Julie Garwood - Come the Spring

her sleeves and rolled them up to her elbows. Then she went to the

basin and washed her hands.

"What do you think you're going to do? " "Daniel, try not to take your

anger out on me. All right? I know how upset you are about your

friend, but being hostile isn't going to help.

To answer your question, " she continued. "I'm going to try to bring

his fever down."

"What makes you think you can do what the doctor couldn't? " "I'm

going to try. That's all. I have had some experience nursing the

sick. My grandmother was ill for a very long time."

"What happened to her? " "She died."

"So much for your nursing expertise." She lost her temper. "Will you

stop being so sarcastic? I simply don't have the time or inclination

to deal with it. Come over here and help me. One way or another,

Marshal Cooper is going to swallow the medicine."

"I don't thinkţ" She wouldn't let him finish. "Either help me or stay

out of my way.

Understood? " Daniel was astonished by her burst of anger. This was

the second time he'd seen her lose her composure. Lady Winthrop, he

decided, definitely had a dark side. The discovery made him smile.

Between the two of them, they were able to get most of the medicine

down him. She then pulled a chair up next to Cooper's side and began

to apply cold compresses to his forehead.

"Your fever was just as high as his, " she remarked.

"Maybe, but I didn't have a bullet hole in my side, and I wasn't

riddled with infection. The doctor says that's what's going to kill

him."

"When did you become such a pessimist? " she asked.

"When my wife and daughter were gunned down in a bank." The horrifying

admission stunned her. She dropped the compress she was holding and

watched Daniel restlessly pace in front of the window. She didn't know

what to say to him, and all she could think about was not crying in

front of him because she knew her reaction would make him angry.

Neither one of them spoke again for almost an hour. Then Grace finally

broke the silence. "Do you blame yourself? " "Yes."

"Why? " "I wasn't there to protect them, " he whispered. "That's

why."

"I see.

" "Aren't you going to argue? " She picked up the soaked cloth from

the basin, wrung the excess water out, and gently placed it on Cooper's

forehead.

"What would you like me to say, Daniel? You've already made up your

mind and condemned yourself because you couldn't stop it from

happening.

Isn't that right? " "I wasn't even in town when they died."

"Were you working? " "Yes."

"But if you had been in town, then you would have gone to the bank for

your wife? Would you have done that? " "I don't know. I don't want

to talk about it." He sprawled out in the chair on the opposite side

of the bed. "I should have been there, and I wasn't. It's as simple

as that."

"Did you always do the banking business for your wife? " He shook his

head. "No."

"Did you do other errands? " "Like what? " She shrugged. "Like going

into the general store to shop orţtX He interrupted impatiently. "No,

Kathleen did all the shopping."

"I see."

"What do you see, Grace? Enlighten me." She ignored his hostility.

"If your wife and daughter had been killed while they were shopping or

while they were walking down the street, you would still blame

yourself. I think I understand why.

It's because you're a lawman, and it's your duty to protect the

innocent."

"Yes. I should have prevented it from ever happening."

"By staying with your family day and night and never letting them out

of your sight? " "I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did." He bowed his head. His eyes burned, and he rubbed

them with one hand.

Then he reached over and turned down the lamp on the table next to

him.

The orange glow from the flame was irritating him. "You don't need all

this light, do you? " "No." She was stroking Cooper's brow while she

thought about their conversation. She still hadn't recovered from the

stunning news that his family had been murdered.

"I'm surprised you didn't hand your badge back to your superiors, " she

remarked. "Or turn to drink after your wife died. Some men do."

"I didn't. I wanted to die all right, but I figured it would take too

long if I tried to drink myself to death. One night, I got my gun and

I put the barrel up against my temple . . . " "Stop it. I don't want

to hear this." He didn't realize he was breaking her heart by telling

her what he had attempted to do. He didn't know how much he meant to

her. How could he?

She had been cold and so appallingly proper from the moment she'd met

him. Ladies never revealed their true emotions. It wasn't acceptable

to let others see a burst of anger or passion or joy. Grace had been

well trained by experts, and there were times when she honestly didn't

know what she was feeling.

"I obviously didn't have the courage to kill myself, " he said dryly.

"I'm still here, aren't I? " "Courage has nothing to do with it, " she

snapped. "Killing yourself is a coward's way out. It takes courage to

go on."

"Maybe, " he allowed. "I even thought about trying to get Cole riled

up enough to shoot me, but that was before I heard all the stories

about him. He's far more honorable than I am, " he added.

"Sheriff Sloan told me he shot a woman in Abilene. Is that true? "

"Ah, he just winged her, " Daniel replied.

She gasped.

"It was the only way he could get the man who was going to kill her, "

he said.

"Then it was necessary? " "Yes."

"Daniel . . . do you still think about . . . it? " He knew what she

was asking. "No, I don't think about it anymore.

Thoughts about doing myself in happened right after I buried my

family.

I was pretty much out of my mind then."

"Yes, I think maybe you were.

" "I figure there has to be a reason I'm still around."

"I think so too, " she whispered.

He was warmed by the fact that she was worried about him. It had been

a long time since anyone had been concerned about his welfare. The

world had been such a cold place for the past two years . . . until

Grace.

"When this is over . . . " "Yes? " He shook his head. "Never mind.

" She'd been sitting by Cooper's side for so long her back was

aching.

She moved the basin of water out of the way and stood up to stretch.

What she needed, she decided, was fresh air.

The window was on Daniel's side of the bed. As she tried to walk past

him, he reached out and took hold of her hand.

"I thought I'd open the window." He gently pulled her down onto his

lap. She was caught off guard and put her hands around his neck before

she realized what she was doing.

Then she pulled back.

"You don't want me to open the window? " "I want you to sit here with

me."

"It probably isn't very proper."

"And you're always proper, aren't you? " The yearning in his eyes was

her undoing. She gently stroked his cheek with her fingertips. "I try

to be, " she whispered.

"May I ask you something? " "Anything at all." He wanted to wrap her

in his arms and hold her for the rest of the night. He didn't know

what had come over him, but maybe it was all the talk about Kathleen

that made him melancholy and lonely. No, that wasn't true, he

admitted.

Grace made him feel this way. He had been wanting to hold her from the

moment he'd walked into Tilly MacGuire's kitchen and seen her standing

at the counter.

He was tired of fighting the attraction.

"Grace, what I said to you on the train . . . about wanting you. Does

that offend you? " [ She didn't answer him. He cupped her chin with

his hand and leisurely ran his thumb back and forth across her lower

lip.

"Does it? " he asked again.

She studied him. His eyes were captivating, and she wondered if he had

any idea how amazingly handsome and virile he was.

"I'm sorry . . . What did you ask me? " He laughed softly. "What

were you thinking about? " "How handsome you are, " she admitted.

"I'm glad you want me, " she blurted out. "But I'm not Kathleen. "

"No, you're not."

"I can't replace her."

"I don't want you to replace her. I just want . . . " "Yes? " "You,

Grace. Just you." His hand moved to the back of her neck, and he

pulled her toward him.

"I want to kiss you. Is that all right? " She loved the fact that

he'd asked permission. "Yes, Daniel. I want you to kiss me. I've

waited for such a long time." He was stunned by her honesty and felt a

tightness in his chest when she shyly put her arms back around his

neck.

His mouth captured hers in a kiss that was anything but proper. His