Courting Susannah by Linda Lael Miller Page B

had been thepresence of that coach that had drawn Delphinia’s attention in the first place, and Susannah did not want the woman’s furyto turn in her direction.
    Upon her return to the Fairgrieve house, looming against an overcast sky like a stone fortress, Susannah had nothing to dobut find places for all her selections, since the baby was sound asleep. The task was a pleasant, homey one, and by the timeshe went downstairs for a cup of tea, she had forgotten the tempestuous scene at the general store.
    Maisie was snoozing in her rocking chair, and Jasper was still at school.
    Moving as quietly as she could, Susannah brewed a pot of orange pekoe, smiling softly to herself, and was on her way to themain parlor, which afforded a view of the mountains and the blue-gray waters, when the front door burst open and Aubrey blewin, like a great rush of wind. The door crashed shut behind him.
    â€œPlease be quiet,” Susannah said moderately. “Your daughter is asleep.”
    Aubrey thrust a hand through his hair and emitted a heavy sigh. To Susannah’s great surprise, he actually looked chagrined.“I’m sorry,” he said, amazing her further. There was a beleaguered expression in his eyes thataroused a tenderness she did not wish to feel—was not
entitled
to feel. “You were there?” he asked briskly. It was plain that he was referring to that morning’s drama and already knewthe answer.
    Susannah held her tea cup with both hands, for the sake of steadiness. “Yes,” she said.
    â€œIt wasn’t the way she made it sound.”
    Opposed to the use of ardent spirits all her life, Susannah suddenly wished with all her heart that her cup contained whiskeyinstead of tea. She could have used some bracing up. “There’s no need to explain, Mr. Fairgrieve. Not to me.”
    â€œAubrey, damn it,” came the growled response. “When you call me Mr. Fairgrieve like that, it makes me feel like my own grandfather.”
    Susannah was bewildered—and secretly a little pleased—by this confession. She liked knowing that she could make this man feelsomething, anything. Was she turning into a loose woman?
    â€œIf you’ll excuse me—” She started toward the main staircase. She had, after all, selected one book from the shelves at Aubrey’sstore, paid for out of her own scant funds, just as her more personal purchases had been, and planned to put her feet up andread a few pages before the baby awakened.
    He stopped her with a firm but painless grasp on her arm. “Susannah, about Hollister—”
    She summoned up a shy smile. “He’s a very nice man,” she said sincerely. “And he’s invited me to have dinner with him tomorrownight. I accepted, of course.”
    Aubrey frowned. “Of course,” he repeated, looking distracted. “What do you know about him?”
    Susannah wanted to laugh, perhaps hysterically, though she could not have said why. “Why, nothing, except that he is wellmannered and makes pleasant company.I assumed he was a friend of yours, since you entertained him at your table.”
    Aubrey was still distracted and rubbed his chin between thumb and fingers. “So I did,” he muttered. Then, with no furtherelaboration, he wandered off into his study, like a somnambulist, and closed the door softly behind him.
    â€œDamn it,” he snapped, glowering at Hollister over the green felt gaming table in the back room of one of Seattle’s best gamblingestablishments. “I told you to investigate Miss McKittrick’s past, not make a conquest of her.”
    Hollister had been winning all evening, and from the cool way he assessed the cards in his hand, it appeared that his luckwas holding. “Getting to know her seemed like a good idea,” he mused. His eyes flashed with humor as he looked at Aubrey.“And it’s not unpleasant work. Not at all.”
    Aubrey leaned