An urge to pull her close to him and kiss her struck from out of nowhere, but he resisted the urge, especially since she’d just proclaimed herself pleased about his not pursuing a relationship of the romantic kind with her. Instead, he tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, turned her around, and began heading back for her mother’s farmhouse.
As they walked, a comfortable conversation sprang up between them, the kind often shared between friends. But even though he knew they were firmly on a path that could lead to a lasting friendship, he couldn’t help but wonder if friendship was what he truly wanted with Eunice or if he wanted something so much more.
CHAPTER
Twenty-Two
Truth be told, being accompanied to Montana by what amounted to a brigade of armed escorts was going far to alleviate the fear that had been Eunice’s constant companion ever since she’d decided she was going to return home to claim her inheritance.
Ann and Judith had insisted on joining her for the journey, both ladies equipped with dainty derringers hidden in their reticules, the daintiness disguising the danger the pistols were capable of, especially since both ladies had made remarkable progress handling pistols in general.
Cooper was traveling with her as well, and in an official capacity. The Pinkertons had been only too willing to agree to work on her case in conjunction with the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency, knowing that having a hand in solving the murder of a man who’d been one of the wealthiest industrialists in the country would only increase their reputation.
Ivan was, of course, by her side for most of the time they’d spent on the train getting to Montana, going over the list of suspects she’d finally pulled together. He’d taken to reminding her time and again that once they got to Mason Manor, she was never to be without an escort, not that she was keen about going off on herown. Not when someone in Montana could still be biding their time to get rid of her once and for all.
Filling out the people traveling with her were Arthur and his grandfather. Lloyd had been delighted to be included, stating to Eunice that the trip west was exactly what he needed. Apparently, Elsy had the right measure of those widows because they’d banded together, discussed Lloyd and his propensity for squiring more than a few of them around town, and decided they were none too happy with his Casanova behavior.
That Lloyd kept asking her pointed questions about her great-aunt Hazel suggested he hadn’t learned his lesson yet. But since Aunt Hazel was more than capable of looking after herself, Eunice was convinced Lloyd was about to meet his match.
As for Arthur, ever since they’d had their discussion at her mother’s house, he’d been warmer toward her and definitely not as argumentative. They still shared rousing debates, whether it was politics, social issues, or ideas about what should be done with Mason Mines. More often than not, though, their debates ended in laughter, and a laughing Arthur was, concerningly enough, downright irresistible. He definitely posed a distinct danger to her romantic nature and to her adamant decision about not wanting to entertain the thought of marriage to the man.
Not that she would ever change her mind about a marriage of convenience, but if itwasn’ta marriage of convenience, well, that was a completely different...
“I’m so thankful Lloyd was able to procure private Pullman cars for us,” Georgette said, pulling Eunice from her thoughts. “I’d forgotten how lovely traveling in style can be, and it certainly beats how I traveled when I was trekking around Europe.” She returned her attention to the canvas she was working on, pulled a paintbrush from where she’d stuck it in her hair, dabbed it in paint, then dabbed the paint on the canvas.
Eunice abandoned the list of possible suspects she’d been looking over and frowned. “I still find it almost incomprehensible that Grandfather was capable of such cruelty toward you. Yes, I knewhe was a tyrant, but I never thought he was capable of sending you off against your will to Europe.”
“Father was capable of far more than you’ll ever know, dear, but if it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer not to discuss him. I’m ready to relegate him to my past, although I will admit I’m feeling more charitable toward him because of the inheritance. From what Arthur told me, Father redid his will not long before he died. I’ve found myself wondering what compelled him to do that as well as wondering if his decision to change his will might be behind his murder.”
Eunice’s mouth dropped open. “What a brilliant theory, Mother, and one I never considered.” She got to her feet. “I need to share that with everyone else.” She stepped up to her mother’s painting and gave it a long perusal. “Your depiction of Judith is lovely, but I’m a little surprised you’ve opted to paint her face purple. I thought you were going for realism over abstract.”
“It’s puce, dear, not purple, and my painting of her is realistic.”
“You’ve painted my face puce?” Judith asked, looking up from the painting she was working on, a smudge of ivory paint on her cheek.
Georgette smiled. “I thought that by using bright colors, any future flyers of potential suspects or missing people we may make for the inquiry agency will stand out on bulletin boards or lampposts.”
Judith turned the portrait she was painting of Georgette around, one that was a spot-on depiction of Georgette. “And while you may have a point, if you went missing and we posted a flyer made from my painting, there might be a better chance someone would recognize you. The portrait of me, on the other hand, may confuse people because they might take to searching the crowds for a woman with a very unusually colored face.”
Smiling as Georgette and Judith launched into a rousing debate about paint color, Eunice moved through the Pullman car she was sharing with Georgette, Judith, and Ann, and reached for the door. She shivered the second she stepped foot outside as the wind fromthe rapidly moving train swept over her. Hurrying through the door that led to the gentlemen’s private Pullman car, she stopped just inside the doorway, glancing around at the well-appointed car Arthur, Lloyd, Cooper, and Ivan were sharing.
Lloyd was currently dozing in a chaise by the window, while Cooper and Ann were watching Ivan and Arthur circle each other, clearly in the midst of a bout of boxing.
“Who’s winning?” she asked, taking a step forward.
“They’re fairly evenly matched,” Cooper said. “Although I’d probably put my money on Ivan because he recently revealed he was a boxer before he took up the position of your bodyguard.”
“It’s one of the reasons why Grandfather hired him.”
Ivan landed a punch to Arthur’s middle and smiled. “James attended one of my matches and was impressed with my size and left hook.” He settled his smile on Arthur. “That was my left hook, if you didn’t notice.”
Arthur rubbed his stomach, danced his way around Ivan in a manner that suggested he was comfortable in a boxing ring, then threw a punch, his fist glancing off one of Ivan’s arms.
“You weren’t concentrating,” Ivan said. “And while I know you become distracted anytime Eunice is around, distraction has no place during a boxing match.” He stepped back and gestured Eunice forward. “It’s your turn. You can spar with Arthur.”
Given the look of horror that was settling on Arthur’s face, Eunice was relatively certain he wasn’t keen to spar with her. And while she wasn’t exactly surprised by that, she was surprised by Ivan’s distraction comment and couldn’t help but wonder if it was actually true, and if so, what it meant.
Normally, at least within the pages of romance novels, whenever distraction situations arose, they were caused because a gentleman found a specific lady intriguing and also found his thoughts lingering on that lady more than he was willing to admit—which always built up the suspense between the chapters.
