Tempting a Texan Read online

  From the bed, he heard the rustle of fabric and he turned to see Lin’s knee rising and then falling again, her head turning on the pillow. Then her eyes opened, and she focused on him. “He was going to shoot the dog.”

  “Wolf never had so wonderful a champion,” Nicholas told her, kneeling quickly beside the bed. He bent to kiss her, inhaling her fragrance, blessing the fates that had protected her from a fatal wound. “I love you,” he whispered.

  Her lips trembled as she attempted a smile. “See, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?”

  “I’ll never be afraid to say it again, love,” he told her. And then he straightened and slid from his jacket and tossed it aside, rolled his sleeves to his elbows and rose to seek out the washbasin that shared space with a towel on the small dresser.

  “I’ll wash up quickly,” he told her. “You don’t move one little bit, you hear?”

  “I always do what you tell me, Nicholas,” she said quietly, and he shot her a dubious look, catching the smile that had only wavered but not faded from her face.

  Washing hurriedly, he was back at her side, and had torn the dress from her shoulder, releasing the padding from the wound, when he heard a commotion at the back of the house. The sound of Brace calling his name and the whinny of horses announced help had arrived.

  “Hold still,” he told Lin. “Everything’s under control.” And then he looked down at the wound he’d exposed, noting the small entry hole, and the blood still oozing from it. “I need to see the back,” he told her, and turned her to her side, away from him, the better to examine the wound.

  Somewhere, either on the parlor floor, or in the wall across from the window, was resting a spent shell, for it had departed her body, leaving a raw, gaping hole, from which blood flowed at an amazing rate, once he’d lifted the padding Faith had applied. “Well, damn,” he muttered, hearing the gasp of pain as he shifted Lin in the bed.

  Her head lolled back, her eyes closing and he felt relief wash through him. She’d fainted, and with any luck at all, he’d have her wound cleaned and bandaged before she awoke. “Faith?” he called out and was rewarded by the woman’s quick appearance. “I need a hand here,” he told her.

  “There’s a man in the kitchen who looks enough like you to be your father, Nicholas,” Faith said quietly. “Is he the one you were expecting?”

  He glared at her. “To hell with him. Brace can take care of things. This is more important.”

  Faith shrugged, bending to wring out the cloth and placing it on the open wound. “I just thought you might like to know that he’s very interested in Amanda.”

  “I’d hope so,” he muttered. “He’s her grandfather.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Did I kill him?” Lin asked, wincing as she attempted to sit up in bed. Nicholas had expected the query before, wondering when she would be willing to face the possibility that she had dealt death to another human.

  “Not quite,” Nicholas told her, easing a pillow behind her back. “You hit him, though, and he’s not a happy man.”

  Her eyes were shadowed, her expression sober as she turned her face up to peer into his. “I didn’t want to kill him,” she said. “That’s why I didn’t fire sooner. But I couldn’t let him shoot the dog, could I?”

  “No, you did just the right thing,” Nicholas answered, wisely keeping his thoughts to himself. He almost wished the idiot had died of his wounds, scattered shot penetrating his belly in several places. But the doctor had announced that he had a chance of living to face a judge. And that in itself might be even better. It would be difficult for Lin to face that fact that she had taken a life. Better that the gunman spend his remaining years in a jail cell, if they didn’t decide to hang him.

  “Can I get up today?” Lin asked, looking down at the plate on her lap. “I think this would taste better if I sat at the table.”

  “Do you?” He grinned at her. “That might be arranged. Do you want to comb your hair or wash your face first?”

  “Why? Do we have company?” she asked, glancing toward the doorway.

  “Well, after three days, I don’t know that he’s company any longer.”

  “Someone’s been here for three days?” she asked quickly, surprise lighting her features. “Who on earth…?”

  “Amanda’s grandfather came to visit. He’s been here a couple of times to see her, and he’s due to show up this morning for breakfast before he heads back to town for the afternoon train going east.”

  Lin’s mouth fell open, but she recovered quickly. “Amanda’s grandfather?” Her mind worked at rapid speed, Nicholas thought, and it shouldn’t take long for her to figure this one out. “Your father?” she breathed, the words a whisper.

  “The man who lent his body for the deed,” he corrected her bluntly. “Not a father, actually. Not in the usual sense of the word.” Even to his own ears, his words were harsh and unforgiving, and thinking of the cold, implacable man who had faced him in town just three days since, he could not alter his image into anything much more welcoming. And yet—

  “He seems to have taken to Amanda, though,” Nicholas conceded.

  “Well, he’s not taking her anywhere…is he?” she finished quietly, her eyes filling with quick tears.

  Nicholas shook his head. “No. Get that idea out of your head. She’s staying with us.” And then as he helped her rise from the bed, and walk carefully to the dresser where he’d prepared a basin of warm water for her use, he added a mention of the plan he had formulated.

  “However, we’ll be traveling, just as soon as you’re able to ride in a buggy.”

  She looked up at him, then reached for the clean cloth he’d provided. He took it from her hand, wrung it out in the water and proceeded to wash her face with a gentle touch. “Where are we going?” she asked, submitting to his ministrations.

  “Back to Collins Creek, and from there to New York.” The words were brief, but the promise they made was enough to take her breath away, and she leaned heavily against his side.

  “When?” she asked, looking up at him in bewilderment.

  “When you’re able. We have a couple of weeks leeway. The hearing in New York is set for next month, and we need to be there.”

  “Who said so?”

  “Horace Grayson.”

  “Amanda’s grandfather?” she ventured, turning to lean fully against his chest, her legs seeming to lose their strength.

  He nodded and held her firmly, his arms surrounding her. “But not until you can travel without harming your convalescence.”

  “Pooh!” she said, the sound bringing a smile to his lips. “I’m fine already. Just a little weak around the edges.”

  And indeed, she had begun to heal more rapidly than he’d expected, her healthy body responding to the salves and poultices Faith had prescribed. “I’ll want you to rest another week at least,” he said, issuing an ultimatum he intended to stick with.

  “All right,” she acceded gracefully. “May I comb my hair, please?”

  He handed her the comb and led her back to the bed. “Sit right there while I get your dressing gown and find your house shoes.”

  “In the wardrobe,” she told him, drawing the comb through the tangled length of her hair. And then she paused and held the ivory instrument out to him. “Could you do this please?”

  “Not as strong as you thought, are you?” he asked, carrying the items she would need to the bed, then settling beside her and turning her to face the headboard. “I’ll be glad to be your lady’s maid, sweetheart. I can even put a braid in place if you like. I’ve gotten real good at it the past days, working on Amanda’s hair.”

  “Is she all right? I mean, with Mr. Grayson showing up, and all.”

  “Seems to be. She hasn’t asked many questions, just accepted that he wants to sit with her and talk.”

  “About what?”

  “Mostly her mother. And what she’s done since she came to Texas with you. He’s asked a lot of questions about you,
too, Lin.”

  “Doesn’t he think I’m good enough to—”

  “Hush.” Nicholas tugged at a lock of hair. “Don’t even think that. Amanda has sung your praises, one verse after another. He couldn’t help but know that you’ve cared for her as if she were your own.” He laughed, thinking aloud.

  “You should have seen Grayson when Amanda read to him from the poetry book you both like so well. She had him fooled that she could actually make out the words, until she went on without turning the page once.”

  He laid aside the comb and set about braiding her hair. “He thinks she’s the brightest child he’s ever seen.” And then he muttered darkly. “Not that he’s ever paid any attention to any other child, if his background can be considered.”

  “This is different,” Lin said quietly. “She’s Irene’s child, and he acknowledged Irene as his own flesh and blood. Maybe aging has changed him.”

  “Don’t count on it.” Nicholas put the last twist in her braid and held it between two fingers. “Now what do I do to tie this thing up?”

  “Where’s my comb?” she asked, and taking it from his outstretched hand, she untangled several strands of her hair from the teeth and wound them with a practiced touch around the tail he’d formed. They clung where she placed them, and he shook his head in wonder.

  “I’ve never seen such a thing.”

  “Well, you probably haven’t paid much attention to a woman’s hair before.”

  His grin was wide and teasing. “Ah, but I have. Yours, especially, love.”

  “You like it better loose and messy,” she accused him, looking over her shoulder at him. “But I’m not about to face a stranger with my hair hanging down my back.”

  “Agreed,” he said quietly. “That sight is for my eyes alone.” And then he turned her to himself, careful of the bandage that wrapped her wound. “As is the rest of this beautiful body of yours.”

  “I’ll wear a scar for the rest of my life,” she said quietly.

  “Ah, but it will be a long life,” he told her. “Every day of it spent with me.”

  “And with me, too,” came a small voice from the doorway.

  “Amanda.” Nicholas turned to open one arm for the child’s benefit. “Come take a look at Lin.”

  “I’m looking already,” she said, approaching the bed with hopeful eyes beaming at the two who had made her their own. “Mr. Grayson is here, Uncle Nicholas. And Wolf didn’t even bark at him. I think he likes him now.”

  “Think so?” Nicholas asked, hugging the child, bringing her into the circle, and then lifting her to his lap. “And how about you? Do you like him?”

  Amanda nodded quickly. “He’s not as nice as you, and he doesn’t hug me or anything, but he talks nice to me, and he asks a lot of questions.” She tilted her head to one side and lifted her face, the better to whisper into Nicholas’s ear. “He said he’d like me to call him Grandfather, Uncle Nicholas. Do you think I should?”

  She looked puzzled as she waited for Nicholas to reply. And then she spoke again. “I don’t think I know what a grandfather is. Do you?”

  “Oh, yeah, I know,” Nicholas answered quietly. “We’ll need to talk about it.”

  Settling Amanda back on the floor, he rose and helped Lin to her feet. Then, together, they went to the kitchen, where their visitor waited.

  The night was warm and the window was opened, allowing a breeze to waft its way across the room to the bed where they lay. Nicholas had settled her against himself, her wounded shoulder supported by a pillow, her head nestled against his chest.

  “Are you comfortable?” he asked, and she nodded, laughing a bit as she spoke.

  “If you’re asking if my shoulder hurts, you’d better be prepared for howls of agony if you try to do anything very strenuous,” she told him, twisting a curling bit of hair on his chest between two fingers.

  “I’m not,” he said quickly, as if she’d accused him of salacious thoughts. “Not that I wouldn’t like to, but I’m not going to do anything that might cause you pain.”

  “I know,” she said, a touch of satisfaction in her words. “I’ve had you at my beck and call for three whole days. But, since you’ve been so nice to me and so deserving, I just thought I’d suggest something that might work.”

  He stilled beside her, his hand, which had been lightly running the length of her side, pausing in its movement, his fingers pressing firmly against her backside. “Like what?” he asked, caution alive in the two words.

  “Like, if I were to lie on my back, and you were to very carefully kneel—”

  “No,” he said quickly, his hand covering her mouth. “I won’t take advantage of you, Lin. Not for anything.”

  She sighed against his fingers, and the tip of her tongue touched them with care. “I wouldn’t call it taking advantage if you…if I…” Her voice trailed off, and she swallowed the words she’d almost spoken aloud. “I think I’m teasing you, Nicholas,” she said softly. “Just ignore me, please.”

  “I think I’d enjoy you teasing me,” he said. “But there are other things I’d enjoy even more. First I need to know if we’re on the same track, here.” He waited, and she felt a heated flush sweep up her throat to cover her cheeks.

  Pleasure. She wanted badly to be bold enough to speak the word that might best express the joyous thrill that loving Nicholas brought into being. Yet some residue of shyness, left over from her years of innocence, would not allow it to pass her lips. Such a simple word, yet holding such a vast amount of delight in its syllables.

  And somehow he knew what she meant, knew her inability to sound out the phrases that would express the glorious heat and passion he ignited with his touch.

  “If I were sure to give pleasure?” He bent to her and pressed his lips where his fingers had rested only an instant before. “It would be an honor, Mrs. Garvey,” he said gravely.

  “Oh, Nicholas—I do love you so much.” She whispered the words, and he groaned against her lips and then murmured a reply that soothed her embarrassment and satisfied the cry of her needy heart.

  “It pleases me to think that you want me, Lin. I’ll always be here when you feel a desire for me, sweet. When you need me,” he said quietly. “As you will be for me. As, in another way entirely, we’ll both be for our children when they come along.”

  And as if those words had opened up a new vista for her, she uttered the same, small, enchanting laugh again. “I hope we have a baby soon,” she said. And then her voice held a note of eagerness. “Maybe next spring?”

  He brushed her hair from her brow. “I’ll certainly do my best to make it happen, love. If that’s what you want.”

  “And you? Do you want a child of your own?” she asked.

  “Of course. I suppose every man does, deep down inside.” And then he hesitated. “I think you know that Amanda will always be special to me. I don’t think I could love her more if she were my own.”

  “I have a confession to make,” she whispered. “I used to pretend that she was mine, that I was really her mother. I felt guilty sometimes, but I don’t think Irene would have cared, even if she’d known.” She lifted her face a bit more and spoke sweetly, as if she instructed him in a basic manner.

  “It takes nine months, Nicholas. You shouldn’t dillydally if we are to—”

  His lips halted her words, and he kissed her more deeply, more ardently, impatient now as he considered how he would do this thing she desired. His hand rose to cup her breast and then his fingers were agile, undoing the buttons of her nightgown. “I’ll be careful,” he promised, easing it from her, drawing her arm from the full sleeve, and then tossing the garment aside.

  “Please, Nicholas. Make love to me,” she murmured.

  He nodded, anticipation rising within him. And even as he rose above her to kneel between her thighs, lifting them to rest atop his own, he repeated the words he’d spoken but minutes ago. “It would be an honor, Mrs. Garvey.”

  Probably the most difficult p
art of leaving was the issue of saying goodbye, Lin decided. Oh, she could handle those in town who had been friendly over the past week or so, and the sheriff, who had become a regular visitor. But taking her leave from Faith caused a pain in her heart, one she thought she might not survive so readily.

  Nicholas made plans for Faith to move into the farmhouse, since, now that it had been cleaned up and gotten up to snuff, as he said so eloquently, it really stood in need of a caretaker. And then there was the cow, and the empty chicken coop where Faith’s clutch of hens would find adequate shelter. It would be doing them a service if she would agree to live in the place. Cleary would appreciate it, he’d told her.

  And Faith had agreed, even now was on her way to move in, bag and baggage. Not that there was a whole lot of baggage to deal with. Not if the wagon pulling near the back porch was any indication. Faith, it seemed, lived simply, and had said she was willing to tend the farm and continue with the work Nicholas had begun.

  He would leave her the horses and the wagon for her own use, and she in return would take them to town, where they would purchase a buggy and a second mare to draw it on their return journey to Collins Creek. Anything they had brought with them was easily replaced, Nicholas said.

  Faith climbed down from the wagon seat, her eyes turning toward the porch where Lin waited. As always, the woman was radiant, her clear skin glowing, her blue eyes shining with humor and affection. She climbed the steps quickly, and her arms surrounded Lin in an embrace that spoke silently of her love.

  “I’ll miss you,” she said, coming right to the point.

  “I know.” Lin bit her lip, unwilling to blubber aloud. Yet her heart ached for the loss of friendship. Since the death of Irene, she’d known no other woman to fill that emptiness in her life. And knew she would feel the lack of the deep friendship she had allowed to develop between them.

  Yet, Nicholas said they must go, and when all was said and done, he must make that decision. He was a man born and raised in the city, a man perhaps destined for larger horizons than a hay field to the west and a small farming community to the south. They would go to New York for this hearing soon, and returning to the city might intrigue him, if he had any reason to miss the excitement of the society he’d left behind.