When she went back to the chair across from him, Daniel shook his head
at her and motioned for her to come to him.
'Are you going to introduce me to the lady? ' Cooper asked.
'My name is Grace Winthrop, ' she said, and instinctively started to
curtsy.
'She's Lady Grace Winthrop, ' Daniel told his friend. 'She already
knows who you are, Cooper.' He patted the side of the bed next to
Daniel. 'Sit with me, darling'.'
'She isn't your darling'.'
'She isn't? ' he asked before taking a long swallow of the cool
water.
'No, she isn't, ' Daniel replied. 'She's mine.' Grace stumbled and
fell on the foot of the bed. She was too astounded by his comment to
argue. Did all men make so little sense? Daniel had kissed her, then
shouted at her, and then he said the most ridiculously romantic thing
she'd ever heard.
She simply had to get away from him as quickly as possible before he
turned her mind into mush.
'Cooper fancies himself a lady's man, ' Daniel remarked.
'I am a lady's man, ' Cooper corrected.
Daniel settled back in his chair and relaxed. His friend was going to
make it. Now it was time to talk about what had happened. He was
pretty sure he had it all figured out, but he wanted confirmation.
'So tell me, Cooper, did Rebecca shoot you or was it someone else? '
Grace was so taken aback by the question, she jumped to her feet to
protest. 'You cannot be serious, Daniel. You can't possibly believe
that sweet Rebecca had anything to do with this.' Images of Rebecca
cuddling little Caleb flashed in her mind. She remembered how worried
and frightened Rebecca had been when she first arrived at Tilly's house
after the fire. What would they have done if she hadn't stepped
forward to take charge in their time of need? No, Grace thought,
Daniel was wrong.
'Rebecca did the shooting, ' Cooper said quietly. 'I never l saw it
coming, never once suspected. There was a man there, but I only got a
fleeting glance at him before I was blown into the hallway. I was
going down when she shot at me again. The last thing I remember is the
sound of glass breaking.' Grace was too stunned to speak.
