Texas Rose

chapter 35

"Are they still at it?" Evie whispered anxiously as she walked Daniel home from the newspaper office. He really didn't need assistance any longer. It was almost six weeks since the leg had been broken, and he maneuvered fairly well on crutches, but she wanted this time to talk to him.

"Last I heard," Daniel replied noncommittally. Since Tyler had walked out over two weeks ago, Evie hadn't been particularly communicative. She had gone about her schoolteaching as if she didn't have a care in the world while the town gossiped around her. Knowing Evie, he reckoned a crisis was imminent, but he was staying out of it this time. This one wasn't any of his business.

"Nobody can play poker for three days straight." Evie tightened her lips into a worried line. "It's not natural. There isn't enough money in this whole blamed town to be worth sitting through that."

"That's one opinion." Daniel shrugged. He gave Evie a sideways look. "Averill told me he hears that you and Tyler aren't legally married, and that you're planning to sue him for misrepresentation or something like that. Where do you think he got that news?"

"Not from me." Evie's lips tightened even further. "If that's what Tyler is telling everybody, I have a bug to put in his ear."

"Don't you dare, Evie," Daniel warned as they came close to the alley. "You'll stay out of that saloon, or they'll likely take your job and the kids away. The scandal is enormous enough as it is."

"Tyler Monteigne can rot in that saloon, if he wants. He can play poker until his eyes drop out and his hands fall off. But I'll be doggoned if I'll let him go around telling false tales about me."

"Lies, Evie. The word is lies. And you've told your fair share of them at one time or another. They're just coming home to roost, like I warned you they would."

Evie picked up her skirt and started down the alley. "You're the one who said we needed to be careful. You're the one who agreed I might be in danger if I used my own name. Now don't go preaching honesty at me now, Daniel. And I haven't told a single lie in..." She contemplated the last time she'd let her imagination stretch the truth a little. "Well, I don't think it's been since I told Mr. Hale about my friend in St. Louis. There hasn't been a need to lie about anything."

"That's because the truth has become more fantastic than your imagination. Now that you know who your parents are, why don't you just go over to Hale and ask about the money? You know there has to be some. Those lawyers in St. Louis may be keeping it for themselves."

"That's what Mr. Peyton says. My father," she amended. Evie halted before the porch and looked at Daniel with bewilderment clouding her eyes. "But I just have this feeling that telling everyone who I am will come as an unpleasant shock to too many people. How will the Hardings feel when they learn the stepmother they idolize had a child out of wedlock? The children don't mind knowing I'm related to them, but what if there are other Howells out there I don't know about? How will they feel knowing Elizabeth wasn't a saint? For all that matters, the whole town thinks of her that way. And it's only my father's word against everyone else's that she wasn't. Who do you think they will believe?"

Daniel ran his hand through his hair in a gesture reminiscent of Tyler's, and Evie looked away. Tyler's absence was like a festering abscess in her center, but she couldn't let anyone know that. She waited for Daniel's reply without looking at him.

"Danged if I know, Evie, but you can't put it off forever. Your father says the house on that land of his isn't habitable, and it looks like he hasn't got much to put it back together with. If you could just get your hands on your mother's money, you could fix things up and insure that the children had a decent roof over their heads and clothes on their back."

"This roof is secure enough, and my father is helping out with groceries and clothes. We don't need any more than that." Evie started up the porch before Daniel could bring up the subject of Tyler's support again. Tyler didn't owe her any support. She wouldn't touch the account at the general store. It would be much better for everyone concerned if he would just win his darned card game and leave town. Maybe if she let him know that their foolish encounters hadn't borne fruit, he would go.

As they entered, Manuel dashed in through the back door with a huge grin plastered across his face. "Tyler's winning! Old Tom just put up his half of the saloon, and they're down there arguing over its worth. I've got to go back and see if Tyler took the bet."

Evie grabbed Manuel's collar before he could rush out. "You have no business being in a saloon. Where's Jose?"

Manuel glanced up at her in astonishment. Evie always smiled and never laid a hand to him. He didn't even try to struggle out of her grasp. "He's with Uncle Jim back at the saloon. I just came to tell you what's happening."

Evie sighed and let his collar go. "I am beginning to think your Uncle Jim and Tyler Monteigne are two of a kind. Go fetch Jose back here. It's almost time for supper."

Daniel sent Evie a swift look as she disappeared into the bedroom to take off her hat. How could she be so quick to recognize the characters of other people and never understand her own? She had been as restless as two tomcats in a box these last weeks. She had left Carmen to do most of the cooking while she finished that damned painting. Her classes at school had gone on more field trips in this past week than they had in an entire year. And unless she was painting, she never sat still. Her latest project involved replastering the old adobe walls with tinted materials. Admittedly, the sunny yellow was less dreary than the peeling mud of before, but she stayed awake all hours working on it. Even Evie's energy couldn't last that long.

When official word arrived with James Peyton later that day that Tyler had indeed won half of the saloon, Evie showed no interest in the news. She finished setting food on the table and took her place, insisting on grace before she allowed anyone to eat. While the others chattered excitedly about the news, Evie silently chewed her food.

She didn't want to hear about Tyler. He had taken the opportunity for freedom that she had handed him with an alacrity that was embarrassing. She didn't know why she had been foolish enough to think a man like that needed her in any way but one. And now he had a whole saloon full of women at his command to take care of that particular need. And Starr wouldn't forget to prevent babies.

Damning Tyler to the hell he deserved, Evie rose from the table and returned to her painting. The light stayed strong for a few hours yet at this time of year. She was almost finished, and she wanted it done so she could shove it out of her life. It wasn't turning out as well as she had expected, but she disliked leaving a project unfinished. And the portrait of Maria seemed to be fairly decent. When she was done, she could put the whole thing behind her and look for something new to do.

* * *

The sunlight prevented Tyler from seeing in the front window of the little house behind the livery, but he knew she was standing there, working on that damned painting as she had every night these last weeks. Manuel had told him what she was doing when he'd asked about the light that came on in there every night. She was going to ruin her eyes just like her father had if she didn't give it up pretty soon.

Tyler turned away. It wasn't any of his business any longer. Hale had served him with some papers that had enjoined him from being in Evie's company and told him that the marriage was legally null and void, but he hadn't seen Evie's writing on the papers anywhere, and he'd thrown them out. He'd thought he could walk away now that Evie had found what she wanted, but he didn't seem able to make the move. He still felt married, and he wanted to know for certain that Evie didn't feel that way any longer.

He had seen her eating dinner with Hale twice, and even Kyle Harding had been over, sniffing around again. Rumors were rampant, but Tyler hadn't given credence to any of them. Not until he heard the words from Evie would he begin to believe.

So he supposed he ought to talk to Evie, but he couldn't bring himself to do it just yet. He needed to dig her out of his flesh first. She was the glue holding him together. He had to see if he could still walk away without her. Winning that card game was the first step toward independence.

Tyler started throwing his clothes in the valise he had brought here with him. He owned half of a saloon. The jubilant triumph of that knowledge warred with the other Tyler, the one who didn't want any ties. He could lose the damned saloon as easily as he had gained it. He couldn't look at it as his. But the pride of ownership kept creeping up on him.

He could show Evie and the whole town that he could be somebody. The saloon was just a start. He had enough in the bank to buy a herd of cattle if he chose. And the sum he had won at this last card game would give him enough to live on for quite a while. He didn't even need to gamble if he didn't want to. He could become a rancher, or run for sheriff against Powell, or anything else he applied his mind to.

But his mind was on Evie.

Not acknowledging that thought, Tyler slammed the valise shut and started out the door. Ben met him on the stairs.

Ben threw the valise a shrewd look, then narrowed his eyes as he looked back to Tyler. "Going somewhere?"

"I'm a landowner now. I've got to look after my property." Tyler pushed by him and continued down the stairs.

Ben followed. "Thought for a minute there you might be thinking of leaving town. You have a tendency to do that when things start tying you down."

"I'll go when I'm damned good and ready to go. There's still some unfinished business here."

"That's good to hear. I thought you might be interested in a few things I found out over at the livery." Ben waited until Tyler turned around to stare at him. "Somewhere private, my friend."

Tyler nodded, and they clattered out of the hotel together.

* * *

"Mr. Harding, this is a surprise. Won't you please come in?" Evie tried to hide her astonishment at the sight of Jason Harding standing at the front door. His expression was grim, and she had a sinking feeling that his call wasn't purely social, but she put on her best lady face and smiled.

Inside, Jason gave Peyton, sitting in the corner with Maria in his lap, an even more furious look before turning to his hostess. "Is there somewhere we can talk private?"

Evie looked around for some support. She wished Tyler were here, but she had to face the fact that he might never be here again. Catching sight of Daniel's questioning look, she remembered his words of earlier, and taking a deep breath, she faced Jason Harding directly. "There isn't anything we can say that my family can't hear."

"Your family?" Jason gave the assorted collection of children and adults an incredulous look. "Tyler said you had a tendency to stretch the truth, but that's stretching it a little too far. Let me take you down to the cafe for a cup of coffee."

He was just a man, after all. Evie could forgive him for his stupidity. She smiled and taking his arm, led him toward a chair. "My father, James Peyton." She gestured to the man in the rocker who nodded his head in greeting but didn't offer his hand. "I believe you know Daniel. He's more of an adopted brother than a blood brother, but we were raised together, so it's the same thing to us."

If Jason weren't so tall, she'd shove him into a seat, but she did the next best thing. She sat down in the chair beside the one she offered to him. He was forced to follow suit. She gestured to the children. "And of course you know my cousins. Their mother was my aunt."

Jason sat in stunned silence, trying to take in the enormity of the misconception that he had arrived here under. Glancing to the older man and catching his cynical look, he almost flushed. He gripped his hat brim like some greenhorn adolescent and tried to summon apologies for words he'd thought but hadn't said.

Evie smiled brilliantly. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company, Mr. Harding?"

"I... uh." He stammered and turned red under her gaze. Gulping and remembering the reason he had come here, Jason forced the words out. "I came here tonight as a representative of the school board, but it's Kyle I'm concerned about. He's been on a rip-roaring drunk these last two days, and you're to blame, Mrs. Peyton, or Monteigne, or whoever you are."

Evie turned to Carmen. "I think you better bring Mr. Harding some of that beer, Carmen. And if Jose and Manuel show up, send them into the bedroom." She returned her attention to Jason. "As far as I am aware, I am still Mrs. Monteigne. I tried to explain to Kyle, and I'd thought he'd understood. Is there anything I can do?"

Jason threw Peyton a curious look. "You can tell him this man is your father, for one thing."

Evie looked surprised, but Peyton gave their visitor a disgusted look. "He thinks you've found a new suitor more to your liking," he explained.

Evie's eyes widened as she turned back to Jason. "Why, Mr. Harding, that's an evil mind you have! Even Tyler could see the resemblance. Shame on you."

Carmen set the beer on the table, and in the background Daniel snickered behind the pages of his book.

Jason had the grace to look embarrassed. "Well, it seemed mighty odd that Tyler moved out when this man moved in. And there's all these rumors flying around about you and Tyler not being married when everybody knows..." He shut up under the curious gaze of the pair on the pallet and turned his attention to the older man. "You look mighty familiar to me, Peyton." His forehead wrinkled in a slight frown as he turned back to Evie. "And I thought your married name was Peyton, not your maiden name."

Before Evie could reply, Peyton answered for her. "Daniel thought it safer if she traveled as a widow since she didn't have any servants to accompany her. Although I grew up here, my daughter has never been in Texas. She wasn't certain what to expect."

Jason began to relax. "And she came here to meet you. Are you a traveling man, sir?"

"I've been in California," Peyton acknowledged stiffly.

They were making up lies for her. Evie listened in amazement, but she wasn't about to correct them. Her concern was for Kyle and for her job. "Now will you tell me if there is anything I can do for Kyle, Mr. Harding? I've tried to be just as plain as can be with him, but people have such wicked tongues. He really shouldn't listen to them."

Jason's expression went grim again. "You can't deny that your husband has taken rooms at the saloon. It doesn't set a good example for the children. Kyle accepted the fact that you married another man, but it's a bit difficult to accept that you don't live with your husband. He's thinking he should have done something to keep you from making the wrong decision, and he's blaming himself."

Evie would have preferred to scream and throw a tantrum and tell everyone to mind their own business, but she managed a small smile and straightened her gown and folded her hands in her lap. "It's a little difficult for all of us to live in this small house, Mr. Harding. And admittedly, Tyler and I have had a little tiff, but that shouldn't be anyone's concern but ours. My father is seeing to the repair of his old home while Tyler is making a place for us here. Everything will be straightened out with time. You just tell Kyle I'd be appreciative of his support. Your brother is the sweetest man I've ever met, but you can see for yourself that we would never suit. Why, I'd up and die of loneliness out there on that ranch all by myself."

She thought she'd almost smoothed everything over when the front door crashed open and a giant, bald-headed man stood there.

Before she could even catch enough breath to scream, Logan pulled his gun and aimed it at the man with the child sleeping in his lap.

"Peyton, I'm going to kill you."

Evie did scream then, as chairs crashed to the ground and the men in the room scrambled to their feet.