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singing. His mind told him to slow up, and his feelings warned him to calm down, but his heart urged his gelding to still greater speed.

Chapter 6
     
    The weeks had passed in a blur. Each day Eliza moved through the familiar routine of cooking, cleaning, and tending her animals, but every evening she would sing at the Sweetwater. She didn’t lose her dread of performing before strangers, but the crowds were small and she gradually lost the worst of her fear. Then the roundup crews returned, wild and randy, and not even a real angel could have kept them respectful for long.
    “How about a little leg, sweetie?”
    “Come closer. I can’t hear you.”
    “I’d love to see all that hair down on your shoulders.” Panic seized Eliza, and she ran from the room.
    “Are you crazy? You can’t walk out on those men just when they’re getting warmed up,” Ira yelled when he finally caught up with her.
    “One of them grabbed at me,” Eliza told him, quaking from head to toe.
    “They’re just trying to be friendly. It wouldn’t hurt you to be a little friendly back.”
    “He grabbed at me.”
    “I heard you. He grabbed at you” Ira mimicked.
    “I can’t go back in that room.”
    “Get this through your head. You’re going back in there if I have to drag you.”
    They don’t mean any harm, Miss Smallwood,” Croley said, closing the office door Ira had left open. “They’ll settle down real quick once they hear you.” Croley was just as anxious as Ira to have Eliza go back, but he realized Ira was getting her so wrought up she might not be able to sing for days.
    “Why don’t you go sit with Lucy for a bit. That ought to make you feel better,” Croley suggested, draping the cloak over her shoulders. “Let her alone!” he whispered furiously to Ira. “Can’t you see she’s near to fainting?”
    Ira accompanied his niece in frigid silence, his tightly contained anger unmistakable. “I’ll be back in an hour,” he growled when he left her at the door, “and you’d better be ready.”
    “Land sakes, girl, what happened?” Lucy asked, gently guiding Eliza to her own room. “You gotta stop this crying, or you’re gonna look like a windowpane in a rain storm.” A hiccup of laughter elbowed its way through Eliza’s sobs, and the tears quickly ceased to flow. “Now tell me what’s got you so upset.”
    “It’s my own fault,” Eliza admitted. “The men started saying things and then one of them touched me.” She shuddered at the remembrance of the large hairy hand that had brushed her bare arm.
    “They’re just looking for a little fun.”
    “I won’t have them mauling me,” Eliza sniffed.
    “Then tell them! Look down your nose until they’re afraid to touch you.”
    “I can’t. Just thinking about it makes me start to shake.”
    “You gotta get over that real quick, honey. Men don’t pay attention to timid females. You want your husband to walk all over you?”
    “I’m never going to get married.”
    “Nonsense. A gal as pretty as you could have a dozen husbands.” A picture of Cord flashed through Eliza’s mind and she blushed involuntarily. “Aha!” observed Lucy sharply. “You’re already sweet on someone.”
    “No!” Eliza stammered, blushing fiery red. “I never thought of it.”
    “Well, never mind that right now. There’ll be plenty of time for figuring out what you do feel after you get used to the boys out front.”
    “I’ll never get used to it.”
    “Yes, you will. It’d be a crime for you to stay hidden away in that old cabin where nobody can see you. There’s nothing wrong with a farm, but get yourself a husband, and maybe all this hiding yourself away will have some purpose.” Lucy’s raised eyebrow caught Eliza between embarrassment and laughter. “I’m not used to thinking of men that way.” “Then start. They’re sure thinking about you that way, and you’ll never get anywhere talking at cross-purposes.” “But I can’t talk to men. I just