Free Tears of Gold by Laurie McBain

inquired, a worried frown crossing his high brow. “It would not do to have the little señor give the game away.”
    “You needn’t worry,” Mara answered quickly, lest he suggest some alternative arrangement for Paddy. “As an actress, I must be conscious of my public image. I must appear to them perpetually young and beautiful, and having a child of six calling me mama would be quite ruinous to my career,” Mara prevaricated as she vainly smoothed the heavy chignon at the base of her neck in an affected manner.
    “Of course, it never has been a problem. The boy has always called me Mara, for I am, after all, not his mother. He’s from Brendan’s first marriage. Oh, you thought he was mine?” Mara laughed, pretending to pout. “But how could you really believe he was mine? Surely I don’t look old enough to have a child, Don Luís? Why, I’m hardly more than a child myself.”
    “My apologies, señora. I naturally assumed the boy was yours. This, of course, will simplify matters. We need have no fear of the child committing some indiscretion. ¡Bueno! It is all settled then, and soon we shall be in California.” Don Luís sighed in evident relief. “With your permission?” he asked as he collected Mara’s empty wine goblet, the other glasses, the bottle of wine, and carefully restored them to a leather traveling case, “I bid you buenas noches , then,” he murmured, and left the cabin with a very contented expression on his face.
    The loud clapping of Brendan’s hands disturbed the silence and startled Mara from her thoughts. “Well done, Mara, me love. An extraordinary performance, to be sure, and one that nearly threw me behind bars,” Brendan said harshly, anger burning brightly in his eyes. “Why d’ye do these things? You dare everyone to call your bluff. I think you enjoy pushin’ a person until they’re near to their tether’s end. One day you’ll be pushin’ someone too far, and it’ll be too much for even your insolent tongue to handle.”
    Mara remained silent. She had no defense. Brendan was right. Her cursed temper and tongue would be sure to get her into trouble one of these days.
    “I’m sorry, Brendan.”
    “And so you should be. A fine time it is to be playing games, what with our future at stake and Don Luís not havin’ much of a sense of humor,” Brendan complained, a sour look on his face.
    Mara’s eyes glinted. “A fine thing indeed, to be blaming me. Who was in his black looks before I even came in? Such a melancholy face I’ve yet to be seein’. What caused you to be brooding?” Mara demanded.
    Brendan hunched his shoulders despondently, then ran a hand carelessly through his hair. “I come halfway around the world to make me fortune, risking death on this damned ocean, only to have the gold out of me reach. I might as well be back in London or Paris for all the good this is going to be doing me,” Brendan spoke bitterly.
    Mara stared at his dejected expression in puzzlement. “I don’t understand? We’ll be in California, won’t we? There’s gold everywhere. You don’t have to be going anywhere special to get it.”
    Brendan snorted in disgust. “A lot you don’t know. There’s no gold on Don Luís’s rancho, or on this other gent’s. It’s far away in the mountains. The Sierra Nevada he told me. Now, how am I goin’ to be getting there if I’m confined to the rancho looking after you? I can’t trust you enough to turn my back for an instant,” Brendan accused her, shifting the blame easily to Mara.
    “That’s unfair and untrue,” Mara said huskily. “You know I’d never let you or Paddy down. Take it back, Brendan,” Mara commanded, a slight quiver of hurt in her voice.
    Brendan rubbed his eyes tiredly. “All right, just don’t start cryin’ on me. I can’t abide a woman in tears.”
    “I never cry, at least not for real,” Mara answered shortly as she got to her feet. “We’re in this now, so we might as well be giving it our