Violet grinned. “I’m good at fussing.”
“You’re good at bossing, sweetness,” Charles corrected gently. “Even in your letters!”
She laughed. “Let’s call it fussing, shall we? But you don’t have to part ways with Abigail Hall. Our home in Philadelphia is currently without a housekeeper, so you could offer her the job. And she can help you shop for furniture. I wouldn’t trust that task to my brothers.”
“What happened to—?” Charles started, but then sighed. “This damned heart. If it hadn’t caused me to hit my head that day, I would have paid off that loan in just one more week, thanks to Morgan. The situation was never supposed to turn so dire that your brothers would summon you back from London, but I’m so fortunate that you came.”
“And now it’s not dire, thanks to Morgan,” she said.
Charles smiled at Morgan. “I understand you’ve been incredibly generous again in loaning my daughter enough money to stop her immediate worries. We’ll need to discuss how to pay that back—”
“I’ve already done that, Papa,” Violet cut in. “Morgan and I struck up a new partnership agreement whereby Evan and Daniel will come west to work in the mine until they earn enough money to pay Morgan back, and then maybe”—she glanced at Morgan questioningly—“Morgan will agree to a fifty-fifty arrangement for the boys to continue mining.”
“Your daughter needs a dowry for her English lord,” Morgan said scornfully.
Charles looked puzzled. Violet blushed and told her father, “We can discuss England later.”
“Any arrangement we made was discussed before we knew Charley is alive,” Morgan said. “He and I will discuss a mutually satisfactory arrangement when you aren’t around.”
“He’s right, sweetness, you no longer need to concern yourself with business matters.”
Feeling a little hurt, she offered, “Should I leave so you can do that now?”
“No, of course not,” Charles said, and hugged her more tightly to him. “Morgan and I will find time to talk later. We’re not going anywhere yet, and I’m certainly not leaving Montana until I hear the results of Sullivan’s trial.”
“That could take a few more days, at the very least,” Morgan pointed out.
“I’ve already concluded that,” Charles replied. “And as long as there is going to be a delay, I intend to return to the mines tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?!” Violet and Morgan said almost at the same time, but Violet added, “Out of the question. It’s too soon for you to ride a horse.”
“Nonsense, my dear. I might have to ride slowly, but I assure you that I can ride.”
He wanted to retrieve his hidden money, she realized. And, while she was dying of curiosity to know where he’d hidden it, she was more concerned about his health.
Charles added, “I promise I’ll stop at the slightest twinge, and I can rest up there at a camp for a few days. By the time we return, the sheriff should be back in town. And besides, I have a few things to pick up there before we go home. Mainly I left my pocket watch in the cabin. You know that watch is very dear to me. It’s a symbol of love and the happy marriage I enjoyed with your mother, something I want to leave to you to ensure you’re blessed with a marriage that is as happy as mine was. I’m not leaving the territory without it.”
Touched by her father’s words, Violet hated having to tell him the bad news. “It’s not there. I checked your valise as soon as I thought about that memento.”
“That’s not where I kept it. I shaved every morning and kept my shaving tools in a bag on the shelf. I would put the watch in it every night to remind me to put it back in my pocket in the morning. Otherwise I forgot it. Dreadful habit of mine to forget about trinkets if they’re not right under my nose.”
“I forgot about that little bag of yours,” Morgan confessed.
“No reason for you to remember it when you were always in the mine by the time I performed my morning ablutions. But the day I had the accident, I didn’t shave. I’d already had a few twinges in my chest and didn’t feel up to it. By noon I was feeling better and hurried out to the mine. You know the rest. Besides, I’m also going back to dig out my money. It appears I need to refurnish the house as soon as I get home, and that money will come in handy.”
Dig it out, not up? “Where did you hide it? I searched everywhere,” Violet said.
He grinned playfully. “You’ll see.”
She’d rather not. She’d rather talk him out of going back there. Morgan could gather her father’s belongings and money and send them to him in Philadelphia. If he would. If he stopped being mad at her long enough to do them a favor.
She waited for him to suggest it, but instead Morgan said, “I’ll see if I can borrow a wagon tomorrow and get it fitted with a mattress for you. If you insist on going up to the mines, you can at least do it with a care for your health.”
“You know that a wagon will make the trip even longer,” Charles pointed out.
“Yeah, I know,” Morgan said on his way out the door.
Violet’s mouth had dropped open, so she snapped it shut. Then she couldn’t help saying in a grouchy tone, “He always gets his way, doesn’t he?”
