A Sensible Arrangement (27 page)

The older woman shrugged. “Didn't know I was, either, but it doesn't seem like a half bad idea. Mrs. Landry certainly looked happy.”

Jake nodded and gave Marty's hand a squeeze. “Indeed she did. Brighton looked rather pleased with himself, as well.”

They shared a chuckle and gazed at the city as Samson drove them home. Marty thought Denver a wonderful mixture of elegant town, cowboy respite, and miner's playground. It intrigued her, but there was a small part of her that longed for the open spaces she'd left behind.

“Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Silver prices fall by half!” a newsboy called out. “Extra! Extra!”

Marty stiffened and looked at Jake. She could see the worry in his eyes and though Alice and Mrs. Standish chattered on as if nothing were amiss, Marty knew that somehow their world had just crumbled around them.

Jake patted her hand, then held it tight. “We're in for a bit of a Texas twister, I think.”

Marty nodded. “I'm sure you're right.”

Mrs. Standish heard the exchange and exclaimed, “Why, there's not a cloud in the sky! And besides, we don't get cyclones up here. The mountains don't allow for it.”

Jake and Marty smiled and looked back to the older woman. “I'm sure you know the place better than I do,” Jake replied.

“Do you suppose the bank will close right away?” Marty asked Jake later that evening. They had decided to take a stroll in City Park to enjoy the beautiful weather. Samson kept the horses and carriage at a distance, ever ready to pick them up when they tired of their walking adventure.

“I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. Thousands are out of work and more businesses are folding by the day. The closing of banks is just a natural progression of this mess, and no one will feel it more than Colorado. I doubt there's a single silver mine still producing.”

Marty tightened her hold on his arm. “I know we'll be all right no matter what. We have each other and for me . . . that's everything.”

Jake stopped, and in the fading light he beheld his wife as if seeing her for the first time. Her delicate beauty never failed to stir his heart. “It's everything for me, as well. I have my Lone Star bride and nothin' else matters.”

She laughed lightly and kissed his cheek. “And I have my Lone Star man—troublesome though he may be.”

“Troublesome?” he questioned. “If you wanna know about troublesome, let me tell you a story. It starts with a little gal who shot at bandits on her way into Denver, then hoisted herself up to the driver's seat and took the reins of a team of half-crazed stage horses and brought the wounded driver and passengers to safety. You, Marty Wythe, are the very picture of trouble itself.”

She laughed and put her arms around his neck. “I concur, Mr. Wythe, and don't you forget it.”

“Mrs. Wythe . . . you forget who you are. You are making a spectacle of yourself. What will the Morgans and the Keystones say if they see us?”

Marty grinned. “I don't reckon I much care what they say.”

Jake shook his head. “Neither do I, little gal. Neither do I.”

Tracie Peterson
is the award-winning author of one hundred novels, both historical and contemporary. Her avid research resonates in her stories, as seen in her bestselling H
EIRS
OF
M
ONTANA
and A
LASKAN
Q
UEST
series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana. Visit Tracie's website at www.traciepeterson.com and her blog at
www.writespassage.blogspot.com
.

www.traciepeterson.com

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