gasp as she looked out the window brought Tyler to her side. He looked over her shoulder, cursed, and leaving his shirt unbuttoned, fell down in the chair and began tugging on his boots. "That river was only a trickle the other day. Where the hell did that come from?"
Stunned by the immensity of the rapidly spreading waters, Evie could only stare outside as Tyler finished dressing. The nearly dry riverbed she had noticed when they arrived in town was now filled to overflowing. Water poured down the streets, lapping at the boardwalk, and seemed to rise even as she watched. Bales of cotton floated down the alley below. An empty crate bumped against a post by the sheriffs office. Men were loading up wagons with goods from the various businesses up and down the street, and the water was halfway up the wheels.
"Tyler, be careful out there. That current seems awful strong." Evie turned just as Tyler rose from the chair, fastening the rest of his shirt and shoving it into his pants. She didn't know why she should feel concerned about this man who had stolen her independence, but it seemed the natural thing to do.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and started for the door. "That coffee might be a little later than I promised. I'll see what I can do."
He walked out, leaving Evie wrapped in her blanket staring after him. When she realized what she was doing she glanced down and shivered with horror. She was standing here with nothing but a blanket on while she discussed floods and coffee with a man she barely knew.
And the memory of that man between her sheets and gazing down at her sent a hot flood of heat to her cheeks She had never considered herself a wanton before, but it was all too obvious that Tyler Monteigne had made her into one. She was more than certain that ladies simply didn't do those kind of things. Or maybe wantonness ran in the family and her mother wasn't really a lady.
Deliberately turning off those thoughts, Evie washed in the cold water from last night and looked for the most stiffly correct gown that she possessed. Unfortunately she didn't possess many, and she'd been wearing them to school these last weeks. Not one of them seemed suitable for the day after her wedding.
She had to keep the proper gowns clean a little while longer, until she had enough money to have them laundered. It wasn't exactly with resignation that she donned the white Swiss muslin with sprigs of green on the ruffled overskirt and green ribbons at the heart-shaped neck. She liked pretty things, and the schoolteacher clothes had been a trifle depressing.
Evie didn't attempt an elaborate coiffure but twisted her hair in several loops, pinned it, and covered it with an old-fashioned net until she could do more. She had to see how Daniel fared.
He was lying propped against his pillows, throwing wads of paper against the windowpane when she entered. She glanced at the Pecos Martin book in his lap and saw the jagged tears of pages ripped from the seam. She wasn't going to question that particular piece of rebellion.
"The water's up to door fronts now. It's a good thing we're on the third floor." Evie lifted her skirt from the unswept floor and went to the window to check the flood's progress.
Daniel studied her turned back sullenly. "I suppose Monteigne is out there making a hero of himself."
Evie raised her eyebrows as she turned around. "He and Ben are moving the horses to high ground. What on earth is wrong with you this morning? If your leg is giving you pain, I'll fetch you some medicine."
"I don't want any damned laudanum." Daniel picked up a book from the bedside table. "Ben said he'd bring up breakfast when he got the horses out. You don't have to wait on me."
"Daniel Mulloney, I do believe you're jealous!" Evie threw herself down in the overstuffed chair and watched the dust fly up. The discovery of Daniel's feelings had floored her, but she didn't intend to let him know that.
"I am not!" Red-eared, Daniel slammed his book down against the covers and glared at her. "I just don't see any reason why you had to go and get yourself married like that. And I don't believe for a minute that you're..." He stumbled over the word and turned even redder.
"Pregnant? With child? Enceinte? I'm not sure I believe