Cactus Flower (15 page)

      
“Well,
really, Mr. Taggart! To hear you, one would think women are all terrible
creatures.”

      
He
eyed her with what Eulalie could only term sardonic amusement. She stiffened.

      
“As
far as I’m concerned, Miss Gibb—and this is based on my own experience,
and I’m sure not all women are like this—but the only women
I’ve
ever had any truck with are sly, manipulative bitches. I wouldn’t
trust a woman any farther than I can see into the desert tonight. They
take and take and take, and when a man doesn’t give exactly what they
want, they cry and carry on and make a man feel like two bits. That’s
pretty damned low, in my opinion.”

      
Hmm.
Interesting. Eulalie really knew nothing about Nick, the man, except
that he was big and strong and helped out a lot of people in town. She’d
like to hear more about his background—but not now. “You don’t
have to marry me, Mr. Taggart. I need your help, and I’m willing to
pay for it the only way I know how. Patsy and I will probably need all
the money I can earn just to survive.”

      
“Hmm.
Well …”

      
“And
I was hoping that perhaps you might be able to suggest a place for us
to stay when Patsy gets here. I really hate to remain at the Johnsons,
especially after the altercation tonight. It isn’t fair that small
children should be put in jeopardy because I have to sing for a living.”

      
“I
don’t think it’s the singing so much as the costumes, if you don’t
mind my saying so, ma’am.”

      
Eulalie
was fed up with this shilly-shallying. She snapped, “Are you going
to help me or not? I guess I can always ask somebody else to protect
me. Lieutenant Fuller looked as if he might be willing to protect a
lady.” She hoped he wouldn’t pounce on the word
lady
and
use it against her.

      
“He
lives at the fort,” Nick pointed out, relieving the
lady
anxiety,
if no others.

      
“Well,
other women live at the fort!”

      
“Yeah,
but they’re married to men who are stationed there.”

      
She
lifted her chin. “Perhaps Lieutenant Fuller isn’t as averse to marriage
as you are, Mr. Taggart.”

      
Nick
seemed to get larger. His chest definitely expanded. Eulalie was impressed.
“Do you mean to tell me you’d marry that fool just because you want
somebody to protect you? Or … wait a minute. Do you
want
to
marry Fuller?”

      
Eulalie
couldn’t understand how this conversation had got so far out of her
control. She’d thought she had everything so well planned, and here
Nick was twisting everything she said.

      
She
stamped her foot. “I don’t want to marry anybody! I already married
the man I loved!”

      
Nick
had been sucking in air, preparing, no doubt, to further harass her.
When she told him she’d been married, the breath left him in a whoosh.
“You’re
married
?” He sounded stunned, unless that was her
imagination.

      
“I
was married,” she said, peeved. “My darling Edward died four years
ago.”

      
“You’re
a widow?”

      
“Yes.
I’m a widow.”

      
“I
thought your last name was Gibb.”

      
“It
is Gibb.”

      
“But
isn’t that your sister’s last name?”

      
“Yes.
Gibb is our stage name.”

      
“What’s
that? A stage name.”

      
Eulalie
heaved an enormous sigh. She hadn’t meant to get in to this. But she
didn’t suppose it would hurt anything. “Gibb is the name of my family.
My great-grandfather, Mortimer Gibb, founded the Gibb Theatrical Company
in New York City in 1834. We’ve been performing ever since. My husband’s
last name was Thorogood, but I’ve always been called Gibb, because
I belonged to the acting company by that name.”

      
“Oh.”
Nick scratched his chin. “I reckon that makes sense.”

      
“Yes,”
said Eulalie. “It does. Now can we get back to the matter at hand?”

      
“I’ll
be damned. I didn’t know you were a widow. So you’ve had experience,
eh?”

      
She
stiffened. “I don’t know what you mean by
experience
, but
if you mean do I know what men and women do together, yes. I do.”
Her lovely lost Edward had been a tender and gentle lover. She had a
feeling bedtimes with Nick might be a trifle more exciting. Not that
she meant in any way to disparage darling Edward.

      
“Hmm.
So you’ll become my mistress if I agree to protect you and your sister.”

      
Bluntly
put, but Eulalie couldn’t argue with his conclusion. “Well … yes.
In so many words.”

      
“And
you need a place to stay.”

      
“Yes.
With Patsy.”

      
“And
me.”

      
“You’d
live with us?” She hadn’t counted on that.

      
He
shrugged. “Don’t know why not. I’ve got a place behind the smithy.
It’s big enough for two girls and me, I reckon.”

      
“What
about your uncle? I thought he lived with you.”

      
“Well
… we could probably work around that.”

      
Eulalie
doubted that. She decided to try a different tack. “Um … wouldn’t
people look at me askance if I lived with you without benefit of wedlock?”

      
The
expression on his face could only be considered sardonic. “You’re
worried about that now? After you propositioned me?”

      
“I
didn’t proposition you! Not exactly.” Frustrated, Eulalie went on,
“Listen to me, Nick Taggart. My sister and I have been through a lot
recently, and we might not be out of danger yet. I mean
Patsy
might not be out of danger. Because of her injuries and all, and the
terrible suffering she’s been through. We need protection. But we’re
not loose women, curse it! If I thought there was an alternative, I
wouldn’t have suggested this bargain.”

      
His
face lost its sardonic cast and became curious. “What kind of danger?
Mind telling me about it?” He sneered a little. “I mean, if I’m
going to put myself in danger for you, you might just mention what you’re
worried about.”

      
Blast.
She hadn’t meant to get into
this
, either. “I doubt that
you’ll be in danger, Mr. Taggart. After all, you’re a big, strong
man.”

      
“Yeah,
but even a big strong man isn’t immune to bullets, so if you think—”

      
“Good
heavens!” Eulalie tittered and couldn’t believe it of herself. “I’m
sure there’s no danger of any shooting going on.” She hadn’t actually
considered the possibility that Nick himself might be in danger if he
took over the job of protecting her and Patsy. For probably the millionth
time, Eulalie wished she’d been able to do more than hit Gilbert Blankenship
over the head with a skillet. If she’d only had her guns then …

      
But
it was no use wishing things were different from what they were, as
she well knew. “Don’t be silly, Mr. Taggart.”

      
“Yeah?
Maybe I don’t think looking out for myself is silly,
Miss
Gibb.”

      
Feeling
defeated and wondering how it had happened so fast, Eulalie sighed.
“Of course you don’t. I didn’t mean to imply that.”

      
“Don’t
you two have any other family? Why don’t you go to your family?”

      
Oh,
dear. How could she explain her family? She loved them dearly—the
remains of them—but she couldn’t picture either Uncle Harry or Aunt
Florence being of much use to her in the protection department. And
she’d be hanged if she’d subject her cousins to Gilbert Blankenship’s
wrath. “I … we only have an elderly aunt and uncle. What could they
do?”

      
“Hmm.
What exactly is it you’re worried about? A couple more drunks like
those tonight?”

      
Eulalie’s
temper snapped like a dry twig. “Yes! Curse you, Nick Taggart, don’t
you understand? My sister is very fragile right now. If those two drunken
louts had decided to break into a house where Patsy and I live when
I’m at work, what protection would she have? Don’t you understand?
Even if they didn’t hurt her, they’d terrify her, and her condition
is too shaky for that. But if everyone in town believes you’re living
with
us, then they’ll surely believe Patsy and I are both scarlet
women, and that would only invite more problems!
Why can’t you
understand?
”

      
Nick
held up both huge hands, as if to ward off her hot words. “All right,
all right. I understand.”

      
Eulalie
took heart. “So you’ll do it?”

      
“First
I’d better understand exactly what
it
is. I think that’s
fair, don’t you?”

      
She
sighed. “Yes.”

      
“You
want me to find you a place to live with your sister.”

      
“Yes.”

      
“And
you’ll reward me for protecting the both of you with … your favors.”

      
The
way he said the word
favors
made Eulalie think he didn’t consider
them such. How discouraging. Nevertheless, she said, “Yes.”

      
“But
you don’t want the folks in Rio Peñasco to know we’re … exchanging
favors.”

      
Her
teeth clenched. “Yes. I mean, no, I don’t.”

      
“And
your sister’s sick.”

      
“Injured.”

      
“Injured.
And she’s in rough shape.”

      
“Yes.”

      
“And
you don’t want her bothered by men like the ones that are always trying
to get at you.”

      
“Yes.”
She pushed the word through her teeth.

      
“Hmm.”

      
Nick
stood there and thought. At least Eulalie presumed he was thinking,
although what he had to think about she couldn’t understand. The proposition
seemed quite straightforward to her. She’d sleep with him. He’d
protect Patsy and her. What could be simpler, really? If Nick didn’t
know the full extent of the problems she and Patsy faced, it didn’t
matter. Eulalie was sure nobody would ever find them in this place.

      
She
recalled Bernie Benson’s glee when he told her he’d been sending
copies of the
Rio Peñasco Piper
hither and yon, and frowned.

      
But
that was nonsensical. How could such a tiny, small-town paper ever reach
the evil hands of Gilbert Blankenship? It couldn’t. She hoped.

      
Finally
Nick spoke. “I don’t know, Miss Gibb …”

      
To
her horror, Eulalie felt tears sting her eyes. She didn’t want to
cry in front of this man! She wanted him to think she was strong and
indomitable and that she was only asking his help for her sister’s
sake. She didn’t want him to think she was a conniving harpy like
the other women in his life evidently had been. She clutched his shirtsleeve.
“Please, Mr. Taggart. I don’t know what else to do.”

      
He
huffed. “Yeah. Right.”

      
“It’s
true! I can shoot any man who bothers me, but my sister can’t. She’s
delicate. She’s been horribly injured. She’s fragile.”

      
“Yeah,
you’ve said that before.”

      
Well,
it looked as if Nick wasn’t going to oblige her. Eulalie was surprised
by how disappointed she was. Worse, she feared her reaction had more
to do with his rejection of her as a woman than his refusal to act as
Patsy’s bodyguard.

      
And
she still needed a bodyguard for Patsy. Drat it! She’d never be able
to find anyone as suited to the task as Nick Taggart; she knew it in
her bones.

      
Drawing
her brisk, no-nonsense demeanor about her like a protective shield,
she said, “Well, if you won’t oblige me, I shall just have to look
elsewhere.”

      
“Hold
on a minute. I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it.”

      
“Oh?”
She decided to hold off becoming happy until he clarified his position.
His frown worried her a little bit.

      
“Let
me make sure what’s expected of me.”

      
“Of
course.”

      
“You
want me to find a place for you and your sister to live in Rio Peñasco.”

      
She
nodded and sighed heavily. They’d already covered this ground. “Yes.

      
“You
want me to protect you and your sister from evildoers.”

      
“Well,
that’s a little dramatic, but yes. That’s exactly what I want you
to do.”

      
“And
in exchange for doing those things, I get to sneak in your back door
at night and, uh, partake of your favors.”

      
“Yes.”
He had a way of saying things that put them in the worst possible light.
Eulalie didn’t like it.

      
“And
you don’t expect me to marry you or bring you flowers or presents
or cut your wood or wash your horse or do your shopping or—”