“It means I’m not saying a word about it. Not a word, you devil.” She looked at Laurel, who was standing at the head of the table slack-jawed and pink-cheeked. “That’s how it’s done. I hope you were paying attention.” With that as her parting shot, she left the room swinging her wide hips so that her skirt fluttered about her legs.
3
Call sat back in his chair and eased his long legs under the table as he split the biscuit. “Well,” he said, grinning, “that was unexpected.”
“I apologize for that.”
“Why?”
“Because...” Laurel searched for a reason. Lamely, she repeated, “Because.”
“Yes, then,” he said easily, tongue in cheek. “Understandable.”
Laurel watched him bite into one half of his biscuit and chew it with evident enjoyment, though whether it was the biscuit he was actually enjoying or her embarrassment was not at all clear. She decided to move the conversation to firmer ground. “Why did you ask Brady if you could ride shotgun?”
Call finished off half of the biscuit before he answered. “The stage is uncomfortably crowded. I was the last to board and had to wedge myself between the flatulent preacher and the dandy.”
“The dandy? Oh, you mean the reporter.”
“Mm.”
Laurel did not question him further on that account. The reporter was a bit of an odd duck, but she didn’t doubt he was what he said he was. Since the discovery of silver at Stonechurch and the resurgence of the mine after the gold veins had played out, Ramsey Stonechurch hadattracted the interest of newspapers across the country. A reporter on the trail was nothing unusual.
She said, “So you wanted to join Brady on the box because you were cramped.”
“That was the least of it. You heard me mention the preacher’s flatulence.”
A hint of a smile lifted one corner of Laurel’s mouth. “I did.”
“So there was that,” Call said. “Worse, I was starting to feel a little green.”
“Jealous, you mean?”
“No. I mean sick. Sitting inside a swaying carriage turns my stomach. The window shades were drawn to combat the dust so looking out was not possible. I find that helps a little. What helps the most is riding in the box. When the driver dismissed my request, I relied on the second means of dealing with the motion. I slept.”
“Ah. I hadn’t considered that. Your sensitivity is not an unusual condition. I’ve been told it’s similar to being on a ship.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“You got out and walked when you were able, didn’t you?”
“I did. The driver said there would be an opportunity to walk during the next leg. I’m probably the only man looking forward to it.” Call decided he didn’t want the second half of his biscuit after all. With a self-deprecating grin, he laid it on his empty plate and pushed the plate away.
“Let me talk to Brady,” Laurel said. “No promises that he’ll change his mind. You’re a stranger. He might not want your company.”
“Understood. When I made my request, it wasn’t my intention to merely sit beside him, but perhaps I wasn’t clear. The Colt your man took from me isn’t my only weapon. My twelve-gauge is with my bag. I have some experience riding shotgun. I worked for Overland after the war.”
“I take it you didn’t mention that to Brady.”
“No. He turned me down so fast I didn’t see the point in explaining.”
“And after Overland went belly up when the railroad took their mail route?”
“Odd jobs mostly.”
“That’s all?” she asked.
Call shrugged. “I took up with some of the smaller stage lines that haven’t felt the impact of the railroad.”
