Violet Read online

  And he was an unrepentant Southerner. If she'd had any doubts, his reaction to her would have put them to rest. He hadn't forgotten the war and didn't intend to. Well, that was okay. Neither had she.

  But even as remembering the agony of her brother's lingering death stoked her anger, remembering Mr. Randolph's missing arm cooled it. No one knew better than she what such a loss could do to a man. It was obvious he hadn't learned to accept it. Neither had Jonas, and she had loved and cared for him for ten years. The least she could do was try to be nice to Mr. Randolph for the next few minutes.

  That wouldn't be hard if he would just smile. The man was extremely handsome. His physical similarity to the twins was remarkable. Anyone would have thought he was their father. She had never been attracted to blond men, but it was impossible not to think Mr. Randolph attractive. He was tall with the broadest, most powerful shoulders she could remember seeing. His coat fitted well, but she could see the strain his muscles put on the cut of the garment.

  And his eyes! They were as blue as the sky over Cape Cod on a summer afternoon.

  The door opened and Aurelia and Juliette Randolph exploded into the hall. Actually they walked in more calmly than Violet could remember seeing them move, but that was the effect the twins had on everyone. Violet shuddered to think what they would be like as adults.

  Just now they looked like angels, blond, beautiful, and seemingly as sweet as any children God ever created. It was hard to believe so such deviltry could hide behind two such angelic faces.

  "Beth says Uncle Jeff is here," Aurelia said. At least Violet thought it was Aurelia. She still had trouble telling them apart.

  Juliette made a face. "Do we have to see him?"

  "You can punish us," Aurelia volunteered. "We won't say anything."

  "You haven't earned any punishment, yet."

  "We will," Juliette assured her.

  "You can't expect me to make a bargain like that," Violet said, smiling in spite of herself. "Now stop being silly, and go talk to your uncle."

  "Will you come with us?"

  "I don't think he would like that."

  "He won't like it no matter what you do. Uncle Jeff never likes anything."

  "Mama says he's soured on life," Aurelia explained.

  "Maybe, but he can't be soured on his two beautiful nieces."

  "Uncle Jeff can," Aurelia assured her.

  "Then I suggest you march in there, apologize for causing him to miss his meeting, and promise you won't misbehave again."

  "We can't do that," Aurelia said.

  "Mama said we were never to tell a lie," Juliette explained.

  "Then promise to try to behave. Can you do that?"

  The two children looked at each other. "I suppose so," Juliette said.

  "Now give me your biggest smile."

  The twins grinned from ear to ear.

  "Good. That ought to dazzle him right and proper. Now go on with you."

  "You might as well be sending those children into a bear's den," Beth said when the door closed behind the twins.

  "I'm not moving one step," Violet said. "Let him so much as raise his voice, and he'll have me to deal with."

  "You going to listen at the keyhole?" Beth asked.

  "Mortifying, isn't it, but how else am I going to hear what he says?"

  Chapter Two

  Aurelia and Juliette entered the parlor with hanging heads like puppies expecting to be whipped. Jeff knew it was only an act. They had never been whipped in their lives. They should have been, but he doubted it would do any good to start now. Nor had they ever been head-hanging contrite. They were headstrong, willful, and full of the devil.

  "Hello, Uncle Jeff," Aurelia said.

  "Hello, Uncle Jeff," Juliette echoed. "Where's Aunt Fern?"

  "Home in bed."

  "What's wrong?" Juliette asked.

  "She's sick."

  "Is she going to die?"

  "No. She's just having a baby."

  "Is it going to be another boy?" Aurelia asked, disgust heavy in her voice.

  "I don't know, but considering the trouble you two keep getting into, I hope so."

  The girls looked mulish.

  "I have a good mind to send for your mother."

  "No!" the twins pleaded in unison.

  "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't. I can't take time from work to worry over whether you're doing your assignments or brushing your teeth before going to bed."

  "We wouldn't do anything that stupid," Aurelia said, clearly insulted by his limited imagination.

  "It wouldn't be worth the trouble," Juliette agreed.

  "Just what did you do?"

  "Put ink in Betty Sue's hair," Aurelia said

  "Hide the choir books in the chapel," Juliette added.

  "What else? No, don't tell me. I don't want to know. You can tell your mother when she gets here."

  "Please, don't tell Mama," Aurelia begged.

  "We'll try to do better," Juliette said, clearly uncomfortable at making such a promise.

  "You'd better. That Yankee dragon says you've been so bad the headmistress has put you on probation. If you get kicked out, you'll have to come stay with me until your mother can come get you."

  The girls directed shocked looks toward each other.

  "Either that, or I'll have to take you back to Texas myself."

  Their alarm increased.

  "That will keep me out of the office at least a week. Do you know how much work I won't get done? Maybe I'll send your father a bill. A thousand dollars a day ought to do it."

  "We promise to try to be better," Juliette repeated, more earnestly this time.

  "This trouble is making your Aunt Fern worse," Jeff continued.

  Juliette sniffed. One eloquent tear welled up in her eye and rolled down her cheek. Jeff wasn't fooled. According to their mother, one of the twins' greatest accomplishments was the ability to shed tears any time they wanted.

  "Your father will be shocked," Jeff pressed on, angry the little imps showed no sign of remorse. "Even William Henry hasn't gotten into this much trouble."

  Aurelia's lower lip quivered. "I hate him."

  "I don't want to think what your mother will say," Jeff continued, even while losing hope the twins would ever feel truly contrite. "She wanted you to learn to act like young ladies, not hoydens on horseback."

  Aurelia was crying now.

  "How is she going to feel when she learns you've been so bad the school has put you on probation?"

  "We'll be better," Juliette pleaded. "We will."

  Both girls were crying openly now, but their false tears only served to make Jeff madder.

  "That's what you told your Aunt Fern. But you lied to her, didn't you? Are you lying to me? Are you going to keep raising hell until they kick you out? It would serve you right if I took my belt to you right now."

  A clipped, hard voice caught Jeff's attention. "I think it's time the girls return to their studies."

  Jeff looked up, startled to see Miss Goodwin had re-entered the room. He hadn't heard her. He could see an angry sparkle in her eyes as she placed herself between him and the girls. She acted like she thought he was going to beat them right there in front of her. That angered him.

  She handed each girl a handkerchief. "Here, dry your eyes. We don't want the other girls thinking your uncle has been unkind."

  "I was trying to make them understand the consequences of their behavior," Jeff said, aware of how weak his explanation sounded.

  "Now that you have, I'm certain they'll keep them in mind," she said. "Thank your uncle for coming, girls," she said as she shepherded them toward the door.

  "Thank you," Aurelia said.

  "Thank you," Juliette echoed. "Tell Aunt Fern I hope she feels better."

  "I don't mind if she has another boy," Aurelia added.

  Miss Goodwin closed the door behind the girls and turned around, her blazing gaze boring into Jeff. "I see no excuse for treating children as
you just did. Considering they're your own flesh and blood, I find it incomprehensible."

  Jeff was furious at being caught by the twins' trick. He hadn't wanted to come, but he had. Then to be treated like this. And by a Yankee female at that! It wouldn't do any good to tell her they were only pretending to cry. She wouldn't believe him. After seeing their tear-stained, angelic faces, he doubted anybody would.

  "I wasn't really going to beat them," he said, righteous anger throbbing in his voice.

  "Maybe not, but a threat is just as unacceptable."

  "What did you expect me to do, pat them on the head, tell them I understand, and go away again? If so, you can get somebody else. I won't waste my time."

  "What makes your time so valuable?"

  An alarm went off in Jeff's brain. Every time females found out he was president of the biggest bank in Denver, they started to fawn over him. He'd been hunted by enough women to populate a small city. And not all of them unmarried. Some even pretended not to notice he was missing an arm. He especially hated that. It was so false. Nobody could love a cripple.

  "That's none of your business," Jeff replied, aware he was being rude. If he could make her angry, maybe she wouldn't bother him again.

  She didn't appear shocked by his behavior this time.

  "I didn't mean to seem nosy. But you mentioned the value of your time so often it piqued my curiosity."

  "Confine your curiosity to finding a way to teach my nieces to behave. That's the least my brother can expect in exchange for the enormous tuition he's paying."

  "This school is paid to educate young ladies, not--"

  "An equally important part of their purpose is to help form their character. It's in the school charter. That's why my brother sent the twins here."

  She faced him squarely, her gaze sliding neither to the right nor to the left.

  "Mr. Randolph, that's the second time you've accused me of incompetence. Is that how you normally deal with people when they don't come up to your expectations?"

  Jeff was boiling mad, but he couldn't, in all honesty, call her incompetent. Nobody could control those girls. Damn the woman! She looked like he had hurt her feelings. He didn't care if he made her mad, but he didn't want to hurt her. He didn't act much like a gentleman anymore, but he knew it was wrong to take his anger out on a female, even if she was a Yankee.

  "I know it's not easy dealing with the twins, but that's what my brother wanted when he sent them here. It still is. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go." It wasn't exactly an apology, but it was all he could manage.

  "But I haven't finished."

  Jeff paused in the act of turning away. "What more can there be?"

  "The girls will be on probation for two weeks. If there are no further infractions during that time, the probation will end."

  "And if they get into trouble again?"

  "It will depend on the nature of the trouble. If it's something minor, I can ignore it or recommend their probation be extended."

  "And if it's something major?"

  "I will be forced to recommend they be dismissed. It will be necessary for you to return in two weeks to review the situation."

  "Come back again just to be told the brats are behaving? I won't do anything so stupid." He noticed her look of surprise at his reaction.

  "You may speak to Miss Settle if you like."

  "What for? All they did was put some ink in a girl's hair and hide a few hymn books."

  "They poured ink over the head of a daughter of a board member. Black India ink. Permanent ink. The child was very proud of her blond hair. We've had to cut at least a foot of it off. She wouldn't come out of her room for a day. She still cries whenever anyone mentions it. As for the hymn books, they hid those just before the bishop came to dedicate the chapel. Everyone was forced to stand silent while the organist played the hymns."

  Jeff decided he wasn't ready to deal with two children willing to attack society from its foundations up. "Their aunt will be well by then. I'll let her decide what to do. Do you have any more orders for me?"

  "I don't think anything more need be said at the moment. I'll inform you if anything happens during the two weeks."

  "Good. I bid you good day."

  Jeff turned and walked out the door without acknowledging her parting nod. It infuriated him that this female could -- and would, it seemed, if they didn't behave -- recommend his nieces' dismissal from school. That she was a Yankee only made the bile more bitter.

  What did Miss Settle mean by hiring such a person? They shouldn't have a woman like her teaching young girls. What could she know about turning them into ladies? Not much when she dressed in a style guaranteed to turn every head in the room. A lady was quiet, decorous, submissive. She didn't drawn attention to her person or her opinions.

  Miss Goodwin fitted none of those criteria. The sooner she went back to Massachusetts, the better.

  * * * * *

  "That has got to be the rudest man I've met in my entire life," Violet fumed to Beth.

  "What he needs is a wife," Beth said as she set about tidying the parlor after Jeff had rearranged half its contents. "A good woman would straighten him out in no time."

  "He'd probably put her in restraints if she tried. How do you know he's not married?"

  "No wedding ring. Besides, he acts like a man who's used to having everything his way. You know that's no husband."

  Both women laughed. Violet moved to the window. She watched Mr. Randolph as he walked down the flagstone path toward the street. Once again she was aware of the empty left sleeve. She watched him tuck it into his pocket to keep it from flapping about in the brisk autumn wind, felt some of her anger fade.

  After watching her brother refuse to live after the war had so savagely mangled his beautiful young body, she could imagine some of what Mr. Randolph had suffered over the years. It didn't excuse his behavior, but it made it more understandable, more forgivable.

  "He doesn't understand children," Violet said. "He has no more business being responsible for the twins than I have being the mayor of Denver."

  "He says he's a banker."

  She doubted that. He didn't act like a banker. More likely his family owned stock in the bank where he worked. They might even own the bank outright, but surely they wouldn't let anybody that rude near customers. Most likely he worked in an office somewhere in the attics. They might even have created a job to give him something to do. That could account for some of his ill temper. No one liked having to take charity, not even from one's own family.

  Mr. Randolph reached the street and started walking toward town. She knew it. If he'd been as important as he acted, he'd have had a carriage waiting.

  Violet gave herself a mental shake and turned away from the window. "I'd better see how the twins are. They were pretty upset when they left."

  "Those two," Beth said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I wouldn't be surprised if their uncle made them so mad they're fixing to do something terrible."

  "I hadn't thought about that," Violet said, hurrying from the parlor.

  She was relieved a few minutes later to find the girls in their room, sitting on Aurelia's bed, their arms around each other. Violet noticed no sign of the tears that had flowed so copiously moments earlier. She began to wonder just how genuine they had been.

  "He's going to send for Mama," Juliette explained when Violet asked the reason for their subdued mood.

  "Daddy will come, too," Aurelia said. "He never lets Mama go anywhere by herself."

  "Mama doesn't understand why we can't be more like Elizabeth and William Henry."

  "If Jordy and Adam were our brothers, nobody would ever pay us any attention."

  "Jordy is awful," Juliette explained. "Uncle Hen said he's going to shoot him like a coyote."

  "You're joking," Violet said.

  "Aunt Laurel told Mama she was going to nail his hide up to dry."

  Violet began to wonder just what kind of people these Randolphs w
ere. Her family had been gentle and loving. Her father never recovered from the shock of his wife's death. The spark of life within her brother had been too delicate to survive coming home from the war an invalid. Even her mother, the linchpin of the family while she lived, had weakened and died under the strain of nursing wounded prisoners.

  "I wish Uncle Monty were our father," Aurelia said. "He wouldn't care what we did."

  "How many uncles to you have?" Violet asked, losing count.

  "Six. And seven cousins."

  "All boys."

  Violet began to understand a little better. With so many men around, it was no wonder the girls didn't know how to behave. And with that many brothers, all apparently active and healthy, no wonder Jeff Randolph brooded over his disability. Her brother had been sweet and appreciative to the end, but then he didn't have Jeff's strength of character, his apparent willingness to attack anything that stood in his path. She could have endured anger, even verbal abuse, if Jonas had only been a fighter. Jeff was as surly as a Vermont farmer with nothing but daughters, but he wouldn't give up. Violet had to respect him for that, even admire him.

  But she didn't have to like him.

  * * * * *

  "Your nieces are terrorizing the entire school," Jeff told Fern. "Nobody's safe, not even the bishop."

  "They're your nieces, too."

  "No, they're not. I've disowned them. I'm not going back to that school or dealing with that Yankee female."

  "Her name is Miss Goodwin."

  "I don't care what she calls herself. She's a Yankee with an exaggerated opinion of her own importance."

  "I still can't get up."

  "You might not have to bother. I've sent for Rose."

  Fern realized things were indeed serious. Despite the passage of fourteen years, Jeff had never forgiven Rose for being the daughter of a Union officer. Not that it bothered Rose. She was always ready to let Jeff know exactly what she thought of his behavior and attitude.

  "When are they coming?"

  "Probably not until after George finishes selling this year's steers. He always insists upon holding them back until he can get top dollar. With our four ranches, that's never easy."