Romance: Detective Romance: A Vicious Affair (Victorian Regency Intrigue 19th England Romance) (Historical Mystery Detective Romance) (89 page)

*****

The evening could not come quickly enough for Cal’s liking, and as he rode his trusty steed with purposeful strides through the tall steel gates of his ranch, his eyes scanned the landscape for any sign of the woman who he simply couldn’t wait to see.

When finally he spotted Abigail, she was riding in an emerald leaved meadow astride Gentry, her beloved chestnut mare. He dug his heels surely but gently into the sides of his own ride, quickly catching up to her as he opened his mouth to issue a hearty greeting.

This same mouth snapped shut moments later, as she saw him coming and ran.

“Ha!” Abigail summoned her horse, racing her mare into a steady gallop as the two raced fast and free across the meadow.

Immediately taking the challenge to heart, Cal urged his horse onward until he’d engaged his ranch hand in something of a madcap race.Soon the couple rode neck and neck as they approached the door of the ranch house.

Bringing her horse to a dead stop in the grasses of the lawn beneath her, Abigail turned slightly in her saddle to regard Cal with cold eyes.

“We’d best get inside the house,” she told him, her tone dry and noncommittal. “It’s high time for supper.”

Cal nodded.

“Indeed it is,” he allowed, adding as he inclined his head in her direction, “Before we chow down, though, I have a question for you. Would you consider bein’ my date for the barn dance this Friday night? The one that Old Man Hodges is hosting at his farm on the south side of town?” he paused here, adding as he held his hands up before him in what seemed a defensive stance, “Now before you tell me to go to blazes and ride clean off my range, consider this. As the deputy sheriff of this town, I am expected to attend this dance—half to keep the peace, half to make an appearance on behalf of the sheriff’s department. Sheriff Michaels expects me to come—if I don’t, well then I could be out of a job!”

Abigail shrugged.

“Sorry to hear that,” she allowed, adding with arched eyebrows, “All the same, surely you know a lot of pretty young ladies in town. Why not ask one of them?”

Cal shook his head.

“As my brother Stephen reminded me today, Abigail, many people in town happen to think of us as husband and wife,” he reminded her. “I do not want the populace I serve to take me for a cheatin’ cad. And I can guarantee you, Abigail, that if you agree to tag along to this particular dance, you won’t get stuck alone in the corner.” He paused here, adding in a loud and declaratory tone, “Nobody sticks Abby in a corner!”

Abigail had heard enough.

“Oh criminy,” she declared, adding as she rolled her eyes heavenward, “No need to be such a cornball, Cal. I’ll go to the dag gum dance.”

Abigail came close to regretting these words a few days later, as she found herself poised at the broad apple red doors that fronted a massive, ably constructed barn, a structure that would be the site of a dance that she had no earthly desire to attend.

Dressed once again in that ancient torture device known as a dress, Abigail winced beneath the weight of a stern tied bodice that came darned close to cutting off her circulation, even as she did have to pause and admire the design of the dress itself.

A gift from her date for the evening, who had purchased the exquisite garment from a dress shop downtown, this exquisite frock boasted a full scarlet hued calico skirt adorned with a pattern of bright yellow roses—appropriate, she supposed, especially when topped with a lush ivory cotton top graced with lacy sleeves and a high lace collar.

A pair of sleek, ivory, hand gloves and a gold tinted, heart shaped choker—also gifts from an attentive Cal—completed the look, which she wore with pride as she strode headfirst into the barn that had been morphed this evening into a social hall.

Her soft dark hair piled high atop her head, Abigail lifted her chin as she clutched her smooth voluminous skirts and made her way between lines of people who talked, danced and nibbled on cheese, corncakes, and bonbons.

Several onlookers performed marked double takes as they identified the mysterious beauty who roamed among them, their eyes flying wide as they identified the lady as good ol’, hardworking Abigail Tompkins.

One man in particular stared enrapt as Abigail came to stand stock still before him, his mouth falling agape as he beheld his date for the evening.

“You’re beautiful, Abigail,” Cal breathed, taking her hand in his and raising it to his lips for a soft, sweet kiss. “Absolutely lovely.”

Abigail snorted loudly, adding a very human dimension to her glamorous façade.

“Yeah, well don’t let it get around,” she chided, adding as she waved an admiring hand down the length of his tall muscled form, “And may I return the compliment? You are even more handsome than customary this evenin’ Cal.How’d you manage that?”

Cal did indeed shine resplendent in a fine, curved, cutaway coat with a red, brocade vest and white, cotton shirt underneath.  He also cut an exquisite form in black, pinstriped pants and a smooth, dark cravat that completed the look.

Also striking was the charming, white toothed smile he now flashed in her direction.

“Well thank you Miss,” he praised her, adding as he struck a low courtly bow in her direction, “On this night, though, I do not want you to think of me as Cal, the rancher and good friend whose land you happen to work. I want you to regard me as a mysterious, handsome stranger who has swept into your life to show you the meaning of romance.” He paused here, adding as he clasped her hand in his and lead her in the direction of the dance floor, “May I have this dance?”

Although still surrounded on all sides by bundles and bales of
fresh
sown hay, the candlelit center of the dance floor proved an ideal platform for a couple who seemed to want little more than to lose themselves in one another’s arms. And with a single, smooth flourish, Cal launched them into a dance that felt more like a romantic embrace.

Abigail thrilled as her ardent date gathered her up in his muscled arms, wrapping his sturdy hands around her full waist and swinging and swaying her across the floor.

Bracing her arms around his bulging shoulders, she finally allowed herself the sublime pleasure of touching the man she’d admired for so long, pressing herself against his hard massive chest as his trim, toned hips cradled hers.

Losing herself in his masculine presence, she relaxed in the cocoon of his muscled embrace as he made her feel as light as air, most literally sweeping her off her feet as he now flew her across the floor.

Two became one as the couple writhed together, timing their moves to the melodic rhythm of a live fiddler who played with fervor at the head of the room.

Abigail brightened at the resounding notes of “San Antonio Rose,” one of her favorite classic ballads, and she nestled closer to her attentive dance partner as his hands ran like warm, spring water down the planes of her back.

She felt his tender touch even through the tight corset that threatened to claim her sanity; yet as they moved as one with feather light steps in time with a timeless tune, all elements of discomfort and self-consciousness subsided abruptly—giving way to nothing but feeling.

Closing her eyes tight, the besotted woman felt her heart pound as he clutched her closer still; soon it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began as they dissolved in a dance that likened an embrace.

These eyes flew open moments later, as her dance partner drew back only slightly to stare deep into her eyes.

“See, Miss Abigail?” Cal asked her, his tone both tempting and teasing as he rubbed her broad shoulders and tilted his forehead gentle against hers. “Dancing isn’t as bad as all that—and neither, for that matter, is romance.”

Abigail smiled.

“Very true,” she assented
on
a dreamy sigh, adding as she pursed her lips in a mock show of skepticism, “I am still not at all convinced, however, about this thing they call kissing.” She paused here, adding as she inclined her head teasingly in his direction, “Care to do some convincin’ this evening, Cowboy?”

She took in her breath as Cal met this challenge with a downright devilish smile.

“Well I’d be much obliged Ma’am,” he assented on a growl, accenting his words with a good bit of action as he swept her up in his arms.

Claiming her lips in a passionate kiss, his full, moist mouth massaged hers in soft hypnotic strokes.

Moaning outright in response, Abigail plied her date’s mouth with feverish kisses as their tongues entangled between them, their public surroundings dissolving around them as they engaged in their first passionate kiss.

Sinking full into his sheltering arms, Abigail trembled outright as his ardent kiss set her heart and body afire, sending thrilling tingles down her spine as his long, wet tongue licked and laved her mouth.

The moment was fleeting.

“Well I never!”

The couple broke their kiss as the sound of a pronounced sniff resounded just beside them, one produced by a petite, beautiful ebony haired woman dressed in a gown of stark black taffeta that seemed to befit her frowning—if still dazzling—face.

“Well I never!” she repeated, regarding the couple with a condemning gaze as she stood beside them on the dance floor.

Unphased in the face of this blatant umbrage, a cool Abigail shrugged her shoulders in reaction to these words.

“No Ma’am, you probably haven’t ever,” she replied, adding with arched eyebrows, “And that’s the whole problem.”

The woman gasped.

“Well I guess that I’d expect nothing more from such a common woman as yourself,” she sniffed, adding as she pointed an accusing finger straight in Abigail’s direction, “You really have some nerve, Girl, living in sin with one of our finest citizens—and under his wife’s roof!”

Cal had heard enough.

“Now you listen here, Mrs. Susie Marks,” he bellowed, stepping between the two women as he seared their critic with a cold hard gaze. “Of the two women I see here before me, I’m afraid that only one could be called a lady,” he paused here, adding as he made a broad gesture in Abigail’s direction, “The fine woman you see before you
work
hard and diligently on my land—coming home at the end of the day to seek some deserved respite in her own room, one that’s separate from my own. You, on the other hand, made an inappropriate advance toward me in town two years ago while both of our dearly departed spouses still lived. And, if you will rightly recall, I rejected you flat.”

Susie shook her head, her delicate cheeks flushing as she considered these words.

“Yes, well, I guess I went a bit out of my mind when Doc told my husband that he didn’t have much longer on this earth,” she explained, adding as she once again faced the couple before her with a rough, cutting glare, “It still ain’t proper for an unmarried man and woman to be sharin’ the same living quarters.”

Cal nodded.

“Well on that point Madam—and that point alone—you and I just happen to agree,” he acknowledged, adding as he wrapped an encompassing arm around the shoulders of his wide eyed date, “And that is precisely why Miss Abigail and I plan to be married next month.”

“We do?” Abigail sputtered, recovering quickly as she kissed the cheek of her smiling “intended,” “Oh I mean, yes we do! I do, most literally!”

With this she grabbed her date’s muscled arms and pulled him into the spirited reel that had now erupted on the dance floor, a riotous square dance set to the tune of a lively fiddle.

The couple laughed and chortled like free spirited youths as their steps became fast and frantic; soon they launched into a fast paced do-si-do that sent them spinning across the floor.

“You make just about everything in life so much more fun!” Cal praised his dance partner, adding as he pulled her off to the side, “Still and all, I do believe I need just a bit of a rest. Care for some punch?”

Soon the couple stood beside a sparkling crystalline punch bowl that rimmed with scarlet liquid, sipping from delicate rose print tea cups as their gazes remained clenched.

“Listen, I’m really sorry about that miserable shrew back there,” he told her at one point, adding with a distinct wince, “She’s been chasing after me since we were kids, and never got the hint that I was never even remotely interested.”

Abigail shrugged.

“Oh that’s all right,” she allowed, adding with a slight wince all her own, “I’m just sorry that you had to lie for me.”

Cal frowned.

“Lie for you?” he repeated, adding as he shook his head in a show of pure confusion, “Not sure what you mean, love.”

Abigail gritted her teeth.

“Well in a noble effort to save my reputation,” she reminded him, “you told him that we were going to be married next month.”

Cal smiled.

“Well Miss,” he began, putting aside his punch glass and taking her hand in his, “I don’t see those words as a lie, as much as they are a wish or a dream.” He paused here, adding in a whisper, “I’m in love with you, Abigail. And with your kind permission, I would indeed like to marry you next month.”

Sniffing back some unbidden tears, his lady squeezed his fingers tight as she gave a vigorous nod in response to this warm proposal.