Did he think she ought to run into his arms and accept his story and forgive him for a lifetime of neglect? Or was he more interested in her mother's money? Why did she have to let him know so much about herself? How long would it take before the news would be all over town? And then everyone would know what she was. An unwanted bastard.
She stared down at her hands. "Why didn't you marry her?" she asked through a voice choked with tears.
"I wanted to. But as I said, I didn't have a penny to my name. Elizabeth said she didn't care, that she loved me, that she always wanted to be with me. But when I decided to make our wealth in California, she heeded her father and not her heart. She said she'd wait for me." He had taken to staring at the far wall, but now his head turned in her direction again. "When were you born?"
"September 10, 1850," Evie answered without hesitation.
A glimmer of warmth lightened his eyes. "A farewell gift. I left for California at the end of January, the year after the great rush for gold in '49. I'd heard the tales about gold and didn't think I'd make much of a miner, but I thought I might find another way or two to make a penny. I'd thought Elizabeth would be coming with me, so I wasn't very careful. You're a married woman, am I embarrassing you?"
Evie shook her head. "Tyler was... Well, I know what you mean."
"Jumped the gun, did he?" Peyton chuckled. "Well, then, you know what me and your mother felt like." He rubbed the back of his neck. "The night she told me she couldn't go with me, I felt like I'd been poleaxed. I didn't think to inquire about intimate details, although I suppose it would have been too soon for her to know anyway. I just packed and left in a rage."
"Did you ever write to her? Let her know where you were?" Evie wasn't certain if knowing why she was a bastard would assuage the hurt any, but all these years of curiosity demanded answers.
"Hell, I wrote to her all the time. I wrote to her every night and mailed the letter whenever I got a chance. It takes months for mail to be delivered, so it was a while before I realized I wasn't getting any answers. Then I started to write once a week. When I still didn't hear from her, it dwindled to twice a month. By the end of the year I was making a little money, and I offered to come get her. I sent one of those letters every day in case they got waylaid. Finally, I lowered my pride and wrote Angelina. She was just a kid, but she wrote Elizabeth had left town and hadn't come home."
"She went to St. Louis to have me," Evie answered quietly. "I didn't know she stayed that long. I don't think I could give up a baby I'd come to know and love."
"Elizabeth was a strong woman. She knew her own mind. She hated Mineral Springs. She fought constantly with her father. She couldn't let anyone know she'd carried the child of a half-breed penniless farmer, and out of wedlock at that. So she did what was best for you. She gave you the life she had known before she came here." Peyton gave Evie's expensive dress a knowing look. "You didn't lack for anything, did you?"
"Only love." Evie turned at the sound of the front door opening. Tyler didn't explain what he did all day but he came home at this time every night. She supposed he was gambling at the saloon, but the big games were at night. He couldn't be making much.
Tyler filled the doorway, his eyes taking in the scene without expression. As usual, he was dressed like a gentleman, wearing the frock coat and tie and low-crowned Stetson that set him apart from the rough ranchers and farmers and merchants of town. He took the Stetson off and spun it toward the bed with a proprietary air.
"Peyton." He nodded laconically.
"My daughter and I were just getting acquainted." There was a note of defiance in Peyton's reply.
Tyler's gaze swept to Evie's strained face. She looked to be on the verge of tears, and he crossed the room in two strides. Pulling her up from the bed, he brushed a kiss across her cheek, and she came