Page 41 of Prince Charming

  “I thought the boy’s name was Daniel David,” Frank commented. “I must have gotten it wrong.”

  Taylor shook her head. “You weren’t wrong. He’s both names until he decides which one he wants,” she explained. “Mr. Rolly, would you please direct me to Mr. Lewis’s stable?”

  “I’d be honored, Mrs. Ross.”

  Taylor turned to give Victoria a quick summary of the conversation she’d missed.

  “Does the house have wooden floors?” she asked.

  Rolly told her it did. Victoria looked like she was going to swoon, so pleased was she with that bit of news.

  One hour later, sight unseen, Taylor was the proud owner of a two-story house with wooden floors and four fancy glass windows. She and Victoria had also requested papers so that they could file for a hundred and sixty acres of land under the Homesteaders’ Act. Lewis didn’t believe either woman would qualify. Victoria was still a British subject and therefore might not be able to own land in America. He didn’t know if Taylor could file either, since she was married and Lucas might have already filed.

  It didn’t take Taylor any time at all to come to the conclusion that Mr. Lewis was a complete nitwit when it came to understanding and interpreting the law. Even she realized that Lucas would have to sign the papers to transfer ownership, but Lewis was ready to record the deed on her signature alone. He used fancy words to muddle up the legal issue and hide his ignorance.

  She insisted on taking the papers with her for her husband’s signature. Lewis took the twenty dollars she gave him as a down payment. He congratulated her on her new home. She wasn’t certain she owned anything, but she shook his hand anyway.

  Hunter waited with Victoria and the children outside the stable. Taylor showed him the papers and then explained what she had done. He didn’t try to argue with her or remind her that there was still time to turn around and go back to civilization. His reaction was actually quite bizarre. He laughed until tears came into his eyes.

  Hunter, Victoria, and Daniel David walked down the center of the street. Taylor and the twins followed. Georgie needed her shoe retied, and by the time she got the child to stop dancing around her long enough for her to make a proper bow, the trio in front of her had made it all the way back to the general store.

  Everyone wanted to see the house before nightfall. Hunter lifted Victoria up on the wagon seat and then put Daniel David next to her. He turned to wait for Taylor.

  She caught hold of her daughters’ hands and tried to quicken their pace. They walked toward the west. The sky was glorious with the sunset. A vibrant orange crown with red trimmings circled the sun and Taylor’s breath caught in her throat while she stared up at the magnificent sight. She was entranced.

  Georgie pulled her back to reality. “There’s the man, Mama.”

  “What man, sweetheart?” she asked, barely pausing in her adoration to look down.

  “Our man, Mama,” Allie said.

  Taylor came to a dead stop. Dear God, how could she have missed him? Their man, as Allie had called him, was standing in the center of the road. The distance was too great for her to see his expression. She guessed he was frowning.

  “We’re in for it now,” she whispered.

  She wanted to turn around and run for safety. She immediately pushed the idea aside. She wasn’t afraid of Lucas. Yes, he would be angry with her, but after a little while, he’d see the rightness in what she’d done. She sincerely hoped he wouldn’t kill her first.

  She straightened her shoulders and started walking again. The closer she got, the more alarmed she became. He was dressed in buckskin and wore both of his guns in his gunbelt low on his hips. His hands were at his sides. She suddenly had the bizarre feeling that she was walking toward a showdown. Or a shootout. Lucas had the advantage. Lord, she really needed to get hold of herself. It was the sunlight making him look magical and invincible to her. Golden streaks flowed all around him. By the trickery of the sunset, it appeared he had just walked out of the sun.

  She was finally close enough to see his expression. Oh, God, he was furious all right. His eyes were as cold as ice.

  She didn’t know what she was going to say to him. She glanced over at Hunter and saw his smug now-you’re-going-to-get-it expression and wished she was close enough to kick him. She continued to walk toward Lucas and finally came to a stop when she was just a few feet away.

  They stared at each other for long seconds. Taylor noticed he was covered with a layer of dust. He had a beard, too. It made him look all the more intimidating. And wonderful. She was so happy to see him again she wanted to weep. He was everything she could ever want in a man, but what stunned her speechless was the realization that Lucas was beginning to look like a mountain man.

  “Mama?” Georgie called out her name.

  She snapped out of her trance. Then she took a deep breath, plastered a smile on her face, and looked down at her babies to give them her instruction.

  “Say hello to your papa.”

  17

  Our wills and fates do so contrary run.

  —William Shakespeare, Hamlet

  “Are you out of your mind?”

  Lucas asked her the question in a low whisper. He sounded hoarse. He was trying with all his might to control his temper, but the strain was taking its toll. His throat ached with the need to roar. He was shaking with relief because she was still alive and burning with fury because she’d taken such ungodly risks. But she was all right, he told himself for the tenth time. She hadn’t gotten herself killed making the journey. He felt as though he’d died a thousand deaths worrying about her and the children on his race to get to them.

  Taylor had never seen Lucas this angry. She found herself trembling in response to his fury. She wasn’t afraid of him. She was just . . . nervous. She knew she was going to have to stand up to him. He needed to understand how things were going to be.

  “I expected you to be upset,” she began. “But seeing your anger is far worse than imagining it. I could appreciate it if you would try to calm down.”

  “Answer me, Mrs. Ross.”

  She had to force herself not to flinch. “Very well,” she agreed. She tried to make her voice sound soothing. “No, I’m not out of my mind. Allie and Georgie and Daniel David have every right to call you father.”

  She straightened her shoulders and took a step forward. “And until they’re old enough and strong enough to do without parents, they’re stuck with the two of us.”

  She had completely misunderstood what he was asking her. He thought it was deliberate. He ignored her speech about fatherhood and turned her back to the question he most wanted answered.

  “Why did you come here? What in God’s name were you thinking?”

  “We wanted to be close to you.”

  He wasn’t buying it. “I was in Chicago,” he reminded her. “You know where Chicago is, Taylor?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  He nodded. “And so, in order to be close to me, you traveled over a thousand miles in the opposite direction. Have I got that right?”

  “I don’t believe it was even close to a thousand miles,” she remarked.

  He closed his eyes and counted to ten. Then he started over. “When did you decide to come here?”

  She didn’t believe telling him the truth would be a good idea now. He looked close to boiling over. He was spoiling for a fight, but she wasn’t going to accommodate him. They were standing in the center of town, for heaven’s sake, and their audience was growing by the second. She knew no one could hear their conversation. When Lucas got mad, his voice became softer, not louder. She counted that wrinkle in his personality a blessing.

  “I don’t wish to talk about this now,” she told him. “When we have a moment alone, I’ll be happy to answer all of your questions.”

  “I’m taking you back tomorrow,” he announced.

  She shook her head. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  He nodded. They would leave at first l

ight.

  Lucas didn’t want to wait to get his questions answered, but he had calmed down enough to realize this was neither the time nor the place for their discussion.

  “You know what, Papa? You know what?” Georgie was tugging on his pant leg and repeating the question for the fifth or sixth time. She was whispering, and Lucas realized she was trying to imitate him.

  He picked her up and gave her his full attention. He stared into her wide blue eyes and suddenly realized she was going to grow up and drive some peace-loving man out of his mind . . . just like her mother.

  “No, what?” he asked.

  “Mama shot a damned snake.”

  His gaze flew to Taylor. “Is that so?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Children exaggerate.”

  “Up.” Allie shouted her demand and put her arms out. Lucas lifted her into his arms and was surprised when she gave him a wet kiss on his cheek. She rubbed the palm of her hand over his beard, laughed with delight, and then told him her baby got wet and she had to cry about it for a long time. Lucas listened to every word. When she was finally finished with her story and had scrunched up her shoulders and smiled with self-pleasure, he asked her what else her mother had done.

  The twins took turns telling on her. Taylor was astonished by their memories. She was also mortified. Victoria would be, too, she realized, if she knew that Georgie had just told Lucas she was naked and crying and Hunter kissed her anyway.

  Taylor started walking toward the wagon where Daniel David waited with Hunter and Victoria. She heard Georgie complain that her mama wouldn’t let her see the dead cat and immediately quickened her pace.

  Lucas followed her. He put the twins down when he reached Daniel David. The boy suddenly turned shy. He had his hands jammed in his pockets and was staring down at the ground. Lucas had a twin clinging to each leg, which made movement awkward. It didn’t deter him, however. He lifted Daniel David up and gave him a hard hug.

  The child squeezed him back. Lucas whispered something to him, and Daniel smiled while he nodded. Then Lucas settled the boy in one arm and turned to Hunter.

  “I owe you.”

  His friend was in full agreement. “You got that right.”

  Frank Michaels called out to Lucas and started down the steps. The crowd had kept away during the reunion and now wanted to join in. Lucas was surrounded by friends who took turns congratulating him on his marriage.

  The women weren’t ignored. Both Taylor and Victoria were surrounded. Rolly asked for permission to touch their hair. Lucas heard the request and told the giant to keep his hands away from his wife and her friend.

  Rolly immediately turned to Lucas. He had noticed he hadn’t kissed his wife. Did that mean there was trouble brewing in the marriage? Lewis could see about the divorce if that was the case, and Rolly could start in courting Taylor within the month.

  “There isn’t going to be any divorce.” Lucas’s voice was emphatic. He stared at Taylor when he made the announcement.

  He didn’t speak to his wife again until late that evening. It took them two hours to get away from the town. Everyone offered them lodging. First Lucas refused, and then Hunter was asked. He also said no. Taylor was more diplomatic. She thanked them for their offer and then explained that the twins were used to sleeping in the wagon, and that routine was important with all the commotion going on around them. The twins were exhausted and needed a good night’s sleep. The men finally agreed.

  Routine really was important to all three children, Taylor supposed, but the real reason she didn’t want to stay in town was because of her husband. He wasn’t going to continue to ignore her and when the confrontation came, she didn’t want an audience. Since he was being so difficult Taylor decided not to tell him about the house she’d purchased. They could all wait until tomorrow to move in.

  Love and trust. The two words echoed in her mind and with it came the questions. Did you have to have both or could one be enough? She knew the answer but she stubbornly tried to ignore reason. How much did she have to tell Lucas about her past?

  The answer was as clear as the air. She had to tell him everything. Taylor dreaded the task and turned her attention to her children. When she was busy, she could almost push the worries aside.

  They made camp in a meadow just to the south of Redemption. There was a clear-water stream on one side, and the cloistered area was surrounded by trees.

  After supper was finished and the children had been bedded down in one of the wagons, Victoria and Taylor decided to have another bath. Hunter led them to the deeper edge in the stream and then gave them privacy. He told them to call out if they needed him.

  Victoria was a little nervous. The moon was bright enough to see where they were walking, but not sufficient to see beyond the far side of the water. She kept squinting her eyes and scanning the bank, looking for more wild animals ready to pounce, and Taylor was just as apprehensive, though for an altogether different reason. Lucas had her rattled, and dear God, what would she say to him to make him understand she really wasn’t trying to trap him?

  Lucas had disappeared right after supper. He came back to camp an hour later. Taylor and Victoria were sitting on a blanket in front of the fire Hunter had prepared. He sat across from them, and every now and then he would toss a couple of twigs on the blaze to keep it going.

  Both women had put on clean day dresses so they would be modest, but Taylor hadn’t bothered with undergarments. As soon as she climbed into the wagon to go to bed, she would change into her nightgown anyway.

  The men were talking in low voices. Victoria turned to Taylor. “Lucas is still angry, isn’t he?” she asked in a whisper.

  “He’ll get over it,” Taylor whispered back. “As soon as he realizes I won’t be making any demands on him, I’m certain he’ll calm down.”

  “He doesn’t want us here. I heard him tell Hunter he’s going to take us back tomorrow.”

  “We aren’t leaving.”

  “Can he make us?”

  “No, of course not,” Taylor replied. She changed the subject just a little then. “Have you noticed he hasn’t said a word to me in hours?”

  “I did notice. Are you in love with Lucas?”

  Taylor’s gaze turned to her husband. He was leaning back against a tree trunk. His hand rested on his knee. He was listening to something Hunter was telling him. From his dour expression, he wasn’t happy about what he was hearing.

  “I do love him,” she whispered. Her gaze lingered on her husband for a full minute before she forced herself to turn away. “I really must be out of my mind.”

  Victoria kept glancing over at Hunter. She couldn’t seem to make herself stop. She remembered how wonderful it felt to be held in his arms. And when he kissed her . . .

  She pushed the memory aside. Hunter was leaving tomorrow. “‘Men should be what they seem,’” she whispered.

  “William?” Taylor asked.

  “Yes,” Victoria answered. “It’s from Othello. Hunter should be hard and cruel and frightening.”

  “Was that your first impression of him?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Then he started being kind and sweet and considerate.”

  She sounded as though the man had tricked her. Taylor was sympathetic. She understood what her friend was feeling.

  “Georgie told Lucas that Hunter kissed you.”

  Victoria started to blush. Then Taylor told her the rest of the story. “She also told him you were naked.”

  “Oh, God.” Victoria’s face turned bright pink.

  Taylor smiled. “Did you want him to kiss you?”

  Victoria started to shake her head, then nodded instead. “He’s leaving.”

  “You’re certain?”

  “Yes. Why do I feel as though he’s abandoning me? Isn’t that the most ridiculous reaction? I barely know the man.”

  “You know him quite well,” Taylor argued. “You’ve spent every waking minute with him from the minute we left Sioux City u

ntil this evening. You’re falling in love with him.”

  “He’s leaving,” Victoria repeated again. “None of it matters. We’re a sorry pair, aren’t we? Neither one of us has learned from our pasts.”

  “Madam used to tell me I couldn’t always have what I wanted. I can’t seem to learn that lesson.”

  She let out a sigh and turned her gaze to her friend. “You should probably go to bed. You need your rest.”

  “I felt the baby move today. She’s getting stronger.”

  “You’re also strong,” Taylor said. “It was a difficult journey and you never once complained.”

  “It didn’t seem difficult. Hunter kept a slow pace, and if you remember, he insisted I walk by the wagon every afternoon.”

  “I remember he had to drag you out of the wagon on several occasions.”

  Victoria shrugged. “I realize now he had my best interests at heart.”

  “Did he tell you why he’s leaving?”

  “I don’t want to talk about him any longer,” Victoria announced. She gave Hunter a frown and then turned back to Taylor. “Do you think Lucas will want to talk to you tonight?”

  “Probably. I’m dreading it,” she admitted. “I honestly don’t know what I’m going to say to him. I shouldn’t have to soothe him, should I?”

  “Just tell him the truth,” Victoria advised. “If you love him, you’re going to have to start trusting him.”

  “I do trust him.” So easy to say and so difficult to do, she thought.

  Victoria shook her head. “You’ve got an odd way of showing it. You trust him to protect your children, but I don’t believe you trust him with your heart yet.”

  “Why should I?” Taylor realized she’d raised her voice and immediately lowered it to a whisper again when she added, “The man doesn’t want to be married. How do you think he’d react if he knew I loved him?”

  Taylor didn’t wait for her friend to venture an answer. “Trapped,” she whispered. She turned her gaze to Lucas and glared at him, while she wondered why he had to be such a difficult man.