"Wake up," he said softly.
She tried to focus on his face. "My God," she whispered, "I went to sleep. I could have dropped Toddie." Then she saw the firm hold he had on her and the child. Her lips settled into a straight line. ''I needn't have worried. Burkes take care of their own."
"You've got that exactly right, lady. We do."
To emphasize his point, he dismounted, taking the baby with him.
Chapter Two
Sunset gave way to twilight, and a night bird trilled a few melancholy notes. Switching directions, the wind died down. The campfire blazed, then vanished into embers. Aware of changes as he had never been before, T.K. settled Lee and Toddie so he could keep watch over them.
"There's a chance Comanche are in the area, but we're well hidden."
"Is that supposed to make me sleep better?"
"No," he said grimly, "but I wanted you to know. With Quanah Parker leading them, the Indians are mad and hungry."
"Maybe I should be sympathetic."
He stopped beside her and put his hands on her shoulders; then using a finger under her chin, he forced her to look at him. "I'm terribly sorry about your loss, Lee, but face the truth. You're headed toward shelter and security. Why don't you try to make the best of the situation?"
"And the best of the situation is to turn my baby over to the Burkes and trail along behind without a murmur or protest."
"You still have Toddie, and you both survived the tornado, for God's sake. You'll be safe at the Lazy B. Be glad the Comanche didn't find you. Some of the drifters and hide hunters aren't much better."
She shook off his hands, her eyes never wavering from his. "You're saying I don't have a choice."
"That's what I'm saying." He spoke softly. "Try to believe me."
With an impatient sigh, she threaded her fingers through her hair. "There's always a choice."
T.K. gave her time to review her options, then smiled at her. "I suppose." He handed her the knapsack. "We may be longer getting home than I thought. Save the bread for Toddie."
He searched for a limb that would make a crutch. Finding one that would fit under her arm, he gauged the proper height and stripped the bark away. He trimmed and smoothed it; then with a smile and a comic bow, he presented it to her. "For times you prefer to be alone, ma'am."
When the truth struck home, her face turned scarlet. "Is there no limit to your thoughtfulness?"
His grin became wider. "None. Here's a bar of soap."
Before he could hand it to her, she snatched the soap and held up her other hand for him to help her to her feet. Her eyes sparkled. "I can't believe I'm holding a bar of soap." She placed the crutch beneath her arm. "Watch, Toddie."
She hobbled to the stream, clutching the crutch awkwardly but effectively in her hurry to get to the water. He was not surprised when she looked back.
Using hand signals, he pointed to the stream. "Wash."
"Stop staring and turn around!"
Pretending not to understand, T.K. waved cheerfully. "Nothing to worry about, Lee. I'll be right here."
Her frustration became evident in the circling motion she made with her hand. "I need to take off my clothes and wash them at the same time I bathe."
"Go right ahead. You can sleep in my extra shirt while they dry."
She inched off the bank into the water, her skirt billowing out around her. After ducking her head, she lathered her wet hair and began to shampoo briskly. She rinsed, then wriggled out of the skirt.
T.K. chuckled, sobering almost instantly. Maybe shedding her clothes in front of a man wasn't a new experience for her. Or had she just called his bluff?
He turned away from the pleasurable sight and picked up the child. After a while, he glanced back in time to see Lee unbutton the front of her blouse. She fought her way out of the wet, entangling garment, exposing a damp chemise and proud full breasts. Her naked arms gleamed in the dying sun. A memory surfaced of smooth nude shoulders and silky blond hair spread over a pillow. He cursed softly as desire pulsed through him.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
Elise awoke with Toddie squirming beside her, and with returning reality, she remembered the tornado, the disappearance of her stepmother and stepsister, and T.K. Burke's unexpected arrival. Now she and Toddie rode toward a place she had never heard of before, with a man she had never seen until yesterday, who believed she was Lee.
If T.K. Burke found she wasn't Toddie's mother, he'd claim the baby.
At the thought of losing Toddie, tears threatened to engulf her. She had loved and cared for Toddie from the time he was born, which was more than she could say for Lee. In her frantic haste to get to the Boggy Creek Saloon, Lee sometimes forgot she had a baby.
Because of Lee's reputation, Papa had always been adamant. "Don't linger in town," he had intoned righteously. "We can't have people thinking you're like your stepsister. I'm sorry I ever let her take my name. Margaret wanted it, and against my better judgment, I agreed. But I never legally adopted Lee."
Elise had long suspected that her papa's strict instructions were the result of his own reputation. Her stepsister had kept her apprised of all the action at the gambling tables, taking particular delight in reporting her papa's losses.
Even after he had died, Elise had stayed away from Boggy Creek Crossing. Now it seemed a blessing that nobody knew her and that nobody would miss her. Elise DuBois would die in the storm and be reincarnated as Lee DuBois. By assuming the name, she would become Toddie's mother. And nobody could take her baby not even T.K. Burke.
She raised herself on her elbow to steal a look. T.K. stood in the stream, bared to the waist. His big torso shone brown and lean in the morning sun. With absolutely no modesty, T.K. loosened the first button on his pants, lathered himself, then rinsed vigorously, his thick muscles bunching each time he slapped the water. As he strode out of the stream, droplets clung to the dark mat on his chest.
Fascinated, she watched him blot his face with his bandanna, stop long enough to roll and light a cigarette, then squint against the smoke, and don his shirt. She ducked her head before he turned in her direction.
When she glanced up, he quirked a quizzical brow and with a swagger walked toward her. "Don't remember ever having such an interested audience. Maybe we should bathe together. We could save time. I could wash your back," he said, laughing, "and you could wash mine."
"Absolutely not."
"You'll have to admit we don't have many secrets from each other."
Color suffused her face, but she met his eyes. Then in spite of herself, she laughed, too, remembering the use he had made of her skirt. "I suppose not."
"You have a nice laugh and a pretty one."
Her smile faded, and she looked away immediately, at the cliffs, the tops of the trees, and the stream. "Well," she said at last, "we've had baths. And that's a blessing."
"Smell better, too." T.K. patted Toddie's cheek before he picked up his rifle. "I'm going for a rabbit. We've a lot of miles left and Bailey wasn't too generous. Of course, he might have shared all he could."
She shifted uncomfortably. "Do you always think people are honest?"
"Until I find they're not." His jade eyes roamed her face. "From then on, I have trouble trusting them. How about you?"
"Doesn't cost anything to see if people are trustworthy, I suppose." She had no intention of entering a philosophical discussion on the merits of honesty with T.K. Burke. She indicated the pasture or the cliffs. "Which way are you going for the rabbit?"
"Down the stream, where it broadens around the bend." He drew his gun from his holster. "Here's one of my guns. Shoot it if you need to or if there's an emergency and you want me to come back." He stopped. "You can shoot?"
"Papa made sure my education included target practice."
"And what else?"
"The usual: grammar, history, French, mathematics. Sketching, drawing, and painting." She grinned, a little sheepishly. "And"
"My Gawd, there's m
ore?"
In spite of herself, she laughed. "I play cards."
"You're a gambler?"
"One of the best, according to Papa."
Amusement crinkled the lines around his eyes. "Might come in handy sometime, but it's not much of a recommendation for killing a quail or catching a fish. I've a feeling it's up to me to provide our breakfast."
Elise watched his broad back until he disappeared into the brush. With a sinking heart, she realized it would be easy to rely on T.K. Burke for more than rabbits. Truth was, she wanted to be honest with him, but couldn't, and she wondered if he was honest with her.
She washed Toddie and engaged him in a game of patty cake, glancing occasionally at the sun to see how much time had elapsed. She heard shots. A short time later, T.K. emerged from the brush. He carried a rabbit in each hand and wore a broad grin.
"Glad to see me?" he asked.
"Not as much as the rabbits."
"Never thought I'd have to compete with a dead rabbit."
Elise chuckled and Toddie laughed with her; then they all laughed together. For a moment, the world didn't seem quite so harsh.
After replenishing the fire, T.K. skinned the rabbits and soon had them on the fire. "I hope you weren't expecting rabbit stew. Guess I should have asked."
She had trouble maintaining a serious face. "Only the most ill-mannered would think of altering the menu, sir. Besides, rabbit stew ranks right up there with rutabagas and rhubarb pie as my favorite dishes."
Amused, he glanced at her. Then he gave a slow affirmative nod and seemed to have trouble looking away. "The rabbits are turning brown, so it won't be long."
They ate and Elise curled up beside Toddie. "Now I suppose it's time to mount up?" When he didn't answer right away, she lifted lazy lids and met his gaze.
"I suppose so." But he didn't move. Instead, he picked up a stick and started making circles in the sand near his boot. "The old man gave me the ranch. Said he could trust me to run it. He spoiled Patrick. Let Patrick get away with anything, but he wouldn't risk the ranch with him."
Elise seized the opportunity to understand more about Patrick Burke, a different side from the one presented by her stepsister. "Was Patrick resentful?"
"I don't know. He's always been such a hell-raiser."
Elise remembered the chaos Patrick's stay in Boggy Creek Crossing had created. She had never seen Patrick herself, but her stepsister had fallen madly in love with him, and to hear her, most of the young females in the community had succumbed to his charm. Elise's stepsister had been so sure that rich, young Burke wanted to marry her, but Patrick had ridden away one day without looking back, and her stepsister had cried for days. Then her tears had turned to anger.
"Being a hell-raiser is one way of ducking responsibility," Elise said finally.
"Patrick's not all bad, Lee. It may look like that to you. Maybe he was, is too spoiled, and he sure as hell doesn't like to be serious."
Her eyes became sharp and bright. "So he's a clown. Might have known you'd protect him. You're his brother."
T.K.'s grin bordered on laughter. "Is that the best you can do? I expected more, like 'blood will tell' or 'chips off the old block' or"
"Or sooner or later the piper has to be paid? Are you trying to pay Patrick's debt to the piper?"
No longer amused, T.K. distanced himself by getting to his feet. "I'm a Burke. The same blood runs in Patrick's veins that runs in mine." He pointed at Toddie. "And in his."
"And Burkes take care of their own," she quoted, bitterly.
"That's correct, Miss DuBois."
"Are you married?"
"Hell, no. Where'd you get that idea?"
"You hadn't said. I wasn't sure how a wife would welcome Toddie and me."
"People are welcome at the Lazy B when I say they are welcome." He lifted her to lean against his thigh until he could place her on her horse. His gaze shifted to where her breasts strained against the fabric of her blouse. Mocking amusement deepened the grooves on either side of his mouth. "You'll be welcome."
Shivers of awareness rippled through her. T.K. Burke was a dangerous man on several levels. Small, distressing thoughts wandered around in her head. She had caused him some discomfort with her questions, but he had countered with a strategy of his own. She was glad when he placed Toddie in front of her and she could concentrate on something other than the sensual tug of his words and the mesmerizing look in his eyes.
Once on the back of the plow horse, he reached for the baby; at her protest, he shook his head. "We've a way to go. No use tiring yourself out. Besides, the weather's changing. Looks like rain. We may have to make a run for shelter."
Rain! Damnation! What else could happen?
The spring downpour caught them late in the afternoon. At T.K.'s shout, Elise followed his voice blindly, letting her horse choose its own way across the stream and over the rocks to the base of the cliff. T.K. continued to call above the sound of the rain, guiding her toward a rock overhang. Beneath it, the sand was dry. He slid quickly from the horse's back and reached up with a muscular forearm to help her to stand.
She flinched when she put weight on her ankle. With little ceremony, she plunked herself to the ground and held out her arms for the child. ''I saved some bread for you, baby. And I'll bet you could use some dry pants."
T.K.'s exasperation erupted with a curse. "The blanket is damp, dammit. This has been one hell of a spring. A baby shouldn't have to be out on a night like this."
Elise cradled Toddie to her. "He's warm." When she placed the bread in the baby's mouth, he stopped squirming. "How much farther?" she asked. "On second thought, maybe I don't want to know."
"Tomorrow night, if we're lucky." He looked at her hair matted to her head, at her soggy dress. "You're a mess. Better get out of the wet clothes."
Her head jerked up. "And what exactly would you have me put on in their place? The green paisley or perhaps the lavender satin?" She laid Toddie beside her. "Not the lavender. I forgot the matching hat."
Without a word, he sat down beside her. His strong fingers worked at the buttons on her blouse. She was too shocked to react immediately, but after a few seconds, she knocked his hands away. "I'll do it myself."
"Then do it."
The man was an autocrat, pure and simple. With cold, trembling fingers, she unbuttoned her shirt. She glanced up to see him standing beside her holding the blanket. "Well?"
His smile was slow and roguishly wicked. "It isn't as if I hadn't already seen you without it."
"You were a Peeping Tom."
"I wasn't the only one who peeked."
Embarrassed, she turned from him and slipped her arms out of the shirt. "I merely glanced at you to see if you were finished washing." Holding the wet garment in front of her, she flung her head back and whipped out the words, "That was all."
Silence. Then, amusement quirking his mouth, he asked softly, "And was I?"
"I've nothing further to say on the subject. Please drop the blanket around me."
"Yes, ma'am." He mocked her, grinning. "If a Comanche brave happens by, I'll tell him you're my squaw."
"I'd never be anybody's squaw. Besides, squaws aren't blond."
He studied her hair. "Rumor says Quanah Parker's mother had blond hair."
"But she was a white woman kidnapped by the Indians."
"She married the chief."
"Not much of a future."
"Cynthia Ann grew to like it. Became a real squaw, they say."
"You're defending the Indians for kidnapping a white woman."
He squatted beside her, his smoldering gaze locked with hers. "If my woman or my child were taken by the Comanche, I wouldn't rest until I had them back. If it took the rest of my life."
Elise made a show of straightening the blanket about her, shivering from the dampness that penetrated her thin underwear. His woman and his child.
She found the words disturbing, yet strangely comforting.
After an awkw
ard pause, he rose, mumbling something about tending the fire. As he strode past her looking for dry wood, she realized how resourceful he was and how purposeful. He placed her clothes near the fire to dry, dragged the saddle off the buckskin, and tied both horses under the shelter. She remembered the hard chest and powerful arms that had cradled her and Toddie when she had been too fatigued to hold herself erect. What would it be like to sleep all night in those arms?
She closed her eyes to the sound of the crackling fire. In what seemed no more than a few minutes, she awoke to T.K. calling her name. The eastern sky was alight from the sun peeping over the horizon.
T.K. squatted beside her, a black stubble giving him a fierce, wild look. "Time to get up."
Elise groaned. "Already?"
"Jerky for breakfast again." He glanced down at her bare shoulders. "Might want to put your clothes on first. They're dry or nearly so."
With his back to her, he saddled the buckskin, led the horses out, then turned to help her mount. Once astride the plow horse, he guided them out of the canyon. "Aimless here needs a head start if we're to get home by sundown."
"I've heard a man becomes very attached to his horse, especially in emergencies."
A wry smile worked its way around his mouth. "Aimless is still on his feet. He's earned my respect."
T.K. tucked Toddie into the curve of his arm and talked to him, explaining the habits of the animals they saw, the trees and grass, and what to expect when they got to the ranch. With his thumb planted contentedly in his mouth, Toddie listened until sleep closed his eyes.
At times, the buckskin followed too closely, causing Aimless to lurch forward, but his quickened pace soon slackened, and he reverted to his monotonous plodding gait.
T.K. pushed on, and when Elise became convinced she couldn't go a mile farther, he stopped. She slumped in the saddle, too tired to dismount. He helped her down, and that time, she could only lean against him. For one long wavering moment, her face was turned upward to his.
A Leaf in the Wind Page 3