beard and wrinkled clothes made him appear more an outlaw than a handsome gambler, and when he reached for Jose, even Evie had second thoughts about letting him go. The look Tyler gave her was sufficient to release him.
"The privy is underwater," he rumbled as he deposited the boy behind the screen with the chamber pot. "Use that. That's what it's there for."
Having solved that minor problem, Tyler turned a stony look to Evie. So he knew. The color drained from Evie's face as he glared at her, and when he jerked his head in the direction of the door, she nodded faintly and followed him out.
The children's racket had apparently roused the guests sleeping in the hall, for the bodies that had been out there last night had disappeared elsewhere. They had the hall to themselves. Tyler watched as Evie pressed herself against the wall, trying to become part of the wallpaper.
"Have I done something to the child?" he demanded in a low voice that didn't sound as if he believed his own question. He rested his hand above her head, preventing her from escaping easily.
He was giving her an easy out. The lies came swiftly and surely to mind. She could tell him the doctor had warned her it would be a difficult pregnancy, but she hadn't wanted to worry him. She could tell him there was a history of miscarriage in her family. She had heard enough women's talk to make up a dozen different lies, each one better than the next, particularly since she didn't think Tyler knew all that much about pregnant women. The worst of it all was that she wasn't even sure what was the truth. Evie struggled with her conscience and fear.
"I don't know," she finally answered. That was as close to the truth as she could come.
Tyler scowled, but there was an element of worry in it this time. "Should I find the doctor?"
Evie shook her head, embarrassed at the idea. "There's no pain," she whispered.
Tyler removed his hand from the wall and stood in front of her, hands hooked in his front pockets as he stared down at her. "Could you have just been late?"
She was so embarrassed she thought she would burn right through the floor in another minute. She should have known that Tyler would know more about women's things than she did. A practiced womanizer would have to know.
"It's possible," she admitted. "It's never happened before."
Tyler sighed and rolled his shoulders back, looking anywhere else but at her. He clenched his hands against his pants. "I'll go find some coffee. What do I get for those birds in there?" He threw a grudging jerk of his head in the direction of the bedroom door.
Evie closed her eyes and tried to breathe. He'd had her almost fainting with fear. "Milk, if you can find it. Fruit and bread, if you can. We have no stove or utensils."
Tyler nodded curtly and stalked off. Evie peeled herself from the wall and stared after him. Her knees were still trembling. He was furious, she could tell by the set of his shoulders. He was furious, but he hadn't taken it out on her. She ought to count her blessings.
She hurried back into the room to find Carmen regarding her curiously, but she was in no humor for answering questions. She sent the children scurrying for clothes while she searched out something new to wear. She wanted something frivolous, something defiantly gay. Her choices were growing limited. She needed a laundry. There was little chance of Tyler helping them out now. She would be lucky if he didn't ride out of town by sundown.
Pulling out a sultry blue-gray silk with an almost immodest neckline, Evie grinned in triumph. It was then that Jose knocked over the water bowl and Maria fell down in it, screaming her lungs out. By the time Evie had grabbed up the little girl and comforted her, prevented Carmen from boxing her brother's ears, and restored order once more, she decided silk wasn't precisely the thing to wear today. She was beginning to understand why the women in town with children didn't wear anything but aprons and cotton.
She didn't own an apron, and her cottons were a far cry from the gingham and stripes of the town matrons, but Evie pulled out one of her schoolteacher gowns and made do. It didn't require a bustle or a hoop, and the dove gray would stand up to attack by