Texas Tiger

chapter 15





"Merry, I'm not going to eat you alive. Why don't we stop somewhere and have a bit of breakfast and discuss this like two rational people?"

"Stop calling me that." Her response was irritable and irrelevant. Daniel's words conjured up uncomfortable sensations that she didn't know how to deal with in these circumstances, and she didn't know how else to reply. Her stomach cried out for food, but she couldn't imagine sitting down across a plate of bacon and eggs with this man just as if they were a real married couple. That was just a shade too intimate for her taste.

And the other sensation causing her agony was even worse. She needed to relieve herself, and there seemed no salvation in sight. She couldn't even remember Daniel's office having anything as civilized as plumbing. What had she done when she had thrown herself out into the cold world beyond her father's safe walls?

"You're right, you're behaving just like your father now. I ought to call you George." Grabbing her elbow, Daniel dragged her into a small side street emanating mouthwatering aromas.

The buildings along this forgotten alley were lined with grime. In wet weather the ground was like a swamp. In dry, it probably consisted of solid ruts and dust so thick a footstep could disturb it. Some of the buildings sported windows with fading letters painted on them. Signs dangling over doorways held the incomprehensible names of their proprietors. Daniel pushed her through the doorway beneath one claiming to be "Mama Sukey's."

The scent of food in here was so strong Georgina could feel her knees weaken. Ham and biscuits came first to mind, and she had a sudden overwhelming desire for the massive breakfasts she had enjoyed when visiting a friend in Kentucky. Mounds of biscuits and bowls of gravy and platters of eggs and ham danced dizzily in her mind. She just might faint from hunger.

Before Georgina could crumple into the nearest chair, a diminutive black woman emerged from the back and gave a holler of welcome, opening her arms and smiling warmly at sight of Daniel. "Danny Boy, where you been keepin' yo'self? I got them fresh aiggs just the way you like them, and you ain't been here to enjoy them."

The woman nearly crushed Daniel in her embrace before she discovered Georgina standing nearby. With a whoop she put Daniel aside, placed her gnarled hands on her hips, and looked Georgina up and down. "What you got here, honey? She sure enough looks like she could use some feeding up. You done brought her to the right place."

"Sukey, meet my wife, Georgina. Georgina, Sukey is the best cook this side of the Ohio, and she'd be the best cook on the other side, too, if her mama hadn't already claimed that title."

Sukey beamed. "My, my. Little Daniel done growed up and got himself a wife. Does my boy Ben know 'bout this?"

"I'm sending out the wires this morning. Is he in Texas or Natchez now?"

"He been sniffin' 'round a little girl down Natchez way, so I s'pect that's where he's at now. Those folks of yours likely to be there, too, now that it's summer. You'd best let them know what you gone and done or they'll be almighty hurt. Now you sit down here and let me whup you up a real meal."

She started toward the kitchen, but Daniel called her back. Gesturing with a modicum of embarrassment to Georgina, he asked, "Can you take Georgina back to wash up? I kind of dragged her away without giving her a chance to prepare."

Georgina sent him an incredulous look, but gladly took the excuse to hurry away. She just prayed that whatever served as a washroom in this place was clean.

When she returned sometime later, considerably relieved and in a tidier condition, she found Daniel already seated at a table mounded with just the kind of breakfast she had been dreaming of and topped off by cinnamon rolls so light they practically floated from the plate. As wedding breakfasts went, this was more than adequate.

Sighing with contentment as she sipped the steaming coffee, she ignored the covert look Daniel sent her, but the half smile that appeared a moment later caught her attention. She frowned and put down her fork filled with eggs.

"Don't look so smug, Daniel Martin or Mulloney or whoever you are. I'm still furious, and I'm going to find a way to get even."

"With whom? Me or Peter or the world?" He dug into his fried ham with fervor. "And what's the point? It's over and done, and we have work to do. There isn't time for plotting revenge."

Her fork lingered uncertainly in midair as she considered his complacency after the morning's events. But the mention of work kept her tongue from flapping loosely. Georgina regarded him with a measure of caution. "You'll let me work? Doing what?"

"Until I can figure out how to get your equipment back from your father, I guess I'll use you to do some of the interviewing. Both Mulloney and your father hire lots of women, and I think they'll talk to you easier than they will to me. I know word has got out that talking to us could cost them their jobs, but I have a plan for that. We need to turn Audrey and Janice to our side first, then we'll be rolling."

It didn't seem credible. Georgina had already seen the trouble she had caused and the resentment that resulted. She wasn't at all certain she would be welcome in that side of town ever again, and after the incident with those two bullies, she wasn't certain she wanted to go. She was beginning to think she would have done better staying in the part of town that she knew, digging through the courthouse records and going to dinner parties, instead of prying where she wasn't welcome.

Her doubts must have shown on her face. Daniel looked up from his feeding frenzy to scan her expression. "You're not backing out now, are you?"

"I don't seem to be very good at it," Georgina answered miserably. "I don't seem to be very good at much of anything."

Daniel grinned and the gray of his eyes practically sparkled. "I imagine there are one or two things you might be good at with practice if that kiss was any example, but I suppose we ought to reserve them until you've decided whether or not you want to be married. I'm looking forward to our wedding night."

Horrified, Georgina stared at him. "You said this was only temporary. You said we wouldn't really be man and wife!"

Daniel shrugged and popped a strawberry into her mouth. "We won't, not until you say so. But don't take too long making up your mind. It's hard being a faithful husband when there's no wife to be faithful to."

She accepted the warning for what it was and lost her appetite. She would either have to move out on her own in truth, or accept Daniel as her husband. He wouldn't wait forever. It was a terrible decision to have to make. She was glad she didn't have to make it immediately.

Filled to overflowing, they traversed the streets more sedately a little while later. Georgina didn't even object when Daniel wrapped his fingers around hers and held her hand. She rather liked the casual possessiveness of his grasp. Peter had never held her hand. He had always offered his arm when required, but even a stranger on the street might do that. She liked knowing she was a little more than a stranger on the street.

She didn't like the direction they were taking, however. She recognized it instantly, and her heart beat in trepidation as the scarlet geranium came in sight. She didn't want to deliberately walk into a place where she would be looked on with scorn. She pulled on Daniel's hand, trying to hold him back, then trying to escape when he continued walking.

His hand crushed hers as he glanced back at her. "You can't hide from the world, Georgina. You have to confront it and shake your fist at it and go on. I have enough battles of my own to fight. I don't want to have to fight all yours, too."

That got her dander up. Glaring at him, Georgina caught up her skirt and stalked down the street. She wasn't any vapid heroine who needed a white knight to rescue her. Janice Harrison was an arrogant pigheaded fool, and she was going to prove it to her.

She did very well when the spry old lady answered the door. Georgina smiled and greeted her and pushed her way into the house without invitation. That was when her determination faltered.

Janice knelt beside a makeshift bed in the front room, a look of worry and exhaustion lining her porcelain face in shades of gray. On the bed lay a frail golden-haired child, her closed eyelids veined in blue. Even her lips were blue against the pinched thin skin of her face. Georgina halted, speechless, while Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder.

Even in her weariness, Janice's anger came through as she looked up at the intruders. "Get her out of here," she whispered, not moving from the child's side.

"Georgina's my wife, Janice. We're here to help whether you like it or not. Betsy's had another of her spells?" He nodded toward the child on the bed.

"She walked clear out to the end of town, looking for wild strawberries, then some fools tried to steal her pail, and she had to run all the way home. The doctor said she shouldn't overexert herself. Her heart's too weak to stand it." didn't comment on Georgina's new status.

That didn't keep the old woman from cackling over it. "Found yourself a good man, did you?" She gestured toward a lumpy stuffed chair near the door. "Have a seat. It's good to see a smiling face once in a while."

Janice scowled, but taking one look at Daniel's expression kept her from driving their visitors away. Instead, she gave Georgina a malicious glance. "What happened to your rich beau? Frighten him away?"

"I couldn't marry a man who would hire a scoundrel like Egan." Georgina took the seat offered although she was certain her light gown would be soiled forever. There wasn't any way these people could beat out the grime that coated this neighborhood.

Janice snorted. "I could marry a man with two heads and horns if he could give me everything Peter Mulloney could give me. You're a fool."

Georgina smiled sweetly. "I'll introduce you two sometime."

"If you'd married him, you could have persuaded him to fire Egan and fix up these places," Janice pointed out, dipping a sponge into a basin and carefully mopping her sister's forehead.

"If I'd married him, I could have grown old talking to the walls. It would have done as much good. The only way to persuade Peter to do anything is from the wrong end of a gun." Georgina looked up to Daniel hopefully. "Could we do that? Could we hold him at gunpoint and force his father to sign over the houses or something? I'd dearly love to see Peter at the wrong end of that rifle."

Daniel's lips quirked up in agreement, but then he turned his attention back to the woman at the bed. "Do you have more of that medicine the doctor prescribed last time? That seemed to work."

Georgina felt a breeze of emptiness pass between them as she, too, turned back to look at the small tableau. The rapport she had found with Daniel before had just been wishful thinking, after all. They were two completely different people with different backgrounds and different goals. How could she have imagined that he needed her, even for a single minute? Like Peter, he was all business. It was just that Daniel's business was more to her liking than Peter's.

Janice who was evading Daniel's question by murmuring something about medicine not being necessary. Georgina didn't think it took a woman to understand that Janice was too proud to admit that they couldn't afford the doctor or medicine, but it might take a woman to tactfully suggest a solution.

Before Daniel could reply, she interrupted. "Which doctor do you use?"

Janice frowned, but said, "Dr. Phelps."

Georgina nodded her head knowingly. "Dr. Phelps owes me a favor or two. I think it's time to call them in. Why don't I send him over here just to make certain Betsy doesn't need something else? He won't charge you if he knows what's good for him."

Daniel's hand closed over Georgina's shoulder as he talked over Janice's protest. "We'll go do that right now. But if you don't mind, I'd like you to think if there aren't some other women from Hanover Industries who might be interested in talking to us—maybe some who don't work there anymore. Make a list, and we'll come by to get it later. Is Douglas still going to help with the deliveries? I'm expecting this next edition to really raise dust."

He understood. Georgina sighed in relief and stood up, taking Daniel's arm as he led her toward the door with Janice's assurances that her brother would be ready. He had not only understood what she had tried to do, but he had helped her. She would dearly like to meet the family that had raised this marvelous man. And then tell them to break his habit of telling lies.

Outside, as they hurried down the street, Daniel glanced down at her and asked, "You don't really know Dr. Phelps, do you?"

Georgina smiled blithely. "Never heard of him. But I have my quarterly allowance and I'm certain he will go anywhere we ask with the proper enticement. That child looked horribly ill to me."

"She had a fever that injured her heart. She probably won't live to be an adult. Are you sure you want to throw away your coins? There won't be any more where those came from."

Georgina jerked her hand away and glared at him. "Stuff it up your shirt, Mulloney." She stalked away without a backward glance.

Daniel's laughter followed her up the street.

It was a heck of a way to start a marriage, but much better than contemplating what would happen in the night to come.