Page 30 of The Promise of Jenny Jones
“I, uh…” she cut a desperate glance toward the chamber pot. Bright crimson flooded her cheeks and suddenly his own.
“Oh.” There was no privacy screen in hotels like this one. Positive that his face was on fire, he stood so abruptly that his chair crashed over behind him. “I’ll just… I’ll step into the hallway for a minute or two.” Abruptly he became aware of his own urgency. “Don’t leave the room until I return. Don’t open the door to anyone but me.”
Escaping, he rushed down the stairs, took care of business, then ran back up the staircase and halted outside the door. How long did it take a child to pee? He couldn’t just barge inside thinking enough time had passed. Maybe it hadn’t. Cursing beneath his breath, he knocked on the door.
“Come in,” called a prim little voice.
“I told you not to open the door to anyone but me,” he snapped.
“Itisyou,” she said reasonably, looking up from the list she was composing at the table. “How do you spell pantaloons?”
“You didn’t know it was me. You should have asked.” He thought about locating a women’s apparel shop, walking inside, and asking to buy a pair of small pantaloons. Never in his life had he set foot inside a woman’s apparel shop. He’d never imagined that he would.
“I can spell corset,” she said, chewing on the end of the pencil, “but I can’t spell pantaloons.”
“Corset?” Blinking, he sat down across from her. By effort of will he kept his gaze above her flat little chest. “How old are you?”
“Don’t you know?” she asked, looking hurt.
“Six? Six is too young for a corset. You won’t need a corset for several years.” He could not believe he was having this conversation. Discussing undergarments with a six-year-old. He had never wondered when women began wearing corsets, but surely they waited until breasts had begun to form. He couldn’t be exact as to when this happy miracle occurred, but he thought it happened well beyond the age of six. Feeling the heat scalding his throat, he tugged his collar away from his neck before it choked him.
Betrayal filled Graciela’s eyes, eyes so like his own. “Jenny said the same thing,” she said accusingly, as if she’d expected better from him.
“Jenny is right.” Now assured of being correct in his judgment, he repeated with confidence, “no corset. What else is on your list?”
She sighed deeply, then read out the other items. When she finished, Ty studied her in silence. To accommodate her requirements, he’d have to buy two trunks. He wouldn’t have believed one small child could need so many things. And he didn’t have the faintest idea what some of those things were. What in hell was a crimping iron?
“I’m sorry, but you can only take what will fit in the saddlebags.” He’d pare his own things to the bare necessities and create as much space for her as he could, but it would be limited.
Interest gleamed in her eyes. “We’re going to ride horses? We don’t have to go on the train? Good. I didn’t like the train.”
“You can ride, can’t you?”
She tossed her head. “Of course I can ride.”
This information cast a new and encouraging light on the matter. If she had her own horse, it would be more comfortable than carrying her on the saddle behind him. But he’d need to find a horse that was well broken and gentle. Another positive was being able to accommodate an extra pair of saddlebags. This reminded him that he needed to buy an additional bedroll and provisions.
“I’ll need a riding skirt,” she commented, bending over the table to add another item to the list.
“We have a long way to go. Wouldn’t trousers be more comfortable? Easier to ride in?”
She glared at him.“Shewanted me to dress like a boy. I wouldn’t do it. Young ladies do not wear trousers.”
“I see.”Shewas starting to sound like a very sensible woman.
“I ran away becauseshewanted me to cut my hair like a boy’s.” The story of yesterday’s adventure poured forth. Ty listened and felt his chest grow tighter and tighter. Christ. His niece was lucky to be alive. But he finally understood the scene he had witnessed at the train station, why she had been so ragged and filthy, and why Jenny had appeared so furious. “You must have worried Miss Jones.”
“I don’t care,” she said with a dismissive shrug. “I hate her. She killed my mama.”
Ty felt he ought to say something, but he didn’t know what. Anything he offered would sound as if he were defending Jenny, and he’d already figured how the wind blew on that issue. But her comment troubled him. If he understood correctly, Graciela was aware that Marguarita had chosen to take Jenny’s place on the firing wall, she hadn’t been forced. It was a long stretch to blame Jenny for her mother’s death.
He cleared his throat and sidestepped the remark. “As soon as you’re ready to leave, we’ll find the corrals and buy two horses. We’ll pick up the things you need, then we’ll head north.”
Her eyebrows lifted in dismay. “I wanted to buy my new things first. And when are we going to eat?”
“Can you wait to eat? We’re getting a late start.” Swiftly he ran some calculations in his mind. Any man who bought a horse in less than a day was taking his chances. A man who bought a horse based on only a few hours’ observation was a fool. A man who bought a horse as Ty intended to, in about two hours, was desperate. It couldn’t be helped. The most he could spare for the purchase was two hours. Then, say, another hour at the apparel shop. Considering how late they were starting, they wouldn’t ride out of town before noon, which meant they’d depart in the worst heat of the day. And that was stupid and dangerous. On his own he would have risked it, but not with his brother’s daughter.
“Never mind,” he snapped, annoyed. “We’ll have breakfast right away, and lunch before we leave. We’ll figure on riding out about three.”
