Texas Tiger TH3

by Patricia Rice

Evie shook her head and touched her hand. "Of course you haven't. I don't care what anyone says, getting married is a shock to the system. You've always been one person and suddenly you're two and it's not easy making all the adjustments." She sent Georgina a penetrating look. "And if you don't do anything to prevent babies, you'll be three real soon. I don't suppose Daniel bothered to take care of that, did he?"

  Georgina's eyes widened with shock. She hadn't even given that any consideration. Babies. Good lord above, what would she do with babies?

  Evie took her silence for agreement. "Bother the man. I hope Tyler is giving him a good talking to right now. You can't have known each other very long. It's obvious Daniel has gone on one of his heroic exploits again and you're caught up in it. I can't say I'm sorry. He's needed a wife, but there hasn't been time enough for you to know each other. Drat it, I wish Tyler would let me go back with you. You're going to need help."

  Georgina offered a smile at this amazingly accurate assessment of their predicament. Evie obviously knew Daniel very well. "I mean to make him a good wife, Mrs. Monteigne. You don't need to worry."

  Evie rolled her eyes heavenward. "You would have to be a true heroine to make a wife to Daniel. Call me Evie. We're family, and we're going to be friends. You'll need one if you mean to live with Daniel."

  Thinking of the man with the six-gun, the one who had apparently climbed over a train roof to reach her, Georgina had some inkling of what Evie was saying. She bit her lip and asked anxiously, "He isn't always that way, is he? I mean, he seems so nice, and he laughs all the time, and he's so easy to talk to."

  Evie nodded, and the flowers on her hat bounced. "Yes, he is. Don't get me wrong. Daniel is special. You'll not find another man like him in all the world. My children love him. He always plays with them. He has the patience of a saint sometimes."

  She turned and gave Georgina a sharp look. "He hasn't told you about his childhood, has he?"

  "He hasn't told me anything," Georgina whispered sadly. "I didn't even know he was a Mulloney until the day we married."

  Evie sent the two men laughing across the aisle a furious glance. "That figures. And I thought Tyler would make a good example for him to follow. I should have known better." She turned back to Georgina. "Daniel has his reasons, and you'll have to blame his less honest moments on me and Tyler. We weren't a very good influence."

  She tucked the pin more safely into her hat and sought words to explain. "Daniel is a Mulloney in name only, you know," she said thoughtfully. "His family sent him away right after he was born. He never knew them until recently."

  "Right after he was born?" Shocked, Georgina stared at her. "How could they send a baby away?"

  Evie shrugged. "I've never met them. I've always thought they must have horns and tails, myself. But the excuse probably had something to do with the fact that Daniel wasn't expected to live. Something went wrong when he was born. Now that I know a little something about childbirth, I imagine it must have been a breech. He may have been born blue and they thought even if he lived, he would never be right. And then there was his leg."

  She lowered her voice to a whisper as she glanced in Daniel's direction. "Whoever delivered him broke his leg when he was born, and they didn't set it. He came screaming into this world and didn't stop even when he arrived in St. Louis and was delivered to the nurse who raised us."

  Georgina stared at her in shock. "St. Louis? They sent a sick infant all the way to St. Louis? They had to be mad."

  "Nanny was very good. I'm certain they thought they were doing what was best. And St. Louis was on the river, more easily accessible than most places. It made sense. Even if Daniel lived, he was going to be a cripple, or worse. If they sent him far enough away, they probably figured he would never work his way back again."

  "A cripple?" Georgina threw a hasty glance to her husband, who was now playing a game of cards with Tyler, the crumpled bag empty of baked goods between them. "He limps sometimes, but I certainly wouldn't call him a cripple."

  "But he was." Evie rummaged in her satchel and found a pot of lip cream which she applied carefully. "Daniel grew up unable to walk without the help of a cane, and his balance was precarious. He could never play with other children, so Nanny kept him home with her. He grew up learning about life from books. I thought you ought to know that. Daniel still has this funny idea that life ought to be like books, that right should always prevail, and heroes always win."

  "And fair maidens should always be rescued," Georgina finished what Evie had left unspoken.

  "Exactly." Satisfied with the result in her mirror, Evie set it down. "That gentle, sweet-natured man still thinks he ought to be more like the Pecos Martin of his childhood dreams, and that devil of a husband of mine and his friends taught him just how to go about it. You didn't marry one man, Georgina, you married two. And one of them hasn't the foggiest notion of what to do with heroines after he's rescued them."

  Georgina leaned her head back against the seat and stared out the window at the fields rattling by. She rather thought Evie might be just a little bit wrong about that last part. Pecos Martin knew what to do with women, all right. Unconsciously, she pressed a hand to her abdomen and felt the aching in the place where they had been joined. She just thought maybe it was whores and not heroines with whom Pecos might be most familiar.

  Chapter 26

  They waved Evie and Tyler off at the train station in Cincinnati. Then Daniel took her hand and led her down the platform.

  "Well, Mrs. Mulloney, shall we go home, or would you prefer to wait for the next train and go wherever it takes us?"

  Georgina started slightly at the sound of her new name, but his words captured her attention. There was nothing she would like better right now than to run and hide in some faraway city where no one knew her, where she could learn to deal with her embarrassing predicament without the watchful eyes of people who had known her all her life. She wanted to be the child she once was, the one who knew the world was a happy place and everything would be all right because Daddy made it so. But she wasn't.

  Georgina turned her eyes up to her husband's concerned face. They had been stiff and nervous with each other ever since Evie and Tyler had gone. She didn't see any immediate resolution, but she knew enough now to know the answer Pecos Martin expected. "Your father still thinks he's running a slave plantation. Who will correct that if we don't go home?"

  Although there were shadows of strain behind his eyes, Daniel smiled and brushed her hair with his hand. "Then come on, Miss Merry, the train's fixing to leave. It's time to head back."

  They had made this trip together once before. That time they had laughed and teased and behaved outrageously with each other. That had been before, when she was still a child. Perhaps she had proved her wanton status even then. Had Daniel seen it? Was that why he had allowed her into his life? Because he had seen what she was and wanted her the way a man desires a whore?

  Georgina's cheeks flooded with embarrassment. She clutched her hands in her lap and stared out the window.

  Daniel watched as Georgina closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. He had taken something magical away from her and destroyed it. He didn't know how to undo whatever he had done. She was afraid of him, and rightly so. He didn't know himself anymore.

  His stomach clenched as he remembered how he had taken her last night, not once, but twice. She had every reason to fear he would lose control and do that to her again. He couldn't even tell himself that he wouldn't do it again. Even knowing he must have hurt her very badly, he was aching to have her again. He couldn't keep his thoughts from straying to their bed, of dragging her up the stairs and tearing her clothes off, and of making mad, passionate love to her for the rest of the day and night.

  He was obsessed with the notion. Sex had never been an extremely important part of his life. It was something one did when the time was right. The rest of the time he had been quite content with his books and printing presses and horses and whatever interests h
e was involved with at the time. He had always been surrounded by women. They were there to laugh with, to talk to, to flirt with upon occasion. But they hadn't been the kind of women he would take to his bed and practically rape. Neither was Georgina. But that's what was on his mind now. He was sitting here peaceably beside her on a public train, but he was so hard his trousers pinched.

  Loins aching, Daniel struggled with this new problem life had dealt him. Surely, his obsession with his wife a temporary aberration that he would overcome with time and work. Georgina was a lady, and he had a proper respect for ladies. It was just a matter of getting back into their regular routines. He would give her time recover from the discomfort, then he would take her properly, with the gentleness that she deserved. He didn't want her to regret marrying him. He adjusted himself uncomfortably while his wife slept.

  Georgina woke when the train pulled into the Cutlerville station. Determined to do things properly and not to frighten her anymore, Daniel talked of what needed to be done when they returned to the office. She brightened somewhat as she made suggestions for his next edition. This was something they could share without the shadows and restraints that marred their hasty marriage, and he felt a measure of relief that one island of sanity still remained in their lives.

  Seeing the half-grown boy being towed down the street by his powerful German shepherd as they arrived at the office, Daniel wasn't certain that perspective could be relied upon for long. Leaving Georgina at the door, he rushed to grab Max's leash before the dog could strangle himself with unrestrained joy at his arrival.

  "I took care of Max while you were gone," Douglas proudly announced the obvious.

  "And Max and I thank you. Come upstairs and let's see if we can't give you something for your trouble. How're your sisters?"

  The boy rushed up the stairs ahead of them, chattering as he ran. "They've been holding meetings and talking to the other ladies and acting like everything will be all right, but I think something's wrong and they're not saying. Egan was over the other night."

  Daniel and Georgina exchanged glances, but Daniel was the one who spoke. "What did he want? It's not the first of the month."

  Douglas slid to a halt in front of the office door. His eyes were as old as an adult's as he turned to face them. "I know. That's why I know something is wrong. I think he's going to evict us."

  Daniel cuffed the boy's head gently and opened the door, pretending an ease he didn't feel. "Well, then, I guess you'll just have to move into this place with us, won't you?"

  The boy shouted his approval and slid across the wooden floor. "We could turn out papers every day then. We'd be rich."

  Daniel gave Georgina a rueful look. "I think we need to teach the lad a little about labor and economics."

  "Not to mention marketing and sales. Why don't we send him out to solicit advertisements?"

  "Miss Merry, you are a genius." Daniel bent to kiss her cheek and felt her stiffen. He brushed his lips across her hair instead.

  He handed Douglas a few pennies for taking care of Max, then pushed him toward the door. "Tell your sisters they may hold their meetings here if that would help and have them let us know when the next one will be so we may attend. And if Egan comes around again, let me know at once."

  "Yes, sir!" Douglas danced out the door, jingling the coins in his hand.

  Daniel turned to his wife, who had frozen into a motionless statue at his touch. "Well, Georgina, this is it. Behold your new home to do with as you wish. I had better go and see what Egan is up to now."

  Daniel departed with an odd sense of relief at having something constructive to do to keep him away from his wife. He refused to start counting the hours until he dared approach her physically again.

  * * *

  Georgina stared out the window at the workers filing into the factory across the street on Monday morning. She hugged herself against the struggling sense of emptiness inside her.

  Daniel hadn't come to bed these last nights. She'd found him asleep in his easy chair in the office, books lying scattered around him. She wasn't certain what to make of it.

  She didn't know what to make of these aching feelings inside her, either. It had been over two days since Daniel had first taken her to his bed, and she could still feel him inside of her. She could easily recall the heat and texture and strength of him. And she could scarcely stop thinking of how he had lifted her in his palms and come into her until she was filled to overflowing with him, until she was convulsed with the need of him. It had seemed so perfect and right at the time.

  She closed her eyes as the throbbing began again. She had felt very married at that moment. She had felt valuable and wanted. Daniel had been shaking with desire when he had taken her. She knew she couldn't be mistaken in that. The need in his eyes had been as strong as her desire. She had been certain that feeling would grow stronger and become something special.

  Instead, they were farther apart now than they had been before he had taken her.

  She would have to find a life of her own to fill this emptiness. She wasn't made for sitting around and moping all day. She had time and energy to spare, and she had an inkling of an idea of how to use it.

  But first she would have to retrieve her clothes.

  When Daniel came home some time later, she was gone. Terror swept through him as he searched all the rooms and the roof, finding the only trace of Georgina in a trunk of clothing that hadn't been there before. Had she left him? That was difficult to believe if she had gone to the trouble of recovering her clothes. And if not, had she been kidnapped again? The terror of that first time still lodged deep in his heart.

  He didn't know where to begin to search. Should he start with the Mulloneys under the assumption they were responsible for her disappearance? Should he go to the Harrisons in hopes she had just gone visiting? As his gaze drifted to the window, his lips set in a tight line. He at least had a starting place.

  Daniel knew he had found her the minute he opened the office door to Hanover Industries and heard the laughter. It took a moment before anyone turned to see him standing there, and he used the time to study the scene.

  Georgina was modeling a lady's chemise on the outside of her gown, pointing to the lace and trimmings as she explained what she wanted done, occasionally striking a mocking pose as she pictured the garment with the neck opening tied too tight or the ribbons falling loose. Daniel was reminded vividly of how she had appeared with a similar chemise partially undone and nothing on under it. He was beginning to believe Evie was right. Men had only one thing on their minds.

  Two of the seamstresses from the factory were laughing at her while correcting some of Georgina's suggestions with their working knowledge of what was possible with the machines that they had. The gray-haired secretary Daniel remembered from a previous visit was presiding over this with a notepad and pencil, but he wasn't certain how she managed to take notes from a conference like this one. Sheer exuberance seemed to be the name of the game here, but she wasn't complaining, and neither were the participants.

  When Georgina climbed up on a crate to model a wrapper over the chemise, she finally saw him, and a smile lit her face. Daniel felt the warmth of that smile seep straight into his bones, but then she remembered herself, and she hastily disrobed and came forward to greet him properly.

  "Daniel, what are you doing here? I thought you were out digging up dirty details on Mr. Egan."

  "I was hungry, and I came looking for my wife." Daniel watched as the double entendre went right by Georgina's innocent little mind.

  Her brow puckered with worry. "I hadn't realized it was that late." She threw a glance over her shoulder at the workers discreetly waiting out of hearing. "Could you wait just a little while longer? I want to get them started on these new style changes right away."

  "I can wait, but Georgina"—he took her hand—"are you certain you ought to be doing this? Your father could come back at any minute. Or my father could come in and order the place shut d
own. Or he could send Egan over here to clean house. This isn't the safest place in the world for you to be."

  Daniel had never noticed the obstinate set of Georgina's chin before. He marveled at it now as she spoke.

  "These women won't have jobs if this place closes down. Even if there isn't any money, I still own part of this business, and until someone tells me otherwise, I'll do what I can to keep it going. Give me one of your guns and I'll shoot the first person who tries to stop me."

  The thought of Georgina with a gun in her hand was not a pretty one, and Daniel shuddered. "No, ma'am. If there's any shooting needing to be done, I'll be the one doing it. You just send over to the office for me. I'll be right there if you need me."

  She smiled vaguely, patted his arm, and returned to her fashion show. Daniel had no choice but to wander back to his office alone.

  She didn't appear even after the lunch whistle blew. When it whistled again to indicate it was time for the workers to return to work, Daniel fixed himself a sandwich from bread and cheese and went back to working on his lead article. He had spent the better part of his life amusing himself. There was no reason he needed a wife now to fill the empty hours.

  The furious knock at the door with the resulting crazed bark of the dog some time later startled him out of his concentration. Yelling at Max to settle down, Daniel called for the visitor to enter. The door was never locked. He thought everyone knew that.

  The man entering now knew it, too, but Daniel supposed Peter was showing an excess of politeness by not walking in on a newlywed couple. Daniel hid his amusement as his brother looked carefully around before entering. He wasn't certain which Peter feared most: walking in on a revolutionary committee or Georgina in dishabille.

  Daniel set his pencil down and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked his younger brother over. Peter didn't look like he'd slept in a week. He was still dressed in his normal immaculate suit and starched linen, but an aura of untidiness clung to him. The handkerchief in his coat pocket was crushed, the suit was slightly rumpled, and his thick, dark hair needed cutting. The boy's mind was obviously tackling a problem he hadn't solved.