Days of Gold

  Every day he had one of the waitresses in the bar check the newspaper; he expected to hear that Edilean had announced her engagement to one of them. He figured she’d marry some man who owned so much land that it was going to be named a state. And her husband-to-be would probably be so besotted with her that he’d name the state “Edilean.” Or maybe that was just Angus’s wish. If he started a town, if she was with him, he’d name the place Edilean.

  When Angus realized that the jewels had been stolen, he knew there was nothing he could do about it. For all he knew, Edilean had taken them back. He didn’t think she would, but maybe she’d so much wanted him to stay in Boston with her that she’d made it impossible for Angus to leave.

  Or maybe that was something he wanted to believe.

  She stirred on the bed, groaning in pain.

  “Ssssh, lass,” he said. “I’m here now and I’ll take care of you.”

  When he heard a man’s footsteps coming toward the door, he covered Edilean’s nude body with a blanket.

  “I had to wait until the water got hot,” Cuddy said from the doorway, and when he glanced at Edilean on the bed, his eyes widened. “You took her clothes off?” His anger at Angus and his concern for Edilean were evident in his tone.

  “If I hear one more disrespectful word out of you, you will live to regret it,” Angus said, his eyes flashing in threat.

  “All right,” Cuddy said as he plopped down heavily on a chair on the far side of the room. “It ain’t none of my business, even if I did nearly get killed while helpin’ her.”

  Angus dipped a cloth in the hot water and began to gently wash Edilean’s face. “I want to hear every word of what happened. Don’t leave anything out.”

  Cuddy didn’t like the way Angus was treating him, and he didn’t like the way Miss Edilean had told him to take her to the Scotsman. Cuddy told her that Miss Harriet would do a far better job of patching her up than any man would, but Edilean had insisted. She’d said she’d walk if he wouldn’t take her. Cuddy gave in when Edilean nearly fell from her horse. He got off his and got on behind her and five minutes later she’d fallen asleep against him. He’d been tempted to take her to Miss Harriet, but he didn’t. He went miles out of the way to deliver her to some man who’d stripped her naked on a bed.

  Cuddy didn’t like the man, and his tone let him know it. Reluctantly, he told the story about Tabitha, but he didn’t tell Angus how Edilean had sent him, Cuddy, out to look for Angus weeks before.

  “So how did she know I was here?”

  When Cuddy said nothing, Angus turned to look at him. “Did she send you to look for me?”

  Cuddy nodded.

  “And you told her in detail about where I was working and how I was living in the barn, didn’t you?”

  Cuddy gave a curt nod, and Angus relented. “Don’t worry yourself, lad, she has a way of making men do things that they wouldn’t normally do.”

  “She does that to me!” Cuddy said, and some of his anger left him. “I’ve run after her like I was her maid.”

  “So have I,” Angus said as he stood up. “I don’t think she’s badly injured, just worn out. What did Tabitha look like after the fight?”

  “Worse than Miss Edilean.”

  “Did she now?” Angus said, and there was pride in his voice. “She fought a big girl like Tabitha and won?”

  “Yeah,” Cuddy said, smiling. “I was in the tent most of the time, on my hands and knees searching through the woman’s frillies, but I saw enough of the fight to know it was bloody. I can’t believe the women didn’t lose teeth and eyes.”

  Angus frowned. “That bad, was it?”

  “Worse than you can imagine.” Cuddy looked at Angus in question. “So why was she fighting for you? Your name’s Harcourt, so are you related to her?”

  “Her husband,” Angus said without a thought. “More or less. You’ve had a rough night, so why don’t you go inside and get some breakfast? If you want to sleep, tell Dolly I said to give you the best room.”

  “Her husband? But she has men courting her all day long. You never saw the number of horses I have to feed while they’re inside trying to make her laugh. If you ask me, they want the money she has more than they want her. And I think that if they knew she could punch a face with a one-two jab, then come up under with her left”—he demonstrated—“I’m not sure they’d want her.”

  Angus couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s enthusiasm. “Go on,” he said gently. “I’ll take care of her. You get something to eat and take a nap. You can go home this evening.”

  “But what about Miss Edilean? Miss Harriet will skin me alive if I go back without her.”

  “She’ll go with you when you leave,” Angus said. “She’s just bruised and sore, nothing permanent. Now go and let her rest.”

  As Cuddy left the barn, he heard the door close behind him. Her husband, eh? No wonder Miss Edilean was so wary of those men who visited. She was already married to a tavern keeper, a man who spent his days serving beer. And no wonder she didn’t show him off to the world. Chuckling, Cuddy went into the tavern and had a huge breakfast.

  Edilean awoke with a start, and panic ran through her. She put her arms over her face in protection.

  “There now, lass, you’re safe with me,” Angus said as he sat down on the bed by her.

  She started to sit up, but she hurt too much. She looked about the room, noting the austerity of it. “Is this the tavern where you work?”

  “It’s the barn,” he said. “I’m not worth enough for the owner to give up a bedroom above the tavern.”

  She knew he was opening a way for her to make a joke but she didn’t. “Did Cuddy give you the jewelry?”

  “Aye, he did.”

  “Could I see it?”

  “No.” He was smiling. “I know you’ve already seen what’s missing.”

  “But I need to—”

  When she started to sit up, he gently pushed her back down. “No, lass, what you need is rest. I hear that was one hell of a fight you had.”

  “It was nothing to what I did to Bessie Hightop when we were both fourteen. Her father is a duke, and she said I was the school freeloader, always looking for somebody to live off of.”

  “So you showed her, did you?”

  “Actually, in the long run, I lost. Her father was told what happened and he made Bessie invite me to their house over Easter. I was very proud back then, so I went.”

  “And what happened?”

  “Bessie’s old grandfather, her mother’s father, asked me to marry him.”

  Angus couldn’t help laughing. “I wish I’d been there to hear you tell him what you thought of his proposal.”

  “When he suggested that I sit on his lap, I said his bony knees would hurt my backside.”

  “Oh, lass, but I’ve missed you so!”

  Edilean didn’t smile. “I’ve not missed you. After you threw me away like so much rubbish, the only thing I wanted to do was clear the obligation between us.”

  “Obligation?”

  “That I owe you. You’ve certainly told me often enough that if it weren’t for me you’d now be at home in Scotland with your dear family.”

  “I also told you that you’ve given me an opportunity that I’d not have had without you.”

  “Yes, I did. When I gave you the parure, I was giving you a way to buy a farm and maybe later you could invite your family here to America. But that was taken from you. When Cuddy told me about your circumstances here, I knew that I was once again in your debt. You’d gone from being the laird of a clan to the stableboy.”

  “I don’t think it was that bad,” he said. “If things keep up the way they have been I could well own this place one day.”

  “Ha!” Edilean said as she grit her teeth against the pain and sat up. “If the owner has a third cousin thrice removed he’ll leave the place to him rather than to you. When it comes to property, blood will always win.”

  “Edilean,” Angus said,
standing back and watching her. She had the blanket tucked under her arms and didn’t seem to be the least concerned that she was nude under it. But his glance reminded her of the situation and of what had happened the last time they’d seen each other.

  “Would you please hand me my clothes so I can get dressed and leave?”

  The coldness in her voice made him cringe. When they’d been on the ship and she’d been angry at him, he’d laughed at her. To his mind, she’d been jealous of Tabitha, and if the truth were told, her anger had made him feel good. But this coldness of hers now was not something he liked.

  “I thank you for—” she began.

  “Stop it!” Angus said. “Right now, I want you to stop this! What the hell were you thinking that you rode into a camp full of criminals and got into a fight? Do you know how dangerous that was?”

  “It was something I needed to do,” Edilean said. “Would you please give me my clothes so I can leave?”

  “No. You’re not leaving until you’ve eaten and slept. I want to make sure you’re all right.”

  “Oh, so now you’re a doctor?”

  “If you didn’t think I could take care of you, why did you come here? Why didn’t you go to your expensive house and let Harcourt’s sister take care of you?”

  He was glad when her eyes flashed fire. It was better than coldness. “Are you forgetting the reason I went to that band of outlaws in the first place?”

  “To make me look like a fool?”

  “I didn’t have to work very hard to do that, did I?”

  They glared at each other, neither speaking. After several minutes, Angus opened a cabinet, withdrew a clean shirt, and tossed it at her. “That’s all you get for now. I want you to stay in that bed and rest.” His voice was angry, but then he stopped and his eyes softened. “Edilean, whatever possessed you to do something like that?”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to say “love,” but she didn’t. “I told you that I wanted to repay the debt I owed you,” she said as she slipped the big shirt over her head.

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s all of it, and we’re even now. I no longer have to feel guilty that you left everyone you loved because of me. You can buy land and start a McTern village, and you can bring all your friends and relatives here to America. And once again you can be the laird of a clan. You can strut about and have them all look at you in adoration.”

  “Is that what you think I want?” he asked softly.

  “I have no idea what you want,” she said. “I’m not part of your clan.”

  He started to reply but instead he went to the door. “Now’s not the time to argue this out. I want you to sleep, and I’ll send word to Harcourt’s sister that you’re safe.”

  The moment he left the room, Edilean realized how very tired she was. At the moment she couldn’t remember why she’d had Cuddy take her to Angus. She knew she should have returned to Harriet, to her own bed, but right now she was too tired to care where she was. She slid down in the bed and was asleep instantly.

  Angus stood outside for a few minutes, his head back against the wall, his eyes closed. That he’d been so careless that he’d allowed the jewels to be stolen was humiliating enough, but that Edilean had found them and brought them back to him was almost more than he could stand. He’d been bested by a girl!

  He looked back into the room and checked on her. As he thought, she was sound asleep. He pulled the cover higher over her and smoothed her hair out of her face.

  He didn’t know it was possible to love anyone as much as he loved her.

  Since the moment he’d met her, she’d taken over his mind, his heart—his very life. He’d fought the feelings she awoke in him. In Scotland he’d fought hard against his desire to be with her, to look at her beautiful face, to just be near her. His anger that she’d come into his life and taken it over so completely had shown itself in ways that were out of character for him. He regretted that he’d sometimes reacted with violence—if dropping her into a horse trough could be considered violent.

  No one had told him that love could produce feelings other than happiness. He’d thought that when a person fell in love he’d... He wasn’t sure what he’d thought. That he’d hear angels singing?

  But Edilean had produced every emotion in him—except at ten times their normal strength. When the rustlers stole a dozen sheep during the night the rage they produced in him was nothing compared to what he’d felt near Edilean. Anger, happiness, weakness, strength. He felt everything when she was near. She made him sure that he was the biggest, wisest, most honorable man who’d ever lived. Then in the next minute she made him feel lower than a worm.

  Shaking his head, he touched her cheek, and she moved in her sleep. He couldn’t describe what he’d felt when he saw that boy with an unconscious Edilean in his arms. Angus had thought he’d never see her again. He’d told himself that if he did hear she was to marry, he’d be glad for her. But just the sight of a boy touching her had sent him into feelings of murder. If Angus had been one of his ancestors he would have sliced the boy’s head from his shoulders before even asking a question.

  But all Angus’s thoughts and feelings had turned to fear when he saw how battered she was, her beautiful face hidden under layers of dirt and blood.

  Reluctantly, Angus left his bedroom to go into the tavern to work. He’d told Edilean a lie when he said he planned to buy the place. The truth was that he hated it. Serving beer and food all day, listening to endless complaints about everything from how hot the water was to how cold the food was, sickened him.

  When he’d discovered the jewels were missing, he went into a rage that would have killed a lesser man, but on the night he slipped into her room, he believed he’d hidden everything from Edilean. He would have died before he let her see what a fool he’d been to have let them be stolen. The worst thing was that he couldn’t figure out where and when. He’d spent days retracing his steps to look for them—to look for whoever had stolen them—but he came up empty. He could ask no one anything. Who was going to admit to having even seen the jewels?

  Of course he’d thought of the women prisoners on the ship, but he’d naively thought that... Well, that they wouldn’t steal from him. Or maybe he just didn’t want Edilean to be right about Tabitha. He’d liked believing in Tabitha’s innocence and Edilean’s jealousy.

  But Edilean had been right, and she’d figured out what Angus couldn’t—and she’d done something about it.

  Reluctantly, he went into the tavern. As always, there was so much work to be done that it was sundown before he realized it. Suddenly, it hit him what a fool he was. He was in the tavern and Edilean was in his room.

  “What’re you smilin’ about?” the barmaid, Dolly, asked as she filled three pewter mugs of beer from the barrel behind the bar.

  “Love,” he said, and broke into a bigger grin. He looked across the bar at the tired travelers in the room, then he put his hands on Dolly’s sizable waist and gave her a resounding kiss on the cheek. “I won’t be working anymore today. In fact, I may never work in here again.”

  “The boss’ll have your hide!”

  “If he can find me, maybe he will.”

  In the next minute Angus was back in his room.

  When he opened the door, Edilean was just waking up. “I feel awful,” she murmured. “Every muscle in my body hurts.”

  “Let me see,” he said as he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled back the cover. He touched her shoulders through the shirt, his fingers gently massaging her.

  “Angus...” she whispered.

  “Yes, what is it?” he asked, his face full of concern.

  “If I don’t go to the privy I’m going to explode.”

  He withdrew his hands, laughing. “Always practical, aren’t you?”

  “I’m well past practical. You have to leave so I can dress.”

  “Does that mean petticoats, corset, stockings, all of it? And of course I’ll have to help you with t
he corset.”

  “I got a new one that laces up the front, but it would still take too long. I’ll never make it,” she said.

  In a swift gesture, he picked her up, blanket and all. “Hide your face and no one will see what I’m carrying.”

  “Except that my feet are sticking out,” she said.

  “And such adorable feet.”

  Her head was under the blanket, and all she could see was his face. “Where are you taking me?”

  “I’m carrying you into the bushes, what do you think? Or would you rather share our four-holer?”

  “Bushes,” she said. “Angus, what’s going on? Has...” She hesitated. “Has something changed?” She knew she was pushing him, trying to make him say what she so wanted to hear, that he’d at last realized he loved her and wanted to spend his life with her.

  “No, nothing’s changed,” he said. “It’s the same as it was.” He was smiling. He knew what she wanted him to say, but not yet. He’d told her the truth. Nothing had changed. He still loved her just as he did before they parted.

  Edilean had no reply to his words, and a minute later, when he set her down, she found herself in high meadow grass, with trees shading them.

  “I’ll leave you here,” he said. “Follow the path to me and I’ll take you back.”

  It took her only minutes to do her business, then she stood and looked around her. The sun was going down, and the light across the field was beautiful. The brilliant colors of wildflowers were sprinkled among the grasses.

  Instead of taking the path back to Angus, she made her way through the field to a big oak tree. The area under it was trampled down, and it reminded her of a place where she’d gone to be alone when she was a child. She’d grown up in the house her father’s family had owned for four generations. As her father was rarely there, she’d spent her early life with governesses and nannies, and the oak tree had been where she escaped them. Smiling, she remembered that in her trunk, which was back in Scotland, she had a bagful of acorns from that tree. She planned to keep her girlhood vow and plant an acorn from that tree wherever she settled.