Chapter One
CREST STONE, COLORADO- 1877
It wasn’t a bad advertisement at all.
Liam Hannan leaned back in the sturdy desk chair that came with his rented room and studied the sheet of paper while the ink was still drying. He skimmed his own words and smiled in amused satisfaction. It felt odd to write about himself, but he thought he’d done a fair job of it. He hoped at least one woman might find the thought of a tall, auburn-haired fellow with an affable personality, a well-connected job at the town’s land office, and a future as a hotel proprietor intriguing.
The last several months had been challenging for him, to say the least. But Liam had learned a few things. Namely, not to borrow money from men of questionable character. He’d also had to make peace with patience and had promised himself to keep a wide berth from the Starlight Saloon when feeling any degree of distress.
Liam leaned forward and quickly scrawled Mrs. Jacob Gilbert’s name on the envelope. Taking work from Mrs. Gilbert’s husband at the land office had felt demoralizing at first, as if Liam had taken several steps down from his dreams of running his own business, but he’d come to see it as a good thing. It had afforded him the opportunity to make even more connections in town, and, considering Gilbert had helped him out of the bind Liam had found himself in financially, it had been a niceopportunity to prove his worth to the man. As a result, they’d become good friends.
And it had given him the chance to get to know Mrs. Gilbert. Dora Gilbert ran a mail-order bride advertisement business with a lady friend who lived in Cañon City. Together, they’d found wives for a small number of men in Crest Stone. Including, in a strange twist of how the model worked, Liam’s own sister, Deirdre.
Liam liked the way the ladies only took advertisements from men they could personally vouch for. Honest, hard-working fellows who could provide a good life and comfortable home for a decent lady from back East.
He lifted his eyes from the advertisement he’d put inside the envelope and scanned his surroundings. Despite the cheerfulness of the room, it was still just that—a rented room at Darby’s Boardinghouse. He had no home of his own, only the barest beginnings of a business he was rebuilding, and he still wasn’t entirely certain he could trust himself to take things slowly.
Liam sighed and stared down at the envelope. This wasn’t the right time. As much as he ached for something of his own every time he saw his sister and her husband so happy together, it simply wasn’t meant to be at this moment.
He pushed the envelope to the side and stood.Later, he thought as he reached for the jacket hanging over the back of his chair. Perhaps next spring. Once he had his life back in order again, and he could afford to pull some money away from the hotel he was painstakingly saving every penny for. Then he could find something nicer than a single room in a boardinghouse. Something that would make a woman proud to keep and show off.
Patience was the virtue he lived by now, even if it did feel as difficult as climbing straight up a mountain some days.
Outside, the crisp morning air lightened Liam’s steps as he made his way toward the land office in the middle of town. He spoke with nearly everyone whose path he crossed, and by the time he reached the office, his spirits were just as high as they were when he’d penned that advertisement. Despite the mistakes he’d made, people still liked him, and that meant the world.
“It’s far too early for that sort of grin.” From where he stood behind the counter, Jake Gilbert waved his hand at Liam’s smiling face. A steaming mug of coffee at Gilbert’s elbow indicated that he hadn’t been in the office very long.
“It’s never too early for a friendly demeanor.” Liam whistled a cheerful tune as he rounded the counter.
Gilbert raised his eyebrows as he took a sip of coffee.
“You can learn all sorts of things in the morning,” Liam went on. “For instance, did you know that Marshal Wright foiled a robbery at the depot late last night? Or that Mrs. Roederer had her baby?”
Gilbert merely grunted.
“Or that James Gilbert the Senior is due in on the morning train from Denver to inspect his business holdings here in Crest Stone?”
Gilbert choked on his coffee. “Where did you hear that?” he asked between coughs.
Liam raised the corner of his mouth in a half-smile. “I didn’t. Just wanted to make certain you were listening.” He paused, enjoying Gilbert’s relieved irritation for a moment. “That wouldn’t be so terrible, would it, if he came here? I, for one, would enjoy the opportunity to meet your father.” The elder Gilbert had a sprawling empire of railroad hotels, among other business interests. Liam would do just about anything for fifteen minutes with a man like that—even if hewasplanning to build a competing interest in town to James Gilbert’s Crest Stone Hotel.
“You can tell him how much money you borrowed from me to pay those men you hired who were about to riot and take off your head last summer,” Jake said with a good-natured grumble.
“And how quickly I repaid that debt? I imagine that might impress him. You ought to send him a telegram. Invite him down here for a visit.”
Gilbert shook his head. “You’re relentless, Hannan, but I’ll decline. I work better with him in Denver. And me here.”
Liam grinned. As much as he wouldn’t mind meeting James Gilbert, he admired Jake for striking out on his own and not relying on his family’s money and name to make his way. He turned his attention to the calendar on the desk to the right. It showed five—no, six—appointments, with four before noon. And that didn’t include folks who would wander in to inquire about buying the railroad’s land parcels or who would ask about the possibility of a quick sale of land they already owned. He left Jake to his coffee and began to sort through the stack of papers that would need filing at some free moment later that day. That work was tedious, though, and Liam only grudgingly did it when there was no one left in the office to speak with.
“Twenty minutes have passed and you haven’t asked me about Kerry.”
Liam glanced up from the notes he was making in advance of their first appointment. In his quest for patience, he’d promised himself he wouldn’t badger Gilbert about Fred Kerry, a fellow who’d bought a parcel of land last spring only to find himself nearly bankrupt before he could do a thing with it.
“I haven’t,” Liam said carefully, setting down the document in his hand. “I figured you’d tell me if you had any news.”
Gilbert turned and leaned against the counter, a catlike grin stretching across his face. “I might have something you’d like to hear about that situation.”
Liam swallowed, trying to keep the hope blossoming in his chest at bay. “And?”
