Cherished by Jill Gregory Page B

her.
    When the Virginia reel ended, Juliana found
herself breathless. Before she could even thank her partner, she
was confronted by a lanky young cowboy with red hair and twinkling
blue eyes that shone at her from beneath a dark gray Stetson.
“Ma’am,” he said, elbowing aside the cowboy she’d been dancing
with, “would you do me the honor of accepting this glass of
lemonade? You’ve been dancing so hard all night, I reckon you must
be plumb tuckered out, not to mention thirstier than a hoss in the
desert.”
    Juliana laughed. “How could I resist such a
pretty offer?” she gasped, putting a hand to her thudding heart. “I
accept the lemonade, if you’ll join me, Mister ...”
    “Keedy, ma’am, Gil Keedy.” Taking a sip from
his own glass, he studied her over the rim, while all about them in
the parlour, ranchers, cowhands, women in all manner of gingham and
calico and townsmen in stiff collars and dark suits chattered and
drank and jostled about the festively lit room.
    Juliana, a vision in her lavender silk gown,
liked Gil Keedy immediately. Her smile grew when he said: “Miss
Montgomery, ma’am, I’ve been workin’ for Mr. Breen here at Twin
Oaks nearly a year now, and I’ve got to say, gals pretty as you out
in these parts are rarer than gold in a snake pit. This sure is my
lucky day.”
    His low-key, comical Texas drawl made her
eyes dance. “Your lucky day? Really? Now why is that Mr.
Keedy?”
    “Gil, ma’am, I have to insist on Gil,” he
said gravely. He set his glass down on a table and took her hand in
his, holding it with a light touch. “A hunch told me to come to
this dance and darned if now I don’t know why. Meetin’ you, that’s
why. You’re my destiny, ma’am. There ain’t no doubt about it.” He
loosened the bright plaid neckerchief knotted about his neck and
grinned at her in sheer boyish appreciation. “Tell me all about
yourself, Miss Montgomery, quick—before some bowlegged, ugly old
cowpoke comes along to steal you away.”
    “Oh, I’d much rather hear about you,” she
said teasingly. “Do you enjoy working at Twin Oaks?”
    For a moment there was a tightening of his
amiable freckled face, then it disappeared as quickly as it had
come. “Why, shore, it has its moments. But never you mind about me.
My story’s a dull one. I’m just a kid from Waco who likes to punch
cows and tell tall tales—and who spends a hell of a lot of
nights—beg pardon, ma’am —dreamin’ about a purty gal with spun gold
hair and green eyes who’ll hold the hand of a pore redhaided
cowpoke and mebbe fall in love with him.”
    “Gil,” she admonished, her face filled with
laughter, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were flirting
with me.”
    “Wal, ma’am, I can’t deny I’m sorely
tempted.” He inched closer and regarded her with open admiration.
“Tell me why a beautiful young lady like yourself ain’t been
hitched already to some lucky hombre and got herself a passel of
kids? Those fellows back in Missouri must be plumb loco to have let
you git away.”
    “Gil, are you trying to tell me I’m on the
shelf?” Juliana exclaimed with mock indignation.
    “You’re sure no old maid or nothin’, but if
you’d growed up in these parts, you’d have been standin’ before the
preacher the day you turned sixteen—and half the men in the county
would’ve been shootin’ each other for the honor of standin’ beside
you.”
    “Did they teach you how to flirt in Waco, Mr.
Keedy, or do you just come by it naturally?”
    “Naturally, I reckon—when I’m with a sweet
and purty little gal.”
    She couldn’t help but smile, yet when she had
set her glass down on a small table nearby she turned back to him
with a more pensive glance. Maybe she could trust this likable
cowboy to help her begin her search. She had wanted to start her
inquiries about Wade and Tommy immediately, so why not begin with
Gil Keedy? Something, told her he would do his best to