Delilah's Flame (19 page)

Surprise registered in his face. Not because of her words but because a recent memory he couldn’t pin down spun through his mind. Lilah dropped her head and sniffed. Good God! She was crying. But what could he expect? She had every right to be devastated. She was a delicate lady who had led a sheltered life, not some chippie to be treated commonly. He grimaced at the thought of what he had done.

“Lilah, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice full of entreaty. “I never meant to get so carried away. It’s just that having you close...Lilah, I wouldn’t have harmed you for anything. Believe me.”

Lilah wiped her dry eyes. “Believe you,” she hissed. “Well, I don’t. You’re nothing but a beast!”

Her slap stung his cheek. He knew he deserved it. He said nothing as she whirled and like a white blur ran from the room.

As soon as he composed himself, Tabor returned to the library. So overwrought with guilt he could hardly speak, he thanked Clement for his hospitality and said he would have to be on his way.

Good-naturedly Clement shook his head. “Looks like I’ve missed out again on showing you my horses. You will come back for that, I hope.”

“I don’t know, Clement,” he answered dully. “I may be leaving town tomorrow. Perhaps the next time I’m in San Francisco.”

Clement’s disappointment showed. He liked Tabor. He wasn’t sure just why. He thought maybe the young man reminded him of himself in the days when he had been whole and strong.

“You’re welcome here,” Clement told him. “Come back anytime you can.”

Hiding his sadness, Tabor said good-bye to Emily Dearborn. Dinah had already gone upstairs. He figured this was his last visit to Damon House. After tomorrow he doubted he would ever be welcome again. Somehow, though, on the way out, he couldn’t pass the staircase without stopping and thinking of seeing Lilah there the day before. He shook his head. How could he have been so careless with something as precious as Lilah’s affection?

Outside, he had a minute to wait while his horse was brought up from the stable.

“Mr. Stanton...”

Tabor spun around, surprised to see Dinah Damon hurrying down the ramp. He forced a smile, certain she had come out only to bid him good-bye.

“Lilah asked me to give you this,” she said, slipping a folded paper into his hand. Without waiting for a response, Dinah turned and hurried back into the house.

Almost afraid to look, Tabor opened the note and read the flowery handwriting.

“I’ll be damned.” he mumbled to himself, breaking out in a grin that lasted for another hour. He would never understand women. Now he knew exactly how a man destined for the gallows felt being reprieved at the last hour. The note meant Lilah had forgiven him.

Whistling and allowing the horse to plod along at a slow pace, Tabor made a promise not to give Lilah reason to regret offering the second chance. Tomorrow and in the times that followed, he would be the perfect gentleman. He wanted her trust and knew that even though her body had answered every demand of his, that too must seem a betrayal to her. Undoubtedly he was the first man ever to make her aware of her passions. The way he had gone about it had frightened her.

*     *     *

With Lotus in her lap, Lilah rested on the velvet-tufted chaise longue in her sitting room. An empty saucer rested on the floor beside the chair. Lotus deserved the treat of cream. Lilah shuddered to think what might have occurred if the cat hadn’t made a surprise visit to the conservatory. Tabor Stanton would have been her undoing. She believed he exerted some dark charm over her, because truly, this time she couldn’t blame strong drink for her foolishness. Thinking it over, though, she decided her weakness last night was entirely due to the guilt she felt for having mistaken him for his father.

She no longer felt that way. Besides, what choice was there but to be a little devious about ensuring he never came to Damon House again? Certainly she had no reason to regret striking him afterward. He definitely had enjoyed himself beforehand. Diffidently, Lilah wrung her hands. How had they wound up on the floor? She couldn’t remember. But how clearly she remembered the delicious feel of his hands and his mouth. What a warm, heavy feeling just the memory brought her. Lilah shuddered in alarm. How was it he turned her into a wanton woman? Thank goodness she would never see the man again.

Lilah whispered a word of thanks to Lotus. The episode had been almost as costly as before. Tabor Stanton was a worthy opponent. Unlike others of her experience, he had a bent for doing the unexpected. At least he hadn’t been dull. In a week or so she would arrange a substantial payment sent to him at his ranch and then the whole Stanton matter could be put to rest. She could then complete her plans for the destruction of the Penn brothers, the last two men on Delilah’s list.

Smiling complacently, Lilah stroked Lotus’ silky fur. Last night she had been too agitated to sleep, but now she felt herself drifting off. She had managed to appear calm when she had gone down in her nightdress and wrapper to say good night to Papa. But it had required all her dramatic skills. It was all very strange the way she had reacted to Tabor, considering the way she really felt about him. Very strange. Sometimes she felt there were two women living inside her, two women at odds with each other.

Lilah’s hand stilled on Lotus’ back. Her soft breathing rose and fell in harmony with the cat’s purr. An annoying succession of taps at the door aroused her.

“Lilah!” Dinah’s mirthful voice called her name.

“Come in,” Lilah responded sleepily. Dinah entered carrying a wicker picnic basket covered with a blue gingham cloth.

“What’s that?” Lilah asked, swinging her feet to the floor and disturbing Lotus in the process. The cat jumped from her lap and quietly curled up beneath a window.

“Your picnic lunch.” Dinah’s joyous smile confounded Lilah, but she much preferred it to all the frowns over the last few weeks. “Yours and Mr. Stanton’s.” Dinah traipsed across the room. “He’s here early. He came in a buckboard, so you won’t need to call for ours.”

Lilah jumped to her feet. “Dinah! What is this ridiculous prattling about Mr. Stanton? If this is a joke, I warn you I’m not in the mood.”

“It’s no joke,” Dinah said. “Papa is at the bank today. Mr. Stanton’s waiting in the parlor. Do you want me to tell him you’ve changed your mind?”

“Changed my mind about what?” Lilah snapped.

“About inviting him on a picnic.”

“I did not invite him on a picnic.”

“No,” Dinah said. “I did in your behalf.”

Lilah’s mouth fell open. “Dinah! How could you? I detest the man!”

Dinah giggled. “You didn’t look as if you detested him last night in the conservatory.” Her green eyes got enormously wide. “Really, Lilah, if Papa had any idea...”

Lilah’s face blanched. “You had no right to spy on me!”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Lilah. I was chasing Lotus and I happened to pass by the window. How was I to know...? Anyway, when I overheard him telling Papa he might be leaving San Francisco tomorrow I knew you would be disappointed. So I wrote a note inviting him on a picnic and signed your name.” Dinah’s lower lip poked out. “I thought you would be pleased, but I see I was wrong. I’ll tell Mr. Stanton you don’t want to see him.”

“No.” Lilah felt her heart sinking like a capsized boat. Was there no way to be rid of the man? “I’ll take care of this myself,” she said crossly.

Dinah’s smile burst out again. “I’ll take the basket down,” she said, grabbing it and hurrying from the room before Lilah had a change of heart.

Thankfully she had dressed simply in a dark blue skirt and a white silk blouse with satin collar and cuffs. She had no time to waste changing clothes, not if she hoped to get Tabor out of the house before Papa was back. She couldn’t risk Papa once again urging Tabor to take a look at his horses.

Arriving in the downstairs parlor, Lilah learned that Dinah had given Tabor the picnic basket and that he had taken it out to the buckboard. If she thought Dinah had any inkling of the setback she had caused, well, she would pull out all her younger sister’s hair—at the least. But of course Dinah had only tried to be helpful. She was just young and foolish enough to think her surprise was romantic.

Lilah did wonder how Dinah managed so easily to overlook the fact that she and Barrett were practically engaged. Regardless of her good intentions, Dinah was due a good talking-to when she got back.

Lilah’s mind, ever quick with a solution to a dilemma, had concluded the best thing to do would be to pretend she was going on the picnic. Once she got Tabor away from the house, she would tell him everything had been a mistake.

She hadn’t decided just how to say it, so she sat quietly as Tabor climbed into the buckboard and drove off. He didn’t look as if he’d had a sleepless night. His eyes had no circles. He was fresh-shaven, his black hair neatly combed. She recognized the leather vest as the one he’d been wearing on their first meeting. The blue shirt was different, though, and looked quite appropriate with the black string tie.

Tabor pushed back the black hat with the silver medallion pinned on the band. “I’m happy you wanted to see me again.” He gave what she assumed was supposed to be a contrite smile. “I want you to know I’m very sorry about upsetting you.”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Lilah said coolly.

Tabor slowed the horse and turned to look at her, his eyes insistent. Lilah felt a dangerous tingle start inside.

“I understand,” he said softly. “You’re embarrassed, naturally.” His hand closed gently over hers. “Just let me apologize and I won’t remind you of it again.”

A shiver crept down her backbone. Lilah felt herself weakening. Riding out alone with him in the buckboard hadn’t been a good idea. How could he do this to her? She didn’t even like him. Did she? Even if she did, she had to send him away. Even if she managed to keep him from seeing the stallion, his stallion, in time something she said or did would remind him of Delilah. He’d put the pieces together and know who she was. The thought of Papa finding out was incentive enough to restore her resolve.

Tabor pulled the horse to a stop beneath the shade of a tree. He helped Lilah down and spread the gingham cloth on the ground. She looked nervous and troubled. He felt worse than ever. It must have taken a lot of courage for her to invite him on a picnic today.

Lilah unpacked the food—cold chicken, cheese, corn cooked on the cob, apple pie, and root beer. Dinah had outdone herself on the menu. Lilah insisted Tabor eat, although she could only pick at her food. When he was finished and leaning against the trunk of the tree, it was all she could do to forget how much she wanted him to kiss her again.

“Tabor,” she said, dropping her gaze from his, “I realize what happened last night wasn’t altogether your fault.” Where had that come from? she wondered. What had happened to her ease at lying? “I was upset with Papa and his demands. I threw myself at you for the reasons you said. I’m the one who has to apologize. Papa only wants what is best for me. As his daughter, I realize I must concede to his wisdom. I...I realize too I only aimed my attention at you as an act of defiance.”

“Lilah...” He didn’t like what she was saying. Somehow he couldn’t believe she was giving up so easily on capturing what they had both felt last night. She might have been frightened by the feelings he awakened in her, but he couldn’t believe she could actually deny them. His gray eyes darkened like storm clouds.

“Please,” she interrupted. “Let me finish while I can. This isn’t easy for me. Given what happened, what I allowed to happen, I would appreciate it if after you take me home, you go away—for good.”

Tabor’s brow wrinkled. Inside his chest, his heart thudded to a halt. He had lost her. “I don’t believe you want that.”

She didn’t believe it either. Her mind did, perhaps, but her body, as it was subject to do around Tabor Stanton, longed for the crush of his arms, the demand of his lips, and the unknown magic that came afterward. She was learning she didn’t know Lilah Damon so well after all.

She forced herself to say the next words. “I do mean it, Tabor. Please take me home and drive away. Please spare me any more pain. I beg you.”

Grim-faced, Tabor restrained himself from trying to change her mind. Plainly she had agonized considerably over just seeing him again today. Maybe with time and distance she could learn to think kindly of him once more. That was all he could hope for. He cursed himself. He knew how to treat a lady. How the hell had he let himself forget Lilah Damon was one?

Half an hour later he watched her walk into Damon House, afraid he was seeing her for the last time.

The closing of the front door shut him out of Lilah’s life. With a slow shake of his head Tabor took a last look at the rose-colored brick set against the deep blue sky. He should have left for good last night. Coming back and seeing Lilah today only deepened the hurt. He hardly felt the blaze of the sun on his back as he climbed into the buckboard, cursing his luck. Lately it was all bad.

Tabor snapped the reins, urging the horse into a trot. His sense of loss weighed heavily on both heart and mind. Before checking out of his hotel he would arrange to have a gift sent to Lilah. Perhaps a delicate porcelain figurine, something to mirror her exquisite beauty. Maybe she would even keep it. Maybe it would leave her with a somewhat better memory of him.

He couldn’t think of a good reason to stay in San Francisco. Delilah’s trail had disappeared and he really didn’t have the same desire for revenge he’d had in the beginning.

He did still want to recover the Admiral, but he was having no success at that either. He decided his next best move would be to advertise a description of the stallion in newspapers over the state and to offer a reward for information. As much as he hated to admit it, the time had come for him to swallow his pride and head home to the Cooke ranch. Without even a lead, he couldn’t justify staying away any longer. Even though Sarah was perfectly capable of operating the ranch without him, she deserved some help.