“Are you married?” she asked quietly.
He shook his head. “Certainly not. I’m a businessman, and marriage is not in my immediate future. Right now, I see no need for a woman in my home.”
She flinched at his words. “You don’t like women?” she asked, flicking a look of conjecture in his direction. “I mean—” Her mouth thinned as if she regretted the inference her words suggested.
“I like women just fine. In their proper place,” he retorted.
“And that is…”
Her hesitance was deliberate. He knew it from his depths, and even as he bristled at her words, he silently saluted her bravery at defying him. “Wherever I decree they are the most useful,” he said smoothly, watching as a red tide washed upward from her throat to cover her cheeks. Beneath her bonnet, her hair was a deep shade of auburn, caught up in a heavy, somewhat untidy knot at her nape. Several curling strands touched her forehead, softening the brown eyes that glared in his direction.
“I see,” she said harshly, although he very much doubted that she was nearly as sophisticated as she would like him to believe. “Well, perhaps you’ll have to seek out someone to help you in your care of Amanda,” Miss Donnelly suggested. “I’m only the person hired to deliver her into your hands, sir. I suppose there’s no reason not to be on the early train tomorrow morning, back to Saint Louis and then on to New York.”
She’s bluffing. The thought pleased him. “I don’t think that’s an option,” he replied smoothly. “You can’t leave me here with a child and sashay off without a by-your-leave. It would be grossly unfair to—” he looked down at the little girl, and then continued with a cool smile “—to the child.”
Her eyes narrowed, and her chin lifted defensively. “I beg your humble pardon, Mr. Garvey, but I can do anything I please. I am not a servant in your employ.”
“That’s true enough, but this is a small town, ma’am. You might find it difficult to board the morning train, should I decide to say otherwise.”
“You’d keep me here against my will?” Her blush faded quickly, leaving her pale beneath a naturally creamy complexion. Her lips were compressed, their fullness narrowed by the gesture, and he caught sight of a glimpse of panic in her brown eyes.
“No, of course I wouldn’t. I didn’t mean to say that,” Nicholas answered quietly. He glanced down at Amanda, whose eyes were glued on his face. Sparing her a quick smile, he directed his attention to the young woman before him. It might be time to backtrack and let her off the hook. “Let’s rethink this a bit. I’ll make it worth your while to stay. This whole thing needs to be sorted out.”
“And where would you suggest I live while I’m at your beck and call?” she asked. Her jaw was taut and he sensed a quality of brittleness in her demeanor, as if she might shatter into a thousand pieces should she loosen her grip on the situation enveloping her.
It would not do for the woman to lose control, here in the bank where he prided himself on his immaculate reputation. He reached for her, grasping her wrist and drawing her into his office. Reaching behind her, he closed the door. A hum of voices reached him and he winced, aware that several customers had been privy to the low, murmured argument he’d allowed himself to be involved in.
She reacted to his maneuvers, tugging at his hold as he led her from the door to a chair across the room. “Please release me, sir,” she said sharply. Beside her, Amanda caught her breath in a sob; and Miss Donnelly looked down, her face reflecting the sadness the child expressed.
Nicholas felt a tide of confusion sweep over his entire being. Always in control, priding himself on his grasp of business and aware of the enormity of his influence, he’d never felt so totally at sea in his entire career. His early years were another story. But in the past twenty years, he’d come a long way from the young man who’d dug through the refuse in alleyways for food.
Befriended at fifteen by a man whose life he’d saved during a nighttime robbery attempt, he’d been sent to school, then on to a university. His boyish rescue of the wealthy stranger, who, beset by thieves, had taken the scrawny youth home with him, led to a future he’d never in his wildest dreams thought to hold within his grasp.
His upward climb in the financial market, bulwarked by the tidy fortune left to him by his childless benefactor, had led Nicholas here. Here to Collins Creek, a small town north of Dallas, where he was known only as the owner of the town’s bank. A situation he’d chosen, where peace and security were his for the asking. Where he was considered to be, over the past two years, the town’s most successful citizen, and given the friendship of the simple folk surrounding him. His past was just that, those years behind him as he sought the tranquillity available in this small town.
Now, in barely thirty minutes’ time, he was swept back to that life in the city by the appearance of a young woman and her charge, a child alleged to be his niece. Miss Donnelly was dressed in a simple gown, yet wore the look of a woman from New York. That distinctive air of refinement clung to her, and her voice was overlaid with a soft, cultured accent she did not attempt to conceal.
Yet, there was no guarantee she was what she appeared to be. He’d learned early on not to take people at face value, and years of living had not eased the pain of experience. She faced him with pride and anger at war within her, her expressive face reflecting the turmoil of the situation in which she found herself.
Crouching beside Amanda, only the crown of the woman’s hat was visible to his discerning eye. It was circled by a narrow band of grosgrain ribbon, simple, yet stylish, and beneath its brim, he sensed her smile was warm as she spoke to the child.
“It’s all right, Amanda,” she said quietly, the soothing syllables having an immediate effect.
“Where will we go, Linnie?”
Linnie? Nicholas felt a warmth expand within his chest as the child spoke the name she’d chosen for her nurse. And he inhaled sharply as he considered his harshness. “You’ll go to my home,” he said, dropping to one knee, the better to look squarely at the little girl. No matter the woman’s mission here, the child deserved decent treatment.
Yet Amanda appeared not to welcome his offer. “You don’t like us,” she said firmly. “And I don’t think I like you, either. You’re not a nice man.”
“That’s not polite,” Miss Donnelly stated matter-off-actly, holding Amanda’s hand tightly. And then she turned her head to look directly at Nicholas. “I’m sure there will be room at the hotel for us. We wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. I’ll keep Amanda for the night and talk to her about the situation. I can’t force the issue with her.”
Nicholas grasped the woman’s elbow and assisted her to her feet, rising to look down into her dark eyes. “I have a comfortable home just down the street,” he said politely. “My housekeeper will be happy to settle you in. In fact, we’ll leave now and I’ll see to it myself. Amanda will be more comfortable there than in a hotel. You and I will talk this evening, Miss Donnelly.”
She attempted to withdraw from his hold and his fingers only tightened, putting force behind his statement. “There isn’t room to argue the point,” he told her flatly. “The child must be weary, and I think you’re ready for a chance to sit and relax, yourself.” He reached toward the rack by the door, snatching his wide-brimmed hat from a hook, then ushered her from his office.
“I’m going home for a while, Thomas,” he said to his clerk. “I’ll return soon. In the meantime, send someone to the train station to collect Miss Donnelly’s things. And those of the child. Have them delivered to my house.”
The wide-eyed young man nodded, his gaze enquiring as he shot a sidelong glance at Nicholas’s visitors. “Yes, sir, Mr. Garvey. I’ll handle things.”
The door opened