“Anyhow,” David went on, “I can’t see how I can accomplish that if I don’t live under the same roof with her.”
Brianna’s eyes went round with apprehension. “But if I am bent on living under the same roof with her, and you feel the same, where does that leave us?”
David could think of no easy way to say it, so he just spit it out. “It leaves us living together.” He held up a hand. “Think about it before you let that Irish temper get the better of you. I suppose we could maintain separate residences and share time with our daughter, but think how that would look to the people of No Name. Nobody would understand why a man and wife would choose to be married and live apart.”
“Frankly, I don’t care what the people of No Name think or say.”
“You will about the time it starts hurting our daughter. The gossip might affect Daphne more than us.”
“Oh, dear,” she said softly.
“Divorce isn’t unheard of,” David went on, “but it’s still considered to be scandalous. Vicious tongues can draw blood, and I don’t want it to be Daphne’s. The way I see it, we are responsible for her existence, and that means we are the ones who should suffer the consequences. For her sake, I think we need to make every possible attempt to appear to be a happily married couple.”
Brianna stared with glistening eyes at their daughter, who was still deeply asleep. She said nothing.
“There’s a dress shop in No Name,” David told her. “It has living quarters on the second floor. I’ve never been up there, but judging by the lower floor plan, I suspect the apartment is roomy. The proprietress is an older woman and often wishes aloud that she could sell out and go to live with her son in California. I’m pretty certain she’ll negotiate with me if I offer a fair starting price. You’ve always wanted your own dress shop.”
She fixed him with a bewildered look. “How did you come by that information? That I want my own dress shop, I mean.”
“Daphne. When we’re riding together, she talks nonstop.”
Brianna sighed again. “That child needs a sock stuffed in her mouth sometimes.”
David chuckled. “Ah, well, in this case, the information came in handy. So what do you think? Should I pursue the dress-shop idea? As marshal, I divide my time between town and my ranch, often spending nights in the jail. It would be just as easy for me to sleep on a cot in the dress-shop apartment. On the surface, it would appear that we’re a happily married couple, recently reunited. No one will think it strange if I continue to spend some nights at the ranch to oversee my hired hands and do the books.”
“Well, I must say I find this proposition more appealing than having to live in Denver so far from my daughter. But practically speaking, how can you and I make a charade like that work over a long period of time?” Her gaze clung to his. “I agree that Daphne’s happiness is of the utmost importance, but what of
your
future? As far as our marriage goes, we both know the union may not be legal. In fact, I’m fairly certain it isn’t.”
David couldn’t argue with that. Brianna hadn’t given her consent, there’d been only one adult witness instead of the required two, and the whole mess had taken place in the very worst kind of kangaroo court. “Your point?”
“Have you considered an annulment? If we both went together and filed for one, it would probably be easy to get.”
It was David’s turn to stiffen. “And?”
“Until you realize the truth, that Daphne isn’t yours, I would be willing to live with the child in Denver so you might see her regularly.” When David started to speak, she held up a hand. “Hear me out. You spoke the other night about having your life all planned before you got my letters. I believe those plans involved a woman. Am I wrong?”
David stared beyond her out the window, the passing scenery nothing but a blur. “No, you’re not wrong. There was a woman, but it wasn’t—”
She cut him off to say, “With the marriage annulled, you would be free to marry her, David, and have other children. You’re so wonderful with Daphne. You’d be such a fabulous father. Even if it makes you furious with me for mentioning it again, I can’t help but feel I must out of fairness to you. She is
not
your child. And when you finally come to
realize that, you’re going to resent me and
her
for ruining your life.”
A burning sensation crawled up the back of David’s throat. “Are you finished?”
She searched his gaze. “Yes, quite finished. Just never let it be said that I have withheld the truth from you or that I set out to hoodwink you.”
He laughed, the sound bitter even to his ears. “God knows I’ll never say that. You’ve told me your
truth
a dozen times. Enough. All it does is infuriate me. I’ll never believe that child isn’t mine, and I’m not about to have her live in Denver. So get that idea out of your head. I’ve offered you an alternative. Take it or leave it.”
“Pretending to be a happily married couple? What if I say no, David? What if I believe such a charade will never work?”
“All I know is, I’m not parting company with my daughter.”
“And neither am I.”
Disgruntled, David shifted on the seat, moving his hat from one knee to the other. “Then we’re at loggerheads. If you can accept the No Name dress-shop idea and a pretend marriage, maybe we can work at making it a real marriage over time. In the end, it will be best for Daphne if her parents are able to give her a real family.”
Still embarrassed about the kiss they had shared last night, Brianna watched the passing landscape for a moment before speaking. “On the subject of working toward making this a real marriage, I must warn you that I want no part of marital intimacy. Without love or at least some measure of genuine desire on both our parts, it would be debasing. I will never be with a man simply to keep up appearances.”
He said nothing, and his continued silence finally forced Brianna to look at him. His eyes twinkled with humor, which was at least an improvement on the anger she’d seen in them moments ago, but she had the uneasy feeling the joke was on her.
“May I ask what is so funny?”
His firm mouth tipped into a grin as if he harbored a
hilarious secret he wasn’t willing to share. “You have my word that I will never press you for intimacy unless there is love or at least some measure of genuine desire on both our parts. With that agreed upon, can we move ahead with the dress-shop idea and
pretending
for a while?”
Brianna couldn’t see that she had another choice. “So long as we both agree on the intimacy stipulations, I suppose we can give a life of pretense a try,” she conceded.
Satisfied with Brianna’s response, David stretched out his legs and settled back with his hat over his eyes to take a nap with his daughter. Problem was, he couldn’t sleep. Brianna wanted there to be love in the relationship, and he wasn’t sure anymore what love was. He’d definitely enjoyed that kiss last night and would happily go for seconds, but that was only lust. Or was it? She was a beautiful woman. More important, though, she challenged him at every turn, amusing him one moment, infuriating him the next, and at times filling him with tender feelings he’d never experienced with a female.
All his adult life, David had clung to the hope that he’d one day find a woman who brought pure magic into his heart, someone who elicited all-consuming emotions within him—someone with whom he could laugh and cry—someone who could fill his world with love and contentment. Was it possible that he might find that magical something with Brianna when he’d failed to find it with Hazel Wright? David thought maybe so. Brianna was like spiced wine, heady and tempting in a way the schoolteacher wasn’t.
Maybe I’m losing my mind.
The thought made him grin into the bowl of his hat. On the surface, Brianna was the epitome of a well-bred lady, but under that cool, oh-so-proper exterior, she was stubborn, willful, and hot tempered. He’d always hoped to find a malleable, tractable woman—someone sweet and easy to get along with. Life with Brianna would be like riding on a runaway stagecoach, one dip and jostle after another. And when she wasn’t in a temper, she was so damnably decorous all the time, the type to freeze a man out during and after a quarrel
instead of giving vent to her true feelings. Last night, he’d pushed her into giggling and acting silly, but that wasn’t the norm for her, and, damn it, there was more to marriage than having sex. David wanted a wife he could laugh with, someone who wasn’t afraid to cut loose and forget about propriety sometimes. He wasn’t sure Brianna could do that without a lot of prodding, and over time, prodding her constantly would get old.
Even so, he found himself growing more attracted to her with each passing second. And if that wasn’t a fine how-do-you-do, he didn’t know what was.
Sitting across from her daughter, Brianna sought sleep as well, with no more luck than David was having. Her thoughts were centered on the problems that could arise in a sham marriage. More than once, she’d glimpsed masculine appreciation in his eyes when he looked at her, and she would never forget that kiss last night. He seemed perfectly willing to keep his hands off her right now, but what if he changed his mind later? The marriage document in his saddlebag would make his taking of her legal. Having been single all her life, Brianna was no expert on the baser natures of men, but she suspected that their physical needs were far more urgent than those of women. How could he hope to be happy and content in a platonic relationship?
Emotionally drained, Brianna removed her hat and fingered the looped emerald ribbons at the crown. She’d never possessed anything so fine. In the convent, colorful garments had been forbidden, and all but the most subdued pieces of jewelry had been frowned upon.
Adornments,
the nuns had called them. Proper young ladies wore nothing ostentatious. As a girl, Brianna had yearned for a bright red dress and patent leather slippers studded at the toes with diamonds. That seemed so silly to her now. As an adult, she’d come to appreciate just having clothing, no matter how drab it was.
Even so, she loved this emerald gown. Slipping her palm over the fine-grained silk, she smiled dreamily, wondering for a fleeting moment if God hadn’t guided David to Glory Ridge. Whether he was Daphne’s father or not, he offered the
child everything that Brianna had always yearned to give her. Would it be so evil of her to simply accept this good fortune and say nothing more to David about the truth? He grew furious each time she brought it up, so why couldn’t she simply acquiesce and keep quiet?
Because she felt so guilty, she decided. He was revamping his whole life around a child that wasn’t his, possibly even forsaking marriage to a woman he really loved. She’d tried several times to be honest with him, though. In the end, when the harsh truth smacked him between the eyes, he wouldn’t be able to say that she’d been anything less than forthright.
Let it go,
a small voice whispered in her mind.
Pray about it, have faith, and all will be well.
Ah, Sister Theresa, whispering to her again, Brianna thought. A very wise woman, that nun, for no matter how Brianna circled it, the dress-shop idea had its appeal and would be the best arrangement for Daphne.
It would, in fact, be nearly perfect. With David as her father, she would have a family—a grandmother, uncles, aunts, and cousins. She’d be loved and never want for anything. David had become her father in every way that counted. Daphne adored him, and he adored her.
With a sigh, Brianna settled back on her seat and let her eyes drift closed. There were so many possible pitfalls in David’s plan, though. What if someone in No Name discovered that their marriage was a sham? That would be utterly devastating for Daphne. And it would be wearing on both Brianna and David to live a lie, day in and day out. He would be consigning himself to a loveless future without a real wife to warm his bed. And when he discovered that he wasn’t really Daphne’s father, what would become of her and Daphne then?
It was a bridge she would cross when she came to it, she supposed. She and Daphne had survived before and they could do it again. Until then, Brianna would be like a leaf, blown this way and that by a wind over which she had no control.
Pray about it, have faith, and all will be well.
Their train pulled into Denver at half past three in the morning. Brianna, nearly blind with exhaustion, was relieved
beyond measure when David decided they should get rooms at the hotel and postpone the last leg of their journey to No Name until the next day. Using the hotel telephone, he called Ace to arrange for their transportation. They were to be at the train station by noon, which would give them at least a few hours to rest before leaving the city.
David went to a saloon up the street to see if he could get food because all of them were hungry. He returned with steak sandwiches and a quart bottle of apple juice, which they could drink from water glasses in their rooms. Brianna answered his knock, gratefully accepted the cold fare, and bid him a hasty good night. She had learned her lesson the previous evening and didn’t linger in the doorway, fearing he might kiss her again if she gave him an opportunity.
Because it was so late, there was no hotel staff on duty to bring up tubs, so she and Daphne settled for spit baths. Brianna made short work of getting herself and the child dressed for bed. Then they sat on the edge of the mattress to eat. Brianna had just taken a bite of sandwich when a tap came at the door.
She set aside her food and crossed the room. “Who is it?”
“David. I forgot to get some juice.”
“Oh.” Brianna quickly opened up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”
He stepped in, holding an empty water glass. Brianna poured him a measure of apple juice and then stared up at him, uncertain what else to say.
He smiled slightly. “Thanks. The sandwich is dry with nothing to help wash it down.”
She followed him back to the door and watched as he stepped out into the hall. “Good night again,” she said.
“Good night. Be sure to lock up tight.”
After finishing her meal, Brianna turned off the electric light, which was a novelty to her, and then joined her daughter in bed. Her last thought as exhaustion blacked out her mind was that on the morrow she would accompany David to No Name and meet his family. She had no doubt that they would welcome Daphne into their fold, but how would they feel about her—a wicked woman from David’s
past who’d gotten pregnant with his child out of wedlock?