Dashing Druid (Texas Druids) (34 page)

A defeated groan rose from his chest. “Oh, Lily, what am I to do with ye?”

She smiled. “First off, you might kiss me again.”

He gave a shaky laugh. “Aye, perhaps I can manage that.”

He managed well enough to leave her breathless and aching for more. Afterward his hands framed her face, thumbs caressing her cheeks, while he studied her. As on previous occasions, she felt as if he were looking into her head, reading her thoughts.

“You’re thinking ye have me cornered,” he said, jolting her with his perceptiveness.

“I am?”

“Aye.
You’re certain you’ve left me no choice but to take ye back to
Texas
. Because I know you’ll be safer there than here alone with me.”

Lil gasped. “Are you some kind of mind reader?”

He smiled crookedly.
“Not exactly.
Let’s just say I can see the truth in your eyes, ye conniving minx. Now admit it, ’tis what ye planned all along.”

“Fine, I admit it.” She refused to flinch or feel an ounce of guilt. “Did it work? Have I left you no choice?”

“’Twould seem so, but I’ll go on one condition only.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “What condition?”

He grinned.
“On the condition that ye first become my wife.”

Lil caught her breath and gaped at him, wondering if she’d heard him right.

“Well? Will ye marry me?” Tye
asked,
bluebonnet eyes aglow.

Her own eyes filled with tears. “Yes,” she whispered.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The street was just coming to life as Lil gazed out her second floor window. She stretched, trying to limber up her stiff back, and wished Etta had let her spread a pallet in the parlor last night instead, of making her take Josh’s bedroom.

Etta had insisted Josh wouldn’t mind sleeping with her and Wiley for a few nights, but Lil didn’t like putting anybody out. She also figured a pallet might be more comfortable than Josh’s short sleigh bed – another example of Wiley’s handiwork. Not that she wasn’t mighty grateful to the Gables for taking her in.

Of course, if she’d had her way she would have spent last night in Tye’s arms, she conceded with a grin. She’d suggested as much when he led her out onto the back landing for a heated good-night kiss, but he’d sternly shaken his head.

“Nay, love, I’ll not have Wiley and Etta thinking ill of ye. And much as I need ye now, this very minute, the next time I make love to ye, I want it to be as your husband.”

Hard to argue with that, Lil mused, pulling on her trusty blue gown. She buttoned the bodice and brushed out her hair, letting it hang loose, hoping Tye would like it. He’d planned to camp outside of town and come by this morning to get her, so they could make their wedding arrangements. Eager for him to arrive, she figured she’d best keep busy until he did.

She donned her high-topped shoes – another feminine article she despised – and went to help Etta fix breakfast. After the meal, she offered her assistance to Wiley in the store. Etta thanked her profusely and took the opportunity to remain upstairs with Josh for a while.

Lil was stacking tinned goods on a shelf when Tye finally showed up around half-past nine. She turned at the sound of his entrance, and his eyes lit up when he saw her. He barely answered Wiley’s greeting as he strode over to her. His friend grinned in amusement, Lil noted. Then she had eyes only for Tye.

“Sorry I’m so late, colleen, but I wanted to clean up for ye.”

Dressed in fresh britches and a gold and black plaid shirt, with his hair still damp from a bath, he set Lil’s pulse racing. She smiled and caressed his clean-shaven jaw. “Reckon you’re worth the wait, Devlin.” She said it to tease him, but realized it was true in every sense. She’d waited all her life for him, and he was well worth the wait.

He grinned, caught her hand and kissed it. “Are ye ready to go?”

“Ready,” she murmured, wishing for more kisses.

He must have seen her yearning, because his gaze lowered to her parted lips and his mouth swooped down to taste them. The moment didn’t last nearly long enough for her.

“Come along then,” he said, husky-voiced. Taking her arm, he whisked her out with a cursory wave to Wiley. “Let’s walk a bit. I’ve a thing or two to tell ye.”

She glanced at him wonderingly as he led her across Main Street toward Clear Creek. He didn’t explain himself until they’d followed the rocky bank downstream to the outskirts of town. Dusting off a large flat-topped boulder, he invited her to sit down. She did, feeling uneasy.

“What is it?” she asked, watching him pace off a few feet along the rushing creek.

He pivoted to face her. “Lily, I’ve come to a decision since last night. There’s something ye need to know about me. ’Twouldn’t be right, me taking ye to wife without telling ye first.”

She stiffened in alarm. “Tye, do you already have a wife somewhere?”

“Nay!” He gave a bark of laughter. “’Tis nothing like that.”

“Oh, well, good.” Relieved and somewhat annoyed, she ordered, “Whatever it is, stop making me fret. Spit it out.”

Coming to squat down before her, he cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb across her lips. “Lily, ye asked me last night if I’m a mind reader, and I said not exactly. D’ye recall?”

“Sure. You said you could see in my eyes what I was thinking. I figured you just guessed what I was up to.” She frowned in perplexity, wondering why he was bringing up the subject now.

 “Aye, I let ye think that.” He laid his hands on her knees, cleared his throat and added, “But ’tisn’t precisely true.”

“You mean you did read my mind?”

He shook his head. “Not your mind, your thoughts that is, but your feelings.”

“My feelings? What are you saying? I don’t understand.”

A muscle jumped along his jaw. He rose and walked slowly away again, rubbing his neck. “I can pick up other people’s feelings. If they’re in pain or giddy with happiness, so am I. If they’re in mourning, I feel their loss as if ’twas my own.”

“So? I sympathize with folks, too, when they lose somebody or when they’re hurting.”

He swung around shaking his head. “Nay, ’tisn’t mere sympathy I’m talking about. I can feel exactly what the person feels, especially if I happen to touch them. Although, I’ve learned to block out much of the commotion, and I wear gloves most of the time to be safe. Perhaps you’ve noticed?”

“That’s not unusual. All cowhands wear gloves.” In truth she
had
noticed that he never took his gloves off to eat or shake a man’s hand or, well, anything except with her – he wasn’t wearing them now – but that wasn’t enough to convince her.

“What if I say I know you’re a wee bit angry with me right now?” He narrowed his eyes. “And you’re determined not to believe what I’m telling ye.”

Lil shrugged. “It doesn’t take a mind reader, or whatever you’re claiming to be, to tell that.”

He smiled wryly. “I suppose not.” He planted his hands on his hips, frowning in thought. After a moment his expression cleared. “Do ye remember the day we met and how incensed ye felt when ye learned whose brother I am?”

Lil was feeling exasperated at the moment. Rising, she walked over to him, crossed her arms and tapped her toe impatiently. “You could tell I was mad from the gun I aimed at you. What does that prove? Nothing!”

“True enough, colleen.” He sighed and locked his gaze with hers. “But beneath your anger was pain and a feeling of despair that swept aside all the mental barriers I’ve constructed over the years to save my sanity. Those feelings burst from ye when I mentioned David and Jessie, and I couldn’t understand why. It made me stare at ye like a man bewitched. D’ye remember that?”

Lil gulped and nodded, unable to speak. She still didn’t want to believe his absurd claim about reading peoples’ feelings, but she remembered all too clearly the way he’d stared at her that day, and the notion she’d had that he was trying to see inside her head. She also remembered all the other times she’d gotten that same strange feeling and wondered how often he’d secretly searched her hidden depths. Why, he’d probably known she loved him before she even admitted it to herself. The thought angered her. It also frightened her.

“What are you?” she blurted, backing away from him.

“Nay, love, don’t be afraid of me!” he cried, coming toward her. Realizing he knew everything she was feeling at that very moment, she whirled and tried to run, but he caught her from behind.

“No! Let me go!” She fought to break free, but he wrapped his arms around her, using his greater strength to subdue her struggles.

“Lily, listen to me! I love ye, colleen, more than life itself. What I am isn’t easy to explain, but I’ll do my best if you’ll only listen. And I’ll never use my gift to hurt ye. I swear it upon my mother’s soul, God rest her.”

She went still. Breathing hard, she fought to calm her wild fear. This was Tye, the man she’d given herself to, heart and body, the man who’d saved her life more than once. She believed him. He wouldn’t use his
gift
to hurt her. Not deliberately at least.

“Let me go,” she repeated as calmly as she could manage.

He released her slowly, no doubt wondering if she would try to run again. She didn’t. Without looking at him, she returned to her seat upon the boulder and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop the trembling that had seized her. Aware of his approach, she forced herself to meet his searching blue gaze.

“All right, explain. Tell me where this
curse
of yours comes from.”

He frowned at her sarcasm but didn’t comment. Folding his long form onto the boulder beside her, he braced his hands on his knees and glanced at her sideways. “Have ye ever heard of an ancient people called Druids?”

She shook her head.

“Well, it seems they lived in Europe, Britain and Ireland thousands of years ago. They’re said to have been learned and wise. They were priests of a sort, though they practiced a pagan religion, for ’twas before the birth of Christ, ye understand. ’Tis also said some possessed . . . special talents.”

Lil caught her breath. “Are you saying you’re somehow related to those . . . what did you call them?”

“Druids. And, aye, that’s exactly what I’m saying. My mother used to say we came down from the
Old Ones.
She didn’t know their proper name until the woman she worked for found out about her ability and looked into the subject. She told us –”

“Wait! Do you mean your mother was like you? She could see into peoples’ heads?”

“Nay, she was a seer like Jessie. She could look into the future.”

Lil felt as if he’d knocked her in the head. “J-Jessie can see the f-future?” she stammered, swaying in shock.

“Here now, don’t fall off your perch,” Tye said in alarm. Wrapping his arm around her, he drew her against him, pressing her head to his shoulder. “’Tisn’t so bad as all that, colleen.”

Her head gradually stopped spinning, but the shock lingered. “D-does she always know what’s going to happen . . . b-before it does?”

“Nay, nay, at times she’ll dreams of something for months before it happens, but her visions only come upon her now and then, always in water.”

“In water?”

“Aye, she’ll be gazing at a pan of water and the power suddenly takes hold of her. Or she could be looking across a lake. I witnessed that once. ’Twas a hot day in late summer. We’d gone down to the lake to cool off. Lake Michigan, that is. Jessie was wading along the shore with her skirts hiked up, I remember, when all at once she went still as a statue. I asked was she all right, but she didn’t answer. She just stood there staring across the rippling lake. Then she gave a blood-curdling scream and toppled over in the water, nearly drowning herself before I could pull her up.”

“What did she see that made her scream?”

“She saw the city ablaze.” Tone grim, he tightened his arm around her.

Lil tipped her head back to stare at him. “You mean the Chicago Fire?”

“Aye, and a few weeks later her vision was fulfilled.” He swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing, and stared into the distance, obviously remembering the terrible event.

“Good Lord!” she whispered. After a long moment’s silence, she cleared her throat and asked, “What about your other sister? Is she a . . . a Druid, too?”

His hold upon her relaxed and his tone brightened. “Aye, Rosie has a very special gift. She’s a healer.”

“A healer?” Feeling foolish for having a case of the vapors, Lil straightened away from him. “You mean she’s a sawbones?”

“Well, no, not exactly.” He eyed her closely as if fearing her embarrassing weakness might be repeated.

“I’m fine now. Just tell me,” she snapped.

He grinned, evidently
feeling
she wasn’t about to swoon. “Very well. Rose has the healing touch. She can cure a fever or mend a wound by simply touching the person with her hands.”

“Ha! I’ve heard of that before. A preacher came through Clifton once. Ma made me go with her to hear him preach.” She scowled at the memory. “He was all fire and brimstone, and he claimed he could heal the sick by laying his hands on them.” She eyed him dubiously. “Course he couldn’t. He just put on a good show so the durn fools who came to hear him would drop something in his collection plate.”

“I know the type.” He shook his head. “But Rosie’s not one of them. She truly does have the touch. I’ve watched her mend a torn leg in the time it would take a skilled physician to stitch up the wound. And when she was done, there was naught but a thin red scar to mark the place.”

“That’s mighty hard to believe.”

“I know, but ’tis the truth.” Tye watched her closely, giving her that unnerving feeling she’d gotten at other times, signaling his attempt to read her feelings, she now knew.