A Texas Sky (Yellow Rose Trilogy) (27 page)

ranch hancls, she didn't have to do any pretending.

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The men usually ate rather quietly in the evening, but

today, during the noon meal, they were doubly so;

everyone was. It had to have been Q's death, and Darvi

didn't blame them. At the same time, Cassy hiring Dakota

as cook probably meant that the men wouldn't be in for

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supper. Darvi wondered when she would ever have an

excuse to speak to the man when she realized Seth was

addressing her.

"Were you speaking to me?" she asked to give herself

time to school her features.

"Yes." Seth looked amused. "Do you want pie?"

"Yes, please." Darvi took dessert for the first time,

wanting to be dose to Dakota for as long as possible.

Seth's gaze became rather hopeful. He took this as

another good sign. Darvi usually ate and started on the

dishes or disappeared into her room as soon as she was

through. He passed her a large slice of pie and then tried to

engage her in conversation, but she wasn't going for it.

"Are you upset with me about something?" he finally

asked.

"You know I am," Darvi said plainly. "I've never made

a secret of it."

"I mean other than the obvious."

"The obvious is all that matters to me right now," she

said quietly, not wanting to draw attention. A glance into

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Seth's face told her that he wanted to say more but was hesitating.

She shouldn't have been surprised that he wanted

to speak with her almost as soon as the meal was over, but

surprised she was.

"I'm helping with the dishes," she explained.

"You help with them every day. I want to talk with

you."

"Go on, Darvi," Cassy urged her. Cleanup wasn't that

bad, and right now she didn't want Seth to be sad. She

didn't want anyone to be as sad as she was. If Q's death

could somehow open a door for Seth and Darvi, she would

be thrilled.

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"Lindy can help me," she added. "You go on."

Darvi did so reluctantly. She laid her towel down and

preceded Seth out of doors.

"Walk this way," he directed and started toward the

woods. The last time she walked to the woods with him, he

tried to kiss her, but Darvi was not going to be caught out

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this time. She kept her distance as well as a watchful eye.

"I've noticed that you've stopped asking me to let you

go," Seth began, making Darvi's mouth open in surprise

and then shut before he could notice. "I know you didn't

want to come here originally, but I guess I'm hoping mat

your silence means you're getting somewhat adjusted."

He stopped talking, and Darvi realized his head was

turned to look at her. He was doing it again, watching her

with such tender anxiety that Darvi was amazed. She

shook her head a little and tried to think.

"Seth," she began but got no further.

I'm going to have to tell him. I'm going to have to share my

belief and not worry if he tries to emulate it for the wrong reason.

"I can't give you any hope, Seth." Darvi put it on the

line. "I don't even know if I'm supposed to be married,

but--"

"Thaf s ridiculous," Seth cut in with quiet conviction,

"Do you have any idea how envied I am?"

Darvi blinked, not having expected this.

"Do you really not know how much you're meant to be

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cherished, Darvi? If s so clear to me, I just assumed you

would understand."

"If s not that simple, Seth. I want to marry a man who

shares my beliefs."

"How do you know I don't?"

"Because you've -abducted me, Seth!" she said with

some heat. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

"But if I had met you some other way, it wouldn't have

been like this."

"But you still felt you had the right, and you don't."

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Seth looked slightly discouraged and spoke softly,

almost to himself.

"Why can't we ever talk about things?"

"I'll tell you why," Darvi spoke up, not caring if he'd

really asked her or not. "You can't steal a person and then

expect to find her reasonable. If s reasonable to me that you

return me to town this instant, and your idea of reason is

that I fall for you because you're handsome and polite."

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"You think I'm handsome?" he asked with such great

hope that Darvi threw her arms into the air.

"I'm done!" she announced, turning and striding

toward the barn.

"Darvi, come back."

"No! Leave me alone, and I mean it."

"Darvi!" he tried again, but she kept walking.

Darvi was so angry she thought she could spit. All the

excitement over Dakota being there to rescue her had

drained away. She thought she would go crazy if she had

to spend another moment on this ranch.

Willing to be anywhere but in the house, Darvi stalked

into the barn and stopped suddenly to let her eyes adjust

in the dimness. She heard movement at the rear, but before

she could investigate, she glanced over and spotted Lindy.

"Hello, Lindy," Darvi said softly, always wishing to be

kind to the little girl. "What are you doing?"

Lindy looked up at her and then toward the rear.

"Is someone working back there?"

The little girl nodded.

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"You want me to go with you so you can see?"

Lindy nodded at once and slid off the barrel she'd

climbed onto.

As Darvi half-expected, Dakota was doing something

with the cook wagon. Still angry at Seth, Darvi didn't find

it too hard to keep her other emotions at bay. Earlier she'd

have burst into tears and sobbed out her whole story, but

not now. '

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"Hello," she said as they neared. "We came to watch

you work."

"You did?" The Ranger came out with a smile, wiping his hands on a handkerchief. "Who's this?" he smiled down at Lindy, his attention entirely on her.

"This is Lindy."

"Hello, Lindy."

"She doesn't say too much with her mouth, but her eyes

and hands do a lot of talking."

"I'm Dakota." Dakota put a hand out and smiled hugely

at her when she shook it. "If s nice to meet you, Lindy. Are

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you Mrs, Robinson's daughter?"

Lindy nodded, her cheeks dimpling in delight before

tugging on Darvi's hand. After observing a few hand

movements, Darvi turned to translate.

"I think she wants to know what you're doing."

"I'm just looking at the cook wagon today in case I need

to make a meal for the men when they're out on the range.

Have you ever eaten out on the range, Lindy?"

The little girl shook her head no.

'If s pretty fun. Especially if you get to sleep out under

the stars."

Lindy smiled and moved to climb up onto the wagon.

Dakota helped her, and Darvi stayed to the side. She listened

as he talked and explained things, but suddenly

Darvi's breath quickened. What if they didn't make it?

What if he couldn't figure a way to get her out? Darvi

wondered if she might need to be the one to put together a

plan; after all, she'd been there longer.

Her mind raced with what might be the best method:

full confrontation or slipping away quietly after dark?

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Now, or when everyone had been lulled into thinking

Dakota was a real cook? Darvi was so intent on her ideas,

she didn't even hear Nate calling his sister but suddenly

saw Lindy run past

"The thing to remember--" Dakota's voice came softly

to Darvi, and she looked up to find him bent over the back

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of the wagon, not even looking at her, "is that there will be

no heroics. Some night when I tell you, you'll climb out

your window, I'll be there, and we'll leave for Kinkade. No

shooting. No one chasing us. We'll just leave."

This said, Dakota tucked things away, moved toward

the rear door, and exited the bam. Darvi stood with her

mouth open, wondering if she might have imagined the

entire episode.

"Darvi?" Eliot called from outside.

"I'm in here," she answered, hoping she sounded

normal.

Eliot came to the double doors and stopped.

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Watching him, Darvi waited for him to speak. She

almost began to question him, but he was finally ready to

talk.

"When are you going to stop running from Seth?"

Darvi found hey mouth open again in shock. She shut it

swiftly in irritation.

'"Don't you start with me, Eliot McDermott! Don't you

do it!" Darvi spat out her words with instant vehemence.

"You know as well as I do that it was wrong for him to take

me. And I've made it very clear to everyone that I wish to

leave. So don't you dare stand there and tell me to be nice

in order to put his or anyone else's mind at rest"

"Have you heard him out?" Eliot asked.

"Regarding what?"

"How he feels about you."

"Eliot." Darvi tried to temper her voice. "He's just

infatuated, thaf s all. The man barely knows me."

"If you knew him better, Darvi, you'd see how wrong

you are. He's in deep."

Darvi only shook her head, knowing it was pointless to

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keep up this line of conversation. She wanted to sigh in

frustration but thought she might be doing a little too

much of that lately.

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Eliot, on the other hand, did a little sighing of his own

and then admitted, "The truth is, Darvi, I'm getting married

a week from Saturday, and I want it to be a happy day."

Darvi blinked. "I didn't know that Cassy said you

didn't have a date."

"Well, we do now."

His tone and face spoke volumes. Darvi's hands came

to her waist and she went to him, her eyes hard and determined.

"There's a simple answer to your problem, Eliot, and we

both know it. You can return me to town so we can all get

on with our lives."

He was shaking his head, and Darvi's brows lifted.

"You have some nerve," she said quietly, "coming and

asking me favors when you're just as much to blame for

this as Seth is."

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As Darvi stepped around him and moved toward the

house, she wondered what would happen if she just

started walking down the road. Then she remembered

Dakota's words.

I must be patient.

Rounding the house, Darvi found Seth on the porch, his

facing lighting up at the sight of her. Darvi knew that more

prayers for patience would be forthcoming.

%r%r$r

Having left the interior of the barn, Dakota was still

leaning against the side, fixing a boot that was just fine but

hearing enough from inside to put a few more pieces into

this puzzle. Right now he hoped for one of two things: a

chance to either get Darvi out or run low on supplies and

have an excuse to head into town and hopefully see the

sheriff. He found he had a few more questions for that

man.

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