The Treasure Read online

  “Yes, I have a trunk out on the platform.”

  “I’ll be back in two shakes.” He walked back toward the station, leaving Lily alone with her new employer.

  Lily finally turned her gaze to Mr. Malloy. His face was like a thundercloud, dark and stormy.

  “How far is it to your ranch, Mr. Malloy?”

  He hesitated, then yanked off his hat and slapped his thigh with it. Slamming it back on his head, he pursed his lips and looked up.

  “It’s about an hour.” He let out a breath through clenched teeth. “Why don’t you…uh…call me Ray?”

  Lily blinked and then smiled her friendliest grin. “That’s very kind of you. Most employers don’t allow their governesses to address them so casually. Being in the West is much more informal. I would be honored to call you Ray. Please call me Lily.”

  He nodded once, grabbed her valise and stalked toward the steps leading to the street. A wagon waited there with two large brown horses attached. Another horse was tied to a hitching post beside the wagon.

  Ray dropped her valise into the back, walked to the horses and ran his hands up and down their noses, speaking softly to them.

  He obviously wasn’t a bad man, but his first impression needed a bit of work. If she wasn’t so desperate for a job, for a new beginning, she would consider getting on the next eastbound train. This position was not going to be easy if the father was any indication of the child’s temperament.

  It might just turn out to be the hardest job of her life.

  ———

  Ray still couldn’t believe his eyes. He tried to calm his racing heart.

  Holy shit.

  He hadn’t expected her to look like she had stepped out of a Renaissance painting.

  In a word, Lily Wickham was luscious. Curvy, round, soft, she had lips that could give a man erotic dreams for years. She resembled a tiny goddess and had an air of sensuality that made his blood thrum. Her simple wool coat certainly wasn’t unseemly, but it hugged her hourglass figure like a lover. She had a natural sway to her walk that surely made most men sit up and take notice. He couldn’t see her hair color beneath the bonnet she wore, but it wouldn’t make his first impression any different. She was trouble in a small, curvy package and his internal warning bells were clanging up a storm. There was no question⎯he had to send her back to New York. He couldn’t live in a house with her in it, even with his vow to never marry again. Surely a small ranch in Wyoming wouldn’t keep a woman who looked like that entertained for very long.

  When Ray had felt her warm, soft body slam into his with breasts that seemed overly large for such a tiny woman, for a moment, a flickering moment, he remembered what it felt like to hold a woman. He had the crazy notion to lie on top of her and rub his hardness against her softness as she lay sprawled on the platform. He still had a hard-on for God’s sake! From looking at a woman and two seconds of those soft, pillowy breasts pushing against his back. He shuddered from the memory and tried to command his cock to stop bellowing.

  Ray slowly breathed in and out for a few minutes while waiting for Jack and Lily.

  Lily. Even the name conjured up carnal thoughts. He needed to find a way to send her back without looking like he was running scared. And he wasn’t, dammit. There wasn’t a thing about Lily that scared him.

  If he kept telling himself that lie, perhaps he’d believe it eventually.

  ———

  Jack came back with her trunk in his hands and a smile on his face.

  “This is heavy. Do you collect books?”

  She nodded. “When I can. Most of those are from a teacher of mine who gifted them to me when I became a governess.”

  He whistled. “Nice gift. You must have meant a lot to her.”

  Lily smiled. “She certainly meant a lot to me.” She bit her lip to concentrate on the here and now, and not the past that hovered. The past that called to her to remember her sins. Of pride. Of selfishness. She shook off the demon riding her shoulder and slapped it aside. Now was not the time to wallow.

  She followed Jack down the stairs, wishing desperately not to fall, trip or bump into him. That would certainly go well after her ignominious fall five minutes earlier. Ray would look at her askance if she couldn’t keep her own two feet on the ground, much less his daughter’s.

  “His bark is worse than his bite,” Jack said under his breath. “Don’t think too badly of him. He’s had a real rough time of it.”

  “I don’t think badly of him, Jack. I wanted, or rather, I hoped we could at least be friends.” Which was true. She always wanted a friendly relationship with her employers. It just seemed something went wrong to ruin that relationship, each and every time. This time was obviously no different. Mr. Malloy wasn’t a happy man to begin with, and the inauspicious beginning to their relationship didn’t help matters any.

  Jack started down the steps with his burden and waited for Lily to keep up with him. As she followed carefully behind him, she kept her gaze locked on Ray.

  “Ray doesn’t have any friends.” He shook his head. “Maybe you can be the first.”

  “What on earth happened to him?” She realized she had voiced the words aloud. Her cheeks colored again. Dang her runaway tongue.

  “Not my place to tell you,” Jack said simply.

  He set her heavy trunk in the wagon with a thump, then turned to help Lily climb to the seat next to Ray, but she had already scrambled up there. Jack tipped his head and smiled.

  “Nice to have met you, Lily. Good luck.”

  “Thank you, Jack. Do you visit the ranch often?”

  Before Jack could form a reply, Ray slapped the reins on the horses’ rumps and the wagon lurched forward. Lily reached out to grab Ray’s arm to steady herself, and he hissed at her. After dropping his arm like a hot rock, she found purchase on the wagon seat as they headed down the somewhat frozen, muddy street.

  “Goodbye, Jack,” she called over her shoulder. She wanted to lecture her new employer about his atrocious manners, but she didn’t want him to turn the wagon around and drop her back at the train platform. Her bottom was already quite sore from riding on the train for so long, and her clumsy fall certainly didn’t help matters any. And now, here she was, bouncing on a hard wagon bench with no cushion whatsoever. She hoped Mr. Malloy’s ranch had a nice tub, because she couldn’t think of anything more enticing than a warm bath.

  “Don’t go looking at Jack as a good marriage prospect. He’s already married, happily, too, with three kids,” he growled at her. “I don’t need one of my employees to get cow-eyed over my little brother.”

  “Cow-eyed?” Lily was incredulous. “I’ll do nothing of the sort, Mr. Malloy. Your brother is a nice man, and I was being polite to him. There isn’t more, nor will there ever be, to my relationship with your brother, or any other man for that matter.”

  “Just so we’re clear on it, Miss Wickham.”

  “Crystal clear, Mr. Malloy.”

  It was an unpleasant, and decidedly uncomfortable, ride out to the Double R Ranch.

  ———

  Ray didn’t know what to say to her, how to make conversation, so he stayed silent. They bounced along the frozen ground headed for his ranch. He could not even begin to explain how he ended up offering her a job when he hadn’t intended on it. She was too…much. Deep down, his demons screamed and clawed at him. Taunting him with thoughts of what Miss Wickham looked like under her little wool coat.

  With tremendous effort, he beat them back. Life was already a living hell without getting a hard-on every time he looked at Melody’s governess. He had a feeling he’d just made one of the biggest decisions in his life. He hoped it was the right one.

  Most of the others he’d made turned out wrong.

  ———

  They finally arrived at their destination after an hour of riding in the bouncy wagon. He stopped in front of a lovely two-story log house set amidst some buildings. She assumed they were all part of the ranch—a barn, or bun
khouse, or something of that nature. The house itself had a long wrap-around porch and two rocking chairs out front.

  Ray dismounted with a feline grace that belied his size and went to the back of the wagon to retrieve her valise. As she slowly let herself down to the ground, Lily was embarrassed to realize she wasn’t sure she could stand on her own two legs, which at the moment were not only incredibly sore, but also chilled to the bone. However, she wasn’t about to let Mr. Malloy know that. He’d think she was too delicate to live in Wyoming. Gripping the side of the wagon, Lily pretended to be looking for something on the floor near the wagon bench while she silently willed her legs to regain their strength.

  “Lose something?” He stepped up behind her and his very presence made her body clench.

  “Yes, I believe I may have lost a hairpin. Won’t take but a moment to find. Don’t worry about me; go on inside where it’s warm. I’ll be right along.”

  She could practically feel him scowling at her. Ray didn’t move a muscle. “Since you’re wearing a bonnet, and didn’t touch your hair once during the past hour, I can’t imagine why you think you lost a hairpin. Even if you did, it would have bounced out of the wagon by now. What are you really doing?”

  He was too shrewd, and much too observant. She, of course, was just as shrewd.

  “Just because I wasn’t touching my hair doesn’t mean I can’t feel a hairpin missing, Ray.”

  “Let’s go, Lily.”

  “Fine, then, I’ll look later.” She let go of the wagon and spun on her right foot to walk. Unfortunately, her legs truly couldn’t support her. As she crumpled toward the ground, Ray’s arm came around her like a steel band, preventing her fall. All the air whooshed out of her lungs as Ray’s arm squeezed her midriff.

  Oh, bother it. She’d done it again. Miss Clumsy Trueheart.

  Ray helped her stand and quickly removed his arm. “Are you always this graceful?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  He heaved out a frustrated sigh and motioned for her to precede him to the door.

  “I can’t wait to meet Melody.” With a bright tone in her voice, she desperately tried to change the subject.

  He mumbled something under his breath that sounded like, “Yeah, if we can find her.”

  They stepped into the house, which was very poorly lit by a lantern somewhere to her right. In the semi-darkness, it was hard to get a good look at her new home. Lily squinted as they passed through the parlor. Why, that looked like a piano. She had no time to discover the truth as her employer rushed her through the house. Ray pointed in the direction of another darkened room as he continued ceaselessly.

  “Kitchen.”

  He pointed down the hallway. “My room and Melody’s room.”

  Opening a doorway, he gestured for her to enter. “Your room.”

  He dropped her valise on the floor with a bang, then lit a lamp and set it on the bedside table.

  “Make yourself at home. I’ve got to go unhitch the team.”

  With that, he left her alone in the cold room. Lily was nearly speechless by Ray’s complete lack of civility.

  “Well. I guess that’s that.” She rubbed her arms. “First thing I have to do is get a fire going.” She removed her bonnet and coat. Spying a bucket of kindling, she laid a fire in the stone fireplace. Truth be told, she was surprised to see a fireplace in a guest room. After getting a cheery blaze going, she stood to survey the room. It was spacious and open with a double bed in the middle covered with an exquisite wedding-ring quilt. There was a sitting chair and a reading table in the corner, and a colorful rag rug on the floor by the bed. It was too large to be a guestroom. In fact, it looked like the master bedroom.

  “Good heavens, I think he’s given me his room.”

  But, no, he clearly said his room was down the hall somewhere.

  “Very curious.”

  “Are you talkin’ to somebody?” came a small voice from the darkened hallway.

  Lily spun around to try to locate the child in the gloom, but all she saw was a small shadow. It must be Melody, Ray’s daughter and her new charge.

  “No, just to myself. Sometimes I find that I need to voice my thoughts out loud to help me make up my mind.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I am Miss Lily Wickham. And who are you?”

  “Mel.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mel. Could I impose on you for a small favor?”

  “What favor?”

  Lily cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. “I have just arrived, and I truly need to find the privy. Do you think you can help me?”

  The small shadow walked into the room and Lily caught her breath as the child was revealed to her in the firelight. She was filthy, barefoot, wearing worn, oversized boy’s pants held up with a rope, and what was on her head looked more like a black rat’s nest than hair.

  “Ya gotta piss?” She scratched her hair with one grimy hand.

  “Well, I do need to take care of some personal business.”

  “Does that mean yes?”

  Lily bit back a grin. Melody was very precocious. “Yes. I would be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction.”

  Ray Malloy suddenly filled the doorway behind little Mel with Lily’s trunk perched on his large shoulder. How did he ever manage to get it up there?

  “Mel, scoot out of the way.” His voice was almost gentle with his daughter.

  Melody moved with the agility of a cat and landed on the reading chair in the corner.

  “She’s gotta piss, Papa, and can’t find the privy.” She snickered.

  Lily wanted the ground to open up right then and there and swallow her whole. Her entire body flushed bright red from her toes to her hair. What a thing for the child to say in front of her father.

  Ray dropped the trunk at the foot of bed with unqualified ease and straightened, his hands fisted on his hips. He quirked an eyebrow at Lily. “That so?”

  Lily smiled nervously.

  “Show her where it is, Mel. Then bring her to the kitchen so she can get started on supper.”

  With a final, unreadable glance at his small daughter, Ray left the room.

  Trying to calm her nervousness, Lily took two deep, steadying breaths, then turned. Mel had disappeared. Gone like a puff of smoke without a sound. And Lily had no idea where to find the privy to relieve her aching bladder, and no one to ask. From somewhere in the house, Lily heard a small, self-satisfied giggle. What a welcome.

  Chapter Three

  After fifteen minutes of searching outside, Lily gratefully found the privy. It was in the house the whole time. It had very modern indoor plumbing, with a large claw-footed tub. The tub was obviously not used since it was covered with a layer of dust, and the child who needed to use it was as dirty as a baby pig. After finally relieving herself, Lily went to the kitchen.

  So, Miss Melody Malloy was a little hoyden. Lily could handle it; she was itching for the challenge actually. Being bested in the first round pricked her pride a bit. She should have seen it coming, after all, Melody’s father was no mannerly gentleman.

  After lighting a fire in the rather new looking, but dusty, black cook stove, Lily set out to review the supplies in the pantry. Like everything she’d seen in the house, it was sorely lacking. There was barely enough supplies to last a few days, and the meals would consist of biscuits and beans with coffee to wash it down. She saw a butter churn in one corner and wondered if her employer had a milking cow. She hadn’t milked a cow in years, but she knew it would come back to her quickly. Milk and butter would help the meals nicely, as would some eggs if there were any laying hens.

  After putting some beans to soak, Lily decided she needed to make a list of supplies to purchase. Surely Mr. Malloy couldn’t begrudge her a stock of food stuffs if she was to be an adequate housekeeper and cook.

  She retrieved a pencil and paper from her valise and began to make a list. Twenty minutes later, Ray found her sitti
ng at the table, nibbling the end of the pencil.

  “Supper ‘bout ready?”

  His gruff question knocked Lily out of her reverie with a startled yelp.

  “Oh! Ray, you scared me. Why, you’re as quiet as a cat with socks.” She smiled as she stood to check the beans. “I just popped the biscuits in the oven, and the beans should be ready about the same time. About fifteen minutes I’d say. Do you want to find Melody and help her wash up?”

  Ray grimaced. “Not even my sister Nicky could make her wash up. She just squirms like a puppy, then runs and hides.”

  Lily’s brows rose in surprise. “Truly?”

  Ray’s expression told her he expected censure or at least a snide remark after he nodded to her one-word question. She gave him neither.

  “I love a challenge. Please keep an eye on the food.” Determination beat a tattoo in her. “Miss Melody will be clean for this meal.”

  She pushed up her sleeves and went in search of her small charge.

  ———

  “Dammit, leggo! I ain’t gonna do it.”

  Ray heard his daughter’s curse from his seat on the porch. He had gone outside to sit in the rocking chair, determined not to be involved in the battle of wills raging in house. Miss Wickham was determined Mel would be clean; Mel was determined to remain dirty. Miss Wickham seemed to be winning, although it was not a sure victory.

  “I’ll let go of you when you’re clean with your hair combed properly, and not a moment sooner,” came Lily’s prim reply.

  “Ouch! That hurts, you stupid heifer!”

  He really ought to talk to Mel about her language. No little girl should talk like a ranch hand, even if that’s all she was around her entire life. Once she was a bit older, maybe he would send her to one of those finishing schools so she could learn to be a lady like Miss Wickham.

  “My pa’s gonna whoop your ass for this, lady.”

  Ray lurched to his feet and strode into the house. He’d had enough of listening to the battle. It was time to end the war.

  When he stepped into the kitchen, he had to blink twice at the image before him. Melody was wearing clean shirt and trousers, and wonder of wonders, she was free of dirt and grime. Her thick, black hair was combed and braided into two pigtails. Her cheeks were rosy red, and her black eyes were shooting fire.