Creighton Manor (18 page)

“Gillian, I—”

“You could have been killed.” Her gaze touched his
.

“Are you okay?” He ignored her statement and started checking for injuries. He knew his face betrayed the tension he rigidly held under control. She worried about him
.
Hell and damnation. She could have been
the one
killed. The thought loomed over him dark and deadly. The bullet meant for him could have hit her.

She grabbed his arm halting his inspection. “I’m fine, Zachary. Shaken and a little dusty, but I’m fine.”

He gathered her in his arms in a fierce hug, silently vowing that Cyrus would pay for this.

Tyler greeted them when they arrived at home. He ran down the porch stairs and into the yard, yelling his greeting. “I thought you two would never come home." He gave Gillian a hug, but he latched onto Zachary as though he would never see him again.

“Are we still going fishing tomorrow?” Tyler asked.

“Fishing?”

“You promised.”

Zachary vaguely remembered mentioning they should plan a day together once he was well, but he didn’t remember setting a date. Tomorrow wouldn’t be good. He needed to settle a score with Cyrus first. “I don’t know
, Tyler,
I’m going to be out late tonight.”

“Where are you going?” Gillian’s eyes riveted to his.

“I have business in town.”

“Business? What business? When did you decide this?”

“Not now,” he warned. He turned his attention to Tyler. “Sure we’ll go fishing. See if Dora will pack us a few things for tomorrow.”

“Yipee!” Tyler ran off to find her.

Zachary walked into the house with Gillian following him. “Well?” she persisted.

“Gillian, let it go.”

“You’re going after Cyrus, aren’t you?”

“Not in the way you’re implying.”

“How?” she asked as she watched him reload his gun.

“There’s a big game tonight. I won’t be intimidated. I have to show my face.”

“Why would you go willingly into the lion
’
s den? You’ve been stabbed already and now shot at today. Are you so thick in the head that you don’t get it? Let Creighton Manor go. It isn’t worth your life.”

He didn’t need this right now. He needed to stay focused. “I’m going and that’s final.”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms across her chest. “Then I’m going with you.”

He laughed. “No, you aren’t. No respectable women would step foot in this establishment.”

“So what am I suppose to do? Sit home like a good little woman and hope you return.”

“Yes.” He leaned forward to kiss away her frown, but she turned away from him. He sighed regretfully. “I’ll see you later, then.”

She followed him as he made his way to leave. “If
you
don’t value your life at least think of Tyler.”

“Gillian, give it a rest
.”
He opened the door and turned toward her. “Don’t wait up
.”

“I won’t
.”
She slammed the door behind him with a frustrated growl.

***

Despite her words, Gillian waited up for him until it was almost two in the morning. When he still hadn’t returned, she gave up and went upstairs to bed. She barely drifted off to sleep when someone shook her awake.

"Aunt Gillian?" Tyler nudged her again.

Still sleepy eyed, it took her a second to realize Tyler was indeed in her room and not a vivid dream.
She sat up. "Is something wrong?"

"I was just wondering where Uncle Zachary was?"

"Tyler, it's still dark out.” She didn’t know what time it was, but surely Zachary had come home by now. “Your uncle is probably still asleep."

"We're supposed to go fishing. Remember?"

"I know, but the sun hasn't come up, yet." She tried to lie back down, believing everything was settled, but Tyler was persistent.

"It will be light soon. When we get a chance to go fishing, we always leave before the sun rises. It's the best time to catch the fish."

She sat back up again. "I see. Did you check Zachary's room?"

"I did already. He's not there. I thought
…
well I thought he might be with you."

Gillian ignored what Tyler implied
.

Zachary wasn’t home yet. Fear gripped her, but she couldn’t let Tyler know. “I'm sure Zachary will be home soon and he'll come and get you."

"He stayed out all night," Tyler accused with obvious disappointment.

"Come here
.”
She scooted over in the bed to make room for Tyler. "Here, lie down next to me and try to get some sleep. I'm sure Zachary hasn’t forgotten about you. I’ll bet he’ll be home any moment."

Zachary didn’t return home to take Tyler fishing, nor did he have the decency to make an appearance all day. As the afternoon eased into the evening, Gillian was frantic. What could have happened to him? Did the man who tried to kill him come after him again? She wanted to go into town, but she had no idea where to start looking.

She went out to the front porch and sat down on the steps to wait. The sun hung low in the sky and the heat wasn't as unbearable as it had been in the afternoon. Gillian had a hunch Zachary wasn’t in danger when she spotted Molly. She trotted over and sat down on her haunches beside her. She wagged her tail, while she basked in Gillian’s affection. “Where is he, girl?”

Molly licked her hand. Not exactly the answer she was looking for.

Gillian glanced up and spotted him in the distance. Relief spread through her, but then anger reared its ugly head, again. Zachary sauntered toward the house, his hat on his head as if he hadn’t a care in the world. She stood with her hands on her hips, determined to give him a piece of her mind for making them worry about him.

***

Zachary noticed Gillian waiting for him, he had a hunch she wasn’t there to greet him with a hug and kiss. Nevertheless, she was a sight for sore eyes even with that scowl of hers. He had been blessed with a profitable night
…
and day. Cyrus Locke never learned, always thinking he could pull a fast one on him. Zachary’s satisfaction came from proving him wrong.

He reached the porch and met Gillian’s glare head on. She was still angry that much was obvious. She flipped her auburn braid over her shoulder like a whip. "Where have you been?" Her tone was sharp.

He didn’t like it.

"I told you where I was going." He started up the steps. She didn’t move out of his way. Obviously she wasn’t going to let him pass until she had her say.

"You never said you were going to be gone for a day and half. Didn't you think we would worry?"

"I didn't know you cared." He tried to be light hearted by playfully reaching for her hand, but she promptly hit his hand away.

"Stop it. Frankly, I don't care what you do, but you have someone else who depends on you. You promised Tyler that you would spend a day with him and you left him disappointed
.”

Zachary looked at her blankly. What was she babbling about?

She was good enough to inform him. “Fishing.”

"Hell and damnation!"
h
e
swore
,
as the awareness of what he had done sunk in. "I forgot."

"Obviously harassing Cyrus Locke took precedence over your nephew."

Zachary hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours; he was beyond tired and wasn’t prepared to contend with her attitude. "What I am doing is for Tyler. Creighton Manor will be his inheritance."

"Do you think he cares about a house he has never seen? He wants you. He wants to spend time with his uncle. He looks upon you as a father, but you seem all too eager to ignore him."

"How dare you." His eyes narrowed. "You have no right to tell me how to take care of my nephew. We were doing just fine before you showed up."

"Well, I don't see it that way. You’re this close from death.” She pinched her forefinger and thumb together, shaking her hand in front of him.

"That's enough!" His voice thundered. "You have no right to fling accusations at me. It's none of your business and don’t start in with your nonsense of being sent from the future to save me. For all we know, it was nothing more than a freak accident. Hell, maybe you’re here so I can shake some sense into you.”

“What is that suppose to mean?”

“You live in a dream world, waiting for someone who most likely doesn’t exist. If you haven’t noticed, there’s a man here who took you as a wife.” He tapped his chest, his eyes blazing. “I’m flesh and blood, Gillian. I feel dammit! Grow up.” He nudged her as he went up the steps, ignoring the hurt expression on her face. He opened the door and was about to go in, but the iciness of her voice froze him.

"Since we are being so straightforward with each other, maybe you should think about how Tyler worries when you don’t come home. He thinks what happen to his parents is going to happen to you
.”

Zachary closed his eyes for a moment. He never dreamt that Tyler would worry about him like that, but he wasn’t going to let Gillian know this. Instead, he opened his eyes and went into the house without uttering another word.

Gillian’s attention was drawn to Molly who whined at her feet. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself? You brought me here and for what? I think it’s time you take care of the fool and send me back home.”

Molly barked and took off in the other direction.

“Chicken,” she yelled after the mutt.

Lotti shook her head as she watched Zachary and Gillian wallow in their own misery with no one to blame but themselves. They addressed each other only with polite tolerance if one could call it that. She was more than a little disappointed. She thought by sending them on an outing together they would realize how much they truly cared for each other. Now all she saw was a bigger void than ever. Tyler in his innocence had let it slip to her that Gillian and Zachary were not even sleeping in the same room. She didn’t care how they ended up married. There was something dreadfully wrong when a married couple didn’t even share a bed. Unfortunately, she was at a complete loss at what to do to help.

***

The day of the wedding reception finally arrived. Gillian would meet prominent people of the town, friends and acquaintances. She was nervous because she didn’t know what social graces were expected of her.

  Dora was going to help her dress for the party and fix her hair in the latest fashion. She also volunteered to keep an eye on Tyler. The little boy was so excited. He’d never before been allowed to attend a grown up party.

When they arrived at Lotti’s house, Lotti gave Gillian a grand tour. When the war broke out, the Creighton
’
s had wisely kept most of their funds in their Northern investments. Unlike some of the other Southern families, they by no means were hurting for money.

The elegance of Lotti’s home left her in awe. The furniture in the library was intricately carved with cartouche decorations. Plush cushions adorned them and rugs rich with colors of red, green and gold covered the wood floors. The parlor was adorned with rosewood furniture made by the famous furniture maker,
John Henry Belter
. Lotti told her it had been shipped from New York in twenty different boxes.

In every bedroom, there were pier mirrors positioned between two large windows for the best lighting, and the bedroom she would be staying in had a large four-poster bed, which stood high off the ground. She needed a stepladder to climb onto it. The lace curtains were each tied back with deep-blue satin bows, matching the color of the comforter on the bed. The large dresser was carved with oak leaves. It was situated near the door next to a vanity table that had a large, oval mirror positioned above it.

With all the finery at Lotti's home, she couldn’t imagine what Creighton Manor had looked like since it was supposed to have been even more elegant.

When she heard the knock at the bedroom door, she jumped. She took a deep breath hoping she could calm her nerves. “Come in, the door’s open.” Both Tyler and Dora walked in at the same time. Tyler was all dressed up and his hair had been slicked back for the evening
’s
festivities. He was grinning from ear to ear. Again, Gillian was struck with the familiarity she saw in his small face. It had to be the smile. He looked like someone she knew, and yet she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

"How do I look, Aunt Gillian?" Tyler asked as he spun
around for her.

Gillian loved the sound of being called aunt and was happy that Tyler seemed so comfortable with it. She smiled. "You look absolutely handsome."

"You should see Uncle Zachary. He's been fixing himself up, too."

"Gillian will see him soon,” Dora told Tyler. “Now, be off with yourself. And mind you, don't mess yourself up before the guests arrive
.”