He edged into the room but remained near his escape route. “I know I hurt you.”
“No, I would have to care for you in order for you to hurt me.” She lowered her voice to a whisper so the servants wouldn’t overhear. “We’ve made an arrangement. Let’s move forward.”
Ed appeared in the mirror behind her, his shoulders slumped, but his gaze studied her and the fabric around her hips. Grace had spoken the truth. The man did look different. Although, broken wouldn’t be the word Cora would use. Humbled, perhaps? But when would the great Ed Neal ever feel humble? “Come to dinner. You can tell me about your plans for the event, and I’ll help secure all the supplies you need.”
Plan? She didn’t have one. Not really. “I’ll handle it. I should earn my room and board.”
Ed’s humility vaporized and his temper appeared. “You’re being stubborn. I’m not asking you to earn anything.”
Cora unwrapped herself, brushed past Ed, and set the fabric on the bed. She realized they were unchaperoned in her bedroom. Her pulse quickened. What would the servants think? “I’m not being stubborn. I’m being practical. It’s obvious that money means everything to you, and at the moment, you don’t have any to waste. Perhaps I should move down to the servants’ quarters.” She eyed the door to make sure there were no lurkers nearby.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Am I? I’m not here as your fiancée. I’m here as a pawn.”
“Shh. They’ll overhear,” Ed warned, his gaze snapping to the door and back.
She lowered her voice. “I’m a woman with no rights and no prospects. My only job is to put on a party, and that’s what I’m going to do. But you’re right. I’m being ridiculous.”
Ed opened his mouth but then shut it.
“Because if someone caught word that I wasn’t your betrothed, you would lose your precious investors. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to work.”
“You paint me as evil, but I’m not. Without those investors, we’re all ruined, including you,” Ed said in a commanding, low tone but then grabbed the hair on his head and paced in a circle before halting across the bed from her. “You’re the most frustrating, unreasonable woman I’ve ever met. I remember now why I’ve avoided my own kind. Because Irish women are ill-tempered and bossy,” he said with his accent thick and obvious.
She pressed her palms to the bed and leaned in to make her point. “I might be Irish, but I’m also southern, and I can tell you, at least where I grew up, the men were honest and soft-spoken to a lady. Not like the rich and ridiculous men of San Francisco.”
He sank his fists into the mattress and took her on nose-to-nose, stealing the air from her lungs, but she refused to back away. “If you hate it so much here, maybe you should return to Georgia.”
“Maybe I should.”
“I’ll walk you to the ship the minute the party’s over.”
“I’ll be packed before it even starts.” She ripped open the package, and lace tumbled free.
Ed shoved from the bed and marched like an angry soldier with bloodlust on his heart out the door before slamming it shut.
Cora wanted to scream and yell and throw things. She’d prided herself all these years on being the reasonable sister, the nurturer, the one who cared for everyone, but right now she did have a temper. For some reason, this man brought the worst behavior out in her. If Abigail saw her, she’d be shocked. If Dinah saw her, she’d applaud. If Ma saw her, she’d faint.
Her sisters and mother weren’t with her anymore. The ways of her childhood lost. Life wouldn’t return to how it was before the war, and that meant Cora couldn’t be the same person.
The anger Ed carried around with him had seeped into her soul. No, she’d been facing all of this wrong. Marriage and family was what she had come to find, but now, standing in this room, Cora knew she couldn’t cling to that notion any longer. She would see this through with Ed, but then maybe she’d return back east. Not to her childhood home, but to New York City. Mary had invited her if she wanted to return.
Cora eyed the daring crimson fabric and the book resting mockingly on the bed, and a plan formed in her head. She wouldn’t try to stay in the confines of society and plan a party like all the others. She’d plan something memorable and different.
The sounds of the city below drew her to the window. San Francisco was an eclectic, lively place, unlike the world she’d been born into. Instead of trying to follow the prim and proper etiquette in a book or the ways of the past, she needed to embrace the town and all its differing cultures and sights and sounds.
Cora grabbed the crimson fabric and held it up to her body. If Ed thought her a bossy Irish girl, she’d become what he saw.
A soft knock sounded, and the door opened to Grace carrying a tray. Her hands shook at the sight of Cora and the fabric. “That is something, Miss McKinnie. You will be noticed by all.”
Cora turned to the mirror. “That’s exactly what I want. Would you mind keeping this between us for now?”
“Yes, miss. I won’t be the one to tell Mr. Neal about this. No, I won’t.” Grace set the tray on the desk.
“One more thing. Can you send a message to Ghost? I need to speak with him in the morning.”
“Yes. I’ll come back to collect the tray.” Grace about-faced and raced from the room, leaving Cora to work on her dress.
