Heidi Vanlandingham - Lucie: Bride of Tennessee (American Mail-Order Bride 16) by Heidi Vanlandingham Page B

sunlight from outside creating an aura around his large frame. His shadow trailed away from him across the floor.
    The man slowly dropped his booted foot to the ground and turned to face him. “Don’t think this has anythin’ to do with you, mister.” He ignored the older man sitting beside him frantically tugging on his sleeve. He jerked out of the man’s grasp and shoved him away.
    Sebastian took a few steps closer, his hands dangling by his sides. Not that it would do him any good, he didn’t carry a gun. If he needed a weapon, he used his fists. The only guns he owned were those his father left behind, which he kept under his bed at home.
    “So, a drunk imbecile pawing at an innocent girl whose only job is to serve you food and drink in my establishment isn’t my business?”
    The man glanced from table to table and took a hesitant step back, his face going slack as Sebastian’s words finally registered. “You’re McCord?”
    “I am. Now, I suggest you leave while you’re able.” Sebastian watched as Lucie scurried through the kitchen door. As the man walked by him, he reached out and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him onto the toes of his boots. He let his bottled fury show in his face as he glared into the man’s dirty face. “If I ever hear of you treating a woman like that again anywhere in or near Chattanooga, you will answer to me. Understand?” The drunk nodded, but his eyes bled anger.
    “And don’t ever come back into my place.” Sebastian tossed him through the doorway as if the man weighed no more than a bag of flour then turned back to the room. No one moved, only stared back at him. “That goes for the rest of you. You can eat my food and drink my liquor, maybe even sleep in a room upstairs, but my employees, men and woman alike, will be treated with dignity and respect or you will no longer be welcome at McCord’s.”
    He met each man’s gaze then strode out onto the sidewalk, his boots thumping loudly against the planks. The anger swirling through his mind and body slowly dissipated the further from the hotel he got. He’d walked more than an hour, not paying attention to the direction as his thoughts continually returned to the dark-haired beauty who had somehow wiggled her way into his life.
    Glancing up, he found himself standing in front of his small clapboard home. The anger he’d worked so hard to let go of immediately disappeared at the sight of his six-year-old daughter waving to him through the window. He crossed the street, but before he could make it to the porch stairs, she’d rushed through the front door and jumped into his arms.
    “Papa! I thought you’d never get here.”
    He kissed her sticky cheek and held her to him, the scent of apples filling his nostrils.
    Leaning back so he could see her face, he smiled. “Well, I’m here now.”       
    Maybe they should move back in with is mother. At least he wouldn’t have to go through the pain of another marriage. His mother was wonderful with Stella; however, with them living here, she just wasn’t around her enough. If he could only convince himself that was true.
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
    Lucie pounded on the door, her nerves rioting out of control. No matter how many times Martha had asked her to treat the apartment as her own home, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Walking in just felt wrong somehow. She fought back the tears as her thoughts turned back to what had almost happened downstairs.
    She’d seen Sebastian walk through the room, his steps long and hurried and prayed that he would turn his head and notice her. She hadn’t wanted him to see her in such a precarious position, but not one man in the entire room had seemed to want to stand against the man holding her. The nightmare of what happened at Beauregard’s had slammed through her as if she were reliving it all over again.
    When Sebastian finally noticed what was going on, the look in his eyes as he stared at her in that