The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper Part 15

"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. 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 you are here." 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 b.u.mped it."

Her heart hammered furiously as she scrambled to right herself. While Daniel a.s.sisted 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.

Don't look at him.

She did.

Swayed by his half-closed eyes, Gennie felt her strength ebb. Perhaps just for a moment she might enjoy the attention. Enjoy a bit of harmless flirtation. Enjoy the night air and the...

The plan.

"Mr. Beck, please-"

"All right. I will." He grinned and pressed his palm against her back to move her deeper into his arms.

"Mr. Beck, really," she whispered, though she angled her face toward him.

"Miss Cooper," he said, his voice a ragged breath against her cheek, "really."

And beneath all the stars in the Denver sky, the silver baron traced his thumb across her lower lip, then followed its path with a kiss that curled her toes. And then another.

Reeling, Gennie pressed her palms against Daniel's chest in a careful balance between keeping propriety and losing control. Her fingers curled around a handful of Daniel's s.h.i.+rt and held on tight.

A door slammed somewhere in the vast distance outside their embrace.

"Miss Cooper," he whispered against her ear. "You should know I don't make a habit of this sort of behavior."

"A pity, for you're quite good at it," she said, scandalizing herself with the delicious boldness of her wit.

"Is that so?" His attention darted past her, and he stiffened. "b.u.t.tercup?" He nearly dropped her in his haste to part ways.

Gennie straightened her hair as she followed his gaze. "Charlotte?"

"Papa, why are you kissing my governess?" The girl stepped between them to point at her father and then back at Gennie. "You said said you were going to fire her." you were going to fire her."

"Fire her?" The man who'd only just kissed her within an inch of insanity stared at Gennie as if she'd grown a second nose. "But I...your governess governess?" Daniel shook his head, looking as though he'd just been struck by a carriage. "Who are you?"

Still reeling from the kiss, Gennie latched on to the first words that registered in her addled mind. "You were going to fire me?" she demanded, letting indignation carry her past the whirl of emotions. "If anyone needs to be relieved of duty, sir, it should be you. Fire me, indeed." She straightened her backbone, ignored her quaking insides, and stormed toward the house.

She got three steps away before turning to stride back into the circle of his arms. This time she kissed him. Soundly.

"What was that for?" he called when she once again headed for the door.

"Something to remember me by, Mr. Beck," She glanced over her shoulder to give him a look she hoped punctuated her statement... "You've just lost not only a governess but likely the only woman you didn't sweep off her feet."

A lie, but she'd be over him by morning.

Her father said bats kept mosquitoes at bay. Mama, however, likened them to rodents with wings. Mae was a firm believer in the latter.

Wings whipped overhead and horrid squeals mimicked the sound of the devil and his throng as they emerged in a cloud so thick a person couldn't see if there were hundreds or thousands of the evil creatures. Never one to shy from a fight, Mae found her rifle and swung it around her head.

Lucky decided to escape and fight another day. She forgot, however, to let Mae in on the plan.

Things began to move slowly, as if the world continued to turn but the spot where Daniel stood whirled in the opposite direction. Charlotte's crying ceased when Gennie Cooper-or Miss McTaggart, or whoever she was-stalked inside and up the stairs.

"Enough of this, b.u.t.tercup," he said in a poor attempt to placate the child.

"But you were kissing kissing her, Papa." She placed her hands on either side of his face and forced his attention away from the open door. her, Papa." She placed her hands on either side of his face and forced his attention away from the open door. "Kissing "Kissing her." her."

Daniel sighed. "It appears I was."

"Appears?" She turned to walk away in much the same manner as her governess, and Daniel followed, dazed. By the time she reached the stairs, Charlotte had added the occasional loud sigh to her performance. At the top step, she whirled to face him. "Traitor!" she shouted before storming into the nursery and slamming the door.

"Daniel, what in tarnation's gotten into the womenfolk around here?" Elias called as he trudged out of the kitchen. "I made a full pot of coffee, and there's n.o.body here but you and me to drink it. Was that a door I heard slamming?"

"Two of them, actually."

"Two? You mean you aggravated Miss Finch too? I thought that one was so slap-fool in love with you, she'd never find a heart for irritation where you're concerned."

Daniel sunk onto the sofa and stretched his legs in front of him. "No, she left before I could affect her. My charm was only used to send Charlotte and Miss Cooper into a tizzy."

Elias joined him and helped himself to a cup of coffee. "Who's Miss Cooper?"

"Ah, now that's quite a story."

His old friend lifted the cup in salute. "Leave it to Daniel Beck to take a perfectly quiet evening and make a story out of it. What's happened this time?"

"It's simple, really," Daniel said as he settled deeper into the cus.h.i.+ons. "Our Miss McTaggart is not Miss McTaggart at all. She's Miss Cooper. Eugenia Cooper. Named after Napoleon III's wife."

Elias lifted a s.h.a.ggy brow. "Go on."

"I'm not altogether clear how it happened, but it appears you went to the train station to fetch a governess and came home with a blue-eyed blonde looking for a Wild West adventure."

The old soldier set down his coffee mug and started a chuckle that soon blossomed into a full-blown belly laugh. "Tell the truth, Daniel. Given the choice, don't you think I picked the right one?"

Daniel lifted his mug and shook his head. "It all sounds good in theory, but the reality of it is another matter."

"You can't kiss a theory" Elias said as he rose and removed the mug from Daniel's hand. "And, yes, I admit to spying on you just a bit, but if I don't, who'll be around to rescue you when the need arises?"

"You could've rescued me before I kissed the woman I came home to fire."

"Well, now, that is a story, my boy." Another chuckle, this time shaking the tray until the mugs slid to one side. "How does it end?"

"I wish I knew, Elias." Daniel laced his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "I honestly wish I knew."

Gennie undressed and fell onto the bed without bothering to turn on the lights. As she rolled onto her side, something crackled beneath her. She reached over and lit the bedside lamp and found a paper-wrapped package marked Fisher's Dry Goods.

"Where did this come from?"

She made short work of the string binding the parcel, tossing it aside and unfolding the paper to reveal a buckskin jacket and a pair of boots. Her heart sank even as she smiled.

She lifted the boots first and held them to the light. Chocolate brown leather st.i.tched in white with toes as pointed as her Turkish slippers, they looked to be just her size. She set them aside and reached for the jacket. Somehow, it appeared the sender had found it in her size as well.

When she pulled the jacket toward her, a book fell to the floor with a thud. Mae Winslow, Woman of the West. Mae Winslow, Woman of the West. The most current volume. The most current volume.

Then she spied the slip of paper wedged between the pages.

She pulled out the folded note and opened it. To Blue Eyes. Here's hoping I can play some part in your Wild West adventure. To Blue Eyes. Here's hoping I can play some part in your Wild West adventure. It was signed It was signed DB. DB.

Her fingers let the paper fall, and it made two circles before landing somewhere beneath the bed. "DB," she said, "for Daniel Beck. Oh, I'm so stupid. Why did I ever think it was the least bit appropriate to flirt with him?"

She'd created quite the mess, something she might have avoided had she listened to Mama's words of warning. Flirting with the same man you criticize for being a horrible father was one thing, but kissing him? And then another thought occurred to her: she'd kissed not one, but two men since deciding to leave home.

What sort of hussy was she becoming?

Gennie leaned back against the quilt, the jacket spread across her. Inhaling the scent of leather, she reached to put out the light. Tomorrow she would march downstairs and offer her formal notice as well as return the gifts. Likely Mr. Beck no longer wished her to have them, anyway. Surely by then Hester would have responded by wiring the funds and maybe even written a note in support of her adventure. Perhaps she'd bring Hester back a buckskin jacket and a pair of boots.