The Temptress Read online

  “Not like you do?”

  He looked back at her. “Are you mad at me about something? You seem awfully short tempered.”

  Red sat down. “Ty, honey, I’m gettin’ old and you’re the closest thing to a son I’ll ever have. I’d like to see you married and settled down with half a dozen kids. I’d like to think there’s an empty room in your house that’s for me if I ever wanta retire.”

  Ty took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. “Wherever I am there’ll always be room for you, but I can’t see me with a wife and kids.”

  She pushed away from him. “That’s because you’ve never been in love.”

  “Why, an hour ago I was so in love with Leora that—”

  “Hush! You know what I mean. Have you ever even asked a girl to a church social? Taken a girl out for a buggy ride and a picnic?”

  “Sounds mighty boring to me.”

  “Well, it ain’t,” she said, glaring at him.

  He looked out the window again. “You know, one day Chris and Prescott were singing and it looked like it might be an all right way to pass the time.”

  “You have a beautiful singing voice. Why didn’t you join in?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t fit in with people like them. Hey! You got any pork in this place? I’d love four or five pork chops tonight.”

  “We got pork. Ty, are you gonna try to match Chris with that man?”

  He took a while to answer, turning back and looking at his drink. “It’s my job.”

  “But you’re reluctant?”

  “She deserves a lot better than him. She’s got spunk. She liked the rain forest and wasn’t scared to death of the place. She walked around while he huddled beside the fire. And she pulled her weight in work too. He treated me like a servant hired to wait on him but Chris always helped me unpack the mules.” He smiled. “Except for that first night.”

  He put the whiskey down. “Oh, hell, she’s not for me.”

  Red put her hands on his arms. “Why isn’t she? Isn’t she Mathison’s only kid? I bet if he thought she wanted you, he wouldn’t put you back in jail.”

  “It’s my neck if you’re wrong, isn’t it? Besides, she doesn’t want me. It was just that she thought I was the leader and the forest can make you feel as if there’s nobody else on earth. It was the time and the place. And the fact that there was no competition.”

  “So now that you’re out of the forest, she won’t be interested in you, is that it?”

  “I’m sure of it.”

  Red turned away for a moment. “You know something? I have more faith in this young lady. From reading her articles I think she’s not at all flighty. If she said she loved you, I think she does.”

  “For how long?” Ty asked in disgust. “Deliver me from the faithful love of a good woman.”

  “How about putting her to a test?”

  “Such as?”

  “Rory Sayers.”

  Tynan didn’t speak for a moment. “Is he here?”

  “At the hotel. Want to introduce your Chris to him?”

  “She’s not mine.”

  Red smiled at him. “You know what your problem is, Tynan? You’ve never had to work to get any female. Did you know that there are other things to do with a woman besides take her to bed? You’ve probably never spent five minutes talking to a woman who wasn’t a whore. I’ll bet that you don’t even know what to do with a girl outside the bedroom.”

  “I talked to Chris one afternoon in the forest.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Red, what are you trying to do?”

  “I want you to do something that’s not so easy for you. I think you’re half in love with this Chris. Why don’t you take her out a few times, talk to her, get to know what she’s like? It’ll be practice for when you’re lookin’ for a wife.”

  “And what if she keeps saying she loves me? I’m not going back to jail for her or anybody else. And I’ll not be cheated out of the ten grand.”

  “There, you see, you can organize a few socials yourself. Take Chris and Prescott for a ride in the country. Help him court her. You’ll learn from him and he’ll learn from you.”

  “And what about Sayers? What has he got to do with all this?”

  “Don’t you think Rory would be a perfect match for your Chris? He’s rich, established, owns all that lovely timberland and Rory certainly doesn’t lack force. Maybe you could get Chris to marry him. I’m sure Mathison would approve and you’d get your ten thousand dollars.”

  Ty didn’t say anything but picked up his empty whiskey glass and refilled it. “I can’t see Chris and Sayers together.”

  “Oh, I can. Rory has so much personality and the women all adore him. You could take Chris and Rory and the handsome young man Mathison chose out in the country for the afternoon and just sit back and think about your ten thousand dollars. It’ll be the easiest money anyone ever made.”

  “Chris may not like Sayers. She’s got taste. She’s a real lady. All her underclothes have her initials on them, not big and gaudy like Susie used to wear, but tiny initials done in white on white cloth. And Chris asks a lot of questions. She finds out about people. If Sayers tries a line on her, she’ll see through him.”

  “But you’ll be there to smooth things over and help Rory over the rough spots, won’t you?”

  “Chris isn’t all that easy to fool. You know that she figured out I was in pain? Even guessed that my feet were blistered from the damn new boots. And she put it all together and figured out about my being in jail.”

  “Not like other women you’ve known, is she?” Red said softly.

  Abruptly, Ty put his half full whiskey glass down. “Look, I got things to do. I’ll see you tonight for supper.”

  “Yes, honey, you do that. Let’s eat at the hotel and invite your friends. Maybe I can help you get the money. I’ll make your Chris see what a charming gentleman has been chosen for her. And maybe we can invite Rory. He always livens up any gathering.”

  “Yeah, well, maybe. Chris won’t like him, though. He’s all hot air.” He put his hand on the door. “And she’s not my Chris.”

  “She is until you sell her to someone else.”

  “Why do I feel like I’ve been run over by a twenty-car train? I’ll see you tonight.”

  “At six at the hotel,” she called after him.

  • • •

  As Chris was dressing that evening, she noticed her underwear, looking at the initials on all of it and wondering when in the world Ty had had a chance to see it. He’s seen what’s under it, so what’s the difference in seeing the underwear, she wondered.

  As she examined the lovely blue velvet gown Red had loaned her, with its tight waist, the skirt fitting snugly around her slim hips, and a little bustle in back, she thought about what she’d heard from Tynan that afternoon. He seemed such an odd contradiction of confidence and insecurity, she mused as she left the room.

  At the foot of the hotel stairs waited Asher and another man who stepped forward instantly and introduced himself as Rory Sayers—and Chris felt that she knew all about him at once. He was the type of man her father had paraded before her for the first eighteen years of her life. He was handsome in a sharp sort of way: sharp nose, sharp chin, eyes a snapping blue. And he had more confidence than any six other men, confidence that Chris knew came from having had money all his life.

  There was coolness behind her smile as she took his arm and allowed him to lead her into the dining room.

  Dinner was a disaster. Rory dominated the meal, talking about everything that had been happening in the country in the last two years—the years that Ty had been in prison. And Tynan looked like a sulky little boy who was being punished by having to eat with the grownups.

  For just a moment, Chris closed her eyes and prayed for strength.

  “Of course you wouldn’t know about that, would you old man?” Rory said to Tynan who had his head bent over a plate heaped with pork chops. “You were a bit too busy over the