Shea studied him.He was tall and fit-looking, with steady gray eyes and an aura of competence.She judged that he was just a few years older than she, but something about him made him seem centuries old.
“Sir?”
He smiled at that.“I work for your father, miss,” he said.“It is miss, isn’t it?I heard you say Randall.”
Shea felt a slight blush.“Miss,” she confirmed.“Shea Randall.”
“Well, then, I was just here to check on a telegraph, but I’m heading back tomorrow, if you would like to go with me.”
Shea wasn’t sure she should accept.Traveling alone with a man wasn’t allowed.Yet this wasn’t Boston, and she’d been treated with nothing but respect by the men she’d met, including those drinking in the coach she’d taken from Denver.Code of the West, she’d been told.Besides, this man did work for her father.
And she didn’t want to wait a week, couldn’t wait a week.
“You say you work for my father?”
He nodded.
“And you’re going tomorrow?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How long a trip?”
He looked at her, as if weighing her abilities.“By horseback, nearly a day.”
She groaned.“I haven’t ridden much.”That was an understatement, but she didn’t dare tell him she had ridden only a few times, and those only walks in the park.
“I’ll find you a gentle mount.”
He waited.That’s what decided her.He didn’t push.He was merely being accommodating.
“What’s your name?”
“Ben, ma’am.Ben Smith.”
She smiled.“You’ll have to let me pay you.”
He nodded again.“Where are you staying?”
She didn’t know.She looked around at the town that seemed little more than a scattering of ramshackle buildings.There was a bank, a sheriff’s office, and a place called the Golden Nugget.She’d been told in Denver that Casey Springs was struggling to become a major trading center now that the area’s gold was almost panned out, and she had expected more.
“Gold Nugget’s ’bout the most suitable place,” he offered.“It’s not much of a hotel, but the rooming house is full of miners and railroad workers, and sometimes they get a bit rough.”
Shea thought about her money.She had put her father’s money in a bank in Boston, not knowing whether to use it or not.What she had from the sale of the shop was going down rapidly, and she still didn’t know what kind of reception she’d get from Jack Randall.
“The Nugget’s also the safest place,” Ben Smith added quietly.
Shea smiled.He was concerned about her safety.Any lingering concern she had about her decision dribbled away.“The Golden Nugget then.”Tonight, she would have a bath.A good night’s sleep on a real bed.And tomorrow, her father.She gave Ben Smith a bright smile.
“I’ll help you with that,” he said, casting a look at the valise.
“Thank you, Mr.Smith.You’re very kind.”
As he stooped to get the valise, she saw something odd flash across his face.Regret perhaps.Maybe a second thought about being burdened with a woman.
She felt a slightest tingle of apprehension run down her spine but promptly dismissed it.She was tired, that was all.Just tired.
Ben looked at the woman riding next to him and wondered whether he was making a mistake.
