Baily's Irish Dream: Baily's Irish Dream / Czech Mate. Stephanie Doyle

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СКАЧАТЬ Sierra Nevadas? He was. He fought off Indians. He tackled bears. He charted new land. He….”

      “…seduced virgins,” Daniel filled in, hoping to snare her attention.

      “I don’t think he did that.”

      “I do. It must be the air at this altitude,” Daniel quipped. Pushing ahead now that he had her attention, he continued. “So about what happened in the hotel earlier…”

      “I’m engaged!” Baily shouted, which in turn caused the other diners to turn their heads in their direction.

      In a lower tone, but no less menacing, Daniel insisted, “No you are not. Regardless, that doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

      “Of course it does,” Baily replied, her tone equally soft.

      “This is between you and me. Howard has nothing to do with us.”

      “It’s Harry, and I hope you aren’t implying that I’m the type of woman who could promise one man that I was going to marry him and then sleep with another man days before I saw him again.” Just because that was exactly what Baily wanted to do didn’t mean that he could go around implying it. Besides, it didn’t matter what she wanted. She couldn’t betray Harry. It would be wrong. No, they weren’t married. No, they weren’t engaged. They had never even been lovers. Really they were just good friends.

      But she had made up her mind that she was going to marry him, which meant that she had to be faithful to him starting now. Never mind that in her heart she had already been unfaithful to him. She wanted Daniel. Was it wrong to want someone when you were supposed to want someone else even though you didn’t really want the someone else? She thought so. It was hard to tell.

      Sometimes, Baily confused herself.

      “I did not imply anything,” Daniel countered irritably. In truth though, he had. He wanted Red, and he was annoyed now that he wasn’t going to get to have her because of some man that waited for her in New Jersey. A man, he could tell, she didn’t even want. “Why are you marrying this man?”

      “I’ve already told you,” Baily said as she reminded him of their conversation earlier that day. That day! Had they only known each other less than twenty-four hours? It didn’t seem possible.

      “Oh, yeah, now I remember. Security.” He might as well have said money for all the disdain in his voice.

      “If I remember correctly, you agreed with me.”

      Daniel shrugged his shoulders as if to pretend he couldn’t quite recall what he said on the matter. It had been a long day. Day. Had it only been one day?

      “We both agree that love is nothing more than a fancy word for poems, songs and romantic stories,” Baily continued. “In real life it doesn’t happen the way people say it does. There are no sparks.” Well, there were a few between them it seemed. “There is no love at first sight.” Okay so maybe she’d been attracted to Daniel at first sight, but that wasn’t love. “And there is no ‘happily ever after.’”

      And that was certainly true. Even if they did decide to pursue their mutual attraction it would only end in heartbreak. He was going to Seattle. She was going to be with her family in New Jersey. Certainly not a fairy-tale ending. Baily told herself to stop being depressed by that thought.

      Daniel wondered what she was thinking that dimmed the sparkle that always seemed to glow in her eyes. He supposed it was her convincing argument that true love, magical love, didn’t exist. He wondered why that thought should depress him.

      “Go home and marry Herbert. See if I care,” he said a bit nastily.

      “That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” she returned haughtily. “Nothing is going to stop me.”

      Please stop me. Please. Shut up, she told her conscience. She was doing the right thing. She had waited all her life for someone like Daniel. She had waited for someone handsome, smart and funny. Okay, so he was a little arrogant. And maybe he could fly off the handle from time to time. But probably only after trashing his car or getting his wallet lifted. A case could be made that he was overly protective of his sister, but that really couldn’t go down in the negative column. There was still the whole walnut issue. Frankly, she didn’t know if that one was surmountable. Not that she wanted to sur…mount him. But if she was considering him as a potential love interest, it was just possible that he might be the very sort she would fall for. For some unfathomable reason, she wanted to cry.

      The meal was over, but Baily wasn’t ready to retire back to their small room where the beds practically touched. Instead she had a better idea for the evening’s entertainment. “How about a gunfight?”

      “You’re not still on the room thing, are you?” he asked a little worriedly. Pistols at fifty paces over a motel room seemed drastic, but he didn’t put it past her.

      “No, silly, it’s a tourist attraction. Like a reenactment of a real-life shoot-out. Two men face each other at dusk and stare down the barrel of a gun aimed at each other’s heart. Neither one knows if they’re going to live or die. It’s all very intense.” Baily’s face was flushed with excitement at the thought of actually being able to see a real-life gun battle. A real-life fake one, that is.

      “And very dramatic,” Daniel added. “You’ve seen too many movies.”

      “That’s the point! This will be like watching a movie only live.” Daniel knew he wouldn’t be able to squelch her enthusiasm so he didn’t try. Besides, watching her watch the gunfight would be like watching her watch Old Faithful. For that it would be worth the price of admission.

      The two left the restaurant in search of the attraction. They didn’t need to walk far. The gunfight was held in the center of town, which, Baily insisted, was the only place to hold it.

      Jackson Hole, despite its chic shops and expensive restaurants that catered to the skiers, still maintained an authentic Western atmosphere. All of the storefronts were faced in a dark wood and since the main street was framed by a large wooden boardwalk one could imagine horses tied to the posts out front. The effect was nineteenth-century Wyoming, and it attracted tourists during the summer as well as the winter season.

      Finding a place to watch the event wasn’t easy. Daniel managed to squirm his way up to the front, dragging Baily with him. He wanted her to have a front-row view. She would enjoy the show best that way, and he would enjoy watching her best that way, as well.

      The actors came out and faced each other from across the street at a distance of about twenty yards or so. One began saying that the town wasn’t big enough for the two of them. The other replied he was sorry that the other man was going to have to die. The cliché dialogue continued for a few minutes. Then they both fell silent. The crowd noise fell to a hush. Baily reached over, grabbed Daniel’s hand, and squeezed it hard. It was becoming a pattern. Daniel understood that Baily was the type of person who couldn’t keep her excitement to herself. She needed to share what she felt. Apparently, she did that through touch. Daniel couldn’t help but imagine what kind of lover she would be. Then he abruptly dismissed that thought from his mind. It was not going to happen. Not as long as Harold was in the way.

      Suddenly the man from the left drew his gun, and then the man from the right did the same. There were several loud popping noises after which they both fell dead. A man in a dark suit and a tall hat came out to measure the bodies.

      “The СКАЧАТЬ