smoke and rowdy drunk men who were singing
along with the scantily clad woman putting on a song and dance
number on stage. Fortunately, Heather’s back was turned to her so
she didn’t have to watch the sordid event. Taking a deep breath,
she pulled the cloak tighter around her, glad everyone thought she
was Abe’s brother instead of his kid sister.

Abe took a shot of whiskey before he
placed three cards, face down, on the table. “Three,” he told the
dealer who proceeded to give him three new cards.

She gripped her cloak and held her
breath as he picked up the cards. He had a jack and two sevens. Her
brother had said getting the same cards was a good thing, and he
slid his hand under the table so he could give her the “winning
hand” signal. It was a code he said he’d use with her so she would
know if he was lucky or not. And from how often he used it that
night, it seemed he was having a good night. She had to fight back
a cry of relief.

Three men, including her brother, made
a play of betting while one folded and left the table in favor of
joining the men who were watching the woman on stage. She watched
her brother and had to admit he remained very calm under the
circumstances. She couldn’t remember him very well. He was eighteen
when she was born, and then he went west before coming back to
Montana when her mother’s friend sent him a letter telling him
their parents were dead and Heather needed a relative to take care
of her.

Heather just turned eighteen and had
only spent two weeks with him as he took care of their parents’
things and made arrangements for her to live with her aunt.
Unfortunately, her brother was broke, so he had to win enough at
poker to secure her future. He claimed to be good at the game, and
from what she saw, he was, though she wondered if he was that good,
why was he broke? And that made her wary of him. But if she could
get a ticket for the train, then she wouldn’t have to worry about
how much she could trust him or not.

The men showed their cards, and she
held her breath as she waited for all of them to reveal what they
had. Then Abe set his cards down and the others grumbled. “Sorry to
disappoint, boys,” he said with a wide grin as he collected all the
money in the pile.

She took out the sack she brought with
her, and he started putting the money into it when the man with the
gruff voice called out, “You ain’t going to leave when you’re on a
winning streak, are you?”

Abe glanced up at the unshaven man.
“My kid brother needs to go to bed.” He continued putting more
money into the sack. “Got to get ready for church in the morning,
you know?”

“
Seems to me like he needs
to stop being so shy and join the game,” the man said, turning his
cold gray eyes to her.

She momentarily shivered but
remembered that the cloak concealed her so he couldn’t tell she was
a woman.

“
You know,” the man
continued, as he pulled out a gold pocket watch from his pocket and
flipped it over in his hand, “It’s a shame I won’t get a chance to
win some of that money back.”

Abe glanced at the expensive watch and
stopped putting his winnings into the sack. Heather’s gaze went to
her brother who was scanning the remaining piles of money on the
table. She grabbed his arm so he’d look at her. When he did, she
shook her head. They had enough for what they needed. The best
thing they could do was count their blessings and get out of
there.