with her? They blew up half a damned town, Monteigne! Nobody's going to touch those kids."
"Actually, Daniel did that," a new voice answered laconically.
The men at the bar turned their attention to the black man and the boy studying their cards unobtrusively at a table by the wall. The boy with the crutch leaning on his chair reddened.
"Daniel blew that hole down the middle of the street?" Tyler stopped worrying at the frills of his cuff and stared.
Ben shrugged and discarded a card. "He threw the dynamite. Would have sailed right out into the street and just made a little bang if the bastards hadn't tried to block the door with hay. Then Jose knocked over the lantern, and one thing led to another..." He shrugged again and went back to his game.
Evie chose that moment to sail into the saloon and catch Ben's words. Smiling, she wrapped her arms around Daniel's neck and hugged. "The boys told me everything. He's a hero. He saved them all. And saved the bank, too. The sheriff said Tom and his gang were planning to tunnel into the bank and steal all our money. They would have done it, too, if Daniel hadn't stopped them."
Tyler cleared his throat rather loudly. "I don't suppose I get any credit for keeping Tom tied up at the saloon while Daniel worked his dastardly deeds?"
Magnanimous in her approval, Evie released Daniel—much to his obvious relief—and sailed into Tyler's arms. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled his head down and kissed him soundly. Then she stepped back, crossed her arms, and glared at him. "Why aren't you over at the church? The preacher is waiting."
"Because your stepbrothers here can't decide who gets to be your husband." Tyler threw the Hardings a disgruntled look and straightened the cravat Evie had loosened.
Wide sloe eyes turned an incredulous look in the Hardings' direction.
Kyle stepped back and held out his palms. "Don't look at me. I was just interested in keeping the peace. What would I do with a passel of kids?"
Tyler caught Evie's waist and steered her toward the door. "Besides, she lies and cheats at cards. Better leave her to me."
Evie balked. "I do not cheat at cards, Tyler Monteigne! I don't even know how to play."
Tyler looked down at her calmly. "Yes, you do, too, Evangeline Monteigne. You stood right there and smiled every time Dorset had a bad hand and frowned every time he had a good one. That's cheating."
Evie scowled. "Ben called them kings and queens, but they all looked like knaves to me. They weren't wearing any clothes, Tyler! I didn't like it when those cards showed up."
Tyler stared down at her with dawning understanding, fighting to keep the laughter from boiling up inside of him. Cautiously, he turned to Daniel who was watching this display with an amazing lack of expression.
The boy shrugged at the inquiry in Tyler's eyes. "Nanny wouldn't let us play cards. She said they were the devil's playthings."
"She didn't know they were high cards?" Tyler still couldn't believe he was hearing this right. This whole damned adventure had set out on the assumption that Evie was something she was not. Why did he have such a hard time believing that?
"She doesn't even know what a high card means. But we know what card cheats are. We read about them in..."
"... In a Pecos Martin book." Tyler finished the sentence with him, throwing up his arms in defeat. "I give up. I'm marrying into a family of lunatics." He punched Daniel's shoulder. "The preacher's waiting. You're standing up with me, remember?"
Sheepishly, the boy grasped his crutch and pulled himself up. "I wasn't sure you meant it. I mean, Ben ought to be the one..."
Tyler looked at the black man rising from the other chair. "Ben's the one who ought to be giving me away." Tyler pulled out the sheaf of papers he'd won from Dorsett and shoved them into Ben's hand. "But he's going back to Natchez."
Catching Evie's arm, Tyler began dragging her from the saloon. They only made it as far as the boardwalk outside before Ben caught up with them.
He jerked Tyler backward, shoving the papers in his pocket. "What in hell am I supposed to do with the damned place if you ain't goin' back?"
Tyler pulled his arm free. "Burn it to the ground for all I care. Sharecrop it. Put all your industrious relatives to work. It doesn't make up for your sister or pay what