Delilah's Flame (20 page)

Intent on his worries, Tabor didn’t notice Clement Damon’s carriage heading toward him on the lane. Not until Clement’s driver shouted did he look up and realize he was being hailed to stop. He tightened the reins.

“Ho! Tabor!” Clement called.

Tabor, not feeling at all sociable, merely nodded.

Clement was not put off. “Glad I caught you,” he said, smiling. “This time I won’t take no for an answer.” He beckoned Tabor to climb down and join him in the carriage. “Leave the buckboard,” he added. “I’ll send one of my men back for it.”

Tabor gave him a puzzled look.

“Come on, get in,” Clement urged. “I insist you take a look at my stable. I’ve been waiting weeks to show off my new stallion.”

Tabor shook his head. Being cordial, especially to Lilah’s father, was the last thing he felt like doing. Fortunately he had a legitimate excuse for saying no.

“I’m sorry, Clement.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I promised to have this buckboard back an hour from now. It’s rented to someone else for the rest of the day.”

Persistence was one of Clement Damon’s strongest traits. He wanted Tabor to see his horses and refused to allow such a minor obligation to deter him from having his way.

“Don’t concern yourself about that.” Clement waved dismissively. “My man will drive it back. I’ll lend you a saddle horse, then you can stay as long as you like.” Tabor opened his mouth to offer another excuse, but Clement wouldn’t even hear it. He raised his silver brows. “You’re not going to disappoint me again, are you?”

Seeing it meant so much to Clement, Tabor reluctantly agreed to see the horses. Clement had been inordinately hospitable, particularly after leaving the impression he had never been an especially good friend of Tabor’s father. Resolving he wouldn’t stay long, and offering himself the assurance that Lilah wouldn’t even know of his visit, he jumped from the buckboard. Having made up his mind, he quickly led the horse off the road and tied the reins to a bush. A couple of minutes later he joined Clement in the carriage, which proceeded up the lane to the Damon stables.

“Most people think me foolish to take so much interest in horses when I haven’t been able to ride in years. But as a man who shares that interest, I’m sure you can understand how horses get in your blood. I’m thinking of starting an annual race and putting up the fastest horse in my stable. This new stallion looks good.” Tabor nodded. Encouraged, Clement went on, “I like watching my horses run and I like seeing the foals every spring.” He smiled happily. “You’re going to like Rogue. He was a gift from Lilah.”

“Lilah.” Tabor’s interest perked up. He didn’t hear Clement’s quiet laugh at his reaction. Somehow he couldn’t picture Lilah picking out a horse for her father. He wasn’t even sure she rode. Many ladies didn’t. He concluded she had arranged for someone knowledgeable about horses to choose the animal.

“I’ll save Rogue for last,” Clement said once Ching and the driver had helped him from the carriage and into his chair. He gave orders for a man to drive the buckboard back to the livery, then wheeled around and started into the stable, Tabor following.

The brick building with a hayloft overhead had stalls for forty horses, a tack room for harnesses and one for saddles, and carriage wells attached at the sides. Two grooms had quarters in overhead apartments. Half the stalls were filled. The others were used to contain the animals of guests or visitors at Damon House.

Going from stall to stall, with Clement giving Tabor a history on each of the mares and the foals she had produced, took more than an hour. Four matched bays, geldings, especially stood out to Tabor. Clement was particularly proud of the team of carriage horses and called each by name, getting an answering whinny from them all. The last two animals in the barn were a pair of saddle horses. One, a sorrel with a blaze face, belonged to Dinah. The other, a gentle white mare named Darling, belonged to Lilah.

So she did ride. And what a pretty sight she would be on the dainty mare. Nevertheless, mention of Lilah made him restless. After all, he had promised her he would leave.

Remembering he ought to be courteous, Tabor glanced at his host. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many good bloodlines in one man’s stable. You’ve got a right to be proud.”

“Thanks.” Clement smiled broadly.

Tabor stroked Darling’s muzzle. She was a friendly little thing, with fine legs and long silky mane and tail. The vision of Lilah riding the mare came back. He breathed out a heavy sigh. He really ought not to be at the stable.

“Clement,” he said, making his voice sound cheerful, “you had better show me the stallion you’ve been keeping hidden. I’ve got to be leaving soon.”

“He’s in the paddock out back.” Clement, smile deepening, speeded up his chair. “Rogue kicks up too much fuss in the barn.” He looked over his shoulder and winked. “Got an eye for the ladies. Guess all males do.”

Tabor followed, not able to manage even a polite laugh. Clement’s horses were worth seeing. He wished he had just half of them as breeding stock for the Cooke ranch. But that notwithstanding, he liked to think he was a man of his word. He had told Lilah he would leave. He should have refused the invitation and taken the buckboard on into town.

The stable’s back doors were shut. Tabor helped Ching and the groom roll them open. Outside in the paddock, the big stallion, getting a sudden whiff of the mares he was anxious to court, threw back his head and neighed.

“Well, by damn!” Tabor said when his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight and he saw the powerful black horse circling the enclosure.

“I could sit here and watch him strut all day. Ever see a more beautiful sight?” Clement asked, rolling up beside Tabor.

Tabor removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know whether to curse or laugh.

“No, sir,” he answered in all honesty. “Can’t say that I have.” He meant what he said in more than the literal sense. That black stallion Clement called Rogue was a sight he had given up on seeing for a long time, maybe ever. He replaced his hat and pressed his lips tightly together. A suspicion he couldn’t yet give credibility nagged at him. “You did say the stallion was a gift from Lilah?”

“She likes surprising me,” Clement offered, drawing a lot of satisfaction from Tabor’s evident admiration of Rogue. “She outdid herself this time.”

“She sure did,” Tabor agreed, his voice grinding low. “Did she tell you how she happened to find this particular horse?”

“Not how, but where,” Clement answered. “She and Dinah and their companion made a trip to St. Louis. She bought the horse there and had him shipped home by train.”

“Recently?” Tabor didn’t like what was starting to take shape in his mind.

“I’ve had him six weeks or so,” Clement said offhandedly. “Trouble is, I haven’t had much luck finding a man who can ride him.”

Tabor’s mind was still on Lilah and the trip to St. Louis. “You mentioned a companion,” he said, recalling something he had heard in Sacramento. “Was that an Oriental woman?”

“Loo Wong,” Clement answered. “She’s half-Chinese. Loo lives with us part of the time. Actually she’s more than the girls’ companion. Lilah and Dinah think of her as another sister.” He noted the puzzlement on Tabor’s face. “Loo’s been away lately or you would have met her. You must have heard Lilah mention her.”

“I might have,” Tabor responded, knowing quite well Lilah had never mentioned Loo Wong. He stared alternately at Clement and at the stallion. Until he knew more about how Lilah had bought Rogue, he guessed he had best keep quiet that the stallion actually belonged to him.

The Admiral hadn’t gotten wind of him yet. If he had he would have come thundering up expecting to have his head scratched. Tabor tried telling himself finding the Admiral in Clement’s stable was coincidence. But his mind kept repeating two names. Lilah and Delilah. So similar. He shook his head. And so different. What he was thinking just couldn’t be. But Clement’s words kept reminding him Lilah had been away in St. Louis while Delilah made her tour. And then there was the little detail of the Alden sisters being accompanied by an Oriental maid.

Was he looking for three women or one? His mind insisted on tying them together. Was it possible? He didn’t see how. The physical descriptions didn’t fit. Delilah had flaming red hair, Lilah’s was pale red-gold, and both the Alden sisters had been described as having humdrum brown hair. Wigs? Possibly. But Delilah hadn’t worn a wig. That he knew for a fact. He still remembered lacing his fingers in that sweet-smelling flame-colored hair. Lilah’s hair was her own too. So how could they all be the same woman?

It was possible the Admiral had been taken to St. Louis and Lilah had found and bought him there. There had been time. But he couldn’t discount his sudden and deep attraction to Lilah Damon. Had that happened because she was a woman he already knew quite well? He thought of how she had responded to him in the conservatory. That wasn’t the way of a shy, high-bred lady. There had been no timidity, either, in how she kissed him. But did Lilah’s soft lips also belong to Delilah? He had to know.

Tabor turned an inscrutable expression on Clement. “You did say you’re having trouble finding anyone who can ride...Rogue?”

Clement’s shoulders sagged slightly. Too much excitement tended to tire him quickly. The trip into town and the tour of the stables had him exhausted. Ching quickly noted his listlessness and took over propelling the chair.

“That’s what I said,” Clement answered as Ching pushed him back through the stable. “I’ve had four men try. He threw them all, and none of them would get on him again.”

Tabor quirked a brow and voiced a thought he’d been tossing around in his head. “I think I could break him for you.”

Clement’s face lit up. He signaled Ching to stop. “I’d be happy for you to try. He hasn’t got much value as a stud if I can’t show he’s been broken.”

Tabor’s eyes darkened like the sky before a storm. He smiled. “I won’t make any guarantees. But I’ve got a notion that big black horse will take to me.”

“I hope you’re right,” Clement said, frowning. “He’s too fine an animal not to be trained.”

Tabor nodded. “Just make me a promise, Clement.” He laughed. “So I don’t make a fool of myself, let me give it a try before you tell anybody I’m undertaking breaking this horse.”

“You’ve got a deal,” Clement agreed.

Tabor rode off on the borrowed horse. His head felt as if a floodgate had been opened inside it. He recalled the mystery concerning Delilah’s astonishing disappearance at the end of her tours, the speculation that she was a titled Englishwoman who immediately left California and resumed her dual life on another continent. Just maybe everyone was wrong and Delilah didn’t leave the country or even the state. Just maybe the answer to how she managed a vanishing act was right here in San Francisco—at Damon House.

All Tabor knew for certain was that he’d located his horse and that the burning desire to find Delilah was back as strong as it had been when he’d found himself jailed in Yuba City. Half of him hoped Lilah was as innocent as she seemed. But if that red-haired witch, Delilah, had changed from scarlet to lily-white he was going to have one hell of a fine time showing her true colors.

*     *     *

At a most undignified speed Lilah raced up the stairs to her room. She needed complete privacy for a few minutes, long enough to laugh and think about what a fool she had just made of Tabor Stanton. She flew to the window in time to see the rented buckboard rolling away from Damon House. It hadn’t been the easiest thing she had ever done—there had been the unwelcome longing he made her feel. But that would pass, and the cocky Mr. Stanton was out of her life for good.

Lilah closed the lace curtains at her window and called for Bess to prepare a bath. She felt like a good long soak. A relaxing bath would be a good idea before she had that talk with Dinah. Barrett would be coming for dinner. Thankfully she had been able to rid herself of Tabor before adding the inconvenience of a jealous fiancé.

Afterward, clad in a golden silk dressing gown, with her hair loose on her shoulders to dry, Lilah went to Dinah’s room. Aunt Emily was napping, so it was a good time to talk to Dinah alone. She found her sister making charcoal sketches.

“I see you’re already dressed for dinner,” Lilah remarked, noting Dinah’s new gown of mist-green satin. The gown’s bodice had a scoop neck and cap sleeves, and down the front, tiny tucks stitched with seed pearls. Dinah looked lovely, Lilah thought with sisterly pride. She did wonder when Dinah’s behavior would mature to catch up to her appearance.

“I was modeling this dress for Aunt Emily and decided not to change,” Dinah said, hastily closing her drawing pad and putting it away before Lilah saw all the sketches were of Barrett. Lilah’s blue eyes sparkled but Dinah couldn’t tell whether happiness or annoyance lighted them. She hoped it wasn’t the latter. She wasn’t in a frame of mind for another of her sister’s holier-than-thou lectures. Unquestionably she had taken a sizable risk in arranging the picnic with Mr. Stanton. Behind her back Dinah crossed her fingers and wished for the best.

“Did you invite Mr. Stanton to dinner again?” she asked hopefully.

“Certainly not,” Lilah answered coolly, dashing Dinah’s hopes. “Mr. Stanton is returning to his ranch. I doubt we’ll ever see him again.”

“Oh.” Dinah’s face fell into a pout. “I was hoping he would be around a long time.”

A flush of pink sped into Lilah’s cheeks as she erroneously guessed the reason for Dinah’s unorthodox conduct. The thought repelled her. Imagine. Dinah romanticizing about Tabor Stanton.

“Well, he won’t, and it’s good riddance.” Lilah spoke a little more harshly than she intended. “Unrefined men like Mr. Stanton are out of place in our society, Dinah. I’m sure he realizes that.”

“He seemed nice to me,” Dinah returned, unable to keep her disappointment from showing. “Aunt Emily didn’t find him unrefined. And he is handsome.”

“Only superficially so.” Now Lilah lapsed into the maternal tone she used when she felt Dinah needed the benefit of her wisdom. “He’s the kind of man whose attractiveness would wear thin if you knew him any length of time.”