Claire, Angela - Heart of Stone (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

“Miss O’Chauncey. How do you do? I’m Regina Winthrop. I’ve been hearing so much about you.”

The words were syrupy nice, but Melinda wasn’t buying it.
Regina
hated her on sight, and she had to admit it wasn’t too hard reciprocating the feeling seeing
Regina
there with Jake and Ginny. This was just the kind of girl Jake deserved, no doubt—rich and beautiful, with an influential papa. This girl could be a real mother to Ginny.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Winthrop,” Melinda said dutifully. Ginny put her chubby little arms out to Melinda, and Melinda took her from Jake. The little thing was probably exhausted. “Ginny and I’ll wait for you at the wagon.”

Before they could make their exit, a tall, distinguished-looking man joined them, the cowboy hat on his silver grey hair the only indication he gave of being from around these parts. He was dressed as dandified as
Regina
was elegant. Whoever he was, Jake eyed him warily, which should have been her first clue.

“Mr. Winthrop.”

Ah, so the doting papa. Melinda hugged Ginny closer, the little girl resting her dark head on Melinda’s shoulder.

“Hi, Daddy.”
Regina
tore herself away from Jake enough to give her father a quick peck on the cheek.

“Hey, honey. Jake, nice to see you in town for once.” The two men shook hands, and
Regina
resumed her position at Jake’s elbow.

Not knowing whether she was going to be introduced or not, she was about to turn away when
Regina
settled the question quickly. “Daddy, this is Jake’s little girl’s caretaker, Melinda… I’m sorry, your last name escapes me. O’Reilly? O’Flynn?”

“Melinda is fine. Nice to meet you, Mr. Winthrop.”

Winthrop
scrutinized her. There was no other word for it. He looked her up and down pretty baldly given his daughter was right there, although not to worry because
Regina
had turned her adoring eyes back to Jake. Melinda recognized that masculine look sure enough and responded as she always did with a nod and, if possible, a failure to make eye contact. She looked at Jake. “If it’s okay, we’ll head to the wagon.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Don’t hurry away, Jake.
Regina
, you go inside the hotel and get us a table in that establishment they have the nerve to call a restaurant.” With an “Okay, Daddy,”
Regina
followed orders. Melinda didn’t even merit an order from
Winthrop
. He just turned his back on her. Fine with her. She took Ginny back to the wagon and waited for Jake.

* * * *

When Melinda was gone,
Winthrop
yanked off his hat, slapped it against his knee with a laugh and then re-perched it on his head. “My, my, Jake, that’s a pretty little piece you got there.”

Jake clenched his teeth, not surprised. He’d known it was coming, not least of all from the lecherous look
Winthrop
had given Melinda upon first introduction.

“Did you want to talk to me about something?”

“I did, but the tits on that girl put it right clear out of my mind.”

“That’s enough.”

Winthrop
ignored him.

“It’s fine to have a little something on the side, but right in the house alone with you, and a white girl at that? You’re bold, Jake, I’ll give you that.”

It was no use trying to talk to old man Winthrop. Despite having a daughter, the old man treated women like shit. He had a Mexican woman who worked in his kitchen. He told everyone far and wide he was fucking her, and the poor woman didn’t look too happy about it either. Likely the old man didn’t give her a choice if she wanted to keep her job, and there wasn’t much work for a woman, a Mexican woman especially, out here.

“Makes me wish I had a little one for her to look after. Though I imagine she looks after something pretty big for you, too, don’t she, Jake?”

“I have to get going, Mr. Winthrop.”

The old man caught his arm genially. “I’m just funning with you, Jake. And call me Lou. How many times I got to tell you that, boy? Anyway, don’t make no difference to me whether you’re giving it to that nice little girl or not. Only point I should make here is your wife won’t like it when you’re married. You’ll have to make other arrangements with the girl then. Maybe Sally’s…”

“Melinda is not a whore, whatever you choose to think. And I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, I’m not remarrying. I had enough of having a wife the first time.”

“You just had the wrong wife. Now my little
Regina
, western born and bred and pretty as a picture...”

Jake expected him to start quoting him a price any minute now. The man was shameless. “And if I did remarry,” he interrupted, just to get
Winthrop
off his back some, “who’s to say Melinda might not be right for me? My little girl loves her like her very own mama, and, well, as you noticed, she’s not exactly hard on the eyes.”

For a second that shut the old man up. But not for long. “A little piece of trash like that? Why, she’s probably poor as a church mouse, and why pay for what you can get for free?”

Jake finally pulled his arm away from the man. “As I said, I don’t intend to remarry. Just food for thought if I ever did.”

He left the old man without giving him the last word, for once.

* * * *

Jake took another few minutes until he got back to the wagon. Melinda tried her best not to act annoyed as they pulled out of town, but finally she gave in. “So you and Miss Winthrop had a lot to talk about apparently?”

“Oh, she was just going on before her daddy got there about some dang-fool dance in town next weekend. They call it a harvest dance. Not much harvesting going on in
Colorado
, I’d say.”

“So I suppose she wanted you to take her.”

“Yeah, she sure did. She’s a forward little thing.”

“So she’s the one who wants to marry you?”

“More like her daddy wants to marry me.” At Melinda’s look, Jake chuckled and clarified. “Seems he’s got some connections back east and knows I come from money. He sees a steady source of financing for his plans to make his ranch the biggest in
Colorado
. And if he has to try to marry his daughter off to me in the bargain, he’ll do it.”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be much of a hardship to you. She’s very lovely.”

Jake gave her a funny sideways look, but said no more.

When they were back home and Ginny was safely tucked into her cradle, Melinda was about to make herself ready for bed, still feeling strangely low, when she heard quiet voices in the front room. When she went in to investigate, there was the handsome cowboy Jesse sitting at the table with Jake, a jug of whiskey between the two of them. Jesse got up from the table in deference to her when she came in, but Jake just watched her.

“I’m sorry to disturb you and Jake, Miss Melinda. I was just heading back to town when I saw your lights still on. Thought I’d stop to give you the news.”

“What news?”

“The McGivers’ place nearly burnt down tonight, Melinda. If Jesse and the boys hadn’t heard Bill McGiver’s shouts and been nearby to help put out the fire, the whole place would have gone up.”

Melinda sat at the table with the men, and Jesse resumed his seat. “That’s just terrible. That’s the ranch that borders the
Winthrop
’s place?”

Jake and Jesse exchanged a meaningful look.

“Yep,” Jesse said.

“How did it happen?”

For once, Jesse’s flirtatious manner was conspicuously absent. He answered straightforwardly as Jake poured them both another drink. “It’s downright mysterious, you might say. Bill turns old man
Winthrop
’s offer down and won’t sell his place, and soon enough he almost doesn’t have a place to sell.”

“You can’t know
Winthrop
had anything to do with it. He was in town just now when we were there, seemed like he was planning on staying there awhile, have dinner and all. So he wasn’t even around here,” Jake warned.

“Sure he was in town. Got to have an alibi, doesn’t he? And you know he never does his own dirty work. Just seems real convenient, if you ask me. Anyway, Ike’s staying on Bill’s place tonight, just to help in case those real mysterious sparks start up again.” Jesse downed his whiskey and stood up. “I’m heading into town, but I’ll stop back here at the house on my way back tomorrow and let you know if there’s any more word in town about this.”

“It’s awful late to be going into town, Jesse, even for a Saturday night. You’re welcome to stay here, I mean if you don’t mind, Jake.”

Jake smiled and finished his whiskey. “I don’t mind, but I’m sure Jesse has real urgent business in town, don’t you, Jesse?”

Jesse smiled, a little of his humor apparently restored, and donned his hat, tucking the collar of his jean jacket up around his ears to ward off the chill of the October night. “Urgent enough. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As Jake barred the door after him, Melinda lingered. “It sounds like Jesse doesn’t trust Mr. Winthrop.”

“He doesn’t.”

“What do you think?”

“I think Jesse has a hankering for
Winthrop
’s daughter and that tends to cloud his judgment some.”

“But if he likes Miss Winthrop, why would he want to think ill of her father?”

“Because that father would no more allow a tumbleweed cowboy like Jesse to have a chance with his daughter than he’d allow somebody like Bill McGiver to interfere with his plans for expansion.”

“Well, wouldn’t
Regina
have something to say about that?”

“She’s a strong-minded miss, I’ll grant you that, but she does what her daddy tells her to.”

“And her daddy tells her to romance you, not Jesse.”

Jake smiled. “I don’t think romance has anything to do with it, Melinda. Anyways, I doubt
Winthrop
is quite the evil mastermind Jesse gives him credit for being. He’s just a vain old man with a little too much ambition for his own good or his daughter’s. You better get off to bed. I’ll stay up a while. You’ve no need to worry about what happened to McGiver’s place.”

“Of course not.
Winthrop
likes you.”

With that, she headed to bed. She’d found that, once Ginny was in her cradle, it was safest to stay in her room as well. If she and Jake were alone at night, she got to getting funny ideas. Like thinking about how handsome he looked with his shirt open, his jeans low on his slim hips. Like thinking how it felt to have his long lean body pressed on top of her when she had awakened him that first night. Or how he’d looked at her when she was in her shift that time at the creek. How it would feel if he touched her again. She could hear him moving in the front room as she undressed. As she pulled her nightgown on, she had the most wicked thought. She wondered what Jake would do if she just marched out there to him in the altogether. Would he kiss her, hold her, as he had when he’d been half dreaming? Or was it only somebody like Regina Winthrop, a rich girl like his dead wife, that he could love when he was awake?

Yep, she was just the hired help. And she’d better remember that.

The thought galvanized her somehow, and for the first time since the night she’d heard the grizzly, she ventured out of her room while in her nightclothes. When she went into the front room, heading for the stove, she heard something drop sharply by the fireplace. A glance told her the book Jake had been holding slipped from his hands and he was now out of his easy chair, standing there staring at her. She continued to the kettle.