Reckless Destiny (3 page)

“I’m here to teach.” She glanced at the revolver strapped to his hip. “Guns are your tools, books are mine.” She remembered the short interview in Major Wexler’s office and the obvious respect and admiration between Kane and his commanding officer. She had the impression that Kane handled a lot of responsibility at the fort, yet he’d been genuinely surprised when he recognized her after stopping the buckboard. Wouldn’t he have known she was coming?”

“May I ask you something, captain?” When he nodded, she continued. “Didn’t you know a teacher was coming”

“I knew.”

“But you assumed I was here to meet my husband.”

“I was aware that the major had arranged for a teacher. He never told me who the person was.”

“If you had known it was me, what—”

Just then, she heard someone call out Kane’s name followed by the sound of running footsteps. A redheaded boy of about twelve raced over and stopped beside the buckboard. “I’ll give you a hand with that, captain,” he said breathlessly.

Kane smiled. “Thanks, R. J. Hasn’t anyone told you it’s too hot to run around like that?”

“No, sir,” the boy said. “Where ya been? I looked all over. Howdy, ma’am.” Without giving Cady a chance to reply, he looked back at Kane. “You promised to show me how to clean a revolver.”

Cady watched the boy help Kane and didn’t miss the hero worship on his freckled face.

“Sorry, R. J., I forgot. Something came up. Can we do it later?”

“Sure thing, captain.”

The two of them took her luggage through the last door of a long low adobe building. Each set of quarters was separated by a wall, creating small pockets of privacy for the families. She looked around the fort. In front of the boardwalk, a ditch that Kane called an acequia flowed with clear water from the Verde River to supply the post. On the other side of the acequia was a row of cottonwoods and then a large open space that Kane had told her was the parade ground.

She turned and crossed a board spread over the water and stepped up onto a wooden sidewalk beneath a ramada. This awning of brush supported by cottonwood poles was a welcome relief from the noon sun. Hanging from one of the poles was a large pottery urn with a dipper poking from the top. She took a long drink of water and found it surprisingly cool.

Before stepping inside, she looked around one more time. Fort McDowell consisted of a series of adobe buildings, offices, quarters, kitchens, a livery, and a post trader. Yet, surrounded by miles of flat barren desert, Cady knew a feeling of insignificance. She felt very small indeed and at the mercy of man and nature. In the distance, four mountain peaks loomed, the only landmark on the horizon. It brought her a measure of comfort that the mountains were there, something to break the monotony of the desert.

Cady walked inside and waited several seconds for her eyes to adjust after the bright sunlight outside.

Kane and R. J. were sweating and making terrible noises as they shoved her trunk to the foot of an iron cot that was covered only by a sheet.

The boy straightened and looked curiously from her to Kane. “I sure hope this is your sister, captain.”

“Sister?” Kane whirled. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

He made it sound as if being related to her was on a par with being scalped, Cady thought. She had a good mind to throw her books at
him
instead of at marauding Indians.

“If she’s not your sister, she must be the teacher my pa said was comin’.” The youngster’s bright blue eyes stared at her with the most hostile expression she’d ever seen.

“She
is
the new teacher. I’m moving out and she’ll be staying here in my room.”

“What in tarnation for?”

“Because there’s nowhere else for her.” Kane smiled. “I can see I’d better make introductions. Miss Cady Tanner, I’d like you to meet R. J.—Reynolds John Wexler, Junior.”

Cady nodded to him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Reynolds. I take it your father is the fort commander?”

“Uh-huh.” A suspicious look stole over his freckled face. “Are you all the way from New York, ma’am?”

“Indeed she is, R. J.” Kane grinned. “And don’t think she’ll be as easy to get rid of as Sergeant Cramer.”

“No, sir.” But there was a look in R. J. Wexler’s eyes that sent a shiver down Cady’s spine.

In spite of it, she smiled at the boy. “I think we’re going to be good friends, Reynolds. What do you think?”

“Yes’m.” The boy stared daggers at her. “Shoulda known right off Kane didn’t marry you. He wouldn’t marry no teacher.”

“Any teacher,” she corrected. “In case you’re concerned, let me assure you that I have no intention of
marrying anyone. I also plan to be here for a very long time.”

Cady didn’t think it was possible, but R. J.’s expression turned even more contrary. When she lifted her gaze to Kane, his look was not unlike the boy’s. Why would it bother Kane to have her there? She wasn’t going to have any direct dealings with him.

“Are you sure about that, ma’am? There’s wild Indians in these parts. It’s a mite dangerous.”

“So I’ve heard. But Captain Carrington has assured me that he’ll look out for me.”

The boy’s eyes grew round, as if he couldn’t believe his hero would do that. “It’s godawful hot, too. Bet it doesn’t get hot like this in New York.”

“No, it doesn’t. But I’ll get used to it.”

“And we got nothin’ but wind and dust. My ma hates that. Can’t keep nothin’ clean. The grit even gets in the biscuits ‘cause ya can’t keep it out of the flour.”

She swallowed a smile and looked at him as gravely as he was staring at her. “I have two brothers. I’m not easily discouraged or frightened.” She took a step toward him. “Reynolds, nothing you can say or do will keep me from being your teacher.”

“Yes’m.” He swallowed hard. “Captain, I’ll be back in a couple minutes.” Without further warning or explanation, the boy raced from the room.

A feeling of apprehension scratched at the edge of Cady’s tenuous composure. Get rid of her as easily as Sergeant Cramer? She remembered Jack’s letter describing the enlisted man who was dismissed for arriving at school drunk. He’d never been known to touch liquor before or since. That wouldn’t happen to her. She was a trained teacher. And she never touched spirits.

As she looked around the room, she realized that these were indeed Kane’s quarters.

“Captain Carrington, I can’t take your bed—I mean your room.” Her face burned at the implication of that one word. “There must be somewhere else I can go. Maybe where you’re moving?”

“I’m sure the enlisted men would think they’d died and gone to heaven if you moved in with them, but something tells me your brother wouldn’t approve.”

Her face flushed hotter. She only hoped he didn’t notice. “Isn’t there another single woman who’s willing to share a room?”

“Cady, for God’s sake, this is a military outpost, not a women’s dormitory.”

“A simple no would have sufficed, captain.”

“You
do
have another choice.”

“What?”

“I can take you down to the train in Phoenix and send you back home.”

“Why is everyone trying to get rid of me? All I want to do is what I’m trained for, just as you’re doing.”

“Women are a liability out here, especially high-maintenance women,” he said, looking her up and down.

“What does that mean?”

“That you need protection and a lot of other things no one has time for. Survival takes up each waking minute and every ounce of energy you’ve got.”

“Are you saying I’m not strong enough?”

“I’m just saying—”

“Exactly what you told me two years ago, that I’m not cut out for life in the Territory. You were wrong then and you’re wrong now. You don’t have the least notion what kind of staying power I’ve got.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

Cady refused to discuss it further. Going home was no choice at all. If it took the rest of her life, she’d
prove to this know-it-all captain that she could survive here very nicely.

“Apparently, responsibility for my welfare weighs heavily on you, captain. Maybe there’s a solution that would suit us both. Jack’s going back to the mountains. I’ll just stay in his cabin and out of your hair.” She took a handkerchief from her reticule and blotted her forehead. There wasn’t even a hint of air inside to relieve the oppressive heat.

“If Jack wanted you to stay in his cabin, he wouldn’t have been bringing you to the fort. He obviously felt, and I agree, that it’s not safe for you to live there alone.”

Kane watched her mull this over. Her face was very red. With her high-necked white cotton blouse, full skirt, and petticoats, she was not dressed for comfort. She had a lot to learn.

“So my only choice is to stay here.” She looked around his spartan room.

He supposed it was plain compared to what she was accustomed to. With its white window shades and unadorned adobe walls, a woman would find it barren.

“It’s not much,” he said, “but I call it home.”

“I hope you didn’t think I was being critical. I’m merely trying to think of a solution that will not inconvenience you.”

It was too late for that. As soon as he’d seen her again he’d been inconvenienced. All the feelings he thought he’d put aside forever when she went back east two years ago came rushing back.

When she waved her lace-edged handkerchief in front of her flushed face again, he grew concerned. “Are you all right, Cady?”

“Fine.” She tucked the square of cotton into the cuff of her long sleeve and looked at him. “I didn’t mean to
appear ungrateful. Thank you for your consideration. I’d be happy to stay here.”

At that moment R. J. came through the open door, carefully holding a hardtack box.

“I have something for you, ma’am.” He held out the box; then, after she took it, he stuck his hands in his pockets.

A wary smile turned up the corners of Cady’s full mouth. “Why, thank you, Reynolds. What is it?”

Kane had a bad feeling. The kid was a notorious troublemaker and had practically single-handedly “persuaded” Sergeant Cramer that he had no career as a teacher. If R. J. behaved true to form, God knew what the boy would do to convince Cady that a school closer to home would suit her better.

She lifted the lid and shrieked. Kane heard rattles and saw the open mouth and the fangs of the snake as she tossed the box to the floor. He reached for his gun and almost at the same moment realized the sidewinder was already dead and stuffed. The rattling sound was coming from R. J.’s pocket.

He looked at Cady and knew from her pale face and the way her eyes rolled back that she was about to faint. He caught her just before she hit the floor.

“What the hell did you do that for?”

“I heard you talkin’ to her. You don’t want her here any more than I do.” R. J. grinned at him. “Maybe now she’ll go back where she came from.”

Kane easily lifted Cady’s limp form into his arms. He spoke through clenched jaws. “If Miss Tanner is hurt, you’ll wish
you
had someplace else to go.”

Kane carried Cady to the iron cot
, placed her gently on the sheet, and sat down beside her. Bright pink color covered her cheeks, and perspiration glistened on her forehead.

He glanced over his shoulder at the boy. “Take the basin on the dresser and get me some water.” When R. J. hesitated, he glared at him. “That’s an order!”

The boy promptly did as he was told.

Kane turned back to Cady. He couldn’t think what else to do, so he unbuttoned her blouse, just to the point where her lacy chemise showed. Her chest rose and fell slowly. If anything happened to her, he’d personally discipline that pain in the ass, and he didn’t care that he
was
the commanding officer’s kid. When he got through with R. J. Wexler, he wouldn’t sit down for a week.

“R. J., where the hell’s that water?” he yelled.

“Coming!”

Kane took off his hat and waved it over the small, still figure, trying to get some air moving.

As soon as R. J. carried in the basin, water sloshing over the sides, and set it down beside the bed, Kane took his handkerchief, dipped it in the lukewarm water, and drew the wet rag over her face and neck. Cady moaned softly. Her long gold-tipped lashes fluttered, then lifted.

“Cady?” Kane took her cold hand between his and rubbed some warmth into it.

“What happened?” she whispered.

“You fainted.” He glanced at the boy standing beside him. “Get her some water to drink.”

He turned back as a puzzled expression puckered the smooth skin between her delicately arched brows. “Fainted? Me? Impossible. I’ve never fainted in my life.”

“You probably never opened a hardtack box with a snake in it before.”

“Snake?” Her eyes widened and she started to sit up.

Kane put his hands beneath her arms to help her. His palms brushed the sides of her breasts, and the awareness he’d felt while lifting her from the buckboard earlier fanned into flame. He automatically tamped it down. He remembered his feelings when he’d first met her. He’d managed to put them aside then; this time he wouldn’t allow himself to feel anything. Marriage had taught him that women were treacherous and dishonest. It was a mistake he wouldn’t make again.

R. J. appeared with a dipperful of water from an olla hanging outside under the ramada.

“Here’s some water.” Kane held the scoop to her mouth while she drank.

He couldn’t take his eyes from her throat. The slender column moved delicately as she swallowed. He wondered how she would taste if he touched his lips to the
spot where her pulse beat so rapidly. He pushed the thought away, but not before anger took hold. It sorely tested his temper that his response to her was the same as two years ago. No, not the same. Stronger.

She stopped drinking, and a drop of water clung to her bottom lip. Her tongue darted out and licked it away. His gut tightened a notch at the unconsciously sensual movement. If he was going to avoid another mistake, he’d have to stay out of her way. Sooner or later she’d realize Fort McDowell was no place for a lone woman. She was here to teach, but she was the one who was in for a lesson. Until she learned it, he needed to steer clear of her.

She smiled sheepishly. “Thank you.”

“Feeling better?”

“Yes, thanks.” Cady stared at the stuffed snake near the foot of the bed, then at R. J., who was watching her. “I remember now.”

“Miss Tanner, ma’am, I never woulda showed you that snake if I’da known he’d scare you like that.”

“He didn’t frighten me.”

“Then why did you faint? If you don’t mind my askin’.”

“Of course I don’t mind. It was the heat.”

The kid snorted. Kane was about to tell him something about being respectful to a lady when she moved.

She slid to the side of the iron cot and her calico skirt caught beneath her hip, hiking the material above her knee. At the glimpse of her thigh, the coiled tension in his belly wound tighter.

Cady wasn’t special, he reminded himself. Any pretty woman would have caused him to react this way.

He stood and held out his hand to help her up so the skirt would cover that damned good-looking leg. She swayed slightly and his arm instantly circled her waist
to steady her. With her pulled up against him, he felt the heat of her body and her soft breast pressed to his chest.

After a few seconds, Cady looked up at him. Her eyes were as green as the Virginia hills after a spring shower.

“I’m fine now. The dizziness is gone.” She stepped away and fixed her gaze on R. J. “So you think I fainted at the sight of that snake?”

The boy managed to suppress an impish grin. “No, ma’am.”

She walked over to the stuffed critter, bent down, and touched it. The slight shaking of her hand was the only sign of her nervousness, the only indication of how much courage it took for her to get that close.

“That little dizzy spell had nothing to do with this.” She carefully picked up the snake with two fingers. “I assure you, I’m just not accustomed to the heat.”

“Yes’m,” he said, his cocky expression changing to surprise as she gripped it behind the head and turned the face toward her.

“He’s quite a handsome fellow, isn’t he?” She touched one of the fangs.

“Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat, ma’am! You shouldn’t touch—”

“He can’t hurt me, Reynolds. He’s dead.” She looked at the fang again. “Isn’t this where the poison comes from?”

“Yes’m.”

“I heard a rattling sound. How—?”

R. J. stuck his hand in his pocket and produced the rattles, a two-inch-long series of horny cup-shaped rings.

She held her hand out, and the boy placed the rattles in her palm. Turning it over, she studied the segments
intently. “Is it true you can tell a snake’s age by the number of rattles?”

R. J. shrugged.

Kane grinned. He couldn’t help respecting the way Cady was dealing with this hellion.

“I think you should find out. If you’re going to give him away, the least you can do is know something about him.”

“I know something about him,” Kane said.

“Oh?” Cady looked up, a spark of genuine interest lighting her green eyes.

“The rattles are sections of unshed skin. Sidewinders shed three or four times a year, and the end rattles tend to break off. So the answer is no. There’s no way to tell their age by the number of rattles.”

“Thank you, captain. That was very informative.”

“Miss Tanner, ma’am, can I have my—”

“How did you come to have this little fellow in your possession, Reynolds? Did you catch him yourself?”

“No’m.”

Kane chuckled. “Tell her, R. J.”

He shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “John Eagle caught him.”

“I see,” she said. “Is he a friend of yours?”

“No’m. He’s an Indian.”

“Does that mean you can’t be friends? It shouldn’t, you know.” She glanced at Kane and one corner of her full mouth lifted for an instant, the only sign of her amusement.

“We was friends ‘fore….” He glared at the snake in her hands. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

“Something tells me you don’t want to talk about it. Maybe another time you’ll tell me the story of this fellow’s capture. Who stuffed him?”

“John Eagle’s father.”

“Well, I’m very anxious to meet John Eagle and his father. They sound like intelligent and skillful people.”

“Yes’m,” he mumbled. “Now can I have my snake back?”

She gasped in what Kane knew was phony surprise. “But, Reynolds, isn’t this a gift?”

“Well, ma’am—” The boy shifted from one foot to the other.

“Because if you didn’t mean for me to keep him, I’d have to assume you put him in that hardtack box to deliberately frighten me.”

“Yes’m.” His eyes widened. “‘I mean, no’m.”

“And I can’t imagine any son of Major Wexler’s being so unchivalrous, can you?”

“No’m,” he said, looking at his boots. Kane was pretty sure R. J. had no idea what “unchivalrous” meant.

“But it would be unladylike of me to take your gift and not give you something in return.”

She placed the stuffed snake on the dresser beside the water pitcher and went to the trunk at the foot of the bed. After rummaging through it, she pulled out a book.

She walked over to the boy and held it out to him. “From the expression on your face, young man, one would think I was handing you a
live
snake.”

“No’m,” he said, taking the volume from her. He studied the spine. “
The Adven—Adventur—
”

“
Adventures
,” she prompted.

He looked at her, then back down at the book. “
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
.”

“By Mark Twain. I think you’ll like it. And I believe this makes us even,” she said, lifting an eyebrow.

“Yes’m.” He looked out the door. “As much as I’d like to stay and listen to more about this here book, I
think my ma’s callin’. I gotta go now.” He started backing out of the room. “Bye, sir.”

“So long, R. J.”

“Let me know how you enjoy the book,” Cady said. “I’ll see you in school the day after tomorrow.”

When the boy was gone, Kane started to laugh. “I can’t believe it.”

“What?” she asked.

“You have R. J. Wexler running home to his ma.”

She shrugged as if it was nothing special. “Miss Agnes Biddle always said, ‘When the little scoundrels are bigger and stronger than you, outsmart them and get their attention with the unexpected.’”

He chuckled again, not just at what she’d done but at the mimicked voice of her mentor. “Apparently Miss Agnes was right. It worked on R. J.”

“Miss Agnes would also say, ‘Don’t turn your back on the scheming little darlings.’ Now I know what she meant. Somehow I think I haven’t yet seen the best of Reynolds J. Wexler’s fertile imagination.”

“He’s just high-spirited. Nothing to be concerned about.”

“Why does he dislike John Eagle?”

“The two used to be inseparable. Until the day they came back with that snake.” Kane stared thoughtfully at the door. “If he wants you to know, he’ll tell you. But don’t worry about R. J. He’s a little wild, and it takes him awhile to trust. But he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Or a snake?” she asked, smiling up at him.

He grinned back. “Or a snake.”

As the fresh beauty of that smiling face slammed him in the gut, his amusement faded. When she smiled, her small turned-up nose wrinkled. He could tell, if she continued to wear her little hat, that freckles would soon march across her cheeks. The beginnings of small
dots were already evident. What the hell was he doing? He had things to do, responsibilities to take care of, a desk piled with government paperwork.

“I have to go. I hope you’ll be comfortable here. If there’s anything I can do—”

“There is something.”

“I’ll take care of it.” He glanced around the barren room, and his gaze came to rest on the snake perched on the dresser. He walked over and picked it up. “I’ll get rid of this for you.”

She moved beside him, took the creature from him, and stroked its body behind the head. “That’s not the something I was referring to. I’ve grown rather attached to him. I have two brothers, captain; I’m accustomed to things popping up when I least expect them. Why do you refuse to believe I fainted because of the heat? I’ll be perfectly fine.”

“Whatever you say. So if it’s not the snake, what’s the something you need?”

She bit her lip nervously. “I started to ask you something before, outside, just as Reynolds joined us.”

He frowned. “What was that?”

“If you
had
known I was the teacher the major had hired, what would you have done?”

“Nothing.” He shrugged. “I’m a soldier. I follow orders.” He walked to the door and set his hat low on his forehead, shading his eyes and face. “If you need anything, remember, Major Wexler told you not to hesitate to ask.”

Her mouth pulled tight. “I think we settled everything in his office. School starts day after tomorrow, nine-thirty in the morning, in the mess hall. He said you would get the word out to everyone?”

He nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you, captain. You’ve been very kind.”

“Not kind. Like I said, I was just following orders.”

“And I’ve kept you far too long. I’m sure you need to go do some ordering of your own. Don’t give me another thought.”

If only he
could
put her out of his mind that easily. If he had known she was the teacher the major had hired, he would have put in for a transfer. A good soldier knew when to pull back for the safety of all concerned.

“Good morning, children. I’m Miss Tanner, your new teacher. Welcome to the first day of school at Fort McDowell.”

Cady swallowed hard as she stared back at five pairs of eyes. Three girls and two boys sat on hard wooden benches behind long tables in the mess hall. The odors of beans and bacon hung in the still air. Shouted orders drifted in from the parade ground outside.

Cady studied the girls, who were neatly dressed in cotton and calico, their hair pulled back in braids or done up with ribbons. Red, sweaty faces on the boys told her they had raced across the parade ground to get to school on time. R. J. Wexler, who she suspected would do anything to avoid school, was nowhere in sight. She couldn’t teach him if he wasn’t there. But three girls and two boys waited for her to fill their heads with wisdom and knowledge. And she had no idea what in the world she was going to say to them. Why had she ever thought she could do this?

She struggled to control the butterflies in her stomach. This was her first real class, and she so wanted to do a good job. If that wasn’t enough to deal with, it was only nine-thirty in the morning and she was already tired. Between nervous tension and the heat that never went away, even during the night, she hadn’t slept well.

That shouldn’t matter, she told herself. She was a trained teacher. Miss Biddle had said Cady was one of her best students. Kane had seemed impressed with the way she’d handled young Wexler and the snake. But that had happened in the presence of a big, strong, intimidating man. The scene could have turned out differently in a classroom full of the boy’s friends. She had to admit it: She was relieved that he wasn’t among the five children staring at her.