Part 17 (1/2)

”Did Willie get home safely?”

”Yes. You shouldn't be out. It's too cold.”

”I want to see how the deer is doing.”

Tyler didn't understand what could be so endearing about a female swallowed up by a coat too big for her, but he felt a sudden rush of warmth all through him at the sight of Daisy slogging through the snow, her face peeping out of the fur-lined hood. Protective feelings he didn't know existed welled up inside him. He was probably the least violent of all the Randolphs, but some things he just couldn't tolerate. No one was going to hurt Daisy while she was with him.

”Do you think it was too cold last night?” Daisy asked as they headed toward the shed.

”The heat from the mules and the burro would have kept it warm.”

”The icicles are hard as rocks.”

”This deer has survived blizzards. I'm sure it's okay.”

There wasn't much room inside the shed. The mules had apparently accustomed themselves to their strange companion, but the burro had not. The deer scrambled to its feet when they entered. The burro immediately swung its head around, teeth bared.

”It hasn't eaten anything,” she said, pointing to the oats and hay. The deer didn't seem to have touched the food.

”It's probably still tired. Now that it's rested up, its appet.i.te is bound to come back.”

”Are you sure?”

Tyler had no idea. He didn't know a d.a.m.ned thing about deer, but he didn't figure that would be the best thing to tell Daisy. ”Sure. It's just not used to people,” he said, grasping for any explanation as to why this blasted animal wouldn't behave the way Daisy expected. ”It's used to running way when it sees people.”

”Oh.” Daisy looked thoughtful.

”Let's leave it alone for a while. Maybe it'll eat.”

”And if it doesn't?”

”I'll have to find something it will eat.”

The sun was up over the trees when they left the shed. ”It's going to be a pretty day,” Tyler said.

”But cold. It doesn't look like much of the snow will melt.”

”No, but it'll be pretty.”

”Do you think I'll have to stay here much longer.”

”I wish you didn't think of it that way.”

”What way?” she asked. She pushed the hood back from her face so she could see him better.

”Like you had to stay.”

She lifted her hand to s.h.i.+eld her eyes from the glare of the sun. Her gaze became intense. ”I thought you did.”

”Not anymore.”

”Me neither.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. Daisy was the first to move away.

Daisy started to walk back to the cabin. ”I thought you didn't like having people around. Zac says you're the loner of the family.”

Tyler fell in beside her. ”I don't mind people. It's just I don't find I need them much.”

”Not at all if you mean to live here,” Daisy said, swinging her arm in an arc that took in the cabin, the shed, and the snow-covered mountains.

”There are some needs within a man other people can't satisfy.”

”I know, but to stay up here alone for months at a time.”

”Let me show you something.” He extended his hand toward her.

Daisy stood still. ”What?” she asked.

”You'll have to see for yourself.”

Daisy felt reluctant to follow him. She sensed going with him would be making some kind of admission, lowering a barrier, taking a step forward from which she might later find it impossible to retreat. Yet there was something irresistible about the smile that curved his lips, the light that danced in his eyes. He was usually so unemotional, so unmoved by any kind of feeling, it was impossible to refuse to discover what could have caused the light within him to beam with unsuspected energy.

”It's not very far,” he said. ”It won't take long.”

It wasn't time or distance that bothered her, at least not time and distance you could measure. She didn't trust the feeling that made her smile, reach out to take his hand, and answer, ”Okay.” Some unknown quant.i.ty stirred, some restless unbridled spirit she had thought long since bludgeoned into stillness. She was afraid of the uprush of excitement, the expectation that something special was at hand, something good, something wonderful.

She knew it wasn't true. She had learned her lessons long ago. She didn't want to forget them now. They had cost her too much.

For a time, Daisy wondered if they were actually going to be able to reach the spot Tyler had in mind. The snow was deep and the crust hard enough for her to walk on. But not too deep or too hard for Tyler. He powered though the snow with amazing strength, leaving a path in his wake Daisy could follow. She wondered if anything could stand in the way of such a man. If anybody could make his dreams come true, it was Tyler.

She told herself not to be foolish. Physical power didn't translate into control of one's fate or command of the forces pitted against anyone who tried to succeed against fantastic odds. Tyler would never manage to turn his dream into reality by looking for lost gold mines. That took something more, something dreamers didn't have.

That was before he picked her up and carried her through a particularly deep drift.

He didn't ask. He didn't give her any warning. He simply turned around, scooped her up, and headed into a waist-high snow drift like he was walking through whipped cream. Nothing like this had ever happened to Daisy, and the sensation was breathtaking. She felt weightless, like the merest wisp of a female. At the same time it felt wonderfully exhilarating. It was as though being swept off her feet, as though not being responsible for the movement or direction of her own body, relieved her of the weight of responsibility for everything else.

She felt feminine, fragile, and pet.i.te.

The optimism with which he faced life invaded her mind and soul. For a few brief seconds her spirit felt free of the pressure that which had always kept it weighed down. Things she had never considered possible seemed within her grasp if she would only reach out.

Then he set her on the ground, and her merry-go-round came to a halt with a dispirited whimper.

”It's not much farther,” he said, taking her by the hand and pulling her forward. ”It's just around those rocks.”

Dazed by the whiplash effect of her abrupt mood swings, Daisy followed. The fact that she was climbing over rocks covered with ice and snow hardly registered. When she finally reached the top and stood up, a blast of frigid air nearly knocked her off her feet. Tyler took her hand to steady her then put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close.