One Red Rose Read online

  "I hope you let her down easy. She's a real sweetheart, and I'd hate to see her get hurt."

  Adam shook his head. "If you're worried about her feelings, don't be. You've got it all backwards. She talked to me. She doesn't want to marry me either."

  "Why the hell not?"

  "Her circumstances have changed," Adam said. "Besides, we were never really engaged. That was just Mama Rose's dream. She's hell-bent on getting all of us married."

  "You must have been happy Genevieve let you off the hook."

  Adam shrugged. He thought about lying to his brother and then changed his mind. Cole would see right through him, and if anyone would understand, he would.

  "I wasn't happy or relieved. My reaction was kind of strange."

  "How's that?"

  He looked at his brother when he answered. "I got mad."

  Cole shook his head. "You really got mad?"

  "I just said I did. Genevieve didn't know it though."

  "That doesn't make any sense at all. You've been avoiding the woman all week long, and now you're telling me you want to marry her?"

  "No, that isn't what I'm telling you."

  "Then why did you get mad?"

  Adam let out a weary sigh. "I don't know."

  Cole let the matter go. "Are you going to dance with her?"

  "I hadn't thought about it. I don't even know where she is."

  Cole motioned toward the porch. Mary Rose and Genevieve were carrying pies out to add to the dessert table. Both women had on white aprons over their dresses. Mary Rose was wearing her new store-bought blue skirt and blouse, and Genevieve was dressed in pale pink. Standing side by side, they were a handsome pair.

  Adam couldn't take his gaze off of Genevieve. She was smiling over something Mary Rose had just said to her.

  "Genevieve sure is pretty, isn't she?" Cole remarked.

  "Yeah, she's pretty."

  "She's tall."

  "You think so?"

  Adam turned around to watch the band. Cole didn't take the hint. "Mary Rose has to look up at her."

  "So what? Our sister has to look up at everybody."

  "You don't have to get defensive. I'm not finding fault with Genevieve. I like tall women. Have you noticed how shapely she is?"

  "Of course I noticed. What's your game, Cole? Are you trying to make me angry?"

  "No, I'm trying to get you to realize women like Genevieve don't come along very often. She sure is sweet."

  "Then you marry her," he snapped.

  Cole laughed. "You want her, don't you?"

  "Damn it, Cole…"

  "All right," his brother said. "I won't hound you any longer."

  Adam started to walk away, but Cole's next remark pulled him back.

  "It looks like Clarence is headed for the house."

  "Maybe he needs to talk to Harrison," Adam suggested as he watched their brother-in-law step forward to shake Clarence's hand.

  "Guess again," Cole said when Clarence turned to Genevieve and tried to hand an envelope to her. She gave the pie she was holding to Harrison, wiped her hands on her apron, and then accepted the wire.

  "It's got to be bad news," Cole said.

  "Maybe not," Adam said, and even he realized how unconvinced he sounded.

  "No one ever sends good news in a wire. It costs too much. It's bad all right. Someone must have died. You ought to go comfort her."

  "You go."

  "I wasn't engaged to her; you were."

  "For God's sake, there wasn't any engagement."

  When Clarence turned to go down the steps, Adam saw his expression clearly.

  "Clarence looks scared."

  Cole nodded. "He sure is in a hurry to leave, isn't he?"

  Adam turned back to Genevieve. "Why doesn't she open the envelope? What's she waiting for?"

  "Maybe she wants to stare at it a little longer while she gets her courage up. No one's ever eager to get bad news."

  "We shouldn't be watching her."

  "Why not?" Cole asked.

  "It's intrusive. She probably wants privacy."

  He watched her tuck the unopened envelope into the pocket of her apron before taking the pie back from Harrison and hurrying down the steps. She put the dessert on the table with the other baked goods, then turned around and walked away from the crowd.

  Adam forced himself to turn to the couples twirling about the dance floor, but he kept glancing back at Genevieve.

  He saw her stop when she reached the far side of the corral near the barn. She pulled the envelope out, tore it open, and read the contents.

  The news couldn't have been good. Even with the distance separating them, Adam could see how shaken she was. She couldn't stand up straight. She staggered back against the fence and turned away from him, but not before he saw the fear on her face.

  "Maybe you ought to go find out what the trouble is," Cole suggested.

  Adam shook his head. "She obviously wants to be alone. If she tells us what the news was and we can help, then we will. Quit giving me that look, Cole. I'm not going to intrude into her personal life again, and neither are you."

  "Again? What are you talking about?"

  "Never mind."

  Isabelle was suddenly standing in front of Adam, demanding that he dance with her. Emily grabbed hold of Cole's hand at the same time and pulled him onto the dance floor.

  Adam tried to keep track of Genevieve. He saw her crumple up the wire and put it back in her apron, but then the music started and he lost her in the crowd.

  After the dance ended, he went searching for her. Harrison intercepted him to tell him that Mama Rose was about to open her presents. Since the family was giving her a trip to Scotland, Harrison thought it would be a nice touch if he played the bagpipes. Adam couldn't talk him out of it. He joined his sister and his brothers on the side of the bandstand and tried to appear interested. He nudged Cole and asked him in a low voice if he'd seen Genevieve.

  Cole shook his head. He was going to suggest that she was probably inside the house, but then Harrison began to play, and the piercing noise was so deafening, he knew Adam wouldn't hear him.

  "He's getting better, isn't he?" Mary Rose shouted.

  "No," all four brothers shouted back.

  Their sister wasn't offended. She maintained her smile for her husband's benefit and gave Douglas a hard shove when he put his hands over his wife's ears.

  Genevieve was standing in the center of the crowd on the opposite side of the bandstand, watching the Clayborne family—the four brothers side by side, Emily and Isabelle leaning back against their husbands. Their expressions were comical, but she thought Adam's was the most revealing. Like his brothers and his sister, he was smiling, yet every time Harrison tried to hit a high note and missed, Adam would visibly flinch.

  They were all such good-hearted people and so very loyal to one another. They were united now in giving Harrison their encouragement and support, and though it was apparent from their forced smiles that they thought the music was terrible, she knew they would cheer him when he was finished and never admit to any outsider that the sound had been less than perfect. And that was what family was all about.

  God, how she envied all of them. She longed to walk across the dance floor and stand in front of

  Adam and lean back against him. She wanted to belong to his family, but most of all, she wanted to be loved by him.

  It was a fool's dream, she told herself. She whispered a good-bye in Mama Rose's direction, and then turned and walked away.

  Chapter Four

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  The party didn't wind down until after midnight. Riders with fiery torches lighted the way back to Blue Belle for those guests who lived in the nearby town and wanted to go home. The guests from Hammond stayed overnight. They slept on cots in the parlor and the dining room, filled the bunkhouse, and spilled out onto the porch. Cole gave up his bed to the Cohens, and Adam let old man Corbett sleep in the bunk bed he'd used all week
. The brothers weren't inconvenienced, for they much preferred sleeping outside under the stars, away from the crowd.

  Adam left at dawn the following morning with three hired hands to round up the mustangs grazing on sweet grass down in Maple Valley, and he didn't return to Rosehill until late that afternoon.

  Cole was waiting for him on the front porch. He handed Adam a beer and sat down on the top step.

  He didn't waste time getting to the news. "Genevieve's gone."

  Adam didn't show any outward reaction. He took his hat off, tossed it onto a nearby chair, and sat down next to his brother. He took a long swallow of his drink and remarked that it was damned hot today.

  "You look tired," Cole remarked.

  "I am tired," Adam replied. "Have all the guests gone home?"

  "Yes, the last of them left around noon."

  "When are you leaving for Texas to bring the cattle up?"

  "Tomorrow."

  Several minutes passed in silence. Adam stared at the distant mountains and tried to ignore the unease he felt about Genevieve. As soon as Cole had given him the news, his gut and his throat both tightened up on him. Why had she left so abruptly, and why hadn't she told him good-bye? Maybe he shouldn't have hounded her with questions, but damn it, she'd let it slip that she was in trouble, and he had naturally wanted to find out the particulars so that he could help. No, he decided. His few questions wouldn't have made her so skittish that she would pack up and leave.

  The telegram had to be the reason she'd taken off. He remembered the fear he'd seen on her face after she'd read the wire. He should have gone to her then and demanded that she confide in him.

  He let out a loud sigh. He knew then what he was going to have to do and was already getting angry about it.

  "Hell," he muttered.

  "What?"

  "Nothing. Did Genevieve say good-bye to anyone?"

  "No, she didn't tell anyone she was leaving. She just took off. Mama Rose is up in arms about it. She says it isn't like Genevieve to leave without saying her thank-yous. She says she's a well-bred young lady with impeccable manners. I think Genevieve was spooked by that telegram," Cole added. "But Mama Rose thinks you chased her away."

  Adam rolled his eyes heavenward. "Genevieve must have left with some of the guests last night. She's too smart to go off on her own."

  "Maybe so," Cole allowed. "It's odd though. She was supposed to ride with the Emersons to Salt Lake, and they aren't leaving town until tomorrow."

  "Maybe they decided to leave earlier."

  "In the dark? They're old, not crazy. Besides, they were here last night."

  Adam's unease intensified. Had she gone off on her own? The possibility sent chills down his spine. No, she wouldn't have done that. She was too intelligent to do such a rash, irresponsible thing. She would surely be aware of the danger a woman alone would face in the wild. Women were hard to come by in some of the more remote areas, and pretty women like Genevieve were considered prizes for the taking by some of the less civilized mountain clans.

  Cole was watching his brother closely. "You don't seem too broken up over her leaving," he remarked.

  Adam shrugged indifference. "It's her life. She can do whatever she wants."

  "What if she took off on her own?"

  "There isn't anything I can do about that."

  Cole smiled. "It isn't working, Adam."

  "What isn't working?"

  "Your I-don't-give-a-damn attitude. You're trying to act like you aren't worried about her, and we both know you are."

  His brother didn't deny it. "I wish I knew what was in that telegram. Whatever it was scared her. Maybe someone close to her got sick. That would scare a woman, wouldn't it?"

  "That would scare a man too," Cole said. "You don't think she's in any kind of trouble, do you?"

  "It can't be anything serious. I was pretty sure that there was something wrong, but she denied it. She looked me right in the eye and told me she didn't need any help. She said it was just a minor inconvenience."

  "You think she was telling you the truth?"

  "About her problem being a minor one? Yeah, I do. She's led a real sheltered life, and I can't imagine she has any real serious problems."

  "I think Genevieve's real smart, but even smart people do crazy things when they're scared."

  "Such as?"

  "Riding out at night all alone."

  Adam refused to believe that she would take such a chance. "I'm sure she got a ride with someone."

  Cole didn't argue with him. "Maybe you ought to go into town and have a little talk with Clarence. You can be real intimidating when you want to, and I'll bet you could get him to tell you what was in that wire."

  "If he tells me, he'll lose his job. Wires are supposed to be kept confidential."

  "So?"

  Adam shook his head. "Clarence is too ethical." He spat the words out as though they were foul. He stood up, grabbed his hat, and headed for the door. "I've wasted enough time."

  "Where are you going?"

  "Back to work as soon as I change my shirt. I'm going to be up half the night catching up on all the paperwork, and tomorrow I've got to start breaking in the mustangs so we can sell them at the auction next month, and I—"

  "You're going after her, aren't you?"

  Adam gave his brother a look that suggested he wanted to punch him for asking such a stupid question. "What do you think?"

  He didn't stay outside long enough to hear Cole's answer. He went upstairs to his room, stripped out of his shirt, and washed the dirt and grime off. He could have sworn the scent of lilacs was on the towel he used, but that was the only reminder that Genevieve had occupied his room.

  Her suitcase was gone from the corner. There was an empty space in the wardrobe where her clothes had hung, and the jewelry and hair clips he'd noticed on the dresser yesterday when he'd come in to get clean clothes were also gone.

  She hadn't left anything behind. Yet the memory of her smile lingered in his mind, and he knew it was going to take him a long while to forget her.

  He decided to get busy. He went downstairs to grab something to eat before he tackled the paperwork. Mary Rose was sitting at the kitchen table with a pen and paper in her hands. She smiled when she saw him.

  "You're back early. Are you hungry? I made soup, but it isn't as good as Mama Rose's."

  "I thought you went home," he said.

  "We're leaving in a few minutes. I wanted to copy down this recipe first. Sit down and I'll get you a bowl. You are going to try my soup, aren't you?"

  "Sure," he said.

  She stood up and reached for the apron she'd draped over the back of her chair. Adam had only just taken his seat when he bounded back to his feet.

  "The apron," he announced.

  She slipped the garment over her head and then looked down to see if something was wrong with it.

  "It looks fine to me."

  "Not yours," he said, his impatience evident in his brisk tone. "The apron Genevieve was wearing. Was it hers?" he asked, wondering if women packed such things when they traveled.

  "No, I loaned her one of Mama Rose's. I didn't want her to get her dress—"

  Adam cut her off. "Did she give it back?"

  "For heaven's sake, of course she gave it back. What's the matter with you?"

  "Nothing's the matter. Where is it?"

  "The apron?"

  "Yes, damn it, the apron. Where is it?"

  Her eyes widened in reaction to his bizarre behavior. It wasn't like Adam to ever lose his temper, but he appeared to be on the verge of doing just that. He was usually so calm and in control. Nothing ever riled him.

  "Why are you getting so upset about an apron?" she demanded.

  "I'm not upset. Now answer me. Where is it?"

  She gave him a frown to let him know she didn't appreciate his surly attitude.

  "I suppose it's hanging with the others on the hooks in the pantry."

  Adam was already halfway
across the kitchen before his sister had finished explaining. She followed him to the doorway and stood there watching him sort through the clutter of coats and hats and scarves and bibs, tossing them every which way until most of them were on the floor behind him.

  "You're picking all those up," she said. "Adam, what's come over you?"

  "Where the hell is it?"

  "It's the white one on your left with the two lace pockets," she said. "Why do you want it?"

  Adam lifted the apron from the hook and quickly searched the pockets. He felt like shouting with victory when he pulled out the crumpled piece of paper. Just as he had hoped, in her haste to leave, Genevieve had forgotten the wire.

  He unfolded the paper, moved into the light, and read the message.

  Then he exploded. "Son of a bitch."

  "Watch your language," Mary Rose demanded. She moved close to her brother's side and tried to see what he was holding.

  She wasn't quick enough. He had already refolded the paper before she could see anything.

  "What is it?"

  "A telegram."

  "That's Genevieve's," she said. "I was standing next to her when Clarence gave the wire to her. Shame on you, Adam. You shouldn't have read it. It's confidential."

  Cole came up behind his sister in time to hear her protest and offered his opinion.

  "Sure he should read it. Who's it from, Adam?"

  "A woman named Lottie."

  Adam finally looked at him. Cole could tell from the look in his brother's eyes that it was serious. Mary Rose didn't seem to notice, however.

  "I know what it says," she announced.

  Adam turned to her. "You do?"

  "Yes."

  "And you didn't tell anyone?"

  "Don't yell at me," she snapped. "Genevieve told me her friend was expecting a baby and promised to have her husband send a wire to let her know if she had a boy or a girl."

  "Is that so?" Adam asked.

  Mary Rose nodded. "She had a girl," she said. "I can't understand why you would get so upset over someone else's personal…"

  She stopped talking when Cole put his hands on her shoulders and suggested she take a good look at Adam's expression.

  Their brother looked furious. "How bad is it?" Cole asked him.

  In answer, Adam handed the wire to him. Cole unfolded the paper and read the message out loud.