She blushed. “I was just curious. Did you herd cattle with that beard, or did it scare the cows into running away?”
“Hell, no, my ma would skin me alive if I came in the house looking like this.” She started to chuckle, but he added, “And I have shaved here—twice, I think.”
She laughed this time, and guessed, “One of your disguises for town? Mountain man, hermit, cowboy, just never miner?”
“Something like that.”
An hour later, with still no bites, she stood up to recast the line farther out. Sitting again, she complained, “You can’t protect me if you’re sleeping.”
“Was I snoring?”
“No.”
“Then figure I’m not sleeping.” He sat up to open the basket between them. “Eat up, just don’t let go of that pole. It’s the only one we’ve got.”
She took the sandwich he handed her. “Are you sure there are fish in this river?”
“Pike and trout. Charley always came back with a basketful.”
She groaned. They’d be there all day if he expected that many fish. But he didn’t seem impatient to get back to work, and she couldn’t get back to the south slope until that wolf and her pups were gone. But more importantly, they were talking, without rancor, without accusations. She was surprised by how nice it felt.
She wondered aloud, “If my father fished here often, might he have hidden his money here?”
“Yeah, but I doubt he did. People passing through this area follow this river north and south, and Charley knew that. Seems to me he would’ve looked for a more private spot where it would be less likely someone would stumble upon his money.” And then, as he dug out a handful of cherries from the basket for her, he asked, “Why’d you get shipped off to England?”
“You make it sound like I was sent away as a punishment. I assure you I wasn’t. Aunt Elizabeth is my mother’s sister and is married to an English lord. When she came to visit us in Philadelphia, she was appalled to find me running wild—her words. I merely liked the outdoors, but I admit I had been skipping some of my studies. But she also upbraided Papa for allowing me to act like an adult when I wasn’t even ten yet. She was concerned that I was missing my childhood. I think Papa was a bit cowed by her. She can be quite formidable. He didn’t argue with her about taking me to England, where I would have a woman’s guidance and be raised properly.”
“You don’t think it’s odd that Charley didn’t tell me about you?”
“Odd for you, but maybe not for him. He probably didn’t think losing his inheritance would affect me, since I was still in England in the care of my aunt and uncle. Or maybe he just didn’t think it appropriate to mention his daughter to a shaggy bear.”
“A bear, huh?”
“I heard more than one person liken you to one when I was in town.”
“But is that also your opinion of me?”
“Well, I won’t say if the shoe fits...”
He laughed, making her smile.
Finished with lunch and seeing him lie back down, she stood up to get more serious about catching a few fish. And standing on the edge of the river, she was able to cast the line out even farther. Ten minutes later she pulled in her first catch and let it plop down on Morgan’s chest, then laughed at how fast he sat up.
“That’s one,” she said, grinning. “One to go.”
“Or three to go, if you want to be nice and catch a couple for Tex. He was tickled pink over that cougar meat you didn’t want. Told me to thank you for turning your nose up at it.”
She chuckled. “No, he didn’t.”
So Texas had been reciprocating over the last few days with two rabbits and a turkey that he’d simply tossed down the cliff for Morgan to find when he came out of the mine. When she’d asked Morgan why she never heard the shots from those kills, he’d told her, “Tex actually prefers a bow and arrows when none of his buddies are around to tease him about it.”
Morgan removed the hook from the fish for her. She returned to the spot on the river’s edge where she’d got lucky and cast the line out again, then looked back at him to ask, “Why did you leave ranching to mine instead? Does your family need money?”
“No, we own a rich spread. But more’n once growing up, I had this idea that Nashart should have a store that stocked all the fancy eastern stuff that my ma, Mary, had to order and then wait weeks or even months for it to be delivered. I can’t count how many times she asked me and my brothers to ride to town to see if the merchandise had arrived. And how many times she looked disappointed when we had to tell her it hadn’t come yet. So I finally decided to build her that store right in our own town, but I couldn’t tell the family about it. Callahans are ranchers, always have been, always will be, and my pa would’ve flat-out balked at my idea, even though my ma is going to be tickled pink.”
“So you came out here to make the money to do it, thereby skipping the argument?”
“Oh, there will still be an argument, and a damn big one, but since I won’t be asking my father for the money, that store is still going to be built.”
