Texas Tiger TH3 (44 page)

Making certain the front door was unlocked so Daniel could get in, Georgina dragged back upstairs to her empty bed. It was amazing how quickly she had become used to sharing a bed. She wanted to snuggle against Daniel's warm, bare chest and feel his arms close around her. She liked feeling his breath blowing across her ear and his fingers entangling in her hair. She didn't know how she had ever lived without him before.

Somehow, she needed to tell him that. Would that scare him away? It might some men, but she didn't think it would scare Daniel. She rather thought he might flash that wide smile of his and kiss her until she was dizzy. He might even try to love her back if she made it easy for him. Perhaps they hadn't started out with the traditional romantic courtship, but they already had the most romantic marriage Georgina could think of. Daniel's constant thoughtfulness had seen to that.

Throwing her robe over the chair, she climbed into bed, resting her head wearily on the pillow. She probably didn't have the strength to make love tonight anyway. She didn't think she could really sleep until Daniel came home, but she could rest her eyes.

Turning on her stomach and running her hands beneath the pillow to hug it closer, Georgina felt the brush of stiff paper beneath her fingers at the same time as it crackled in her ear. Something unpleasant clenched at her stomach as she curled her hand around the envelope, crushing it as she drew it from its hiding place.

She was tempted to leave it until morning. She could just lie here and wait for Daniel to return, and they could read it together in the daylight. Daniel would make any unpleasantness go away. Notes under pillows could only be unpleasant.

On the other hand, it might be a love note. Daniel could be waiting for her somewhere, wondering why she didn't come in answer to his romantic overtures. It would be just like Daniel to dream up something like that.

With a mixture of anticipation and fear, Georgina sat up in bed and lit the lamp. The bold scrawl of her name on the outside was definitely Daniel's handwriting.

Holding her breath, Georgina slit the envelope. By the time she removed the sheets of paper, her hand was shaking. It didn't take this many sheets to make plans for a romantic tryst.

She didn't want to read it. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to put it aside, but the first line—"My dearest Miss Merry"—swam in front of her eyelids. It was like hearing Daniel's voice in her ear to see that line. Tears formed beneath her lashes, and irritated, Georgina wiped them away and opened her eyes again.

She read it through the first time hastily, waiting for the punch line, waiting for that line that said everything would be all right if she would just be patient. It never came. Puzzled, trembling, she tried to read it more carefully, but tears kept blinding her to the words.

He was leaving her. He had already left. He was on the seven o'clock train to Cincinnati. He would write whenever he got wherever he was going. He would keep in touch. If there was a child, he wanted to know about it, because he wouldn't let any child of his go without a father. But he wanted her to have her house and her freedom and her life back just the way it had been before he had come into it. He wanted her to be happy, and he would only cause her grief and trouble.

It was just like Daniel. She could hear him speak every word. He was very eloquent, astonishingly sincere, and heartbreakingly honest. He was also the biggest damned cad she'd ever had the misfortune to run into, and she would make him pay for this.

Georgina didn't even bother looking for the mortgage he had assured her was in her desk drawer. Damn the mortgage. Damn the house. Damn all damned Mulloneys. He wasn't doing to this to her. He had played the hero for the very last time. This time, she was going to shoot him down.

Raging inwardly, Georgina leapt from the bed and began jerking on whatever clothing came to hand. It was the middle of the night. The last train had left with Daniel on it. But she knew how to find him. She had one ace up her sleeve that he obviously didn't believe she would play. He was about to learn differently.

She would telegraph Tyler and Evie.

* * *

Daniel watched the brief show of lights as some unnamed town flashed by. He had passed the last stop between Cutlerville and Cincinnati. There would be no turning back.

He tried to look ahead, to plan a future that seemed suddenly empty. He didn't think he would go back to Natchez right away. Tyler and Evie would be full of questions, and they wouldn't be pleasant ones. Perhaps he would go to the Despatch in St. Louis. Pulitzer had been a good teacher.

Or he could go to Texas and find a town that didn't have a paper. He wouldn't get rich, but he could make a comfortable living. He'd find some pleasant little girl who would make a good wife and wouldn't require rescuing and they could settle down and have twins or something. He'd like to have roses in the front yard and a picket fence. His needs really were very few. Surely he could acquire these basic desires.

Or he could risk it all and have Georgina.

The train slowed to make a long curve. To his surprise, Daniel found himself putting on his hat and picking up his bag. Without a thought to what he was doing, he meandered down the aisle past the sleeping passengers, walking faster the closer the train came into the curve. He vas practically running before the train could pick up speed on the other side.

Dashing out the car door, Daniel grabbed the pole on the outside, threw his bag into a corn field, and leapt into the dark of night.

A man in a stained and crumpled Stetson watched him go, then pulled his hat farther over his eyes and smiled as he settled more comfortably into his seat. The boy had gumption, he'd say that much for him.

Chapter 35

The pounding on the front door echoed the pounding behind her eyes as Georgina jerked her hair tightly into a knot and stabbed another pin into it. She had just spent the most wretched night of her life, and she didn't need this infernal pounding. Maybe she ought to find one of her mother's bottles of laudanum.

She couldn't expect Evie and Tyler to respond to a telegram sent in the middle of the night. She should have waited until morning. But she couldn't just sit here and do nothing. If she had any idea at all which train Daniel had taken after he reached Cincinnati, she would be on the next train out. But she didn't, so she couldn't. Not until she'd heard from the Monteignes.

A servant discreetly tapped on her door. "Mr. Peter Mulloney to see you, ma'am."

Peter? At this hour? Georgina glanced at the mantel clock. She didn't think Peter even knew what the sun looked like at this hour.

She nodded her head in dismissal. "I'll be down in a minute."

It would only take a minute to gather her wrath and fling it at him. Had she been a violent person, she would blast the entire male population this morning. Georgina was almost grateful that Peter had presented himself as a target for her ire before she exploded with the need to release it.

She had put on a fresh dress this morning, but she wasn't at all certain which one or how it looked and didn't really care. She had stayed up all night in hopes of hearing something, anything, and she was operating on temper alone right now. Any Mulloney would serve to divert her fury.

Peter was standing in the front hall, his hands filled with familiar cases and equipment. The fact that he was in possession of her cameras only increased her ire.

"You have your nerve, Peter Mulloney! Any man with an ounce of conscience would hide himself from the face of the world after what you and your family have done. Just put those things down and get out of my sight. You disgust me."

Stunned by this virago who wore the same face as the laughing girl he had once known, Peter slowly lowered the camera equipment and stared at her. Bouncing golden curls were tied back in a severe knot that did nothing to detract from her delicate beauty, but the dark shadows under her eyes were not natural to the woman he had known.

"What's wrong, Georgina? You still can't be mad at me for making you marry Daniel. I thought you were happy about that."

"Happy?" Her voice nearly reached a screech. "Happy to be forced to marry a man who did absolutely nothing other than to be kind to me? If I had a rifle, I ought to force you to marry some poor woman who did nothing more than suffer from your selfishness. Did you know your father had Daniel's newspaper building condemned and the Harrisons evicted from their house? Did you? Now stand there and act innocent, Peter Mulloney. I dare you. Get out of my sight. If I never see another Mulloney again, it will be too soon."

She turned around and started back up the stairs. Audrey and Janice peered down at her from the upper hall, their eyes wide and frightened. At sight of them, Georgina turned around and glared at Peter. "Get out."

"I didn't do it, Georgina!" Growing angry, Peter focused on Georgina. "I have nothing to do with those rental properties. I'd think they would be happy to be thrown out of the rat-infested traps anyway."

"Oh, tell me another one, Peter," she responded sarcastically. "Tell me Mulloney's Department Store doesn't own part of that rental company. Tell me you're not in charge of the department store." She placed her hands on her hips and minced forward. "Tell me you're not a Mulloney, and maybe I'll even believe you."

"Georgina, what in hell is wrong with you? I brought back your camera in hopes of a truce. I just wanted to ask a favor." Peter held his ground until Georgina was practically on his toes, then he backed toward the door. "Will you listen to reason just for a minute? My mother wants to see Daniel. You know she's an invalid. She's scarcely been able to eat since I told her about him. You've got to persuade him to come visit. Believe me, Georgina, I'm not the villain you want. I've argued with my father about those properties, but he doesn't listen to me. There isn't anything I can do about it."

"And there's nothing you can do about those employees you fired, either, is there, Peter?" Her first question was deceptively calm. "And there's nothing you can do about the hours they work or the salaries they make or the promotions you give only to men. And buying stools for them to rest on would undoubtedly bankrupt you." Georgina's voice rose with each new accusation until she was shouting. "Get out of my house, Peter Mulloney, and don't you dare show your face here again!"

"All right, thank you, I will!" Jamming his hat back on his head, Peter stalked out and slammed the door after him.

Wanting to collapse on the floor, Georgina held herself straight and stiff a few seconds longer, letting the fury race through her fingertips and out before she turned to face her audience. She had never done anything remotely like this in her entire life, and she wasn't at all certain that she ever wanted to do it again. Life had been much easier when she could face it with a smile.

She tried to paste one on now, but it faltered slightly as she turned and found Janice already at the bottom of the stairs.

"He won't do anything, will he?" she asked calmly.

Georgina shook her head. "Won't or can't. I don't know which."

Janice nodded in understanding. "It's all right. We'll get by. The boarding house is much cheaper, actually, since it comes with two meals a day. And if you can keep the factory open, Audrey will make much better wages working for you." Tentatively, she touched Georgina's arm. "You'll feel better after you have a bite to eat. Did you know that Egan tried to collect the rents the other day?"

Georgina listened listlessly.

Janice guided her toward the dining room. "He didn't collect one penny. The men followed him everywhere so he couldn't even take out his wrath on any of us. The boys have set up shifts at all the corners now so he can't get past without everyone knowing. We sent a list of demands to Mulloney himself."

Georgina nodded and smiled and let the words fall around her. The only thought in her mind, however, was how soon she would hear from Daniel's family.

* * *

Georgina dug her fingers into her hair and contemplated pulling it out as she stared at the figures on the paper in front of her. On the best of days the numbers made no sense to her, and this wasn't the best of days. Her gaze strayed to the crumpled telegram on the corner of the desk.

The Monteignes hadn't heard from Daniel, but they were making inquiries. In the meantime, they were on their way north. She should expect them shortly.