The Texan. Carolyn Davidson

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      Chapter One

      If innocence bore a Christian name, it would be Augusta McBride. For there before him was, without a doubt, the most lily-white specimen of womanhood Jonathan Cleary had ever laid eyes on.

      Wearing a wide-brimmed, feather-embellished hat over golden hair, and clad in a long-sleeved, up-to-the-neck, fully buttoned dress, she stood on his doorstep, hands folded and reticule drooping from one wrist. Her eyes were wide, blue and wary. Pink and inviting, her lips glistened, and as he watched, he noted the reason for the moisture evident on that lush, full mouth. Her tongue touched her lips briefly, not for the first time, as if the flesh were dry and taut. He watched with male appreciation as that pink, pointed member dampened the skin and then retreated within her mouth.

      “As I said, my name is Augusta McBride,” she repeated, as if she’d been reading the lines in a book and had somehow lost her place and must begin again. “I’m here to collect donations for a shelter for…” Her voice trailed off as if she had become aware of the smile he wore, a smile he was certain signaled his approval of her appearance.

      The dress she was bundled in covered all her curves sufficiently and did not offer a tempting peek at one square inch of skin, save a part of her throat. And that lack only served to whet his interest in what lay beneath its fabric. Starched percale could not subdue the lift of her full bosom, nor could the dress’s long sleeves hide the perfection of slender fingers and pink, oval nails.

      “The shelter for…what?” he asked quietly, commanding his eyes to rest on her rosy cheeks, lest he frighten her away with the full survey he wanted to repeat. He’d only caught a glimpse of her slender form for a moment before his gaze was captured by the perfection of a straight nose and wide-set eyes.

      She was lovely, and where she’d been hiding since his arrival in Collins Creek, Texas, was a mystery he wouldn’t mind exploring. For sure, he hadn’t laid eyes on her until three minutes ago.

      “The ladies of the community church have purchased a house on the north side of town, sir,” she began, her voice an earnest, soft contralto. “It is designed as a shelter for women who need a place to live until they can…rebuild their lives.”

      “Rebuild.” He repeated the word slowly, already dead certain of the problems the women in question might have in doing such a thing. “What’s wrong with their present circumstances?” he asked, frowning a bit, as if he were truly puzzled over her explanation.

      “Most of our residents come from a lifestyle that makes them unappealing to most of the citizens of Collins Creek. We are offering them a shelter while they make the appropriate changes that will give them an opportunity to—”

      “Unappealing? Are they crippled or disfigured in some way?” he asked, cutting off her faltering explanation. He furrowed his brow, sliding his hands into his trouser pockets as he leaned against the doorpost.

      “Oh, no!” she said firmly. “Not in any way.”

      “Then I guess I don’t understand their problem,” Cleary said, puzzlement alive in his voice.

      She just about had her fingers twisted off, he noted, stifling a grin. Her hands were clenched so tightly her knuckles were white, and her eyes sought some destination over his left shoulder as she began a halting explanation.

      “These women come to us from various places, several from the Pink Palace just south of town,” she said, allowing her glance to touch his face briefly, as if she sought his understanding.

      “The Pink Palace.” He narrowed his eyes and met her apologetic look head-on. “You mean to say you’re in the business of rescuing a bunch of soiled doves?” he asked.

      “Um…I believe they’ve been called that. Among other things,” she said quietly.

      “And you want me to donate to your cause?”

      She nodded quickly, and he watched as the feathers on her hat blew in the breeze. “Well, yes. We’re asking the good folks of Collins Creek to help us in our fight against the evils incarnate in such establishments. Our ladies are only seeking a chance for employment in another—” her hand waved ineffectively as she searched for a phrase “—line of work. Yes,” she said abruptly. “Another line of work.”

      “What are they suited for?” he asked, and then stepped back, offering her the opportunity to enter his parlor. “Why don’t you come in, and we can discuss this further?” Her eyes looked past him into the shadowed room and she swallowed, a convulsive movement that drew his attention to the line of her throat, the only spot of pale skin available to his view.

      “I don’t think it would be proper of me to step inside your home, sir,” she said, her eyes round, her voice a prim reproof. “I only wanted to offer you an opportunity to aid us in the worthy project we’ve undertaken.”

      “Hmm…” His index finger scratched negligently at his jaw and he tilted his head to the side, as if he were seriously considering such a thing. “I suppose I’d need to hear a bit more about your plans, first,” he said, after a moment’s pause.

      She glanced up and down the street, where not a soul had ventured on this hot afternoon. “Perhaps you could come out onto your porch,” she offered, a trembling smile forming her pink lips into an invitation.

      “Certainly,” he conceded. “I’ll just get us each a glass of refreshment first. Have a seat on the swing, why don’t you?”

      He watched as she stepped to where the swing dangled at the end of the porch and then carefully seated herself, allowing her feet to rise from the floor as the swing moved in a gentle rhythm. Her smile in his direction lent wings to his feet as he raced toward the kitchen, where a jar of lemonade stood in the icebox. Pouring two glasses, he placed them on a tray and headed for the front porch.

      “Here we go,” he said, allowing the screened door to slam behind him. The tray found a spot on a small wicker table, and Cleary planted himself on the opposite end of the swing. Bending, he fetched a glass for his visitor, then the second for himself.

      She swallowed carefully, sipping in a ladylike manner from the glass, and her mouth glistened from the residue. “Thank you so much. I was terribly thirsty. I suppose I didn’t realize what a long walk it was from the middle of town, and I wanted to call on each house, lest I not give everyone the opportunity to help in our worthwhile endeavor.”

      “Well, I certainly admire your devotion to the cause,” he said judiciously. “But I suppose I’m having trouble trying to figure out just what line of work your ladies might be capable of training for.”

      “We’d like to be sure our ladies know the basics of homemaking,” Augusta began. “And that they would know how to work on a farm or ranch, should we find men available to take them as wives.”

      Cleary almost sputtered as he swallowed a mouthful of lemonade. “If you try to pass them off as typical brides, you might have a problem,” he said. “On the other hand, some of the men I’ve known, who are on their own, would welcome most any female creature into their homes. It gets pretty lonely СКАЧАТЬ