Lisa Kleypas: Give Me Tonight

Skeleton hoops, with a ladder of tapes up the front. A corset, and a cover that extended far over the hips, to which a short underskirt was fastened. It was inconceivable that a woman's body could endure being bound and compressed for so long. There were stays made of bone or metal, or something equally as painful, stitched into the tight corset. It had made deep red marks on her skin. Could she manage to get into any of these clothes without first squeezing herself in that contraption? It was doubtful.

The plainest dress she could find was a pink-and-white-striped batiste trimmed with clusters of ribbon loops. It took several minutes of trial and error to get dressed. Surveying herself down to her kid shoes, fastened at the sides with straps and buttons, and finished with bows on the toes, she grimaced at the picture she made.

When she finally appeared downstairs, Addie was relieved to discover only Caroline and May were having breakfast. They were both prim and proper in highnecked cambric dresses similar to hers. Evidently a crowd had just left, and a maid was clearing the dirty dishes from the empty places at the table.

"Good morning, Caroline," she said hesitantly. "Glad to see you slept late. Looks like the extra rest did you a lot of good. "

Addie glanced at the clock on the wall. Slept late? It was only seven o'clock. "I appreciated the extra sleep," she said slowly, and looked at the other woman seated at the table. " 'Morning, May."

"May?" the older woman repeated with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "When did you decide to start callin' me by my first name? Only your father does that, Adeline." She looked down at the toast she was buttering daintily, her brows knitting together in a slight frown. "Ever since you got home from the young ladies' academy, you've had some odd notions."

"I'm sorry." Addie was immediately flustered. "M-Mother."

"Poor Addie," Caroline said gently, giving her a smile and patting the chair next to her. "Come sit by me. You've just got a case of the fidgets, that's all. You're like this every spring."

"Just wait until you get married and have children, Adeline," May said. "You'll be too tired to have the fidgets."

Addie went around the long table and sat next to Caroline, feeling an odd tingle as she noticed the pregnant swell of Caroline's stomach.

"H-how are you feeling?"

"Much better, Adeline. It's real sweet of you to ask. I'm not having problems keeping my food down anymore." Caroline smiled and patted her stomach. "I know Peter wants a boy this time, but I just have a feelin' it's going to be another girl. That'll be fine for Leah. I think she'll like having a sister."

I met you once before, when I was a little girl and you were an old woman, Addie wanted to blurt out. You're my grandmother. And that baby you're carrying is my mother. She could hardly keep her eyes off Caroline, and she stared until the other woman frowned curiously.

"Somethin' the matter?"

"I… No. I just wanted to know what… what you're going to name the baby."

"I'm not sure," Caroline said thoughtfully. "Somethin' from the Bible. I like Bible names. If it's a boy, David. If it's a girl, Rachel. Maybe Ruth."

Rachel or Ruth. But her mother's name had been Sarah. Addie chewed her lip pensively and listened to Caroline and May talk about other possible names until breakfast arrived. Her stomach turned at the sight before her. Ham, fried potatoes, fried eggs, and hotcakes topped with a lump of melting butter. She'd never seen such an overloaded plate, except for the one she had been served the night before. Could it be that they ate like this all the time? She and Leah had found it difficult to keep their tiny kitchen stocked with basics like butter, sugar, eggs, and coffee. They had eaten meagerly. They had saved the scraps.

"I can't eat all this."

"Ain't no more than you usually have, Miss Adeline," the maid remarked matter-of-factly, and set down a pitcher of corn syrup beside Addie's plate.

"I'd rather have black coffee."

"You need to have somethin' in your stomach," May said. "You're going to the Double Bar this mornin' to go riding with Jeff Johnson, aren't you?"

Who was Jeff Johnson? Addie frowned slightly.

Something Leah had once told her about Adeline Warner ran through her mind. The men went crazy for her. And 0l' Man Johnson-when he was young, he lost his head over her. …

0l' Man Johnson had been fat, unkempt, and very rich. Could that be the same Johnson they were talking about now?

"I don't remember making any plans to see him," Addie said uncomfortably. "I don't feel like going anywhere. I don't think he'd mind, do you? I don't feel well this morning, at least not well enough to go riding with anyone-"

"You told me yesterday you had promised him," May said, and although her voice was soft, there was no mistaking the unyielding note in it. "A lady doesn't go back on her promises, Adeline, and it's not right to change your mind this late. And you know you'll have a good time once you're with him, sugar."

"You and Daddy are just hoping a romance will start up between 'em," Caroline said, laughing.

"I happen to think Jeff might make a good husband.

His mother is a well-bred woman who raised him to be a gentleman-"

"And Daddy likes the thought of a daughter of his married to the man who'll inherit the Double Bar someday."

"That may be," May admitted. "But all the same, Adeline promised him, and she's got to start honoring her promises."

"Did I really tell him yes, or did I just say I would consider his invitation?" Addie asked desperately, hoping to find some way, any way, out of the coming disaster. She was a terrible rider, close to incompetent.

"You jumped all over his invitation," Caroline said dryly. "And talked about it all yesterday mornin' until you went to town."

"I've been feeling differently about things since then."

"No more arguing about it." May was determined to be firm. "You'll leave as soon as you can change into your riding clothes and get Diaz to escort you to the Double Bar. That man ought to be good for somethin' around here besides sitting on the porch and tellin' stories."

"She could ride over with Ben," Caroline suggested. "I heard Ben say he had some business over there he was going to take care of this mornin'. I don't think he's left yet."

"No!" Addie felt herself turn pale. "No, I can't do that. I'm not going with him. "

"Don't be difficult, sugar," May coaxed. "I know you aren't partial to him, but-"

"I don't know why she dislikes him so much." Caroline rolled her eyes and grinned. "If I ever saw a man worth chasin', it's Ben. With that black hair and those green eyes-and those shoulders-why, I dare you to find a thing wrong with him."

Addie was left speechless. There was nothing wrong with Ben, unless you considered strangling someone with a guitar string a small character flaw.

"Adeline has no need to chase after a ranch foreman," May said, giving Caroline a stern glance. "She's going to marry just as well as you have, Caro, and that means someone with better prospects than Ben."

"Ben's got an education," Caroline pointed out mildly, immediately rebuffed. "And he works hard, from can-see to can't-see. And everyone likes him-"

"Where did he get his education?" Addie interrupted.

"He's never said exactly where, but I suspect-"

"That's enough talking about Ben," May said shortly. "You know better than to encourage your sister in that direction, Caro. Ben's young, but he's a seasoned loner. Men like him constantly have to sleep on new ground. A cowhand's just a nomad, and nothin' can change that. "

"Daddy seems to think he's settled here for a while," Caroline pointed out.

"Your father and I don't always agree on such things. Now Adeline, if you're not going to eat, then run up to change."