She didn't know what to make of his behavior during the past two weeks. She hadn't expected him to leave when she ordered him to, but she hadn't expected him to change either.
Yet he seemed to have done exactly that. The only thing he did without asking was cook. Then half the time he asked her what she wanted. The rest of the time he acted like a regular hand. He answered any question Rio put to him, but he didn't volunteer any information and refused to do anything until Daisy had approved it.
A few times she almost laughed watching him struggle with himself. Taking over was so natural that most of the time he didn't even realize what he was doing.
All the while her resolve not to marry him had been slipping a little each day. Tyler had volunteered to take the rustlers to Albuquerque. They didn't know who was behind the scheme, but they had told Tyler of plans to overrun Greene and Cordova. Tyler wanted to talk to his brother, but she had insisted that Rio go instead, that Tyler send a message to his brother. She should have recognized that as the first sign she didn't want him to leave.
She suspected she had first fallen in love with him because he saved her life, had pampered and cared of her. But she truly loved the man who had spent the last two weeks at her side. He wasn't really different from the Tyler she knew at first. He had just become a more complete person.
She had gradually come to realize it wasn't so bad to be looked after, especially when she only had to speak up if she didn't like something. That was new to her. She hadn't known it could work that way.
But Tyler left the day before, and he hadn't said anything about coming back.
It felt strange riding without him. She kept looking for him, waiting for him to appear. She felt lonely. She had come to depend upon his companionship even more than his knowledge of ranching. The empty hills seemed emptier without him. She had been telling herself it was time for him to go, but she realized now she had been hoping he wouldn't. She was finding it painfully difficult to adjust to his absence. She didn't just love him. He had become part of her.
"I wonder what he's doing," she said aloud to her horse, a sure-footed gelding Tyler had chosen for her. "I'm sure it's something I told him not to do."
But that didn't seem so bad. She smiled to herself. No one had ever caused her to have more contradictory feelings. No one had ever caused her to question everything she believed. If he'd stayed longer, she probably would have followed him. She appreciated all his help -- she admitted she wouldn't have done the work without it, especially after Greene and Cordova's men left -- but it was time she started depending on herself.
Daisy had to admit things didn't feel so good without Tyler. For the one hundredth time, she told herself to put him out of her mind. She had urged him to go. She had told him she wouldn't marry him. Now she had to learn to live with her decision.
That made it all the more miraculous when, after having traveled barely two miles from camp, Daisy saw Tyler ride out of a small dip in the ground. She was shocked at her body's response. She felt light-headed, her heart beat faster, her breath was quick and shallow, her nerves felt strung to the breaking point. Her mind was incapable to holding on to a single thought. She knew she stared at him like she didn't have a brain in her head.
"I thought you had gone back to your claim," she said.
"I decided to take a look around in case more rustlers had shown up."
"Why are you putting off going back? Finding gold used to be the most important thing in the world to you." Talking helped Daisy return to normal, or as close to normal as she could get this morning.
"I discovered something I hadn't known before."
"What was that?" What did she want it to be? She was afraid to ask herself that question because she wasn't sure she was ready for the answer.
"I discovered you were more important to me than the gold."
"I've already told you--"
Despite the fact that they rode different horses, Tyler grabbed her and kissed her so hard she couldn't breathe. She came up gasping like a fish out of water.
"I missed kissing you last night," Tyler said. "You've got yourself so balled up with this talk about freedom you probably see it as trying to force you into something you didn't want."
"A kiss isn't exactly the same as ordering me around," Daisy said, trying hard to regain her equilibrium.
"I know that now. I guess -- I know -- I'm a slow learner. But once I get something learned, I've got it forever."
"And what have you learned?" she asked breathlessly.
"That I love you, and I'm going to marry you even if I have to carry you off over my saddle."
Daisy didn't know why that should strike her as funny any more than why it should suddenly make her short of breath. This was the worst kind of domination, and fool that she was she wasn't even angry at him.
"You couldn't carry me over your saddle. Your horse would break a leg."
Daisy could never quite figure out how he did it, but before she knew what was happening, Tyler had her out of her saddle and across his. Nightshade didn't seem to notice the extra weight. But that didn't surprise Daisy. She felt incredibly lightheaded.
"Put me down," she said, holding tight to Tyler to keep from falling. Nightshade was almost a foot taller than her own horse. She felt like she was a mile off the ground.
"I can put up with your maligning me, but I wouldn't have you maligning my horse."
Daisy decided his mind had snapped. He'd been trying too hard to act like an ordinary human, smiling, talking, working around cows he hated. She'd have to be nice to him until she could get back on her horse and get some control of the situation. Meantime she shouldn't do anything that would upset him.
"What are you going to do with me?"
Tyler kissed her. "This for a start."
Daisy laughed. Tyler's foolishness was beginning to infect her. She wondered if it was in the blood, if her father's mania for gold was equivalent to her infatuation with Tyler. Something had to explain how she could so blithely accept his transformation from a silent, brooding prospector to a carefree cowhand. The transition ought to have floored her.
She would have been instantly suspicious of such a change in Guy.
Her metamorphosis from a browbeaten daughter to ranch owner had been equally stunning, and he continued to accept her never-ending string of demands. But this didn't seem to be the time to explore such an idea, no matter how intriguing. She was teetering in the saddle, fearful that any minute, despite Tyler's strength, she would find herself pitchforked into one of the junipers that covered the hills.
"We can't go riding around kissing like a couple of irresponsible kids."
"Why not? I've never felt irresponsible. I didn't know how much I'd been missing. I intend to make up for it now."
Daisy decided, reluctantly, that though this was fun, it must end. "Put me down," she said, pulling herself from his embrace. "If anybody saw me, my reputation would be ruined."
"Would you marry me then?"
"No."
"Why?"
"A Randolph couldn't marry a ruined woman."
"A Randolph can marry anybody he pleases."
Balked at that excuse, Daisy tried another tactic. "You wouldn't want to ruin me. You're too much of a gentleman."
"Not if it would convince you to marry me."
"It wouldn't. I'd feel you were marrying me because you had to."
"Even if I'd intentionally ruined you?"
"Yes."
"But that's totally illogical."
"No, it's not. It makes perfectly good sense."
"Then if I don't ruin you, you'll marry me."
"You know I don't want to get married. I realize now I never did. I just thought I had to."
"Suppose I let you boss me around, make all the decisions."
Daisy had to laugh. The notion of Tyler being told what to do for as much as a single day was ludicrous. He didn't know how to take orders. He would immediately start figuring out how to give
orders without appearing to give them, just like he had these past weeks.
"You'd last a week, maybe, then you'd head up into those hills as fast as Nightshade could carry you." A flash of light caught Daisy's eye. "You ought to try digging on that outcropping over there," she said, pointing to a rounded hill about two hundred yards away. "I just saw the light flashing off some rocks. There ought to be plenty of--"
Insanity exploded all around her.
Chapter Twenty-six
Tyler pushed her so low in the saddle she could hardly breathe. He jerked on Nightshade's reins causing the infuriated gelding to squeal and rear in protest. The whizzing sound of a bullet preceded the sound of a rifle shot by only a fraction of a second.
Nightshade screamed, Tyler dug his heels into the big gelding's flanks, and the horse started down the trail at a dead gallop. A second shot came uncomfortably close.
Tyler turned Nightshade off the trail, weaving an erratic path through mesquite, pine, and juniper making it impossible for the killer to get a clear shot at them. The attacker fired half a dozen more shots, but they could have been fired in hopes of getting lucky. Tyler used the trees and terrain for cover until they dropped behind a low ridge. Keeping low in the saddle, Tyler kept Nightshade in a gallop until they reached the camp. Daisy's sorrel followed them in.
Daisy slid from the saddle almost too weak to stand on her own. She was ready to drop to the ground when she saw the bloody crease across Nightshade's chest.
"He's been shot!" she said.
"It's just a crease," Tyler told her after he had checked the wound despite Nightshade's objections. He looked up. "If Nightshade hadn't reared, that bullet would have killed you."
Daisy did sink to the ground then. "Do you think that was a rustler, maybe a friend of the men we captured?"
"No. That's the man who killed your father. I guess he didn't go to Montana."
The killer was after her again! She had been riding all over those hills without giving him a thought.
"I shouldn't have accepted Cochrane's word," Tyler said. "I should have realized there was a possibility he would come back. He could have killed you any time."
"But how did you know he was there? All I saw was the sun reflecting off a rock."
"I've been over every square foot of those hills, and there are no rocks that can reflect the sun like that. It had to be the reflection off his rifle barrel."
So if she hadn't noticed the flash, if he hadn't made Nightshade rear, she would be dead.
Daisy was badly shaken, but she was also angry. "I've got to find out who this man is and why he's so determined to kill me."
"The answer must lie in Albuquerque. I'm taking you back. Hurry and pack. I want to reach town before dark."
"I don't want to go back."
"You were already planning to go."
"I won't run away."
"It's not running away to keep from getting yourself killed. We can't stay here, even if you sleep in the shed. He almost killed you once before while you slept. I won't chance it again."
"I'd like to know what gives you the right to think you can order me around?" Daisy said.
"This isn't about rights," Tyler said. "It's about keeping you alive."
"But I want to decide how to protect me."
"Fine. Decide to go to Albuquerque."
"That's not what--"
"And decide to stay at the hotel with Hen and Laurel. I don't trust Guy to look after you."
Daisy was furious. He hadn't changed a bit. It was all a trick, a pretense. Let the first little thing happen, and he was just as bad as ever. She opened her mouth to tell him she wasn't going to run to Albuquerque like a scared rabbit when Rio came galloping into camp.
"What was the shooting about?" he asked.
"Someone shot at Miss Singleton," Tyler told him. "The killer is back."
"You must go to Albuquerque," Rio said to Daisy. "You must not come here again until the man is dead."
"That's what I told her, but she doesn't want to go."
"You want to get killed?" the little man exclaimed. "You want to break my heart, put Jesus out of a job?"
Daisy wondered why her life should have the feel of a melodrama. Nothing like this ever happened to Adora.
"You will have a job."
"Not if you die. Senor Cochrane will buy the ranch like he buys all the others. The senor does not like Jesus and me. He will not give us jobs."
"Why should Mr. Cochrane want her land?" Tyler asked. His attention was suddenly intent.
"He wanted everybody's land," Rio said. "He got Cordova. I think he got Greene, too. Senorita Daisy is the last one."
"Well, I'm not going to die," Daisy said, "and I'm not going to sell my land. You and Jesus will have jobs as long as you want them."
"Good, then you will go to Albuquerque."
"That doesn't mean--"
"Yes, she will," Tyler said. "Why don't you help her pack? I'll see to the horses." He spoke absently, like his thoughts were elsewhere.
"I'm not going," Daisy called after him.
"Do not be a foolish woman," Rio said. "Go with the man. He will see no one harms you."
"But I can take care of myself."
Rio looked at her with an expression she could only describe as fatherly. "What good is it to take care of yourself if you are alone?"
Daisy started to protest, then closed her mouth
"Go with him. Let him take care of you. He will do it very well. And you can take care of him."
"He doesn't need me. He does everything better than I do."
"On the outside, yes. But on the inside he is like a child, frightened and alone. He will not let other people help. He will let you."
"Tyler isn't afraid of anything."
"He's afraid of what other people can do to him. I know. I watch him. He is like a man playing a part."
"Why should he do that?"
"Because he wants you to marry him."
"If he's changed, if he really--"
"A man like him cannot change," Rio said. "He is made one way. That's how he will stay. A woman who marries him must take him as she finds him."
"I find him overbearing and bossy. I had enough of that."
"He bossy because he cares for you."
"Then he'd better learn to show it another way."
"You better learn how to let a good man take care of you. If not, you will end up old woman alone."
Daisy was stunned by the vehemence of Rio's words. She was even more startled when he walked away, leaving her to do her packing alone. She felt a flash of anger. Rio was supposed to be her friend. He had no right taking Tyler's side against her.
He didn't understand why she needed to be free. No man seemed to understand. They all seemed to think she ought to pick out a husband and hand her life over to him. Well she couldn't do that. She loved Tyler. Just the thought of their night of love was enough to send a battering ram pounding against the walls of her resolution, but she would not give in. She had waited all her life for this freedom. She would not give it up.
"I thought women were good at packing?"
Daisy came out of her reverie to find Tyler staring at her. He had everything ready. She had done nothing.
"I was thinking."
"You can think when we get to town."
Daisy started grabbing her things and stuffing them into her bedroll and the saddle bags Tyler handed her. "You haven't changed a bit, Tyler Randolph," she fumed. "You were just pretending, trying to fool us both. And you almost had me convinced. I guess I was fool enough I wanted to believe -- so badly I was willing to forget everything else and--
"And what?" Tyler asked. "Were you willing to forget everything and marry me?"
That one word had the power to stop her cold. It was bondage, slavery, subjugation. She couldn't do that.
"I don't want to marry anyone."
"But you would have been willing for me to keep on living here, helping you with the ranch, m
aybe even making love to you."
Daisy blushed. She hadn't gone so far as to put that into conscious thought, but she guessed that's what she'd been thinking. She did love him, she didn't want him to leave, but she was afraid to surrender to him.
"I haven't decided exactly what I want," she said. "Things keep changing so fast."
"Things have changed pretty fast for me, too, but I know I want to marry you," Tyler said. "I want to love you for the rest of my life. I want to wake up each day knowing I'll have another twenty-four hours with you. But when I think you're in danger, I'm going to do everything I can to protect you. If I have time, I'll explain. If I don't, I'll do what I must."
"I'm not asking you to change. I love you the way you are, but I can't marry you. Please leave it at that."
"No."
"No?"
"I've spent three years looking for gold. I suppose I can spend at least three years trying to win you."
"But I've just said--"
"You've only been here a few weeks. You might decide you don't like it. Or you might decide you like me even better."
"I'm never going to give up the power to choose," Daisy declared.
"We all give it up at sometime. It's just a question of when and to whom. For the moment, you've given it up to me."
"I didn't give it up. You took it."
"No, you gave it."
Daisy wanted to argue the point further, but he didn't give her a chance. He tied to saddle bags and bedroll to the saddle, gave Rio and the newly arrived Jesus a string of orders, helped her into the saddle, and they headed for Albuquerque.
All the way to town Tyler talked about the weather, the prospects for grazing for the coming summer, the number of cows she could expect to calve, the number of unbranded calves to look for in the fall, the number of years she would have to wait before she would have a full crop of steers for sale, the prices she could expect, the best markets, how to get the cattle there, the number and kind of hands she ought to hire, the traits to look for in a good foreman, the kind of house that would work best, where she ought to place some dams to control runoff and help irrigate. The topics he covered seemed as endless as the miles that rolled by.
All the while Daisy racked her mind for ways to prove to Tyler she wanted to be truly free of all men. She was still trying to come up with a solution when they reached town and dismounted in front of Post's Exchange Hotel. She had hardly stepped into the lobby when the clerk announced, "I was just about to send somebody out to your place, Miss Singleton. Your uncle and cousin from New York are here."
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