Fairest in the West- Chapter Ten:

The first thing Dalton noticed as he stepping into the White’s ranch house was how many looking glasses there were.

They all but lined the walls in what Dalton considered an overly showy display of opulence. Owning one looking glass was enough to display wealth- only those with money could afford one. But here, there were dozens and dozens.

Delilah White looked at her reflection in each one as she passed, making eye contact with herself and offering a pleased little smile each time. They reached the parlor and she asked him to sit, offering him a cup of tea or some refreshment.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said. “But I’m just here to speak with your husband and then I’ll be on my way. My ranch and my boys need me back tonight.”

Standing there he saw what other men found so attractive. Her smooth skin, her shimmering locks, her delicate curves, her sweet scent. She was unmarred by the harshness of frontier living and that was so impossible to find out here that seeing it up close was a bit intoxicating.

But she had also not asked after her stepdaughter once since he had stated that was his purpose in being here, hadn’t expressed worry or concern or even relief at the news of her safety. And even her beauty couldn’t make up for how much that rubbed him the wrong way. She was the girl’s stepmother, after all, she really ought to be worrying after her. Especially given that the girl wasn’t completely right in the head.

“Of course,” she said, offering him a coquettish smile. “Mr. White’s out at the moment but I’m sure he’ll be back any time now. Are you sure I can’t offer you something to drink?”

He really wanted to talk to Henry White himself. He wanted to assure the man that nothing improper had happened and also discuss with him the best course of action to take in getting the girl home again.

But he also didn’t want to sit here and wait for the man, not with the way Mrs. White was looking at him.

He sidestepped his way around her, moving back to the entryway and the door through which he had entered. “Thank you kindly, ma’am, but I think I’ll pass. Perhaps I might take a look around the property while I wait for your husband to return?”

He didn’t actually wait for an answer but moved to do just that, stepping outside and leaving the woman behind him.

Perhaps Snow was onto something after all, being afraid of the woman the way she was.

He put the thought from his mind- it was a frivolous, joking thought anyway- and made his way to the barn.

The interior was cool, even more so than the air outside after the August storm they’d had the night before. He really ought to be home cleaning up the debris it had left behind. He really ought to not be here dealing with problems that shouldn’t be his.

He moved to a hay bale and took a seat, since he didn’t actually have any desire to look around. It was a nice barn- Henry White was a well-off man and the place showed it. Even with seven extra pairs of hands Dalton’s barn would never look this spotless. Of course, his hands were significantly younger and less professional than White’s.

He leaned back, closing his eyes for some much-needed rest after the events of the day and trying to share one small hotel room with seven boys the night before. He wanted to be home, couldn’t wait for it. To be home and in his own bed once more.

An image popped into his head of Snow in his bed, as they had discovered her that morning. If she stayed he couldn’t kick her out of it- it would hardly be the gentlemanly thing to do. Which meant that if she stayed he wouldn’t be sleeping in his bed any time soon.

He really needed her father to come home so that he could talk the man into taking his daughter back, out of his life, before she disrupted it any more than she already had. He already knew it would take time for the boys to get over having her taken from them; it would probably be weeks before they stopped holding their grudges.

But he was prepared to deal with it, if it meant getting his life back to normal. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the girl- she seemed nice enough- he just knew there was no room for her in their lives and it was better to put an end to it now before even more damage was done.

Of course he couldn’t deal with anything until her pa came home and so he got comfortable on the hay bale, settling in to wait for the man’s return.