She chuckled again. “He’s an old fellow. Age has robbed him of his teeth, and arthritis has set in. He can’t hunt well, so Indigo supplements his diet. Every morning, he comes up to the edge of the yard and waits for his breakfast.”
Jake’s nape prickled. “It doesn’t worry you, her feeding a wildcat?”
“Indigo isn’t like most girls.”
Breakfast forgotten, Jake pushed up from his chair and walked to the window. A few feet into the trees, he saw Indigo kneeling near a huge golden cat. In addition to the saucer of rinds and eggs, she had taken along a slab of meat from the smokehouse. Muscle rippling under his sleek coat, the cougar circled her, back and forth, impatiently watching while she cut the venison into manageable chunks.
“My God,” Jake whispered. “One swipe from a paw, and she’d be ripped wide open.”
Loretta joined him at the window. “I used to worry myself into fits. Over the years, I’ve grown accustomed to it. She was only knee-high—about four, I think—when the first wild creature followed her home. A coyote with a front foot that had been mangled in a trap. She ran in and asked her father to come doctor it.”
The cougar moved closer to Indigo, and Jake caught his breath. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing when the girl lifted her hands and let the cat lick her fingers clean. “She’s crazy.” He glanced at Loretta. “What did Hunter do?”
“What could he do? He went out and doctored its foot.”
“Just like that?”
“Well, no. Indigo had to calm the coyote first. It took some talking to convince him Hunter was safe.”
“Talking?”
“I can’t explain it, Mr. Rand. Just take my word. She speaks with the animals.” Her eyes took on a mischievous twinkle. “You haven’t felt it when she looks at you?”
A chill shot up Jake’s back. “Felt what?”
“She has a gift. If you have secrets, guard them well.”
Jake recalled the feeling that had come over him yesterday, that she was reading him. Unnerved and trying to pretend he wasn’t, he said, “She told me a sow bear tried to kill her once. Her gift didn’t work that time.”
“As with all talking, it takes cooperation on both sides.”
Jake was relieved to hear that. He’d be careful from now on not to let Indigo look into his eyes for very long. The thought stymied him. He didn’t really believe such nonsense. Did he?
Loretta went on to explain. “The sow had cubs. Indigo and Lobo stumbled across them accidentally. The sow panicked.” She wiped her hands on her apron and turned back to the kitchen. “Believe me, it’s the rare animal who turns on her. Sometimes, of a morning or late evening, I need a club to reach the privy. Skunks and coons, badgers and coyotes, and deer galore. They come hoping for handouts. The deer are the bravest. They’ll walk right up and butt you, begging for flapjacks. A body would think we lived miles from town, but I guess they don’t feel threatened here. She has a way about her.”
Jake watched Indigo as she walked back toward the house. The cougar disappeared into the woods. “Why does she bother hunting? She could pick off a deer from the back stoop.”
“Mercy, no. Not one of those who come to the house. That wouldn’t be fair when they trust her so.”
Jake rubbed his jaw. This family bewildered him more by the moment. Indigo entered. A rush of fresh air washed in with her. He turned from the window. He recalled his first impression, that there was something wild about her. He had been more perceptive than he realized.
When she and Jake reached the mine, Indigo realized that the next few days might prove even more difficult than her mother feared. At the entrance to the tunnel, several of the younger men stood in a group. The moment they saw her, they broke apart and returned to work, but she didn’t miss the appraising looks they gave her or the knowing smirks on their faces. She wanted to close her mind to them. Losing Lobo was difficult enough.
In hopes of drawing strength from her surroundings, Indigo lifted her gaze to the thick timber that encroached upon the rocky hillside above the mine. Without turning to look, she absorbed the feeling of serenity that emanated from the tangled woodlands to her left and right. Peace filled her, and she straightened her shoulders, ready now to face the pocket of humanity ahead of her.
“Stupid asses,” Jake muttered.
Indigo dragged her mind back to the present. “I beg your pardon?”
“Nothing.”
She knew by the flush on Jake’s neck that the smirks on the men’s faces infuriated him. She prayed he wouldn’t say or do anything to make matters worse. The best course of action in a situation like this was to pretend indifference. Jake would leave here in a few weeks. But this was her world.
Picking her way across the loose braid of rails, Indigo approached the toplander, who handled all the ore cars when they surfaced from the mine. The skip was full, which clued her that the track had been cleared so they could drill and dig in the west drifts. “Good morning, Topper. How’s it going?”
Topper spat and slid his gaze toward Jake. “Things’ll be better when we get the other drifts dug back out. Only being able to work one section is like trying to empty the ocean with a thimble. This is the first load the trammer has brought up.”
“It’s better than nothing. Did Shorty check the timbers before you started work?”
Topper nodded. “He always does if you come in late. We heard about Lobo, missy. We’re all real sorry.”
Contrary to what Topper obviously wanted her to believe, Indigo doubted that all the employees shared that sentiment. “Thank you, Topper.” She turned to Jake. “You’ve met Mr. Rand?”
Jake extended his right hand. “I think we spoke in passing yesterday. Pleased to meet you.”
“You the new boss?”
“Only temporarily. I’m filling in for Mr. Wolf until he gets back on his feet.”
Topper spat again. One of the men who had just walked away hooted with laughter. Indigo turned just in time to see him glancing in her direction and nudging the fellow beside him. She could well imagine what they were saying, and humiliation scorched her cheeks. She returned her attention to Topper, determined to hold her head high.
Besides, what did it matter what they thought? Her interest in mining had never centered around the men she worked with. If they followed her orders, they could smirk all they liked.
She stood off to one side while Topper and Jake conversed. When she deemed it polite to move on, she tapped Jake’s arm and turned toward the creek, where several of the younger men worked the sluice, some shoveling and picking, others hauling up loads in wheel-barrows. Better to face the gossipmongers now.
When Jake bid Topper goodbye and fell in beside her, she could feel the tension emanating from him. He obviously wasn’t looking forward to this any more than she. As they approached the men, Indigo assessed their expressions. Unless she missed her guess, Denver Tompkins, a slender blond who had shown interest in courting her, was bent on being the most obnoxious. He drove the blade of his shovel into the dirt and leaned on the handle, flashing her a grin. She made straight for him.
“Good morning, Denver.”
His light blue gaze slid boldly over her body. “Mornin’.” His grin widened as he turned his attention to Jake. “I hear you two had an excitin’ adventure.”
“If you call getting shot at an adventure,” Jake replied.
“Bound to happen sooner or later. A lot of folks didn’t like that wolf.”
“That gave no one a license to shoot it,” Jake retorted.
Indigo resisted the urge to throw him a warning glance. If he lost his temper, there was little she could do about it. Corey Manning came up beside them and dumped a load of gravel. Dust billowed. She stepped to one side. Jake moved closer to the sluice to check the riffles. By the set of his shoulders, she could tell that he was angry. Not that she blamed him. She just prayed he would hold his peace.
Denver must have read Jake’s mood as well. His cocky gr
in faded, and he pulled his shovel free. After drawing a comparison between the two men, she decided the blond was wise to err on the side of caution. Jake was by far the taller and more powerfully built. A small man like Denver would be foolish to rile him.
The other men at the sluice took their cues from Denver. The smirks and knowing expressions disappeared from their faces like chalk marks wiped from a board. Indigo relaxed slightly. Jake appeared not to notice. But when he finished examining the riffles, she saw him slowly and deliberately meet the gaze of each man. A warning flashed in his dark eyes.
As they walked away, Indigo didn’t hear any more whispers or snickers. Jake caught her looking up at him and winked.
“The art of subtle intimidation,” he whispered. “It works every time.”
Subtle? Indigo hoped she was never one of his targets. She led him downstream to show him the mule-powered arrastra, which ground their ore. From there, she took him to see the two shafts that were located farther up the hill from the mine. After checking the pulley mechanisms on the two cages, he settled his hands on his hips and gazed down at the flume, which routed a controlled flow of water into the sluices.
The breeze caught his black hair and draped it across his bronze forehead. A speculative look entered his dark eyes as he settled his attention on her. Her belly twisted and felt as though it dropped to the region of her knees. She had no idea why she reacted so strangely to him.
“I’m really sorry about all that,” he told her softly.
She glanced toward the sluices. She saw Denver watching them. He was smirking again. “It isn’t your fault.”
“No,” he admitted. “But you didn’t do anything to deserve it, either. I wish—”
When he broke off, Indigo focused on him, a little surprised at the emotion she heard in his voice. His eyes caught and held hers. What was it he wished? Looking up at him, the resentment that had been welling within her the last twenty-four hours fell away. It wasn’t his fault. None of it was. He couldn’t help that his arrival had coincided with events over which he had no control, and she had been wrong to blame him.
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Rand. It doesn’t matter.”
“I’m afraid it does.”
Indigo took a deep breath. “If I were someone else, you’d be right. But I’m not, and regardless of what you think, their opinion of me isn’t important. As long as they do their jobs, they can think whatever they like.”
Clearly unconvinced, he searched her gaze. His quiet scrutiny made her feel exposed, and she turned to walk away.
“Jake,” he called after her.
She stopped and glanced back. “Pardon me?”
“Jake—I’d like you to call me Jake.”
She recalled their conversation the day before yesterday, his teasing, her laughter, the feeling of comaraderie that had begun to build between them. Minutes later, Lobo had been shot. The memories flashed in her head, harsh and clear, accented with streaks of scarlet.
“Jake, then,” she heard herself reply. “If you’d like, I can give you a tour of the powder shack. And I’d like you to meet Stringbean and Shorty. When we go back to the house, I’ll show you the books. We order all our supplies in Jacksonville.”
By noon, Indigo felt as if she had moved through the day in a blur. She had a vague recollection of touring the mine with Jake, of sitting at her mother’s table with him after lunch to familiarize him with the paperwork, but none of it seemed real. Only one thing registered, and that was the awful feeling of emptiness. She was so accustomed to Lobo’s presence that she had dropped her hand several times to stroke his head, only to realize he wasn’t there. More than once, she took care where she stepped, expecting him to be underfoot. As the hours wore on, the pain within her grew until it seemed unbearable.
When her mother asked her to go over to the general store for a list of staples, she leaped at the chance to escape the house. Jake had stepped out for a few minutes. Since he hadn’t mentioned their returning to the mine, she knew the remainder of the afternoon loomed before her. Unaccustomed to spending much time indoors, she yearned for some fresh air and exercise.
The walk up the boardwalk seemed altogether too short. Though aware of the stares she drew from customers inside the shops along the way, she enjoyed the breeze playing upon her face. Outside the general store, she lingered for a moment over a barrel of potatoes that had just arrived, then decided she had better not spend the money. Ma still had spuds in the gunnysack, if she remembered right, and with their funds stretched so tight, every penny had to be watched.
When she stepped inside the dim interior, it took a minute for her eyes to adjust. From out of the shadows, Elmira Jones, the proprietor’s wife, called, “Well, hello, Indigo. It’s good to see you.”
Indigo approached the counter. As always, Elmira was gussied up, her waist cinched so small by her corset that Indigo wondered how she breathed. Her dress, far too fancy for working, was a blue taffeta creation of layered pleats with a blue-and-white-striped cotton over-skirt trimmed with white silk fringe.
“It’s good to see you, too,” Indigo replied and handed over her list. “Is that a new dress?”
“Do you like it? Aunt Mary sent it to me. Made in New York, mind you, the latest in fashion. It’s a resort dress.”
A resort dress? A last resort, maybe. Indigo forced a smile. “It’s lovely.”
A movement to Indigo’s left drew her attention. She turned to see Jake Rand standing at the glove rack. He glanced over his shoulder at the same instant, and their eyes met, his twinkling with amusement. He obviously agreed that Elmira’s dress was a bit too fancy for the surroundings.
Seeing Jake inside the store drove home to Indigo how large a man he was. Outlined against the backdrop of shelving, which gave her a reference of measure, she noted that he stood a shelf and a half taller than Elmira, and the breadth of his upper back hid half a rack from view. His stance, though relaxed, was purely masculine, muscular arms loose at his sides and slightly bent, booted feet braced apart. The denim of his pants conformed to his long legs. The wide band of his leather belt sat low on his hips. Without trying, he cut an imposing figure.
Elmira fluttered her hand as she stepped daintily along the wall shelves to gather the items on Indigo’s list. Indigo wondered where her husband, Sam, was. Since their shotgun wedding last autumn, he hadn’t left Elmira alone to run the store but once.
“Do you happen to have these in a larger size?” Jake asked.
He held up a pair of heavy leather gloves. Indigo silently applauded his foresight. After doing desk work for several years, he would blister his hands up at the mine unless he wore protection. Elmira frowned and gnawed her lip.
“I’m certain Sam has others he hasn’t put out yet, but for the life of me, I can’t think where.”
Jake chose another pair. “No problem. These’ll do.”
As he spoke, Doreen Shipley and Adelle Love, both wives of local businessmen, entered the store. Walking abreast, they formed a rather formidable rank, each corsetted into silk dresses embellished with far too many ruffles and flounces for women of considerable girth.
The instant they spied Jake and Indigo, they stuck their noses in the air. They made such a point of it, in fact, that Indigo wondered if they hadn’t come in just so they could snub them. Several years back, Indigo’s aunt Amy had scandalized the town by publicly admitting to illicit behavior in order to save her lover, Swift Lopez, from a hangman’s noose. Adelle and Doreen, with nothing better to do, still gossiped about it. Now, they had fresh meat to chaw.
Mrs. Shipley cupped a plump hand around her mouth and said, “Have they no shame at all? Why, if I were her, I’d be embarrassed to show my face.”
Elmira, who had been victimized by this pair’s snobbery last fall after her ill- fated picnic with Sam, narrowed her eyes. “May I be of assistance to you, ladies?”
Adelle Love sniffed. “I’m not at all certain. We were given to believe an establishment su
ch as this catered only to decent folk.”
Heat crept up Indigo’s neck. Elmira smiled. “Your sources were absolutely correct. So perhaps you’d better leave.”
With a look of shocked disbelief, Mrs. Shipley gasped and held her breath, putting such a strain on her bodice that her buttons nearly popped. “Ohhh!” she cried. “Well . . . we’ll just see what Samuel has to say about this. I spend a great deal of money in this store, I’ll have you know.”
Elmira smiled again. “Do you? I hadn’t noticed.” She plunked a can of pepper onto the counter. “But don’t fret. It’s only ten miles to Jacksonville.”
Mrs. Love’s face flushed crimson. “Are you implying that we’re not welcome in your establishment?”
Elmira glanced at Indigo. “Did I slur my speech?”
“We don’t have to take this!” Mrs. Shipley cried.
“We certainly don’t!”
In a huff, the two ladies left as quickly as they had come. A resounding silence fell over the store. Indigo couldn’t bring herself to look at Jake.
Elmira slapped a bag of beans on the counter. “Don’t pay them any heed, Indigo.” She grabbed a tin of baking powder and set it by the beans. “Those old witches live to pick on people. Don’t get the idea that everyone in town feels that way, because we don’t.”
“I hope Samuel isn’t angry when he hears,” Indigo ventured.
Elmira pulled the account book from under the counter and quickly made a list of the things Indigo was taking. “If Samuel had been here, he’d have given them a boot to help them on their way. They’re both vipers, and everyone in town knows it. If it hadn’t been for the likes of them, Sam and I—” She broke off and waved her hand. “Oh, well, it’s water over the dam. Suffice it to say that they had it coming.”
Still avoiding Jake’s gaze, Indigo gathered her purchases. “Well, I appreciate your standing up to them. Thank you, Elmira.” Forcing a laugh, she added, “I reckon I’ll be on my way before you lose any more customers.”
“We’ll keep the ones who count,” she replied.