by Kit Morgan
“The sooner the better. Tomorrow. I’ll meet you here then we can take a stroll if it’s not too cold for you.”
“For me? What about you?”
“Don’t concern yourself with me, I’m used to it. I work in a mine, remember?”
“Oh, yes,” she said and then looked him up and down. “What’s it like, working in a mine?”
“That, my dear, is a conversation best left for tomorrow.”
She continued to study him. “You don’t talk like a miner, Mr. Brooks.”
“Walker,” he corrected. “And no, I don’t. But I’ll explain tomorrow. Until then … Daphne.” He stood and went behind her chair.
She turned her head ever so slightly in his direction. “Very well, Walker.”
Walker grinned and pulled the chair out for her.
* * *
The next afternoon Daphne put on her best day dress, a pretty yellow trimmed in ivory lace with matching buttons. That done she fixed her hair, pinched her cheeks, and went downstairs. As a woman being courted by a handsome man, she’d best look the part. She just hoped Walker didn’t do or say anything that made her want to clobber him. He’d had far too much fun at her expense yesterday. Perhaps today she’d turn the tables and get in a jab or two. Would serve him right if she did, the rat.
Downstairs Seamus and Norah chatted behind the bar and nodded a greeting when they saw her. That made six chaperones. Norah made a comment at breakfast that she and Seamus would be keeping an eye on Mr. Brooks, and that she needn’t worry about him pulling any shenanigans. What man would with the likes of Chase Hammond, Clint Jones and Seamus Malone watching him like proverbial hawks? Any normal suitor would turn tail and run. But Walker wasn’t a suitor he was a business partner. She’d have to remember that. More importantly, she’d have to remind him. She saw the way he looked at her the day before, how his eyes gravitated to her mouth and lingered a second or two before gazing into her eyes. He liked what he saw, she could tell. Which meant she’d have to make sure he remembered his place, what their deal was, and that there was nothing between them.
Drat it all! Now that she thought about it, to keep him from trying to exercise his husbandly rights, she might have to give him twenty percent. What a horrid thought …
Daphne went to the table they used the day before and sat. There was no sign of her other chaperones, only Seamus and Norah. Make that Seamus. Norah seemed to have disappeared, probably to bring her a cup of coffee and ask if she wanted pie. Hmm, should she order a slice for Walker? Speaking of which, there was her suitor now …
He stepped into the saloon, clean-shaven and dressed in the same clothes as yesterday. They were decent enough. Nothing fancy, and probably the best set of clothes he owned. Daphne had to admit he was a handsome man and well read from the way he spoke. Which reminded her, she wanted to find out more about him today.
He smiled as he approached the table. Only then did she notice he held one hand behind his back. “M’lady,” he said with a small bow.
Daphne felt herself blush. Good heavens, she didn’t mean to react that way. “Hello.”
He brought his hand around and placed a small box on the table in front of her. “For you.”
Her heart skipped a beat in response and there was an odd flutter in her stomach. Oh for Heaven’s sake! She looked at his smiling face. “Thank you.” She’d like to slap it. Maybe then she’d stop reacting to him like they were really courting.
He pulled out a chair and sat. “Well, go ahead, open it.”
Daphne automatically smiled. She always did like presents. “You didn’t have to …”
“I wanted to.”
She stared at him, a surprised look on her face. “Aren’t you taking this a bit too far?”
“Not at all,” he said matter of fact and sat back in his chair. “Go on …”
She picked up the box. It was tied with a simple blue ribbon. She pulled it off and took off the lid. “Oh, Walker,” she breathed, truly impressed. “Why did you …”
“Because I wanted to. Now let’s see how it looks.” He reached into the box and pulled out a lovely bracelet with a single charm.
“What is that?”
“Well, believe it or not, it’s a pick ax. Liam doesn’t have a lot of jewelry in his store, but some of what he does, happens to have something to do with mining. There were other charms, but I thought this should be the first.”
“The first?”
“Yes, to represent the first part of your journey.”
A tiny gasp escaped. His kind gesture shocked her. “Thank you, thank you so much. It’s lovely.”
“Hold up your wrist, let me put it on.”
She did, just as Norah came to their table with two cups of coffee. “What’s this?” she asked brightly.
“Just a little gift for Miss Dolittle,” Walker explained. He clasped the bracelet and looked at it with admiration. “Very pretty.”
“It’s lovely,” Norah said as she set their cups on the table. “What a nice gift.”
“It is pretty, isn’t it?” Daphne said, unable to keep the delight out of her voice. “I love it, I really do.”
He sat back in his chair with a satisfied smile. “I’m glad. Now it’s up to you to find more charms.” His eyes darted between the two women. “When you’re able.”
Daphne’s eyes skipped to Norah, who was still admiring Walker’s gift. What would she think of such a pretty bauble, if she knew there was no meaning behind it? That it was just for show? “Yes,” she finally said. “I’ll do that.”
“Would ye like some pie to go with that?” Norah asked with a happy smile.
“Please,” Daphne said. She watched her leave before giving her attention back to the bracelet. “Was this really necessary?”
“You don’t like it?” he asked, disappointment in his voice.
He sounded sincere. “I do. It’s beautiful, but …”
“Think nothing of it. But I did mean what I said, about adding charms to it. One for each place you go.”
Daphne’s heart warmed. “Walker, you’re a very thoughtful man.”
He smiled with a small shrug and Daphne could see the humility in the gesture. He really was a good man. Did that mean he meant what he said about looking after her? Giving her his name for protection, what little that was. But was there more to it than that?
“Walker,” she said in a voice softer than she meant. “Tell me about yourself. How did you end up in Noelle?”
“Now there’s a story,” he said. He took a sip of coffee, then another, and she wondered if he was deciding how much to tell. She really didn’t know anything about him. No more than he knew about her.
He set down the cup and smiled. “I am the only child of a farming couple from Ohio. Nothing special about that, I’m afraid.”
“Farming is good, honest work,” she commented.
“So is mining,” he added. “You get just as dirty and sweat profusely at both. Difference is, one is in the sunshine, the other in the dark.”
“Which would you rather be doing?” she asked, curious.
“I like them both. There’s a peacefulness in the mines, even with all the noise. Maybe it’s because of the dark.”
“Surely there are lanterns,” she said.
“Yes, there are. But when you go down the tunnel and get away from the light and stand at a point where its dimness just touches you, that’s what I’m talking about.”
She thought his words were rather poetic. “And farming?”
“With farming you have sunshine, fresh air, rain, snow, and annoying birds.”
Daphne laughed. “Dare I ask?”
“Please do,” he said with a smile. “Crows mostly. No sooner do you plant a field there they are, eating the seeds. About put my poor pa out of business.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Do your parents still farm?” she asked with a sudden image of his folks attending their wedding. Naturally that wasn’t going to happen but for some
reason she felt a tinge of disappointment.
“No, my parents have both gone on to glory,” he said solemnly.
Daphne had the sudden urge to take his hand, but quelled it. “I’m sorry. Are you alone then?” She was prying, asking more with that one question than the obvious.
And he knew it. “Am I lonely? No, not recently. I have been on occasion. But who hasn’t?”
Daphne took a sip of her coffee to distract the urge to take his hand again. For some reason, she wanted to give the man comfort. She could hear the sadness in his voice along with, if her guess was right, a hint of regret.
“What about you?” he asked. “You’re from Denver. What does your family do?”
“My father was a tailor, my mother was a seamstress and a milliner. They’re both gone, like your folks.” She was surprised at the sadness in her voice.
Walker hadn’t her same reservations. He reached out and took one of her hands. “Any siblings?”
She shook her head. “None.”
He gave her hand a squeeze and let go. “Seems we’re both alone in the world.”
“You’re not entirely alone,” she said. “You have Jasper.”
He laughed. “Yes. Dear Jasper. Quite the character. If I ever have children, I’ll know how to raise them. I feel like I’m practicing on him.”
Daphne giggled and remembered her encounter with the old man in Cobb’s Penn. “Do you know his story?”
“His is a sad tale and I’m not sure how much of it he’d want me to share,” Walker said. “Suffice to say he’s traveled a lot, worked his way west from somewhere back east – Philadelphia I think, and like me, he’s a bit of a loner. Gets himself into trouble, but he’s a good sort.”
“And you care for him,” she stated.
“Well, if I didn’t,” he said with a chuckle, “the old coot would probably be dead. He’s a strange one, Jasper. But I like him. He’s different.”
“Like you,” she said. She’d never met a man like him. Not in her circles anyway.
“Nothing special about me, Daphne. I’m just a man trying to survive. Like everyone else in this town.”
She smiled at him just as Norah brought their pie and realized she enjoyed the company of Walker Brooks.
Chapter Thirteen
Several cups of coffee and two pieces of pie later, Daphne returned to her room, a satisfied smile on her face. Ophelia opened her door and poked her head into the hall as Daphne reached into her reticule for her key. “There you are,” she said. “How was your visit with Walker?”
“Nice,” Daphne said and realized it was true. She enjoyed their conversation and liked listening to Walker tell stories of his childhood, not to mention the antics of Jasper.
Ophelia giggled and joined her in the hall. “Oh, how wonderful!”
“He gave me a gift,” Daphne said and held up her wrist.
Ophelia gasped in delight. “Oh, how pretty.” She looked a little closer. “Is that a pickax?”
“Yes,” Daphne said with a smile. “He says it represents Noelle.”
“What a wonderful gift,” Ophelia said. “I’ve never had such a bracelet.”
Daphne looked at her in surprise. She knew Ophelia came from money and imagined her having all sorts of jewelry. “Really?”
“No, I never saw the sense in one. Apparently neither did my parents or they would have gifted one to me. Don’t you add charms?”
“Yes, so I hear.” She held up her bracelet and fingered the little pickax.
“What will you add?”
“I don’t know,” Daphne said casually. “A little of this and a little of that.”
Ophelia studied it. “I suppose it would be fun to collect charms and add them over time.” She bit her lower lip and smiled. “So, when will you see each other again?”
“Tomorrow. He wanted to take me for a walk today but we got so caught up in talking, we forgot about it.” She lowered her wrist. “That and Norah kept bringing us pie.”
Ophelia’s hands went to her belly. “Yes, my goodness, if I keep eating her desserts I’m going to be as big as a house.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” Daphne said. “If you do, that means I will too, and I don’t want to think about it. So you’re not allowed to get fat.”
Ophelia laughed and hugged her. “I’m so glad you came to Noelle. It’s nice to have another friend. Which reminds me, Felicity and I are meeting with Mrs. Kinnison tomorrow. Would you like to come?”
Daphne got a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. After what she’d heard about the infamous Genevieve Kinnison, she might well drop dead in her presence. She was surprised she wasn’t struck by lightning in church on Sunday.“I suppose I’ll be meeting her some time, won’t I?”
“You haven’t been in Noelle long, but yes,” Ophelia said. “Everyone in town knows who Mrs. Kinnison is. If they don’t, they will.”
“You mean once the mission is built?”
“Oh no,” Ophelia said. “While it’s being built. But to be honest we’re still trying to figure that out. There are only so many building projects the town can handle at once. Chase has been gathering volunteers to build the church while Seamus is mustering men to help remodel The Golden Nugget. He held a St. Patrick’s Day celebration just before you came to town to help raise money. Clint and I were still in Denver and missed it, but I hear it was wonderful.”
“Oh?” Daphne said with interest. She took out her key and unlocked her door. “Would you like to come in and tell me?”
Ophelia nodded and followed her into the room. They spent the next hour talking and giggling. Daphne liked Ophelia. She filled the empty space Dorcas had left behind. But that was Daphne’s fault. She was the one that left Denver, not Dorcas. Speaking of Dorcas, she really needed to pen that letter. But every time she sat down to write, guilt overtook her, and she couldn’t bring herself to put pen to paper.
Ophelia invited Daphne to dine with her and her husband which made the evening enjoyable. Afterwards, Daphne retired to her room, pulled out her new book and began to read.
If Phineas Fogg from Around the World in 80 Days had a charm bracelet, what sort of charms would he collect? She hadn’t taken the gift off and raised her wrist to study it. To her, the bracelet was a symbol of Walker’s approval of their plan. True, he was being paid. But she’d heard of men that came to Noelle to invest in the silver mine and turned right around and left once they discovered they’d have to marry. Their freedom was more important.
Did Walker’s freedom mean so little to him? Or did he prefer to remain alone? Perhaps she should ask.
Money or no money, did she have the right to take that freedom from him? Okay, not take it, he was volunteering it. Still, did he realize what he was doing? He’d badgered her often enough about her plan and how foolish it was. Yet he was still willing to go through with it.
She pushed thoughts of Walker aside and read a few chapters. She still couldn’t get Walker out of her head when she set the book aside and blew out the lantern. Her mind kept going over his actions and before she fell asleep, she came to an unsettling conclusion. If there was never a plan to begin with, and the two of them really were courting, the truth was, she didn’t deserve him.
* * *
“You seein’ that little gal again today?” Jasper asked.
Walker pulled on his boots. He just changed his clothes and needed to run a comb through his hair before he left. “I’m heading to The Golden Nugget now, why?”
Jasper shook his head. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, Sonny boy. Why are you suddenly interested in a woman?”
Walker combed his hair. “Well, the little lady wants to invest in the mine. To do that she has to be married. I just happen to be the lucky man she’s chosen for the job.”
“As a husband?” Jasper asked in shock. “You? Have you gone plumb loco?”
“Of course not. It’s a good deal for both of us. She invests in the silver mine, I get part of t
he profits as her husband, what’s not to like?”
Jasper scratched his bearded jaw. “You’ll be married, saddled with a wife, that’s what!”
“It won’t be that bad,” Walker said and straightened his tie. “How do I look?”
“Like a preening peacock,” Jasper said with a frown. “And why should you care?”
Walker’s hands went to his hips. “Okay, what’s really bothering you?” Of course he knew. Jasper was worried that if Walker married, it would change their relationship.
“You’re putting her in danger,” Jasper said. “You know that don’t you?”
“Danger?” Walker said as his hands fell to his sides. “What danger?”
“You know, danger,” he said and sliced a finger across his neck. “If folks find out she’s the wife of the infamous Walker Brooks, they might try to harm her to get to you.”
Walker paled. He hadn’t thought of that before. “Jasper, are you serious?” It was a stupid question. Of course he was or he wouldn’t have brought it up.
“Sonny boy, have I ever lied to you?”
Walker arched an eyebrow.
“Never mind, but the fact is, you could be puttin’ her at risk saddlin’ the poor gal with your name.”
“Her name would become Daphne Brooks, there’s nothing dangerous about that. It all depends on how she uses it,” Walker said.
“Yeah, but are you gonna tell her how to do that?” Jasper countered.
“I haven’t decided.”
“Does she know? Have you told her who your pa was?”
“I told her my parents were farmers and that they’ve both passed. Nothing more.”
“Whoo whee, you better come clean before she marries you,” Jasper advised.
“If I tell her, the whole town might find out and then what?”
“Pah, half the mining camp knows already. The rest are bound to find out sooner or later.”
