Evie wasn't timid by nature. She reached out to scrape her fingers across Tyler's beard, liking the texture. "It's sort of like being handed a box of chocolates and knowing you'll be sick if you eat them all but not knowing when to stop, isn't it?"
Tyler grinned and slid his arms around her and rolled over on his back, pulling Evie with him. Her hair cascaded in a waterfall around them. He pulled the mass over her shoulder. "I've no taste for chocolates before breakfast. A sweet juicy orange is more what I had in mind. I've never got sick on oranges yet."
Evie gasped as Tyler suckled at her breast. She should have known what was coming, but ii hadn't occurred to her that they could do "that" in this position. But he was making it very obvious that they could. One large hand pressed at her hip, guiding her downward, and just the thought of what was waiting there made her ready.
A pounding on the door overrode their sweet murmurs. Evie jumped at the noise, but Tyler wasn't so swift to allow the intrusion. Holding her still, he continued to ply his tongue and teeth in little nips along her throat.
"The whole damned river's coming out of its banks! We've got to get to the horses." Ben's voice was peremptory and accompanied by staccato curses and continued pounding.
Tyler grimaced. "That's what happens when you treat them as equals. No courtesy at all. I expect better from you, woman."
Frightened by Ben's words, frustrated by the interruption, Evie remained frozen until she heard this crack. Tyler's humor belonged on the gallows. Pinching him in a soft place beneath his arm, she slid away, rolling up in the sheet as she did so.
"Expect to be disappointed then." She pulled the sheet defiantly over her breasts. She wasn't about to do what he had in mind with Ben standing outside the door, pounding it like a bass drum.
"I like a little sauce in the mornings." Tyler grinned, grabbed the sheet, and tugged as he swung his legs over the bed. "Ben, stop that infernal pounding before I come out there and throw you over the rail," he shouted at the door. "I'll be there shortly."
Evie scurried for cover as Tyler pulled the sheet around him, leaving her naked, but not before he got a good glimpse of hips and buttocks before she covered herself with a blanket.
"There's no sense in getting dressed," he reminded her as he stepped behind the dressing screen to pull on his pants. "It won't take long to get the horses to high ground. Ben's just an old worry wart. I'll bring up some coffee and biscuits when I come back."
Evie wasn't paying him any mind as she wandered to the window with the blanket around her. She had every intention of going next door to see how Daniel fared. If Tyler Monteigne expected an obedient wife who bowed to his every whim, he'd certainly taken on the wrong woman.
Her gasp as she looked out the window brought Tyler to her side. He looked over her shoulder, cursed, and leaving his shirt unbuttoned, fell down in the chair and began tugging on his boots. "That river was only a trickle the other day. Where the hell did that come from?"
Stunned by the immensity of the rapidly spreading waters, Evie could only stare outside as Tyler finished dressing. The nearly dry riverbed she had noticed when they arrived in town was now filled to overflowing. Water poured down the streets, lapping at the boardwalk, and seemed to rise even as she watched. Bales of cotton floated down the alley below. An empty crate bumped against a post by the sheriffs office. Men were loading up wagons with goods from the various businesses up and down the street, and the water was halfway up the wheels.
"Tyler, be careful out there. That current seems awful strong." Evie turned just as Tyler rose from the chair, fastening the rest of his shirt and shoving it into his pants. She didn't know why she should feel concerned about this man who had stolen her independence, but it seemed the natural thing to do.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and started for the door. "That coffee might be a little later than I promised. I'll see what I can do."
He walked out, leaving Evie wrapped in her blanket staring after him. When she realized what she was doing she glanced down and shivered with horror. She was standing here with nothing but a blanket on while she discussed floods and coffee with a man she barely knew.
And the memory of that man between her sheets and gazing down at her sent a hot flood of heat to her cheeks She had never considered herself a wanton before, but it was all too obvious that Tyler Monteigne had made her into one. She was more than certain that ladies simply didn't do those kind of things. Or maybe wantonness ran in the family and her mother wasn't really a lady.
Deliberately turning off those thoughts, Evie washed in the cold water from last night and looked for the most stiffly correct gown that she possessed. Unfortunately she didn't possess many, and she'd been wearing them to school these last weeks. Not one of them seemed suitable for the day after her wedding.
She had to keep the proper gowns clean a little while longer, until she had enough money to have them laundered. It wasn't exactly with resignation that she donned the white Swiss muslin with sprigs of green on the ruffled overskirt and green ribbons at the heart-shaped neck. She liked pretty things, and the schoolteacher clothes had been a trifle depressing.
Evie didn't attempt an elaborate coiffure but twisted her hair in several loops, pinned it, and covered it with an old-fashioned net until she could do more. She had to see how Daniel fared.
He was lying propped against his pillows, throwing wads of paper against the windowpane when she entered. She glanced at the Pecos Martin book in his lap and saw the jagged tears of pages ripped from the seam. She wasn't going to question that particular piece of rebellion.
"The water's up to door fronts now. It's a good thing we're on the third floor." Evie lifted her skirt from the unswept floor and went to the window to check the flood's progress.
Daniel studied her turned back sullenly. "I suppose Monteigne is out there making a hero of himself."
Evie raised her eyebrows as she turned around. "He and Ben are moving the horses to high ground. What on earth is wrong with you this morning? If your leg is giving you pain, I'll fetch you some medicine."
"I don't want any damned laudanum." Daniel picked up a book from the bedside table. "Ben said he'd bring up breakfast when he got the horses out. You don't have to wait on me."
"Daniel Mulloney, I do believe you're jealous!" Evie threw herself down in the overstuffed chair and watched the dust fly up. The discovery of Daniel's feelings had floored her, but she didn't intend to let him know that.
"I am not!" Red-eared, Daniel slammed his book down against the covers and glared at her. "I just don't see any reason why you had to go and get yourself married like that. And I don't believe for a minute that you're..." He stumbled over the word and turned even redder.
"Pregnant? With child? Enceinte? I'm not sure I believe it, either." It would be easier to lie, but Evie didn't like lying about this, not to Daniel. He deserved better than that. But her words sounded cruel even to her ears. Heaven help her, what was she going to do with a child?
Daniel relaxed as the subject came out in the open. He looked at her with curiosity. "You said you didn't think you'd ever get married. I didn't think you even liked men. You flirt all the time, but you never get serious."
Evie examined her nails. "Well, things happen, I guess." She didn't want to say that she didn't have much choice. There was no sense in Daniel hating Tyler. They would have to learn to live together somehow and Daniel needed a man in his life. She wouldn't have chosen Tyler had she been given a choice, but beggars couldn't be choosers. "At least Tyler is a little more fun than most." Remembering what they had done in bed, Evie didn't think "fun" was the correct word, but she let it slide.
Daniel didn't say anything, and Evie suspected his mind had followed the same path as hers. They were closer than brother and sister, but the topic of sex had never been discussed between them, and probably never would. That was one reason Daniel needed Tyler.
He finally ended the silence with an awkward question. "Is he going to find you a
house? I wouldn't mind living somewhere besides a hotel for a change. I'm starving right now."
"We haven't discussed it. I'm of the impression that Tyler doesn't have much more money than we do. I suspect we'd better keep on looking for our checks and waiting for that lawyer to turn up."
Evie rose and checked the window again. The water lapped at the windows of several buildings already. She couldn't see Tyler from this angle. Daniel's room overlooked the livery and the tiny house attached to the rear, not the front entrance where Tyler would be. She hoped whoever lived in the house had moved everything into the stable lofts. It looked as if that back alley behind the hotel and past the house was a valley where all the water from the streets congregated. It rushed along like a river of its own.
She swirled around at a knock on the door, and gave a cry of relief as Ben sauntered in with a tray of coffee and some covered dishes that smelled mighty good. Tyler came in behind him, swiping his dripping hat from his head and leaving it on the floor, discarding his long coat on top of it.
Daniel sent Evie's new husband a suspicious glare, but the smell of food was more overpowering than jealousy. He struggled into a better position as Ben set the tray down beside the bed.
"Flapjacks, folks, and sorghum syrup. Don't eat too fast, it may be all you get the rest of the day. John's packing up his kitchen and moving for higher ground as we speak."
Evie turned a worried gaze to Tyler. "Should we be moving out, too? How long can the water stay this way?"
Tyler's gaze rested on her wholly inappropriate gown before rising to meet her eyes. His smile was gentle as he answered. "We won't let you starve. This is one of the safest places in town, and John is moving his supplies up here. It might not be the best fare, but there will be something to eat in those cans and barrels."
Evie nodded a trifle uneasily beneath the odd glow in Tyler's eyes. She didn't know what he was thinking when he looked at her like that. It wasn't the same look as when he wanted to bed her. She recognized that one well enough. This look came closer to the one he'd had in his eyes that day he'd first proposed marriage. It was almost a haunted look, and she didn't like it.
Evie ate a flapjack without tasting it, sipped at her coffee, and tried to pretend everything was normal. She and Tyler had not once discussed their plans for the future. She had no idea if she would have a house to live in, a place to raise a child, or where the money would come from. Until these last few months she'd never had to worry about such problems, and now they seemed overpowering. She wanted to think Tyler would take care of them all, but she had this nagging feeling that he was as scared as she was. It didn't add to her sense of well-being.
Setting aside her coffee, Evie wandered back to the window. Water rushed like a river through the alley. A crate slammed against the side of the hotel, narrowly missing the top of a first-floor window. A rooster sat dripping and bedraggled on the livery roof. Her gaze drifted idly to the little house in back, and she screamed.
"Tyler! There are children out there. On the roof. They're going to drown!"
As she gathered up her skirts and ran for the door, Tyler jumped up and grabbed her by the arm, shoving her back to the chair.
"Don't leave this room. The place is filled with rats, both the four-legged and two-legged kind. Daniel, keep her here." He glared pointedly at the boy in the bed. "Ben and I will see what we can do."
Ben was already checking the window and whistling a dubious note, but like Tyler, he grabbed his hat and headed for the door.
Chapter 18
"What are they doing now, Evie?" Daniel leaned toward the window, as if he meant to join her there.
"They've got a ladder, and they're tying it between the roof and some room down on the second floor. They're all going to get themselves killed." Panicking as she saw Tyler's head peering out that second-story window, Evie headed for the door.
"Don't you dare, Evangeline Howell! You heard Tyler. He can't be worrying about you and those kids, too. You're the one who sent him down there. You can't stop them now."
Frustrated, Evie knotted her fingers into fists. "There has to be a better way. Men are such foolhardy idiots." She strode back to the window and glared down.
She had recognized the children by now, if just by their sizes. There was fourteen-year-old Carmen clinging to the toddler in her arms, and Manuel, the eleven-year-old, helping Jose, the youngest boy, hold on to the slippery tiled roof. They had been edging their way toward the livery when Tyler had yelled at them. Evie glanced at the big barn and the loft door. They could never have reached it unless they were skilled acrobats. With a baby in arms, there wasn't a chance.
She gasped as Tyler tested the ladder by crawling out on it. The water pouring down the alley was already swirling past the first-floor windows. If he fell, he could be swept away in a minute. Evie clenched the windowsill and prayed.
The ladder held and Tyler continued across. The children sat stunned and uncomprehending until he was almost there. Then Manuel excitedly slid down the roof to meet him, holding on to his six-year-old brother and pushing him toward Tyler.
Evie gave a cry of relief as the normally rebellious Jose willingly crept up on the ladder with Tyler. Crawling was the only means of progress, and they needed both hands and knees. Tyler wrapped a rope around both their waists before setting out over the water again.
"He's got one across. Ben's untying him and lifting him in the window. The ladder's holding!" Evie reported events to Daniel as they happened. She knew his frustration at having to stay in bed while others acted, but more hands weren't needed. She had seen John from the restaurant lean out the window, and Phil, the hotel owner. There were more hands than could be used.
Manuel crawled across rapidly, but getting the toddler across was a difficult task. Tyler had Carmen strap the child firmly to his back, then waited for the girl to start across before following. Evie held her breath as the ladder sagged beneath their combined weights. Tyler hesitated, making himself available if the girl should miss a step, not daring to go too far out and risk them all. She could see Ben jerking Manuel through the window before the lad could go back out and help. She wanted to go to them, to reassure them, but she couldn't add to Tyler's worries. She remained where she was.
She cried out in relief as Carmen crawled in the window and Tyler followed. She hadn't realized how terrified she had been until she saw how her hands were shaking. She knew what she had to do now, and she threw Daniel a look of defiance. "I'm going to get those children. I don't know what happened to their mother but they know me. I can't leave them down there alone."
* * *
The youngest was screaming, and Carmen was trying to comfort her while Manuel and Jose yelled at each other about somebody's cat when Evie rushed into the room. The men were hauling in the ladder and one of John's boys was still lugging supplies into the room, and they didn't halt immediately at her appearance.
"Manuel, Jose, stop that nonsense immediately," she commanded. "We have to get you upstairs and find you some dry clothes. Carmen, come along. I'm sure I have something you can wear. You'll catch your deaths in those wet things."
The no-nonsense words that Nanny had used for twenty years came out without effort as Evie set the children to order. The men in the room stared at her then, as the boys hushed their fighting, and even the toddler seemed to quiet. Tyler took a step toward her, but Evie merely shook her head.
"I'm taking them upstairs. We'll be fine. You go back to whatever you need to do."
In the gloom of the unlighted chamber, her white muslin stood out as she shepherded the children to the door, skillfully guiding her petticoats past cartons and crates. One of the younger men whistled, and his father cuffed him on the ear.
Evie didn't notice her. Men staring at her were nothing new, but four bedraggled youngsters were. Jose whooped as he left wet tracks up the carpeted stairs, and he occasionally turned around to admire his footprints. The wide-eyed toddler stared over Carmen's shoulder as Ma
nuel and Evie followed them up.
Evie threw open the door to Daniel's room and shuffled the two boys in. "Daniel, direct these two to the proper trunks where they can find something dry. A shirt or your long johns or something ought to do for now."
He stared at her with incredulity, but she shut the door before he could protest. Leading Carmen to the next room, she opened the door. "You're almost as tall as I am. We can deck you out nicely. I'm not certain about the baby, though. What's her name?"
"Maria. Do you have towels? I will dry her off."
The room was a shambles from last night. Evie hoped Carmen knew nothing about what happened behind closed doors, because anyone with any knowledge at all would know how she'd spent the night. The bottom sheet had parted from the mattress and was half off the bed. The sheet Tyler had used was still lying on the floor in a puddle beneath the dressing screen. She had at least folded the blanket and laid it over the chair arm, but she hadn't put away last night's clothing.
Kicking the offending garments out of sight, Evie reached for the used towels beside the washstand. The hotel wasn't up to its usual standards today.
Carmen began stripping Maria and toweling her off while Evie searched for clothes. "Where is your mother?" Evie asked as she rummaged in a trunk. "She'll need to know where you are."
"She went to see a friend who was having a baby last night. She said she would be gone just a little while, but I suppose the river rose faster than she expected." The girl's voice was anxious, but she hid it well to keep from frightening the toddler.
"She must be frantic worrying about you. I guess there isn't anything we can do until the river goes down. Does it do this often around here?"
"No, senora. I have heard people speak of the flood of '55, but I was not born then. It rains sometimes like this in the spring, and the river gets high, but not like this."
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