were to be provided there. When no bluebird wrote it across the sky, he returned his gaze to her. She was intent on this conversation and waited for an answer.
There was no getting around the question she hadn't asked. They were almost at the house, and Carmen would already be starting Sunday dinner. Catching Evie's shoulders and holding her to one side of the front steps, Tyler leaned in the open front door. "Daniel, I'm taking your sister for a walk. Tell Carmen she doesn't have to do a thing but relax until we get back."
Releasing Evie, he started down the path away from town, out into the countryside. He jammed his hands in his pockets as she hurried to catch up with him.
"I don't want the responsibility of marriage, Evie. And I sure as hell haven't planned on taking care of a house full of kids. I've not had to plan beyond tomorrow since before the war. That's the way I like it. But I pay my debts, and I know what I owe you. I'm not leaving you to fend for yourself. Now you can take that any way you want to take it, but I'm not going anywhere until I know you're safe."
Evie straightened her shoulders and marched alongside of him. Her best white organdy skirt trailed in the dirt of the path they were following. The sun was beating against her hair, and she feared she would turn pink shortly. A wide spreading oak threw a welcoming patch of shade over the prairie grass ahead, and Evie anticipated its coolness as she pondered Tyler's words.
She had to give him credit for honesty. And he had been amazingly decent about the proprieties since discovering she wasn't carrying his child. Another man might have taken advantage of the situation and then wandered off, leaving her pregnant and alone. Perhaps Tyler didn't desire her any more, but she had learned a few things about a man's needs and wants in these last years, things that couldn't be found in the books she read. She didn't think lack of desire was keeping Tyler Monteigne out of her bed. It could be integrity.
"All right. I believe you." Evie stopped in the shade of the oak and turned to face him. He was wearing his hat, and she couldn't discern his eyes, but she sensed they were focused on her with an intensity that would burn could she but see it. "I'll tell you what little I know, if you will stay long enough to help me. Then we can go our separate ways. Agreed?"
Tyler relaxed and nodded. "It sounds all right, for now. You want to start with telling me why you asked about a family named Howell?"
"Because that's my name, Evangeline Peyton Howell."
The first blow, and already he was crumpling. Tyler stared down into that innocent face with those exotic eyes and swore vividly. When he was done, he managed an unpleasant smile. "That isn't the name you put on our marriage papers. We might not even be married."
"I didn't know the legalities." Evie turned away and stared out over the prairie. "Shall I stop there, then?"
"No. Keep on going."
"I'm an orphan. Or I assume I'm an orphan. My parents may very well be alive, but they don't claim me. They just pay—paid—my guardian a healthy sum to keep me, until Nanny died. A check hasn't come since then. All I know of them is my name and that the checks come from the Bank of Mineral Springs, Texas, and they are sent by the legal firm of Hale and Son. That's it." She swung around to see how he was taking this.
Tyler removed his hat and let the breeze ruffle his hair as he studied her. He thought there might be a suggestion of a tear in her dark eyes, but she held her chin with a proud defiance he had to admire. For all he knew, she could be half Spanish, just like she'd said. But he didn't think so.
He rubbed his knuckles against the softness of her cheek. "All right, Miss Howell, now that we have that established, what did you find out at the firm of Hale and Son yesterday?"
Evie's lips trembled, but she held strong. "Nothing. I went in as Maryellen Peyton, and he wouldn't tell me anything. He said to have Evangeline Howell write to him. He also said the Howell family had once been prominent citizens and they were all dead."
"Which could very