a laudanum-induced haze, he watched in amazement as the usually charming gambler practically shook Evie before pushing her into a chair. Daniel almost pretended he was still asleep when Tyler glared down at him.
"What in hell happened to you?" he demanded, sending his gaze over Daniel's heavily bandaged and propped leg.
"Broke it," Daniel answered succinctly. He was glad the question needed only a simple answer. He wasn't quite ready for a more complicated one.
Tyler threw off his hat and drew his hand through his hair. "Hell," he muttered, before rounding on Evie as she crept from the chair and sidled toward the door. "Get back in that chair. You're not going anywhere until I get the preacher."
"Preacher?" Daniel mouthed the word more than uttered it.
Ignoring Tyler's command, Evie laid a cool hand against Daniel's forehead. Raindrops sparkled in her hair, and he could smell the freshness of the outdoors on her. He caught her hand and held it, ignoring the pain that was creeping up on him.
"Tyler has apparently suffered sunstroke or cracked his head on something. Just bear with him for a little while until Ben comes." She threw Tyler a cross look. "Where is Ben, anyway? Have you already driven him away?"
As if the wind had carried his name, a light knock sounded, and Benjamin stuck his head around the door without waiting for a reply "Heard 'bout the fall. How you doin', boy?"
Before Daniel could muster an answer, Tyler gripped Ben's collar and hauled him into the room. "Keep her here until I get back. Use your gun, if you have to. A bullet in the leg should slow her down."
He gestured his head in Evie's direction to indicate who he was talking about, as if she weren't the only woman in the room. She smiled sweetly at him, and Tyler scowled and stamped out.
Ben crossed his arms over his chest. "You got him mighty riled about something. What happened, boy? Did Miss Evie throw you down the stairs?"
"We've just had a minor disagreement over something perfectly frivolous," Evie purred, doing her best Miss Nightingale routine as she straightened Daniel's cover and offered him a sip of water. She had always admired Miss Nightingale's work. Perhaps she ought to study to be a nurse. "You needn't bother staying. It's Friday night, and I'm certain you have other plans."
Ben grinned and planted himself against the door. "My plans include staying alive, and I won't be that for long if I'm not here when Tyler comes back. How's that leg feel, boy? Should we be hollering for someone to fetch you a beer?"
Evie smoldered. She wasn't going to let Tyler get away with this. Marriage was forever. She meant to marry a man who would give her a good solid house and who would love her no matter who she was and who would have a steady job and come home to her every night. She wanted security and respectability. She didn't want Tyler Monteigne.
She wished the pain in her midsection would go away. It would be much easier saying no if she wasn't constantly reminded of why Tyler was doing this. He was taking away her reason to get rid of the child. With Tyler's plan, the child wouldn't have to be a bastard. But would having a rambling, gambling father be much better?
She didn't know. She just didn't know. She was too tired and confused and desperate to know what to think.
She needed time, and Tyler wasn't giving her any. She didn't want a baby. She had never thought about having babies. She had scarcely thought about having a husband. She wanted to know who her parents were. She didn't even know who she was until she knew that, and now Tyler wanted to make her a wife.
No, he really didn't want to make her his wife. He didn't want a wife any more than she wanted a husband. She remembered very clearly the relief in his eyes when she had refused him that first time. She knew perfectly well that the only reason Tyler had agreed to accompany them to Texas was to get away from two women who wanted to shackle him. So he wasn't doing this for her sake. He was doing it for some mistaken ideal of what a gentleman was supposed to do.
Daniel was watching her worriedly, and Evie tried to smile and be reassuring. She would take Tyler into another room and speak to him quietly. She would make him see