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He blew a kiss at Melanie and obediently followed Mrs. Marriot. She showed him to a room with a comfortable bed and as soon as she left, he crept out and peeked into the rooms. The last one had yellow flowered wall paper, but most off all, it was full of Melanie’s perfume.
The bed was neatly arranged as were the clothes he could see hanging from the wardrobe. His body reacted when he spied the night dress, with tiny straps, that she had slept in.
Carter would have given anything to slip into the covers and fall asleep to the sweet scent of Melanie’s odor. He imagined Melanie as a little girl growing up in the room. He chuckled, thinking of her as a feisty little girl. He wanted to know everything about her, from her stories of growing up to her first time to get on a horse.
“She’ a wonderful girl and I would hate to see her hurt,” a deep voice boomed behind him.
It was Mr. Marriot and he looked stern as he searched Carter’s face. Carter inhaled sharply. He understood the man completely. If Melanie had been his daughter, he would be just as cautious.
“I made a few mistakes in my past Mr. Marriot but I promise you that I never intentionally hurt Melanie. If I could I could erase my past, but I can’t and Melanie and myself have to come to terms with it.”
Mr. Marriott stared at Carter pensively. “I believe you have my daughter’s best interests at heart. No matter what her mother says, I would cancel that trip in a blink of the eye if she needed me to be here,” Mr. Marriot said with feeling.
“She’s very lucky to have you,” Carter commented.
Then unexpectedly, Mr. Marriott chuckled. “I believe my daughter may have found her match. You won’t give up will you?”
Carter’s voice was solemn. “I can’t afford to. I love Melanie Mr. Marriot and I intend to spend the rest of my life proving it to her.”
Mr. Marriot stuck out his hand and Carter took it.
“I wish you all the best. Melanie is a stubborn young woman but even she has her weaknesses and I believe you’re one.”
They parted after that and Carter slipped into the guest room. He did not fall asleep immediately. He thought hard for the next couple of minutes. He needed a plan to counter Melanie’s coldness. For his plan to work, he needed to be patient. That would not be hard, Carter thought to himself. He liked Mr. and Mrs. Marriot’s and the longer he spent with them, the more he would understand Melanie.
She was a different woman from all the women he had ever known. For one, she kept her feelings close to her chest, guarding them like treasure. He found it difficult to read her feelings, and Carter badly wanted to remedy that.
Melanie never cried. He had expected her to be sobbing the day Stephanie dropped her news. But not Melanie. She was more concerned about an injustice done to a ‘young, inexperienced girl’. Still, Carter thought, Melanie did have a point. He had no business sleeping with a girl whose eyes were firmly on becoming the next Mrs. Taft.
His eyes heavy with sleep, Carter slept deeply, making up for all those nights on the train, when his emotions had been raw with Melanie’s loss.
Chapter Nineteen
Stephanie trudged towards Hoss’s ranch house. She got there just as the door swung shut and she hastened her steps. She was not sure why she had come but the last few weeks had been agony.
Neither Carter nor Hoss had gotten in touch with her and she felt like a ship floating adrift in the sea. She entered and quietly shut the door behind her. As she climbed the stairs, voices reached her and she identified Hoss’ voice as well as James’s. Her spirits lifted at the sound of his voice.
“You can’t just leave without telling Carter, you owe him that much,” James said.
“I can’t face him James, not after what happened,” Hoss said.
Silence filled the house. Stephanie did not move. She had no qualms about eavesdropping; after all she had not intentionally set out to do so.
“How could you, Hoss? Carter is our brother and he’s held us and the ranch together since our mother and father passed.”
“I know. Why do you think I feel so bad? It was wrong I admit, but I love her more than life itself. And Carter didn’t. He was just using her for his own pleasure.”
“That’s his business though? Besides, Stephanie wasn’t protesting was she?”
“Look,” Hoss said. “I have to go. I’ll write him a letter from New York.”
“Alright then, I suppose that will have to do,” James said. “Come here.”
She imagined the two brothers embracing. Stephanie thought back to Hoss’s words. It was the third time he was saying it. He loved her. The enormity of the understanding hit Stephanie and tears gathered in her eyes. She had only ever had men who wanted to sleep with her. Despite knowing that she could have been carrying Carter’s child, Hoss still loved her.
Footsteps walked down the hall and down the stairs. James looked at her as he walked down.
“Be good to him,” he said and touched her shoulder before walking out.
