Page 17 of The Bastard Heir (The Gilded West #2)

Chapter Eight

C aroline Hartford had enchanted him. There was no denying it anymore.

After dinner that night everyone retired to the gold salon where the tall French doors had been opened to allow in the cool breeze blowing over the mountains.

The sun had just set, leaving the horizon with a burnished glow directly at odds with the bright stars struggling to shine in the velvet eastern sky.

As beautiful as that sunset was, Castillo was having trouble pulling his gaze away from Caroline to properly enjoy it.

He’d been captivated by her on the train.

And then annoyed with her when he found her here and she’d offered that proposal.

But then—though he couldn’t say when it had happened—he’d started to become captivated by her again.

She sat across the room on the settee next to Tanner, discussing her plans for the future.

He’d tried not to listen, but her voice kept drawing him in.

It wasn’t the sound of her voice, though that was pleasant…

soft, with enough of a husky timbre that it spoke directly to his baser instincts.

It was her words and the conviction with which she said them.

She knew what she wanted to do with her life, and it wasn’t at all what anyone else in her position would want.

She didn’t value marriage, not the way his mother had.

His mother had been crushed when she’d been abandoned by Tanner.

Some of that had been heartbreak, but Castillo had come to realize that much of it was because the life she’d imagined for herself had been taken away.

Marisol Reyes had been raised by very conservative parents, and that meant her only calling in life was to be a wife and mother, to be obedient to the needs of her family.

A caretaker of her family who ran an efficient household.

She’d never had a chance to develop interests beyond anything domestic, and truth be known, as he thought back, Castillo wasn’t certain she’d have wanted anything more. She’d been the perfect mother.

Caroline was different. Her family was affluent.

She could’ve been just like all the other women in her life, content to allow her future to be planned for her.

Content to follow her given role in society.

He’d seen those women in Boston and had met a few during his visits to Helena once he’d been recognized as Tanner Jameson’s son.

Not one of them had intrigued him like Caroline did.

She wanted more. She wanted control of her destiny.

There was something about that independence he found appealing.

No one understood it better than Castillo. His destiny had been planned out for him from the start and he’d been trying to take back control ever since. The Reyes hacienda was his destiny. But with his grandfather gone, he was struggling to make it his.

“Yes, I’ve been influenced greatly by Dr. Mary McLean. I was fortunate to attend a lecture she gave last year. She’s a fascinating person,” Caroline was saying, raising her glass of champagne.

Amelia, the eldest Bonham girl, played a soft tune on the piano in the corner, offering a pleasant, melodious backdrop for the evening.

Castillo looked outside and caught a flicker of light in the distant hills.

It disappeared too quickly to be a fire.

Was it a flicker of the dying sunset against a piece of metal—or a signal?

“You certainly sound as if you’re set on this plan,” Tanner remarked.

“Oh, I’m quite set on this. I hope to run my own practice someday. I think there are strides to be made yet in the area of women’s health.”

“As long as you stick to females and young children, and avoid taking on male patients, you’ll do fine. I’m certain of it.” This was said by Mr. Bonham, who’d just walked back into the room after smoking his after-dinner cigar on the veranda.

Castillo whipped around to gauge Caroline’s reaction.

She was as elegant as usual, her spine straight, shoulders back.

She’d changed from the dress she’d worn on the picnic into a pale-green evening gown.

The hair piled on top of her head shimmered like liquid gold in the candlelight.

She made her expression deliberately bland, but something burned in her eyes.

“Why do you say that, Mr. Bonham?”

“Because it’s less challenging. Caring for women and children is a fair extension of the woman’s role at home with her domestic duties.

Continuing that role outside of the home will be challenging enough to keep you occupied without overly taxing the intellect.

” The bastard actually grinned as if he was explaining a well-known fact to a child or someone of lesser intelligence.

“Now, Bonham,” Tanner said before she could answer. “While there are a few notable differences between the genders, human anatomy is much the same between them. Disease doesn’t discriminate.”

Bonham shook his head and sank down into the chair next to the settee facing the piano.

“But it does. The same disease works much differently in the male anatomy. We’ve a much stronger constitution.

” Looking back at Caroline with that indifferent smile, he continued, “You’ll learn all about that in your studies. ”

Castillo couldn’t hold silent any longer.

He’d never read a book about human anatomy or disease, but even he knew Bonham was talking nonsense.

He itched to put his fist through the man’s smile, but thought Tanner might not appreciate the violence.

“Miss Hartford has spent her entire life studying under her father. You’re a banker.

She knows far more about the subject than you ever will.

” Castillo turned his attention to Caroline.

She had a little smile on her face and the anger had left her eyes. “Come walk with me, mi corazón?”

Her mouth dropped open, much like Bonham’s, except hers changed into a smile while Bonham kept opening and closing his mouth as if he couldn’t quite figure out what to say.

Caroline quickly regathered her wits and rose to her feet, setting her champagne down on the spindly side table.

Castillo deliberately ignored the smile on Tanner’s face as he held out his arm to her.

She slipped her small hand through it and he led her out to the porch.

“What an ass,” he muttered, keeping his gait calm and steady as he led her on a walk around the veranda.

“It’s fine.” There was a smile in her voice.

“No, it’s not fine. To imply that you—”

“Castillo.” She placed her hand on his forearm, drawing his attention. “It really is fine. I’ve been dealing with that sort of ignorance for my whole life. It doesn’t bother me anymore.”

They’d come to a stop around the corner of the house.

The soft music from the piano still reached them here and a lantern hung from the rafters, flickering softly.

The cadence of Tanner’s voice along with the occasional word could be heard coming from inside, but they were nearly alone.

She was beautiful, smiling up at him, and she was all that he could see.

His gaze dropped to her mouth and the small white teeth pressed gently against her lush bottom lip.

The blush over the soft curve of her cheekbone.

The small nose with the delicate, gold-rimmed spectacles perched on the bridge.

Everything about her was delicate. Everything except her height.

The top of her head caught him at his chin, when he was accustomed to most women being far shorter.

He liked it, though he had no reason to pay attention to anything about her enough to like it. This courtship was a farce. “Anymore? It doesn’t bother you anymore?” he asked, because he’d been staring at her for way too long.

“There was a time it bothered me.” She nodded.

“I’ve heard it all, from how it’s not fair to the patients because I’ll almost certainly faint at the first unsightly lesion I see, to how my female brain is too small to comprehend everything I’ll need to learn.

I couldn’t understand why anyone would think that way.

I’ve spent so many hours learning under my father that I know as much as he does in some areas.

I know more than the people saying those thoughtless things.

Eventually, I realized that it doesn’t matter what they think.

They hold onto their prejudices because it comforts them in some way.

I don’t claim to understand it, but I know that I can’t dissuade them with words. Only my actions can prove them wrong.”

“But, Carolina, he just said your intelligence was inferior.”

She shrugged. “I know, and I also know he’s wrong. I can’t go battling every ignorant comment. Believe me, I’ve tried and it’s exhausting. I do feel sympathy for his daughters, though.”

His gaze had settled on her clear blue eyes.

They shone with intelligence and warmth.

He couldn’t believe that she could be so calm when anger still swelled within his chest trying to force its way out.

The only way to assuage it would be to go back in that room and confront Bonham, but Castillo wouldn’t ruin the rest of the week.

There were still days until the wedding.

But then she tightened her grip on his forearm, her fingertips pressing gently into his flesh. Her touch was warm and reassuring through the fabric of his coat and shirt. Immediately, all the blood in his body took a drastic turn south.

“Thank you for standing up for me. You didn’t have to, but I appreciate it.”

He sucked in a breath to cool the heated blood in his veins. It didn’t help. He merely pulled in her lavender scent, which was mixed with something that he couldn’t identify. Something feminine and sweet. A scent that was hers alone.