Free The Tiger Lily by Shirlee Busbee

visit your uncle in Nacogdoches doesn't
appeal to you, why don't you consider going with Nolan later on this year when
he goes to capture more wild horses west of the Sabine River?"
     
    "He
just got married this past December and he's already thinking of leaving his
bride? That doesn't speak well for the state of matrimony!" Brett said
sardonically. Then he could have cursed himself for the spasm of pain that
crossed Morgan's face. "Forgive me!" Brett burst out contritely.
"I didn't mean to—"
     
    Morgan
gave him a twisted smile. "It doesn't matter," he interrupted easily.
"Time does heal the pain, my friend." His features suddenly hard, he
added, "Time also teaches one that women are never what they seem."
     
    Women
and their deceitfulness was one subject upon which Brett and Morgan never
disagreed, and for the next hour, each reinforced the other's bitter assessment
of the opposite sex. Having exhausted the sins of women they had known, Brett
brought the conversation back to Philip Nolan.
     
    "Do
you think he is really going to go horse hunting so soon after his
marriage?" he asked casually.
     
    "I
doubt he means to leave within the next few months, but he did say something to
me last Tuesday that made me think he might be going west this fall some time.
With Nolan, you never know what he is going to do. Although, like you, I find
it peculiar that with a new bride and after his last brush with the Spanish . .
." At Brett's expression of interest, Morgan explained, "He almost
didn't make it back to Natchez; the Dons apparently wanted his hide rather
badly. And of course he asked for it, telling them he had papers to hunt horses
in one place and then being detected in another part of Texas where he had no
business. You know how suspicious the Spaniards are, they're so certain we're
going to steal their land from them."
     
    "And
we aren't?" Brett interjected sardonically.
     
    Morgan
shrugged his shoulders. "As long as they let us use the Mississippi and
the Port of New Orleans unhampered, I doubt there will be any trouble on that
score!"
     
    Brett
grunted and then inquired, "You seem to know a great deal about Nolan's
plans. Are you going to go with him?"
     
    "I
might," Morgan admitted slowly. "Like you, since I returned home from
New Orleans last fall, I've found myself growing more and more restless. There
is nothing to hold me to Natchez—I very well might just throw my lot in with
Nolan if he does leave."
     
    "It
sounds interesting, but I doubt I can control my boredom until, and if, Nolan
goes horse-hunting again," Brett said dryly. "I suspect that before
spring arrives, I'll have shaken the dust of Natchez from my feet and wandered
God knows where."
     
    "Well,
if you do go to Nacogdoches, ' it doesn't entirely preclude the trip with
Nolan. He had friends in that area, and I believe he frequently stops there, so
it's possible you might meet up with us."
     
    Brett
nodded his dark head in agreement. "That may well be. We'll just have to
see how things develop. But in the meantime, I believe I won the last hand. . .
."
     
    They
played cards for hours, but despite his late night and the consumption of a
prodigious amount of brandy and wine, Brett woke the next morning feeling more
satisfied than he had in days. He supposed it was because at last he had
settled in his own mind the question of the trip to Nacogdoches. He was
definitely going, even if the true reasons behind his decision were obscure. He
told himself he was bored, he'd never been to Nacogdoches; he liked Alejandro
and he'd once held Sabrina in affection, so why not go visit them? That he was
oddly eager to see his young stepcousin he stubbornly pushed to the back of his
mind. Besides, he reminded himself forcibly, at seventeen she was still a
child.
     
    Having
settled that point to his satisfaction, in the following days Brett found
himself impatient to begin the journey to Nacogdoches and the Rancho del
Torres. Sofia was delighted with his