The Temptress Read online

  Lionel took a step back from her, then, in a split second, he grabbed a handful of mud from a flower bed and threw it onto the front of her clean dress. Before Chris could speak, he ran out of sight.

  Standing, Chris looked down at the front of her dress, then started back to the house.

  Unity, taking a pan of cornbread from the oven, looked up. “I take it you met Lionel. Here, honey, sit down and we’ll get you cleaned up. That boy is gonna be the death of us all.”

  “I’m sure it’s none of my business, but does anyone ever discipline that child?” She took the wet cloth Unity gave her.

  “Till their hands near fell off. When you get as old as I am, you learn that kids are as different as night and day. Some of ’em you can discipline with a look, most of ’em you can discipline with a birch rod—and then there’s Lionel. Nothin’ has any effect on him. Believe me, his uncle’s tried ever’thing.”

  “How about gentleness?” Chris asked, wiping at the mud on her dress. “I mean he is an orphan.”

  “You ain’t been here long, but you’ll see. Mr. Owen is the gentlest man alive. It breaks his heart when he has to take a rod to that boy. For years, he wouldn’t do it. He kept sayin’ he wanted the boy to feel at home here but I’ve known him since he was a baby.”

  Chris wasn’t sure how much Diana was supposed to know, but she had to chance it. “You were with Lionel before his uncle was?”

  “I keep forgettin’ that you don’t know about us.”

  “If you’ll hand me that bowl of peas I’ll shell them for you,” Chris said.

  “Now this ain’t to be usual. You’re family, but for today I’ll let you help. Now, where was I? Oh yes. I worked for Mr. Owen’s brother and sister-in-law; I was there the night Mrs. Laura had little Lionel. That was a happy night. But it wasn’t but a few months later that they was killed in that fire. Lionel was only six months old. Of course everything was left to him, with Mr. Owen to take care of the property until Lionel reached twenty-one. He’s done the best he could, but that boy…” She trailed off, leaving the rest to the imagination.

  Chris couldn’t get anymore from the woman and Unity spent the rest of their time together talking about what a wonderful man Owen was and how she was fortunate to be able to work for him. Chris thought that this was every homeowner’s dream, to find a dedicated servant.

  At dinner, Lionel came to the table late, his mouth set into a sulky pout. Owen greeted him and introduced him to his cousins, Diana and Whitman, but Lionel just gave them a sullen look and began to push the food about on his plate. Twice, Chris caught him looking at her with especially hostile looks. Both times she smiled at him.

  “What a brat of a kid,” Ash said when they were alone in their room. “Has anyone taken a switch to him? And why was he eating with adults anyway?”

  “Probably because he owns the place,” Chris said as she hung up her meager wardrobe.

  Asher ran his hand along the edge of the wardrobe. “I never thought I could come to love a piece of furniture. Remember the first time I saw you? I told Tynan we shouldn’t be hiding in a lady’s bedroom but he said we had to get to you without your making any noise. We thought you’d be asleep but the bed was empty and we jumped into the wardrobe when we heard you coming back into the room.”

  “I don’t want to talk about him.”

  “Him? Who? You don’t mean that two-bit gunslinger, do you? I thought you were over him. After what he did at that picnic, I’d think you’d never want to see him again.”

  “I don’t. Could we talk about something else? Such as how we’re going to find out what’s going on in this house? What is making that child so miserable?”

  “Being spoiled rotten is all that’s wrong with him and if you had any children of your own, you’d know that.”

  “And you do have children? So many that you’re an authority on the subject?”

  “I know enough to be sure of what I see. He’s been given everything and he expects more. Chris, let’s not argue. Let’s enjoy this time together.” He reached out his arms to her, his hands almost catching her, but she sidestepped him.

  “I’m going outside to the garden. I’ll see you later. See if you can make yourself useful to Owen and find out something. We’re here for a story and that’s what I plan to look into.”

  Chris left the room with a sigh of relief. She hadn’t given much thought to actually living with a man, of being in the same room with him night after night. But already, she could see the problems that it was going to involve.

  Downstairs, she found Owen and Unity looking perplexed. “I’ll take care of it,” Unity was saying. “You just go back to work where you belong.”

  Chris bit her tongue to keep from asking what Lionel had done now, but, instead, she politely murmured that she would like to help with whatever was the problem.

  “It’s merely one of those household complications that can’t be helped,” Owen said. “But today I do need to get work done before the buyer arrives and I don’t have time to—”

  “May I be of help?” Chris asked. “I’ve run my father’s house for years.”

  “We can’t ask you…” Owen began, then halted. “Diana, I’d be eternally grateful if you’d help. Unity has her hands full and doesn’t have the time. Five minutes ago, my gardener said he has to go to San Francisco to take care of a sick sister and he’s hired his cousin to run my gardens, only I don’t know this man and it’ll take me days to tell him how I want things kept.”

  “Leave it to me,” Chris said. “I’ll take care of everything. Where are the gardeners? The old one and the new one? I’ll get instructions from the old one and give them to the cousin—and I’ll ask for references.”

  Owen was looking at her with his head cocked to one side and Chris thought maybe she’d made a mistake. Diana Eskridge was supposed to be a mouse of a woman, not one who took over someone else’s household. But then, men rarely thought anything about housework. A woman could run an army of servants yet a man’d think she didn’t have sense enough to handle a twenty-dollar bill.

  “Diana, I’d appreciate it very much if you’d help me with this. Domestic responsibilities are my downfall.”

  Chris gave him a demure smile. “I’d like to help all that I can.”

  “Al is waiting in the garden for me with his cousin. I give it all to you.”

  Chris was glad for something to do and she went to the garden with a smile. Maybe she’d be able to find out something if she had access to some of Owen’s time. He’d be more likely to tell her something if she were helping him in whatever way she could.

  She was walking around a corner when she came face to face with the one man she did not want to see. “You!” she gasped. “Get out of here!” She turned on her heel and started back toward the house.

  Tynan caught her arm. “Is that how you treat the new gardener? Will you tell Hamilton that you can’t hire me?”

  She stopped and glared at him. “I told you that I never wanted to see you again.”

  “And I told you that you were my responsibility until I returned you to your father. I’m not leaving you alone until you’re in his care.”

  “You were also to bring me back in love with Asher. I can do that on my own. I’m staying here with Ash and I plan to fall in love with him.”

  “Good. Great. Glad to hear it. I wish you both the best in the world, but you’re staying near me too until I personally hand you over to your father.”

  “That may be what you think but I’m going right now and tell Owen that you are unsuitable as a gardener. I’ll tell him that you are untrustworthy, that you may use a gun to do the weeding.”

  “I hope you do,” he said, starting to walk beside her. “I never wanted to be a gardener anyway. I’ll just tell Hamilton the truth about who you are and we can go back to your father and we never have to see each other again. And I can get my pardon and you can have your wedding to the illustrious Mr. Prescott and I can get my money for pl