“Evidently there are those who think so.”
“Hmm. That’s interesting. Who says that?” Almost immediately upon asking the question, she put out a hand to stay the answer. “No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
Call had had no intention of telling her so he was relieved when she decided against finding out. “My point in saying any of this is—”
She interrupted him, shaking her head. “You think Mr. Pye’s affections turned to Desiree when I spurned him.”
“See? You expressed that in a proper fashion. I don’t know that I would have termed his interest as affection or your avoidance of him as spurning.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t have,” she said primly. Call’s chuckle rumbled pleasantly in her ears. He had a soft laugh that struck her as vaguely wicked. She thought she should not like it as much as she did.
“What do you make of what I’ve told you?”
“Honestly? If you’re right, it’s disturbing. I prefer to believe you’re wrong.”
“Or that I’ve been kicked in the head.”
“Or that, yes. Have you figured out how Mr. Pye knew the payroll was on that stage?”
“Not yet. I have some ideas.”
“Are you sharing?”
“No.”
Laurel didn’t press. “Tell me about the abandoned mines. When did you see them?”
“When you were at church. I took Artemis out and explored your property. It’s more extensive than I realized. Rooster gave me landmarks to follow.”
She nodded. “So you think the entrances should be boarded?”
“Yes. You don’t have a lot of livestock, but I don’t think you want one of your cows disappearing into the mountainside.”
“The cows don’t go that far. The grazing is too poor.”
“Then that was the ugliest horse I saw wandering near one of the openings.”
“No. You didn’t. Truly?”
He crossed his heart and raised his right hand. “I swear.”
She sighed. “Then by all means, board them up.”
“First thing tomorrow.”
“After the stage comes and goes.”
“Right.”
“Will Digger be ready to ride shotgun? I saw you helping him to the bunkhouse. He was looking rather worse for wear.”
“He was. Hard to know if he’ll recover by morning. Where were you? I didn’t see you.”
“At the kitchen window.”
“Hmm. You don’t miss much that goes on here, do you?”
“With that stray cow being an exception, I hope I don’t. The station is my responsibility.”
