Chapter 15 #2
“Bravo, dear girl!” Royce rose from his seat and strode toward her. “That was…magnificent! I’m only surprised it took you so long.”
“I’m proud of you.” Delilah drew her into a hug and squeezed tightly. It felt wonderful.
“I’m proud of me, too.” She smiled, then turned serious as her gaze encompassed them all. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Everything. For liking me for who I am. For standing up for me and helping me to see I would never ever be able to make them happy.”
“My pleasure, my dear.” Delilah let her go and for a moment, she felt bereft, but then she was quickly drawn into another pair of arms, these warmer, if possible, and much stronger, and that feeling left her. She looked into Wyatt’s eyes.
“And you.”
“What about me?”
She shook her head. “I have no words,” she said, then she rose up on her toes and kissed him, full on the mouth, in front of his mother and Royce. She heard a little chuckle, then nothing except the sound of her own breathing, the crackling of the fire, and the muffled thumps from upstairs.
When she broke the kiss, she realized they were alone in the parlor. “I should help them pack.”
“No, you shouldn’t.” He grinned. “Play for me.”
She sat at the piano, raised the lid covering the keys, and started to play the same song that had started Estelle’s criticism. This time, there were no snide remarks or reprimands, just simple pride reflected on Wyatt’s face.
Wyatt listened for a bit, then gently touched her shoulder. “I’ll go get the buggy ready.”
Wyatt drew the buggy to a halt in front of the Serenity Hotel, so done with these women.
Odette and Estelle verbally harangued him from the moment they left the ranch when they weren’t talking bad about Sheridan.
Having had enough, he pulled the buggy toward the side of the road at one point, though time was of the essence, turned around in his seat and warned them that if they didn’t stop, they’d be walking to the hotel and toting all their luggage as well.
He wouldn’t actually make them walk, but he was tempted.
The warning worked as he intended and the rest of the ride was made in deafening silence, for which he was thankful.
He stepped out of the buggy, pulled the suitcases from the passenger seat and placed them on the raised sidewalk, though in truth, he wanted to throw them. “I should leave you here on the sidewalk for how you’ve treated Sheridan.”
“How dare you speak to me in such fashion!” Estelle sputtered, enraged. “You’re nothing but a…a…cowboy.”
If she thought it was an insult, she couldn’t have been more mistaken.
“Yes, ma’am. And damn proud of it.” He stared at them.
“I can’t begin to tell you what you’ve lost with Sheridan.
She’s a wonderful woman with a kind soul, though how she managed to be that with the two of you, I’ll never know.
And for the record, my mother is also a lovely person with more heart than you’ll ever know.
Think on that as you travel home. Alone.
” He drew in his breath, trying to keep his anger from getting the better of him.
“I’ll get your tickets, my last act of kindness toward you, though it’s more than you deserve. ”
He walked into the hotel, leaving them on the sidewalk, apparently too stunned to speak. Emilia Gonzalez, the hotel owner, was at the front desk. She greeted him with a smile. “Hello, Wyatt. Nice to see you.”
“You as well. I need two tickets for the four o’clock stagecoach.”
“Are you going somewhere?”
He shook his head and glanced out the window of the hotel, his gaze falling on Aunt Estelle and Odette. They both stood there on the sidewalk, surrounded by their luggage, bristling with anger, still unbending. Unyielding. He didn’t care. He jerked his thumb toward them. “The tickets are for them.”
“I see.” Mrs. Gonzalez pulled the book of tickets from beneath the counter and ripped out two, then slid them across the registration desk.
Wyatt reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He counted out the appropriate amount and laid the crisp bills on the registration desk. “That should cover it.” He smiled. “If I pay extra, can you guarantee a particularly horrible ride?”
Mrs. Gonzalez laughed. “Is there a reason you’d like a terrible journey?”
“Let’s just say they deserve it,” he said as he took the tickets and walked through the lobby of the hotel.
He smiled as he approached them, despite the look in their eyes.
“Here are your tickets.” He held them out.
Both women looked at him, looked at the tickets in his hand, then back at his face, their anger a tangible thing, though not as frightening for him as it would have been for Sheridan.
He shrugged his shoulders, still holding the tickets out to them.
Neither one made a move to take them. “The stage leaves—” He pulled his pocket watch from his trouser pocket with his free hand and flipped the lid open. “—in ten minutes.”
They said nothing, though Estelle finally snatched the tickets from his hand, none too gently.
He imagined neither one of them could speak at the moment, so consumed with anger and indignation.
He simply smiled. “I can’t say it’s been a pleasure to meet you because it hasn’t been.
” He drew in his breath and tamped down the anger that had been building over the last few days.
“My suggestion to you both. Don’t come back and don’t contact Sheridan again unless you can behave like family should. With love and kindness.”
There was more he wanted to say, more these women needed to hear, but the stagecoach coming to a halt in front of the hotel stopped him.
He was still a gentleman, though neither deserved the consideration. He handed their bags to Mr. Simons, the usual stagecoach driver, then helped both women into their seats.
Once they were settled, he rapped sharply on the door then looked up at the driver and winked. “Make it a nice ride, Mr. Simons.”
The driver, perhaps remembering these two harridans, winked in return, his grin wide. “Of course.”
Wyatt returned his attention to Estelle and Odette and touched the brim of his hat with two fingers in a salute. “By the way, the house Sheridan inherited is a brothel.”
They gasped as he knew they would, which made him chuckle.
Neither one of them could say a word though, as Mr. Simons snapped his whip and started the coach moving with a jerk, forcing Estelle and Odette to hold on, which made him laugh harder.
He stood there for the longest time, watching the stagecoach disappear from view, his heart lighter than it had been in days.
He couldn’t wait to get home and see Sheridan to let her know she was truly free.