Free A Taste of Heaven by Alexis Harrington

prove his memory.”
    Libby bent her attention to a display of
collar pins, and tried not to stare, but her curiosity got the
better of her. The woman didn't notice her anyway. She must be the
one Libby had heard about yesterday, the one who owned the Big
Dipper. Of course, she'd seen concubines a few times in Chicago,
but never up close like this. They'd remained behind curtained
windows and when they went out, they traveled in closed carriages.
They hadn't been so brazen that they walked down the street in the
middle of the day to go shopping.
    Nort pointed over his shoulder in the general
direction of the storeroom. “I've got those glasses in back. I can
send my son around with them this afternoon.”
    Callie smiled at him. “Thanks. I can always
count on you. How about that fancy French soap I ordered a couple
of weeks ago? Did it come in yet? Some of my regular gentlemen have
been asking for it for the bathing room upstairs.”
    Libby was astounded—this woman was so
matter-of-fact about her occupation. Regular gentlemen?
    Nort looked at the calendar on the wall next
to him, tapping a Friday with his pencil. “Not yet, but I'm lookin'
for a freight wagon to come in at the end of the week.”
    “Say, Nort, you should drop by the Big Dipper
some time and try out my new copper tub. I've got the only one in
Heavenly, you know.” Callie leaned over the rough wood counter a
bit, making her taffeta dress rustle ever so slightly, and her
voice dropped to a confidential tone. “You're welcome anytime. Why,
any one of my girls would be happy to entertain you for an
evening.”
    Libby felt her own eyes widen, and from her
vantage point by the stove, Nort Osmer looked to her like he'd
swallowed a spoonful of cayenne pepper. Then he turned his eyes her
way, as though he'd just now remembered she was in the store, and
therefore a witness to this conversation.
    Apparently noticing the direction of his
gaze, Callie turned to look at Libby, then back at Nort. She lifted
a brow, her expression expectant. “I don't believe I've met this
lady, Nort, and I know everyone in these parts. Are you going to
introduce us?”
    Regaining his breath but not his normal
coloring, the storekeeper stammered. “Uh—Mrs. Libby Ross, this is
Miss Callie Michaels. She's the—uh—Miss Callie owns the Big
Dipper.”
    Libby backed up a step, nodding at her
uncertainly. “I'm pleased to meet you.” She didn't know what else
to say. She'd never been introduced to the owner of a brothel
before. The winter she'd spent in the wilderness had provided no
hint of what the West was like, except to reveal its raw harshness.
Now she wondered what kind of place she'd come to, where a brothel
owner solicited business in clear daylight, and a respectable woman
was presented to the madam as though she were a member of a church
committee.
    Callie smiled at her. “I'm sorry, honey, I
didn't see you standing in the corner. You must think we don't have
any manners at all around here.” Her voice softened as she
approached Libby, and she looked her up and down, though not in an
unkind way. “I'll bet you're the one Ben Ross told me about last
fall. He said he was sending for a nice lady to be his wife. I was
mighty sad to hear he passed on.”
    Libby forced herself to lower her eyes.
Everyone in this town seemed to have a high opinion of Ben, and it
probably wouldn't do to let it show that she didn't share it.
“Thank you.”
    “Now that he's gone, will you be staying on
in Heavenly?”
    Only for as long as she had to, Libby
thought. She wanted to go back to a part of the country where the
ways and lives of people weren't so different from what she knew.
“For a while. I'm cooking for Mr. Hollins and his men at the
Lodestar Ranch.”
    Callie's brows lifted in amused
astonishment. “You're working for Tyler Hollins?”
    Baffled by her attitude, Libby nodded. "Yes,
I am."
    “Well, well,” she said softly, almost to
herself. She contemplated Libby again for a