Arlo scratched his neck. “Well, there’s Ralph Onslow. You know Ralph. He’s got that little boot shop down the street. Seems I heard he was lookin’ for somebody to go to Teak’s River and fetch him a new supply o’ leather. Wadja do for Oris?”
“Broke a horse for him,” Roman answered, tugging at his neckcloth. “The last time I was in town, he asked me about it. I got to his place late yesterday afternoon and started. He put me up for the night, and I finished working his horse this morning.”
“That fast,” Arlo murmured.
Roman shrugged. He’d never understood why it took some men so long to gentle a horse. As far as he was concerned, the only secret to it was winning the animal’s trust. And it was a hell of a lot easier to win a horse’s trust than a person’s.
The thought brought to mind Theodosia and her faith in him. For one short moment, he allowed himself to wonder if she was all right.
Arlo waved his hands in front of Roman’s eyes. “Roman? Did y’hear what I jest said? There’s somethin’ else you might want to do to earn a little cash,” he repeated, and chuckled. “Go read the poster that’s hangin’ over that table o’ fabrics.”
Curious as to what it was about the circular that so amused Arlo, Roman sauntered across the store and glanced at the flier.
The nameTheodosia Worthfairly jumped out at him. He pulled the paper off the wall and scanned the wording.
Shock nearly knocked him off his feet. He couldn’t believe the woman would go this far!
And then amusement made him smile. The woman had gone this far because she didn’t have a lick of common sense to tell her not to.
Apparently, Theodosia’s passionate night with Dr. Wallaby had gone awry. Maybe the scientist’s brain was the only thing he had that was still in working order. “Arlo, when did you post this?”
“’Bout noon. That Worth woman come in here askin’ if she could put it up. Ain’t that somethin’? You ever heared o’ any woman stupid enough to actually make up a want ad for a lover? When she first come in here, I thought she was real smart. Dressed real good, talked with one o’ them London, England accents, and used a lot o’ big words. But for all her fancy talk, she ain’t got no sense. She—” A loud burst of laughter outside the store cut him short. “Well, what in the world? Let’s go see what’s goin’ on, Roman.”
Outside, he and Roman saw a group of men standing on the boardwalk in front of the cafe. A few were pointing to a sheet of paper stuck to the window, and all were nearly doubled over with laughter.
“Arlo, come see what that crazy woman done this time!” one man called. “Simon Hamm over there at the newspaper office just posted this up for her!”
The second Arlo read the flier, his laughter joined that of the other men.
But no one laughed as hard as Roman. His shoulders shaking with mirth, he looked at the circular once more and read:
Wanted Immediately
A bodyguard to protect young woman from unscrupulous lechers. Willing to pay $100 in gold every month until services no longer needed. Contact:
Miss Theodosia Worth
Wild Winds Hotel
Room Seven
Would someonepleaseapply?
He reread her first flier, which he still held. Only Theodosia Worth, an empty-headed genius, could have gotten herself into such a fix.
Still, he mused while rubbing his chin, her ridiculous predicament meant one hundred dollars in gold to the man she hired as her bodyguard.
He smiled.
His horse ranch had never seemed so close to being owned.
Theodosia felt far too anxiousto eat the supper she’d ordered brought to her room. Wasn’t anyone going to answer her second advertisement? Surely Mr. Hamm had posted the fliers by now.
A loud knock on the door laid to rest her worry. “Well, it is about time, isn’t it, John the Baptist? I was beginning to think that there existed not a single man in this town who held the qualifications for a bodyguard.”
She smoothed her peach silk skirts and opened the door. In the dim corridor, his guns gleaming faintly, stood a huge man. “Have you come to apply for the position, sir?”
“Yeah.”
