just a little shaken. I can see her home if you're busy." Daniel had to say that. While he might have a penchant for rescuing ladies in distress, he also had an outrageous sense of humor. The fact that these men had no notion of who he was tickled his fancy. To be able to snatch Miss Hanover from under their noses would be even more amusing. Rescuing her from their greedy clutches just added icing to the cake.
"No, I need to talk to her." With a harried expression, Peter shoved his hands through his hair. "Thanks for bringing the message." He reached into his pocket and flipped Daniel a coin as an afterthought before turning back to the irate old man behind him.
Daniel caught the coin with a grin and walked out whistling. They were going to remember this moment one of these days, and it wouldn't be with fondness.
With that single derisive gesture, the Mulloneys had just demolished the last barrier of hesitation holding Daniel back. He felt no compunction at all about letting loose his armies and storming the bastions. The white knight would rescue the fair damsel, and in so doing, he would slay the evil dragon of injustice.
Chapter 9
"It's nothing. I was running late, and Blucher left, and I fell down and got dirty. I'm totally embarrassed, that's all. But I needed to talk to you—" The carriage hit a rut, and Georgina grasped a side handle.
"And I need to talk to you. How did those pictures get in that filthy newsstand? Have you seen them? There hasn't been another photographer in the store but you. Who is this fellow Martin who put them up?"
Georgina brushed a straying lock of hair from her eyes and looked steadily ahead as she answered wryly, "Thank you so much for your concern, Peter. It's good to know I have someone to call on when I'm in distress."
"For pity's sake, Georgina..." Peter glanced at her stubbornly set chin and modified his tone. "I'm sorry. I just had a horrible row with my father, and you know how that affects me. Are you sure you weren't hurt? You look as if you've been wallowing in the mud and got run over by a carriage."
"Thanks." Sadly enough, it wasn't even anger washing through her at this insult, although her tone hinted at sarcasm. She had known Peter since they were children. Not really known, perhaps. They never had the same interests. Boys and girls seldom did. But the town wasn't so large that they hadn't known each other since time immemorial. That made it easier to treat each other like brother and sister. And that was how he was treating her: like his nuisance of a little sister.
Remembering how Daniel's eyes lit like lanterns when she entered a room, how he touched her arm every chance he got, how he had followed her to make certain she was all right even when she had ordered him not to, Georgina sighed. Why couldn't Peter just be a bit more like Mr. Martin? She was quite certain she could fall in love with him if he would.
Peter sent her a bewildered glance. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. Why am I always saying the wrong things to you? I don't even know what it is I'm saying wrong. I'm glad you don't have another pitcher of lemonade handy."
"It's not what you say. It's that you don't listen. I was trying to tell you something, and you didn't hear a word I said."
"I just got finished hearing more words than I wanted to hear from my father. I don't need more lectures. You need to learn to judge a man's moods." Peter whipped the carriage horses into a trot.
"It goes both ways, Peter Mulloney. You're not God. I have moods, too. And my mood is anything but pleasant at the moment." This wasn't the attitude she had meant to take, but he had her temper riled. He seemed to do that entirely too often these days. Everything seemed to do that too often. She felt as if she were living on a powder keg about to explode. Maybe she ought to help her mother choose a wedding gown and call this whole newspaper bit off.
"Good, that makes us even. So why don't we both go home and cool off and try this again another day?"
"Fine, but unless you rehire that unfortunate girl you fired today, I'm not likely to cool off anytime