Reckless Destiny (5 page)

“All right, talk to them. But from now on, captain, I’ll thank you to stay out of my classroom.”

“I can’t do that.” He grinned at her. “This is the only building on the post big enough for a social gathering.”

“This is where the reception will be?”

He nodded.

Her first day of teaching—a disastrous day, she added—just got worse. In two days, she had to meet the parents of her students. No doubt she’d have a black eye. And Kane Carrington would be her escort. If only Miss Agnes had taught her about men. Cady had a feeling she could go to school for the rest of her life and still not understand this one.

Two days after the disturbance
in her classroom, Cady waited for Kane to take her to the reception. She was nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. It was because she was meeting the parents of her students, some of them for the first time, she told herself. But, nonetheless, it would be a room full of people, most of them strangers. Except Kane.

Tension and excitement rippled through her. Was
he
the reason she was so on edge? He was part of it. But the whys didn’t matter; she had to pull herself together. As she tried to harness the butterflies in her stomach, she leaned back against the pine dresser in her living quarters. The place was small, but it had everything she needed, including a fireplace on the wall opposite the door that she used for cooking her meals.

She hoped the evening would cool off some. She was nervous enough without worrying about fainting from the heat. “It
might
have pushed me to the edge of my
endurance, but it was definitely the heat that sent me into a swoon,” she told herself.

But that was in the past. For tonight, she was wearing her long-sleeved white cotton dress trimmed with pink rosettes at the neck and cuffs. Her hair was woven into two braids and pinned in a sort of circle on the back of her head. Wisps of curls that refused to stay back tickled her forehead and temples. She patted her hair and decided it was neat and dignified.

She figured she was as ready for the reception as she would ever be, except for checking her face in a mirror. She’d been afraid to look, hoping her eye had improved from that morning when it had been a vivid black and blue on the upper lid and just below, too. No matter what dress she wore, or how sedately she arranged her hair, it was difficult to look dignified with a black eye.

“Purple would be more accurate,” she said, braving a look in her hand mirror. For her last birthday, her twenty-first, Jack had sent her the intricately carved silver mirror. She had loved to use it, until now. She touched her temple and winced. “Oh, Lord. Still puffy and purple.” How could she face meeting everyone looking like this? What would they think? She was afraid she already knew. They’d think Miss Cady Tanner couldn’t keep order in a classroom.

Annoyance coursed through her again as she remembered Kane’s part. She wasn’t sure what she was more angry about, the fact that he was escorting her tonight because he’d been ordered to, or that he had interfered in her classroom and possibly undermined her authority irreparably.

The whole incident had surely confirmed Kane’s suspicions that she had no business here at Fort McDowell. Or anywhere else in the Arizona Territory, for that matter. Did the other people here at the fort
share his opinion? she wondered. If they did, would they tell her to her face? If so, she didn’t think she could bear to see Kane’s smirk of satisfaction.

She walked to the table beside the fireplace where she kept her cooking supplies. One person didn’t need a lot, and from the fort sutler she’d purchased an iron frying pan, a coffeepot, and two plates with two sets of eating utensils, just in case she had company. Beside that she’d arranged her staples: spices, sugar, flour, and coffee.

Opening the canvas bag of flour, she dipped in two fingers and pulled them out, the tips covered with white. She patted a small amount on her upper eyelid, and blended the rest on the purple stain just beneath.

She held up her mirror again, blotted off the excess, and smoothed it as best she could. It was better, but it wouldn’t hold up to intense scrutiny.

There was a knock. Her stomach jumped nervously as she glanced at the door and imagined the tall captain on the other side. Then she looked back at her reflection. “This is it, Cady. Remember what Father always says: If you can’t dazzle them with perfection, fool them with charm. Shoulders back, chin up. Confidence. And for God’s sake stop talking to yourself.”

She walked over to the door and opened it. Kane stood on the wooden walkway under the ramada. He looked so handsome, she was the one dazzled. At the sight of him in his dark blue uniform trimmed with gold, which emphasized his masculine good looks, her heart beat wildly in her chest and she was rendered speechless. Now she was mute as well as one-eyed.

He looked down at her and almost smiled. “Good evening, Cady.”

His gaze traveled from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. An expression of what she thought might be
approval creased his eyes and turned up the corners of his mouth.

“Hello, captain,” she said softly.

Then his gaze rested on her face and he frowned. It seemed he couldn’t even look at her without getting irritated. Her heart fell and she tried desperately to keep her disappointment from showing.

He removed his campaign hat and held it in one hand. “How’s the eye?” he asked.

“It’s fine,” she lied.

He lifted a dark brow speculatively. “Probably looks worse than it feels.”

“I hardly know it’s there.”

“Did you let the doc see it?” He moved closer.

He was close enough for her to smell the soap he’d used on his square, freshly shaved jaw, near enough to feel the heat of his body. She wondered if he could hear her heart pounding.

She shook her head. “Completely unnecessary. If you had a black eye would you bother the doctor?” He hesitated. “I didn’t think so. By tomorrow it will be practically good as new.”

He leaned closer and lifted his hand to touch the corner of her eye. “Are you sure?”

She’d known the flour covering wouldn’t hold up to intense observation, but she hadn’t expected the inspection to be from Kane. She held her breath as he gently probed the swelling. Her legs trembled and she felt as wobbly as a newborn colt. Stop it! she told herself. Don’t let him do this to you again.

She ducked away from his big gentle hand and stepped back. “I’m perfectly fine, Kane.”

He shrugged as if to say it was none of his business. But Cady noticed a look, dark and intense. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was concerned about her.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

“Yes.”

In the doorway, he stepped aside to let her pass. When she was outside, beneath the overhang, he pulled the door closed and moved to stand on her other side, between her and the parade ground beyond. When he offered her his arm, she hesitated before putting her shaking hand in the crook of his elbow.

This was a protective gesture on his part, a gentleman’s action, something she was certain he would have done for any woman. Nevertheless, her pulse raced faster. As angry as she was with him for interfering with her job, she’d have thought his nearness wouldn’t affect her at all. Yet here she was, nervous as a schoolgirl with her first beau.

“It will go away,” she said under her breath.

Kane looked down at her. “What?”

“Nothing.”

The night was surprisingly pleasant, and she was much more comfortable now that she was out of her quarters. The sun was just going down behind the mountains in the distance, bathing the desert in colors of gold, red, and orange. A breeze, with the barest hint of coolness in it, lifted the hair from her forehead.

As they strolled toward the mess hall, a dog barked from across the parade ground. Passing the stables, the soft nicker of horses drifted toward them.

Cady risked a sidelong glance at Kane. His profile could have been carved from the rocks that made up the mountains in the distance. Why had she never noticed the creases that ran from his well-shaped nose to his mouth? Probably because most of the time she was too busy being mad at him. She sensed his tension now and wondered if it had anything to do with being her escort tonight. Just because he always followed
orders didn’t mean he agreed with them or even liked them. No doubt he didn’t want to be with her any more than she wanted him there. Another adjustment she’d learn to make: In the army, one had to make the best of any situation one found oneself in.

Since he didn’t seem inclined to talk, she broke the silence.

“Kane, what did you say to Reynolds and John Eagle in your office after the fight?”

“Why do you ask? Have they caused a problem in school?” He looked at her sharply.

She shook her head. “Quite the opposite. They were model students yesterday. That’s why I wondered what you said.”

Before they crossed the narrow dirt road to the mess hall on the other side, he stopped her. She heard the clip-clop of hooves and the creak of a saddle, and the odor of an approaching horse drifted to them. They waited while a soldier on his roan passed by. As he did, the soldier saluted. “Captain.” He nodded at Cady. “Ma’am.”

Kane returned the salute and they continued walking. “I restricted the boys to the post for a month.” His expression turned grim when he glanced over his shoulder at the horse soldier, then down at her. “That means no riding. As an outlet for their energy, I also gave them a list of chores to do every day after school.”

“Oh, my.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, except they’re going to be very busy. My punishment was standards. Reynolds has to write two hundred times ‘I will not start a fight.’”

His forehead creased in confusion. “Why not ‘I will not fight?’”

“There are times when you can’t avoid it. I was more lenient with John. He contributed to the situation, but
he didn’t start the fight. He has to write one hundred times ‘I will think before I speak.’”

“Why?” he asked. She stumbled over a rock, and he slowed and steadied her before strolling on again.

“He deliberately provoked Reynolds with what he said. I wanted to teach them to choose their battles wisely. There’s a time to walk away and a time to stand firm.”

“You do have brothers, don’t you?”

“I do indeed.” She smiled fondly. “My father always told them, Don’t start anything. But by God if anyone else does, you damn well better finish it.”

He looked down at her, obviously surprised by her swearing. “Cady Tanner, what would Miss Biddle say?”

She smiled. “She’d ask me if I quoted accurately.”

He laughed. “Your father makes a lot of sense.” Then he sobered. “I only hope R. J. learns something from this. It’s going to be a long month for him without his horse.”

“The best-learned lessons are the most painful ones. Reynolds won’t soon forget this, and perhaps the next time he’s tempted to fight he’ll think twice.”

“Well, maybe.”

In the distance, she saw the guards at the fort’s perimeter and wondered again why there was no wall around the group of buildings that comprised Fort McDowell. The sight of the soldiers cradling rifles in their arms like babies was becoming familiar to her—and a constant reminder that danger lurked beyond the scattering of adobe buildings.

“What about John Eagle?” she asked. “I didn’t expect to have an Indian in my class, not that it’s a problem. But he stands apart from the rest. I just wondered why.”

“The Apaches don’t trust the whites. And they have good reason.”

“Then why is he here at the fort, going to a white man’s school?”

“His father is an army scout, probably the best we have. It’s his wish that John learn our ways as well as his own. He can see changes coming that will affect the Indian way of life. He wants his son to be prepared for both worlds.”

“How does John feel about it?”

Kane shrugged. “He doesn’t say much. But Indians are taught to respect their parents and elders. He’ll do whatever he’s told.”

“Tell me about the boys’ friendship. I gather they were close?”

“Inseparable. Where one was, you knew you’d find the other.”

“So the hostilities started when John caught the snake and Reynolds—” She stopped, trying to think of a delicate way to say it.

“Embarrassed himself?” Kane asked with a smile in his voice.

“That must have been awful for him.”

“He was mad as a rained-on rooster when the story circulated all over the post. He blamed John.”

“But you just said John Eagle doesn’t talk much. Why would he humiliate his friend?”

“He wouldn’t. This post is like a small town. Someone, probably one of the enlisted men, saw the two boys come back with the snake and noticed the condition R. J. was in and put two and two together. The story spread like wildfire. R. J. had to blame someone, and he was jealous of John because he caught the snake.”

She shook her head. “That’s such a shame. Isn’t there some way to get them to make up?”

“I’ve tried. Nathan Eagle even stuffed the snake for him. R. J. refuses.”

They approached the mess hall. As the sun sank, the shadows grew darker and deeper and the lights inside seemed brighter. Laughter and the sound of voices drifted toward them.

Cady stopped and took a deep breath. “Why don’t you go on in? I think I’ll watch the sun set. It’s spectacular here, far more brilliant than back home.”

In spite of what her father had always told her, she didn’t feel very charming or confident at the moment.

“If you need a minute, I’ll wait with you.”

She saw in his expression that he understood. She hated that he could read her so easily when she thought she was hiding her feelings. He was being very considerate. Then she remembered; he was following orders. She couldn’t let herself believe that he was being solicitous. She was nothing more than a duty.

“Do you always follow orders to the letter, captain? I think I can get to the mess hall now. It’s not necessary for you to accompany me inside.”

“It would be unchivalrous of me to let you walk in by yourself.”

“Then let’s get it over with.” She pulled her shoulders back.

Officers, a few of their wives, and enlisted men were gathered inside the mess hall. When Cady and Kane entered, everyone in the room stopped talking and looked in their direction. Kane felt a shiver run through Cady but she lifted her chin and appeared calm and serene, in spite of her purple eye.

She was nothing but contradictions: fiery and spitting mad one minute, soft and insecure the next. She kept him off balance, and that disturbed him.

That and the way she filled out her dress. The white material trimmed with tiny pink roses made her look like just about the daintiest, most feminine woman he’d
ever seen. She smelled like roses too. In the middle of the Arizona desert, he couldn’t help thinking about a green meadow filled with flowers.