Heart of Gold

by Lacy Williams

  Heart of Gold

  by Lacy Williams

  Copyright 2011 Lacy Williams

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  Other books by Lacy Williams

  MARRYING MISS MARSHAL

  Praise for MARRYING MISS MARSHAL:

  "Warmly romantic with a hint of adventure and an unconventional heroine."

  --Publisher's Weekly (June)

  "Williams’ debut is a great story with a twist, and it will keep readers riveted."

  --RT Book Reviews (August)

  Chapter One

  SHERIDAN, WYOMING—1902

  A shrill whistle pierced the air above the bustle on the train platform.

  No, no. That couldn’t be her escort.

  WHEEEET! A second call echoed the first, turning the heads of passengers boarding and disembarking from the train.

  Opal Bright shaded her eyes with one gloved hand, her other balancing a large hatbox against her hip.

  Surely the dust-covered man a head taller than those around him wasn’t her father’s chosen emissary.

  But when he waved his once-white Stetson above his head and began shouldering his way across the crowded train platform, Opal’s hopes plummeted.

  “Miss Opal? Opal Bright? Your father sent me. I’m his foreman, Charlie Welch.”

  She tried to keep her lips from pinching as she considered the man, from the tips of his mud-covered boots to his patched and frayed woolen shirt to his warm, brown eyes and half-smile. She failed.

  Mostly because she was irritated at having to wait so long. It was another sign how little she mattered to her father.

  “You’re over an hour late. And how dare you-you whistle at me as if I were a-a cattle dog to be called to your side!”

  His expression didn’t change, except for a tiny quirk at one corner of his mouth. “Miss, I’m sure you’d like to get out of the warm sun for a bit. Allow me to escort you over to the café.”

  She barely resisted the urge to stomp her foot, like little Susie back at the orphanage was prone to do. “I don’t want anything to eat and I don’t want to accompany you anywhere. I’ve come for one reason.”

  “What reason is that?” he asked, voice suddenly harder than it had been before. Those brown eyes appraised her and she suddenly felt as if this cowhand was looking for fault.

  “I’m here for the gold.”

  His eyes widened infinitesimally before going cold. Suddenly, he yanked her by the elbow, pushing through the crowd and taking her with him.

  “I’ll thank you to unhand me.” She tried to wiggle her arm loose from his grasp, without success. Her hatbox bobbled and she nearly dropped it. An upset “mrrow” emerged from inside. A sound Opal hoped Charlie hadn’t heard.

  The cowhand ignored her and bodily escorted her down the rough wooden steps from the platform to the dusty street below.

  “Let. Me. Go.” Opal yanked against his hold, but only succeeded in possibly giving herself bruises. His iron grip didn’t slip.

  “There isn’t any gold.” He spoke loudly, throwing the words over his shoulder. Almost as if he spoke to someone behind her.

  “But—” Opal gasped as he dragged her through a muddy spot between two buildings, ruining the hem of her traveling suit. The only nice gown she had left.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but keep yer trap shut,” Charlie hissed, leaning close so she got a whiff of leather and soap and man. It was enough to make her shiver.

  “I’ll thank you not to behave so familiarly,” she bit off, annoyed at her thundering heart. “You’re entirely too close.”

  “Well, I’ll thank you,” he mimicked her with a wrinkle of his nose, “not to make such a fool announcement in front of God and ever’body. You’ve got a coupla mean-looking fellas interested in your arrival.”

  A glance behind the broad shoulders shielding her from most of the boardwalk revealed he was right. Several unsavory-looking men followed them a few paces back.

  Opal felt the blood rush from her head down to her toes. She was suddenly glad of the strong hand under her arm. She’d never swooned before, but she felt awfully close to it now.

  “Calm down.” He must’ve realized how close she was to toppling over right there on the boardwalk. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Lest she read anything into his statement, he hurried on to say, “Your pa would have my hide.”

  Well.

  He pushed her inside a building, the dim interior taking a moment to come into focus after being in the bright sunlight for so long.

  A restaurant.

  Opal allowed herself to be ushered into a table in the middle of the room, settled her hatbox on an empty chair, and watched as three burly, shifty-looking men came in and sat down at a long bar along one wall. They made no pretense, but stared right at her.

  At least there were plenty of witnesses in case anything should happen.

  “Do you have a weapon? A revolver?” she whispered. She thought all cowboys wore guns, but she’d been so wrapped up in everything else she hadn’t noticed whether Charlie was armed or not.

  “I won’t need one, because there’s not any gold. There’s not any gold,” he repeated, talking directly to the men at the bar. “She’s been out in the sun too long today.”

  Opal narrowed her eyes at him, momentarily forgetting the other men. “While that’s certainly true, since my train arrived well over an hour ago, it has nothing to do with—”

  “I’m real sorry for the delay,” he interrupted her, shrugging. “Had to deal with a calving heifer in no rush to deliver her little bull calf.”

  She didn’t care about baby cows. She cared about the orphan children back home in Omaha. They were depending on her and she couldn’t let them down.

  Charlie relaxed back into his seat, wide shoulders releasing the tension Opal hadn’t even realized they’d held. “They’re gone.”

  She glanced quickly behind her to verify the ruffians that had followed them into this establishment had left. “Good. Then you can give me what I came for.”

  “I told you there’s not any gold.”

  “But I have proof,” she insisted, taking care to keep her voice low. She had no intention of garnering more unwanted attention.

  His skeptical frown induced her to pull out the scrap of paper she’d kept tucked into her pocket because she wanted it close. She thumped the newspaper clipping onto the table and slid it toward Charlie.

  “I’ve asked my father for more money the last few times we’ve corresponded, but he hasn’t forwarded any additional funds,” she told him as he read the words she’d memorized.

  The famous Lost Cabin gold mine has been found and its riches are even more…

  Charlie’s lips thinned, and when he looked up at her his eyes had narrowed. “I can’t answer for your pa, but there isn’t much cash to spare around the Circle B.”

  “But what about this?” she demanded, pointing to the news article.

  “First of all, this mine here?” He tapped a long finger on the clipping. “This is on the complete other side of the Big Horns. Nowhere close to your pa’s land.”

  She started to argue, but he went on quickly. “And second of all, it takes every hand we’ve got to keep things running on the Circle B. Even if your pa wanted to dig a mine, he wouldn’t have enough men to do the work and run his cattle at the same time.”
/>
  His brown eyes were so serious that she had no choice but to trust his words. “If you don’t believe me, you can talk to your pa when we get to the Circle B.”

  Opal felt the last bit of hope—hope that had sent her on this trip to see her father—wither and die. She needed the gold, needed the money for the children.

  At least she had one option left. It wasn’t one she wanted to accept, it meant marrying a man she didn’t love, but if it meant the children would have a place to stay…

  Charlie didn’t seem to notice her despondency, but waved over the waitress and asked for a cup of coffee and the daily special: meatloaf. He turned to Opal with an expectant look on his face. “Best eat something filling now. The food on the trail won’t be nearly as good.”

  She ordered the meatloaf, too, but not because she was afraid of the trail food. She’d probably eaten worse on one of her visits to see the orphaned children. She ordered because she had exactly enough funds to purchase a train ticket back to Omaha, and no more. This would be her last meal until she reached home.

  She and Charlie did not share conversation over the meal. He seemed interested in what some farmers from the next table over were talking about, although he did keep sending inscrutable looks at her every so often.

  She could barely get her food past the knot of sorrow lodged at the base of her throat. There was no gold. No money for the children.

  Finally, the interminable meal came to an end. Charlie placed a few coins on the table and stood.

  “We’ll meet the other fellas outside of town. Your pa bought some horses to add to the ranch stock and we’re planning to drive them home. I’ll send one of the boys back to the train station for your luggage.”

  She swallowed hard. “I didn’t bring any other luggage.” Didn’t have anything to put in a valise or trunk. All of her fine dresses had been sold, except for what she wore right this moment. “If there’s no money, there’s no reason for me to visit my father.”

  Charlie appeared dumbfounded as she hefted the hatbox and prepared to leave. He stepped in front of her when she would have skirted the table. “But your pa wants to see you.”

  “Well, then he should’ve come to meet me himself.”

  Charlie hesitated, then said, “He’s laid up. Fell off a horse last week and hasn’t been right since. Otherwise he’d have been here.”

  His words gave her pause. A small part of her wanted to see him. Wanted to ask why he hadn’t wanted his little girl anymore. But she had the orphans to think about.

  She needed to return to Omaha and begin preparations for a wedding she didn’t particularly want, but one she would accept for the children’s sake.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Two

  Charlie had a responsibility to the boss. He hated disappointing folks in general, and Frank Bright had been like his own pa since Charlie’s arrival at the Circle B as a boy of seventeen.

  Because of that, Charlie would have hog-tied Opal to get her to the ranch, but luckily, it hadn’t been necessary.

  She was about the prettiest thing Charlie had ever seen. His heart had started tripping the moment he’d caught sight of her upswept blond hair and those high, wind-pinked cheekbones.

  And she was a spitfire, with her father’s temper. Independent and stubborn. Yet he could also see the innocence behind unique silver eyes. She was a puzzle, all right.

  It was a shame she was a money-grubbing gold-digger, just like his ex-fiancé Edith had been.

  Opal had reluctantly agreed to continue on to visit her pa. Gracious of her, considering she hadn’t been back for a visit since Charlie’d signed on with the Circle B, and her pa’d paid for the train ticket from Omaha, Nebraska, out here to Sheridan.

  They were an hour outside of Sheridan and Miss High-and-Mighty didn’t seem too comfortable in the saddle, even though Misty, the appaloosa mare he’d put her on, was about as placid as they came. Charlie knew the boss’s daughter had been raised on the Circle B, but apparently she hadn’t practiced her riding skills since she’d gone to live with her aunt.

  She rode behind the loose bunch of horses he and two hands drove toward the Circle B. Someone should tell her that’s where the most dust flew, but he’d let one of the other two boys do it if they were so inclined.

  “Boss, we got trouble,” Erick said, riding alongside. The hand had been with Frank’s outfit nearly as long as Charlie and had more horse sense than anybody, so Charlie immediately gave his attention to the other man.

  “What is it?”

  “I was taking a look back to make sure our guest,” the hand grinned and winked at Charlie, “was doin’ all right and noticed some dust kickin’ up.”

  Charlie shrugged, trying to loosen his neck a bit. Seemed like he’d had more stress today after meeting Opal Bright than all of last calving season. “We aren’t far from Sheridan yet. Could be other travelers moving this way.”

  “These fellas seem to be riding our trail specifically.”

  Charlie’s unease heightened. “How long?”

  “‘Bout an hour. As long as we been on the trail.”

  Charlie immediately thought of Opal’s loud announcement about gold back in town and the rough men it had attracted. What if some of them hadn’t believed Charlie’s denial and were following with nefarious intentions?

  Charlie quickly filled Erick in on what had taken place in town.

  “You’re joshin’.”

  Charlie shook his head. “Wish I was.”

  Erick’s mouth set in a hard line. “You’d better go tell Lee. Make sure his rifle’s loaded in case your hunch is right.”

  Charlie did, shaking his head at the younger man who was more excited than concerned about the possibility of someone following them.

  Figuring he’d better tell Miss Priss, Charlie rode back to where she’d fallen even further behind. As he neared, he realized she was talking to the horse. Arguing with it.

  “If you’ll just cooperate, I’ll make sure you get some nice carrots or tomatoes or-or whatever your favorite treat is if you’ll just move.”

  “Having problems, Miss Opal?”

  She startled and turned those unusual gray eyes on him. “This horse simply refuses to listen,” she whispered furiously as if the horse could hear her.

  Aware of the riders possibly coming on behind them, Charlie took a quick look at Misty’s gait. He couldn’t help grinning as he drew up alongside Opal, who continued muttering at the animal. “Misty can’t understand English, ya know. She’s much more attuned to what you’re saying with your posterior and your legs.”

  He watched Opal flush and start to get good and riled. He winked. Before she could start spouting off, he grabbed the reins just under Misty’s chin and halted the horse.

  “She ain’t misbehaving on purpose. Looks like she might’ve thrown a shoe.”

  Opal’s eyes narrowed, maybe with suspicion, but she let him assist her off the horse.

  A quick check of the mare’s hind leg revealed he’d guessed right.

  What surprised him was the yowling that commenced from the hatbox tied behind Misty’s saddle.

  “What—”

  Opal moved between him and the hatbox before he could even reach for it.

  “It’s my cat. I couldn’t leave her behind in Omaha-my aunt Jennie can’t abide her. She won’t be any trouble, usually she sleeps in my bedroom most of the day—”

  Charlie found himself facing a foe he hadn’t expected: a pleading Opal with those silver eyes asking him not to deny her.

  He shrugged. “Doesn’t seem to bother Misty. We need to get going. The horse should be all right to make it home without a passenger. We’ll ride double. Let’s go.”

  Opal’s nose wrinkled as if she found the idea distasteful. “Isn’t there another horse I could utilize? There must be twenty in the herd.”

  He couldn’t hold back a grin as he imagined her trying to handle one of the mostly-wild ponies.

  “Sweetheart, those pon
ies are green-broke, which means you wouldn’t last five minutes in the saddle on one of ‘em.”

  “I’m not your sweetheart.”

  Something about the way her cheeks pinked and the flash of her eyes when she started getting riled twisted his insides. He liked it.

  “What about your horse? He seems tame enough. I can ride it and you ride one of the, erm… ‘green-broke’ animals.”

  He shook his head before she’d finished, although he had to admire her ingenuity. “No. No one rides Turk but me.” Charlie fit his foot into the stirrup and stepped into the saddle, the familiar creak of leather reminding him they needed to get moving. He reached out his hand for Opal. “You coming?”

  “I’d prefer not—”

  A faint but piercing whistle brought Charlie’s head up. Erick and Lee had ridden on with the small herd of horses; Erick waved his hat wildly above his head on a ridge up ahead.

  Charlie twisted in his saddle and saw three riders approaching at a full-out gallop. Headed straight for him and Opal.

  “No choice,” he said curtly, gripping her wrist and hauling her into the saddle in front of him, urging Turk to move at the same time.

  She shrieked and clutched his shoulders, bouncing because she didn’t have a good seat, but he couldn’t take time to settle her. He reached for his rifle instead.

  “Remember those ruffians from town?” Charlie shouted.

  “What?” Her breathless response made his heart thump once, hard.

  “They’re following us. Coming fast.” And he’d foolishly fallen too far back from his two cowhands. How could he have let himself get so distracted?

  “What about Misty?”

  Turk took a long, low leap over a fallen log and Charlie heard Opal’s teeth clatter.

  Her concern for the animal they’d left behind was admirable, but he was too busy trying to keep their hides intact to dwell on what it said about her.

  “They aren’t after your horse, darlin’. They want the gold we don’t have.” Misty would be fine until he or Erick could ride back around to collect her. Right now Charlie and Opal needed to outdistance the desperados trailing them.