Territorial Bride

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“If this invitation had come from anybody but Ellen, I swear I’d take off this damn coat and go to the office to get some work done,” he threatened.

“So don’t go. I am not looking forward to your chuckles and smirks, anyway. I am sure she will understand.”

“Oh no. You can’t get rid of me so easily, brother dear. I have a feeling there is more to this little party than meets the eye. Mother has been positively closemouthed…and I have not heard from Clair since we returned from Bellami’s wedding. Silence among the James women is never a good sign, and then, of course, there was that conversation with good ol’ Cyril. The pot is simmering.”

Brooks opened his mouth to deny Rod’s suspicions, but snapped it shut again. Something was going on, and he had the uneasy feeling that Missy O’Bannion would end up right in the middle of it. Missy and debonair Cyril Dover.

Across town at Leland James’s mansion, Missy sat worrying her bottom lip with her front teeth.

“Stop that.” Ellen’s reprimand brought immediate composure to her face. “Now come sit down so I can finish your hair.”

“I’m so consarn—” Missy quickly amended her speech. “I mean, I am terribly nervous, Ellen.” She sat down in front of the French-style vanity and watched Ellen’s reflection in the mirror.

“You’ll do fine.” Ellen sighed heavily. “You have learned a great deal these past few weeks.”

“Thanks to you and Cyril. Are you feeling all right?” Missy frowned. There seemed to be even less color in Ellen’s already porcelain complexion.

“Don’t fuss—you sound like Papa. Of course I am all right. Cyril has been a dear, hasn’t he?” Missy tried to turn around and look at Ellen directly, but a sharp tug on her hair kept her in place. “Be still,” Ellen said as she fastened and looped long strands. “And remember, Missy is gone…you are a different woman with a different name.” Ellen braided a tiny length of pearls and a spray of small white flowers into the side of her hair to frame her face.

“I do feel like a different person. If I can just remember to answer when I’m called.” Her laughter was brittle with tension.

Ellen stepped back and assessed her handiwork. “Now you are all ready. Go to the gazebo in the backyard, but don’t let anyone see you until I introduce Miss Marisa O’Bannion to my guests. Cyril knows what to do once he arrives.”

Missy’s mouth went dry as a sun-baked arroyo. “Do you really think Br—everyone will notice the change in me?”

Ellen paused at the bedroom door. “Everyone would have to be stone-cold dead not to notice the change in you. Missy is gone. Don’t even think of yourself as Missy anymore. You are Marisa O’Bannion and you are every inch a proper lady.”

Three downstairs maids efficiently directed the new arrivals to the back garden, creating a steady stream of traffic through the house. The fragrance of roses wafted through the open French doors on a rain-freshened spring breeze.

Small tables set with crisp white linen and a crystal vase holding a single pink rosebud had been strategically placed among the flowering shrubs and sweet-smelling vines.

From her perch within the gazebo, Marisa took in the magnificent, romantic garden. She peered out from among the blooms surrounding the gazebo and studied each new. arrival with excitement and dread. “Marisa O’Bannion—my name is Marisa O’Bannion,” she chanted over and over under her breath.