Heart of Gold (6 page)

Realizing he still held her close to his heart—an apt metaphor—he slowly released her, steadying her with hands at her waist. It was impossible to tell without a light, but he thought they were far enough back in the cramped mine shaft that they wouldn’t be seen from outside, even if one of the bandits got close.

“So we just… stay here in the dark?” She sounded small and scared.

He wished he could see her face. He settled for cupping her arms with both hands, rubbing his thumbs gently in little circles. “Let’s stay put for a bit, at least, and see what they do.”

Voices grew louder outside the mine shaft and Charlie squeezed Opal. “Quiet now.”

Yellow light flashed and Charlie held his breath. If they spotted the mine’s entrance and came in, he and Opal were as good as fish in a barrel. Easy targets. But the light dimmed and the voices faded, and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Now what?” Opal breathed the words, the warmth from her breath burning his collarbone through his shirt.

“You all right to stay here for a minute? I’m going to take a peek and see which direction they’re headed.”

Her muted agreement was only slightly reassuring but Charlie edged toward the opening anyway. He stilled when he caught sight of the men, not far off. They were setting up camp. And too close for him and Opal to sneak off into the night. If they moved out of the mine shaft, they would be seen in the light from the lanterns.

Charlie backed into the cave, returning to where he’d left Opal. He could sense her, even though he couldn’t see her in the pitch-darkness of the cave.

“They’re sitting just outside,” he said softly. “Making camp.”

Her fingers curled into the front of his shirt and he realized she was shaking. His arms went around her shoulders almost of their own accord and he pulled her tight to his chest.

“Are you all right?” he asked past the lump of sudden fear rising in his throat. “Sure you’re not hurt?”

“Not hurt.” Her answer was muffled in his shirt. “Don’t like small, dark places.”

Oh. Then spending time in this dank, enclosed space was probably making her uncomfortable.

“Any chance of us escaping?” Even her voice shook.

“I’ll go look out again in a little bit. Maybe they’ll bed down and we can sneak away.”

She nodded, her head nudging under his chin.

Charlie ran a hand down her back, hoping to offer comfort. It was hard, being close to her like this, knowing how determined she was to return to Omaha. Knowing there might be someone waiting for her back home.

Remembering how Edith hadn’t thought he was good enough.

“You can hang onto me for as long as you’d like,” he teased, and Opal drew slightly back, as he’d known she would. At least she didn’t step out of his arms.

He had to ask. Had to know. “Is there really someone-are you really going to marry someone back in Omaha?”

She stiffened slightly, but still didn’t pull away. “There is someone. I’m not-we don’t love each other, but the match would be beneficial to us both.”

She seemed to hold her breath for a moment, then went on. “His family is well-off and has promised that if I wished it, I could support the orphanage.”

So she wasn’t in love with this other man. The admission sent Charlie’s heart to soaring, though he tried to control it.

“So you’re not really promised to him,” Charlie pressed.

“Why do you ask?” Her breath fanned his chin and he imagined her looking at him, their faces only inches apart.

Charlie allowed his hands to follow the slope of her shoulders, traced the slender column of her neck and then cupped her cheeks.

“Because I can’t stop thinking about kissing you again.”

Her soft gasp cut off as his lips covered hers. She didn’t push him away, like he expected, or pound his chest—no, she responded with a tilt of her head, a soft noise in the back of her throat that sent his pulse thundering in his ears.

When at last he had to pull away to catch his breath, he couldn’t resist placing kisses on her cheek, her temple. He felt a smug satisfaction that she was breathing as hard as he was.

Certainly, she wasn’t thinking about being stuck in the dark now. Neither of them were.

“Let’s sit down, darlin’. I’ll go check on the bandits in a bit.”

“Don’t call me that,” she murmured, but it was halfhearted at best.

He sat with his back to the cold stone wall, and she settled at his side, her knees pressed against his thigh and head resting on his shoulder.

“You would really marry this man to support your orphans?” Charlie asked, because he knew Opal wasn’t the kind of woman who was free with her affections and she’d just been kissing him. But he’d also thought he knew Edith and look what had happened with that. So what did it mean for his heart now?

He hadn’t meant to fall in love with the boss’s daughter. Couldn’t be sure when it had happened. Maybe because of her courage when the roughnecks had chased and shot at them the first time? Or her constant kindness and bond with Carl?

Or was it even now, while she trusted him to take care of her while they were in danger?

She was a long time in answering, and Charlie’s tentative hopes plummeted. What could he offer a woman like Opal, when this other man could give her all her heart desired?

“I don’t have much choice,” Opal said softly. “Even if I believed God was listening to my prayers, there’s no solution in sight. No money.” She paused. “I can’t just let those children be put out on the streets. There’s one little boy… only a toddler. His parents died and he had no one to take him in. And yet, he never stops smiling. He has this adorable little toothless grin…”

Charlie’s chest tightened unbearably. How could he have misjudged her so in the beginning? Thinking she was just like Edith, that she was only after money.

Opal was nothing like his ex-fiancé. She was as fine as the stone her name represented. Which made it even more difficult to imagine she’d want to be with a man like him. What could he hope to offer her?

“Have you…” He cleared his throat to get the sudden knot out of it. “I know you and your Pa still have some things to work through, and I know there’s not any extra money around the Circle B, but maybe God’s answering your prayers, just not like you expected. What if… what if you brought your orphans out to the Circle B to live? There’s plenty of room in that big ranch house your Pa built, and more in the bunkhouse for the older boys.”

She was quiet for a long time; he imagined her thinking about what he’d proposed. When she finally answered, her voice was slightly subdued. “And would my father expect them to work? They’re only children, you know. Some of the other possible benefactors I’ve approached suggested simply helping the older children get on at some of the factories in the city, but they’re only children—”

He smiled in the darkness. He loved it when she got riled.

“I wasn’t implying they’d be treated as hired hands. We’d only expect them to help out with the chores, like Carl does. If you think about it, we’d be teaching them skills they could use for once they’re grown. The boys would learn all about ranching and animals; you and Gertie could teach the girls how to cook and sew and all those womanly things…

“You and Gertie already get along. With you around to help in the kitchen and keep all the kids in line, it just might work.”

He was really warming to the idea now. If Opal stayed… if he could give her enough reason to stay, maybe she would fall in love with him, too.

She tapped his chin with a finger and he went silent. “There’s one thing you’re forgetting.”

“What’s that, darlin’?”

“My father doesn’t particularly want me here.”

Charlie knew that wasn’t true, but if Opal hadn’t really spoken to her father since she’d come home, how could he convince her?

“Darlin’, I know you two have had your differences, but he does want you around. When he found out you were goin’ to visit, he couldn’t talk about anything else.”

She went quiet and his heart started thumping hard again. He wanted to keep her here.

“You said once before you felt you had something in common with your orphans. That you felt abandoned by your pa.”

She sucked in a breath. “You remember that?”

~~~~

Chapter Eight

Charlie’s “Yep,” was matter-of-fact when it came. “Guess I haven’t been able to forget much since you’ve been on the Circle B.”

She flushed, and then felt silly, because Charlie couldn’t see her in the dark mine shaft. The thought that the handsome cowboy had been paying attention to what she’d said flustered her.

“Were you unhappy with your Aunt Jennie?”

Charlie seemed to want to ask only difficult questions tonight. “Any little girl would be unhappy to be sent away from the father she loved and the only home she knew.” Especially when she’d already lost her mother.

Charlie seemed to consider her words. “Your pa doesn’t talk a lot about how bad things were back then, but he wouldn’t have sent you away if he wasn’t worried about what might happen.”

“But nothing did happen.”

“Not to him. Some of the other ranchers weren’t so lucky. Between the cattlemen and sheepmen, plenty lost their lives.”

She knew it. Had followed what the newspapers called the “Johnson County War” and snuck glimpses of the letters her father had written to Aunt Jennie.

“But what about after things had settled? Why didn’t he send for me?” Why hadn’t he wanted her back? Shouldn’t a father love his daughter enough to want her with him?

“I can’t answer for your pa. Maybe he thought you were better off with your aunt. I do know he wants you to stay right now.”

“If he wants me to stay, why hasn’t he said anything? He’s been sick, but not that ill.”

“Maybe he’s a little stubborn, like someone else—” He tweaked the end of her nose and Opal flicked his hand away impatiently.

“Yes, but—”

“Maybe he’s afraid to admit he wants you here. Worried your heart’s back in Omaha and you might not be happy on the Circle B. It can be tough for a woman out here in the West.”

Opal’s breath caught in her throat. Was Charlie talking about her father now, or himself? It almost sounded as if he had personal experience, but he didn’t offer more. He shifted, dislodging her head from its resting place on his shoulder. “I should go check and see if the bandits have fallen asleep.”

She wanted nothing more than to escape the mine shaft, but when Charlie stood and moved away, the emptiness he left behind had her reaching for him in the darkness.

He wasn’t gone long.

“Two of ‘em are bedded down but the third is keeping watch,” he muttered as he settled beside her again. He curled his arm around her, which was nice because the night had cooled. “It’s almost as if they know we’re nearby, trapped here. We need to get out before daybreak or they’ll be able to see the entrance to the mine.”

Thinking of the bullets flying after them, and Charlie putting himself in danger over her stupid mistake wasn’t helping her to stay calm. He must’ve heard her breath going ragged again, because he squeezed her tightly.

“We’ll be all right. It might be best if you could rest for a bit. Do you think you can manage it?”

She doubted it. She’d started shaking again and couldn’t seem to stop.

“Hey, hey.” His voice was warm, and close. His breath warmed her temple. “I’ll do everything I can to get you out of this predicament safely. Even if it comes down to creating a diversion and us splitting up.”

That didn’t help. She didn’t need a hero, she needed someone who would stick by her side. Someone to build a life with, who wouldn’t send her away.

For a moment, when Charlie had suggested bringing her orphans here and settling them on the ranch, she’d thought he might be that person. His intuitive suggestion that God might be answering her prayers, unasked as they might be, had touched her heart.

“It helps when you talk,” she admitted softly. And when they’d kissed, she’d forgotten all about being stuck in the dark, trapped by men who wanted to hurt them. But her aunt’s training was too much ingrained in her to mention that.

“Tell me about Carl,” she said instead.

“Carl. What about him?”

“Yes. How did you come to have him? What happened to his parents?”

He hesitated, the moment unusual for such a decisive man. Was his nephew such a sensitive subject? She hadn’t realized.

“I was engaged once.”

It wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. Perhaps she should have been. Charlie was a confident, personable man. Mostly. He’d make a fine husband. But he’d told her once before he’d never been married. She couldn’t help wanting to know what had happened.

“She was a real pretty gal. Citified, like you.”

He tensed, as if he might be afraid she’d take offense at that.

“How did you meet?” Opal asked, because she sensed he wanted to tell her something with his story.