Seven Brides: Daisy Part 23

"I don't have any money." She hated making that confession.

"Hen will see to anything you need."

He and Zac were certainly free with their brothers' money.

"I want to thank you for all you've done," she said after a long pause. "I know I've been a lot of trouble, and now with everything going wrong . . . "

"Don't worry about it. Everything will be right as rain in a few days."

She thought of her hair, the scar on her head, the scar in her heart. Things would never be right again.

They said little more for the rest of the evening. Daisy retired to her corner. She had become rather fond of the little s.p.a.ce. It gave her more privacy than she had enjoyed in her own home. But then things here were different from her home. Her father could never stand for her or her mother to be out of his sight for more than a short time. Since he didn't like other people, that meant they had no social life.

Here Zac and Tyler had organized everything around her. That didn't happen even in Adora's home. Mr. Cochrane ruled just as absolutely as her father. Adora had never heard her mother or Guy question anything he said. Even though Guy was very tolerant, he showed signs of expecting his home to be much the same. Daisy would have accepted that if she had married him before she met Tyler. Now she didn't know what she would do.

Any man she did marry, if she could find one to marry her now, would probably be even more demanding. She had noticed the poorer the man, the more he expected of his wife. She didn't know enough of society yet to understand that, but she did know what she had seen.

Poverty made a slave of women. She decided if she were going to be poor, she would be poor by herself. She wasn't going to be a slave to anybody.

But that brought back the frightening thought of having to make it alone, and she didn't know a thing about surviving on her own.

Tyler tossed and turned in his bed. Despite trying all day to put it out of his mind, he was still furious at Daisy for what he felt was a betrayal. The engagement stuck in his craw. Without that, what they had almost done would simply have been a decision made between two adults. With the engagement, it made him look like a lecher.

He had never in his life made an improper suggestion to a woman whose feelings were attached. He might not want to be married himself, but wedding vows were as sacred to him as they were to his married brothers. He felt like a heel. No decent man went around trying to make love to an engaged woman.

Make love! That wasn't what he had been meaning to do. He had been intent on making l.u.s.t, and he couldn't glorify it by any other name.

It was this weakness that worried him as much as anything else. He never would have been tempted before. What was it about Daisy that caused him to lose control?

She was d.a.m.ned attractive. He couldn't call her cute or beautiful, but there was something about her that he found irresistible. He had found her attractive even when her head was bandaged. That should have told him something.

He guessed part of it was her courage. She never lost heart or went to pieces. And she wasn't a pest. She went out of her way to be as little trouble as possible. She even tried to help with the work. She had gone after that deer because of him. He couldn't explain to her he had no interest in it except to please her, not after she had dragged Zac out to help her fight off the cougar.

He had to laugh at that. After her first encounter with the beast, he would have thought she'd never want to go near one again. Yet she charged out into the snow to protect his deer.

His deer!

He was glad to see the last of the creature. She had no idea how difficult it was to tear limbs from oak trees in winter. The trees seemed particularly determined to hold on to them.

He ought to feel guilty sitting here feeling sorry for himself when Daisy was hiding behind the curtain because her whole life and fallen apart. It wasn't often a poor woman got the chance to marry the only son of the richest man in town. It was exactly what her mother had taught her to want. It was the only role her father had prepared her to take on.

Tyler had helped take it from her.

He absolved himself from most of the blame because he hadn't known she was engaged. But even as he tried to a.s.suage his conscience, he was angry she would agree to marry a man she didn't love. There was more to life than that. She must have dreams. Surely she wanted to find someone she could love with a great and lasting pa.s.sion.

Why should she? He didn't. If someone told him he had to marry tomorrow, he would look for a sensible woman who would perform her duties efficiently and cause him the least trouble and worry. He had no right to criticize Daisy for doing basically the same thing.

He guessed he was used to thinking of women in terms of Rose and Iris. Two less compliant females would be hard to find. But he wondered what compromises they might have been willing to make if they hadn't married George and Monty? In all likelihood they had considered a marriage of convenience at one time or another, yet n.o.body held it against them now.

In the end, he wasn't able to reach any conclusion that satisfactorily explained why he should suddenly be behaving in a fashion completely unlike himself.

But one thing he did know. He would have to start for Albuquerque tomorrow. He didn't dare trust himself in the cabin with Daisy another night.

Daisy woke up to find Tyler standing over her.

"We need to get started early. It's a long trip, and I don't want to spend more than one night on the road."

Daisy opened her eyes, but she could barely make out Tyler's features. "It's still dark," she said.

"It'll be dawn by the time we start."

Daisy groaned. She didn't think she had slept as much as two hours. But she got up. There was nothing to pack. Everything she had was on her back.

"We'll take the mattress and blankets," Tyler said. "You won't like sleeping on the ground."

"You do."

"I'm used to it."

"I can get used to it, too."

"There's no need. You'll be sleeping in a bed tomorrow night."

She wanted to prove something to him -- she needed to -- but it seemed pointless to argue. She rolled up the mattress and folded the blankets.

"Can I help you pack?" she asked. He was fixing their breakfast. The least she could do was gather up his things in the meantime.

"I packed everything before I woke you. Sit down and eat. I'll tie your things on the burro."

"You sit down and eat as well," Daisy said, angry he had done everything himself. The perfect man who didn't need anybody. She realized he thought he was better off this way.

Maybe he was. She wished she didn't need people.

But she did. It was essential to her to feel wanted, needed, loved. There were times she thought she would do anything just to feel that way. When she was little, she thought her father wanted, needed, and loved her. Later she discovered he loved no one but himself.

"I guess it's time to go."

Tyler did let her take care of the dishes while he tied the mattress and blankets on the burro.

"I'd let you have a mule, but--"

"Don't apologize. The poor burro would never stand up to your weight."

As she waited for him to help her into the saddle, she looked back at the cabin and felt a pang. It would be some time before she knew the full consequences of her time here, but in some ways these last nine days had been the best of her life. None of the old equations worked, but then none of the old constraints bound her. It had been a halcyon time, a time of simplicity, of restfulness, of a happiness of a kind she would never experience again. It had been a time for seeking new horizons, of pushing limits, of discarding old ideas.

Now she was about to return to the world where the old constraints bound until they pinched, where new ideas were frowned on, where new horizons were avoided. She felt afraid.

She was wearing one of Tyler's heavy coats with the fur-lined cape over her head. She wondered if he would let her keep it. He'd probably offer to buy her a new one, but she'd rather keep this one. It would be a mute reminder of their week together.

Tyler lifted Daisy into the saddle and was just mounting up himself when they saw Willie Mozel coming through the forest at a trot.

"They're coming," he managed to gasp.

"Who?" Tyler asked.

"The three men who tied me up. Old man Carver told me they were at his place last night. They plan to work their way along the ridge until they hit every cabin. They ought to be here before tonight."

"Thanks," Tyler said. "You take care of yourself." He took hold of the reins to the burro and started out at a trot.

"Who's coming?" Daisy asked. She didn't like riding at a trot. The burro had a rough stride. She didn't think she could stand the pain of being bounced in the saddle for long.

"The men who tried to kill you," Tyler replied.

"How do you know it's the same men?" Daisy managed to call forward to Tyler despite the bouncing. Fear of these men clutched at her throat and made it hard for her to speak.

"They stopped by Willie's a few days ago asking about two young men," he answered over his shoulder. "They tied him up when they didn't like his answers. He got away and came here."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He slowed down to let her come along side. "You would have worried. There was no need. They couldn't follow him. The snow covered his tracks."

"But they could have come any time since." She thought of the time she had spent outside the cabin, her thoughtless comings and goings, never looking over her shoulder, never checking to see if anyone were around.

"I told Zac. He was on the lookout."

She turned her gaze away from overhanging limbs to glare at him. "You told Zac, but you wouldn't tell me!" She was so mad she didn't feel the bouncing. He was the one person who had been telling her she could do anything she put her mind to, yet he didn't tell her three bloodthirsty killers were hot on her trail. What did he think she'd do, fall into a dead faint?

"What could you do?" Tyler asked. "Besides, you were still recovering."

"It's my life we're talking about here, Tyler Randolph. I think I have a right to know when it's in jeopardy."

"Well you know now, so I don't see why you're so upset."

"I know because I overheard Willie talking to you, not because you thought to tell me. That's why I'm upset."

The trail had become so steep they had to slow down to a fast walk. Deep snow still remained in some places under the trees. The crust was hard, the footing icy. It would be all too easy for one of the animals to fall and break a leg.

"Willie didn't mean for you to hear. You shouldn't have been listening."

"You're just like my father," Daisy snapped. "If it's men's talk, then women should be deaf, dumb, and blind. But when it comes to work, we're supposed to be smart enough to figure it out for ourselves." She jerked on the burro's reins. The animal brayed its objection when she nearly bent his neck double to make him turn around on the narrow trail. He backed her into a pine tree, which retaliated by showering her with snow and ice.

"What are you doing?" Tyler asked.

"I'm going back," Daisy said, digging her heels into the burro's flanks. "You've been wanting to find these men for days."

Tyler was at her side in a flash. He leaned out of the saddle and grabbed the reins of the burro. "We can't go back up there. We'd be sitting ducks."

"Why?" She yanked on the reins, but he wouldn't let go. "We could hide in the cabin. You've got plenty of ammunition."

"But we don't have plenty of food," Tyler pointed out. "They could starve us out. Or burn us out. There are three of them against one of me."

"You forgot about me."

"Can you shoot?"

Her gaze became less defiant. "My father wouldn't let me learn."

"One of me," Tyler repeated. "I can't take that risk with your life."

"Can't we wait to get a look at them?" Her tone was more conciliatory.

"No. They're better mounted than we are. Our only hope is to be so far ahead they can't catch us before we reach Albuquerque."

Daisy still didn't move. She looked unconvinced.

"If we stop them now, we may never find the man behind them. You'll never be safe until we know who he is and why he wants you dead."

The thought sent chills up and down Daisy's spine. She might not have to worry about Guy jilting her. She could be dead before he got the chance.

"You won't be safe either," Daisy said. "Your life is as much in danger as mine."

"But I can take care of myself. Now let's get moving. We can't afford to lose any more time." Still holding the reins, Tyler turned the burro and started down the mountain.

"You've made your point," he said without turning around to face her. "I promise I won't keep anything from you."

Daisy hadn't antic.i.p.ated the satisfaction that surged through her upon having gained that victory. She realized it was only a small thing, but she felt like she had achieved something momentous. For the first time, she had stood up for herself against a man and won a point. She liked the feeling and decided she was going to try it again as soon as she found the opportunity.

"What are they like?" Daisy asked.

"I never saw them," Tyler replied, "but they're plenty determined. They came back to check on the fire, and they found us in the mountains quicker than I thought possible. Somebody wants you dead real bad."

Daisy wished she hadn't asked. She felt helpless to defend herself. "The only person I can think of who might want to kill me is Bob Greene."

"Why?"

"He wanted my father's land."

"Enough to kill for it?"

"That's what doesn't make sense. It's not worth much, even as grazing land."

"How much does he have?"

"I don't know. Our . . . my land runs from the river to the base of the mountains."

Tyler whistled.