A Very Lusty Christmas (7 page)

Patrick laughed. “Well then, I would say that we can look forward to at least a few fireworks with our woman.”

Kate never would have believed that her entire life could be turned upside down in just two weeks.

She’d never considered herself to be the shy or retiring type. Certainly, over the years her mother had let her know that the habits she had somehow formed of speaking her mind, and refusing to always present a “genteel” face to the world, were enormous flaws.

“No one likes a woman with
opinions
, Katherine Marie.” How many times had her mother said
that
?

And yet the last two weeks had pretty much put paid to that false maxim for good. The women of Lusty—and the men, too—not only
liked
her to have an opinion and share it, they
expected
it of her. She’d spent time over the last fourteen days with not only Sarah and Madeline Benedict, but Amanda Jessop-Kendall and her daughter-in-law Chelsea—who was actually Sarah’s daughter.

She’d looked at photographs and listened as Sarah and Amanda had recounted their first meetings with the men they’d fallen in love with.

She’d read their journals.

Kate stood by the large window in what the Benedicts called the great room, in the “Big House.” She even knew the story of the names bestowed to this home, and the one just a quarter mile away, the “New House.”

This was the house Tyrone Maddox had built as a tribute to his ego and his dynastic aspirations. It was the house Sarah moved into, after that odious man’s death, with her lovers, Caleb and Joshua Benedict.

Months later, after Amanda had captured the hearts of her two lawmen, they’d built a new house, just as large, for their bride.

What an amazing story each of those women could tell!

The sun sat just on the edge of the horizon. Twilight would soon move in, bringing the darkness of night. No clouds marred the sky, so she imagined she’d be treated to another spectacular view of the heavens again tonight.

Rather than facing the front of the house, and the street, this window allowed a view of the open fields, the trees and the grasses, and the gentle undulations of the land—Benedict land, she’d been told—that appeared to stretch out forever.

After two weeks of getting to know several members of this community, she wondered if it wasn’t the land itself that had shaped the people into the strong, independent thinkers and doers they were.

“This particular view has changed so little since I first came here. But the rest—the town itself—has grown so
much
.”

Kate had been lost in her thoughts and hadn’t heard the elderly woman approach. She turned and offered Sarah Benedict a smile. “I can only imagine the sense of satisfaction both you and Amanda must feel to watch as your dream came true before your very eyes.”

“It didn’t feel like that at the time, of course. In the beginning, it was just living—and loving.”

Today the lady was dressed in a gown that touched the floor. Though she had seen the woman wearing what her mother would have called “the best of modern fashion,” clearly Sarah Carmichael Benedict had an affinity for the style of a bygone era.

Kate enjoyed an ease of conversation with all of the women of Lusty. After only two weeks, this small town, sitting on private land, was beginning to feel like home—and these women, like family.

“I’ve often thought how unfair it is that the important moments in life often come upon us, unawares.” She’d learned she could say anything here, and her words, and the thoughts behind them, were treated with respect. “They happen, those moments, and we make choices, and it isn’t until much later we realize that at that point, right there, we changed the course of our lives, forever.”

Sarah ran a hand down her back. Already a familiar caress, Sarah’s touch, as well as Madeline’s gentle grasp of her shoulder let her know she wasn’t alone.

“It has to be that way, Kate,” the older woman said. “Think about it. Things happen and we respond, based only upon what we have known
so far
. We may know the moment is an important one, but to know when we hit those invisible turning points, we would nearly have to know the future.”

“I don’t see what’s so wrong with that.” In fact, knowing the future would suit her just fine right now. Then she would be certain how she should respond to a couple of aviators who were, according to Madeline, due to arrive at any moment, now.

“Oh, Katie! To know the future is to surrender the possibility of surprise, and…and magic. Yes, that is the right word. If you knew your future, there would be no magic for you to discover.”

“I don’t believe in magic.”

“Ah, but you should, because magic is all around us. It’s in a child’s smile, and a loved one’s hug. It’s in the striving, and succeeding, that sense of accomplishment that makes us feel powerful and righteous.” Sarah sighed. “And it’s in a risk taken, on a moonlit night, by a quiet, lovely stream.”

Kate tried not to blush over that last bit. She
had
read the woman’s journal, after all. Despite feeling just a bit uncomfortable thinking of that intimate incident from Sarah’s younger years, she thought she understood what the family matriarch was saying.

Something about the women she’d met in this town—Sarah and Amanda, Madeline and Chelsea and Rose and so many more whose names she couldn’t remember—these women touched her in a way she’d never experienced before.

“Mother, Kate. Dinner’s ready.” The masculine voice sounded…indulgent.

Kate offered her arm to Sarah. Oh, she knew the elderly woman didn’t need help to get anywhere she wanted to be. It just felt good to be connected.

She had trouble telling Sarah’s two sons apart. Both men were tall, white-haired, and ruggedly good looking. Identical twins, they’d spent their lives loving the same woman, raising children together, and ranching and farming the land that had been their birthright.

This Mr. Benedict grinned at her as if he understood she was trying to figure out which one he was. Sarah sighed and shook her head at him—a maternal message he apparently had no trouble interpreting.

“Samuel, you’re as full of teasing as your father ever was.”

“Sorry, Mother. I’ll try to be more serious in my demeanor.”

Kate grinned. “Golly, not on my account. I enjoy your sense of humor, sir.”

Samuel Benedict raised his right eyebrow. Kate could see he was fighting his smile. “Well now, that’s nice to know. I would, however, make one small request of you, Kate.”

“Yes, sir?” Kate found herself in the position of trying to keep her own smile from blossoming.

“Don’t call me sir. Makes me feel old.”

Sarah chuckled. When she reached her son, she patted his arm. “We’re all getting old, my darling. That’s the way of things, isn’t it?”

“I suppose it is—but I don’t have to like it.”

“No, of course you don’t.”

Kate stepped back as Samuel offered his mother his arm, and then followed them into the dining room. This would be the fifth time she’d been the Benedicts’ dinner guest. Her eyes widened when she saw the table and the number of people waiting to take their seats.

Amanda had already been seated at one end of the table. Sarah was seated at the other, and then everyone else settled in.

Kate’s spot was between Sarah and Madeline. She placed her napkin on her lap as her mind scrambled to place names with the animated faces gathered together for the Friday evening meal. Next to Madeline was her husband Charles. Samuel was seated at the other side of Sarah. Kate reckoned that if she wasn’t dining with them tonight, Madeline would be sitting between her husbands—she doubted they were very often separated. On the other side of Charles sat their sister Chelsea, who’d married two of Amanda’s sons, Jeremy, who sat next to his wife, Chelsea, and was the town’s sheriff, and Dalton, who split his time between his law practice and the family farm, and who sat on Amanda’s other side. Next to Dalton was Jacob Benedict, one of Charles and Samuel’s brothers, then his wife, Rose, and her other husband, James—another brother.

The concept of having two husbands is becoming more and more normal to me with each passing day.

She’d dined with just Mattie, Sam, and Charles one night, and she could attest that the love and affection between husbands and wife was a beautiful sight to behold.

The truth was that somehow, these fascinating people made their family structure work. She’d witnessed more affection and respect between husbands and wives this past week than she’d ever believed existed.

Kate wasn’t stupid, neither did she shy away from the hard realities of life. Over the last fourteen days it had been brought home to her the reason she’d been so resistant to her mother’s matchmaking attempts.

She didn’t want to end up in a stilted, uncomfortable marriage like the one that existed between her parents.

But this—this always noisy, often rowdy kind of loving family…now
this
she could get used to.

Katherine Marie, admit the truth, if only to yourself. You want what they have.

She did. Each of these women was a busy, capable woman who held the respect not only of their husbands, but of all the men in the family. Madeline often rode the range with her husbands, and Chelsea helped Dalton in his law practice. Jacob and James ran a textile mill in Waco and with Thomas Kendall and Andrew Jessop, their cousins and Amanda’s other two sons, had a hand in overseeing the families’ oil and mineral interests. Rose worked right alongside them.

These women were wives, and mothers, and had careers, too. They lived
her
ideal life.

Food was passed around, and Kate put some on her plate, but her mind was on those two Benedicts not yet here—the ones who had kissed her on a balmy Washington night and made her body come alive with carnal desire.

For the past two weeks she’d tried to decide how she would deal with the two of them when she saw them again.

They’d set her up. They had shamelessly appealed to their grandmothers to arrange for her to be brought here, as if to be made a sacrificial offering for their prurient appetites. Except…

Kate had spent a great deal of time with Sarah, Madeline, and Amanda after she’d learned of the families’ machinations. The women of Lusty had insisted on a few points of their own—it was
they
who had insisted she be given a rank that, on the face of things, equaled that of the men’s. And they had been very clear that whether or not she allowed Gerald and Patrick to court her was entirely up to her.

They’d assured her that they would think no less of her nor treat her with anything but affectionate respect if she turned her back on those two young men.

Katherine Wesley knew to the very core of her soul that she could trust the word of these women. That wasn’t nearly so shocking to her inner self as the realization that, not only did she really want to see Gerald and Patrick again, she really hoped they’d kiss her again, too.

At the base of everything, she supposed she trusted them as well.

The family chattered away as she’d sat in silence, and she had the sense that they’d understood her need to work things out in her mind, and left her alone with her thoughts.

“I hear a car on the gravel out front.” Sarah lifted her napkin and blotted her lips.

“Their timing, when it comes to food, has always been impeccable,” Charles said.

Kate’s heart tripped as panic filled her. She wasn’t ready to face these two men! She knew she should have been mortified, since their family surrounded her. Yet over such a short period of time she felt as if she fit right in here—not only in Lusty, Texas, but at the Benedict family dining table, too.

Maybe I can just excuse myself and escape out the back door.

Kate felt a surprisingly strong feminine hand grasp hers. “Smile and tough it out, sweetheart. Not only will it knock those two young men off their pins, it’s the Benedict way.”

She looked at Sarah whose light blue eyes reflected not only a fierce determination, but mirth. And looking into that woman’s gaze seemed to ground her. It felt as if the sense of sisterhood she’d somehow never enjoyed before coming here, to this town and this family, filled her now.

This woman might be
their
grandmother, and Kate had no doubt whatsoever that Sarah loved her grandsons without reservation or limits.

But here and now, Sarah Benedict was
her
bulwark and her champion.

Nerves abated and Kate nodded slightly, enough to let Sarah know she would stay and hold her ground. Or in this case, her dinner plate.

“See, what did I tell you? When there are that many cars parked at the Big House, it can only mean a family dinner is underway!”

Patrick’s voice preceded his appearance at the door to the dining room. Full of fun and teasing, it washed over Sarah. Had it really been nearly a month since she’d met—since she’d been
kissed—
by
this man?

It felt like only moments ago.