“And I was an heiress, which made all the difference over there.”
“So if they don’t see money when they look at you, they look at someone else? You really want a man like that?”
He was poking holes in her plans for her future. Why would he do that when it didn’t concern him? But in a way, it did. Her plans were dependent on his agreeing to her full proposal, which he hadn’t done yet.
She quickly got back to that. “I was just saying that everyone wins if you maintain a partnership with the Mitchell family even after we repay the money I hope you will loan us. And consider this: it would allow you to leave, to go home and still earn fifty percent from the partnership, without any work crews coming up here. I swear we’ll continue to take all the precautions that you do to keep this location a secret.”
“Let me think about it.”
That wasn’t a no! She nodded, delighted. But her delight soon waned as another hour passed without him saying anything more about it. The next fish she caught was too small to count, but they returned to camp after she landed another big one.
Waiting for his answer was agonizing. She couldn’t push him about it, he didn’t like that. She couldn’t nag either—he definitely didn’t like that. She had to be patient when it wasn’t in her nature to be. But too much depended on her not disturbing the peace.
He didn’t take the extra fish up to Texas when they got back to camp, but she knew his friend slept during the afternoons and that he would usually just lower a basket down the cliff whenever Morgan called up that he had something for him. After all, it was a long ride around that cliff.
“Stay off the south slope if you do any more searching today,” he reminded her as he lifted her down from Caesar. “Or you can give the animals a brushing if you want to wait until tomorrow—that’s if the wolf is gone. I’ll check before dinner.”
While that thirteen hundred dollars would still be helpful, the urgency to find it would be alleviated if he’d just give her his answer. He didn’t. Instead, he went mining for the rest of the day.
Chapter Twenty-Five
VIOLET TRIED TO KEEP in mind how nice that little fishing trip had been. And she kept reminding herself that Morgan hadn’t said no to her partnership proposal. But how bloody long did he need to think about it? Any way he examined it, he had to conclude that the arrangement she was offering would be highly lucrative for him.
She didn’t bring it up that night at dinner as they ate the fish she’d caught. Morgan told her the little wolf had moved on so she carried on as usual the next day, searching the south slope for her father’s money, counseling herself to be patient. Morgan didn’t seem to be in a good enough mood at dinner for her to ask him if he’d made a decision, so she’d suggested another game of poker. Aside from criticizing her bluffing again, he didn’t say much and went straight to bed afterward.
The next morning while she was drinking her coffee on the porch as usual, she decided to make a greater effort to put Morgan in a good mood, including showing him how helpful she could be as a partner. So when he came out of the cabin to head to work, she told him she was taking the day off from her search.
“You’ll get bored,” was all he said.
“No, I’ll brush the animals and perhaps even make dinner tonight.”
“So you can cook?”
She hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Well, how hard can it be?”
“You can look in my ma’s cookbook for a recipe if you’re determined to burn down the cabin, or you can just peel a few carrots and potatoes and I’ll do the rest.”
He was half teasing, at least about the destruction of his cabin, but that was a good sign. So she smiled. “Perhaps you’re right. You are an excellent cook, after all.”
Did he blush a little at the compliment? She smiled to herself and watched him enter the mine. A few minutes later, he brought Caesar out into the yard as he did every morning, and once he was in the mine again she got busy.
She fetched a bucket and the horse brush and tackled the grooming of the animals first, coaxing each one to the stream for a dousing and then a thorough brushing. The mares cooperated, but Caesar didn’t. She ended up going to find the carrots; seeing that there were plenty left in the crate, she chopped one up. She put the pieces in her pocket and gave the large horse a piece every time he tried to move away from her. It worked. She briefly thought about braiding their tails, but grooming seven animals properly took up the entire morning, which was verified when Morgan returned to prepare lunch. Well, she did want the rest of her plan to be a surprise, and now it would be, since it would have to wait until he was back in the mine again.
When he went back to work, she tried to get Texas’s attention without being too loud about it, hoping he wasn’t already sleeping. When he poked his head over the cliff edge, she called up, “Join us for dinner? And bring your harmonica. I would love to hear some music tonight.”
“I’ll bring the rabbits,” he replied.
Oh no, Bo’s playmates! But he added, “Just caught a pair north of here.”
Pleased that Texas would be joining them for dinner, Violet returned to the cabin to do what she’d never done before: clean the house. Fortunately, it was a small house. She swept the cabin and the porch, and aired out the bedding. She even gathered some of Morgan’s pretty flowers and, finding an empty jar, set them at the center of his table. She then peeled the vegetables and left them in a bowl. Finally she made up both beds neatly, then went for her bath, hoping she still had enough time to make an extra effort with her appearance. She couldn’t manage her usual coiffure, but she dug out her hairpins and twisted her braid to form a bun, then pinned it at her nape. The last touch was tying a pink ribbon about her neck to match her pretty pink blouse.
Morgan arrived first to get his bath towel. He stopped in the doorway, looking surprised. “You cleaned?”
“You said that I would get bored,” she reminded him. “So I made sure I wouldn’t. And I invited Texas to join us for dinner. He’s bringing the meat.”
“But you actually cleaned?”
She didn’t blush, she threw his towel at him instead and pointed in the direction of the bathing pool. He laughed as he left, confirming he’d been teasing again by exaggerating his surprise. Texas arrived next with the two skinned rabbits.
“Place looks nice for a change,” he remarked. “So do you—not that you don’t always, but—”
He was blushing so much she cut in, “Thank you, I understand. I didn’t leave camp today and needed to keep myself busy.”
“I’ll just get these started,” he offered, and moved over to light the fire.
“Can I help?”
“Appears you already have,” he said, noticing the bowl of peeled vegetables. “I’ll just chop up everything so it will roast quicker. Morgan will probably want to make some gravy to top it all off. That boy does like his gravy.”
She went out on the porch to wait for Morgan. When she saw him approaching, she noted that he was carrying just the towel because he’d already donned his shirt, which was wet in spots because he’d washed his hair and beard. Had he made an extra effort because he’d noticed that she looked a little more elegant tonight? It would be nice to hear him say so, but she doubted that he would compliment her.
When he stood next to her on the porch, she whispered, “He started the meal. I hope he cooks as well as you do.”
“Better. He learned from Jakes, our bunkhouse cook back home.”
“He still expects you to make the gravy.”
He grinned. “He loves my gravy.”
She almost laughed, wondering which one of them was the real gravy lover.
Later, while they ate the hearty meal, Texas asked her how she spent her days in London. Her cleaning the cabin today might have given him the wrong impression about an English lady’s daily routine, so she said, “Walks in the park with my cousins, reading, calling on other ladies of leisure with my aunt. There were a few social gathe
rings even prior to the start of the official Season this summer, which is a whirlwind of balls and parties I was looking forward to attending.”
“Did you have servants?”
“Oh, my, yes. There are more than a dozen in my uncle’s house—footmen, upstairs and downstairs maids, the cook and her helpers, several ladies’ maids, and my uncle’s valet.”
He seemed incredulous. “All in one house?”
She smiled. “It is a big house.”
“And the men over there of your acquaintance, what sort of work do they do?”
“The rich don’t work over there, do they?” Morgan answered Texas’s question by asking her one.
“Lords don’t, it would be considered scandalous, but rich tradesmen do, the same as here in America.” She paused before pointing out, “You’re rich, yet you intend to keep on working. It’s all a matter of preference, wouldn’t you say?”
“And what country you live in. In ours—yeah, it’s yours, too—people don’t look down on a man for working even if he’s rich enough not to need to.”
It was beginning to sound as if they were heading for an argument, which was the last thing she wanted, so she smiled and said, “Quite right,” then to Texas, “I’m hoping that when you finish eating, you will play us one of the songs you’ve composed. Perhaps one with a waltz tempo so Morgan and I can dance.”
Morgan put in, “He’s going to be eating until he walks out the door, aren’t you, Tex?”
Texas glanced at Morgan, then at her, then back at Morgan, then down at his plate, which still had a few bites of food on it. “I don’t know, I may be laughing too hard to play anything, if I have to watch you dancing. A waltz?” He started laughing early.
Violet grinned at Morgan. “It will be fun. I’ll teach you if you don’t know how.” She stood up and held out her hand to him. “Come, I’ll show you the steps while Texas finishes his dinner.”
For a moment she didn’t think he’d leave his chair, but then he rose and she was reminded of how tall he was, of his magnificent physique. Forcing herself to focus on the dance, she positioned his right hand on her waist and clasped her right hand with his left. Lightly resting her other hand on his upper arm, she said, “The waltz is a lively formal dance in triple time. Follow my footsteps. One, two, three, then backward, one, two, three. We will turn rhythmically around as we progress around the dance—er, cabin floor. Now again.”
Texas had started playing his harmonica by then, a lovely tune she didn’t recognize. But when she demonstrated the rise and fall part of the dance, where they needed to briefly go up on their toes, Texas started laughing again and the music stopped.
He complained, “She should be teaching me. After all, I’m the one getting married soon and will have to dance at the wedding shindig.”
Morgan’s hand tightened a little on hers as he told his friend, “I’ll teach you once I learn. I’m already getting the hang of it. Stick to your harmonica playing.”
Violet laughed as the music started again, but Morgan did in fact seem to know what he was doing now. She liked the feeling of his hand on her waist, and he was surprisingly light on his feet for a big man. Smiling at her, he twirled her out onto the porch, lifted her down the stairs, and danced with her in the yard under the stars, where they had more room and didn’t have to worry about bumping into the table. His blue eyes gazed at her intently as they moved in time to the music. She was enchanted. It was almost what she’d imagined her first ball would be like—well, not the venue, but certainly the thrill of dancing with a tall, strapping, exciting man who was giving her his undivided attention.
“So this is how they dance at the balls you mentioned?” he asked. “It’s a lot different from our boisterous western dancing, though both seem to involve twirling about.”
“Maybe you can teach me a western dance later?”
“Maybe I will. But tell me more about your balls. What does a lady do if she’s asked to dance but doesn’t like the fella? Or does that proper etiquette you’ve mentioned require her to accept all offers?”
“No, she can simply say her dance card is full.”
“And what would she do if her partner holds her too close?”
He pulled her closer to him to demonstrate. Violet was startled to feel her breasts brushing against his chest. Giving him an admonishing look, she said, “A lady would tap his shoulder with her fan and remind him of proper decorum.” And she pretended to tap his shoulder, but he didn’t loosen his hold on her so she could step back.
Instead he lowered his head and said close to ear, “And what does a lady do if her partner does this?”
A little shiver ran down her spine, and all of a sudden he was kissing her. She’d expected it when he’d brought her outside, remembering all those warnings about gentlemen who might suggest a stroll on the terrace just so they could steal a kiss. But she hadn’t expected to want this particular kiss so much—yet she did, and responded with all the pent-up passion she felt for him. He’d lifted her off her feet with one arm tight around her waist and was still dancing with her held so close to him, not as quickly, yet they still seemed to be twirling. But one kiss turned into another more intense one that stirred her even more deeply. She’d already let go of his hand and put her arms around his neck, while his free hand now moved slowly up and down her back, exciting her further, until his fingers moved to the back of her neck to caress her there.
One moment she was sighing in pleasure, and then she was gasping as Morgan tripped over the flower fence, losing his footing, but quickly turning their bodies to cushion her fall as they tumbled into the bed of flowers. Breathless, Violet found herself lying on top of him, powerfully aware of the hard, masculine body beneath her. Impulsively, she turned her head to kiss him—but she couldn’t be that bold! So she immediately rolled off him, but he rolled as well toward her; thinking he meant to put himself on top of her, she rolled again, and landed smack in the stream.
She came up sputtering, wiping water from her eyes and face, and burst out laughing. She couldn’t stop, not when he started laughing, too. She didn’t think she’d ever laughed so hard in her life.
When he grabbed her hand to pull her out of the water, she grinned. “By the by, the lady would have slapped his face.”
“Is mine in danger?”
That just started another round of laughter.
Chapter Twenty-Six
VIOLET AWOKE EARLY THE next morning and was surprised to see that she was alone in the cabin. Dressing quickly, she opened the door to let in more light and was even more surprised to find Morgan sleeping on the porch again. It couldn’t be comfortable, and she had her screen now. But after last night, maybe it was a good thing he had. Her charm offensive had certainly backfired. He’d ended up charming her!
What a fun night it had turned out to be, one she wasn’t likely to ever forget. Surely it had left him in a good mood, too. “Did you intend to sleep this late?” she asked loud enough to wake him.
He stirred, mumbled something as he stood, then walked into the cabin to start breakfast. She didn’t consider that mumble a setback, merely an expression of annoyance that he wasn’t the first one awake as usual. She expected him to tell her any moment now that he accepted her partnership proposal. He did realize she was still waiting for his answer, didn’t he?
But he didn’t get around to mentioning it while they ate. When he started to walk out the door still without addressing the issue, she was done waiting. “What’s your answer to the proposals I presented the other day?”
He turned, leaned casually against the doorframe, and asked, “Do you still want to borrow three thousand, or do you want to subtract the eighteen hundred from it and just borrow twelve hundred instead?”
He was going to give her the loan! She was thrilled and couldn’t help beaming at him before she answered, “My brothers have other creditors they need to pay. Daniel was even detained by one of them at the train station the day we were to come here togeth
er. I don’t want to take any chances that they might come up short and not be able to pay off the house loan completely. I’d still like them to get another three thousand.”
“Then I’ll send it.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“But—”
“No buts. I said I’ll see they get it. You know, you’re pretty good at saying please when you want something, but you’re lousy at saying thank you when you get it. You might want to think on that before you yell at me anymore.”
He left. She ran to the door to yell, “Thank you!”
“You ain’t welcome, Mitchell,” he growled back.
She sighed and watched him remove his shirt before he disappeared into his mine. What the deuce had just happened? He’d made her sound so ungrateful, which wasn’t the case at all. And then she realized, he still hadn’t answered her completely. He was lending her and her brothers the money, which implied he agreed to let her brothers come here and work to pay him back. But he hadn’t said anything about forming a real partnership with them. She couldn’t press him about it now when she’d somehow annoyed him again.
She’d meant to borrow Carla for the day, but decided against it. She couldn’t just take the mule without asking, and she’d already asked Morgan for too much. She would just walk faster today. She was determined to try to reach the next gorge on the south slope, if it was actually reachable in a day.
A few hundred yards beyond the now empty wolf hole, the slopes got a little too steep for her to traverse easily. But she hadn’t searched down this side section yet because, like the path up to Morgan’s camp, it was too thick with trees, and she’d gotten frustrated with her last attempt to search around the pines. But it occurred to her that her father might have considered the forest an ideal hiding place because the pine needles would have completely covered any hole he’d dug, and even he wouldn’t be able to find his own money again without marking the tree near it.
Excited by her new idea, but daunted by how big this forest was, she gathered up a bunch of loose rocks and made a little pile of them before she started straight down the slope, picking up pinecones on the ground and making another mound about two hundred feet down, then another two hundred feet north, marking a square section to search. But by the time she made one sweep back to the top edge of the forest, her legs were getting tired from the climb, so she scratched the idea of making sections and decided to just search the two-hundred-foot-wide area all the way down to the bottom of the forest, then rest before returning to camp for lunch.