A Lady of the West Read Free Page A

bother Roper. He gave his boss a sidelong glance, but all his contempt was hidden behind his cold eyes. This fancy, high-nosed Southern
lady
wasn’t so special, not if she was marrying McLain. He had a good idea what she was in for. But she’d chosen to come here; she could damn well make the best of it.
    When the buggy reached the front of the house, it stopped and McLain stepped forward. He lifted his arms to help one of the women down. “Victoria!”
    She stood, but instead of allowing McLain to lift her from the buggy, she placed a gloved hand on his forearm and stepped down. “Major,” she said calmly, and lifted back the veil from her bonnet.
    Roper’s first impression of her face was that it looked like it belonged to a bloodless porcelain doll, very correct and passionless. Yep, a lady, all right, all the way down to her lace drawers—and God forbid any man should see them. Her hair was light brown, what he could see of it, and her voice had been low. That was a blessing; shrill, screeching women disgusted him.
    The next woman to alight, also with a gentle hand on McLain’s forearm, was a bit on the plain side, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. But Roper thought she had a sweet smile. He eyed her consideringly. He figured this was the cousin.
    The next one didn’t wait for assistance, but jumped to the ground with a small gurgle of delight. She tugged her bonnet off, and whirled it by its strings. “Oh, everything’s beautiful,” she breathed, looking around with wide eyes.
    Standing beside Roper, Garnet stiffened and swore under his breath. She was a young girl rather than a woman, but she was stunningly beautiful. Her hair was a golden blond mass, and she had big, dark blue eyes. Roper figured a girl like that was going to cause a lot of trouble among the men on the ranch. The little sister was just too pretty to leave her alone.
    â€œGarnet! Roper!”
    Both of them stepped forward, faces blank. The Major was beaming like an idiot as he turned toward them. “Victoria, my dear, these are my two right hands. Will Garnet is my foreman and Jake Roper makes sure we’re all safe here. Boys, say howdy to my intended, Miss Victoria Waverly.”
    Victoria’s eyes showed nothing as she gracefully held out a slim gloved hand to the foreman. “Mr. Garnet,” she murmured.
    â€œMa’am.” His hand enclosed hers, and he looked her up and down in a way that made her draw back nervously. She met his gaze and was made even more uneasy by his eyes, which were flat and expressionless, like a snake’s.
    She withdrew her fingers as quickly as possible, resisting an urge to wipe them on her skirt. Instead, she turned to the other man. “Mr. Roper.”
    She looked up at him and froze. His hat was pulled down low over his eyes, but she could still see them glittering coldly at her. He slowly, deliberately lowered his gaze to her breasts and stared at them for what seemed an eternity to her, before raising his eyes to meet hers again with contempt.
    Roper ignored her outstretched hand and merely lifted the brim of his hat. Victoria dropped her arm and turned away, her discomfort intensified. If Garnet’s manner was offensive, this man was frightening. His face was still, yet he had looked at her with such obvious disrespect that it shook her. No one, not even the Yankee soldiers, had ever looked at her like that.
    It took all her self-control to appear calm as she turned to the man she had come three-quarters of the way across the continent to marry. “If you don’t mind, Major, we’d like to freshen up now. The dust is terrible.”
    â€œOf course, of course. Carmita! Show Miss Victoria and the girls where they can wash.” His voice washarsh when he spoke to the servants, and Victoria gave him a quick glance. She had been raised to never be rude to a servant. But the short, round, middleaged woman who answered the