Chapter 3
"I don't owe you nothin'."
Her own bitter words echoed in Lou's ears as she brushed past Kid and broke into a half-run toward the rattling windmill at the far corner of the property. Reaching the structure, she slumped to a squat against one of its rough, wooden legs. A thrum of power vibrated against her back from the blades high above her, spinning fast in the unceasing prairie wind.
Though that wind felt sharp against her face, it wasn't the cause of the sting behind her eyelids. She blinked rapidly and wiped the back of one small hand over her eyes, dashing away the tears that welled up in them. She dropped her head and stifled the urge to sniffle. It wouldn't do for Teaspoon to come upon one of his "boys" blubbering like a … well, like a girl.
How had everything gone so wrong? Lou toed the hard sod under her boots, remembering one of her ma's favorite sayings: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." Lou knew she had no one to blame for this mess but herself. How dare she pretend to be something she was not – a refined, high-class lady – even for one night. It had seemed so harmless at the time … so exciting to catch the interest of an important gentleman like Tyler DeWitt. But that little, white lie was like a pebble skidding down the face of a high Nebraska bluff, setting off other stones, bigger and bigger ones, until it was a full-blown avalanche scouring every living thing off the whole side of the hill.
Lou had felt the ground start to shift under her feet the moment Kid asked her about that damned dress. The landslide picked up speed when Emma called her out as a girl, and seeing Tyler in Tompkins' store felt like the rumble of falling boulders letting go in a headlong rush. Had Tyler really come all the way from Blue Creek just to see her again? Despite the potential for disaster that made Lou feel like there was a sidewinder coiled up in her belly, she had to admit to a little thrill of pleasure as well.
Then there was the boys' response to her "debut." She had been uneasy when Emma suggested a coming-out party. Even as she descended the stairs in her finery, Louise expected to be greeted with hoots and guffaws. Instead, she was met with expressions of slack-jawed astonishment and appreciation. Her thoughts lingered especially on the memory of Kid's reaction – his broad smile and the admiration shining in his eyes. His first words, though, had been of concern about how Emma's finding out might affect her. So typical of his gentle, protective nature.
Maybe that's why Lou was so taken aback a few minutes ago when Kid had confronted her with fire in his eyes and a steely set to his jaw. She had been genuinely confused at first by his demand to know what had happened in Blue Creek. Then there was a jolt of pure panic when he said Tyler had been asking around Sweetwater about her. Lou felt her cheeks flush, remembering how Kid had challenged her on her desperate lie. The young cowboy didn't have much education, but he was smart. Lou knew he could put two and two together … but sometimes, like now, he was apt to came up with five. He'd obviously come to the conclusion that something had happened between her and Tyler, when nothing had.
Well, hardly anything.
Maybe Tyler had kissed her without asking her permission. But so had Kid, more than once, as a matter of fact. Really, Lou thought with a scowl, how different was Tyler from Kid? Actually, now that she really thought about it, Kid mostly butted into her business and accused her of lyin'. Tyler, on the other hand, had taken her for a fine meal, expressed an interest in her, called her beautiful. Wasn't that how a real gentleman treated a lady? And now he had come all the way from Blue Creek to find her, though they had only spent one evening together.
Louise remembered how her friend Charlotte used to read books she called "novels." One time Lou had paged through one titled Ruth. From what she could gather, it was a story about a poor orphan girl meeting a fine gentleman who immediately fell madly in love with her. Lou had thought it seemed very silly at the time, but now she wasn't so sure. Could "love at first sight" really happen? She wasn't in love with Tyler, of course, though she found him attractive and intriguing. But was it possible that he was in love with her? Lou couldn't help a smile as she indulged in momentary air-castle building. What would it be like to be Mrs. Tyler DeWitt, dressed in fine silk, accompanying him to the theatre and dances, being helped out of his stylish carriage and walking down the boardwalk on his arm, the envy of all the other ladies in town?
No. Louise shook her head to dispel her foolish daydream. As flattering as it was that Tyler was looking for her, she understood the danger he posed. If he should find her and discover her secret, all her sacrifices, plans and the hard work she'd invested would blow up like a stick of dynamite. Even if he did care for her, Lou couldn't imagine Tyler taking in her sister and brother along with herself. It wouldn't be fair to ask him, even if he could afford it. In her mind, Louise quietly closed the door to to that fantasy and turned to the problem at hand. Somehow she had to find a way to make Tyler give up on her and go away.
Lou was startled out of her fretful thoughts by the sudden clap of galloping hooves and a shout from the bunkhouse: "Rider comin'!" She looked up to see Cody riding hard toward the station, and Kid in the yard, already mounted on Katie, waiting to grab the mochila. Lou had forgotten that Kid was up next. She saw him cast a quick glance in her direction, his jaw set like flint. Then Cody was beside him, the mochila soaring between the two horses, and Kid was off toward Ft. Laramie. He would be gone at least until tomorrow afternoon. That would give Lou the time she needed to deal with Tyler without Kid looking over her shoulder. She watched him ride away until he and Katie were only a smudge of dust on the horizon. Then she got up and headed back to the bunkhouse. She knew what she had to do.