Free Bicycle Built for Two by Alice Duncan

bestowing a blessing upon an underling, she
said, “Thank you so much, Madame Katherine. You’re a wonderful
fortune-teller, my dear. I do believe you deserve more than you
charged me.” She fished in her large handbag and produced a coin,
which she held out to Kate.
    Although he wasn’t sure why, Alex bridled on
Kate’s behalf. That dashed Gentry woman was speaking to her as if
Kate were a servant in her mansion or something.
    “Thank you very much. I appreciate your
generosity.” Kate rose, too, without scraping her chair and without
a rustle or a fluff. Alex wasn’t surprised. She was amazingly
graceful for a girl out of the— Alex stopped himself before he
could pass another judgment on Kate Finney because of her
unfortunate birth. Her family, as she had been quick to point out
to him more than once, wasn’t her fault.
    And, really, her mother had been quite
pleasant. Obviously, the woman had deplorable sense and no
discernment, or she’d never have ended up with Kate’s father, but
she still seemed a congenial woman. Unlike her daughter, who was
approximately as genial as stinging nettles. Alex rose from his
chair and bowed as Mrs. Gentry swept past him and out the door.
    “Come with me.”
    To his shock, Kate grabbed him by the coat
sleeve and tugged at it. He stared down at her in bemusement.
“Where? Why?”
    In a harsh whisper, Kate said, “Darn it, we
need to talk, and we can’t do it while Madame’s working.”
    Alex glanced around the booth. He’d managed
to overlook Madame and her client entirely, so engrossed had he
been with Kate and hers. He didn’t understand his oversight,
either, since Madame was much closer to his chair than Kate had
been. “Oh.” He reached for his hat. “I see.”
    Kate marched him out of the booth, around to
the back, stopped walking and turned to face him. Alex had been
rather hoping she’d guide him to a concessionaire’s stand and take
a cup of tea with him or something, although he had no idea why. He
didn’t even like her. It was illogical for him to want to take tea
with the girl.
    He didn’t understand why she’d narrowed her
eyes into mean-tempered slits and was now frowning up at him. It
was quite a way up at that, since he was a little over six feet
tall, and she was only slightly over the five-foot mark. It was the
first time he’d taken note of her lively blue eyes. They snapped
and sparkled in the sunlight, and made for an odd but intriguing
contrast to her Gypsy attire and dark makeup. Although he didn’t
really know anything about Gypsies, he’d always assumed they had
dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. Kate’s hair was a dark reddish
brown and her skin, except when she painted it, was fair. And she
had eyes the color of a clear summer sky. At the moment, she also
had her fists planted firmly on her hips and was standing braced
like a boxer about to punch an opponent out of the ring.
    “How come you put my mother in a private
room?”
    Alex caught his breath. He hadn’t
anticipated such a sudden and stark attack. Actually, he hadn’t
anticipated any kind of attack. He’d rather hoped for some thanks.
His lips thinned when he realized how silly it had been of him to
expect thanks from this quarter. He tried to keep his temper in
check. “Your mother is a very sick woman, Miss Finney.”
    “You think I don’t know that?”
    “Of course, you know it. But you can’t pay
for the best medical care for her. I can. It’s simple, really.”
    “It’s not that simple, Mr. Alex English, and
you know it. Until yesterday, you didn’t know me from Adam—”
    “Eve,” Alex corrected.
    She stamped her foot. “Darn it, don’t you
dare laugh at me!”
    He held his hands out in an I-give-up
gesture. “I’m not laughing, believe me. I’ve seldom felt less like
laughing.”
    “Then answer my question!”
    Alex gazed down at her for several
uncomfortable moments before he crossed his arms over his chest. He
wanted to understand her attitude,