"Tell us what happened, E—" He corrected himself and finished, "Mrs. Peyton."
Evie pulled the coat around her, let her gaze flicker over the men pushing through the bedroom door, and waited.
Tyler sighed, gestured at Ben, and between the two of them, they shoved the sightseers back out into the hall and slammed the door.
"The children are waiting, Mrs. Peyton, if you could hurry?" Tyler prompted politely.
That did the trick. Evie was on her feet and heading for the door. "Some donkey grabbed me in the alley, covered my mouth with his nasty hand, stuck a rag in it, and dragged me up here. I couldn't see his face. Like I said, he had it covered with a sack, and there weren't any lights. He smelled like horse manure." She stopped to pull Tyler's coat over her arms and around her torn bodice, then turned to look at the men waiting for the rest of the tale.
"He told me if I behaved, everything would be all right. I didn't recognize his voice. I'd say he was a head taller than me, maybe not much bigger than Tyler. He wore gloves and boots. When he got me up here, he had to set me down to get that rope." She nodded at the rope no one had noticed lying on the bed. "I knocked over the lantern, kicked the chair, took out the gag"—she nodded at the handkerchief on the floor—"and then you were pounding at the door. He ran for the window and was gone before I could stop him."
Evie reached for the door, then remembering the crowd behind it, turned back to the room. "Tyler?"
Tyler looked at the scrawny boy who was standing, still dazed, in the center of the room. "Go back to the office and write all that down. I'll come back and tell you more if she remembers it."
With that, he caught Evie's arm, gestured at Ben, and holding her protectively to the side nearest the wall, he eased her out the door while Ben pushed the sightseers out of the way.
Evie went without a word. Tyler in shirtsleeves and waistcoat was still an impressive sight to see. Only one person questioned his right to lead her away. Jonathan Hale stepped out of the crowd to confront them.
"Mrs. Peyton, I came running as soon as I heard the screams, but apparently your friend here was quicker." He sent Tyler a look of mixed irritation and suspicion before turning back to Evie. "Are you sure you're all right? I could arrange for your security. It is difficult to trust anyone in times like these. I hope you realize you can rely on me."
Evie looked down at the lawyer's hand grasping hers and wondered what in heaven's name he was talking about.
Tyler disengaged her hand and half carried her past the irate lawyer without a word.
Gratefully, Evie followed Tyler down the back stairs that she had just been dragged up, not protesting his strong arm at her back. She could hear Ben clattering behind them, but her thoughts drifted to the children and Daniel.
She tried not to think of the man holding her. As they popped through the back door into the alley, she asked the question uppermost in her mind. "Do you think he was one of the thieves who escaped?"
It was the same thought Tyler had been chasing around in his head. She wasn't going to like his conclusion. "Maybe we better get back to the house before we talk."
Evie accepted that. She was suddenly very tired. Her arm ached where it had been yanked behind her. Since she had left St. Louis, she had been subjected to more overt hostility than she had ever suffered in her life. If this was what real life was like, she wanted her Nanny back. She would take her adventures from between the covers of a book from now on.
Before they reached the house, Tyler was nearly carrying her. Ben grabbed the door to let them in. Evie looked up to see Daniel and Carmen safe and waiting with terrified expressions, and she started for the bedroom to check on Maria.
Tyler caught Evie's arm, removed his coat from her shoulders, swung her into his arms, and carried her into the bedroom. Maria was already sound asleep in the big bed. Tyler laid Evie beside her, brushing a kiss across her forehead.
"I'd take your clothes off, but I'd shock the children. Get some rest. I'll be right outside until morning, so you don't have to worry about a thing."
He was saying words Evie wanted to hear. She closed her eyes and nodded. Tyler would take care of everything. He would make certain Manuel and Jose were in their beds, keep away the goblins, and explain everything to Daniel. She could just lie here and pretend she was back home in St. Louis.
Except she wasn't in St. Louis. As she lay there, inert, Evie could hear the low rumble of Tyler's voice in the next room. She wanted that voice whispering in her ear again. She wanted his arms around her waist. She wanted his body in the bed next to her, holding her, keeping her warm, making her feel good again.
Just the thought brought a flush from her head to her toes. She wanted Tyler naked next to her. Would he know she thought things like that? The idea didn't bear considering. Her imagination had gone completely out of hand to think such things.
In the next room, Tyler heard the sound of Evie rising from the bed, her shoes falling to the floor, her bare feet pattering across the old wood as she took off her gown. He kept his explanations to Daniel and Carmen brief. He didn't think he could concentrate for long on what he was saying while he listened to Evie undressing.
Tyler watched the two youngsters go off to their respective rooms and breathed a sigh of relief. Daniel found the one they called Manuel hiding around the corner and dragged him off by the back of his shirt. Tyler hid a weary grin, threw his hat on the table, and waited for Ben to speak.
"I'm goin' to mosey 'round the hotel awhile. Mind if I borrow your room?"
"Someone might as well get my money's worth out of it." Tyler handed him the key.
Ben looked him up and down carefully, then shook his head. "You a mess, boy. That woman got you by the back hairs. You better get on out or start accepting it."
Tyler scowled and removed his tie. "I'll be back at the ranch on Monday. Just you mind your own business."
Ben gave a sour chuckle and walked out shaking his head. Tyler growled and contemplated going after him, but he had promised Evie he would stay. Sitting down on the pallet and pulling off his boots, he wondered what in hell he'd got himself into this time.
He was almost positive that Evie's abductor wasn't one of the escaped thieves. They wouldn't have hung around or bothered dragging a woman to a hotel room.
Someone was after Evie.
* * *
Back at the hotel, Hale listened sympathetically as Phil ranted about the room's destruction and the fact that since it hadn't been rented to anyone, he had no one to pay the damages. Suggesting that Phil start changing his locks, the lawyer departed on that piece of free advice.
Returning his hat to his head as he reached the street, Hale turned his feet toward the dreary rooms he called home. He showed no surprise as Tom slipped out of the livery to join him.
"Some hero you make," the larger man sneered as he fell in step. "You were right there and still couldn't get to her in time."
"Some criminal you make," Hale replied mockingly. "Your man let her go. Where do you find the stupid bastards?"
"You get what you pay for," Tom replied with unconcern. "That was a damned stupid idea anyway. Women don't look twice at heroes. They like their men strong and mean to keep them in line. Take her out in the woods and put it to her, and she'll be so grateful you won't even have to ask. When you get her back to town, she'll be thoroughly compromised and begging you to marry her."
Hale gave this crudity a look of disgust. "You want to see me shot, don't you? With the likes of that gunfighter hanging around, I'd have a bullet through my middle before I opened my mouth."
Tom pulled thoughtfully at his long cigar. "Sheriff don't cotton to gunfighters. And the bastard's riled a few of my friends. He shot the brother of one of them. Why don't I see what I can do about eliminating your competition?"
Ignoring his roughneck client, Hale took the steps to his room two at a time.
Below him, the red glow of a cigar lingered for a few minutes more, before disappearin
g in the direction of the saloon.
* * *
The next morning, Evie wasn't quite prepared to accept Tyler's conclusions when he gave them, but her own conscience worked against her. As she readied the children for church, she tried to think what she could have said to whom to give herself away, but the lawyer seemed the only logical suspect, and second consideration didn't even make that thought logical. It hadn't been the namby-pamby Mr. Hale who had dragged her up those stairs. And he thought she was just a friend of Evangeline Howell's.
Logan was a little more logical suspect. He'd already been caught once sneaking around the house. Perhaps he hadn't believed her story. She should never have used her middle name. She was beginning to think that it was the cause of all her trouble.
Tyler went back to the hotel to change his clothes, but he was back in time to escort them to church. Evie supposed she ought to be worrying about her reputation, but her mind was on more important things.
Letting the children get farther ahead, she tugged on Tyler's arm and whispered, "Have you told anyone about where I come from or anything?"
Tyler lifted a golden brow and looked down on her. "What is there to tell? I know about as much as anyone around here."
"You know my name is Evie," she pointed out.
"I know you call yourself Evie upon occasion," he agreed, "but I haven't mentioned the fact to anyone. Why?"
She tried a different tactic. "Have you heard anyone mention a family named Howell?"
The children were already in the church. Tyler nodded at the people standing around the church door. Through his smiles, he whispered back, "I remember Jace saying his mother's maiden name was Howell."
Evie's face went pale. "Oh, hell."
A sudden silence fell around them, and she looked up to discover they were standing in the church doorway, and every face in the place was turned toward her.
The acoustics in here were very good.
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."
Texas Rose TH2 Page 23