Cowboy Seeks Perfect Wife. Linda Lewis

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СКАЧАТЬ afraid he’s not up to the competition if Rafe really does make a play for his wife. After all, Rafe has his own ranch now, the biggest in the county from what I hear. J.D.’s still only the foreman at the Clancy spread. I have a feeling that if he wanted to, Rafe could get Cathy Sue with one crook of his little finger.”

      “He wouldn’t do that.” Somehow she’d gotten the definite impression that, no matter how stuffy he was, Rafe McMasters was an honorable man. Not the kind to chase atter a married woman.

      “You’re probably right. I doubt Rafe has suddenly decided he made a mistake all those years ago. He’ll find someone else to marry.”

      “What makes you think he’s going to marry anyone?”

      “That huge house he’s building. It’s much too big for one man. He must be planning on starting a family. Wouldn’t it be great if he found a woman even more perfect than Cathy Sue? It would be refreshing to see the blue ribbons at the Proffit County Fair on something she didn’t make.”

      “Cathy Sue beats out your peach cobbler?”

      Maggie nodded. “Every damn year.”

      Sidonie patted Maggie on the shoulder. “All right. Here’s the plan. We’ll shoot her. Where does this Cathy Sue person live?”

      Maggie giggled. “That’s going too far, even for us. And I have to admit, the talk about him and Cathy Sue is pure speculation. And that’s only one story. Some folks think he’s back to get even with J.D., the theory being that if J.D. hadn’t snapped Cathy Sue up so fast, she would have waited for Rafe. Other people think Rafe wants to ruin Emmet.”

      “Why would he want to do that?”

      “All kinds of reasons, most of which are kind of vague. He’s a real mystery.”

      “Well, someone else can solve him. I’ve got other things to do. Like hug my goddaughter. Where is she?”

      “Elizabeth’s at school of course. She’s so excited about you coming home. She’s discovered ballet on the learning channel and she wants dance lessons.”

      Sidonie frowned. Dance lessons? Maggie knew Sidonie’s feelings about teaching—that was what dancers did after they retired. Was Maggie pushing her toward a new career, too? “The closest dance studio is in Dallas, isn’t it?”

      Maggie didn’t pursue the subject. “Where are you going to live until Rafe moves out? I’d offer to let you stay here, but we only have the two bedrooms, now that Rayburn’s turned one into a study.”

      “I have a place to stay. Unfortunately I’ll have to share it with McMasters. It turns out he really does have a lease on the house, and Judge Longstreet says I can’t get out of it.”

      Maggie shot her a dubious look. “Do you think he’ll go for a roommate?”

      “Not willingly. That’s why I came to you. We have to figure out a way to make him go for it. You always were good at getting people to do what you wanted.”

      Maggie grinned. “Don’t let Rayburn hear you say that—I’ve got him convinced he’s the boss.”

      Crossing her heart, Sidonie grinned back. “My lips are sealed.”

      Maggie’s brows drew together in fierce concentration. “There was something…I know! I saw it in the paper just this morning. He’s advertised for a live-in cook/housekeeper. But I’m pretty sure he means for the house he’s building. It won’t be finished for another month or so.” She rummaged around in a stack of magazines and pulled out the latest copy of the Cache Register, the town’s weekly newspaper.

      Sidonie snatched it out of her hands. “Let me see that.” Turning to the classified ads at the back of the paper, she quickly ran her eye down the columns. “Aha! You’re right, Maggie. Here it is.” She scanned the ad. “This is perfect. I won’t even try to talk him into letting me stay. I’ll just apply for the job. I’d have to clean and cook for myself, anyway.”

      “Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, Sidonie. Every woman in town under eighty is going to apply for that job.”

      “But I’ve got the inside track. My suitcase is already unpacked. And the ad does say to start in two months. I’ll just have to convince him he needs a housekeeper now.”

      “Well, maybe that will work. I guess you can clean all right. But you can’t cook.”

      “Yes, I can. Well, a few things. I’ll learn others, if I need to.”

      “Are you sure it’ll be safe? Living with a man like that?” Maggie shivered, just like she’d done when they’d told ghost stories at slumber parties.

      Sidonie suppressed an answering shiver. Rafe McMasters should not induce shivers in anyone, except maybe a clone of Cathy What’s-her-name. He certainly was not her type. Oh, if what the judge and Maggie said were true, he might have been at one time—she was as much a sucker for bad boys as any red-blooded American female. But a rancher in banker’s clothing? No way.

      “A man like what? He might have been a troublemaker when he was younger, but he’s changed. Now he’s an upright, uptight solid citizen. And you know there is nothing stuffier than a reformed rogue.”

      “Rafe McMasters?” Maggie’s face fell. “Say it isn’t so.”

      “Can’t. The man’s a dull, stodgy businessman. And, as far as I could tell on our short acquaintance, he’s happy about it, to boot.”

      After leaving her friend’s house, Sidonie swung by the vet’s to pick up Gypsy. Bathed and groomed, she still looked like a mutt. “Never mind. I love you, anyway.”

      The telephone was ringing off the wall when she and Gypsy got home, and no one was there to answer it. Rafe must be giving her plenty of time to clear out. Sidonie hesitated only a second before picking up the receiver. It might be some poor woman looking for a job, one that had already been filled.

      Rafe McMasters might not know it yet, but he had a housekeeper. Her.

      “Hello. McMasters residence.”

      “Hello. Who’s this? Don’t tell me—I might have known he wouldn’t waste any time. Boy thinks he’s wasted too much time already.”

      “Who is this?”

      “Fielding. Cornelius Fielding. I thought he might have gotten tired of country life by now, be ready to come back to the Windy City. Plenty of women here, I told him. Plenty of other business opportunities, too, if he became bored with commodity trading. But he’s had his mind made up, and nothing I offered could change it. Three things he wanted and now I guess he’s got them all.”

      “Cornelius Fielding?” The man was talking a mile a minute, but his name had registered. “The billionaire?”

      “Please. Multibillionaire. The richest man in the United States—except for that computer genius, darn him. Fat lot of good it does me, if I can’t keep a good man on the payroll. What’s your name, young lady? He must have swept you right off your feet. Fast worker, that Rafe McMasters. Always has been. Saved my life, you know. That’s how we met. Been working for me ever since, until СКАЧАТЬ