"Now that it's light out, will you feel safe while I fetch help? My horse doesn't have a saddle, so it may take me awhile."
"Take all the time you like, Mr. Hale," she practically sang. "Leave me some fresh water, will you? I'd like to freshen up some while you're away."
That made Hale feel a little better. Maybe she was beginning to understand her predicament. She was an unmarried woman, a schoolteacher, and she had spent the night unchaperoned with a man. Harding would have to fire her. And the good moral ladies of town would demand that he do the right thing by her, or she would be consigned to the level of women like Starr.
"Miss Howell," he called tentatively. "I'll bring the preacher back. Everything will be all right."
"You do that, Mr. Hale. You just go and take care of everything."
Somehow, that didn't sound as encouraging as he would have liked, but she'd barred the door, so there wasn't any way of patting her hand and offering reassurance. Frowning, he straightened his tie and went to fetch the water as directed. When she still didn't emerge, Hale saddled his horse and rode out to fetch the preacher himself.
* * *
Tyler had second and third thoughts about Evie and her place in his life when he reached the cabin he'd forced the damned thieves to tell him about. He smelled smoke from the chimney and saw the abandoned carriage out front. Light flickered in the front window, and he had the picture of a cozy little love nest with Evie cuddled up in the arms of her fancy lawyer. Tyler's fingers itched on the handle of his gun as he circled the house.
The place was built like a fortress. There was only one entrance and high, narrow slits for windows. He wished for some of the explosives Ben and Daniel had set off. He'd blow some ventilation into the place.
Pulling his gun, Tyler tested the door. Warped by decades of exposure to the elements, the old oak protested loudly at the pressure. Tyler cursed and stepped back into the shadows. He preferred surprise for his entrance.
No one came running to investigate the noise. Were they so engrossed in what they were doing that they couldn't be bothered? Livid, Tyler returned to the side of the house and the largest of the windows. They were designed primarily as air vents and contained no glass. Digging his boots into the deteriorating clay filler to find a foothold on the timbers beneath, Tyler pulled himself up until he could see in. He could see only the outline of a bed and a glimmer of light from the room beyond.
If he was walking in on some unsuspecting family, he was asking to get his head blown off. But the image of Evie in Hale's arms kept him from rational thought. Carefully, Tyler crawled through the opening. The scratch and thump of crumbling patches of clay falling to the ground gave the only warning of his approach.
He lowered himself to the wooden floor inside and kept to the shadows along the wall while he listened for any evidence that he had been heard. From the other room came the sounds of soft humming.
Humming. If it was Evie in there, she didn't sound in the least frightened. After what she had put him through, Tyler meant to correct that. But he didn't mean to terrify some innocent stranger. Keeping his gun raised, he crept across the darkened bedroom to the doorway.
The sight in the other room nearly paralyzed him.
Hair piled in a tumble of chestnut curls on top of her head, Evie stood naked in a small tub of water, soaping herself with a cloth while firelight danced a pattern of shadows and light across her glistening skin.
Tyler felt all his fears fall into a lump in his stomach while the rest of him began to tingle with a desire that would soon become a raging inferno if he didn't act quickly. He didn't know what in hell she thought she was doing, but he sure enough was going to find out. Holstering his pistol, he stepped into the parlor.
"Mind if I join you?"
Evie swirled around, her hair tumbling loose to her shoulders as she attempted to cover herself with her hands. Blinded by the firelight, her eyes took a moment to recover before they could see into the shadows. But Evie didn't really need to see to know who stood there, arms crossed over