"To hang a bunch of sheets," Zac explained.
"Concentrate on your cards and let me talk to Daisy," Tyler said, his temper beginning to rise.
Zac hunched a shoulder.
"Now what is this about hanging sheets?" Tyler asked.
Daisy blushed. Tyler hadn"t realized how endearing a blush could be on a female with a handful of freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks. Not even the bandage could lessen its effect. He felt some of his irritation drain away and sympathy take its place. The closest he"d ever come to being in a similar situation was when Rose came to live with them on the ranch in Texas. He could still remember how out of place he felt even though Rose and George had done everything they could to make him feel it was his home as much as theirs.
It must be ten times as hard for Daisy.
"I need some privacy," she finally managed to blurt out. "I thought if I could hang some sheets across that corner . . . "
Tyler didn"t know why he hadn"t thought of it himself. It was ridiculous to expect a woman to feel comfortable with two strange men staring at her all the time. He guessed he"d have known that if he"d ever had a sister. Rose had a parlor just to get away from the family she loved. She said it didn"t matter everybody invaded it all the time as long as she knew she could close the door when she needed.
Tyler regretted Daisy"s need to hide from him. It was the same as pushing him away. He didn"t like being rejected. That"s why he closed people out first. He had hoped Daisy was different.
Tyler went to the shelf, picked up a hammer and two nails. "I"ll hang a line across the end of the room. Do you think that"ll be enough?"
"I don"t need that much. Just enough s.p.a.ce for my mattress."
"We can move the bunk to the back wall," Tyler said. He pushed the chest of drawers up against the shelves then picked up the trunk and moved it across the room next to the chest of drawers. "Give me a hand with the bunk," he said to Zac.
"I"ll break open my wound."
"Not if you bend at the knees rather than the waist."
"I can help," Daisy offered.
"You ought to be sitting down instead of standing up," Tyler said.
"But it"s okay for me to be dragging furniture about the cabin," Zac complained.
Tyler was tempted to lock Zac outside. Nearly every word out of the brat"s mouth made Daisy feel worse about being here. He hadn"t done a lot better himself, but he was trying. He lifted the bunk and practically dragged Zac across the floor behind it.
"If I"d known you wanted to race, I"d have told you to harness up one of the mules," Zac said, staggering back to his chair, his hand clutched dramatically to his side.
"You"re stubborn as one. I guess I got confused."
"I"ve a good mind to leave as soon as the snow melts."
"I"m counting on it," Tyler said. Choosing a spot behind the door, he drove a nail into the log wall. It would leave a hole, but he could fix that later. He drove a second nail across the room to match. "How many sheets do you think you"ll need?"
"I"m sure two will be enough."
Tyler measured the distance in his mind. "Make it three." He pulled three sheets from a pile on one of the top shelves.
Daisy stooped down to pick up her mattress. Almost immediately Tyler saw her stagger and reach out to steady herself. He caught her before she fell. The effect on him was everything he"d spent the morning outside to avoid.
Daisy fit his arms perfectly, like she"d been made just for him. She looked up at him with startled eyes, a little fear mingled with surprise, chagrin, and some of the hot excitement that rushed though him like a flash flood down a narrow canyon. He couldn"t move.
Holding her didn"t feel strange or uncomfortable anymore. It seemed natural, as natural as wanting to kiss her. He"d never really noticed her mouth before. Most likely it was like many other mouths, but it seemed special to him. Her lips were slightly apart, her expression one of tense expectation. Her eyes were opened wide, their deep brown almost a mirror of his own.
Tyler felt himself lean forward, his arms drawing Daisy closer. She watched him with a look of disbelief. As their lips grew closer, he felt her body tense.
"You going to lay her down or stand her up?" Zac asked. The sound of his voice broke the spell, its gossamer threads vanishing as if they never had existed.
"I said you were too weak to be up," Tyler said as he helped Daisy to her feet. He felt a little shaken. When he tried to steer her toward the bed, she balked.
"It was just bending down so suddenly," she insisted. "I"ll know better next time."
"Next time you need something tell me or Zac." Acutely conscious his arms were still around Daisy, Tyler guided her over to a chair at the table and made her sit down. For a change she didn"t argue with him.
"I"m sorry to be so much trouble."
"It"s not that. It"s just Zac and I aren"t used to taking care of a woman. We don"t mind doing things. We just don"t know what we ought to do."
And he didn"t. At first he had looked on her as something to keep him from his work, but she had added a new dimension to his feeling for women. He recognized he would never again be satisfied with his old ways of thinking about them. He picked up the mattress and laid it in the corner. "Is that where you want it?"
"Yes."
He looked at the thin mattress. She couldn"t possibly be comfortable on that. He got his own mattress from the bunk and put it beneath her mattress.
She looked at the bare boards that were all that was left of his bed. "What will you sleep on?"
"I"ll fold up some blankets."
"But that will be hard."
"Not nearly as hard as sleeping on the ground. How do you want me to hang these sheets?"
Tyler knew Daisy didn"t want him to do everything for her, so he let her help. She got to her feet slowly. He watched closely, but the dizziness didn"t return. She picked up the top sheet from the pile on the table and unfolded it. He helped her adjust it so the hem barely brushed the floor. The other two sheets went into place just as easily.
He watched her breathe a sigh of relief. With a smile of satisfaction, she stepped behind the sheets and pulled the barrier closed. He knew she must feel better. The smile told him she did.
He felt cut off.
"You"re not done yet," Zac said. "She wants a bath now."
Daisy decided then and there that one day Zac would die by torture.
She expected Tyler to refuse, but he didn"t say a word. He simply opened the stove door and put in more wood. He was going to heat water for her bath!
"The creek"s frozen. Where are you going to get that much water?" Zac asked.
"There"s snow. Give me a hand."
"I don"t want a bath."
"You will. Get moving."
He went outside and came back with a metal pot full of snow. He placed it on the stove and went out again. He was back in a moment with another. He didn"t stop until he had six.
Daisy would have preferred to hide behind the curtain. It would have given her time to consider if Tyler"s capitulation had anything to do with what happened between them when she had her dizzy spell. But she couldn"t let him prepare her bath and not lift a finger, not after all the work she had caused him.
"What can I do?" she asked when he came in carrying snow in a blanket.
"Help me get this in the pots," he said.
Daisy was amazed at the amount of snow it took to make water. She scooped load after load into the pots and almost immediately it melted into nothingness.
"I"m sorry. I didn"t know a bath would be this much trouble."
"There"s plenty of snow," Tyler said, and he disappeared outside.
Zac wasn"t nearly so sanguine. "I hope you"re not planning to do this every day."
She"d never been able to have a bath every day, not even when her father had taken her and her mother to stay in a hotel while he drank up his money.
The pots and tubs were finally full, the cabin hot from the heat required to warm so much water. Tyler brought in a large bathtub. "This is the only one I have."
The bath was twice as large as any Daisy had ever seen. No wonder Tyler had heated so much water. He pulled back the curtain and pushed the tub into Daisy"s corner. He took down soap and towel from the shelves.
"The water will be ready soon. Don"t take off the bandage," he warned as he handed them to her.
"But my hair feels awful." It was the main reason she wanted a bath.
"You might reopen the wound."
"I"ll be very careful."
"If you must wash it, I"ll do it for you."
Daisy became immobilized in her tracks. The strange feelings that had teased her earlier a.s.saulted every part of her body in a furious barrage of hot and cold flashes. Her stomach seemed to be trying to learn how to fly. Her tongue fluttered uselessly in her mouth, and her brain seemed to be spinning faster than a top.
"Zac can wash it if you"d prefer."
"I don"t need to wash it today," Daisy said. She retreated behind her curtain.
But she had no sooner pulled the sheets together when Tyler said, "I think your water"s hot."
Curls of steam had begun to swirl on the surface. It reminded her of a thermal spring her father had once shown her. She tipped her finger into the water. It was a little too warm, but she knew it would cool rapidly. Tyler poured it into the tub for her.
"Thanks," she said. "Both of you are welcome to use my corner whenever you want a bath."
"I plan to wait until my side gets better," Zac said.
"I"ll be happy to accept your offer," Tyler said. The look he gave her was innocent enough, but once again fireworks exploded inside her. She decided she would have to keep her distance until she figured out what was happening to her.
She pulled the sheets across the line and overlapped them to make certain there were no gaps. She started to unb.u.t.ton her dress. He was far too bossy, but he wasn"t as bad as her father had been. He might even shape up if some woman were to take the time to work on him, but she wouldn"t be that woman. After what she had endured, she wasn"t about to marry a domineering man, especially one who was looking for gold.
Daisy stepped out of her dress and began to unb.u.t.ton her chemise.
Of course now that she had a scar on one side of her head and burned hair on the other, she couldn"t really expect anybody to marry her.
Daisy slipped the chemise over her shoulders and let it drop on top of the dress. The chill of the air in the cabin made her teeth chatter. She stepped into the bath.
The water was almost too hot. She eased one foot in, then gradually lowered the rest of her body into the bath. The water rose almost to the tops of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
For the first time in two days, she was able to relax. The men had been good to her -- really they had, even if they hadn"t been terribly gracious about it -- but she needed the privacy of her little sanctuary. After all, when everything was said and done, they were strangers.
And men.
She sank down in the tub until her knees protruded and the water came up to her chin. For once she was thankful for Zac"s big mouth. She doubted she could have summoned the courage to ask Tyler to let her have a bath. But now she knew he was willing, she intended to take one as often as possible.
"Psst!"
Zac"s squeaking chair broke Tyler"s concentration. "Sit still," he said without looking up. "I can"t concentrate with you wiggling about."
"Psst!"
"Go back to your cards."
Zac got up and tiptoed across the room. Tyler opened his mouth to speak, but Zac"s finger over his mouth silenced him. With his other finger, Zac pointed excitedly in the direction of Daisy"s corner.
The sun had come out, its golden rays pouring through the window in Daisy"s corner. Daisy was standing upright in the bath, her body cast into perfect silhouette. Tyler didn"t pretend to be a connoisseur of the female form, but he had never seen a woman as perfectly shaped as Daisy.
The shock was like a fist to Tyler"s solar plexus. He felt air enter his body in a gasp and leave in a long, shuddering moan.
The curve of Daisy"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s, the line of her slender waist, the slope of her rounded bottom were as clear as if drawn in charcoal on a stark white background. He could almost see the color of her lips, feel the softness of her skin. He could see the triangle where her legs joined her body. Even her nipples were agonizingly clear. He felt as if he could reach out and touch them.
Tyler"s body hardened painfully.
No woman had ever affected him like Daisy. He reminded himself he"d never had a woman in his cabin, certainly not one who was taking a bath, whose modesty was protected by nothing more than three sheets hanging on a rope.
He could sweep them aside with one flick of his hand.
Simultaneously he was a.s.sailed by a feeling of deep chagrin that he would even think of doing such a thing and by intense physical arousal at the thought of what Daisy must look like in the bath. He was helpless. He had been on this mountain too long.
As soon as he handed Daisy over to Hen, he had to find himself a woman.
He took several deep breaths, but it didn"t help. Daisy turned in the light as she ran a cloth over her body to absorb the drops of water that clung to her skin. She might as well have been torturing Tyler. His entire body ached. His muscles bunched in rebellion.
Jerking himself up short, Tyler signaled for Zac to avert his gaze, but the boy continued to gape. Tyler grabbed his arm and spun him around.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Zac exclaimed.