His mother’s whispered aside and his father’s gesture that Seth straighten his hastily donned black evening coat didn’t help to lighten his mood as he and his parents ascended the front steps to his uncle’s house.
He still couldn’t believe that Uncle Caleb had come to find him not long after Seth had returned to the ranch to thank him for saving Kari’s life—thank him!—and also to invite him to the dinner party he was hosting in her honor.
It hadn’t been at all the reception Seth had expected, no blustered, “Where the hell have you been?” or “It took you almost two weeks to ride the fence line?” or more likely, given what his mother had shared with him about his uncle’s livid reaction to the news Kari had been injured, “I told you to protect her and here you nearly got my daughter killed!”
An astonishing welcome, actually, especially from what one of the menservants had disclosed to his friend Lucius about Uncle Caleb hollering drunkenly in Kari’s bedroom, “I’m going to string up that half-breed as soon as he comes back from inspecting the fences!”
Half-breed.
It was all Seth could do not to turn around at the front door and head back to the bunkhouse, and tear off the only three-piece suit he owned, Uncle Caleb’s personal invitation be hanged! Yet what would that burst of anger accomplish? He’d heard his uncle call him a half-breed over the years, but this news from Lucius had grated on him like never before.
Seth knew why, too, waiting his turn as first his mother and then his father were greeted cordially by Uncle Caleb dressed in a formal tailcoat, white waistcoat, and black trousers straight from some fancy men’s clothier in New York City.
The man had disparaged him in front of Kari, and most likely she thought less of him as well, though not a half-breed, it wasn’t her nature. Yet surely no longer a man she could put her faith in after he’d left so abruptly, his disgust at himself fueling his long ride to the furthest reaches of the ranch where she’d never once left his mind.
“You cleaned up nice for the occasion, Seth,” his uncle’s voice jarred into his thoughts, accompanied by Caleb’s firm handshake. “I hope you enjoy the evening. My guest of honor should be down any moment.”
Seth murmured a terse thank you, but he’d already scanned the foyer and adjoining rooms for any sight of Kari to know she wasn’t there. His heart had begun to beat so hard in his chest at the prospect of seeing her again that he had to tell himself firmly to settle down. While his parents went into the parlor to greet Reverend Thomas and his wife, Seth moved off to one side as more guests crowded into the foyer.
“Champagne, Mr. Davis?” asked Manuel, the same manservant who had told Lucius about his uncle’s drunken outburst. Balancing a silver tray loaded with brimming glasses, Manuel offered one to Seth, but he shook his head.
“Whiskey, Manny, and the sooner the better.”
As Manuel nodded and moved away, Seth retreated to the mahogany-paneled wall and stood at an angle that gave him full view of the sweeping staircase.
He wasn’t a drinking man, but right now he wanted some fortification. Especially when he heard a booming laugh at the front door, Big Bill Saunders pumping Caleb’s hand as his plump wife, Gilda, swept into the foyer in a flurry of lavender silk, accompanied by their insufferably arrogant son, George.
If there was any man who’d been more a rival to Caleb Walker in just about everything, it was Big Bill, the two men vying for years to outdo each other in acreage, winning horses, and general accumulation of wealth. By latest measure, Big Bill held a slight edge, but that didn’t mean Caleb had surrendered to the fact, far from it.
His latest acquisition, that high-strung stallion with Arabian blood, was proof enough.
Seth knew his uncle was chafing at the bit to run the animal against Big Bill’s latest stock, and no doubt the two men would be putting their heads together tonight to pick a date for the next race. Meanwhile George, a year younger than Seth and recently returned from traveling abroad, would spend the evening doing his best to impress everyone within earshot of his European adventures, his sophistication—doggone it, including Kari!
Seth’s instincts suddenly screaming that there was more afoot tonight than just a dinner party, he grabbed the glass of whiskey before Manuel could hand it to him and downed the drink in one swallow. Seth grimaced as a fiery path burned its way to his stomach. He thought to order another one when a stunned hush descended over the assembled guests and all eyes turned to the staircase.
Seth did, too, cursing himself for a fool as Kari walked gracefully down the steps, a vision of such stunning beauty that his breath stopped.
Did she see him? He stood so far off to the side that he doubted it, wondering if he imagined a flicker of disappointment on her face just before Uncle Caleb moved to the bottom of the stairs to greet her.
“Everyone, please welcome my lovely daughter, Kari.”
As applause burst out, guests rushing forward to greet her, Seth felt as if he was rooted to the floor—again, berating himself for a fool.
Two weeks ago he had held her in his arms, rocked by the depth of his feelings for her, the emotion in her eyes telling him that she held feelings for him, too.
Yet what had he done? Up and abandoned her, believing she would think the worst of him if he admitted the truth, that the prospect of spiting his uncle had crossed his mind when she’d agreed to their courtship. Now she most likely wanted nothing to do with him, and he had no one to blame but himself.
“Seth, whatever is the matter with you?” came an exasperated whisper, his mother coming up as if out of nowhere to stand beside him. “Kari’s looking for you, can’t you see that? At least go and say hello!”
Seth shook his head, holding his ground no matter that his mother seemed to be right. Kari conversed politely with the people encircling her, though she kept glancing to her right and left.
“I don’t understand you, son. You’ve never allowed whatever Caleb thinks to rile you so before—”
“It’s not what he thinks, but whatshethinks,” Seth broke in, only to have his mother gift him with a sharp glance as if he were six years old.
“How will you know what she thinks or feels, Seth Davis, if you don’t stop this nonsense and go talk to her? Either Kari means something to you or she doesn’t, but you’d better decide quickly! I overheard that ridiculous George Saunders telling his father they could do worse than allying themselves with Caleb through marriage. How does that set with you?”
Seth didn’t wait to hear more, his gut instincts confirmed that this dinner party was more an occasion to parade Kari in front of the Saunders family than to welcome her to Walker Creek. As he plowed through the guests, making his way straight for her, Caleb’s voice rose above the din of conversation.
