Grading Garnet: The Red Petticoat Saloon Read online

  She hoped.

  When Gloria entered the building, there were three men sitting at a long table that should have sat four, all of whom confirmed her impression that there must be something in the water in Culpepper Cove, because each of them seemed bigger than the last. With a quick glance, she identified the sheriff as the man with the star on his chest and the gun on his hips. Although, it was rare to find a man around here, she’d been alarmed to see, who wasn’t wearing at least one gun. She recognized another of them as the doctor, as the required black bag was on the floor next to him.

  The other man she had no idea about.

  All of them stood when she entered, striding confidently up to the closest of them, which happened to be the sheriff and introducing herself rather boldly. “Jeb Justice,” he said, carefully shaking a hand that was lost completely within his masculine grip. “It’s very nice to finally meet you, Miss Owens.”

  “Sheriff Justice,” she repeated back to him formally.

  The man she didn’t know turned out to be the mayor, who nodded his head at her and engulfed her hand in an equally enormous paw. “Miss Owens.”

  “Mayor Rockwell.”

  The doctor was next, rising to not only shake her hand but pat the back of it a bit. “Don’t you let us intimidate you, now. In most cases, our barks are worse than our bites.”

  That got her to smile nervously, if not laugh as she thought he might have intended. “Dr. Norwood.”

  At Gloria’s questioning look at the empty chair, the doctor stepped in to clear the situation up. “I know it was Mr. McIntyre who made the offer and who has been corresponding with you on our behalf. He’s going to be a bit late—” The doctor interrupted himself and sighed in mock exasperation at the sound of heavy, booted feet climbing the stairs. “And here he is now, just to make a liar out of me.”

  “I’m here!”

  How was it that his voice could sound eerily familiar when they’d never met, she wondered?

  Gloria had already turned and was heading towards the newcomer with her hand out when all nine foot three of him entered the room, blocking out the sunlight with those expansive shoulders, his huge strides taking him towards her at breakneck speed.

  And as he bore down on her, and she raised her eyes to his face, the horrifying reality of the situation hit her as if he’d barreled right into her.

  He might have been wearing an expensive suit now, rather than close to nothing as he had been when she’d first seen him, but it was definitely the man through the window at the Red Petticoat. The man she’d seen and heard punish that young lady’s bare backside with his more than capable hand, then do things to her that caused what sounded like he was subjecting her to an equal amount of unbearable pleasure.

  As soon as her mind comprehended the awful truth of what was happening, her feet stopped short as if they had been nailed to the floor. Unfortunately, her body continued to move forward, so that she ended up pretty much throwing herself towards him, although he was still a few feet shy of her at the time.

  Luckily for her, he was quick on his feet for such a big man and he caught her well before she would have hit the ground.

  Miss Gloria Renee Owens had succumbed to a weakness she’d long since ascribed to other women who were possessed of a weaker constitution than she was.

  She’d fainted dead away.

  Of course the doctor was right there, as was the man who had so nimbly caught her. He swung her up into his arms without missing a beat as he continued towards the table that they were all sitting behind. He claimed the biggest chair, which was his as the head of the school board, settling her onto his lap and holding her safe against him.

  In truth, he’d been just as surprised to see her, although he guessed it had hit her harder than it had him. He’d had no idea who the impudent little minx was who had been so obviously spying on them the night before last, despite how he could see that she was trying so hard not to be noticed. Her very primness seemed to get under his skin for some reason, watching them from the safety of her room, in a plain nightgown that reached her jaw line and he would have bet didn’t even let her toes peep out from beneath it, hair subdued into the perfect schoolmarm’s bun. But, it was the obvious interest in her eyes and what he could even see was the flush on her otherwise pale cheeks that caused him to indulge himself a bit and tease her about the fact that he’d caught her looking.

  It would have been bad enough if she had simply been, perhaps, a married woman who had just moved into town. However, he now knew she really, really shouldn’t have been so naughty. Such naughtiness was something he might well feel compelled to address with her—lest it become a habit—and the sooner the better.

  The doc checked her over, and everything seemed normal, so he produced a bottle of smelling salts, waving it beneath her nose until she came awake and sat up with a start and immediately tried to slide down off Mr. McIntyre’s lap.

  But every man there said emphatically, and almost in unison, “Stay!”

  Barely noticing the order they’d just barked at her, Gloria continued to struggle against McIntyre’s hands, which were respectful and gentle, and just as immovable. She felt her face flush an uncomfortable shade of red. “Please, gentlemen, I’m fine. Let me down.”

  “Not until the doc says that you’re all right,” the sheriff declared and everyone, but she, seemed to agree.

  “How do you feel?” the doctor asked.

  “Fine,” she answered, not bothering to hide her impatient tone. She couldn’t believe what had happened, and now utter embarrassment threatened to do it to her again. If she could just put some distance between herself and the man who was holding her captive…

  “Has this ever happened to you before?”

  “Never,” came the clipped reply.

  “Any headache, nausea or dizziness, now or before?”

  With an audible sigh of undisguised exasperation at his incessant, unnecessary questions, Gloria opened her mouth to reply, but found her chin caught between a very large thumb and forefinger, the owner of which was the man on whose lap she was currently residing, however reluctantly, who used his hold to force her to look him in the eye. “You just fainted, and all of us are concerned for your welfare. There will be no further business conducted here until he gives you a clean bill of health. And, if you know what’s good for you, Miss Owens, you’ll use a more respectful tone of voice in addressing any one of us in the future.”

  Unable to bear his stern stare, Gloria closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath that was supposed to calm her. “My apologies, gentlemen, for the shortness of my temper. I ended up running late this morning which caused a series of calamities to rival Job. Now I’ve managed to make myself look the fool when that’s the last thing I intended to do in front of my new employers.”

  Murmurs of reassurance as to the fact that she could never look foolish and that it was hardly her fault if she were sick rose up among the men, not that she bought any of it. The harsh reality was that she’d probably just lost this position. Considering where she was currently perched, that might not be a bad thing. Perhaps there would be an opening for a teacher further south in San Francisco… but a large city was not where she wanted to end up.

  No place would suffice but Culpepper Cove, for reasons she could not fathom herself.

  The doctor checked her pulse, removed her glasses to look at her eyes, made her follow his finger and, after checking a few other things, asked her if she felt as if she could stand up under her own power.

  Gloria nodded eagerly, trying to pry Mr. McIntyre’s hands away from her to get down, but he wasn’t having any of that. Instead, she found herself lifted up and set down just a bit away from him, his hands barely moving away from her at all as she stood, as if he intended to be ready to catch her in case she collapsed again.

  “I can assure you that I’m feeling quite fit. Can we please proceed with our meeting?”

  A chair was produced for her to sit in, rather than
standing before them as might have been more standard. At least they didn’t expect her to take a seat at one of the students’ desks! They asked her various questions, probing her about what she knew and how she taught. She very carefully met the eyes of all of them—save one—as she calmly answered their queries.

  All of these questions were making her a bit nervous, though, and eventually she cleared her throat and said, “Gentlemen, I had understood that I had already been given the job. And yet here I sit, being interviewed as if I had not already been told that I had it. Do I or do I not have this position? And if so, then I expect you to cease and desist with the inquisition. If you didn’t like my credentials when I sent them to you, then you should not have offered me the position in the first place.”

  The other three men could be seen trying, with varying rates of success, to suppress their smiles at her audacity, but the school board head was not. “You are an inexperienced teacher at best, Miss Owens, and you can hardly fault us for wanting to know a little more about you before we entrust you with the very weighty, important matter of the education of our children.”

  Gloria’s eyebrow rose. “So noted, Mr. McIntyre.”

  “If you will excuse us for just a moment,” he asked, not really asking, and, without waiting for her reply, turned to his compatriots. They murmured together for a short time while Gloria did her best not to fidget, wondering if the high and mighty Mr. McIntyre, who frequented houses of ill repute himself, was going to cast aspersions about her character to convince the others that she ought not to be hired.

  She supposed she could try to do the same thing about him, if it came down to it, but the reality was that his actions wouldn’t likely result in anything from the other men besides congratulatory pats on the back, whereas hers might well cost her a job she was now not quite sure she would ever have.

  Although it was probably only minutes, it seemed like years before he turned back to her and said, “I am pleased to be able to offer you the position—for one year—at the agreed upon rate. At the end of this school year, we will convene again to assess your performance and decide whether or not to offer you the position for the next year.”

  The mayor produced a document and placed it on the table, pushing it towards her, along with a pen. “If you would sign at the bottom, please, Miss Owens?”

  Gloria had to school herself not to run up to the table; she was so eager to do so. Instead, while very carefully not looking at any of them, she very calmly and coolly rose and walked to the table, proceeding to lift the paper and read every word of the agreement prior to finally signing it. Then, she again shook every man’s hand, including the redoubtable Mr. McIntyre, who was the last in line, and who seemed reluctant, at first, to relinquish hers, causing her to glare up at him in ill concealed annoyance.

  The other men had already melted away to attend to their own business. They were alone in what had finally become her schoolroom.

  But he wasn’t glaring back at her—far from it. He was smiling that smug, Devil’s smile that said that he knew entirely too much about her for someone she had just met. The problem was that he absolutely did!

  “Congratulations, Miss Owens,” he said, his tone at an entirely too intimate pitch. “Welcome to Culpepper Cove. But I think it’s only fair to warn you that I’m not going to be willing to just let what you did go.”

  Deciding to play coy, Gloria turned away from him to gather her bag, saying in her best, most innocent tone, “Why, Mr. McIntyre, I’m certain that I have no idea to what you are referring.”

  Before she could take a step, she found that one of his hands had wrapped around her upper arm, preventing her from moving, and the other had found its way unerringly to the rounded cheeks of her bum through her skirts.

  “Oh, I think you do, Miss Owens. In fact, I know you do. And I’m pretty sure that you can imagine exactly how it is that I’m going to impress upon you the idea that being a Peeping Thomasina is not something that I, nor any other member of this board, would consider a desirable character trait in someone who is employed by this town to both teach about and provide an example of a young woman’s proper moral compass.”

  Her breath escaped her all at once when he’d caught her, only to be sucked violently back in at his words. “You wouldn’t dare!” she growled.

  To which he merely chuckled. “Oh, come now, Miss Owens. You of all people can have no doubt that I absolutely would dare. What’s more, I can promise you right now that I will dare to tip you over my lap, fold your skirts up around your waist, push your bloomers to your ankles and deliver you the spanking you deserve—and quite soon, too. I wouldn’t want too much time to pass between the misdeed and the much needed correction for such unseemly behavior. I wouldn’t want you to think that I was going to let you just get away with it unscathed.”

  At this point, Gloria found herself in the unique position of wishing she’d faint, because she could find no trace of humor, or mercy, in his expression, and she had no doubt that he meant every bold, outrageous word he’d said to her.

  Then, suddenly, he released her arm and headed for the door. Gloria remained where she was, intending to take a minute alone to collect herself, when she realized that he was standing at the door as if he was waiting for her.

  When she looked up and found him there, staring at her, she opened her mouth to say something snide, but he cut her off with an impatient, “Well?”

  “Well what?” she asked, knowing the bastard was baiting her but unable to keep herself from falling into his trap.

  “Are you coming?”

  “With you? After what you just said to me? Why, I wouldn’t be caught dead walking to a pig sty with you.” Gloria pretended to be looking in her bag for something, just so she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking at him.

  Seth put his hat on and shook his head. “Suit yourself, little lady. But good luck finding a place to live while you teach. The town’s full up.”

  With that, he headed blithely outside.

  Gloria’s head snapped up as the door closed slowly behind him. “What?” she asked no one frantically. What had he meant? She was staying with her students’ families, wasn’t she? Embarrassed by the fact that she found herself running after him, she burst through the door, practically flying down the stairs, calling to him like some desperate fishwife, “Wait! Mr. McIntyre, wait!” all while scanning the street for what she already knew was the unmistakable broad back of that thoroughly exasperating man, only to hear a soft chuckle that let her know that she’d rushed past him. He was behind her, standing just to the side of the door with the sole of one boot resting on the wall behind him, bending down to cup his hand around a match as he lit a cigar, waiting for her with that smug grin on his face that she’d love to wipe off it.

  Hugging her bag to her so she wouldn’t give in to the urge to slug him, Gloria mounted the stairs again so that she wouldn’t have to yell at him to have a conversation, standing well away from him, though, and addressing his foot. “Please explain the changes in the accommodations you are offering, which, I might point out, should have been explained to me prior to my having signed the contract. What if I find them unsatisfactory?”

  To her great surprise, he inclined his head in agreement. “You, Miss Owens, are absolutely right. We should have told you about the difference prior to having you commit to a year with us. Although, I have to admit, to our credit, that we did consider your welfare in making the change. You see, although boarding around is the norm for school teachers, many of the children you will be teaching may not have anything resembling proper lodgings for you, as they don’t have it for themselves, either. We thought that you would probably prefer a permanent, clean, warm room of your own to sharing lodgings in the barn with the family livestock, or a one room shack where your corner has the unfinished wall during the winter and the leak in the roof in the spring.”

  She snuck a look up at him, then down again. His tone might have been a bit sarcastic,
but she could hear the ring of truth in his words.

  “Well, then, I’m sorry if I’ve jumped to conclusions, and thank you for making that decision.”

  “You’re welcome, ma’am,” he returned, still wearing that annoying small smile that said he was silently laughing at her.

  “So, if I might ask, with what family will I be staying, and would you kindly point me in the direction of their home?”

  “Glad to,” he said, pushing himself away from the wall to stand at the top of the stairs, signaling with an overly gallant sweep of his arm that she was to precede him, which she did.

  Once they were both at the bottom, he whistled once loud and a beautiful horse—the largest one she’d ever seen in her life—came trotting over to him, nuzzling him in the chest so hard it nearly knocked the man over. “No, I don’t have any sugar for you at the moment, Diablo.” But he did pat the horse affectionately and rub his head before he swung up into the saddle, then leaned a hand the long way down to her.

  A bit confused at his actions, Gloria looked up at him, automatically reaching out towards his hand, while asking, “I don’t understand. Are you taking me to them?”

  There was that awful, self-satisfied grin of his again. “Why, no, Miss Owens. I am them.”

  Chapter Three

  “I don’t take your meaning,” she said, preferring not to think about what the ramifications of his statement might be for her, but not that she let that stop her from immediately retracting her hand.

  “Oh, I think you do. It seems that you’ve had a bit of luck. You see, I own quite a large ranch, and I recently did a bit of remodeling. One of the things I did was improve the kitchen. My housekeeper, who has lived with me since before I was born, uses a room off the living room as her bedroom, but I added a small room off the kitchen, in anticipation of perhaps getting her some help at some point in the future. As that hasn’t happened yet, I happen to have a spare, clean, new room and it was decided that you should stay with me for this year, at least.”