Lucky Penny (42 page)

David’s feet felt suddenly cold. He recalled that first day when he’d watched Brianna stoop to pick something up, how she’d kept her rump tucked under and her spine straight, barely even bending her head. He’d thought at the time that he’d seen someone else move like that, but his mind hadn’t taken him back to his schoolboy years when he’d been instructed by nuns. “Jesus Herbert Christ.”

“Herbert?”

Still feeling dazed, David waved his hand. “I have to tack on Herbert or Brianna pitches a fit about my language.”

“Sticking in an H isn’t good enough?”

“Hell, no, she’s a stickler on coarse language, just like a—” David broke off and swallowed hard. “Just like a nun, Ace. Why the hell didn’t I ever pick up on that? You’re right. She moves exactly like a nun. You remember how they always tucked their hands under the sleeves of their habits to hide them? Shamrock does that. It rang a bell, but I never zeroed in on the chorus.” He waved a hand. “No habit sleeves, no beads. The similarity is there, but without the trimmings—” He broke off and met his brother’s gaze.
“Dear God, what if she was telling me the unvarnished truth, that Daphne is her dead sister’s daughter?”

Ace shook his head. “That child out there in the field has Paxton written all over her, right down to the family birthmark. I’m guessing she told you part of the truth, but in the end, the seed that sprouted that child was yours. I’d go to the bank on that.”

David’s shoulders relaxed. “So it’s up to me to find out what part of her story is truth and what part is fiction?”

“Pretty much. For reasons we don’t know, she doesn’t want to tell you the whole of it. The only way you may ever find it out is to do some digging yourself.”

David wished it didn’t have to be that way. He preferred to hear the real story from Brianna. But for some reason, she wasn’t willing to level with him.

A horrible thought occurred to him. “Damn, Ace, what if it was her sister Moira that I fucked?”

Little Ace came dashing up to his father just then. Ace swung the child up onto his hip. “Watch the language,” he warned.

David swallowed hard and nodded, his mind racing off in a half dozen different directions. That kiss at the hotel. It had been deep, sweet, and
memorable
. How in the hell could he have made love to Brianna, yet have no recollection of ever kissing her? An icy feeling of dread settled deep in the pit of his stomach. “I figured the orphan part of her story could be true, that maybe she traveled out West to be with distant relatives until she reached her majority. That happens all the time, and it follows that her relatives may not have looked after her properly at social events. If I was drunk, and she caught my eye—” David glanced at Little Ace. “Well, you get my gist. But what if both girls came west to Denver, and it was the sister I trifled with? And what if she actually did die during childbirth? Oh, God, it’s suddenly starting to make sense.”

“I’m not following,” Ace said.

“Brianna would have been left with the baby. A young woman with a baby who had no husband. It would have been a nightmare in a city, Brianna trying to work while caring for an infant. Getting a live-in position was probably
her only recourse, and highfalutin city folks may not hire a woman with a squalling kid.”

Ace mulled that over. “I can see where you’re going with it, David, but what would have possessed her to take your name, raise the child as yours, and come back to Colorado, even going so far as to write you letters, asking you to come for her?”

“They were identical,” David said softly. “Twins no one could tell apart. As children, they tricked people all the time. Maybe—” David shrugged and lifted his hands again. “I don’t know. I’m just supposing, you know? Maybe she got the harebrained notion that she could take her sister’s place and I’d never guess the truth.” David turned slightly to better see Ace’s face. “Think about it, big brother. If Brianna is only the child’s aunt, and I’m the father, she has no right at all to the child. I could take Daphne and send Brianna packing. She adores that little girl. Maybe she thought she could carry it off until I showed up in Glory Ridge, and then she chickened out. At that point, naturally she would have lied, trying to convince me I’m not the father.”

“Like you say, this is a lot of supposition,” Ace inserted.

“Yes, but it makes more sense than her continually trying to convince me I’m not the daddy if she’s the child’s real mother.”

“In that event—if you find out you’re the father and Brianna’s only the aunt, will you cut Brianna out of the picture?” Ace asked.

“No.” David swallowed hard. “She’s Daphne’s mama in every way that counts. She’s sacrificed everything, the best years of her life, to be a mother to that child.”

“You’re falling in love with her, aren’t you?” Ace queried softly.

The question made David’s guts clench, for he knew the answer was yes. But the hell of it was, that was all he knew for certain right then, except that Daphne had to be his. Everyone in his family saw that.
He
saw that. Only now David had to wonder which woman he’d trifled with to create her.

“What kind of man am I?” David wondered aloud.

“A good man,” Ace replied.

“I got a young girl pregnant one long ago night in Denver. If distant relatives had taken her in, how do you think they reacted when they realized she had a bun in her oven? In a lot of families, that is an embarrassment not to be borne. They would have sent her back to wherever she came from to endure the shame alone. The nuns at an orphanage might not have taken her back in. Maybe she died in childbirth, maybe she didn’t, but either way I was a lowdown skunk.”

“David, don’t beat up on yourself too much until you know the whole truth.”

David knew that was sound advice, but it wasn’t easy to follow. That day down by the stream, Brianna had cried,
I couldn’t let her go alone. I was the strong one. I was the responsible one!
His stomach lurched. He stared hard at his boots. Had Brianna returned to Boston with her pregnant sister? If so, David hadn’t destroyed only one girl’s life; he had destroyed two.

“David?” Ace said his name softly. “Are you all right?”

David felt as if a high wind had just hit him broadside. “I don’t know, big brother. I always thought I knew myself, but now I just don’t anymore.”

“Well, that’s plumb crazy.” Ace set his son down and told him to go check on the kittens. As the boy raced off to the barn, Ace settled those dark, piercing eyes on David’s face. “David, you’re a fine man.”

“Am I?” David shot back. “Even stupid drunk, Ace? Am I a fine man then?”

Ace planted his hands on his hips. “A lot of people blame their bad behavior on drink. So far as I know, you’ve never been one of them. Before you hang yourself on a cross of your own making, you need to know the
real
truth, every damned bit of it, and while you’re digging, remember this. I raised you right. Whatever happened, I’ll never believe you knowingly did a young woman wrong. Maybe parts of Brianna’s story are true, but don’t leap ahead and start filling in the blanks until you have some facts to go on.”

David gazed across the field at his daughter. “I got some
business to see to,” he told Ace. “Back in town. Some wires to send. I don’t want Daphne with me. Can you, Ma, and Caitlin look after her while I’m gone for a bit?”

Ace nodded. “Of course I’ll look after her. Go do what you have to do.”

David whistled for Sam. The dog whirled at the sound. Even at a distance, David saw the struggle the canine went through. His master had called, but now the silly fellow’s heart felt another tug, and the new tug won the war. Sam flapped his snubbed tail wildly at David as if to apologize, and then circled in close to Daphne, refusing to come. It was a first for Sam.

Ace chuckled. “Looks to me like that little bit of calico out there done stole your mutt.”

David agreed, a bit disgruntled, but mostly glad. Even Sam recognized that Daphne was of his blood, and the dog had automatically assumed responsibility for her, just as any loyal, protective canine should. David approved Sam’s decision. He could always get himself another dog, but he could never in a million years replace Daphne.

On the way home from the telegraph office, David stopped by Ace’s place to collect his daughter and dog. Daphne rode home in front of him on Blue, stroking the gelding’s neck as she regaled David with stories about her day with Grandma Dory, finding edible plants, and baking cookies with Aunt Caitlin, samples of which they carried with them in a bag.

David’s thoughts were a hundred miles away. Correction. His thoughts were thousands of miles away, in Boston, where he’d just hired Pinkerton agents to investigate Brianna’s background. It would take possibly weeks for him to get anything conclusive back from them, but in the end, David knew he would eventually learn a truth that Brianna had refused to share. Maybe she had been raised in a Boston orphanage, and maybe she’d had a twin sister named Moira. All David knew was that he’d impregnated either Brianna or her sister, and he held the result in the circle of his arm. As they trudged home on faithful old Blue, Sam ran circles around them.

As a lawman, David had learned to be patient as he ferreted
out the facts. He’d be patient now and simply wait. Sooner or later, he would receive correspondence from the Pinkerton Agency, telling him what he needed to know. Until then, he would leave it be and move forward as planned.

Clothing flapped on the clothesline out back of the house, and as David rode closer, he saw Brianna struggling to unpin a towel, which kept snaking around her torso and catching on her auburn hair. He drew Blue to a stop to watch for a moment.

“What is it, Papa?” Daphne asked.

“I’m just thinking your mama is one of the prettiest ladies I’ve ever seen,” David said huskily.

“Yes, she is,” Daphne agreed. “Aunt Caitlin and Rachel are pretty, and so is Grandma Dory, but I think Mama is the prettiest one of all.”

David remained there another moment, watching his wife and wishing the domestic scene were as real and lasting as it appeared. Then he clicked his tongue to Blue and proceeded on to the barn. He left Rob to tend the gelding and held Daphne’s hand as they walked toward the house.

Brianna stood at the table, folding laundry, when David herded Daphne inside and closed the door behind them. “Howdy,” he said, doffing his hat and hanging it on a wall hook to his right. “Looks like you had a busy day.” He smelled beeswax and noted that all his furniture gleamed. The hearth had also been swept clean, and the delicious aroma of pot roast drifted in from the kitchen. Today Brianna wore the brown silk gown, inappropriate garb for housework, but she’d soon be a businesswoman with the tending of a ranch house far behind her. “The place looks great.”

Pleasure pinked her cheeks. “I needed to keep busy. You were gone awhile.”

David patted Daphne on the head. “I’m for some fresh coffee, pumpkin. Would you like a glass of chilled milk?”

Daphne danced ahead of him into the kitchen, then filled her own glass while David stoked up the cookstove fire and put a pot of coffee on to boil. Brianna disappeared for a bit, he presumed to put away clothes, and then came
to stand behind him with her hips resting against the counter’s edge. She belonged here, David thought, but he had no idea how to convince her of that. Brianna wasn’t a woman to be wooed with deep kisses and fancy words.

“So what did Clarissa Denny have to say?” she asked.

David turned to see Daphne digging her hand into the bag of cookies. “Don’t ruin your appetite for supper. It smells like your mama has a delicious pot roast on.”

“I only have two.”

Daphne took her milk and treats to the dining room. David was glad for the privacy. “Clarissa’s daughter-in-law in California is having a rough confinement, and she’d like to be there well before the baby comes. There are three other youngsters, all little whippersnappers, and her son works long hours at his shop. Right now he’s hiring a woman to come in, but he can’t afford it.”

“So she’s willing to sell?”

David searched Brianna’s lovely green eyes. “If Clarissa had her way, she would have been on a train for California yesterday. She’s so eager to leave, she’d damned near give the place away.” David crossed his ankles, resting more of his weight against the counter. Then he locked gazes with Brianna again. “I won’t take advantage of that, but if I make her a fair offer, I’m sure she’ll accept. Just say the word, Shamrock. If owning a dress shop and sharing a home in town is what you really want, it can be a done deal in the morning.”

“What other recourse is there?” she asked, her voice slightly tremulous.

David glanced toward the dining room. “You could stay here,” he said softly. “We could work toward making this a real marriage and have a real family.”

Her eyes went bright, like emeralds polished to a high shine. “Without love, David?” She shook her head. “You deserve more than that.”

David uncrossed his feet and then crossed them again. After folding his arms, he said, “What if I were to tell you that I’m developing feelings for you?”

“This is only the sixth day of our acquaintance,” she reminded him.

“It was a long trip, Shamrock. Six days isn’t much in most situations, but in our case, we’ve had plenty of time to take each other’s measure. I admire you. I feel affection for you. It’s my hope that you feel the same about me. We can build on that.”

“Affection.” She rolled the word slowly over her tongue as if to test its taste. “That isn’t love, David. We need a stronger foundation on which to build a marriage. Besides, there are still things you don’t know, things that may change your mind. It’s only prudent to move ahead as we planned, leaving ourselves free to file for an annulment.”

David had allowed a judge to railroad her into this marriage. He wouldn’t force her to remain in it. If the time came when she wanted an annulment, he’d give her one, and then they’d have to figure out how both of them could be parents to Daphne. “All right, the dress shop it will be, I guess.”

She nodded and even smiled, but her expression told David she wasn’t really happy. He wished—oh, hell, he didn’t know what he wished. That he could understand her better, he guessed, and that she’d trust him enough to tell him everything. If she was only Daphne’s aunt, did she honestly think he would use it as leverage against her in court to take the child away from her?