Delilah's Flame (45 page)

*     *     *

Two weeks after receiving Dinah’s letter, Clement fretted about his daughters. He supposed Dinah would be all right, though he didn’t totally approve of her marriage. But the promised letters from Barrett and Emily had followed that startling one from Dinah. Her aunt and her new husband had written assurances that the couple was indeed happy.

He even decided against calling the pair home immediately. They were, after all, under Emily’s watchful eye and he had sent Barrett to London to handle a most important business deal. If it worked out as he planned, he would permanently maintain a branch of his business in England. They would get a sharp piece of his mind when they did come home, though. Both of them deserved it.

Lilah was the real source of worry. Although she insisted Dinah was correct about her feelings for Barrett, she had done nothing but mope since the word had come. With any other girl he might have thought embarrassment over being jilted was the problem. But that didn’t seem to be the cause of Lilah’s distress. She herself had written the announcement for the
Chronicle
and had openly told her friends of the elopement. He wondered if her despondency might instead be attributed to the recent letter she had received from young Stanton.

Lilah hadn’t talked much about her trip to the Cooke ranch and he had assumed the traumatic thing that had happened had dashed any chance of Tabor and Lilah getting together. He needed to get a letter off to that young man. Since Chapman had been so damned anxious to get hold of Stan’s claim, he’d sent a team of men down to study the land. They had turned up the reason for Chapman’s maniacal efforts. That land was devoid of gold, but it was rich enough in borax to make a man enormously wealthy. The very least he could do for Tabor after he had saved Lilah’s life was to give him the land. What irony there. Poor Stan had been holding a fortune and didn’t know it.

Lilah walked into the library as Clement was thinking about her. “Papa, I’m meeting Loo in town. We may do some shopping.”

Lilah’s voice lacked the merry ring he enjoyed hearing in it. Clement caught a glimpse of her eyes and saw that they were shadowed underneath. His concern about her well-being increased. She looked as if she had lost weight. The poor girl was worrying herself sick about something. Maybe this shopping trip would boost her spirits. But whether it did or not, tonight he would demand to know what was troubling her.

“Have a good time,” he called after her. “Get whatever you want and tell Loo I miss her here at Damon House.” He wished Loo hadn’t decided on moving into a place on her own, though he understood her reason for seeking a life of her own. He did hope the afternoon with her would be good for Lilah.

*     *     *

Lilah and Loo scurried along the sidewalks, going from one shop to another. Few of them held anything that caught Lilah’s eye, but Loo had purchased a new reticule at the last establishment. Already annoyed at the shopkeepers for their cool treatment of Loo, Lilah was ready to call for the carriage and leave for home. Of course none of the shopkeepers would actually refuse to serve Loo, even though she was half-Chinese, not when she was accompanied by Clement Damon’s daughter.

“I think I’ve seen enough today, Loo,” Lilah said wearily. She looked down the street for the carriage. In the last two weeks she must have bought a dozen new gowns and bonnets, but no amount of finery, she had discovered, could fill the emptiness in her heart. This outing today had been a mistake. Maybe what she needed was a trip back east, or to London for a visit with Dinah and Barrett. But no, it was too soon for that. Not enough time had passed that the three of them wouldn’t feel uneasy together. Sighing so loudly that Loo gave her a worried look, she signaled for the driver to come and pick them up.

“Lilah, this has got to end.” Loo had kept quiet for weeks, but now, seeing someone she loved so unhappy prompted her to speak up.

“What has to end, Loo?” Only half-hearing what Loo said, Lilah watched the carriage wheels spin to a stop in front of her. Out of automatic politeness she turned to look at her friend.

“Your pining away over that cowboy—”

“Shhhh,” Lilah silenced Loo, her eyes growing big and bright. “That’s Sally Ann Caufield going in that shop.”

Loo looked around quickly. “The girl from Sandy Flats—the one the cowboy is supposed to marry?”

“The same one.” Lilah turned her back on driver and carriage. She supposed the time had come to let bygones be bygones. Sally Ann had won her man, and Lilah ought to have the courage to acknowledge it. “Come on,” she said to Loo, hoping she had masked the hurt in her voice. “I want to congratulate Sally Ann.”

Though her voice was calm, Loo saw the look of pain in Lilah’s eyes. She caught her friend gently by the arm and held her back. “Do you think you should? I don’t imagine the girl likes you even a little.”

“Nonsense,” Lilah said, easing her arm free. “She can’t still be mad at me. She’s got what she wants.”

Reluctantly Loo followed Lilah into the shop. Sally Ann was looking over a display of negligees when Lilah approached her.

“Hello, Sally Ann.” Her voice was artificially light. “Remember me?”

The brown-haired girl whirled around and, surprisingly, wore a big smile. “Why, Lilah Damon. I don’t suppose I’ll ever forget you.”

“I suppose not,” Lilah said, deciding she had made a mistake by speaking to Sally Ann. Seeing so much happiness in her face only made Lilah’s sorrow seem greater. “I saw you come in and wanted to congratulate you on your engagement.”

“That’s nice of you.” Sally Ann sounded genuinely pleased. “To think it might never have happened if we hadn’t had that fight. Oh!” she said. “I’m forgetting myself. I heard what happened when that horrible man kidnapped you. I’m glad he didn’t hurt you.”

“Thank you, Sally Ann. And I really do hope you and Tabor will be happy.”

“Tabor?” Sally Ann gasped. “For goodness’ sake! I’m not marrying him. I’m marrying Horace Glenn!”

“But I thought...” Lilah trailed off, completely befuddled.

Sally Ann laughed. “I can’t imagine why. Tabor Stanton has been just like an irritable old bear ever since you left the ranch, Oh, I admit I chased him around at one time, but I outgrew that girlish crush when I met Horace. I just thought everybody knew about me and Horace, but of course you were gone,” she chattered on.

“Knew what?” Lilah asked.

“When I came in the barn that night with my dress and hair all ruined, Horace wrapped a blanket around me and told me how beautiful I looked even dripping wet. It was the sweetest thing anyone ever said to me. I looked up into those big brown eyes and fell head over heels in love. We were engaged a week later. That’s what I meant when I said it never would have happened if we hadn’t had that fight.”

“But you said you and Tabor...”

“Made love?” Sally Ann whispered. “I just made that up to make you mad. Tabor never even kissed me, and Lord knows I gave him plenty of opportunities.” Her eyes widened as she looked into Lilah’s disbelieving face. “Why, for goodness’ sake! You don’t even know, do you?”

“I don’t even know what?”

“Tabor’s in love with you. That’s what’s made him such an old bear. He went off on a trip and when he came back he was so irritable Sarah told him he could stay in the bunkhouse. When that didn’t help his disposition, she asked why he didn’t go after you.”

“What did he say?” Loo asked, unable to stand the suspense.

“He told Sarah to mind her own business, then felt bad about that and apologized and asked if she thought he ever would have let you go if there had been a chance you could love him. Well, it’s just too bad you don’t,” Sally Ann babbled on. “He told Sarah you were marrying another man. I wish you happiness too.”

A sudden grin spread over Lilah’s face. She had heard all she wanted to hear. “It’s been good to see you, Sally Ann.” With a wave good-bye, Lilah spun on her heel and walked away so fast Sally Ann was left with her mouth gaping open. Loo said a quick good-bye too and rushed off after Lilah.

As Lilah climbed into the carriage without waiting for the driver’s assistance, Loo saw a dangerous Delilah sparkle in her friend’s eyes.

“Lilah, what are you thinking? What are you going to do? Lilah, answer me.”

Lilah sat back in the carriage and smiled, letting Loo’s questions roll off her like rain on an oilskin southwester.

At dinner she wore the same smile and looked so distracted that Clement was convinced the worst had happened and she had gone off her head. Finally he could stand it no more.

“Lilah, child, you have to tell me what’s troubling you. I’ve tried to keep quiet because you didn’t seem to want to talk about it. But now I’m just too worried. You’ve been depressed for weeks, and suddenly tonight even the most mundane thing is amusing.”

Poor Papa, she thought. He’s been terribly worried about me and I’ve been so busy basking in my misery I couldn’t see it. She smiled at him gently. “I was depressed, Papa, but now—”

“Lilah, did something happen with Chapman that you haven’t told anyone about. Did he...?”

Lilah had the good grace to blush, realizing the error of her father’s thoughts.

“Good heavens! No! Nothing happened I haven’t told you about. At least not with Chapman,” she added.

Clement’s cheeks puffed out and his face turned red. Ching had to catch him to prevent his pitching out of his chair. “Stanton! And to think I trusted that scoundrel! I’ll send the sheriff...”

Even Clement’s alarm failed to take the smile from Lilah’s face. “Papa, Papa,” she said softly. “You misunderstand. Tabor never did anything but make me fall in love with him and then let me believe he didn’t love me back.”

Clement refused to be pacified. “Ching!” he shouted. “Get ready to leave for the Cooke ranch! Immediately!”

“No, Papa,” Lilah said calmly. “Ching can help me later, but in another way. Right now I have some things to tell you that I’m sure you’ll find shocking. I hope that once I’ve told you my story, my motives will be evident.”

Before she started, Lilah insisted on moving to the library, where she knew her father would be most comfortable. Telling her story would take hours. But a change had come over Lilah since afternoon. She knew the time had come to untangle her web of lies. It had suddenly become clear to her that she wasn’t protecting her father by keeping her secrets from him. He could see the strain of them in her face, and not knowing the cause of her anxiety was as hard on him as would be knowing the truth.

She started her tale by recalling her feelings when she had seen him trampled by the horses. Later she told him how she had practiced the card tricks old Sulley had taught as a way of remembering the happy times in the Damon camp. She told him how she had carried her burden of hatred for the six men who killed their friends and maimed him, how the desire for revenge had guided her every move since childhood.

Astonishingly, once Clement got past the shock, he was more amazed than disgusted to learn his daughter was the infamous Delilah. Lilah noted with some small satisfaction that even Ching’s expressionless face yielded up a look of surprise at that revelation. Clement took much less well learning his daughter had carried out a program of revenge on his enemies. Lilah suffered through a lengthy and wordy reproach.

“Lilah, I refuse to believe you took such risks or allowed Dinah to.”

“Papa, I was quite careful to keep Dinah away from those men. I assure you she never saw any of them or even knew their names.” The calm she felt in her heart and soul surprised her. How good it was to have the truth flow from her lips instead of swallowing the bitter bile of her lies.

His eyes scanned her face. “I had no idea you remembered the names spoken that night.”

“I could never forget them, Papa. As soon as I returned to California I engaged a detective to investigate each of them for me. I was very careful there too. I planned everything to the last detail.”

“Except where Tabor was concerned.”

She sighed heavily. “He was my only mistake.”

Clement was thoughtful a moment before he spoke again. “So I wasn’t imagining that I saw sparks flying between the two of you?”

“No, Papa. Sparks did fly.” And flames enough to leap and burn and consume her.

She told him everything, leaving out only the more intimate details of her time with Tabor. A woman, after all, was entitled to a few secrets.

Clement folded his hands in his lap and stared at his daughter a long time. He had admitted to Lilah that he had read about the misfortunes of his old enemies and been heartened by them. That didn’t mean, as he explained to her, that he approved of what she had done. He might admire her daring and courage. But he didn’t approve.

“I’m not sorry, Papa,” she told him. “Not about bringing those men to justice. They deserved it. I am sorry about all the trouble and grief I caused you. But it’s all over now. Tabor has dealt with the Penn brothers. He sent me notice of their arrest. Now all six have come to justice.”

“And one innocent man.”

“Tabor?” Lilah queried. “I wouldn’t exactly brand him innocent.”

“You said you loved him. What are you going to do about it? I hope no daughter of mine is going to give up the man she loves without a fight. Your mother didn’t and neither did your sister.”

Clement astonished her. She had expected resistance. Tabor wasn’t, after all, in the least like Barrett.

Happily and boldly she met his eyes. “I have a plan, Papa. With your permission, I’d like to carry it out.”

“My permission!” Clement guffawed. “When have you needed my permission for anything?”

*     *     *

The handbill arrived at the Cooke ranch by messenger. Tabor read it and turned white with rage. She had been in his thoughts too much that day. That happened when he was out riding fences or herding cattle. Hard as he had tried, he hadn’t been able to put her out of his mind. Nor could he forget the despicable way he had treated her. Undoubtedly the ordeal had been less painful for her than he thought or she would not have dared to do this.