She breathed deeply, and tore her eyes off him. He must have noticed her looking about the room to say that. She’d rather ignore him and his comments about his living quarters. Was he trying to soothe her with trivial conversation? That wasn’t happening.
She glanced between the two beds, one crumpled with bedding, the one she was sitting on made up neatly. “Who else lives here with you?”
He put the grain sack on a shelf before he turned and said, “No one now.”
“Was it my father? Is his mine actually that close to yours?”
“Should I brace myself for another conniption?”
Normally she would be mortified that she’d let him see her at her worst. Good Lord, she’d actually thrown things at him. But he’d deserved it. And then she realized he’d just evaded again!
“I think if I had a gun right now, I’d shoot you,” she said tonelessly.
“And miss.”
“Probably,” she agreed. “Though it would be satisfying to try. You really can’t keep doing this to me. That mine is too important to my family.”
“Well, that’s the thing, Violet Mitchell pretender, it’s not. It’s important to Sullivan, and what’s really important to you is his agenda. Now, I might have thrown a wrinkle into your plan by figuring that out, but you apparently had a fallback plan ready in case I did. Bottom line, Charley’s mine is still none of your business, so do us both a favor and stop nagging me about it.”
“This is bloody absurd. You assumed this impostor nonsense simply because Katie Sullivan befriended me in town, but it’s simply not true. I am exactly who I said I am.”
“I spent enough time with Charley to know he was from the East, Philadelphia, I think he said. You, however, aren’t from there. Sullivan was pretty dumb to hire a foreigner to play the part of Charley’s daughter.”
She sighed. It was suddenly clear why he refused to believe her—he’d even brought it up before. Her accent. Even her brothers had mentioned it.
“I tried to tell you on the trail that I’ve been living with my aunt and uncle in England for the last nine years, which may be why my father never mentioned me to you, and is why I speak with an English accent. Even my brothers teased me about sounding like a Brit now.”
“Are they children?”
“What difference does that make?”
“Then they are?”
“No, they are two years older than I.”
“Then they wouldn’t have let their younger sister come out here alone. You’re just providing more proof that you aren’t a Mitchell.”
She growled under her breath in frustration. “On the trail you implied that once we reached your mine, the truth would be revealed. Well? What kind of proof do you have that what you say and not what I say is the truth?”
“You won’t be leaving here until you admit the truth,” he replied. “That’s all I implied, and I don’t give a damn how long it takes.”
She was dismayed. Her brothers needed help immediately! “That’s unacceptable. My visit to this territory is a matter of the greatest urgency, and besides, I can prove who I am. You need only send a telegram to my brothers. Time is of the essence. I can give you the address, but you might think that’s prearranged. I can also give you their names, but again, you might think they are coconspirators. So just send it to Charles Mitchell’s sons. Our family is well known in Philadelphia. It will be delivered to them and they will confirm that I came here to find our father. And one of them intended to come with me, but he was detained. He was supposed to follow, but sent word that he couldn’t. They are depending on me to find Father’s money. D’you have it?”
“You’re too interested in that money,” he remarked. “Why is that?”
“Because my brothers and I need it.”
That got her a long stare before he said, “The brothers who aren’t actually yours? When it’s more likely that Sullivan has promised you that you can keep any money of Charley’s you find out here?”
“D’you realize how exasperating you are? I told you exactly how you can prove who I am. I demand you take me back to town to do so!”
“Well, that’s not happening, not until I’m ready for another trip, and maybe not even then. You don’t get to lead anyone back here, and letting you loose back in town will just have you running to Sullivan to do that.”
Her brief burst of anger petered out, leaving her with a sigh. “I have no intention of parting company with you when you are the only one who can help me. My brothers are counting on me to fix the dilemma our father left us in.”
“You mentioned you’re on a tight schedule. What’s the hurry, other than Shawn’s damn impatience?”
“I don’t know anything about that man, but my brothers and I are going to lose our family home if you don’t turn over our father’s money immediately. The loan Papa left them with used the house as collateral, and the payments have escalated. If you won’t take me to town so I can get you proof of my identity, then you go. I’ll wait here. You can cover the distance in half the time if you travel alone.”
