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and I thought you might have room in one of yours if I pay my way.”
    “Like I said,” Sheldon Rival drawled, already looking down at his food again, “my wagons are full of supplies. A sack of flour is worth more to me than what you’d pay me. And sacks of flour don’t talk back.” He laughed as if he’d made a good joke and the other men dutifully laughed too.
    “I can see I’m wasting my time here,” Libby said in her best Bostonian manner. “I thought I’d be dealing with a civilized man, but I’m talking to an overgrown monkey in civilized clothing. Good day to you, Mr. Rival.”
    She heard laughter from a table behind her as she turned to make a dignified exit from the dining room. She gave a frosty stare in the direction of the laughter and found herself looking at the smiling face of Gabe Foster.

CHAPTER 7
    “W HAT ARE YOU doing here?” Libby blurted out before she remembered that she had sworn never to speak to Gabriel Foster again.
    Gabe’s smile broadened. “I thought I’d take a trip out West and see for myself what the frontier looks like.” He leaned back in his chair, looking up at her with obvious enjoyment. “Besides which, I heard that there were all these men sitting around with nothing to do all day. So I thought I’d volunteer my services and do them a good turn by amusing them with a few little card games.”
    “You are still despicable,” Libby said.
    “And you are still adorable,” he said, “although I see it was misplaced concern on my part to worry about you surviving in the wilderness. I watched you dealing with old Rival there. It’s a wonder he wasn’t turned into an instant snowman with that icy stare you gave him.”
    “The man is an uncouth idiot,” Libby said. “I feel myself fortunate that I was able to observe his true character before I signed on with him.”
    “It was my impression he turned you down,” Gabe said, grinning.
    “Believe me, Mr. Foster, now that I have seen the man, I would not have signed on with him at any price, even if he were riding to California in a golden coach with half the U.S. cavalry at his side.”
    “So what are you aiming to do now?” Gabe asked.
    “I’ll find another company that can take me,” she said. “There are enough men out there to find one with civilized manners and a kind heart.”
    “I wouldn’t count on it,” Gabe said. “Gold and kind hearts don’t go well together.”
    “Pray don’t concern yourself about me, Mr. Foster,” she said. “I am a very determined woman.”
    “I don’t doubt it for a moment,” Gabe said, “and I’ve no doubt at all that you could walk all the way to California if you had to. But you’ve two little girls with you that need looking after. I hear you had a narrow brush with cholera on that damned ship. I’ll ask around for you, if you like.”
    “I can do my own asking, thank you,” Libby said. Then a worrying thought struck her. “You didn’t follow us this far to keep an eye on us, did you?”
    “Whatever gave you that idea?” Gabe said, laughing. “As a matter of fact, things got a little too hot for me in St. Louis. The young man on board I helped part from his cash turned out to be the son of a judge—a hanging judge. And since I rather like my head and neck just the way they are, I thought I’d take me a little trip westward. So you see, I’ve got enough headaches in my life without having a mean-tempered, high-moraled, ice-cold woman to worry about.”
    Libby flushed. “Then I bid you good day, Mr. Foster,” she said, nodding her head slightly.
    “I was just about to eat,” Gabe said. “I don’t suppose you’d care to join me, or would you still consider that to be one step away from supping with Old Nick himself?”
    Libby looked longingly at the white cloth, the polished silver and thought of the last time she sat in a proper restaurant, eating good food and enjoying civilized company. She was aware that Gabe Foster represented the one