Hunter’s oldest daughter, Sarah, skillfully pulled her younger siblings out of the fray. Unfortunately, Mattie added her assistance there as well, and pandemonium soon followed. The children quite literally ran circles around their grandmother.
Fanny thought she saw a brief twinkle of amusement dance in her brother’s eyes before he quickly restored order with the gentle strength that had always defined him. Hunter looked good, she decided. His hair was a sun-kissed, sandy blond from the hours he spent outdoors on his ranch. His long-legged, leanly muscular cowboy swagger was replicated in all the Mitchell men.
Hunter had experienced some difficult years, including two spent in prison for manslaughter, but he’d overcome his past and was stronger for the challenges he’d once faced. She was proud to call him brother.
“Now, that’s what I call an entrance,” Jonathon muttered.
The look of amused horror on his face made her smile. “I should have warned you, the Mitchells never do anything by half measure.”
“I was speaking about Mattie.” His voice was infused with a touch of irony. “Watch. She’s about to strike a pose. Ah, yes, there she goes.”
As predicted, Mattie sauntered to a spot in the middle of the hotel lobby. With exaggerated slowness, she lifted her chin, thrust out a hip and then planted a fist on her waist.
The pose was so...completely Mattie. A snort of laughter erupted before Fanny could call it back. “You know the woman well.”
“Too well,” Jonathon muttered, his mouth now a little grim. “She’s managed to draw almost every eye to her.”
Gazes were, indeed, riveted in Mattie’s direction. But Fanny suspected much of the interest was for the extraordinary-looking group as a whole. Even Hunter’s children were beautiful.
A range of emotions swept through her. Fanny was excited to spend time with her family, but also determined to make the next few days count. When Mrs. Singletary’s ball was over, all of Denver would see her differently. She would no longer be defined as that pretty Mitchell girl. Or that poor, misguided woman who’d jilted a prominent man in town.
She would prove she was a competent woman, capable of handling great responsibilities. When she walked through town next week, the whispers following in her wake would be not only accurate, but also complimentary.
Catching sight of her from across the room, Annabeth squealed in delight and waved enthusiastically.
The entire group changed direction, Annabeth leading the way with a waddle that bespoke her current condition. Judging by the size of her belly, Hunter’s fifth child would be making an appearance in a few short months.
As Annabeth approached, smiling broadly, Fanny noticed that her sister-in-law glowed with good health and happiness. She was so very beautiful. The rich, caramel-colored skin and sleek dark hair she’d inherited from her Mexican father were the perfect foil for the pale blue eyes she’d gotten from Mattie.
Oddly, as Hunter and his family drew closer, Jonathon seemed to grow tenser. He shifted his stance slightly, then repositioned himself once again.
Interesting that while he appeared outwardly loose-limbed and relaxed, the lines around his mouth gave him away.
Fanny was given no more time to contemplate his strange behavior before she was hauled into her brother’s strong arms and swung in fast, dizzying circles.
“Put me down, you big oaf.”
He obliged, but only after two more heart-pounding spins.
Then, hands on her shoulders, Hunter studied her face with the narrow-eyed focus that had kept him alive during his rebellious years. She tried not to fidget under the inspection.
At last, he gave a quick nod of approval. “You look well, Fanny. Happy.”
“I am well and happy.” Mostly.
Angling his head, he paused, as if about to say something, then abruptly refocused his attention onto Jonathon.
They shook hands in a very businesslike manner.
“Have my brothers arrived?” Hunter asked.
“Not yet.”
As Fanny watched the formal exchange between the two men, she had the distinct impression she’d missed something, something important. She opened her mouth to inquire, but they moved a few steps away and began speaking in low, hushed tones.
She couldn’t quite make out what they said. She stepped closer. At the mention of a meeting—what meeting?—she leaned in a smidgen closer. She thought she caught Jonathon say her brother Garrett’s name, but then Annabeth swooped in for a hug and that was the end of Fanny’s eavesdropping.
She spent the next few minutes greeting the rest of Hunter’s family. “Mattie, I do believe you look ten years younger than the last time I saw you.”
The former madam responded to the compliment with a nonchalant wave of her hand. “It’s all that fresh air.”
The harried tone implied that fresh air was something to be avoided at all costs. Fanny wasn’t fooled. The former madam was delighted with her decision to sell her brothel and move onto the ranch with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.
Who would have thought Mattie Silks would turn into a doting grandmother?
“Hello, Aunt Fanny.”
Fanny spun around at the sound of her name. “Sarah, look at you. You’re all grown up.”
The girl beamed. “I turn sixteen in four months, one week and five days. But who’s counting?”
Fanny laughed. The sweet, pretty child with the dark hair and tawny eyes had become a confident, striking young woman. “Tell me how you’ve been.”
Sarah did, in great detail, barely taking a breath. When she finally paused, Fanny took the opportunity to steer the conversation in a slightly different direction than the latest fashion for hats. “Are you excited about attending school in Boston next year?”
“I am. Very much. I thought Pa would never agree to let me go.” She rolled her eyes in her father’s direction. “He only relented when I promised to carry on your legacy at Miss Sinclair’s Prestigious School for Girls.”
Though she was flattered, and really quite touched, the last thing Fanny wanted was for her niece to follow in her footsteps. She’d been a model student at Miss Sinclair’s, uncommonly obedient. That had been a mistake. When a young girl went away to school, she was supposed to spread her wings a little, to test her boundaries, to make mistakes and then learn from them.
Wanting to offer what advice she could on the matter, she touched her niece’s arm, then decided it wasn’t her place. Sarah should be allowed to find her own way, on her own terms. But still. “Let’s talk more later, just the two of us.”
Sarah’s smile turned radiant. “I’d like that.”
Fanny switched her attention to her sister-in-law’s rounded belly. “How are you feeling?”
“Excited, impatient.” Annabeth leaned in close. “Your brother hovers like an old woman. Honestly, you’d think I’d never birthed a child before.”
Despite her slightly miffed tone, Annabeth glanced over at Hunter. The way she looked at him, all dreamy-eyed and in love, told Fanny her sister-in-law adored every bit of the attention her husband bestowed on her.
A tinge of melancholy struck without warning. Would Fanny ever find that kind of love?
She certainly hoped so. And yet she wondered...
Was she even capable of having deep feelings for a man?