“Be careful.” Bena smiled and headed toward Nigel.
People glanced at her but didn’t seem too curious as she tore at the paper. Upon seeing the gift inside, she paused with the lid in her hand. The plan had been for Bena to steal the key, make a clay impression of it, then take whatever she could find in Westie’s room and put it into a box to give to her as a present at the party in order to smuggle Lavina’s stolen key back into the ball, but what was in the box wasn’t anything she owned. It was an actual gift. A dark tunic, supple leather leggings, and a pair of beautiful beaded moccasin boots. They weren’t just any Wintu clothing, they were hunting garb. Westie had been asking Bena for a set of Wintu hunting clothes since she was a young girl, and Bena always said, Not until you’re grown.
Hugging the tunic to her chest, she could smell the undeniable scent of the Wintu: woodsmoke and wild rosemary. It instantly settled her frazzled nerves. She wanted to rip off her ugly dress in exchange for her new clothes. There was a card inside the box. For a true wild thing. Beneath the card was a key. She took it and stuffed it into her cleavage. She looked around the room for Bena and smiled when she saw her dancing with Nigel.
Westie was so caught up in the moment that she forgot about her dance with Cain until he found her.
Because of the plan, she’d known she’d have to dance with the Fairfield men, and thought she’d feel more confident when the time came, but she wasn’t. It felt as though there was an animal trapped inside her stomach, clawing its way out.
Cain led her to the floor, but instead of holding her metal hand, he put both of his hands around her waist. Normally a blatant move like that would have stung, but not now. She didn’t care what Cain thought of her.
“That was quite a scene earlier with you and Miss Johansson,” he said. “I do hope everything is all right.”
He was head and shoulders taller than Westie. Her neck cramped looking up at him.
“It’s nothing. We have spats all the time. I always seem to say the wrong thing.”
“I doubt that very much. I believe you knew exactly what you were saying. In fact, I think you picked your words quite strategically.”
Westie was taken aback by the knowing grin on his lips. “You heard what I said to her?”
“Every word.”
He wasn’t mad. The opposite, in fact. He seemed flattered by it. Perhaps he liked the idea of having the reputation of a wealthy playboy.
“But how?”
He had been nowhere near when she and Isabelle had been talking.
“I have my spies.”
Westie’s gaze floated around the room until she found Olive looking right at her. The precocious girl smiled, then rudely stuck out her tongue.
She’d have to be more careful around that little beast.
Westie hung her head, wondering how she would get herself out of the mess she was in.
He surprised her again by saying, “I know your game.” She braced herself to look at him. “You thought you would try to get close to James, but you know the fortune will soon be in my hands after we invest in Nigel’s machine. That’s why you turned on your own friend, to seek my notice.”
He didn’t know the game after all. She felt more confident when she met his eyes.
“I won’t deny that I have bigger goals in mind than James.” She smiled sweetly.
His smile was less sweet. “I like a girl with ambition.”
She gave him a flirty poke to the chest. “Then you will love me.”
Twenty-Five
After getting through her dance with Cain, Westie was confident she could handle his father. She fished the key from her bodice and clutched it in her hand as she made her way to the Fairfields’ table, where Hubbard and Lavina sipped glasses of wine.
“Lavina, I’m so grateful you could make it to my party,” she said with a practiced smile. Lavina stiffened when Westie bent to hug her. Westie took the opportunity to slip the key back into Lavina’s handbag.
Once released from their embrace, Lavina relaxed and looked genuinely happy about the interaction. She wore a gorgeous blue gown with a floral bustle so large it practically required its own chair.
“It’s we who should be grateful. I’m surprised you would even want us here after the way the boys behaved in the general store,” Lavina said.
Westie shrugged. “Boys will be boys.”
Lavina chuckled at that and seemed to relax.
“I believe it’s time for me to steal your husband away for our dance.”
Lavina looked at Hubbard, then back at Westie, shedding some of the cheerfulness she’d been putting on, replacing it with confusion. “You want to dance with Hubbard?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”