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“You’re not rifling.” She looked toward a strongbox under the bedside table. “What’s in the little safe?”
“Valuables, I imagine. That is what one puts in a safe. But you’d have to ask Madre.”
He couldn’t remember being far enough in Madre’s room to have even noticed the stout box before or the padlock on it. Rafael kept the money in the safe in the office. And his mother’s jewelry—what she wasn’t wearing—was scattered across her bureau. Still, it wasn’t any of his business, nor Anna’s. “But you shouldn’t ask, because then she’ll wonder why I’m showing you her private quarters. Come on. We’re done in here.”
She took one last look around and sauntered toward the door.
“Do you want to see the kitchen? Although you’ve already seen it.”
“In the dark. I’d like to see it in the light of day.”
“This way, then.” He only hoped that if Madre and Juanita were preparing food for Rafael, they wouldn’t be obvious.
They entered the kitchen, and Anna looked around.
“Good morning, I have some chile and eggs for you,” said Madre. She was stirring a lot of eggs in a skillet.
Anna blanched.
“Ma, will you make me some without the chiles?” he asked. “My stomach is upset.”
Madre narrowed her eyes, but then he jerked his head toward Anna as he rubbed the spot on his chest where Rafael’s wound was. Madre would think she was making them for Rafael but would have to serve some of them to him.
Madre rolled her eyes and muttered, “Fine. I will make special eggs for you. You go wait at the main room.”
Anna’s visual inspection of the kitchen returned to Madre. “Where is Juanita?”
Daniel stiffened. Was she even now taking food to Rafael? But, no, a basket was on the table. If he didn’t miss his guess, it would be filled with food and drink for Rafael.
“She forget to feed the chickens when she gather the eggs. She is a silly girl. Do not worry, Miss O’Malley. I will not let her pour your coffee again. I will tell her she has to eat in the kitchen instead of with us.”
“That’s not necessary.”
Oh, but it was. Here he thought he’d been brilliant loading Rafael in the wagon and taking him down to the hide in the trees along the creek in the early-morning hours. He could fetch him back and return him to his room in the evening, but he might as well rest in the wagon during the day. It wasn’t as if Rafael was in any shape to be out of bed, but Anna was onto them and trying to catch them out.
“But I insist,” said Madre.
His mother hadn’t witnessed Anna looking in every nook and cranny to uncover Rafael. The last thing he wanted was anything more to spark her curiosity. He should have realized her inquisitiveness would be boundless from her letters. She had wanted to know everything.
“Miss O’Malley is coming with me to see the grapes after breakfast.” He caught her around the waist and steered her with a hand to her back toward the door. She moved smoothly as if he were guiding her in a dance.
As long as they stayed a few miles away, she wouldn’t be able to tell if Rafe was with the vaqueros, but he had to get her out of the house so she wasn’t following Juanita or Madre to the trees as they took care of Rafael. “You do ride, don’t you?”
Her green eyes bore into his, and she blinked. Her mouth snapped shut as her eyes shot daggers at him. He had her safely to the doorway and moving forward, but he didn’t want to let her go.
* * *
Daniel’s palm still pressed at the base of her spine, and even though he was pushing her through the door of the main room, the feel of his hand soothed her. She wanted to protest that she hadn’t been able to look in the larder or the pantry off the kitchen, but she didn’t really expect Rafael was hiding there.
Daniel looked down on her. Amusement danced in his eyes. “You might want to change into something more sturdy. I’m sure Rafael could handle the disappointment if we see him.”
“Should I change now or wait and see if I make it through breakfast without a stain?”
“After. The eggs will be done soon. Although I bet you’re safe.” He moved away from her.
The loss of his touch left her feeling as though he’d taken away a beloved heirloom.
He ran his palm along the long table. “My father made this table, the porch and shingled all the roofs from one giant sequoia tree.”
The way he caressed the wood made her shiver. But one tree couldn’t have produced enough wood to do all that. “Methinks you’ve kissed the Blarney Stone.”
He looked blank.
Her Irish. “Sorry, you’re telling tall tales.”
“Not tall tales, tall trees.” He smiled. “My father took me to see them before he died. Many of them stand more than three hundred feet tall, and it would take twenty men holding hands to reach around them. See, the tabletop is all one piece.” He pulled out a chair for her.
She looked at the grain of the wood and couldn’t find a seam. Perhaps he was telling the truth. “All right. I don’t see a joint.”
“You should have Rafael take you to see the giant trees one day.”
The only problem was she’d much rather see them with Daniel. How could she have fallen for the wrong brother? She sat and let him push in her chair. “Is it far?”
“Maybe a hundred miles. Took my father four trips with two pairs of oxen to get all the wood home.” He went around and seated himself on the opposite side of the table.
Mrs. Werner came in carrying two plates heaped with eggs. She set them down in front of them. “I’ll be back with the coffee.”
Anna looked down at her eggs laced with tomatoes, onions and green bits of chilis.
Daniel slowly slid his plate across and hooked a finger under the edge of hers and pulled it toward him. “Thought you might want a trade.”
The plate in front of her contained none of the green. Her heart flipped over. She looked up to meet his dark eyes.
“Madre forgets that not everyone likes their food spicy.” He seemed so very aware of her and what she was doing.
“I’m sure I’ll get used to it in time, but thank you.”
Still, she wondered at his subterfuge to get his mother to fix eggs without the chilis. And her belief that they weren’t hiding Rafael from her faltered. Were they more comfortable tricking each other than asking for what they wanted? And where was Rafael? Was he simply avoiding her or was there a deeper game afoot?
* * *
Daniel saddled two horses and led them to the front of the house to wait for Anna.
She didn’t come out the front door as he expected. Instead, she came around the side of the house, her straw hat shading her face and a muted green-and-blue plaid gown molding her form down to her waist with only a gentle flair of the skirt below instead of the wide skirts of her other dresses. The air suddenly seemed thin.
He sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep his wits about him. “You just had to check Rafael’s room one last time,” he said mildly. He waved an arm in the direction of the open front building that was the barn. “Want to check in there before we go?”
Her head tilted to the side, and she studied him for a minute. “If you don’t mind, I believe I will.”
“Be my guest,” he answered.
She wouldn’t find Rafe in there, and he supposed that her determination to check the building showed that he hadn’t entirely convinced her that they weren’t hiding Rafael. He should start trying to learn what she would do if she found out the stagecoach robbers were them. Although how he’d manage that without tipping his hand, he didn’t know.
He hitched the horses to the porch and followed after her. Upon entering the structure, he found her on the ladder looking into the loft area. In other parts of the country a loft might be used to store hay, but there was no need for that here. Grazing could be had year-round. She would quickly see that other than a few bags of grain, nothing was up there. He moved to the bottom of the ladder and did his best to avoid looking up the skirts she had lifted in the front, exposing a great deal of white petticoat.
She lifted her foot off the rung and reached down.
“Satisfied?” he asked.
She missed the rung and slid down the ladder. He caught her around the waist and swung her down.
“You startled me.”
“My apologies, Miss O’Malley.” It must be tricky to climb a ladder with skirt and petticoats.
He didn’t want to let go of her, even though he had set her safely on the ground. If she thought her person less appealing clad in a simpler gown, she was mistaken. The lack of ornament only meant his gaze went straight to deciphering what was underneath.
“Oh, call me Anna.” She brushed her hands together. “You are to be my brother soon.”
Brother. Damn. His thoughts were far from brotherly, and he had to stop thinking of her in that way. He turned and walked out of the barn into the sunshine. “Shall we go?” he asked once he thought he could speak. “Anna.”
