A Scarlet Bride (42 page)

She pulled out a chair and took a seat between the cowboy and Mrs. Florin. She glanced around the table at the four customers who had come to speak with their departed loved ones.

Madame Desiree offered her clients a chance to ease their conscience, say the words they'd meant to say, resolve a disagreement, or for a brief moment feel close to the dead once again.

Whatever reason brought them to her, Rose tried her best to give them their money's worth, and if it eased their pain, then she'd more than fulfilled her job.

She lowered her head as if
praying,
then raised her brows, gazing at each person sitting around the table.

"
Alors
,
commencon
."
She paused dramatically, letting her customers absorb the French words and then repeated them in English. "Let us begin."

With a flick of her wrist, she snapped her fingers at Isaiah, her bracelets jingling. From the back of the room, he turned the knob of the lantern until the light slowly faded and a faint glimmer remained, casting the room in an eerie twilight.

The rough scratch of a match striking flint echoed in the darkness as she lit the mixture of cedar, thyme, rose petals, and vanilla. A cloud of smoky perfume drifted upwards, leaving a faint glow in the metal bowl.

"Close your eyes and hold the hand of your neighbor as I call upon the spirits to heed our summons," she commanded in a French accent that she'd practiced.

Isaiah plunged the room into darkness. Like an invisible bond, nervous tension flowed through the room, weaving a seductive spell over her clients.

A quick glance at the cowboy showed the corner of his mouth lifted in amusement. So, he thought this was entertaining, did he? She lifted his hand, rough callused but warm and strong as he clasped her small hand in his.

He gazed back at her, his eyebrows questioning.

She'd dealt with men like him before. She lifted her chin and turned her gaze to her other customers.

"Many spirits are gathered in the room with us tonight," she whispered. She turned her face toward the heavens and called out loud, "
Spirits,
come to us. Let us speak with our dear departed ones again."

With practiced ease, Rose quietly slipped her foot out of her backless boot. Her bare foot touched the hardwood floor as she eased it under her chair, until she touched the cool metallic bell. Gripping the handle of the bell between her toes, Rose shook the bell. The clapper clattered against its side three times.

A lady sitting across from Rose jumped. Isaiah silently came in right on cue, stirring the air with a fan in the darkened room. Then the sound of chimes tinkled softly in the night air.

Releasing the cowboy's hand, she clasped her palm to her head, moaning.
"Ah...ah, so young.
So tragic."
She swayed. "A little girl with blond ringlets is coming toward me, wearing a pink pinafore. She says her name is
Sar
...no, her name is Sally."

A gasp came from the darkness and one of the Women said in a weak voice, "My daughter's name was Sally, but her hair was dark, not blond." Her voice broke on a sob. "Is it Sally? Tell me more about her, please. Is she happy?"

Rose ignored the woman's comment about her daughter's hair. "Sally says to tell you she's with her grandmother."

Rose hesitated and then began to move her lips silently, as if she were speaking. "The two of them miss you and are awaiting your arrival on the other side."

The lady burst into tears. "Thank God, she's not alone. I've been so worried about her."

"Families often are reunited after death." Rose moaned and pulled her handkerchief to her lips.

"I feel the presence of a man who was gunned down. A law-abiding man killed in a holdup."

"My brother," the older woman sitting next to Rose proclaimed.

Rose massaged her temples, moaning. She held up her arms as if seeking help from the sky. "Is his name Robert?"

"Yes," the woman replied, stunned. "How did you know?"

"He told me. He says you shouldn't feel guilty about his death. It was meant to happen. Your grandfather is with him."

"But grandfather is still alive," the woman said, puzzled.

Rose felt a moment of panic. Whoops, she'd guessed wrong again. The lady's age appeared to be in the mid-forties. Rose had been certain her grandparents were dead. She let out a moan. "I meant your great-grandfather."

"Oh, we never knew him."

The cowboy beside her snickered just loudly enough to be heard. He was going to cause trouble, blast him.

"Oh, oh.
The name Burnett comes to mind." She moaned. "Does anyone know someone named Tanner Burnett?"

"That's me," a husky, curt voice from her left replied.

It was the cowboy. Even in the dark, she couldn't help but remember six feet of rugged, tightly muscled man with honey-brown hair set against tanned skin and eyes that looked more dangerous than friendly.

"Are you certain the person you're seeking is dead?"

She could feel his gaze upon her, and the memory of his brown eyes gleaming with determination and purpose almost made her shiver.

"He's been missing for over ten years," he acknowledged.

"I have a vision of him in battle. There's danger all around him."

His fist slammed against the table, causing sparks to fly from the bowl of incense and her patrons to jump in surprise.

"Bullshit!"

"Lady, how far are you going to carry this farce? You can't see my brother."

"
Monsieur!
"she
exclaimed, throwing up her hands in disgust. Gripping the bell with her toe, she rang it, signaling the end of the
seance
.

"The sound of the bell indicates that the spirits have gone," she said between gritted teeth. "You've broken the spell. The spirits have all departed because of your disbelief. Your doubt has scared them away!"

Isaiah lit a lantern, casting an ominous glow on the scene.

A chill ran down Rose's back as she stared into the coldest pair of dark-brown eyes she'd ever seen. She stood and turned her attention to her other clients. "I'm terribly sorry, but once the spell has been broken, the spirits will not return this night. Thanks to
Monsieur
, our evening has been cut short. That is the way sometimes. Please come back and we will attempt to contact your loved ones once again." She gave him a look that could have plunged daggers into his heart.
"Without
Monsieur
Burnett."

He smiled a contemptuous sneer. "Lady, if you can speak to the dead, I can walk on water! All you're interested in is cheating people out of their money!"

"
Monsieur
!"
She motioned for Isaiah to usher her other customers out the door. Business had been good, and she didn't need gossip being spread around town about this little scene. "The Trinity River is right up the street, if you'd like to test your faith."

"I don't need to test my faith. People like you do it all the time," he said.

"If you don't believe in speaking with spirits, why are you here?" she asked bluntly, hoping to get rid of him quickly.

"Everyone deserves at least one warning, and here's yours." He stood and moved around the table. "Don't be holding any more Séances."

"This is a free country, is it not?" she said, using her best French intonation.

"Not for cheats."

"I am no cheat."

"Lose the French accent!"

"I cannot! It is where I was born, where I come from," she informed him.

"I'm sure you've been around, but I'd wager you've never seen Paris," he said calmly, his voice a slow drawl of insolence.

"
Espéce
de
casse-couilles
!
"
She said in French exactly what she was thinking. The man was certainly a pain.

"Cut the
parlee-voo
, lady. I don't believe a word of it."

"You should. I'm calling you, Mr. Burnett, every despicable word I know," she practically shouted at him, enraged at his intrusion in her cozy business.

"Call me anything you want, but I'm warning you. Shut down your séance parlor. You picked the wrong person to try to con, and you're not going to get away with it."

"And just who is this person I supposedly tried to con?" she asked.

"My mother, Eugenia Burnett."

"Ah ha!"
Stepping in front of him, she stood within inches of this handsome yet foreboding man. The scent of masculinity drifted to her nose, a clean smell of virile male.

"And if your mother wishes to learn more about your brother? Is this not her choice?"

"My mother misses my brother, and I'll not have you taking advantage of her. This is the only time I'm going to tell you. Leave my mother alone, or I'm going to shut down your parlor."

"
Monsieur!
If you don't want your mother searching for your brother, then you must talk to her. Not I!" She took a step back, letting her gaze travel the length of his person. "Besides, I see no badge. You do not have the authority to threaten me, or shut me down."

He smiled, his full lips pouty, and took a step closer to her. His hand reached out, the tip of his finger gently tracing her chin, his rough skin sliding against hers. His touch left her oddly unsettled. She tried to swallow the lump that filled her throat.

Now was not the time for her long-denied body to suddenly take notice of a man. She needed this town, needed this job.

She didn't need a gun-toting, overprotective mama's boy, who looked like sin in a nicely bundled package.

"I'll shut you down in a heartbeat," he said, low enough only to reach her ears. "My little brother, Tucker, is the marshal."

Picking up his hat, he strolled out the door, his gun slung low around his hips,
his
pants snug against his backside.

Rose watched him walk through the door and wanted to scream. Though they had gotten off to a slow start, business was just beginning to increase and the thought of having to pick up and start over again left her furious.

No damn cowboy with a connection to the local law was going to run her out of town!

###