Texas Tiger TH3 (50 page)

Outside, there was a concerted chorus of yells and the explosive detonations of firecrackers. Georgina and Evie exchanged concerned glances around the frail woman now standing between them.

"Someone had better speak to them," Edith said mildly.

"I'll do that, damn you!" Artemis yelled as his sons lowered him to the bed. "Just bring me some water." He gave an inadvertent moan of pain and bent forward before passing out.

Edith clutched the hands holding her and watched as Peter and Daniel straightened Artemis out on the bed and released his collar. The purple staining his jaws had faded to a sickly white, but he was still breathing. Edith nodded as if any movement might jar her head from her shoulders. "I'll speak to them," she announced.

Everyone turned to stare, but she was already sailing regally toward the window with Evie and Georgina as ballast. Tyler grabbed Daniel's shoulders and shoved him away from the man in the bed, taking his place there so Daniel could go to his mother.

Too stunned to comprehend all that was happening, Daniel slipped his hand beneath the elbow Evie was holding and sent her away with a nod of his head. She gracefully relinquished her place.

As Edith appeared in the window supported by Daniel and Georgina, a cheer rose from the crowd. The band began on "Yankee Doodle" again, and firecrackers exploded throughout the lawns. Children jumped and cheered for no other reason than that they enjoyed the noise. Their parents clapped and screamed because Artemis Mulloney was no longer standing there yelling threats.

"Daniel, you must speak to them. My voice won't carry," Edith murmured beneath the roar.

"What in hell do you want me to say?" Completely shaken by events, Daniel forgot to be polite.

"You're the eldest. You say what needs to be said."

"I don't have that authority. Peter should be the one doing this."

"Peter will do what I say. My name is on all those legal papers, too. Peter has been acting in my behalf all these years. Perhaps we've failed. It's your turn now."

Daniel stared at her uncertainly, then glanced to Georgina. Her eyes were wide and bright with confidence, and he took strength from the look she bestowed on him. He knew what to do; he just needed that look to tell him he was right. He smiled back and waited for the roar below to grow quiet.

"Thank you for coming here today." The wry note in his voice sent ripples of laughter through the crowd. "My father has been taken ill. If there is a physician out there, I would appreciate it if he would come forward immediately." That stopped the laughter.

A figure hurried forward from the outskirts of the crowd just as John appeared on horseback with another mounted man carrying a black bag. A low murmur of concern wafted through the crowd as the two physicians raced up the front steps.

Daniel watched them disappear through the portals before turning back to his main purpose here. He scarcely knew the ill man behind him, but he was ready to shoulder the responsibility of being the partial cause of his attack. He squeezed the frail hand on his arm and sought the words that needed to be said.

"We know that you are out there today for a reason. I hold myself partially responsible for that reason, as I hold myself partially responsible for my father's illness today." A low murmur of shock and surprise rippled through the mob. The hand on Daniel's arm squeezed gently, and his mother shook her head, but Daniel continued without interruption. "And as a responsible person should, I will try to correct the errors that have been made in the past."

Daniel turned his glance to his mother, then to Georgina. All the eyes in the crowd did the same. "Knowing my wife, I'm certain a woman's judgment will be entering many of the decisions to be made." Some of the laughter that followed was derisive, but a definitely feminine cheer overrode it. Daniel gave the crowd a grin. "But I think it's time to hear the opinions of those who have made Mulloney Enterprises what it is today."

The crowd remained silent, too afraid of this change in administration to have any confidence in Daniel or his disarming grin or in what he really might mean.

Seeing that, Daniel pointed at the people in the forefront of the crowd, many of whom he recognized from late-night arguments in taverns or as friends of the Harrisons. "I want you to get together now and appoint five good people to represent you. Today's a holiday, and I want all of you to enjoy it, but tomorrow, I want those representatives to come to the store so they can sit down with Peter and myself and discuss what needs to be done. I don't know a damned thing about the business and the man who knows the most may not be able to be there, so I make no promises, but where there are problems, there have to be solutions. You'll have to help us find them."

Shocked amazement prevented any instant response to this declaration, but as people turned to their neighbors and verified what they'd thought they heard, a murmur of approval began to grow into cheers that became an uproarious cry of triumph. The band swung into a cacophony of songs accompanied by the crazed crackle of one firecracker exploding after another, and some all at the same time.

Beneath this barrage Daniel helped his mother return to the room. Georgina clung to his other arm, and the heat of her fingers made him wish they were alone. He needed more than her reassurance right now.

But the bedroom beyond was packed with people, and there didn't seem to be any escape. Physicians bent over the inert figure on the bed. His brothers stared at him as if he'd grown two heads and horns. His mother demanded to be lowered to a chair near the bed. Tyler and Evie sent servants scurrying through the doors on a multitude of errands. Daniel could only be grateful that his in-laws had apparently been caught in the crush of the crowd and hadn't joined them.

Through this he had Georgina's hand on his arm to comfort and calm. The damned little firecracker had set all these events in motion, and she was bravely taking them in stride. Daniel thought maybe he'd taken on more than he could handle when he had taken on his altogether too-creative bride, but he would learn to take chances in the future. He put an arm around her waist and hugged her to him.

Georgina opened her mouth to say something, but the words were lost when Peter appeared in the bedroom doorway. Daniel hadn't even noticed he had left, but he was standing there now, frowning in bewilderment.

Finding Daniel, he gestured with his head. "You'd better come see this."

When Georgina started to follow her husband, Peter shook his head. "Stay here, Georgina."

"Stow it, Peter Mulloney. I can go anywhere I want to." With her nose in the air, she sailed into the hallway on Daniel's arm.

A small parade of people followed them out and down the stairs. When Peter tried to protest, John grinned and repeated, "Stow it, Peter, we can go anywhere we want to."

Peter scowled at Daniel and his wife. "This lack of authority is all your fault. If you have your way, we'll have anarchy."

"Study history. Leaders eventually emerge out of chaos." Much more cheerfully than he felt, Daniel continued his pace. "Where are we going?"

"See for yourself."

They had reached the bottom of the stairs. In the front hallway, surrounded by a bevy of bemused servants including a staid butler in formal frock coat, were two men apparently trussed together. Both looked slightly battered and bruised but mostly sheepish as they tried to avoid staring eyes.

"Egan!" John whispered from behind Daniel's shoulder.

"Emory!" Georgina said with a tone of awe, examining the culprits. "I thought they'd run off."

Her gaze fell on a sheet of paper pinned to Egan's back. Before she could reach for it, Daniel shoved her behind him and ripped it from Egan's shirt.

As he scanned the note, he stared in amazement, then began to chuckle. Before Georgina could snatch the paper away, he handed it over, and she read it out loud.

"Anytime you need to ride round-up on your family, just drop me a line. And next time you write about Pecos Martin, make sure he's a man's man, and keep those damned women out of it."

Georgina stared at the signature on the bottom and doubled up with laughter.

It was signed "Pecos Martin."

Epilogue

"Where are we going?" Georgina gathered up flounces of blue batiste and hurried after her long-striding husband.

"You'll see," he said mysteriously, offering his elbow but keeping his gaze straight ahead.

"You and Peter have been acting awfully odd lately," Georgina complained. "I'm not at all sure I like it. I'm beginning to think I was much better off when you had no family."

Daniel sent her a glance of concern, then seeing the laughter in her eyes, he smiled and hastened his steps. "At times, I've thought the same thing. But there are other times when there are distinct advantages to family."

Georgina sighed. "I don't know. I love my father dearly, but he just won't listen when I make suggestions about rebuilding the factory. And even though I persuaded my mother to stand up to him about all those medicines and Dr. Ralph, she still lets him walk all over her. He's a terrible tyrant."

"You can't expect a man who's had things his own way all his life to change overnight, Georgie. He did agree to let you look over the new line, and he hired a woman to act as foreman."

"It should have been Janice. I still can't understand why she all of a sudden decided to up and leave with Evie and Tyler. Just because Audrey got her job back and you gave Douglas an after-school job isn't any excuse for her to run away like that."

"Audrey and Douglas are comfortable at the boarding house. Janice and Betsy weren't. The position of schoolteacher back in Mineral Springs was a good opportunity. Evie will see that Janice is paid well and provided with housing, and Betsy will benefit from the dry air. Quit being selfish, Georgina Meredith. You know they were delighted with the chance to leave. Janice has been raising that family for years. It's time for her to have a life of her own."

Georgina considered sulking at his proprietary tone, but she was distracted by her surroundings. They had walked past the old neighborhood in which she had grown up and were traversing the recently laid streets of a new development. Gaslights had already been installed, and the streets were not only wide and straight, but sidewalks ran alongside of them. Several new houses were already occupied. Tender leaves shivered on young trees. Older trees had been left at the rear of the houses, and these provided shade for the wraparound porches and second-story turrets of the lovely homes. Georgina stared around her in surprise. She'd scarcely known this area existed.

"Daniel, are we lost?"

"Nope." He steered her up the walk to a modest, two-story, yellow house ornamented with white gingerbread scroll work. The deep front porch already sported a swing, and trailing ferns hung on the shady side porch. Georgina glanced enviously at the rose bed along the decorative iron fence. It wasn't anywhere near the size of her parents' garden, but it was a start. She wished it were hers.

Biting her lip at such a selfish thought, she followed Daniel up the steps. Daniel had given her everything she had ever wanted except a home of her own. She couldn't blame him for that. He owned part of his nanny's house in St. Louis with Evie. He owned part of a ranch in Texas with Evie's cousins and father. He even owned a share in Tyler's plantation in Natchez. And there was always the Mulloney monstrosity to call home if he wished. Then, of course, they were already living in her father's house. Why would he need still another home?

There really hadn't been time to even talk about such things. What with consulting with her father about the factory and working with Peter on Mulloney Enterprises and fighting on a daily basis with his father, Daniel scarcely had time to breathe anymore. Even his press had been packed up and put away, and she knew that was his true desire.

So she didn't quite register the fact that Daniel produced the key to unlock the front door. It wasn't until Daniel swept her into his arms and crossed the threshold that Georgina gasped and clung to his neck and allowed herself to hope as he swung her around to inspect the front hall.

"Daniel! Put me down! What on earth are you doing?" But she continued clinging to his neck even when he set her feet on the polished wooden floor. Her gaze greedily took in the exquisitely carved wooden molding around the ceiling, the delicate etching of the glass-covered lamps on the walls, and the pattern of colored light from the stained-glass transom. She had never seen anything so enchanting in all her life.