Millie (Pendleton Petticoats Book 7) Page 19

  “Ain’t they something?” Cully asked, standing on tiptoe as he pointed in wonder to the contents of the tin.

  “Oh, my…” Reverently, Millie set the tin on the counter and started to reach out and touch a cookie then worried she’d smear the lovely design.

  Sugar cookies of varying sizes bore a smooth white frosting. Each cookie resembled a piece of an elaborately stitched sampler. Some looked like lace while others held hearts, and several were decorated with flowers like jonquils and daisies.

  “Oh, Millie,” Lacy said, stepping beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

  “Are those cookies?” Susan asked, studying them from her other side.

  Millie’s gaze lifted to Cully’s. “Mr. McBride made these?”

  “He sure did.” Cully’s little chest puffed out. “He let me sit on the counter and watch. I got to eat all the rejects. Well, most of them. Mr. Jamieson made me share after he showed up a while ago.”

  Absently, Millie nodded. “Did Mr. McBride send a note?”

  “No, ma’am, but he said if you’re of a mind to call him again, he’d answer.”

  Millie dug in her pocket and pulled out a few coins, handing them to Cully. “Thank you, Cully. You have a nice evening and tell your mother I said hello.”

  “I will, Miss Matlock. Bye!”

  The boy raced out the door and disappeared while the three women continued to stare at the tin of cookies that looked more like edible works of art.

  Susan finally realized they had incoming calls and hurried to answer them while Millie and Lacy focused on the cookies.

  “My gracious, Millie. A man who would go to that much work to make cookies like this… a man that would do that…” Lacy squeezed her shoulders. “I think he cares for you a great deal.”

  “I don’t… I never imagined…” Millie couldn’t think. Not with Gideon’s affection for her evident in the hours he’d spent creating the cookies. It was apparent in every single drop of frosting.

  “Run upstairs and change into a fresh dress. Put on your new hat and go thank him in person.” Lacy turned Millie toward the stairs.

  Numbly, Millie followed her orders, hurriedly changing into one of her favorite outfits, hastily tucking up a few errant strands of hair, and pinning on a hat at a jaunty angle. She grabbed her handbag and hurried back downstairs. She stared at the cookies again then looked at Lacy.

  “If I leave these here, do you promise to keep Grant from eating them?”

  Lacy laughed and crossed a finger over her heart. “I promise. Now go. I’ll keep an eye on things until Maude arrives for the evening shift.”

  Millie rushed outside and kept a brisk pace to Gideon’s saloon. As she walked, she rehearsed what she’d say to him. Of course, she’d thank him for the cookies and let him know she’d never seen anything lovelier. Then she’d remind him that they’d agreed not to be attached to each other since nothing could come of a relationship. Not when they both were determined to remain unwed.

  Millie knew it was foolhardy to encourage Gideon. She should never have allowed him to kiss her, never gone out to his ranch, and most certainly never allowed him to escort her to the ball.

  She needed to put a stop to things before her love for him overcame her determination to do what she believed to be right.

  The road the two of them traveled led directly to the altar, and that would never do.

  No matter how much she loved Gideon, wanted to be with him, she’d never surrender her independence to him. Not to any man, but especially not to one who so thoroughly addled her senses.

  With purposeful strides, she hurried down the alley and across the back of Gideon’s place, tapping on the back door.

  She heard footsteps approach and looked into his surprised face when he swung open the door.

  “Millie? What are you doing here?” He moved aside so she could enter. “Come in. Would you like a cup of tea? A glass of lemonade?”

  She stood in the hall, trying to recall even one word she planned to say to him, but the sight of the sunlight dappling across his coppery head and warmth glowing in his green eyes tangled her tongue right along with her thoughts.

  His hands cupped her elbows as he toed the door shut. “Is everything okay?”

  Mutely, she nodded and allowed Gideon to guide her into his sitting room. He settled her on a sofa and sat beside her. “What is it, Millie?”

  “Thank you for the cookies, Gideon. They’re too pretty to eat.” She smiled at him, releasing the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

  Pleased, he grinned. “So Cully made it to you without dropping the tin or snitching any?”

  Millie laughed. “He did. That boy was so proud. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he made them himself.”

  Gideon leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Once I told him what I was doing, he wanted to watch. He acted like I’d given him a piece of gold when I gave him a box of cookies to take to his mother. He ran it over to her while I put the cookies for you in a tin.”

  “That was kind of you, Gideon. Cully and his mother probably don’t enjoy treats like that very often.”

  “No, I don’t think they do.” He leaned back with a cocky grin and settled his arm across the back of the sofa. His fingers reached out and caressed a silky tendril that had escaped Millie’s hairpins. “Did you come all the way over here just to tell me thanks?”

  “I did,” Millie said. The happy look on Gideon’s face, the joy in her own heart at seeing him, kept her quiet. She couldn’t, wouldn’t tell him goodbye. Not yet. “Have you plans for supper?”

  Gideon shook his head. “No. I spent all day making cookies and didn’t get anything ready. I thought I’d eat a sandwich.”

  Millie rose to her feet and held out a hand to Gideon. “Then I insist you accompany me to Caterina’s for dinner. I heard she made lasagna today and it’s my favorite.”

  Gideon took her hand in his, but spun around so his arm twisted behind his back. “If you’re gonna twist my arm and convince me to go, I can’t say no.”

  “Indeed, Mr. McBride.” She laughed and followed him to the kitchen where he told Abel he was going to be gone for a while. After slipping on a suit coat and picking up his hat, he escorted her out the back door and to the sidewalk in front of his saloon.

  Later, as they sat in a private corner at the town’s most romantic restaurant, Millie wondered how she’d ever muster the strength to send Gideon on his way.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Wracked with nerves, Millie couldn’t believe she’d let Bertie and Lacy talk her into coming to watch the horse race taking place as part of the May Market Day celebration.

  Gideon planned to ride Carbonado in the race and Millie worried about both him and the horse.

  She’d seen enough horse races over the years to know the men in Pendleton took it quite seriously. Wagers would no doubt be placed, and some weren’t above cheating to come out the victor.

  “Stop fretting,” Bertie whispered in her ear as they walked to the west end of town where the race would take place. “Gideon will be fine.”

  Annoyed her friends knew she worried about Gideon, Millie turned her attention to Aundy and Garrett as they approached.

  “I’m surprised you aren’t riding in the race,” Millie said, greeting them with a teasing smile.

  Garrett grinned, shifting Emmalee from one arm to the other. “Are you talking to me or my wife?”

  “Aundy, of course. She and Ella would show them how it’s done.” Millie laughed when Aundy reached out and playfully swatted her arm.

  “I’d be insulted if it wasn’t true,” Aundy said, lifting her nose in the air with a regal sniff then smiling at her friends.

  “Why aren’t you riding, Garrett?” Bertie asked, taking Emmalee and bouncing the baby in her arms.

  “After Riley and I watched Gideon on that streak of black lightening, I decided I might as well sit back and watch him win.”

&nb
sp; “Is he really that fast?” Millie asked. Although she’d seen Gideon ride and had met Carbonado the day she’d visited the Second Chance Ranch, she’d never witnessed him ride the racehorse.

  “Yep, and then some.” Garrett pointed to where Gideon rode the horse in slow circles, warming up the animal’s muscles.

  At the look of longing on his face to join the men leaning on the fence and discussing who would win, Aundy gave Garrett a nudge that direction. “Go on, Garrett. You know you want to be in the thick of things.”

  “Thanks, honey.” He kissed her cheek and his daughter’s nose before he hurried off to join Riley and some of the other men.

  Aundy waved to a couple Millie had only seen a few times since she’d moved to Pendleton.

  A tall man with black hair and stormy eyes walked beside a beautiful woman with auburn hair. Three comely children trailed behind them.

  Aundy reached out and took the woman’s hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. “Braxton and Dacey Douglas, what are you doing in town?”

  Dacey smiled at Aundy and tipped her head toward her handsome husband. “Brax decided he wanted to check on things at the ranch before the heat of the summer settled in this year, so here we are.”

  Aundy grinned. “I saw Rowdy in town a few weeks ago, but he didn’t mention anything about you visiting. How are things in North Carolina?”

  “Lovely,” Dacey said, looking behind her at her children. The two boys stared at a couple of cowboys riding by while her daughter fixed her gaze on Gideon and Carbonado. “We’re so fortunate Rowdy has stayed on to manage the ranch here. It gives us peace of mind to know everything is in good hands.”

  “We heard about the horse race and had to come watch it,” Braxton said. He smiled at his sixteen-year-old daughter, aware of her interest in the black thoroughbred. “Of course, Dally tried to talk us into letting her ride.”

  “I did not, Papa,” the pretty girl huffed. She looked like a replica of her mother while her two younger brothers greatly resembled their father.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Aundy said, turning to Bertie and Millie. “Have you met the Douglas family? They’re from Asheville, North Carolina, although Dacey grew up on a ranch here in Pendleton.”

  “We have met a few times in the past,” Millie said, politely nodding to the couple. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

  “Yes, it’s very nice to have you here,” Bertie said, smiling at Braxton and Dacey. “Although it seems to me the last time I saw you, Dahlia was still in short skirts and braids.”

  “Dally seems to have grown up overnight,” her father said with a wistful sigh. “And she’s just enough like her mother the boys don’t know whether to chase her skirts or run the other direction.”

  “Papa!” The girl’s face flushed a becoming shade of pink as she glared at her father.

  Braxton laughed and Dacey smiled indulgently. “Don’t tease her so, Brax.” The woman settled an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “It’s hard enough being her age with her particular interests without you and those two…” Dacey winked at her sons, “constantly teasing her.”

  “It keeps her from getting too big for her britches,” Braxton said, hugging his daughter next to his side. He glanced over at Aundy and pointed toward Gideon. “I’m quite interested in that black beast. Do you know if he’s for sale?”

  Aundy shook her head and looked at Millie. “Mr. McBride just recently acquired him. I don’t think he has any plans to sell him, although he is willing to sell the stallion’s services.”

  “Ah, I see,” Braxton said, looking at his family. “Shall we go meet that horse?”

  The younger of the two boys nodded his head with such enthusiasm the flat cap he wore sailed off. He snatched it up, whacked it once on his leg, and looked to their parents.

  “Go on. We’ll catch up with you.” Dacey smiled at her sons.

  The boys raced off while Braxton held out an arm to his wife. “Come on, Dacey Jo. If you think you can keep from climbing the fence and pushing off the rider, I’d like to get a better look.”

  “You better watch it, Brax, or I’ll do just that.”

  Braxton turned back to Millie, Bertie, and Aundy. “Would you ladies like to join us?”

  “Absolutely,” Aundy said, taking Emmalee from Bertie.

  “Oh, is this your baby?” Dacey asked, stopping and holding out her arms. “Aundy, she’s just a doll.”

  Aundy beamed. “We think she is. She’ll celebrate her first birthday next week.”

  “Already?” Dacey asked, kissing Emma’s rosy cheek. “It seems like just yesterday you were anxiously awaiting her arrival.”

  “It does to me, too.” Aundy grinned when Emmalee reached out to Dahlia. The girl took her without hesitation.

  Braxton glanced at his daughter and pensively sighed. “I never thought I’d see the day she’d choose to hold a baby instead of run off like a wild ruffian.”

  “She is her mother’s daughter,” Aundy teased.

  Garrett came over as they approached and shook hands with Braxton, introducing him to Riley and Gideon.

  “That is some horse, Mr. McBride,” Braxton said, studying Carbonado from every angle. “If you ever decide to sell him, I hope you’ll give me an opportunity to purchase him.”

  Gideon laughed and motioned to Garrett. “You’ll have to get in line behind Garrett. He’s claimed first dibs.”

  “Well, if you ever find yourself in North Carolina, come by our place. I’d love to show you our horses.”

  Gideon nodded his head. “If I find myself with some time on my hands, I might just make a trip to see you.”

  Millie assumed he referred to the efforts of the temperance union to bring prohibition to town. Three more women had been attacked in the last two months, drawing attention to the problems of drunken men preying on the women of Pendleton.

  The signatures on her pledge sheets had steadily increased and now the Anti-Saloon League had sent representatives to town. Between the two organizations, the temperance efforts rapidly gained steam.

  As though he read her thoughts, Gideon gave her a pointed look then tipped his hat and rode off in the direction of the starting line. The racecourse was a rough track that circled around the edge of a baseball field. The horses would circle the track three times and the one in the lead at the end of the third lap would win.

  Millie couldn’t help but admire how handsome and powerful Gideon looked on the back of the sleek black horse. He’d left off his hat and the sunlight gleamed through the waves of his coppery hair. The scruff on his face indicated he hadn’t shaved for a day or two. However, when he smiled at her, his dimples made her catch her breath.

  Although she wanted to call out to Gideon and wish him luck, Millie remained silent as she watched him pat Carbonado on the neck.

  People lined up to watch the race and Millie found herself standing between Sadie Thorsen and Lacy.

  The blast of a gunshot rent the air and the horses took off, dirt clods flying, as they raced around the track. Almost a dozen horses were in the race, but Gideon easily pulled ahead. By the time he’d circled the track twice some of the riders were just completing their first loop.

  Only two other horses came remotely close to keeping up with Carbonado, but on the last circle around the track, the thoroughbred stretched out his long legs and won by several yards.

  Millie joined her friends as they cheered and clapped their hands, excited Gideon ended as the victor. Across the sea of milling people, he caught her eye and winked. His look made her heart flutter in her chest and left her limbs in a languorous state.

  “That man has it bad for you,” Lacy whispered in her ear.

  “I know,” she sighed. The problem wasn’t that Millie knew it. It was that she didn’t want to put a stop to it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Millie stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom, poking in a handful of hairpins when she heard a loud tap on her kitchen door.

  Sin
ce no one ever came to the door, she had to assume it was some sort of emergency, especially at this early hour of the morning.

  Swiftly moving down the hall while she jabbed in the last hairpin, she stepped into her kitchen and glanced out the window next to the door. Gideon anxiously paced across her landing.

  Her fingers trembled as she turned the knob and pulled open the door. The distraught look on his face did nothing to alleviate her concerns.

  “What is it, Gideon? What’s wrong?” she asked, staring at him with wide eyes.

  “May I come in, Millie? I wouldn’t have come, but I wanted you to know.”

  “Know what?” She moved aside so he could enter. “Would you like a cup of tea? I don’t generally make coffee, but the water is hot if you’d like tea.”

  “No, Millie. Please, sit down.” Gideon took her hand and seated her in a kitchen chair at her small table. He pulled a chair next to her and sandwiched her hands between both of his.

  “What’s happened? Is it the Nash family? Did something happen to them? To Lacy and Grant? Is it Bertie?”

  “No, honey. Nothing like that.” The note of despair in his voice did nothing to calm her.

  “Cully? Did something happen to Cully or his mother?” A hundred tragedies raced through her mind.

  “No, Millie. Cully’s fine. I’m not even sure how, but a… um…” Gideon rubbed his hand across the back of his neck and expelled a frustrated sigh. “Last night, a young woman was walking home. She works at the new shoe store that opened over on Cottonwood Street.”

  “Yes, I know the store,” Millie said, impatient for Gideon to get to the point. “What happened?”

  “Well, the young woman stayed late. I guess the store had a sale or something. On her way home, she cut across an alley and she… um… that’s to say…”

  “She was attacked, wasn’t she? Is she okay? Is she alive, Gideon?” Millie’s voice rose in volume as she peppered him with questions. “Who is she?”

  “I’ve seen the girl with your temperance committee, Millie. Miss Caldwell will live, but she’s in pretty bad shape.” Gideon clasped Millie’s hand in his, needing the comfort of her touch.