Danielle straightened and, for the first time, appeared a little flustered. “The counter is fine. Orrin, we have a customer. This is Mrs. Ramsey, Kyle’s new wife.”
His gaze shot to Selena.
He was attractive, Selena noted. Perhaps thirty-five, with brown hair and eyes.
He set his bundle down on the counter before nodding to her. “How do you do, ma’am? I’m Orrin Chandler.”
He was the proprietor of the mercantile, Selena knew. And a longtime friend of the Ramsey family, according to Bea. Selena murmured a polite reply, watching as Orrin stepped back to Danielle’s side and rested a hand lightly on her shoulder. It was the same protective gesture Danielle had used with Clay.
He thought she was going to cause Danielle trouble, Selena realized. Which only confirmed that he knew the truth about Kyle’s son. Selena wanted to reassure him, but she wasn’t sure of the appropriate way to phrase such a remark.
Orrin spoke before she could think of one. “Is there anything I may do to serve you?”
“No… thank you. Mrs. Whitfield has been very helpful.”
“Very well.” He glanced down at Danielle. “I’ll be in the back room if you need me.” Orrin turned then and bent down out of view. “Hello, young fellow. Are you keeping out of trouble?”
From the gurgle of laughter that followed, Selena guessed he had tickled the boy’s ribs.
“Do you still want the candles, Mrs. Ramsey?” Danielle asked when Orrin had disappeared through the door.
It took a moment for Selena to understand what she was talking about. “Oh, yes…of course.” Selena fumbled in her reticule for the American money Bea had given her.
“You don’t have to pay now. The Ramseys have a line of credit. I’ll just include the price on your monthly bill.”
She nodded, watching while Danielle tied the candles together with a piece of string. But when the task was done and it was time for her to leave, Selena hesitated. “Mrs. Whitfield…I want you to know… I would never willingly do anything to hurt you or Clay.”
“Thank you,” Danielle said quietly, meeting Selena’s eyes directly. “I don’t think I could be so generous, were I in your position.”
Selena went to the door then but turned back before she opened it. “Perhaps you would bring Clay to visit at Montrose sometime.”
Danielle tilted her head to one side, an odd look on her beautiful face. “I think you really mean that.”
“Yes…I do. I think it would please Kyle. And us being seen together would be the surest way to foil the gossips.”
The red-haired woman smiled softly. “Then I will.”
“Good,
” Selena said, returning the smile.
She left then, feeling better for having come. She might not have conquered the jealousy or envy that was gnawing at her heart, but at least now she thought she could deal with them with a semblance of equanimity.
Selena hoped that equanimity was in evidence when she joined Kyle at breakfast in the courtyard the next morning. She had risen at dawn in order to speak to him before he left for the fields.
He looked impossibly handsome, she thought, feeling her heartbeat quicken at the sight. He was dressed in close-fitting knit riding breeches and top boots and a loose-sleeved cambric shirt that showed the magnificent contours of his muscular torso. Distractedly, she wondered how she would manage to disregard the potent virility that he was emanating in such abundance.
He seemed surprised to see her and raised a quizzical eyebrow as he politely rose and held out her chair.
“It was too lovely a day to stay in bed,” Selena prevaricated, smiling brightly. As if to prove her point, she took a breath of the fresh morning air. The sharp, cool scent of the sweet olive trees was mixed with the fragrance of cape jasmine and roses.
The small breakfast table had been set up on the shaded portico off the small dining room. From that vantage point, Selena had a good view of the trellised garden in the center of the courtyard and the English myrtle and syringa shrubs that ringed it. She waited till she was served hot chocolate and muffins by a servant before asking Kyle how he had fared the past two days.
“Oh, wonderful.” Kyle made a wry face over his plate of beefsteak and eggs. “If you don’t count a dozen saddle sores and an aching head from trying to balance cotton receipts. I suppose I’ll become accustomed to riding for hours at a time, but I’ll never take to account books.”
“I could review the books for you, if you like.”
“Would you?” Kyle flashed Selena a relieved smile. “I’d be eternally grateful. So far all I’ve done is mix up bales and hundredweights and come up with figures that make no sense.” He hesitated. “That is, if you wouldn’t mind. I don’t want Montrose to be a burden to you.”