Quicksilver Passion (80 page)

Bill snorted and pointed to his old rifle.
I kin take care of myself and Willie, too.”

Cherokee decided not to remind him that he was half-deaf and that neither of them were as young as they used to be. He got the little burro to carry the supplies and headed down the trail to town.

He put the burro in the livery stable and reached into his pocket, brought the little nuggets out, and watched them gleam in the sunlight. Willie and Bill might laugh at his foolishness, so he hadn’t told them. Besides, it was his share of the gold they’d found in the last few days. What he did with it was his own business.

After a little thought, he took some of his nuggets into a shop and had a bracelet made from them. When it was ready later that day, he smiled with satisfaction, slipping it in his pocket. What he intended to do was send it to Silver anonymously. After the way she’d treated him, he didn’t want her to know he still thought of her.

He told himself that he wouldn’t go into the Nugget, he would have his coffee and catch up on the gossip someplace else. But that evening, as he left the hotel cafe and started back up the street, he heard music and her high, sweet voice drifting on the spring breeze from the Nugget.

Cherokee forgot that he intended to stay away from her and her saloon. Her voice drew him like magic. Despite all his good intentions, he found himself pushing through the doors of the Nugget. She was on the stage wearing a shimmering, tight dress almost the same pale aqua as her eyes and dancing to one of Stephen Foster’s lively tunes, silver-heeled shoes and jewels flashing in the lights.

Oh, Susanna, oh, don’t you cry for me, I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee . . .”

With his gaze on her, he moved slowly to the bar and leaned on it.

Al grunted,
Oh, it’s you. I hoped you would stay away. You’re bad for her, Cherokee.”

Cherokee turned and looked at the ugly man.
She say that?”

I say that!” He slammed a cup of coffee in front of Cherokee so hard, some of it sloshed out on the polished walnut.
All you can think of is gettin’ her in bed. She needs a man who’ll understand her and keep his hands off!”

No man could see her and not want her.” He sipped the coffee and watched her dance, the noisy crowd clapping to the music.
I know I don’t have a chance with Silver; I’m not sure any man does. As long as she’s obsessed with her own beauty, she hasn’t a place in her life for anything else.”

She’s had a hard life,” Al said.
Her beauty is all the security she’s got.”

Looks don’t last forever. What’ll she do when she’s old and men don’t notice her anymore?”

Al scowled.
She’ll have security from her money, and she won’t have to depend on men anymore when her looks are gone.”