She turned back to them, her gaze scanning from him toher sister to White Horse to Riley. “I suppose what’s done is done. The question is”—she turned her focus sharply on Tanner—“should this ever happen again?”
He had to be careful how he answered. But he had to be truthful too. “In a similar situation, if I feel it’s the best way to protect Lorelei, I think allowing that misunderstanding might be best. As long as it doesn’t endanger her reputation, of course. If a man plans to stay in these parts, we’ll be honest with him and make it clear none of the Collins sisters are to be bothered.”
Rosemary stiffened at those last words. She certainly took her duties as a protective older sister seriously and didn’t like any insinuation she wasn’t up to the task.
He turned to Lorelei for distraction. “But I suppose the decision is ultimately yours. If you wish me not to allow such a misunderstanding, I’ll make our lack of connection clear.”
She met his gaze, bashfulness glimmering in her brown eyes. Her cheeks had flushed a pretty pink, but she didn’t shy away from the directness of his focus. “I’m thankful any time I don’t have to deal with overzealous suitors. And I trust your judgment.”
Did that mean she didn’t mind the thought of being associated so closely with him? He studied her a moment longer but couldn’t tell. He forced himself to look away from her. To face her sister once more.
Rosemary studied him as Lorelei had, and her expression proved far easier to read. That shrewd look was taking his measure, determining whether she could trust his assessments or whether he would twist a situation for his own benefit. No mere words on his part could answer that question. Only his actions.
Hopefully he’d already shown he would act in their best interest. That would have to be enough.
And if it wasn’t ... Well, this wouldn’t be the first time he’d done his very best and been found lacking.
At last, Rosemary growled out an answer. “I suppose. Only when you think the man might be a threat or a nuisance to Lorelei. And you’re to tell the rest of us anytime you have to use the ruse.” She turned to her sister. “You’d better take care to stay out of sight. Don’t go into the trade room.”
A twinge worked its way through his chest. He’d come to look forward to Lorelei’s visits when he didn’t have customers.
Beside him, Lorelei stiffened. The quietness from a moment before was replaced by firm determination. “I’ll go where I need to, Rosie. But have no fear, I won’t put myself in harm’s way if I can help it.”
“Lorelei.” Rosemary sounded just like a frustrated older sister.
He had to bite back a grin at the way Lorelei pushed back at the smothering protection of her family. Despite her sweet temperament, Lorelei Collins possessed a determined streak he’d do well not to underestimate.
seventeen
Was he doing the right thing?
Tanner led the hobbling man named Adams around the outside of the fort wall to the gate beside the cabin that had become far more Lorelei’s quarters than his own.
After Rosemary’s stern command yesterday for Lorelei not to come into the trade room, he hadn’t dared call for her and White Horse to come speak to this fellow inside. But the news he had to share might be of value, and they would have questions for him Tanner might not think of. Letting him speak with the two of them outside seemed like the best choice.
He opened the gate and poked his head inside. Lorelei and White Horse were working with Curly, doctoring the abscessed hoof.
They looked up at the sound of the gate creaking, and he motioned them over. “I have someone you’ll want to speak to.” He wouldn’t allow any stranger inside these walls, not even a man who seemed as friendly and innocent as this old codger.
Lorelei rose from where she knelt by the calf’s injured hoof, and she and White Horse strode toward Tanner. He stepped back outside the gate and turned to Adams. “I appreciate you taking time to tell more of what you saw. Hopefully it will help us find our friend.”
The man tipped up the front of his wide-brimmed hat. “Tickled to be of service, if I can. It was the strangest thing, that cave decked out just like a house.”
Tanner raised a staying hand to pause the man before he rambled through the story again. Better to let Lorelei and White Horse hear all the details.
The gate beside him swung open, and White Horse stepped out first, followed by Lorelei. Both their gazes caught on Adams, then Lorelei’s focus swung to Tanner with a question in her eyes. Despite the pretend-marriage debacle from yesterday, her look held a measure of trust. Did she wonder if he’d also allowed this man to think they were husband and wife?
Tanner hadn’t yet managed a chance to speak with her alone, since her sister stayed until well after dark the night before. But he had to find that moment today. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable being here.
Just now, though, they had a far different conversation to carry out.
He turned to encompass all three of them. “Mr. Adams and his companions came to trade, and he mentioned a cave they found in the mountains not far from here.” He motioned for the man to take over the story, and Adams jumped in with an enthusiastic nod.
“The boys and me was trappin’ down along a little creek in this skinny valley, and I’d been eyein’ the trail up one ofthe slopes where the mountain goats go off in the afternoon. The sunsets this time of year are somethin’ wonderful to behold, but the peaks all around us didn’t allow for much view. I got it in my head to climb that mountain goat trail one eve and watch the sunset.”
He grabbed the brim of his hat and swiped it off his head, revealing a matted mess of wiry brown hair. He slapped the hat against his leg. “Right up there near the top, the trail passed right by this skinny little hole in the rock. Well, I gots curious and peeked inside. It was deeper’n I expected, so I lit a twig from my pipe, and the spark showed a sight I never would’ve imagined. The place was a cave, as long as from here to that corner.” He motioned to the far end of Lorelei’s quarters. “But skinnier, and not even tall enough for me to stand straight.” That was saying something, for the wiry fellow only came up to Tanner’s chin.
Adams’s voice took on the excitement of before. “The thing that were the most curious was how the place was empty. Ashes and a few dead coals showed where a bunch of fires had been laid at the far end, and a stack of branches aside it looked ready for another. Someone had stacked up furs in a nice little bed nearby. What’s more, two mountain goat hides were stretched out on frames that could be moved around. One looked dry enough to be taken down and worked over, but the other felt nearly fresh.”
