Texas Rose

chapter 26

"I wonder if that was the sermon the reverend meant to preach this morning," Tyler mused aloud as the church crowd departed and he casually steered Evie through it.

"I think I like Maryellen's version of it much better." Kyle laughed, coming up on Evie's other side.

Tyler raised a disapproving eyebrow at the familiarity of using first names, but Evie was going red, and he held his tongue. "Harding, you're intruding. Go away."

Kyle kept his pace. "I've been commissioned to ask Mrs. Peyton if she would join us out at the ranch for Sunday dinner. At least I haven't driven her to swearing at me yet."

Evie's fingers clenched Tyler's arm tighter. Surprised but more pleased than he cared to admit at her unspoken plea, Tyler dismissed Kyle's request. "You'll have to plan further in advance than that. She's already accepted my invitation."

Kyle looked to Evie for confirmation. She offered a smile. "The excitement last night was rather wearing on my nerves, Mr. Harding. I haven't put together tomorrow's lesson plans. Maybe another time?"

"Next Sunday?"

Evie's fingers dug deeper, but Tyler let her wield this one on her own.

"It might be better if you were to dine with us, Mr. Harding. I have the children to consider, and Daniel would be disappointed to be left behind. His leg still gives him a great deal of pain."

Kyle was obviously disappointed, but he succumbed. "Of course, I should have thought of that. Just let me know, and I'll be there."

He walked away, and Evie relaxed and released Tyler's arm. Completely out of the blue, she asked, "Tell me, Mr. Monteigne, when was the last time you attended church?"

Tyler could find no reason for this question, and he watched the children skipping ahead as he debated his answer. If this were some kind of test, he was about to fail it. "Sometime before the war, I reckon."

Evie nodded. "That's what I thought. And why did you choose to attend today?"

"Because I'm not letting you out of my sight until I get a few explanations."

Evie watched Manuel and Jose run off with their friends. She was about to reprimand them for not changing their good clothes, but she needed to talk to Tyler more. She let them go as she subjected him to the questioning needed to shore up her confidence in the only man in town she might trust. He had gone to church for her sake. Could she trust him with the truth?

"I see," she murmured, then thrust from a different direction. "I understand some men like a challenge. If I hand you all the pieces to the puzzle and you put them together, will you lose interest and go away?'

Astounded, Tyler didn't immediately reply. When he did, it wasn't an answer. "Do you want me to?"

"That isn't the question at hand. I need someone I can trust. Daniel has a broken leg and can't help me. You and Ben are the only ones I know, but you've been here long enough to be getting itchy feet. If you're ready to roam, I'd just as soon you move on now, before I come to rely on you."

Tyler squinted up at the sun, as if the answer were to be provided there. When no bluebird wrote it across the sky, he returned his gaze to her. She was intent on this conversation and waited for an answer.

There was no getting around the question she hadn't asked. They were almost at the house, and Carmen would already be starting Sunday dinner. Catching Evie's shoulders and holding her to one side of the front steps, Tyler leaned in the open front door. "Daniel, I'm taking your sister for a walk. Tell Carmen she doesn't have to do a thing but relax until we get back."

Releasing Evie, he started down the path away from town, out into the countryside. He jammed his hands in his pockets as she hurried to catch up with him.

"I don't want the responsibility of marriage, Evie. And I sure as hell haven't planned on taking care of a house full of kids. I've not had to plan beyond tomorrow since before the war. That's the way I like it. But I pay my debts, and I know what I owe you. I'm not leaving you to fend for yourself. Now you can take that any way you want to take it, but I'm not going anywhere until I know you're safe."

Evie straightened her shoulders and marched alongside of him. Her best white organdy skirt trailed in the dirt of the path they were following. The sun was beating against her hair, and she feared she would turn pink shortly. A wide spreading oak threw a welcoming patch of shade over the prairie grass ahead, and Evie anticipated its coolness as she pondered Tyler's words.

She had to give him credit for honesty. And he had been amazingly decent about the proprieties since discovering she wasn't carrying his child. Another man might have taken advantage of the situation and then wandered off, leaving her pregnant and alone. Perhaps Tyler didn't desire her any more, but she had learned a few things about a man's needs and wants in these last years, things that couldn't be found in the books she read. She didn't think lack of desire was keeping Tyler Monteigne out of her bed. It could be integrity.

"All right. I believe you." Evie stopped in the shade of the oak and turned to face him. He was wearing his hat, and she couldn't discern his eyes, but she sensed they were focused on her with an intensity that would burn could she but see it. "I'll tell you what little I know, if you will stay long enough to help me. Then we can go our separate ways. Agreed?"

Tyler relaxed and nodded. "It sounds all right, for now. You want to start with telling me why you asked about a family named Howell?"

"Because that's my name, Evangeline Peyton Howell."

The first blow, and already he was crumpling. Tyler stared down into that innocent face with those exotic eyes and swore vividly. When he was done, he managed an unpleasant smile. "That isn't the name you put on our marriage papers. We might not even be married."

"I didn't know the legalities." Evie turned away and stared out over the prairie. "Shall I stop there, then?"

"No. Keep on going."

"I'm an orphan. Or I assume I'm an orphan. My parents may very well be alive, but they don't claim me. They just pay—paid—my guardian a healthy sum to keep me, until Nanny died. A check hasn't come since then. All I know of them is my name and that the checks come from the Bank of Mineral Springs, Texas, and they are sent by the legal firm of Hale and Son. That's it." She swung around to see how he was taking this.

Tyler removed his hat and let the breeze ruffle his hair as he studied her. He thought there might be a suggestion of a tear in her dark eyes, but she held her chin with a proud defiance he had to admire. For all he knew, she could be half Spanish, just like she'd said. But he didn't think so.

He rubbed his knuckles against the softness of her cheek. "All right, Miss Howell, now that we have that established, what did you find out at the firm of Hale and Son yesterday?"

Evie's lips trembled, but she held strong. "Nothing. I went in as Maryellen Peyton, and he wouldn't tell me anything. He said to have Evangeline Howell write to him. He also said the Howell family had once been prominent citizens and they were all dead."

"Which could very well mean that there are large sums of money sitting around in that bank over which he has complete control. Nasty situation. Do you have proof that you are who you say you are?"

"I have a baptismal certificate with my name on it, the letters from the attorneys to Nanny, and a letter I assume is from my mother turning over my guardianship to Nanny. The letter uses my name. If there's more, I haven't found it."

Tyler thought about this for a minute. "Well, no one has jumped out of the woodwork and declared you look just like any Howell or whatever. It seems to me you've done a good job hiding your identity. None of that explains why you were abducted last night. I can't see why anyone would want to harm an innocent schoolteacher. Somebody, somewhere, must know something, and the lawyer seems the most likely prospect."

Evie nodded. "That's what I thought, but then I thought about that man, Logan. Do you think the 'Peyton' could be a family name, too? He might not have believed our story. And the lawyer might not have believed it, either. It may be this Peyton person that they're after. But what were you telling me about the Hardings' mother's name?"

"That's all I know. I asked where the Double H brand came from, and they explained it stood for Harding and Howell, that their mother's maiden name had been Howell. She and their father died in a tragic accident some months ago."

"They're not wearing mourning," Evie pointed out.

"People don't hold much with those things out here, particularly men. Life isn't easy, and people come to expect death. Look at those kids of yours. Are they going around moping and moaning like they're expected to do back East? They haven't got time. They've got to survive."

"I suppose." Evie had heard the children's sobs late at night, but there was nothing she or Daniel could do that they weren't already doing. They couldn't bring Mrs. Rodriguez back from the dead. She supposed grown men like Kyle and Jason would deal with the death of their parents in a more grown-up fashion than sobbing in their beds. "I guess we need to find out more about the Howells. What do you suggest?"

"I suggest that Evangeline Howell write from St. Louis and tell Mr. Hale that Nanny is dead and ask for instructions. We can crumple the letter up some and walk on it and put it in the mail and it will look like it's been through every mailbag between here and there. I assume you've made some arrangement to have your mail sent down here."

"Yes, but it could take months for Hale's reply to go to St. Louis and back. There's got to be a faster way. I had hoped to get Daniel hired on as a clerk, but with his leg..." Evie made a gesture of frustration.

Tyler didn't have any intention of sitting around idle waiting for a letter to appear, but he wasn't telling Evie that. There was no telling how much dust she had already stirred up by going to that lawyer yesterday. He was keeping her clear of any other proceedings.

"Give me time to make a few more inquiries, Evie. We can't do much until we have some facts. You just get busy writing that letter. I'll let you know when I've found out anything." Tyler steered her back toward town. With a definite task ahead of him, he felt a little more comfortable. This business of vague worries about Evie and the children made him itchy. He preferred direct action, and now she had given him enough information to act.

Evie let him steer her away, but she wasn't about to sit back and do nothing while waiting for Tyler to do all the work. She had a few plans of her own.

* * *

"There's mail, Daniel," Evie whispered excitedly, as she came in after school the next day. She stepped from the bright sunlight of outdoors into the dimness of the front room waving two slim envelopes.

Both envelopes had an Ohio return address, and she handed them unopened to Daniel. They both knew what that return address meant. The fact that they were addressed to the "executor of Delilah Witherspoon's" estate told a whole story.

"We shouldn't have these, Evie." Daniel stared at the envelopes hungrily, without opening them. "There must be a lawyer out there somewhere taking care of Nanny's unfinished business."

"Of course there is." Impatiently, Evie threw her books and papers down on the table. Carmen had gone to pick up Maria at a neighbor's, but she would be returning any minute. "We just didn't wait around for him to hem and haw and decide what to do with us. Maybe that's where my check has gone. That would mean that Mr. Hale already knows Nanny is dead, if this other lawyer has sent out notices."

Another lawyer with the power of their future hanging over their heads. Daniel sighed, then ripped open the first letter and scanned it.

"It's the check for my upkeep." he glanced at Evie. "Do we dare cash it now? If there's a lawyer out there, he might accuse us of stealing."

"How can you steal your own money? Cash it, and let them come find us." Evie crossed her arms defiantly. There was no doubt pots of money sitting around in banks and lawyer's offices all over the country that they were entitled to. She didn't see any reason why they should have to starve and do without while lawyers debated the disposition of all that wealth. "Open the other one."

The other envelope contained a lengthy sheet of vellum that Daniel read quickly, then went back and read more thoroughly. His hands were shaking as he handed it over to Evie.

"My parents are asking Nanny's executor how I am progressing, if it is possible for me to attend a university now that Nanny can no longer look after me. They are willing to continue providing funds for this executor to act as my guardian until I am of age. There isn't any note to me or any mention of condolences. It's a business letter."

"And you're unfinished business, just like Nanny's estate." Evie read the letter with disgust. "If I were you, I'd write to this lawyer and tell him you're ready to accept their offer. Get an education. Get everything out of them that you can. Then when you come of age, go back there and walk in on them and say 'hello, folks, here I am, ready to take over the family business.' I'd like to see their faces."

Daniel managed a painful smile. "It would be even more amusing were I whole again." He folded the letter up and put it in his pocket. "But I'm not going anywhere until we find out about your family. Take the draft and put it in the bank. Jose is practically barefoot, and they can all use new clothes."

Evie glanced at him speculatively. "And you will need transport out of here. This may be all we get. We can't spend much of it."

Daniel looked annoyed as he returned to his reading. "Don't be a goose, Evie. I'll write the lawyer and tell him to forward the money here. We'll be fine. Go deposit the money."

He was hurting, and there wasn't a thing she could do. Quietly, Evie folded the bank draft and put it in her skirt pocket. She had felt the pain of never knowing who her parents were, but it was as nothing compared to knowing she was not wanted. She knew exactly what Daniel was feeling right now.

Returning to the sunshine outdoors, Evie hurried down the alley toward the bank. Tyler had warned her not to go out alone after dark, but she felt no insecurity in traversing the streets during day. This was a small town, and she was always in sight and sound of someone.

The other night had been a fluke with the jailbreak causing so much commotion that her abductor might have got away with it had it not been for Ben and Tyler's quick reactions.

She almost bumped into Mr. Hale as she came around the corner. She caught herself just in time, pulling her skirt out of the dust as he raised his hat and made a gentlemanly bow.

"Mrs. Peyton!" He gave her a look of warm concern. "I am happy to see you doing so well after Saturday night's little contretemps. I tried to be of some assistance, but the sheriff's son shut everyone out. I cannot understand such a thing happening in Mineral Springs."

"Mr. Monteigne believes it was one of the escaped outlaws. I'm certain nothing of the kind will ever happen again." Evie began strolling toward the bank. She wanted to get as much information from this man as she could, but the bank draft was burning in her pocket.

Mr. Hale offered her his arm, and she accepted it, giving him a delighted smile that he promptly returned.

"I understand Mr. Monteigne is a friend of your family's. Will he be staying here for any length of time?"

She was supposed to be the one asking questions. Evie made a vague gesture. "He has business with the Hardings, I believe. Tell me, Mr. Hale, if I go to the cemetery, will I find graves for the Howells? I have already written Evangeline about what you said, but the mail takes so long, I thought I'd find out what I could on my own. My letters are likely to reach her before there is time for her to write you and you to respond."

"I can see no harm in your visiting their graves. I would be delighted to escort you. Do you have time now?"

Mr. Hale was a very polite man. Evie smiled at him approvingly. She wished he wasn't so darn ethical about keeping family secrets, but she couldn't complain if the family lawyer was an honest man.

"I have to stop in the bank. I don't wish to delay you."

"There's no delay. We're already here." He opened the door for her and escorted her inside.

She didn't want him watching her as she tried to deposit Daniel's check. It was going to be a tricky business as it was. Evie bit her lip in frustration and glanced around the tiny building. There was one teller's booth behind bars and a desk in the far corner of the room behind the teller. She could see the safe built into the wall behind the teller. It wouldn't take much to rob this place.

Sighing, she patted Mr. Hale's hand. "If you'll just wait here for me, I'll be right back."

The teller was only a few steps away, but if she talked low, perhaps he wouldn't hear. She removed the check and stepped forward to transact her business.

Several minutes, several smiles, and several blushes and reassurances from the male teller later, Evie returned to Mr. Hale. Daniel now had his very own bank account.

"Your brother is lucky to have a sister like you." Hale opened the door. "Your maiden name is Mulloney, then?"

So he had heard. Evie held her chin up. "Yes. We're originally from Ohio, but we've lived in the South for some considerable time now. The war was devastating to us all." Distraction worked best at times like this.

"I'm certain. Was your husband from around here, by any chance, Mrs. Peyton? There are still remnants of a Peyton family in these parts, but I don't remember an Alexander Peyton. That was your husband's name, correct?"

Evie tried not to tighten her grip on the lawyer's arm as they entered the churchyard. "Alexander grew up in Natchez, sir, but it is possible there are cousins."

"It's quite a coincidence your coming to Mineral Springs to teach, and then taking on the Rodriguez children, if so, Mrs. Peyton." Hale stopped before two small, nondescript gravestones and pointed at them with his cane. "There lies the Rodriguez children's maternal grandparents."

Evie could just barely make out the inscription: James and Rosita Peyton.