the men departed, calling promises and reassurances, until Evie was left alone with Carmen and the baby. The boys evidently intended to entertain Daniel through supper. The two women exchanged glances.
"I can go to work, but what will happen to the children?" Carmen whispered as she helped Maria sip from a glass of milk.
If they didn't discuss her mother's death, they could discuss the facts of their current existence without grief. Grief would come later, in the dark of night, when there were only memories to fill their heads. Right now, they had to find some way to survive. Evie understood that, and she wove her fingers together and tried to think.
"The school term will be over in a few months. I want you all to finish it out. I have a little money for food, and if I can move Daniel out of the hotel, there should be enough for everyone. By the time school is out, your uncle may have sent word. We won't worry about looking for jobs until then. We'll just need someone to mind Maria while you attend class."
She would have to sell every evening gown in her collection to have enough money to pay for food for all of them, but it wasn't much of a sacrifice. She didn't need the gowns anymore. These children were more important. Evie knew what it meant to be an orphan.
They were a silent troupe that night when they returned to the hotel. With the children in bed, Evie and Daniel discussed alternatives. Neither of them mentioned Tyler. He hadn't been the one to come to help. He hadn't even been the one to ask if they needed any. Evie went to bed that night in her chair without glancing at the flowers that were already beginning to fade, all except the paper roses.
By the end of the week her hands were raw from scrubbing, her knees were sore from spending so many hours on them, but the Rodriguez house was clean and livable. With additions from Evie's trunks and donations from some of the townspeople, there were beds and linens enough for everyone, and fancy china in the cupboards for eating. A surreptitious trip to the rooms over the saloon had procured a healthy purse for food and Starr's admonitions about men and their company.
Evie was carefully tying the purse of coins to her inside pocket when Starr caught her arm and forced her to look up at her.
"What did you decide to do about that baby?" she demanded without any preface.
Too exhausted even to be embarrassed, Evie faced her without flinching. "There wasn't any. It was a mistake."
Starr looked relieved. "Well, then, you'd better do something so that mistake doesn't happen again. Tyler ain't the kind of man to stay away once he stakes his claim. You'd better let me teach you a few things before you wind up in the family way for certain."
The mention of Tyler's name sent Evie's stomach plummeting to her feet. She stared at the beautiful saloon girl, unable to get past her knowledge of Tyler to listen to what else was being said. "Why do you think Tyler's the one?" she asked in what she hoped wasn't a desperate whisper.
Starr grinned. "When a man as handsome as that comes into town with money in his pocket and doesn't find his way to my bed, I know he's got something good going on the side. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who. The two of you came here together, didn't you?"
Tyler hadn't been with Starr. Evie stared at her with wonder and relief and didn't bother to answer. She hoped no one else had put two and two together as quickly as Starr had, but then, Starr was the only one to know her predicament.
"I'd better be getting back to the children," Evie replied irrelevantly.
Starr shook her head and wouldn't let her go. "Not until I tell you about vinegar and sponges and what to do after. I don't even want to know how that man talked you into his bed, but if he hasn't got the sense to marry you, then you don't want to be carrying his baby."
Evie didn't think there was much chance of that. Tyler would stay far away from her now that he knew he was safe from fatherhood. But she wasn't averse to a little knowledge. She had always wondered how prostitutes managed to sin without retribution. The information might be useful sometime.