Free Heart of Gold by Lacy Williams Page B

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