Red sat down. “Ty, honey, I’m gettin’ old and you’re the closest thing to a son I’ll ever have. I’d like to see you married and settled down with half a dozen kids. I’d like to think there’s an empty room in your house that’s for me if I ever wanta retire.”
Ty took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. “Wherever I am there’ll always be room for you, but I can’t see me with a wife and kids.”
She pushed away from him. “That’s because you’ve never been in love.”
“Why, an hour ago I was so in love with Leora that—”
“Hush! You know what I mean. Have you ever even asked a girl to a church social? Taken a girl out for a buggy ride and a picnic?”
“Sounds mighty boring to me.”
“Well, it ain’t,” she said, glaring at him.
He looked out the window again. “You know, one day Chris and Prescott were singing and it looked like it might be an all right way to pass the time.”
“You have a beautiful singing voice. Why didn’t you join in?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t fit in with people like them. Hey! You got any pork in this place? I’d love four or five pork chops tonight.”
“We got pork. Ty, are you gonna try to match Chris with that man?”
He took a while to answer, turning back and looking at his drink. “It’s my job.”
“But you’re reluctant?”
“She deserves a lot better than him. She’s got spunk. She liked the rain forest and wasn’t scared to death of the place. She walked around while he huddled beside the fire. And she pulled her weight in work too. He treated me like a servant hired to wait on him but Chris always helped me unpack the mules.” He smiled. “Except for that first night.”
He put the whiskey down. “Oh, hell, she’s not for me.”
Red put her hands on his arms. “Why isn’t she? Isn’t she Mathison’s only kid? I bet if he thought she wanted you, he wouldn’t put you back in jail.”
“It’s my neck if you’re wrong, isn’t it? Besides, she doesn’t want me. It was just that she thought I was the leader and the forest can make you feel as if there’s nobody else on earth. It was the time and the place. And the fact that there was no competition.”
“So now that you’re out of the forest, she won’t be interested in you, is that it?”
“I’m sure of it.”
Red turned away for a moment. “You know something? I have more faith in this young lady. From reading her articles I think she’s not at all flighty. If she said she loved you, I think she does.”
“For how long?” Ty asked in disgust. “Deliver me from the faithful love of a good woman.”
“How about putting her to a test?”
“Such as?”
“Rory Sayers.”
Tynan didn’t speak for a moment. “Is he here?”
“At the hotel. Want to introduce your Chris to him?”
“She’s not mine.”
Red smiled at him. “You know what your problem is, Tynan? You’ve never had to work to get any female. Did you know that there are other things to do with a woman besides take her to bed? You’ve probably never spent five minutes talking to a woman who wasn’t a whore. I’ll bet that you don’t even know what to do with a girl outside the bedroom.”
“I talked to Chris one afternoon in the forest.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Red, what are you trying to do?”
“I want you to do something that’s not so easy for you. I think you’re half in love with this Chris. Why don’t you take her out a few times, talk to her, get to know what she’s like? It’ll be practice for when you’re lookin’ for a wife.”