Part 12 (1/2)
Now it was Daisy's turn to get angry. ”I may not know anything about rich people in big cities,” she replied, cheeks flamed with embarra.s.sment, ”but I know a great deal about people who build castles in the air. My father did that, and he never made a cent. The same thing will happen to you.”
Tyler wanted to get up and walk out of the cabin. He wanted to be as far from Zac's wide-eyed expectation and Daisy's scornful earnestness as possible. He had tried to explain to George why he wanted the hotels, why he needed to earn his place in the family. He guessed he hadn't done a good job. He hadn't been able to make George understand that after being described by his father as being unworthy of the family, being born a Randolph wasn't enough to make him feel he deserved his share of the family fortune. Besides, the others had done something to earn their portion.
George had voted to give him the money, but the others had refused. Tyler didn't need to be rejected by Daisy as well.
”What would you do?” he asked Daisy.
”Me!”
”You seem to think you know how hotels ought to be run.”
”I never said that, but I do know people want hot baths, good food, and comfortable beds. If you want them to have anything else, you'll to have to convince them it's worth paying for.”
”What would you suggest I do?”
”I don't know,” Daisy admitted. ”I doubt I've seen half the things you're talking about.”
”Then I suggest you not criticize until you have.”
Daisy looked so shocked Tyler was sorry he'd spoken so sharply, but she had no right to judge him. It was obvious she wasn't rejecting his idea of a hotel, just the kind he wanted. She was rejecting him. That hurt even more because he liked Daisy and wanted her to like him.
”We've both told you what we want,” he said, forcing a weak smile to his lips. ”Now it's your turn.”
Tyler noticed Daisy's hesitation. He wondered if she was reluctant to tell him what she really wanted or if she was simply reluctant to tell him anything after the way he'd acted.
”Come on,” Zac urged. ”This whole thing was your idea.”
Daisy still looked uncertain when she said, ”I want to live in a house like my mother grew up in.”
”Is that all?” Zac asked, disgusted.
”When Mama used to fall into a melancholy, she would tell me about it. She made it sound wonderful.”
”What could be so wonderful about a house?” Zac wanted to know.
”She lived in a big house in Philadelphia with trees and gra.s.s and flowers everywhere. Granddaddy worked for a bank. They were important people and had lots of friends. Summer evenings they'd sit on the porch. People would stop and talk until late at night. Mama had a room to herself and never had to clean or wash or cook. Granddaddy used to take them to all kinds of wonderful places in the summer. Mama had dozens of young men who came to courting, wanting to take her places, to buy her things.” She sighed. ”My mother was extremely beautiful. Lots of men wanted to marry her.”
”Then why did she marry your pa?”
”Because she fell in love with him,” Daisy said, her eyes flas.h.i.+ng angrily.
”That was a mistake.”
”What was?”
”Falling in love.”
”Why do you say that?”
”She left all that to come to New Mexico, didn't she?”
”You'll have to excuse Zac,” Tyler said. ”He's never loved anybody but himself, so he wouldn't understand.”
”You're no different,” Zac snapped. ”You don't even like your own family.”
”You still haven't told us your most secret dream,” Tyler said to Daisy.
She flushed. ”W-why do you s-say that?”
”You hesitated a minute ago. Just now you stammered and turned pink. What do you really want?”
”I just told you, ” Daisy insisted.
”But that's not what you want most of all. That was the game you asked us to play, wasn't it?”
Daisy threw Tyler a resentful look.
”What else could a woman want besides money, position, and some rich man to fall in love with her?” Zac asked.
”Freedom,” Daisy said. The word burst out like a balloon held under water. ”The right to run my own life.”
Zac acted like he thought she was crazy, but that didn't matter. Tyler didn't look like she'd just given the wrong answer to an important question, and she was really talking to him.
”All my life my father made every decision -- what I wore, what I did, even what I fixed for dinner. Mama always said he was very smart -- he graduated from Yale. I swore if I ever got the chance, I'd show him I was just as smart as he was.”
”How were you going to do that?” Tyler asked.
”Get married and have my own home.”
”Why get married?”
”I want to. Mother said every woman needs a husband to protect her and do things for her.”
”Make up your mind,” Zac said. ”First you want to be your own boss, then you want to get married.”
”If you get married with that att.i.tude, you're giving up on yourself,” Tyler said.
”What else can I do?”
”You have a ranch and a gold mine.”
”They're both worthless. Besides, I don't know how to run a ranch.”
”You can learn. My family did.”
”It's easier for a man,” Daisy said.
”Maybe, but you're smarter than most men.”