was actually a note of praise. Do you see?'
'Are you telling me I just gave him a compliment?' He tried not to sound incredulous, but knew he'd failed when the brothers smiled at him.
Mary Rose wasn't smiling. 'Yes, actually you did,' she said.
He wanted to vehemently disagree. Yet she had sounded so earnest and was now looking so worried he wouldn't go along with her outrageous fabrication to placate her brother, he decided to play along.
'Then I guess I did.'
He didn't choke on the words. He thought that was a laudable effort on his part. She looked relieved, and Harrison decided that swallowing his pride had been well worth the effort.
'What surprised you?' Travis asked.
He couldn't remember what they'd originally been talking about. It was Mary Rose's fault, of course. She was so happy he was trying to get along with Cole, she smiled at him. Harrison didn't believe she was flirting with him or trying to act coy, but she was still twisting his mind into knots all the same. She was so damned sweet and pretty. Provocative too. He couldn't stop himself from imagining what she would feel like in his arms.
' Harrison?' Douglas called his name.
'Yes?' he said. 'What did you just ask me?'
'I didn't ask you anything,' Douglas replied. 'Travis asked.'
'If you'd quit staring at our sister, you might be able to concentrate,' Cole said.
Travis told his brother to quit baiting their guest and then repeated his question. 'I wondered what surprised you about the house.'
'It looks very modest from the outside,' Harrison explained. 'Yet inside…'
'It's just as modest,' Cole told him.
'If you aren't really looking, I suppose,' he agreed. 'But I always notice the details.'
'And?' Cole asked.
'The attention given to the details surprised me,' Harrison admitted. He was careful to keep his gaze away from Mary Rose. He refused to even glance in her direction. 'The moldings in the entry are spectacular, and the detail on the staircase is just as impressive.'
'Moldings?' Travis repeated.
'The border, or edging, between your ceilings and your walls,' Harrison explained.
'I know what they are,' Travis returned. 'I was just surprised you noticed such a detail.'
'I didn't expect to find so many rooms. You have a large parlor, this dining room, of course, and a library filled to the rafters with books you certainly didn't purchase around here.'
'Cole designed the house,' Mary Rose boasted. 'All the brothers helped build it. It took them years.'
'He wouldn't let us help with the banister or the walls in the entry though. That's all his work,' Travis said.
'You've just given Cole another compliment, Harrison,' Mary Rose said.
Harrison was sorry to hear it. He didn't want to find anything impressive about Cole Clayborne. The man had the manners of a boar. Still, his craftsmanship was superior, and Harrison knew it must have taken him months of painstaking work. He had to admire the man's talent and his discipline.
'What else surprised you?' Douglas asked.
Harrison wanted to smile again. From the expressions on the brother's faces, he knew they weren't simply curious about his opinion of their home. They seemed eager to hear praise.
'You have a piano in the parlor. I noticed it right away.'
'Of course you noticed it,' Cole said. 'It's the only thing in there.'
'It's a Steinway,' Douglas announced. 'We got it when Mary Rose was old enough to learn how to play.'
'Who taught her?' Harrison asked.
'The piano came with a teacher,' Douglas explained. He grinned at Travis before adding, 'Sort of anyway.'
Harrison didn't know what he was supposed to conclude from that odd remark. He decided not to ask. He would save his questions for more important issues.
'How old were you when you began your lessons?' he asked Mary Rose.
She wasn't certain. She turned to Adam to find out. 'She was six,' he answered.
'I was seven,' Harrison said.
'You play the piano?' Mary Rose looked thrilled over the notion.
'Yes.'
'Of course he plays the piano,' Cole scoffed. 'He can't fight or shoot, but, by God, he can play the piano. Well, piano playing isn't going to keep you alive out here.'
'He could play in Billie's saloon,' Douglas said.
'And get himself shot in the back like the last one?' Travis argued.
'Why'd he get shot?' Harrison asked the question in spite of his decision not to make inquiries unless the answers gave him information about the family.
'Someone didn't like what he was playing,' Cole told him.
Harrison nodded. 'I see,' he said, though in truth he really didn't understand.
'Why did you learn how to play the piano? That seems peculiar to me,' Cole said.
'It was all part of my education,' Harrison explained. He wasn't offended by Cole's attitude. He was actually a little amused. The brother seemed to think that playing the piano was something men didn't do.
'Then you were sorely educated,' Cole said. 'Girls play the piano. Not boys. Didn't your father ever take you out back and teach you how to use your fists?'
'No,' Harrison answered. 'Did yours?'
Cole started to answer the question, then changed his mind. He leaned back in his chair and shrugged.
'Have you ever heard of Chopin or Mozart, Cole? They were composers,' Harrison said. 'They wrote music and they played it… on the piano.'
Cole shrugged again. He obviously wasn't swayed by Harrison 's argument. Harrison decided to change the topic. 'Where did you get this china?'
'There are only six cups, and two don't match. We don't even have plates. I got the cups in St. Louis so Mary Rose could have tea parties.'
'I was much younger then,' she said. 'Serving tea was part of my education.'
'And who taught you?' Harrison asked, smiling over the picture of Mary Rose as a little girl learning how to be a proper lady.
' Douglas did,' she answered.
'We all had to take turns,' Douglas hastily added.
From the look Douglas gave his sister, Harrison surmised he wasn't at all pleased she had told him about their tea parties. Mary Rose pretended she hadn't noticed Douglas 's glare.
'Our fascination with your reaction to our home must seem odd to you,' she said. 'We don't usually ask our guests to tell us what they think, but you're very worldly and sophisticated.'
He raised an eyebrow over her opinion of him. She interpreted his look to mean he didn't agree.
'You are sophisticated,' she insisted. 'The way you speak and the way you look at things tells me so. You have obviously been raised in a refined atmosphere.'
'You seem the type who would appreciate quality,' Douglas said. He was damned thankful they had gotten away from the subject of tea parties. 'Most of the people around here don't care about the finer things in life. I don't fault them. They're busy carving out a living.'
' Hammond is becoming refined,' Travis said. 'We get the rejects here in Blue Belle.'
'Because it's lawless out here,' Cole interjected.
Everyone nodded. 'I guess we wondered if you thought we measured up,' Travis said. ' Douglas is right. The folks around here haven't even looked inside our library, and they sure haven't asked to borrow any books. Adam would let them, but they don't seem to have the time or the interest.'
'Have you read all the books in your library?' Harrison asked.
'Of course we have,' Cole said.
