Lady Sundown (#1 of the Danner Quartet)

by Nancy Bush

  “Miss Danner!” The shout of joy distracted her for a moment, and Lexie could have groaned when she saw Dr. Peter Caldwell appear on her left. “I’ve been trying to dance with you all evening.”

  “Have you?” Lexie glanced anxiously over her shoulder.

  “Yes, but you’ve been awfully busy.” His tone held a note of reproval, as if he thought she’d been purposely choosing her dance partners and ignoring him in the bargain.

  She saw Tremaine bearing down on her, Celeste a burr on his sleeve. “Then dance with me now,” Lexie said in sudden decision, flinging herself into Peter’s surprised arms.

  “By all means,” Peter grinned.

  Lexie managed to maneuver away from Tremaine, but all too soon the music ended. Without a word to Peter she made another dash for the door, only to feel Tremaine’s hand close possessively around her wrist.

  “Leaving so soon?” His tone was polite, but Lexie glanced back to see the anger that filled his eyes.

  “Yes, I can’t stay any longer.”

  Sensing Tremaine was about to desert her, Celeste quickly inserted, “Then you won’t mind if I monopolize your brother for a few hours, will you, Lexie? I’m about to expire from thirst.” She waved herself with one hand, drawing a long breath that had her breasts, nearly spilling over her dangerously low-cut bodice. “Tremaine, could you get me a drink, please? No, wait, I’ll come with you.”

  He hesitated, then, as if he’d come to a long-dreaded and painful decision, Tremaine nodded, moving away from Lexie. She sensed he’d given up on her. It was a distinctly unpleasant notion.

  “Wait!” she cried. “Please, I’d like something, too.” Tremaine turned back slowly, his eyes narrowed and cautious.

  “What would you like?” he asked politely.

  You, she thought desperately, as their gazes clashed. She saw his eyes darken with emotion, as if he’d heard her.

  Celeste was tugging insistently on his arm and he said to Lexie, “I’ll be right back.”

  Lexie expelled a pent-up breath, feeling decidedly weak. What have you done? a frightened voice inside her head asked. She was afraid to answer it.

  Celeste and Tremaine returned a few moments later. Lexie accepted the glass of punch from Tremaine’s fingers.

  “Mind if I borrow your brother for a few moments?” Celeste asked with a sly smile.

  “Tremaine is not my brother,” Lexie answered flatly. She’d be damned if she perpetrated that lie any longer. “He’s my stepbrother.”

  Tremaine grabbed Lexie’s hand, steering her toward the other end of the room, leaving Celeste standing open-mouthed behind them. “You shouldn’t have told her,” he muttered, taking the cup from her fingers and placing it on a small sideboard.

  “And why not?” Lexie demanded as he dragged her unceremoniously out of the room. “What difference does it make now?”

  Tremaine couldn’t answer her. It was up to Pa to tell her about Eliza. He pulled her toward the door.

  “Where do you think you’re taking me?” she demanded as his long strides had her half-running behind him through the front door.

  “Away from here.”

  A cool April wind fanned Lexie’s hot cheeks. “Without so much as a goodbye to our host?”

  The look he sent her burned right to the soles of her feet. “If I don’t get you home soon, I’m afraid I might be forced to take you in my buggy.”

  “Take me—” Her mouth dropped open. She glanced quickly from side to side, afraid of eavesdroppers. “I can’t believe you just said that!”

  “Can’t you?”

  The footman brought Tremaine’s buggy to the front steps as Lexie pondered that. Tremaine lifted her inside, then climbed up the side her. Lexie tried to collect her wits. “I’m not your lover, Tremaine. You can go back to Jenny McBride—”

  “Get this through your thick skull. Jenny McBride’s not my lover,” he said through his teeth, cracking the reins against Fortune’s broad hindquarters. The stallion leapt forward, the buggy jolting Lexie so that she had to hang on to the sides.

  “Don’t lie to me, Tremaine,” Lexie sputtered, clasping the seat as they bumped down the Monteiths’ elegant curving drive. “You went to her Christmas Eve, after you made love to me! Jesse told me!”

  The buggy pulled onto the road and Tremaine reined Fortune into a fast walk. “Jesse has an incredibly one track mind,” he bit out furiously. “Jenny came to the house that night to tell me one of my patients, a little boy, had taken a turn for the worse. I asked her to come get me if he didn’t improve. I spent the rest of the night and half of Christmas Day with him.”

  “I don’t believe you!”

  “I’m not in the habit of lying.”

  “Can you honestly tell me you and Jenny McBride have never been lovers?”

  There was a long, telling silence and Lexie knew the answer before he gave it to her. “No, I can’t tell you that,” he admitted. “But it was over long before I made love to you.”

  The way he said that — so boldly, so factually — made Lexie die a thousand humiliations. She had slept in this man’s arms, had let him pleasure her as only a husband should pleasure a wife. His bland acceptance of what to her had been a shattering life pinnacle made her choke with mortification.

  “Then why didn’t you come back?” Lexie asked in a small voice, when they were well south of the Monteith estate.

  “There were a lot of reasons.” Tremaine drew a deep breath. “The main one being it wasn’t the right time for us.”

  “And now it is?”

  She could see his jaw tighten. Even in the dim shadows of the buggy Lexie shivered and looked away. There was more here than he was willing to admit. Much, much more. And much of what went unsaid had to do with Jenny McBride. Despite his claims, he’d been in her rooming house and he cared about her. Lexie wouldn’t be played for a fool. She’d already suffered enough heartbreak. Tremaine still had feelings for Jenny.

  The buggy drew up in front of Miss Everly’s school. Lexie climbed down before Tremaine could help her. How dare he come and shred the thin fabric of her new life?

  He was right on her heels, and when she reached the threshold, he touched her lightly on the arm. “Lexie, you can’t ignore the way things are between us.”

  “What way, Tremaine? What way?”

  For an answer his hand cupped her jaw and all her fury dissolved in a white-hot blaze of desire. A muscle jumped in his jaw. “This way,” he said softly, and kissed her so hard she had to clutch the sleeves of his jacket to keep from falling.

  When he finally drew back she was breathing hard. “Why have you avoided me so long? Why are you here now?”

  “I’m here because I don’t give a damn about anything but being with you.”

  The door suddenly opened behind Lexie, and Miss Everly stepped into the warm April night. “Dr. Danner,” she addressed him politely.

  Lexie thought about all the miserable moments she’d spent the last few months. She couldn’t stand to go through that all again — not even for Tremaine. With wings on her feet she fled into the school and up to her room, surprising Ella, who was half asleep across her bed.

  “What in creation has got you so stirred up?” she demanded.

  “Tremaine!” Lexie spat. “I hate him. I hate him! He’s not my brother, he’s my stepbrother. And he’s ruined me!”

  To her shock, and Ella’s dawning comprehension, Lexie burst into a flood of tears.

  “So that’s what all the pathos has been about these last months,” Ella said wisely.

  “I never ever want to see him again!”

  “How has he ruined you?”

  Lexie flung herself on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. “He made me fall in love with him.”

  Ella shook her head in mock pity. “The cruel bastard. He ought to be boiled in oil.”

  “Amen,” Lexie muttered, but all she could remember were his strong arms holding her tightly, his low voice warning her they would be
together again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was an august group of Portland dignitaries who assembled in the Portland Park Blocks for Lexie’s graduation day. They sat straight and proper in a row of chairs on a raised platform, the June breeze blowing and crackling against the pink paper curtain that hid the podium’s understructure. The scent of roses wafted through the air like a song, strong one moment, sweet and distant the next. The ground smelled damp and musty from yesterday’s rain.

  Lexie’s hands were folded in the lap of her blue-sprigged lawn dress as the mayor’s wife stood in the center of the dais, effusing over the importance of young women in society today. As far as Lexie could see, a certificate from Miss Everly’s School guaranteed only a proposal of marriage from the son of one of Portland’s finest families. Half the class was already engaged and planning weddings as early as next week.

  Not one of the graduates was planning a career.

  Ella, at the end of the row, caught Lexie’s roving eye and winked. Even Ella, good friend that she was, had no plans other than to find a husband. Lexie couldn’t give up her notions of marrying for love. The thought of picking out a husband with an eye to his bankbook made Lexie shudder with revulsion. Besides, she loved only Tremaine.

  She turned her face to the itinerant June breeze and closed her eyes. First, the mayor’s wife, then someone else, droned on and on. At last Miss Everly stood to speak and there was a smattering of applause from the back. Pa and Eliza were seated in the last row, and Lexie could picture her mother lightly applauding.

  “I’ve never had the pleasure of working with a more dedicated and serious group of young ladies in all my life,” Miss Everly opened, smiling benevolently.

  Lexie glanced skyward, half-expecting God to strike Miss Everly down for the outrageous lie. Ella caught Lexie’s look and coughed into her hands several times, fighting back laughter.

  “…Portland’s finest,” Miss Everly was going on. “Ladies in every sense of the word…”

  Lexie inwardly groaned, closing her ears. Only a few more hours and she would be done with Miss Everly’s School forever. Tomorrow she and Pa and Mother were heading back to Rock Springs. Her parents didn’t know it yet, but Lexie planned on taking over responsibility of the stables again. She felt that, given enough time, she could convince them to let her become a horse doctor. She’d paid her dues. In time they would realize she would never change her mind.

  Miss Everly finished to resounding applause and then the ceremony was over. Lexie stood, glancing around for her parents.

  Pa was standing toward the rear of the seats. Across the sea of feminine heads, he winked at Lexie. She winked back. In his hands were gifts from Jesse, Samuel, and even Harrison, who’d mailed a package to her from Denver.

  There was nothing from Tremaine.

  “Are you ready to go to the reception?” Pa asked her when she met up with them.

  Lexie glanced around the park, half-hoping Tremaine would be there, knowing he wouldn’t. Her throat tight, she murmured, “More than ready.” She followed him and Eliza to their waiting buggy.

  There was more pomp and circumstance awaiting them at Miss Everly’s School. A huge tiered cake sat on a crystal platter in the parlor. Silver carafes served tea and lemonade. A sea of people wove in and out of the rooms, offering congratulations. The continued merriment wore on Lexie, and by the time her parents finally left for their hotel she had a crashing headache.

  Celeste chose that moment to approach her. “Where’s Tremaine?” she asked. “I thought for sure he’d be here tonight. Didn’t he come to the ceremony?”

  Lexie set her teeth. Celeste had purposely snubbed her, ever since finding out Tremaine was her stepbrother. Now, as if sensing the rift between them, Celeste was slyly pouring salt in the wound.

  “He’s busy,” Lexie said shortly.

  “Too busy to celebrate his sister’s graduation?”

  “Too busy to waste time watching a bunch of silly females twitter and giggle!” she snapped.

  “Well!” Celeste was affronted. “Listen to Miss High-and-Mighty herself.”

  “Get out of my way.” Lexie strode out of the parlor and toward the front door. She needed air. She nearly collided with Dr. Peter Caldwell in her haste and stood blinking at him, surprised.

  He looked slightly embarrassed. “Hello, Lexie. Is Celeste here?”

  She groaned aloud. Peter’s hands were full of yellow roses and a gold-foil-wrapped box with a brilliant blue ribbon. Celeste had told everyone about Peter’s offer of marriage but Lexie hadn’t believed it until now.

  She stepped into the star-studded night and breathed deeply. Her parents’ hotel was just around the corner, but she didn’t feel like seeing them tonight. Tonight she wanted to get over the peculiar melancholy that had stolen over her.

  There were several buggies parked along the street and more than a few carriages. She stood for several long moments before she realized she recognized one of the horses.

  “Fortune,” she whispered, her heart giving a strange little kick.

  Lexie crossed the street without a second thought. The boy guarding the coaches suddenly appeared and eyed her warily. “You want something, ma’am?”

  “Where’s the owner of the buggy?”

  He stared silently at her. Impatiently, Lexie dug into her skirt pocket and dropped several coins in his palm.

  “In the hotel, ma’am,” he supplied quickly, as if the faster he betrayed Tremaine’s whereabouts, the less trouble he would be in.

  So, he’d come to see Pa and Mother, huh? Without even a word of congratulations for her? Lexie’s anger sparked and she strode to the hotel like an avenging angel.

  She was nearly to the front door when a hand snaked out from the shadows and grabbed her arm. “Are you looking for me?” Tremaine’s voice asked.

  “Let go of me!” Lexie demanded, frightened. “Did you have to scare the living daylights out of me? What are you doing here, lurking in the shadows?”

  “I was just going inside. What were you doing snooping around my buggy?”

  “Wondering what you were doing!” she retorted furiously, but her anger was ebbing. He was holding her so closely she could see the humor touching his lips and the glint in his eyes. “Are you going to the hotel to see Pa and Mother?”

  “I’ve seen them.” His tone was abrupt. “I was just about to tell them goodbye.”

  “Goodbye?” Lexie’s heart lurched. “What do you mean goodbye?”

  He cupped her cheek in his hand, and Lexie barely had the presence of mind to step back. “We had a small argument. And I just wanted to settle in before I left.”

  “An argument about what?”

  Tremaine looked down into her lovely, worried face, and sighed with frustration. He’d spent the last month torn between frustration and duty, wanting Lexie, knowing his father would never forgive him for having her. Tonight, he’d tried to straighten all that out, but Pa had still been adamantly against telling Lexie the truth. Eliza had sat in frozen agreement.

  “We argued about you, if you must know,” he said gently. “I told them something they didn’t want to hear.”

  Lexie could scarcely believe her ears. When she thought of all the things Tremaine could have said, she blushed. “Like what?”

  “I didn’t tell them about that,” he assured her. “Lexie, I quit the hospital today. Marshfield’s been writing me about moving into Portland, and since that leaves Rock Springs without a doctor, I thought I’d start a practice there.”

  A warm feeling flooded her. Then she remembered how she’d reacted the first time he’d mentioned moving back home. A guilty apology was actually forming on her tongue before she realized the real reason he was coming home: Jenny McBride.

  “Well, I’m sure that’ll be convenient for you,” she said with brittle coolness.

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” he snapped and suddenly yanked her arm around and dragged her across the street.

  �
�What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

  He stopped beside the buggy, turning her around to face him. His hand gripped her upper arms and he glared down at her. “I don’t know how many different ways I can say this: Jenny McBride’s a friend, that’s all. There’s been no woman these past few months, but you.”

  Slightly mollified, she murmured, “There’s no reason I should believe you.”

  “Is there anywhere you have to be for the next few hours?” He was impatient.

  “No-o-o…”

  “Then get in. I’ve got some work to finish up, but I wanted to at least say congratulations.”

  He didn’t give her time to argue. He was already striding to his side of the buggy. Lexie could have been miffed at his high-handed attitude, but she was much too eager for his company. She climbed into the buggy beside him. Silly as it was, the fact that he wanted to see her on graduation day kept her warm and happy inside for a long, long time.

  ¤ ¤ ¤

  The Willamette flowed by like a dark whisper as Tremaine helped Lexie down from the buggy. A plank-and-log ferry moved toward them smoothly, lanterns rocking gently, leaving quivering trails of yellow light on the black water.

  Lexie stared across the wide, placid river. “We’re crossing to East Portland?” she asked, surprised.

  “There’s someone I’ve got to check on,” Tremaine responded. “I’ve been taking care of some of the poorer families over here and they need to know I’ll be leaving.” He sighed heavily and walked to the edge of the river bank. “I hope Marshfield, or someone else at the hospital, thinks about checking on them.”

  Lexie came to stand beside him, then followed as he led Fortune and the buggy aboard. Huge horse-powered spindles pulled the twin ropes of the ferry, dragging it inexorably to the opposite shore. They sailed across the glasslike water, heading downstream until the ropes stopped their movement, guiding the ferry toward the eastern shore.