Clara stayed put, hugging herself even more tightly as unease crept through her. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought Roman was angry with her.
He is preoccupied with worry, she told herself. That was all. She could hardly expect smiles and affection when such a terrible thing had just happened to his business. And especially when he had to face down a potentially angry customer.
He was not Gideon. He cared for her and wanted to marry her, and she felt the same about him. Clara looked out over the corral filled with horses. This place was so important to him, which meant that it was important to her too. She would do all she could to help him with his work.
Chapter Fifteen
THE DAY DIDN’T IMPROVEas the morning stretched on.
Jeremiah had already explained to Frederick Templeton what had happened with his horse by the time Roman arrived. The man was upset, of course, and Roman gave him more than what old Felicity was worth. The man didn’t ask for it, but Roman almost felt obligated to do so. Those horses were under his care, and now they were gone. Then he decided to get the other meeting he was dreading done with, and so he took most of what he had left and found Yancy Wise, a man who’d only been in town for about a week. Wise was harder to deal with than Templeton, but finally agreed to take the money.
If anything else happened before he could collect enough in boarding and rental fees, Roman would be selling off one of his own two remaining horses to survive.
Now he stood just inside the stable door, staring again out into the road. He didn’t know what he was looking for. An unfamiliar face, perhaps, but there were plenty of those in Crest Stone lately. It was pointless, he knew even as he stood there. The man—or men—who’d taken horses from him twice were likely long gone.
Were they the same person, or was it just bad luck? Why were they stealing his horses and none from the hotel livery? He’d stopped by and visited Frank Robbins up there after paying Yancy Wise to let them know to be on guard. They’d had no trouble at all. Was it because he was on the edge of town and they were safe up on that hill?
Why hadn’t he insisted on keeping watch after the first time? It wasn’t a mistake he’d make again. Jeremiah had already volunteered to take first watch, but Roman knew they couldn’t go on like that for too long. He needed to hire on more men for that purpose. But with what money? And how could he know who to trust? Marshal Wright had offered to help find men, but he wouldn’t have known them any longer than Roman did..
A rustling sound from behind him drew his attention away from the worries that seemed to parade down the dirt road. Clara stood by the desk, which was only a few slabs of wood nailed together, where they kept the ledger and a running list of clients and horses. The formerly dusty desk was clean, he noticed. And polished to a shine, with the ledger and client books stacked neatly and two pencils, the pen, and the inkwell and blotter arranged in a perfect row. It must have been Clara’s doing.
She watched him now, her eyes green in the sunlight that filtered through the open doors. It felt as if he were seeing her for the first time all day, although he knew she’d been here the entire time.
Here, in his stable, where in the dead of night, a thief made off with two horses. Again. He had no idea who the man was, or what he was capable of. For all he knew, the fellow had already sold off the horses in the mining encampment or to some rancher who didn’t ask questions and was headed back to Crest Stone now. Or there may be multiple men. They might be lurking outside of town, just waiting for the opportunity to return.
This wasn’t a place where any lady should be. Particularly if both he and Jeremiah were off working outside or somewhere in the back, leaving her up here all alone. He had enough on his mind that he couldn’t worry for Clara’s safety on top of all of that.
“Did you wear a coat?” he asked her.
“A shawl.” She gestured at a piece of clothing folded neatly and lying over the back of the chair at the table.
He picked it up and laid it over his arm. “I’ll walk you back.”
“But it’s only two o’clock.” Clara tilted her head in confusion.
“It would be selfish of me to keep you here. It’s far too dangerous.” He led the way to the door, and finally, she stepped forward and joined him.
