Page 94 of Silver Lining
Max stared as if he didn't grasp anything she'd said. His behavior was beginning to annoy her.
"Max?"
Without a word, he turned on his heel. A moment later she heard his boots on the staircase.
Well, he needed time, that's all. Very likely he hadn't accepted responsibility for driving her into Luis's arms. But he would. Max was fair, and doing the right thing was important to him. By the time she regained her health, he would have considered everything she'd said and he'd be ready to apologize and they would pick up their lives together.
Before her next visitor, she had a moment to rest and enjoy the pleasure of flattening her palms on her stomach. In no time at all she would have her figure back.
"Mrs. Weaver sent you a pot of chocolate," her father said, entering without knocking. He placed a tray on her bedside table and the aroma of toast and hot chocolate wafted toward her.
"Would you pour me a cup? Please, Daddy?" she asked in a little-girl voice.
Like Max, her father appeared to have spent a sleepless and difficult night. He wore the same clothing he'd worn yesterday, and he hadn't shaved, leading her to guess that he hadn't gone home last night but had stayed here at the McCord ranch.
He gave her a cup of chocolate, then sat heavily on the chair Gilly had vacated. "I don't know where to begin."
"I wanted to confide in you, but I just couldn't." That's what would hurt him most. She hadn't come to him with her problems.
"It was Luis Delacroix," he stated flatly. "That son of a bitch was a guest in my home. I've known his father for twenty years."
"He overpowered me, Daddy." Tears wet her eyes. She saw Luis in her memory, imagined the scene so vividly it could have been true. "I resisted, but—"
"Really?" A chill hardened his tired gaze. "You didn't cry out? Told no one afterward? I'm willing to accept that Delacroix seduced you, but I won't accept that he did so against your will. You'd already been with one man; you knew what was happening. I remember watching you flirt with him, Philadelphia . I remember thinking you were too innocent to understand what you were doing." He made a sound of disgust deep in his throat.
"Please don't blame me." Tears spilled out of her swollen eye. "It was only once. An accident. Afterward I felt so ashamed, so frightened. I didn't know what to do."
"You've hurt so many people." He rubbed the salt-and-pepper stubble on his jaw, then straightened against the back of the chair. "I've apologized to Max and his wife. Naturally I'll end the restrictions against any hands they hire. When I return to the bank, I'll mark Max's mortgage paid and return his note.
I've told him if he needs a loan to buy more cattle, he can name his own terms. Maybe that will make up in some small way for … " He lifted a hand and let it fall back to his lap.
"You apologized? To Max and that creature?" She couldn't believe it. "He may not have been the one who … but he jilted me!"
"I wouldn't blame Wally if he decides to divorce you."
She gasped and stared. Divorce would be her decision, not Wally's.
"If he divorces you, I'll buy you a small house in Denver ."
"I don't want to go to Denver ! I want to stay in Fort Houser . This is my home!"
He shook his head. "You're my only child, Philadelphia , and I don't intend our estrangement to be permanent. But I don't want to see or speak to you for a long while. Perhaps we'll correspond from time to time." He rose to his feet. "If I'm not present to solve your problems, maybe you'll have a better chance to grow and grow up."
Stunned and speechless, she watched with her mouth opened in disbelief as he left the room. An estrangement? He was banishing her? But why? Truly, she didn't understand.
Before she could reach any conclusions, Wally entered the room and came to her bedside. "How are you feeling?"
Finally, someone thought to ask about her. "I'm sore and weak." Gingerly, she touched her black eye.
"I'll come right to the point." Wally pulled the chair closer and reached for her hand. "Your father has made a very generous offer. He's proposed that I open a new bank in Santa Fe."
"Oh please, Wally. I don't want to hear about business."
"Just listen. Your father will pay moving expenses. He'll build us a suitable house near the town square.
I'll receive a handsome salary plus stock bonuses. Eventually, I'll own the bank."
Us? Could he or her father really believe she would move a thousand miles away from her home? With Wally?
