Courting Susannah by Linda Lael Miller

forward in his chair. “By God, Hollister, it had better not get
too
pleasant.”
    The Pinkerton man laughed and slid a stack of chips into the center of the table. “Taken with her, are you? Now, that’s interesting.Though not surprising, I must admit. Ante up, or lay down your cards.”
    Aubrey tossed yet another worthless hand onto the table, galled. “I am not ’taken’ with anyone,” he said. “I merely want toknow whether or not Susannah McKittrick is a fit guardian for the child.”
    â€œWhy don’t you use the child’s name?” Hollister asked mildly. “Or do you begrudge the poor little creature even that much?”
    There was an ominous pause, during which Aubrey felt both fury and shame. While it was true that he had closed himself offfrom Julia’s daughter—indeed, he had not dared to open his heart—there was very littlehe would have denied her. Wasn’t she the whole reason he was putting up with Susannah McKittrick and all her interference?Why, if it wasn’t for that woman, his arrangement with Delphinia might not have turned sour quite so soon.
    â€œThe child is well looked after,” he said at great length. “You needn’t concern yourself with her well-being.”
    Hollister cleared his throat, then leaned forward and scooped up a considerable pile of poker chips. He had lit a cigar, andit was clamped between his teeth as he pondered his winnings. “What, precisely, am I supposed to tell Miss McKittrick aboutmyself? She’s bound to ask how I earn my living, for instance, and I’m not comfortable with lying to her.”
    â€œTell her as little as possible,” Aubrey warned. There was a stir at the other end of the room, and he saw with a pang ofirritation that Ethan had just come in.
    â€œShe’s a proper female, our Susannah, and none too experienced in the ways of men and women,” Hollister observed, followingAubrey’s gaze across the span of crowded card tables to Ethan, who was now moving toward them. “She’ll want to know my history.”
    It figured that after the scene with Delphinia at the store and heavy losses at cards, he would have to deal with his youngerbrother, too. Some days, it just didn’t pay to put on pants and leave the house.
    Ethan stood tableside, easy in his skin. “Losing, I hope?” he asked with an amicable smile.
    Hollister finished gathering his chips. “Hullo, Ethan,” he said. “My sister Ruby is home from school. Why don’t you stop inand say howdy?”
    Ethan grinned. “How is little Ruby?” he asked.
    Hollister grinned back. “Not so little,” he said. “What was she the last time you saw her, thirteen or so?”
    Ethan nodded, held one hand roughly at the heightof a sawhorse. “She was about that tall,” he said. “All eyeballs, knees, and freckles.”
    Hollister laughed. “Times change,” he said. Then he spared a nod of farewell for Aubrey, got up, and left, trailing cigarsmoke as he walked away. Ethan swung one leg over the back of a chair and sat down, reaching for the scattered cards and deftlyshuffling them. He had spent more than his share of time in saloons and gambling halls, although he was not yet thirty yearsold.
    â€œWhat do you want?” Aubrey asked bluntly. No sense in pretending brotherly affection when he didn’t feel any.
    Ethan dealt, arranged his hand, and pondered the cards therein before replying. “An answer,” he said, meeting Aubrey’s gazesquarely. “You like straight talk, brother, so here it is. It’s all over Seattle that you and Delphinia have split the sheets.I guess what I want to know is, precisely what do you have in mind for Susannah?”
    Aubrey sorted his own cards and tossed a chip into the pot, for all that his luck seemed to be worthless that night. Wheneverhe and Ethan tried to talk—and the effort