Gerrity's Bride. Carolyn Davidson

didn’t bring much with me,” she added. Her smile was distracted as she watched Maria. The woman waved her hands at the men hustling to do her bidding, alternately scolding them and shaking her head at them.

      “Will your other things be coming later?” Matt asked from the doorway.

      “No.” Turning to face him, she slid the bonnet from her head and brushed at the curls that sprang to life, vibrant against the darkness of her mourning dress. “I didn’t plan on staying long enough to need many things.”

      His brow rose, and he braced his feet apart, one hand resting negligently against his hip, the other holding the belt and holster he had just slipped off.

      “Oh?” The questioning syllable hung in the air.

      Her chin lifted a bit as she silently defied him, determined to set the pattern for their short future together. “I only plan on staying long enough to hear the will read and make arrangements to take my sister back to Lexington with me.”

      Only the sharp intake of breath warned her of another presence, and that only for a second. Then a wail of anguish filled the air and set her in motion.

      “Noooo...” cried a child from the far side of one of the sofas, where she peered over the high back. “I’m not going away! I’m not going to Lexing with her, am I, Maffew?” she wailed piteously.

      “‘Course not, Tessie,” he assured her, reaching her in several long strides, his gun belt flung onto a peg on the wall as he moved.

      Emmaline was right behind him as he gathered the child into his arms. The little girl wrapped herself about him, burying her face against his broad chest.

      The look he slanted at Emmaline clearly told her she had made her first blunder in this place.

      “This is your little sister. Too bad you couldn’t have made a better first impression,” he said bluntly.

      Emmaline drew in a deep breath and considered the situation. Taking another step closer to where the child huddled in her brother’s arms, she watched the narrow shoulders shudder, her heart aching in quick sympathy.

      “Theresa, won’t you look at me? I’ve come a long way just to see you,” she said coaxingly. She reached out to touch the fingers that lay against Matt’s collar, and the little girl shivered.

      “No, I don’t want to see you! Make her go away, Maffew!” she demanded loudly.

      “Miss Emmaline, why don’t I show you where your room is,” Maria suggested softly from behind her, and Emmaline turned quickly, thankful for the suggestion.

      “That would be fine,” she whispered with a nod. With only one short look over her shoulder, she left the room, only to hear the words repeated in a firm, carrying voice from the child she had alienated so quickly.

      “Make her go away, Maffew.”

      His answer was delivered in a husky murmur. “She won’t be here long, short stuff. Everything will be all right. She’s just a citified woman come to look us over. She won’t be here long,” he repeated firmly.

      Emmaline’s lips tightened and her eyes narrowed at his words of reassurance to the child, and she spun on her heel toward the hallway where Maria was leading the way.

      “A lot he knows about it,” she muttered beneath her breath. “Citified woman, am I? The man doesn’t know a lady when he sees one! And I didn’t come all the way to this blot on the desert for nothing. We’ll just see about that!”

      Chapter Two

      Warily eyeing the tortilla on her plate, Emmaline poked at it with her fork. As breakfasts went, it was definitely different from the usual ham and biscuits she was accustomed to at home.

      “Eat, eat!” Maria urged her from her post at the doorway. “I put in plenty of eggs and meat for you. It gives lots of energy for the whole morning.”

      Emmaline returned her admonition with a smile. Then, with determination, she cut into the strange offering that was called breakfast in this foreign place and ate the first bite.

      “I just made fresh coffee,” Maria said from around the corner. Bearing the coffeepot, she bustled through the doorway. Emmaline nodded, her mouth full.

      “Mr. Matthew finished up early this morning,” the rotund woman said as she filled Emmaline’s cup. “He’s gone out to check on the new foals.”

      “Where is Theresa?” Emmaline asked, and cut with more enthusiasm into the breakfast she had almost scorned. Whatever it was called, the combination of ingredients was surprisingly good.

      “With her teacher, doing schoolwork,” Maria answered, moving about the table as she cleared and straightened. For a moment, she hesitated, and her eyes were warm as they rested on the young woman before her.

      Emmaline’s hair was brilliant, a golden red that haloed about her in a cascade of curls. Her eyes were blue, wide-set, and bright with unveiled interest as she took in her surroundings. Her features were strong and symmetrical, calling to mind the handsome man who had fathered her. And it was that thought that brought a sense of nostalgia to the Mexican woman who had managed this household for over a quarter of a century.

      “Miss Emmaline, you make me think of your papa, you know,” she said with gentle yearning. “He had the same curls, so golden in the sunshine, so full of fire in the shadows.” Her sigh was deep. “I remember the day your mama took you away, how your papa held you in his arms. Your heads were pressed so tightly together, I couldn’t tell one curl from another, so alike they were.”

      Emmaline looked up unbelievingly. “You remember me? From twenty years ago? I didn’t know you were here then, Maria.”

      “Ah, yes. Your mama was so full of sadness, so unhappy with our sunshine and the dry spells and the spring rains. She said so many times how much she wanted to go where there was green grass and cool breezes.” Her ample breasts rose and fell as she breathed deeply, as if she would express sympathy with the long-departed woman.

      “Mama always shuddered when she spoke of this place,” Emmaline remembered as she propped her elbow on the table and leaned her chin on her hand. Mama shuddered a lot, she thought with resignation. She picked up her cup and sipped at the hot brew within.

      “And what do you think of our sunshine?” Maria asked. “Perhaps you have some of your papa in you that craves the heat and the open spaces.”

      Emmaline shrugged diffidently. “I haven’t given it much chance yet. Yesterday was a real experience, what with riding on that wagon and traveling in the hottest part of the day.” She slid a glance at the woman who was still considering her intently. “I suspect Matthew was trying to put me through a trial, perhaps seeking to discourage me from staying.”

      Maria grinned. Her smile widened to express her agreement, revealing brilliant white teeth. “Sí...he may have set out on the wrong foot. Then, too, he did have to get supplies from town, and the buggy doesn’t hold as much.”

      “Well, at any rate, I may not be here for long,” Emmaline said quickly. “I’ll make arrangements to see Mr. Hooper and find out what I need to do about the will, and then—”

      “And then you’ll fold up your tent and steal away, I suspect, city lady,” said a husky voice from behind her.

      Emmaline stifled the urge to toss her coffee at the tall man who stood in the archway, instead looking over her shoulder at him with disdain.

      “I don’t steal away, Matt. When the time comes, I’ll leave the same way I came, only with my sister in tow.”

      His snort of disbelief only served to bring her to her feet in a rush of movement. She spun to face him, and her skirts swished about her.

      Matt’s gaze moved slowly from the tips of her neatly shod feet to the wide skirt of her dress, then across