Prince Charming

Taylor put her arm around the little boy so he would be included in her embrace, leaned back against the cushion, and closed her eyes. She let out a sigh of contentment.

Hunter and Lucas were having a difference of opinion outside the carriage. Hunter insisted on returning to the tenement to wait for the Borders. Lucas didn’t have any problem with the plan. He just didn’t want to be left out. Since he couldn’t leave Taylor with the children, he demanded that Hunter return to the hotel with them. Once everyone was settled in for the night, he would go with his friend to confront the bastards.

Taylor ended the argument. “These children are going to freeze to death if we don’t get them out of the cold air. Do get inside, both of you.”

A moment later, they were on their way. The moonlight was bright enough to see each other inside the carriage. Lucas’s gaze was on his wife.

“Taylor?”

There was a hard edge to his voice. She ignored it and gave him a smile. Lord, she was content. “Yes?” she asked.

His gaze turned to one little girl and then the other. It was almost impossible to tell them apart. Then his frown settled on his wife again.

“Tell me something,” he ordered.

“Yes?” she asked again.

He nodded to the twins. “Which one’s greater and which one’s good.”

14

O’ while you live, tell truth, and shame the devil.

—William Shakespeare, Henry IV

The twins conquered their shyness in no time at all. The night air had revived them as well. They talked nonstop all the way back to the hotel while they climbed all over Lucas and Hunter.

The two men had never considered themselves family men. They hadn’t ever been around such little children, and they both felt awkward and inept holding such fragile little things.

The babies didn’t feel awkward around the giants, however. They took to the two men the way ducks take to water.

Taylor had her full attention on the little boy. She asked him his name. He told her he didn’t have a real one or at least he couldn’t remember one, and then, while he wrung his hands together with worry, he whispered all the names he’d been called. He ended his explanation with a shrug.

“I guess you could call me Sneak. That’s what everyone calls me the most.”

Taylor was appalled and horrified, but she hid her reaction from the child. She didn’t want to embarrass him. Most of the nicknames he rattled off were grossly obscene. He was too young to understand their meaning, of course, and she counted that fact a blessing.

Both Lucas and Hunter were listening to the conversation. When Lucas heard the nicknames, he became infuriated. Hunter wanted to kill someone.

“We will never say those words again,” she instructed the child. She kept her voice a gentle whisper. “I want you to forget you ever heard them.”

“Then what will you call me?” he asked. He sounded as worried as he looked.

Lucas and Hunter weren’t helping matters. They were both scowling like bandits. She didn’t want the child to believe he was the reason for their foul moods. She gave both men a quick glare she hoped they would interpret to mean she wanted them to quit looking so dour, then turned back to the little boy.

“You don’t remember a name your mother or father used to call you?”

“Mama died. I try, but I can’t remember her face anymore. I didn’t have a father.”

Hunter leaned forward to question the boy then. He began by telling him not to be afraid of him, then asked him what happened after his mother passed away.

The child lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “I slept in a crate behind Stoley’s store.”

“You didn’t have family to go to?” Hunter asked then.

The child shook his head. He straightened up in his seat and smiled. “I’m not afraid of you, not since she told me . . .”

Hunter glanced over at Lucas. “Told you what, son?” Lucas asked.

“You know,” he whispered.

“Tell us anyway,” Lucas encouraged. His curiosity was pricked, of course. The boy was staring at him with a look of adoration on his face. He wanted to know why.

“She said you two look scary, but it’s all right. You’re supposed to,” he explained.

He turned to smile up at Taylor. She nodded.

“We’re supposed to look scary?” Hunter repeated.

“Why?” Lucas asked.

The boy answered him. “Cause you come in all shapes and sizes.”

He acted as though Lucas should already know that important fact.

Both men turned their gazes to Taylor. They obviously wanted her to explain. She didn’t say a word. She simply looked back at them and gave them a sweet smile.

The riddle intrigued Lucas. “What comes in all shapes and sizes?” he asked.

Hunter shrugged. “I’m still trying to figure out why we look scary.”

The child answered their questions, his voice whisper soft. “You’re my guardian angels.”

“Helpers,” Taylor reminded the little boy in a whisper only he could hear.

She was too embarrassed to look at her husband or his friend. She patted the child and turned her attention back to the matter of a suitable name to call him.

Lucas coughed to cover the laughter he was suppressing. Hunter shook his head. “We are not angels,” he muttered.

The boy brightened up. “She told me you would say you weren’t.”

“Now listen here, son . . .” Lucas began.

Taylor interrupted him. “I happen to have two fine names in mind to call you,” she announced. “Daniel and Davy, though I would imagine we would use the formal David in this instance. Yes, Daniel or David.”

Lucas leaned back. “Here we go again,” he whispered to Hunter.

Taylor immediately defended her choices. “They are both proud, honorable names, aren’t they?”

Lucas nodded. Hunter looked confused. He didn’t know about Taylor’s obsession with the mountain men and their legends.

“Daniel and David,” said the little boy, trying out the names.

“Yes,” Taylor said. “You must take your time to decide which name you want. It’s an important decision, you see, because you’ll carry the name for the rest of your life. I shall be happy to help you decide.”

“How?” the boy asked.

“I’ll tell you a story about each courageous man before you go to bed at night. One story will be all about Davy Crockett and the other will be about Daniel Boone.”

“Will I be David or Davy Crockett then or Daniel Boone?”

“David,” she corrected. “It’s a bit more proper. Your last name is going to be Ross.”

“It is?”

She smiled. “Yes, it is.”

“Will the men be mad if I borrow their first names?”

“No, no, of course not,” Taylor replied. “They’re dead. They won’t mind at all.”

Taylor told him who the famous men were and that they were so admired that books had been written about them. The child became enthralled. She couldn’t have hoped for a better reaction. She wanted him to love the mountain men as much as she did. More important right this minute was the fact that the little one wasn’t wringing his hands together any longer.

“Family isn’t about blood,” she explained. “It’s about making a commitment to one another.”

He didn’t understand what she was telling him. Taylor didn’t try to explain further. She understood, and in her mind, that was all that mattered.

Two hours later, everyone was bedded down for the night. Lucas and Hunter were forced to take over the duty of bathing the little girls. David Daniel had already had his bath and his hair trimmed. While he played in the tub, his clothes were washed and dried by the hotel’s laundry service. The twins’ clothes were also cleaned. Taylor was kneeling on the floor washing the babies when Victoria demanded her attention. She had started to violently throw up again.

Since

neither Hunter nor Lucas wanted to get near her, Taylor made them take over the chore of scrubbing the babies. She ordered them not to let them drown, then went running with a wet cloth to Victoria’s side in the other washroom.

The two-year-olds were wide awake and talking up a storm. Lucas lathered up one of the twins, then realized his mistake. He lost her under the water. She came up sputtering and giggling. The soap made the babies as slick as greased piglets, and both Hunter and Lucas were drenched through by the time they got the pair out of the tub.

They dried them with towels, put their clean drawers back on them, and then sat them on Victoria’s bed.

They stayed there less than a second. They weren’t at all tuckered out. Lucas and Hunter were exhausted. They sat side by side on the settee, feeling helpless and weary, while the babies climbed all over them.

Georganna was the more talkative of the two, though Alexandra certainly held her own. Both girls asked question after question, and if they didn’t get an answer, they just kept repeating it over and over and over again.

They called each other Georgie and Allie. Hunter still couldn’t tell them apart, but Lucas could.

While the men kept watch over the babies, Taylor ordered a day bed for the adjoining bedroom and secured yet another room on the same floor for Victoria. She was finally feeling fit again. Her things were moved down the hall into the room next to Hunter’s. David Daniel, wearing one of Lucas’s undershirts, was tucked into the day bed and told a story about Davy Crockett and another about Daniel Boone. By the time Taylor leaned down to kiss him good night, he was sound asleep.

The twins were winding down as well. They had both squeezed themselves between Lucas and Hunter. Their eyes were droopy and their thumbs were in their mouths. They were being lulled to sleep by the men’s conversation.

“Did you hear her tell the boy his name was Ross?” Hunter asked in a low whisper.

“I heard,” Lucas replied. He grabbed hold of Georgie’s foot before it slammed into his groin.

“She know what she’s taking on?” Hunter asked then.

Lucas yawned. “Seems she does,” he drawled out.

“The boy won’t have anyone looking for him,” Hunter remarked. “But what about these two? Are there any relatives waiting or wanting to take them in?”

Lucas was about to answer his question when Taylor walked into the room.

She wanted to discuss their sleeping arrangements. Lucas straightened up. Her remark gained his full attention.

She thought it would be a fine idea for her to sleep with the twins in the large bed next to David Daniel.

He had to put his foot down. She was sleeping with him, and that was that.

“We’ll leave the door between the rooms open.”

“What if one wakes up crying?” she asked.

“I’ll hear them,” Lucas promised.

Hunter grinned. “I’ll probably hear them, too,” he jested. “They’re little, Taylor, but they both have a mighty roar. Didn’t you hear them when they were in the tub? They were making enough noise to reach the lobby.”

Taylor didn’t look convinced. Hunter gave up. He turned to his friend and reminded him of their errand. Lucas assured him he hadn’t forgotten. He stood up, handed one of the babies to Taylor, then leaned down and kissed her good-bye.

“Where are you going? It’s after ten,” she told him.

He didn’t answer her. Hunter drew her attention then by giving her the second twin. He tweaked the baby’s nose, winked at the other one, and then followed Lucas to the door.

“Mr. Ross, tell me where you’re going?” she demanded.

“Lock the door, Taylor. Don’t let anyone in.”

She couldn’t go after him to stop him and demand an explanation. She had her hands full of squirming babies.

She put them to bed, covered them up, then tiptoed out of the room. When she reached the alcove of her own bedroom, she turned around and found them right behind her.

It took her three tries before she finally got them to stay in their own bed. Allie fell asleep first, but Georgie quickly followed.

Victoria came down to her room a few minutes later. She took over the duty of watching the children while Taylor took her bath.

Once she was dressed in her nightgown and robe, she sat down in one of the chairs adjacent to the divan and brushed her hair while she and Victoria caught up on everything that had happened. Taylor didn’t leave any of the details out. She lingered over her description of the foul woman named Shirleen and the disgusting man lounging on the divan while David Daniel had been locked in the closet. Victoria was properly outraged.

“Why didn’t you alert the authorities?” her friend asked.

“My first concern was to get the children away from there,” Taylor explained. “I’m not about to give up David Daniel,” she added. “But since I’m not his mother according to the law, I was worried he might be taken away from me. I couldn’t risk it.”

“Those vile people should be punished for their sins,” Victoria said. “And what about these brothers? Will they go right on their merry way?”

Taylor shook her head. “If I have them arrested, there will be a trial. In America, everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty. There would probably be articles written in the papers. The twins would be mentioned, of course, and my name would appear.”

“Malcolm,” Victoria whispered. “You’re concerned about your uncle, aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“Cincinnati is quite a distance away from London, Taylor.”

“Yes, of course it is. Victoria, what would you do?”

Her friend didn’t have a ready answer. “What does Lucas suggest?”

“I haven’t told him about Malcolm.”

“I realize that,” she countered. “But what about the Borders? Doesn’t he think they should be punished?”

Taylor straightened in her chair and dropped her brush into her lap. “Lucas and Hunter went back to the tenement,” she whispered.

“Why?”

“To wait for the Border brothers,” Taylor said. “Dear God, there’s bound to be trouble.”

“Lucas can take care of himself. And so can Hunter. It’s out of your hands now. Those two will surely drag the brothers off to the authorities.”

Taylor wasn’t so certain either her husband or his friend would involve the police. They might want to deal with the brothers themselves. She had seen the looks on their faces.

“There’s always a chance the brothers won’t go home tonight,” Victoria remarked. “You could be worrying for no purpose.”

“We should leave Cincinnati the day after tomorrow. We’ll only allow one day to purchase the things we’ll need.”

The switch in topics took Victoria by surprise. “Yes,” she agreed after a moment’s pause. “I purchased all the items you’d written down.”

“The children need shoes.”

“We’ll get them tomorrow. Taylor, what in heaven’s name are you going to tell Lucas?”

“His duty is done,” she replied. “He’ll probably leave tomorrow. I shall suggest that very thing.”

Victoria rolled her eyes heavenward. “Do you honestly believe he would leave you with three children stranded in this city? I think not. You’re fooling yourself if you believe that nonsense.”

Taylor’s shoulders slumped. “Poor Mr. Ross,” she whispered. “He didn’t ask for any of this. He doesn’t even want to be married.”

“He may not like being married, but he’s certainly beginning to like you. Don’t look so surprised, Taylor. Haven’t you noticed the way he stares at you?”

“Do you mean the if-it-wasn’t-against-the-law-I’d-throttle-you look he gives me all the time?”

Victoria smiled. “I must admit I have seen that look several times. What about hired help? You mentioned you wanted to employ a cook and a nanny and a maid. Is there time to interview?”

Taylor shook her head. “I w

ould have to run an advertisement first. No, there isn’t time. I’m afraid we’ll be on our own for a time. Perhaps we’ll find suitable help in Redemption.”

It was a false hope. How many cooks could there be in a two-block town?

Victoria was thinking along the same lines. “I have taken the liberty of purchasing a book full of recipes,” she told Taylor. “They don’t look too difficult.”

They continued to talk about the problems they might encounter and worked on their list of things to be purchased in Cincinnati. It was almost midnight when Victoria went back to her room. Her friend offered to help take the children to breakfast the following morning.

Taylor was too keyed up to sleep. Her mind kept turning back to the Border brothers. She wasn’t the vengeful sort, but she felt it was her duty to see that their business was stopped. There would be other children at risk unless something was done.

She finally came up with what she believed was a suitable plan.

Lucas came back to their room a few minutes later. He spotted Taylor sitting at the desk, diligently writing something down on paper. She was so engrossed in what she was doing, she barely spared him a glance.

It was safe to stare at her because she wasn’t paying him any attention, and Lucas did just that. She made him feel clean. The realization made him smile. He knew he wasn’t being reasonable. He didn’t care. He’d just come back from the filth in the city. Hell. The area he’d been in was surely what hell would be like. And looking at the Border brothers in their seedy quarters was very like staring at a couple of demons.

Now Lucas felt as though he’d made it all the way to heaven. Taylor. With her golden curls and wonderful blue eyes. God, he even liked her frowns.

He wanted her so much he was shaking with his need. He took a bath instead. When he returned to the main room, she was still laboring over her task.

And he still wanted her. He listed at least ten sound reasons why he should leave her alone tonight. The last was the least substantial. It was after midnight. She was exhausted. She needed her sleep.

It didn’t matter. By the time he’d crossed the room, he knew what was going to happen. Gaining his wife’s cooperation was all that mattered to him now.