The Christmas Treasure by Mallory Kane

will you do?" His voice changed, softened. He sounded concerned.  
    Lorilla forced herself not to hear it. It would not do to become maudlin over a man or a dream that was out of her reach.  
    "Go home, I suppose." She heard the bitter note in her voice, and the doubt. If Ray had gone to such trouble to get rid of her, would she be able to go back? She did miss her stepbrothers--well, Jeremy anyway. Her youngest stepbrother was not yet old enough to be totally under the influence of his father.  
    Lorilla furtively wiped her eyes and turned. "Senor Beltran, I am truly sorry for what my stepfather did. I assure you I had no idea. I should have been suspicious when he seemed so happy for me. It was not like him. I will leave straight-away."  
    Gabe laughed harshly.  
    Lorilla had already come to despise that bitter laugh.  
    "This is not St. Louis, Rilla."  
    She cringed at his sarcasm combined with his pet name for her.  
    "Nor is it Rome," he continued. "The wagon train will not leave for several weeks. Besides, a petition for annulment must be approved by the Pope. You may remain here."  
    Her heart pounded. Was he being kind or merely practical? She studied his face, but even his eyes revealed nothing of his thoughts. "Thank you. That is very kind of you. I will have Josepha move my things."  
    "That…" he stepped toward her, "won't be necessary. You may stay in your dressing room and use the sitting room as you like. I'm rarely there anyway."  
    She nodded, then turned and reached for the doorknob. His large hand stopped hers. Lorilla closed her eyes. His warm strength drew her like a fire. She would never forget the safe, delicious comfort of his body wrapped protectively around her in bed. Nor his large, warm hands or his fierce but gentle kiss. She could have learned to like being cared for.  
    "Lorilla? Why were you not suspicious of your stepfather's story of a man who loved you from afar, if being kind to you was so unlike him?"  
    Without raising her head or opening her eyes, and without really thinking about the consequences, Lorilla answered him. "I just wanted so badly for it to be true."  
    Gabriel recoiled, jerking his hand from hers as if it were hot.  
    She grimaced as she realized what she had said. Now she had plumbed the depths of humiliation, admitting how much she had wanted someone to care for her. She pulled open the door.  
    "Like Cinderella?"  
    His voice, soft now and gentle, stopped her. She stared at him in shock.  
    He nodded briefly and the smallest of smiles touched his lips. "You were hoping for Prince Charming to take you away to live happily ever after?"  
    With heat crawling up her face, Lorilla straightened to her full height. As the last of her dreams vanished, she steeled herself to look right at him and not blink. "That's right. It's too bad I did not find him."  
    She was able to exit the room and make it almost all the way up the stairs before the first tear rolled down her cheek.  
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    CHAPTER SIX
     
    Lorilla fell upon the day bed in her dressing room and gave way to tears for a few moments. She was so tired. Her miserable journey, which she had tried to make into an adventure, had delivered her to a part of the country that might as well be a foreign land. Plus, she had stored up all sorts of fantasies on the long trip here. Fantasies of marriage, of children, of a home of her own where she would belong. Now she was both displaced, and alone.  
    Lorilla sat up and wiped her eyes. Crying would benefit her nothing. She had learned a long time ago that all she gained was a red nose and puffy eyes and a pile of neglected chores. Ray had never allowed her stepbrothers to help her with household chores. He believed men should not do women's work.  
    Now Gabriel was going to send her back to him. She couldn't blame him. He'd been cheated out of the wife he'd purchased. But she was terrified of returning to the house of the man who had sold her.