Simply Heaven (15 page)

She started to turn away from the window but then looked again. It couldn't be, could it?

But it was!

She clutched the lace curtains in her hands and stared down at Steve as he walked along so eagerly. He was whistling, smiling, and she bit down on her lower lip to realize he was on his way, like the other men, to buy his evening's pleasure.

Don't you dare cry, she commanded herself. Don't you dare cry, and don't you dare care. She had no right. It was none of her concern. She meant nothing to him and never would, and now she knew that, even if they hadn't wound up sparring with each other, he had never intended to spend the evening with her. He'd had it in his mind all along to go to a whore.

"Walk in the moonlight indeed!" she cried furiously, picking up a pillow and slamming it back down on the bed, only to fall on top and burrow her face in it. What she should do was yank off her fine clothes, pull out the Army scout uniform, and go to the stable, get Diablo, and ride out of here this very night. But she knew she would not do that. She had come too far and was too curious about her father to leave now.

But she would go, she promised herself, blinking back frustrated tears, just as soon as possible, and to hell with Steve Maddox. Somehow, she would make herself forget him.

But, as always, when sleep took her away, Raven was betrayed by her own dreams, and once more she was helplessly in Steve's embrace, yielding to his hot, sweet kiss.

* * *

Hedda Bowers told herself she might be a whore but she had her pride. "I'm not taking your money," she said.

Steve looked at her, bemused. They were upstairs over Peg Leg Jack's Tavern, where Hedda had a room like the other prostitutes who worked for Peg Leg, giving him a cut of their night's take. The room was not much, but it was adequate, with a double bed and a chest where he supposed Hedda kept her belongings. He was leaning back against the pillows, a glass in one hand, an almost empty bottle of rye whiskey in the other. Hedda was an old friend, easy to talk to, and the time had slipped by without his realizing it.

"Do you know how long we've been up here? Nearly an hour. And all you want to do is sip that liquor and talk. You ain't interested in a tumble in the hay, Steve Maddox, so I got to get back downstairs and get me a customer. Peg Leg is going to raise hell with me for being up here so long anyway. He don't like his girls to take more than half an hour on a busy night like tonight.

"But like I said," she added, moving from where she had been sitting next to him, "I ain't taking your money. Now you gotta go, unless"—she looked at him slyly, lashes lowered provocatively—"you've got a yen after all."

He didn't. He knew now he never had. He'd only wanted companionship, and Hedda had provided it. The fact was, though he'd never admit it, he just didn't want any woman except Raven, and he was wasting his time pretending otherwise.

He watched as Hedda immodestly stripped in front of him. She had put on a red satin robe, trimmed in white feathers, but peeled out of it to change into a fetching purple gown to wear downstairs in hopes of enticing a paying customer. She had a good body: full, rounded breasts, narrow waist, and cushy, wide hips. He always enjoyed her—but not this night.

When she was dressed, she tousled his hair and said, "You come back when you're in the mood, you hear? I hate to rush you, but if I'm lucky, I'll need this room in about ten minutes." She gave him a quick kiss and left.

Steve did not tarry. Hedda would have no problems finding someone else. He was still dressed. All he had to do was pick up his hat and walk out.

He paused, peeled a few bills from his wallet, and tossed them on the bedside table. After all, it wasn't Hedda's fault that for the time being the only desire he could feel was for Raven.

Chapter 11

Raven was waiting in the hotel lobby when Steve came downstairs the next morning. She stood with her head held high, ignoring the admiring glances of people around her. She was stunning in her new travel outfit, and he said as much in greeting, but she ignored him. Fine, he thought resolutely. Let her pout. A few more hours and she'd be Ned's responsibility—if Ned were still alive. If not, he would turn her over to Ned's lawyer and let him deal with her.

He could tell she was trying hard to pretend she didn't care about anything, but when he helped her into the fine carriage he had hired for the remainder of the trip, he noticed how she ran her fingers over the plush velvet seats, the way her eyes took in the team of fine white horses with their bright red harnesses. Then, after glancing about to make sure Diablo was secured to the rear of the carriage, she settled back with an exaggerated sigh, as though bored with it all.

Steve bit back a smile at her pretense, knowing she must have lived a hand-to-mouth existence all her life. Seth Greer's wages, either as an Indian agent or as the manager of a government trading post, had doubtless been just enough to survive on. Whatever money Ned had sent would have gone for bare essentials, with nothing left over for luxuries. And while any other girl would probably be drooling over the opportunity that awaited, Raven was so stubborn she'd sooner die than take advantage of it.

Nothing would have suited him better than to ignore her all the way to Halcyon, but thinking how she was about to meet Lisbeth and Julius, he felt sorry for her and decided to prepare her a little, at least. "Remember I told you Ned's wife had two children when they married. Maybe you'd like to know something about them."

"I won't be around long enough to care."

"You might. Seeing you could give Ned a new lease on life. Maybe he'll live two or three years, who knows?" Steve had no idea that would happen, but he wanted to give her something to think about.

She looked at him sharply. "You can't make me stay that long. Nobody can."

"Don't worry. If you're as bratty to him as you are to me, he'll probably run you off by sundown."

"Good." She folded her arms across her chest and lifted her chin a bit higher. "Then everyone will be happy."

"Lisbeth and Julius are spoiled, used to having their own way and hard to get along with under the best of circumstances. They'll probably both fly through the roof when they find out about you, because they planned on inheriting everything Ned's got. I want you to let me know if they give you any trouble. I'll do what I can to smooth things over, but don't let Ned know if they do. He doesn't need the worry."

"There won't be any. They'll soon learn I have no intention of taking anything from them." She closed her eyes and wished she could just fall asleep. Being with Steve was, as always, upsetting, especially when all she could think of was how the night before he had kissed someone as he had kissed her, had held another woman in his arms....

Shaking her head to dispel the image, she tried to focus on the countryside, but it was just more of what she had already seen since they had reached the low country of the deep South. The land was flat, with moss-draped trees clustered in dark, swampy marshes. Now and then she had a glimpse of the lazy, muddy river, ever so often a ramshackle hut. There were no fields of green, and finally she remarked with a touch of scorn, "You talked about Halcyon as if it was paradise. All I see is swamp. How much farther till we reach my father's land?"

"You're on it."

She sat up straight to stare at him in disbelief.

"You have been for the past half hour."

"But—" She glanced about wildly. They were on a narrow road, hardly wider than a cow path, and marshes loomed dismally on both sides. "This is a wilderness."

He chuckled. "That's all any of it was before Ned's grandfather cleared some fields. His father cleared even more. Evidently Ned was satisfied and didn't extend the farmland any farther. That's something
you
can do, if you like."

Just then, they rounded a bend, and any response Raven might have been about to make was swallowed in her awed gasp at the seemingly endless landscape that came into view. Everywhere, as far as the eye could see in any direction, the earth was covered in a blanket of green. White, fluffy balls dotted one side, while, on the other, golden silks danced in the wind atop stalks stretching skyward.

"Cotton and corn," Steve confirmed. "The fields go on for several miles."

"But where is the house?"

He pointed to the river, barely visibly beyond the cornstalks. "The land follows the river. The house is two bends away. Ned said it took over a year to build it, because his grandfather was afraid that the flat-lands would flood. So he dug lagoons in from the river and used the dirt to build a big hillock. It was a lot of work, but the spring floods have never been a threat to the house."

Raven noticed how so many of the workers paused to wave as they passed, apparently glad to see Steve was back. He called a few by name. She also saw how they stared at her. "I guess they don't know who I am. Didn't anyone know you were going to look for me?"

"Only Ned."

"I guess not. He'd be too ashamed." She could not resist the barb.

"Oh, that wouldn't have anything to do with it. He doesn't have to apologize to anyone for anything. He just wouldn't figure it was any of their business."

They rounded another bend in the road, and Raven saw different crops. She could identify tobacco plants, because some Indian tribes grew tobacco, but she was unfamiliar with the shorter leaves in another field.

"Collards. Cabbage. Lettuce," Steve told her. "It takes a lot of vegetables for so many slaves, because Ned makes sure they're well fed. Over there"—he pointed—"beyond those trees, are the hog pens. Then there are pens for chickens and cows, and also a small dairy. You can't see the buildings from here, but there are all kinds of artisans at work—craftsmen for bricks, pottery, weaving; leather workers for saddles and bridles and shoes; even a greenhouse, because Ned likes to have fresh flowers in the house year-round. There's also a small winery.

"Anything anyone could want is right here," he finished in admiration. "Halcyon is a town in its own right."

Raven could not help but be impressed. "And my father runs all of it?"

He laughed, not in ridicule but only at the idea that any one person could physically oversee such an operation. "Hardly. Like his grandfather and his father before him, Ned insists on competent overseers. There are parts of his land he probably hasn't visited in years. There's no need. He knows the men in charge are doing a good job, because they report once a week and give him a full report."

"But if he's sick—"

"Julius should be looking after things now," Steve said, "but I'm sure he hasn't lifted a finger. Thank goodness, most of the overseers can be trusted to carry on."

"Where are the horses you talked about?"

"Closer to the house. They're the only thing Ned sees to himself. He won't let the stable hands do a thing except clean the barns and feed them, under his direction or mine. I do all the training. That's another reason I was anxious to get back. Ned's not strong enough to look after the horses by himself."

Raven was so engrossed in seeing everything that she did not hear anyone shouting to Steve. It was only when he abruptly pulled back on the horses' reins and leaped down from the carriage that she saw a woman waving as she came out of yet another cotton field. She was white, while the other workers were all black, and although her face was smeared with streaks of sweat and dirt. Raven could tell she was pretty. Her hair was hidden beneath a bright-colored bandanna, and even though her dress was loose, it was quite obvious she was going to have a baby.

Selena Leroux threw her arms around Steve. "Thank God, you're back! I've missed you so."

Raven noticed Steve didn't seem to mind how filthy the girl was from scrambling in the dirt to pick cotton to stuff in the big burlap bag that she had dropped to run to greet him.

He hugged her, then held her at arm's length. "You shouldn't be working in the fields, Selena. It looks like you're getting close to your time."

She laughed and patted her round tummy proudly. "Oh, I've got a little while to go yet, and you know Poppa. Everybody at our house works, no matter what."

"But there's easier work you could be doing." He took her hands and turned them palm up. Raven winced to see the bloody blisters.