Brazen (18 page)

"Elizabeth! What a pleasure."

"Hello, Sissy. You know Cassandra, don't you?"

"Of course. Come inside." The middle-aged seamstress
knew Casey from around town, and she also knew that,
except at church, Casey usually wore pants. She eyed the
girl's old, poorly fitting dress critically.

"We have a special request," Elizabeth began.

"What can I do for you?"

"Cassandra and Michael are going to be married soon
and"

"What?" Sissy was truly shocked, and she looked from
Elizabeth to Casey and back, in disbelief.

"That's right, Michael and I are getting married," Casey
affirmed with a calm she didn't feel. "And Elizabeth has
graciously offered to let me wear her wedding gown for
the ceremony."

"This is so..." the seamstress stuttered.

"Unexpected?" Elizabeth finished for her.

"Well, yes."

"I know. Michael and Cassandra surprised us, too," Elizabeth said. "But you know how young people are. I'm just
glad they didn't elope. We just spoke with Reverend Harris, and all the arrangements for the wedding have been
made."

"Congratulations, Casey," Sissy told her. "I'm very excited for you and for you, Elizabeth. We're going to
have a wedding!"

"Yes, we are," Elizabeth agreed.

"Let's get to work," the seamstress said, thinking that
there was a lot of work to do with Casey.

An hour later, Sissy finished pinning the hem.

"There that should do it." She rose from her kneeling
position and stepped back to survey her handiwork.

"We're done?" Casey asked, standing on a step stool.

"Yes - I think that takes care of everything." Sissy
looked at Elizabeth. "Does she need a few new dresses to
go with this one?"

"Yes. Do you have the time?"

"For you, anything," Sissy told them.

"But--" Casey said immediately, wanting to remind
Elizabeth about her financial situation.

"These will be my wedding present to you, Cassandra."

"Oh"

"And, Sissy? She needs new underthings, too. Do you
have something pretty we could look at?"

"I don't " Casey began, embarrassed to be talking about such things. She didn't care about her underwear. The marriage was to be in name only, but she
realized her future mother-in-law didn't know that, and
they were supposed to convince Sissy that this was a love
match.

"It's all right, dear. Trust me."

"Let me show you what I have."

Almost another hour passed before they finally finished
looking through the dainty piles of lace and embroidered
fabric.

"Casey, can you come to town next week for one more
fitting?" Sissy asked. "We want to make sure everything is
perfect for your wedding."

"I can do that. Would you like to be here, too?" she
asked Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was delighted that Cassandra had thought to
include her. "I'd love to join you." She looked at Sissy.
"We'll see you then."

Casey, who had entered the shop carrying the box with
the wedding dress, left the shop carrying almost as much.
Her future mother-in-law had purchased a number of un dergarments for her and had ordered two additional
gowns.

"I left my buckboard at the general store," Casey told
her as they drove away.

"I'll drop you off there," Elizabeth said. "Was this the
first time you've ever been to a dressmaker?"

"Yes. My mother used to make all our clothes. In fact,
this dress was one of hers."

"How long has she been gone now? It's been a long
time, hasn't it?"

"Oh, yes. She died when I was five."

"You were so young."

"I still miss her."

"She was your mother. You'll always miss her."

"I will?"

"Yes. I still miss my mother, and she's been gone for
more than twenty years."

"I don't think people should ever die," Casey said with
conviction.

"Neither do I, but there's not much we can do about it.
It's part of life. We just have to come to accept it and
make the best of things."

"It's not always easy."

"No, it's not. When I thought I was going to lose Frank,
it was terrible." Elizabeth shuddered at the memory of
that recent fear.

"Michael was telling me that the sheriff still doesn't
know who shot Frank."

"No, but whoever did it is not going to get away with it. We'll find the bushwhackers. It may take a while, but
they'll pay for what they've done."

"Thank heaven he wasn't killed."

"I know, but it's hard for Frank to accept that he'll never
walk again."

"Is there really nothing that can be done to help him?"

"No. Dr. Murray said he's done all he can."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you, dear." Elizabeth gave her a heartfelt look.
"I just hope things will get better with time."

They reached the general store, and Casey climbed
down.

"Thank you for everything, Elizabeth."

"You're more than welcome. When will you see Michael again?"

"I don't know. He didn't say anything."

"I'm sure it will be soon. You be careful going home."

"I will."

Elizabeth drove away, and Casey went into the store to
see Anne one last time before leaving town.

"How did it go?" Anne asked, eager for news.

"Reverend Harris was wonderful. Everything is set. The
wedding will be at two o'clock in the afternoon three
weeks from Saturday."

"You're really going to go through with this wedding?"
Anne was worried about her friend. "You haven't
changed your mind?"

"No, I haven't changed my mind, and I just got fitted
for my wedding dress."

"In that case, you'd better let me know what you want me to wear to the wedding since I'm going to be your
maid of honor."

"I'll be wearing a dress, so I think you should wear my
pants and boots. What do you think?"

"We'd certainly cause a lot of talk around town! It
would definitely be a wedding to remember."

It was a blistering hot afternoon. Michael, Nick and six
ranch hands had been working on the new house since
sunup, and they were more than ready to take a break.

"At the rate we're going," Tom said, "the house might
be ready for you to move in $bout this time next year."

"If it's not done by the wedding, I'm taking over the
bunkhouse for me and Casey, and you boys will have to
camp out up here," Michael responded.

"Casey would probably feel right at home in the bunkhouse," Harry remarked.

"Watch out, that's Michael's woman you're talking
about," Tom warned him with a grin.

"So, once you and Casey are married, are you going to
get her to settle down and start wearing skirts and have
babies?" one of the men asked, chuckling at the thought
of a domesticated Casey Turner.

"You'll see," Michael answered with a sly grin.

The men all laughed good-naturedly.

"If anybody can tame a wildcat like Casey, it'll be you,
Michael," Harry told him.

"I guess we'd better get back to work. We don't have a
whole lot of time left before the wedding, and I'd hate for
you to have to spend your wedding night in our bunkhouse," Tom said.

"I appreciate your concern," Michael said.

"Yeah, it'd be rough for you, since all we got are
bunks!"

Again the men laughed as they picked up their hammers and saws.

John McQueen rode into Hard Luck intent on enjoying
himself in town. He hadn't had the chance to pay Rosalie
a visit at the saloon in over a week, and it was time. He
needed some relaxation, and she was just the woman
who could give it to him.

"Whiskey, Bill," he ordered as he bellied up to the bar.
It was still early, not yet five o'clock, and the saloon
wasn't very crowded.

"How ya been, John?" the bartender asked.

"We've been working hard out at the Royal. How've
things been going here?"

"Can't complain. It was just payday, so we've been
busy," he said as he set McQueen's tumbler of whiskey
before him.

"Thanks." John paid him, picked up the glass and took
a deep drink. "Rosalie here?"

"She's upstairs, I think. You want me to get her, or you
want to go on up?" Bill knew John McQueen was the only
man Rosalie allowed in her room.

"I'll go find her." He drained the last of the liquor, then
went up to Rosalie's private quarters.

Rosalie worked every night until long after closing time
to keep things running smoothly in the saloon. The knock
at her door roused her from a deep sleep.

"What do you want?" she called out sleepily, irritated
at being awakened.

"I want you."

"Ooh, John." Rosalie's mood changed as soon as she
recognized his voice and heard his reply. She got up and
threw on a silken wrapper that covered her lush body but
clung seductively to her curves. She paused only long
enough to cast a quick glance in the mirror and smooth
down her hair, then rinsed her mouth to rid it of the taste
of last night's liquor and hurried to open the door. She'd
missed him dreadfully all week. "John I'm so glad
you're here."

"I'm glad I'm here, too," John growled as he looked her
up and down.

Her cheeks were flushed from sleep, and the tumble of
her hair about her shoulders gave her a wanton look that
sent heat straight to his loins. He didn't waste any more
time with talk. He shut and locked the door behind him,
then turned back to Rosalie and lifted her into his arms.

They fell together on the bed, hungry for each other.
They shared kiss after flaming kiss as they eagerly caressed each other.

John was in no mood to waste time on foreplay.

He knew what he wanted, and he wanted it now.

After stripping away Rosalie's wrapper and gown, he
finished freeing himself from the restraint of his own
clothes and then buried himself in her body. She cried
out to him in ecstasy as she accepted him fully.

John whispered no words of love. For him, this act was
pure animal pure lust.

Rosalie made love to John with all her heart, her body
and her soul. She had loved him for years. He was the
only man for her. She did everything in her power to
please him, for she never wanted to risk losing him.

Their desire flamed to the heights. John reached the
release he needed and then collapsed on top of her, momentarily sated.

"You stayed away from me too long this time, John,"
Rosalie whispered as she stroked the width of his chest.

"There were things I had to take care of out at the
ranch." He didn't want to hear any more of her talk. He
was there for sex, nothing more.

"Will you stay for a while?" she asked in a sensual purr.

"I'm not going anywhere," he growled, moving over her
again.

"Good," she whispered against his lips.

It was much later that John's driving passion was temporarily slaked. He lay with Rosalie in his arms, just enjoying the feel of her silken body against him.

"What's been happening here in town? Have I missed
anything?"

"I did heard some interesting news this morning," Rosalie began.

"What did you hear?" He was instantly alert. He'd wondered, with the reward being offered, if there had been
any information about Frank Donovan's shooting.

"Well, it seems Michael Donovan's getting married."

"To some girl from back East?"

"No, that's the interesting part. Supposedly, he's marrying Casey Turner."

"What?" John had been idly fondling her, but he
stopped, not believing what he'd just heard.

"From what I understand, they're going to be married
in three weeks."

"But the Donovans hate the Turners."

"I know. That's why it's the talk around town. Nobody
can figure out why they're doing this. It's not as if the two
of them have been seeing each other for a long time; she
can't be in a family way."

"That's right. The families have been feuding for years.
Didn't the sheriff consider Jack Turner a suspect in the
shooting of Frank Donovan?"

"Yes, but Turner didn't do it. He had an alibi. The sheriff
still doesn't know who did it. That reward the Donovans
offered hasn't brought in any good leads, but they know
for sure it wasn't Turner. I don't know any more of the
details. That's all the talk I've heard so far."

"This wedding between the two of them will ruin everything," he snarled under his breath.

"What, John?"

"I was hoping to buy the Bar T.I'd heard some rumors that Jack was in financial trouble. I made him an offer for
the ranch, but he said it wasn't for sale. I guess the Bar T
wasn't, but his daughter was."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing."

"But"

"Shut up and come here."

He grabbed Rosalie and pulled her roughly down to
him. He was frustrated and in no mood to do any more
talking. There was only one thing he wanted from her,
and he wanted it now. She was nothing but a piece of
meat to him.