“Did you live with those cousins long?”
“No, I never lived any place long. I stayed with Aunt Rosy and Aunt Violet almost three years. That's the longest I've ever been anywhere.” Karlee stiffened, realizing she'd told him too much. “Don't go feeling sorry for me. I don't want roots. I'm not some orphan looking for a home.”
He didn't answer. She could just make out his outline leaning against the house in a place where shadows doubled over him.
She changed the subject. “I figured out what happened today. You were-”
“Don't speak of it,” Daniel snapped. “Don't ever speak a word of what you think happened. We buried Jesse Blair today, and his wife gave birth to a child. That's all that happened.”
“Not saying something doesn't make it not happen,” she answered, resenting being snapped at. If she didn't know better she would think she talked to a child trying to pick a fight. “You can't just-”
Daniel moved so suddenly she didn't have time to react before he closed his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. One hand covered her mouth while the other held her in an iron grip.
His rough jaw rubbed along her cheek as he whispered very low in her ear. “Speaking of what happened could get us all killed, Miss Whitworth. I've been to the stockade where the overflow of prisoners are held. Jesse's brother is scheduled to die in less than a week. If Jesse wasn't dead, he'd be swinging beside his brother.”
“But…”
He didn't allow her to ask. “Lieutenant Logan wanted Jesse but now it seems his brother will do. Logan saw Jesse as trouble. I think he thought if he could hang Jesse, he'd stop all this undercurrent of hate. Since Jesse was buried, someone has to take his place in Logan's plan and the brother seems to be the best choice although there doesn't seem to be any proof the man had committed any crime.”
For a moment, he continued to hold her, pressing her close. She couldn't tell if he wanted to frighten her or needed the nearness of another human, if only in this stiff, forced hug. His heart pounded against hers. His face moved slightly next to her hair. His fingers trailed from her mouth and rested along her throat.
She didn't pull away, but raised her hands to his shoulders and stood on tiptoes to whisper. “Jesse's still alive, isn't he?”
“Yes,” Daniel answered finally, in a voice so low she barely heard. “But if anyone besides us knows, he'll be hunted down and truly buried.”
“What about his wife and the baby?” She leaned closer to his ear, making sure no one hiding in the shadows could overhear. Someone passing who caught a glimpse of them would only think they were lovers in an embrace. But this nearness was far from an embrace. They were trapped together in the need to keep another man's secret.
Daniel took his time answering her as he brushed her hair away from her cheek. “When she's able, she'll go further west. Past Fort Worth no one thinks about Reconstruction. They've got too many other problems. She'll meet up with him there and start over.”
“And the brother?”
“I'll do what I can.” He hesitated a moment before adding, “I'll do what I have to.”
She had a feeling that this preacher might cross the law if he had to.
“But, thanks to you, Jesse and AmyAnn have a son to raise.”
Karlee lowered her head. “I didn't do anything,” she mumbled against his chest, but she couldn't help smiling.
“You did a great deal.” He brushed his cheek against her hair. “And you know it.”
She felt his laughter more than heard it.
“Of course, according to the story Wolf is telling in town, he did most of the work.” Daniel's hold around her relaxed, but he didn't step away. “He delivered that baby all by himself while Union troops threatened to charge and shoot. He held his knife in one hand to cut the cord and a rifle in the other while the undertakers put poor Jesse in the ground.”
Karlee joined in the laughter. All the day had been like a dream, part nightmare, part fantasy. Now, with Daniel's arms around her, she could almost believe it wouldn't end. She felt a part of something… or someone.
Hoping she could truly be a part of this world she'd stumbled into, she whispered, “Do you do this kind of thing often?”
He lowered his head a little, touching her cheek with his words. “Would it bother you if I did, Spinster Whitworth? Would you leave and run back to the aunts if all days were like today?”
Karlee closed her eyes and breathed deeply of the scent of him. All her life, she'd wished for an ounce of adventure, and today she'd had a gallon. Hundreds, maybe thousands of days while she'd worked in the garden, or done laundry, or cleaned, she'd dreamed of living a life on the edge of danger. What Daniel had done today was good and right, even if it had been against the law. She could ask for no greater cause than to help someone. She knew she'd live this day hundreds of times in her mind. She'd had a taste and would always long for more.
“No,” she answered. “I'll not leave you and run back to the aunts, if you'll promise to follow one rule.”
Daniel stiffened and moved an inch away. “What rule?”
“You'll tell me the truth about the dangers you face. I'll gladly stay home with the twins and keep them safe, if you'll promise to tell me everything that happens. If I know what's going on I can make wiser choices.”
Daniel hesitated. “I'm not used to telling anyone. I thought you'd ask to be kept in the dark; it would be safer. Then if you're ever questioned, you'll know nothing. Knowing too much in this part of the country can be as dangerous as not knowing enough.”
“The truth, the day it happens, if I'm to stay. That's my price.”
“But it's late sometimes before I get in.”
“Wake me,” she answered. “The truth, the day.”
Daniel shook his head. “I'm no good at talking.”
“You'll have to learn if you want me to stay.” She knew she was pushing him, but she'd live an adventure even if it came secondhand through him.
“All right. No matter what, if there is trouble, I'll let you know. You've proven your bravery today. If I trust you with my children, I can trust you with my life.”
“And you'll let me help if I can?”
Daniel smiled. “I'll let you help if you can. But don't expect to live a highwayman's life judging from today. Most of what I do is just paperwork, trying to help people find their footing after being knocked down by the war. Most days here are no more adventurous than back home in Indiana.”
“Does Aunt Rosy know about what you're doing here in Texas?”
“No. And I hadn't planned on you knowing about it. We're just a few men trying to prevent a handful of sour Union officers from being harder than they need to be and a few Rebs from taking the law in their own hands.”
“A small group of men and one woman,” she corrected.
Daniel laughed and moved several inches away. “Shall we seal our bargain with a handshake?”
“No.” Karlee felt like she'd just stepped to the edge of a cliff, and it was time to jump. “With a kiss,” she blurted out, taking the plunge.
He wasn't touching her, but she could sense his body tighten. She'd gone too far, she knew it. But there was no turning back now.
“Karlee,” he finally found his voice. “I can't feel anything… there can never been anything between… I'm dead inside since…”
“I don't care,” she hardened herself against the rejection. Her hands balled in fists. If she were changing her life to one of adventure, she might as well start now. “You don't have to feel anything and neither do I, but I've made it to the ripe old age of spinsterhood without ever having a man kiss me. I'd like you to correct that problem, and I'll never ask again for such a favor.”
Daniel remained stone.
“I know I'm not one of those pretty, petite, young girls every man longs to embrace, but I'd still like to at least understand what the act's all about.”
He didn't answer, making her feel dead-toad ugly. She tried to shrink a few inches shorter and wondered if she'd combed her hair at all today.
“You do know how, don't you?” she asked, more angry at herself for proposing such a thing than him for hesitating. But there was no way to back down now.
