it, either." It would be easier to lie, but Evie didn't like lying about this, not to Daniel. He deserved better than that. But her words sounded cruel even to her ears. Heaven help her, what was she going to do with a child?
Daniel relaxed as the subject came out in the open. He looked at her with curiosity. "You said you didn't think you'd ever get married. I didn't think you even liked men. You flirt all the time, but you never get serious."
Evie examined her nails. "Well, things happen, I guess." She didn't want to say that she didn't have much choice. There was no sense in Daniel hating Tyler. They would have to learn to live together somehow and Daniel needed a man in his life. She wouldn't have chosen Tyler had she been given a choice, but beggars couldn't be choosers. "At least Tyler is a little more fun than most." Remembering what they had done in bed, Evie didn't think "fun" was the correct word, but she let it slide.
Daniel didn't say anything, and Evie suspected his mind had followed the same path as hers. They were closer than brother and sister, but the topic of sex had never been discussed between them, and probably never would. That was one reason Daniel needed Tyler.
He finally ended the silence with an awkward question. "Is he going to find you a house? I wouldn't mind living somewhere besides a hotel for a change. I'm starving right now."
"We haven't discussed it. I'm of the impression that Tyler doesn't have much more money than we do. I suspect we'd better keep on looking for our checks and waiting for that lawyer to turn up."
Evie rose and checked the window again. The water lapped at the windows of several buildings already. She couldn't see Tyler from this angle. Daniel's room overlooked the livery and the tiny house attached to the rear, not the front entrance where Tyler would be. She hoped whoever lived in the house had moved everything into the stable lofts. It looked as if that back alley behind the hotel and past the house was a valley where all the water from the streets congregated. It rushed along like a river of its own.
She swirled around at a knock on the door, and gave a cry of relief as Ben sauntered in with a tray of coffee and some covered dishes that smelled mighty good. Tyler came in behind him, swiping his dripping hat from his head and leaving it on the floor, discarding his long coat on top of it.
Daniel sent Evie's new husband a suspicious glare, but the smell of food was more overpowering than jealousy. He struggled into a better position as Ben set the tray down beside the bed.
"Flapjacks, folks, and sorghum syrup. Don't eat too fast, it may be all you get the rest of the day. John's packing up his kitchen and moving for higher ground as we speak."
Evie turned a worried gaze to Tyler. "Should we be moving out, too? How long can the water stay this way?"
Tyler's gaze rested on her wholly inappropriate gown before rising to meet her eyes. His smile was gentle as he answered. "We won't let you starve. This is one of the safest places in town, and John is moving his supplies up here. It might not be the best fare, but there will be something to eat in those cans and barrels."
Evie nodded a trifle uneasily beneath the odd glow in Tyler's eyes. She didn't know what he was thinking when he looked at her like that. It wasn't the same look as when he wanted to bed her. She recognized that one well enough. This look came closer to the one he'd had in his eyes that day he'd first proposed marriage. It was almost a haunted look, and she didn't like it.
Evie ate a flapjack without tasting it, sipped at her coffee, and tried to pretend everything was normal. She and Tyler had not once discussed their plans for the future. She had no idea if she would have a house to live in, a place to raise a child, or where the money would come from. Until these last few months she'd never had to worry about such problems, and now they seemed overpowering. She wanted to think Tyler would take care of them all, but she had this nagging feeling that he was as scared as she was. It