Page 31 of The Copper Heir (The Gilded West #1)
Her hair, which had been graying ever since he could remember, was pulled back in its customary bun and she wore one off her usual gray dresses with the white apron.
As far he knew his father had never insisted she keep the uniform his mother had put in place, but the woman wore it anyway, whether it was from respect or habit he simply didn’t know.
“It’s good to see you, Willy. I hope the girls weren’t any trouble.
I know you weren’t expecting guests.” From the corner of his eye he noticed Emmy look up sharply at the word “guests”.
Apparently, she disagreed with the term.
“Not at all. They were perfect angels.” She smiled at her charges and earned a soft look from Emmy as well for her kind words.
“This is their sister, Emmy Campbell.”
“Emmaline Drake,” she quickly corrected him.
He stood silent for a moment as the housekeeper greeted her, realizing just how little he knew about this woman who was quickly becoming an obsession and just how badly he wanted to know everything.
Inclining his head, he continued, “She’ll be staying for a while, too, as our guest.” He emphasized the word just to watch Emmy’s back stiffen.
Fighting a smile, he allowed his gaze to rove from her back to her bosom, which wasn’t flattered the least bit in the drab, conservative dress she had borrowed.
“She’s a special guest. Please make sure she has everything she needs. ”
“Of course, Mr. Jameson. I’ll have a room near her sisters’ room readied for her.”
He clenched his jaw at the formal salutation.
They had discussed that nonsense before, but she refused to refer to him as Hunter in front of company.
The woman had tended him through every childhood fever and illness.
He saw the formality as fake civility while she saw it as a necessity to some nonexistent social balance he’d never understand.
She had accused him once of being unable to see how life really was due to his privileged upbringing.
Glory had accused him of the same. But life was too short for that nonsense, and if it was his privileged upbringing that made him realize that then he was all the more thankful for it.
“I hope you don’t mind I sent Ed into town to fetch more clothing for them. Mr. Pierce failed to bring any with him.”
Finally sparing a glance to the two young girls, he noted the blonde hair that Zane had mentioned, but he couldn’t see any similarities between them and their sister. They stared back at him with wide grey-blue eyes, not the clear blue of his Emmy.
His Emmy.
He couldn’t stop thinking of her as his no matter how hard he tried.
If it kept up, when this was over he’d have to buy himself a week at Victoria House and pray that if the women didn’t make him forget her, the whiskey would dull the ache of her loss.
Somehow he knew that it wouldn’t be easy to see her go.
The girls wore almost matching dresses of pink and white ruffles that must have come ready-made from one of the dress shops in town.
He opened his mouth to ask if Ed had gone to Madame Dauphine’s.
He had sent enough business her way that the proprietress would hesitate to mention the odd request, if asked.
The last thing he needed was word getting out that he had the girls here; he was already risking a lot by keeping them all at his house.
But then he glanced at Emmy and figured the question could wait until he was alone with the housekeeper.
She didn’t need to know how many women he’d bought dresses for in the past. Even as he thought it, he couldn’t deny that he wanted to take her there as well.
To watch as she picked out fabric and designs, as she was measured and fitted.
To know that she wasn’t reduced to hand-me-downs and coarse material that abraded her skin.
To tell her that money was no object and she could buy to her heart’s content.
Raking a hand over the back of his neck, he said, “It’s fine, Willy. I hope you had him get enough. They’ll be visiting for a few weeks at least.”
“We’ll be prisoners, you mean?” Emmy stared at him, not flinching when he stared back.
“Of course that’s what I meant.” He spoke the words firmly but softly and they settled into the suddenly stale air of the porch. He hated that she had pushed it to this, but she had to understand that he was in control. As kind as Willy was, she was on his side.
Willy proved his point when she completely ignored the statement and assured him that Ed had picked up enough clothing.
His heart ached when Emmy’s bottom lip trembled just for an instant when she realized the housekeeper would be no ally.
It was so subtle that he probably wouldn’t have noticed had he not been so attuned to the woman’s every damned nuance.
He wanted to tell her that he would be her ally, that he only wanted to take care of her, but he knew she wouldn’t believe him and he couldn’t hold it against her because he had kidnapped her.
Instead of replying, she stiffened her shoulders and her face hardened with them.
She didn’t say anything else, just turned her attention back to the girls who had started chattering again.
Without a word, he leaped down the steps and grabbed the reins of his horse, following his men to the stable across the open yard.