Again a shrug. That movement was feeling like a protective action. A way to hide how he really felt. “My father brought in my cousin to be his successor. I realized that had been his plan all along. There was no need for me to learn the mercantile business.”
Though even the bitter edge had been excised from his casual tone, the words made her want to reach out and hug him. “I’m so sorry.” That paltry statement could do nothing to ease the pain of what must have felt like a betrayal.
He picked up a biscuit, and his voice shifted to a forced lighter tone. “It turned out to be for the best. I joined the Boston Day Police and eventually made detective. That was much more satisfying work than pulling orders from shelves.” Though his defensive façade was still firmly in place, something in that final statement rang true. He made a savvy businessman, but that same intuition and quick mind would make him an excellent detective.
She gave him a soft smile. “I’ll bet you were very good at solving mysteries and protecting people.”
A shadow crossed his face. Had she pushed too far, or did a memory haunt him? Would he speak of it without prodding?
He didn’t say anything at first, but he didn’t take another bite either. Maybe if she stayed still and quiet, like she did with a frightened creature, he would trust her.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “You might say I was too good at those things. I uncovered a scheme to defraud my father’s company of most of its working capital. I successfully brought the players to trial, but during the proceedings, I discovered the man who’d orchestrated it all.” He finally sent a glance her way. “An inside man. My cousin Cameron.”
She sucked in a breath. The man his father had chosen over Tanner to be his successor had proven a criminal? How must that have made Tanner feel?
As tears welled in her eyes, she pressed a hand to his arm. “Oh, Tanner. What did your father say? I’ll bet he was so grateful.”
Tanner looked down at her hand, then up to her face. Every line of his features had pulled so tight, he looked like a stone statue. “He asked how I could dare destroy the empire he’d built by running its name through the muck. He said he never wanted to see me again.”
Her throat closed, and she couldn’t draw breath as pain washed through her. She nearly stepped into his arms. This man deserved far more than a hug to alleviate his pain, but that was all she could offer. Instead, she managed to squeeze out a few words. “Oh, Tanner.”
His mouth pulled into a mirthless smile. “He didn’t mean that last part. He often said things like that in a fit of ire. But I took him at his words. I left Boston and my job behind. I sold the five percent portion of Mason Mercantile my father had given me on my eighteenth birthday and usedit to fund this trading post. Wally and our other partner, George, agreed to join me in the venture, and we started preparations.”
He shrugged. “I’m glad things worked out the way they did. I like it much better here than in Boston.” Then he bit into the biscuit, probably as much to end the conversation as to finish the meal.
She couldn’t blame him. Her insides still felt numb from his story. He’d been through so much. Had been spurned by his family. By his father, the man who should have been his strongest supporter. And yet he’d turned and made the best of his circumstances, starting out on this new venture he was already proving very competent at.
The quiet was beginning to feel heavy. She should find something lighter to say. She glanced toward the still-empty doorway. “Do you think White Horse stayed to take his meal in the Sioux camp?” She was half jesting, but the thought wasn’t impossible. Perhaps he’d made friends there. He was a grown man and could come and go as he liked.
Tanner shook his head as he swallowed his bite. “He might be circling the perimeter of the fort to make sure all is as it should be. He’s never far. Speaking of discernment, his intuition is better than any man I’ve known. He has an uncanny way of appearing exactly when my sign language skills are failing me.”
She smiled. “He’s a good man. We were lucky to find him, even though we still haven’t located his mother.”
“His mother?”
Lorelei hesitated. Was there any reason she shouldn’t tell Tanner about Steps Right? No. In fact, maybe he couldhelp listen for any news of her from those who came into the trade room.
“More than twenty years ago, our father came west to trap for a season, and a Peigan Blackfoot woman named Steps Right saved his life. As Papa was dying, he made us promise to bring back a necklace of blue crystal beads that belonged to her. That’s why my sisters and I came west to the rendezvous last summer.
“We never found Steps Right. Actually, there seemed to be quite a mystery around her disappearance. But we did find White Horse, her son. His mother had been sent away from their village, and he’d settled her in a cave in the mountains. But then she disappeared. We still don’t know where she is, though White Horse is certain she’s alive and will send word to him when she’s ready to be found.”
That familiar unrest stirred in her soul. Was it really all right to leave an elderly woman to survive in the mountains by herself? Even one as capable as White Horse said his mother was? It seemed they should be searching for her, not waiting idly for news.
Tanner regarded her. “Do you think she’s safe?”
He must have been listening to her thoughts. “White Horse seems to think so, and he knows her better than any of us. Would you keep her in mind, though, as you hear trappers talking? We met a man last autumn who said he’d been nursed back to health by an Indian woman in a cave near here. That’s why we built the ranch where we did, so we could seek her out. We haven’t found another sign of her, even though Riley and Juniper searched more and asked about her on their travels.”
Tanner gave a firm nod. “I will.”
As he took another bite of the tough bear steak, quiet settled between them. But after he swallowed, he spoke once more. “So, cream cake on your birthday ... Do you have any other traditions for your special day?”
She bit her lip to keep from smiling. Why had he returned to this topic? “Not really. My father used to take me riding. One time we found a nest of newborn baby bunnies. We didn’t touch them, of course, but he let me stay and watch as long as I wanted.”
Another memory slipped in. “That was the first year Juniper made cream cake, I think. Our mother had taken Rosie away for medical treatments, so I think Juniper was trying to do something special to keep me from missing them. She invited all the ranch hands and even the neighbors. We had so many people, there wasn’t room for everyone in our kitchen, so most ate outside. That really was a grand day.”
Tanner’s eyes had softened as he watched her. “It sounds like it. How old were you?”
“Turning five, I think.” She tried to keep her voice casual, as though that memory wasn’t one of her very favorites.
