Then he suddenly spotted them and struggled through the thick crowd to greet them.
"Where ya been, boy?" he drilled Easton.
"Business," he told him briskly.
Custar tossed bright eyes onto Chasity and to her horror he expelled a loud howl then yelled, "I'm the wolf of the world and she's the prettiest gal that I've seen yet! Come on, gal!" and she felt the eyes of the crowd locked onto them as he grabbed her and whirled her about, kicking up his heels like a leprechaun.
Directly, Myna waltzed over. "Come here old man," she ordered, taking him by the ear as he cursed and protested, but mind - he did.
Myna offered to Chasity's stunned form, "Sorry, child. This one is running on half a keg." Then she eyed Easton and advised Chasity in a low tone, "I'd watch the punchbowl if I were you, child."
Her hair was platinum tonight and she had on a silly little cowboy that was three sizes too small for her head.
Chasity watched the couple fade into the rush that was now bouncing to the music of the band and she felt a sudden admiration for the wordy Myna. Custar was a wild man - too much man for a normal woman to even consider managing.
She looked towards where Easton had been rooted but the space was empty. Where had he vanished, she silently wondered. Had some female-Custar spiraled him away?
And then she found her own self being whirled away as Lester suddenly materialized, sending her stepping to the beat of the music with him - and he hadn't even asked for the dance!
His breath was laced with whiskey and tobacco and Chasity felt ready to strangle Easton for abandoning her. The band was playing a fast number and Lester danced as vigorously as Custar had, the red hippo boots making mincemeat out of Chasity's feet. Ironically, Lester seemed oblivious to the fact.
"Ouch!" she protested for the third time in thirty seconds.
"What's wrong, hon? Not feeling well? I'll fetch you some punch. It's spiked, you know," he informed, sending her a wicked wink.
She watched in a daze as he ambled toward the punchbowl in the punishing red boots.
Where was Easton? She had to disappear before Lester and his marauding hippo boots returned.
Moving along, sandwiched by the thickening crowd, she was stunned to discover that Del Rio had so many people. And then she suddenly collided with an overly tall figure. Hal, his grin wide and free as he looked curiously over her.
Like Lester, he too had been plied with spirits. The threatening figure of Easton must have escaped as the spirits had entered, for he suddenly wanted to dance with her.
"Not now, Hal," she told him, still searching for sign of Easton's protective form. Where was he?
"Come on darlin'," Had encouraged, pulling her to him in a forceful move that took her by storm. She literally felt her breath being knocked out of her.
"Please Hal - I'll dance with you later-"
"I think not."
This one did a lot of dips and by the time the band had finished the song, she felt hot and dizzy.
"I'm sweatin' worse than a cow in heat! What do you say that we get out of here, sunshine? Let's have a real party - all of our own if you know what I mean," he said, his eyes darting over her and she was made nervous by the certain look stitched into the cowboy's mischievous-looking eyes. In a whisper he confided, "Just let me grab a couple more girls and we'll get started-"
"Boston!"
Chasity and Hal turned to catch Easton's stiff form standing behind them. He scorched a hot look over her face as if accusing her of the fiasco and Chasity tightened her lips and glared back at him, not believing that he had the audacity to lay the blame on her!
She glanced back at Hal who seemed to have suddenly developed the shakes. He tumbled out, "Well hello there Mr. Trevor. Nice little dance."
Easton said nothing to him and simply extracted her from Hal's clammy hands. As Hal took off running, his eyes flickered with amusement.
"Would you look at that wild outfit?" he drawled and Chasity wanted to stomp on his foot like Lester had hers - for totally deserting her.
Before she knew what was happening, he had pulled her into his arms and out onto the dance floor.
In an attempt to salvage her pride she stiffly told him, "I hope that you're a better dancer than the other three cowboys. I don't think that my back or my feet can take much more damage."
"Don't fret, pretty lady," he told her, placing a kiss onto her pouting lips. "With you, I'll dance slow and close."
He proved to be an excellent dancer and as time passed, her temper cooled a bit. But she was still a bit miffed that he hadn't shared the circumstances surrounding his sudden disappearance with her. Where had he been? She couldn't rid her mind of the troubling thought. And so she asked, wanting to know.
"Business, Chasity," he told her, kissing her cheek. "Now let's concentrate on our evening, okay?"
As the music stopped they made their way towards Myna and Custar who appeared to be sparring with one another.
"You're going to hell flyin' if you keep buggin' me, woman!" he told Myna.
"Shut up, old fool," she spat back, her lips in a pouting stance as she focused on him.
"I don't care how much yappin' that you do - I ain't a-marrin' up with you again," Custar grumbled.
Obviously, Myna was on a Mission of Marriage, intent to snare the illustrious Custar for an eighth time.
Chasity turned ten shades of red as he looked at her and told Myna in a bold tone, "In fact, I'm gettin' an appetite for a younger gal."
"That's as far as it goes, Custar," Easton drawled in a warning tone. "She's all mine - at least tonight," he said, draping a protective arm over Chasity's fragile shoulder.
"Well if that don't go and beat all!" he protested, still grumbling and working around the white bush below his nose.
"I suppose it does," Easton agreed, leading Chasity to the dance floor again.
An hour later the crowd had thickened and she felt so hot that she couldn't breathe. Easton suggested a walk through the gardens, which she readily welcomed.
The garden was in full bloom, the scent heady. There was a light breeze out tonight and a bright yellow moon flew high overhead. The setting reeked of romance.
Easton led her to a wooden bench, then settled in beside her. After a short kiss to her lips, he drawled, "I'm falling in love with you, Chasity. You must know that?" He paused, then amended, "Let me correct that. I am in love with you, Chasity. I've already fallen - head over heels."
She whispered, "You what?"
Easton was studying her closely under the moonlight and she suddenly looked drawn. Perhaps he could have chosen his words more wisely, but they had been spontaneous and real.
"You look like you could use a drink. Sit here - I'll be right back," he told her, not wanting her to faint on him.
After he had vanished, she awoke from her daze. Or, was it a dream. Easton in love? With her? Surely not!
She was bathing in her delicious thoughts as two female voices drifted to her on the light wind. They appeared to be nearby for she could clearly detect every word.
"Athena, I would be quite jealous of the woman myself. Easton Trevor is the most eligible bachelor around these parts - and I wouldn't let him get away so easily."
"Dorothy, Easton is only playing a game with this Chasity person. He told me over the phone this evening that his new prize heifer held the key to Bandera's future mainstream of wealth. He actually called her a heifer, can you believe?" the woman giggled. Then, "It's only a game, Dorothy. And a very short one from what I glimpsed this evening because he has almost got her....snared!"
Chasity opened her mouth in shock as she heard both women giggle, appearing delighted that she was being used as pawn. If she understood correctly, Easton was wanting to get out of the cattle business and into the horse business. How dare he! And after he'd just told her that he loved her.
When she would have stormed from the beautiful garden, she froze again as she heard the ladies addressing Easton. And he wasn't too happy either and it was obvious by his words that he had overheard them.
"Athena, what in the devil are you hinting?" he challenged, the garden suddenly deathly quiet, Chasity's heart in her throat.
Was Easton aware that she could hear every word? And by his tone of voice, she gathered that he didn't care.
"Easton! Where did you materialize from?" Athena asked, obviously shocked by his unexpected appearance.
Avoiding her question he told her, "First off, I didn't talk to you this evening, Athena. Second of all, there has never been anything between us. You're the most boring woman that I've ever had the misfortune to meet-"
"Well I never!"
"Third, when I talked with your father this evening, the heifer that I was referring to was a cow that I purchased on a recent business trip - not that it's any of your business, but I intend to set the record straight," he ripped out, still sounding extremely angry to Chasity's flared ears.
She grew ten feet. And he had used her 'not that it's any of your business' phrase. She grew ten more feet, surprised that Easton and the two bad seeds couldn't see her looming curiously over them
"Please don't tell father," Athena begged and it sounded like she was tuning up to cry.
"If you choose to cause trouble for Chasity and me-"
"Oh, I won't - we won't, will we Dorothy?"
"No-no, of course not, Mr. Trevor."
"If I so much as hear one bad word regarding Chasity, I'll have both of your heads. Understood?" Easton told them, wanting to get his full message across.
"Yes, sure."
She heard some scampering about and when Easton wheeled around to join her on the bench, she assumed that Dorothy and Athena had vanished.
"I suppose that you heard most of that," he drawled, handing her the lemonade.
Chasity set aside the lemonade on the bench, pulling her to him. "I love you, Easton Trevor. You may be forced to be a part of the horse business after all."
Easton kissed her passionately, thinking that Chasity was right. And it was strange because in the beginning, he'd only wanted the land to expand his ranch, as well as to ensure that the cowboys at the Horseshoe had a job.
He pulled away, telling her, "You do know that I have no desire for your horses - or your land. I'll admit that I did in the beginning - before I met you."
Chasity set aside the lemonade on the bench, pulling her to him. "I love you, Easton Trevor. You may be forced to be a part of the horse business after all."
"Yes, I know that, my darling," Chasity smiled, snuggling closer to him.
"I'll have the papers drawn up before the wedding stating that you hold one-hundred percent interest in the Horseshoe," he announced. "I want things to be crystal-clear between us. No starting off on the wrong footing like Custar and Myna. We're going to last forever."
"Are you telling me to marry you?" she asked, growing accustomed to his authoritative air. "If so, the answer is yes."
Easton smiled into her face, for the first time knowing what it felt like to truly be in love. He laughed when she told him, "You know, Caldonya's going to be almost as happy as me about the union."
The End
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar