with a certain amusement, and Tess felt that, for once, she could too
easily read the message behind his smok~-gray eyes. He thought that she
needed tenderness just about as much as a porcupine did.
'Good evening, Miss. Stuart. I do hope that you'll be feeling better
soon.'
'If you're lucky, Jamie Slater, she'll be up and about for the dance
tomorrow night.'
'If I'm lucky' -- Jamie started to murmur. 'Well, hell, there's no lack
of young men around here, Lieutenant!' Dolly said.
Tess could feel a brilliant crimson flush rising to her cheeks. She
wasn't sure who she wanted to bat the hardest--Dolly for so boldly
putting her into an awkward situation, or Jamie Slater for behaving as
if escorting her to a dance would be a hardship.
'There's absolutely no need for anyone to concern himself,' she said
quietly, a note of steel to her voice. There-she'd given Slater his out.
'I consider myself in mourning. A dance would he completely out of the
question.'
'Would it?' There was a core of steel to Jamie's voice, too. He managed
to step past Dolly and catch her shoulders, and she thought he was
furious as he gazed into her eyes. She couldn't understand him in the
least.
'I don't think so, Tess. Your uncle was a frontiersman, a fighter. I
don't think he'd want you sitting around crying about what 53 can't be
changed.
He'd know damned well that life out here was hard, and sometimes awfully
darned short and sweet, and he'd want you to live. And that's what
you're good at, isn't it? Fighting--living?'
'Lieutenant Slater, really, I' -- 'Maybe it's just the fighting that
you're so good at. Maybe you don't really know how to live at all.'
She cast back her head, ignoring the grip of his fingers upon her
shoulders.
She gritted her teeth hard, then challenged him hotly.
'And you think you're the one who could teach me how to live,
Lieutenant?
Why, I'm not sure that you're more than a perfo~t Yankee mannequin
yourself, Lieutenant.'
His lip curled. His grip on her shoulders suddenly relaxed.
'Why don't you test me then, Miss. Stuart?'
'Jamie Slater, that young girl is vulnerable right now' -- Dolly started
to warn him, but Jamie and Tess both spun on her.
'As vulnerable as a sharp-toothed cougar,' Jamie supplied.
'Never to the likes of him!' Tess promised. Dolly was silent. Soft
laughter sounded, and Tess saw that it was Jon Red Feather laughing, and
that he seemed quite pleased with the situation.
'No wonder white men don't like Indians!' Jamie muttered darkly.
'Sure. Keep the white folks at war with themselves, and half the battle
is solved,' Jon said pleasantly.
'Jamie, come on. It's settled. You can pick up Miss. Stuart right after
sunset.'
'Nothing is settled' -- Tess began.
