But she knew without seeing his face, without hearing his voice, that it was Jake. That knowledge alone made her pulse beat fast and her body yearn.
Deliberately she turned away. “Samuel, I can’t begin to tell you how flattered I am by your offer.”
He sensed refusal, and though anger tightened within him, he only smiled. “Please, don’t give me an answer now. I’d like you to think about it. Believe me, Sarah, I realize we’ve known each other only a short time and your feelings might not be as strong as mine.
Give me a chance to change that.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t object when he kissed her hand again. “I will think about it.” That she promised herself. “I’m very grateful you’re patient. There’s so much on my mind right now. I’ve nearly got my life under control again, and now that I’m going to open the mine-” “The mine?” His hand tightened on hers. “You’re going to open the mine?”
“Yes.” She gave him a puzzled look. “Is something wrong?”
“No, no, it’s only that it’s dangerous.” It was a measure of his ambition that he was able to bring himself under control so quickly. “And I’m afraid doing so might distress you more than you realize. After all, the mine killed your father.”
“I know. But it also gave him life. I feel strongly that he would have wanted me to continue there.” “Will you do something for me?”
“I’ll try.”
“Think about it carefully. You’re too important to me. I would hate to have you waste yourself on an empty dream.” With another smile, he clucked to the horses. “And if you marry me, I’ll see that the mine is worked without causing you any heartache.”
“I will think about it.” But her mind was crowded with other thoughts as she looked over her shoulder at the lone rider on the hill.
Chapter Nine
Sarah had never been more excited about a dance in her life. Nor had she ever worked harder. The moment the plans had been announced for a town dance to celebrate Independence Day, the orders for dresses began to pour in. She left all the chores to Lucius and sewed night and day.
Her fingers were cramped and her eyes burned, but she had earned enough to put through an order for the wood floor she wanted so badly.
After the floor, Sarah thought, she would order glass for the windows and a proper set of dishes. Then, when time and money allowed, she was going to have Lucius build her a real bedroom. With a little laugh, she closed her eyes and imagined it. If the mine came through, she would have that house with four bedrooms and a parlor, but for now she’d settle for a real floor beneath her feet.
Soon, she thought. But before floors and windows came the dance.
She might have made every frock as pretty and as fashionable as her skill allowed, but she wasn’t about to be outdone. On the afternoon of the dance she took out her best silk dress. It was a pale lavender blue, the color of moonbeams in a forest. White lace flirted at the square-cut bodice that accented the line of her throat and a hint of shoulder. There were pert bows of a deeper lavender at the edge of each poofed sleeve. She laced her stays so tightly that her ribs hurt, telling herself it would be worth it. With her hand mirror, she struggled to see different parts of herself and put them together in her mind for a complete image. The flounced skirt with the bows was flattering, she decided, and the matching velvet ribbon at her throat was a nice touch. She would have pinned her cameo to it, but that, like so much else, had been lost.
She wouldn’t think about that tonight, she told herself as she patted her hair. She’d swept it up, and its weight had caused her to use every hairpin she could find. But, she thought with a nod, it looked effortless, curling ever so slightly at her ears and temples. It was important that she look her best. Very important, she added, pulling on her long white gloves.
If Jake was there, she wanted him to see just what he’d tossed aside. She swept on her white lace shawl, checked the contents of her reticule, then stepped outside. “Glory be.” Lucius stood by the wagon with his hat in his hand. He’d cleaned up without her having to remind him, and had even taken a razor to his chin. When she smiled at him, he decided that if he’d been ten years younger he’d have given Jake a run for his money.
“Lucius, how handsome you look.”
“Hell, Miss Sarah. I mean-” He cleared his throat.
“You sure look a sight.”
Recognizing that as a compliment, Sarah smiled and held out a hand. With as much style as he could muster, Lucius helped her into the wagon.
“You’re going to set them on their ears.”
“I hope so.” At least she hoped she set one person on his ear. “You’re going to save a dance for me, aren’t you, Lucius?”
“I’d be pleased to. If I do say so, I dance right well, drunk or sober.”
“Perhaps you’ll try it sober tonight.”
Jake saw them ride into town. He was sitting at his window, smoking and watching some of the cowboys racing in the streets, waving their hats, shooting off guns and howling.
Independence Day, he thought, blowing smoke at the sky. Most of them figured they had a right to freedom and the land they’d claimed. He’d come to accept that they, and others like them, would take the Arizona Territory and the rest of the West. Black Hawk, and others like him, would never stop the rush.
And he was neither invader nor invaded.
Maybe that was why he had never tried to put his mark on the land. Not since he’d lost what his father had tried to build. It was better to keep whatever you owned light, light enough that it fit on your horse.
The town was full of noise and people. Most of the cowhands were going to get three-quarters drunk, and they were liable to end up shooting themselves instead of the targets Cody had set up for the marksmanship contest. He didn’t much care. He just sat at the window and watched.
Then he saw her. It hurt. Unconsciously he rubbed a hand over his heart, where the ache centered. She laughed. He could hear the sound float right up to him and shimmer like water over his skin. The wanting, the pure strength of it, made him drag his eyes away. For survival.
But he looked back, unable to stop himself. She stepped out of the wagon and laughed again as Liza Cody ran out of her father’s store. She twirled in a circle for Liza, and he saw all of her, the white skin of her throat, the hint of high, round breasts, the tiny waist, the glow in her eyes. The cigarette burned down to his fingers, and he cursed. But he didn’t stop looking. “You going to sit in the window all day or take me down like you promised?” Maggie came farther into the room, her hands on her hips. The boy hadn’t heard a word. She tugged on his shoulder, ignored the name he called her and repeated herself.
“I never promised to do anything.”
“You promised, all right, the night I poured you into that bed when you came in so drunk you couldn’t stand.”
He remembered the night clearly enough. It had been a week after he’d brought Sarah back from the mountains. A week since he’d been going to the Silver Star, trying to work up enough interest to take Carlotta or any other woman to bed. Drinking had been simpler, but getting blind drunk was something he’d never done before and didn’t intend to do again.
“I could have gotten myself into bed well enough.”
“You couldn’t even crawl up the stairs. If there’s one thing I know, it’s a man who’s too drunk to think. Now, are you going to take me down or are you going to back down?”
He grumbled but pushed himself away from the window. “Nothing worse than a nagging woman.”
She only grinned and handed him his hat.
They had no more than stepped outside when John Cody came racing up. “Mr. Redman. Mr. Redman.
I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Yeah?” He pulled the boy’s hat over his face.
“Why’s that?”