“It’s true. I was there,” Faith confirmed. “I had never heard a man speak in such a way about women and theircontribution to the country. He was very forthright about it, pointing out the value of women as wives and mothers. He stressed that women were the ones raising the leaders of tomorrow, be they men or women.”
“I’m clearly at a disadvantage.” Laura felt close to tears. “You all know him better than I do. I had only a handful of letters over the years. I feel I’ve missed out on so much.”
“Well, you’re here now,” Granny replied. “That’s what matters. You will catch up quickly. I’ve no doubt.”
Laura forced a smile and nodded. “Yes. I will endeavor to do so.”
Granite Evans finished looking over the inventory record, then handed the papers to his clerk. “This looks good, David. Don’t forget to order those new bustles. The ladies are going to be asking for them, and we want to have them in stock.”
“Yes, sir,” the young man replied.
Evans liked the young man. He was industrious and kept to himself unless needed. When Granite had hired him, he knew the boy came with very little experience, but he’d proven himself over and over. Granite had put him in charge of inventory and found the hireling met the challenge with gusto. He might be the kind of man that could manage the entire store one day.
“Let me know when we get in that new order of silk flowers. I want to run an advertisement in the newspaper and have a sale. I think the ladies are going to be especially delighted to have a little beauty available to them in the dead of winter.”
“Very good, Mr. Evans. I believe the flowers will be well received.”
“Go on now. I have another meeting.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Evans.”
Granite didn’t have to wait long before there was a light rap on the door. “Come on in, Gus. What do you have to report?”
The man drifted into the office like a mist. There was something about Gus Snyder that Granite found fascinating. He seemed capable of moving throughout the town almost unseen and made himself so nondescript that anyone who did manage to see him couldn’t remember much about him.
Gus closed the door and took a seat in a chair opposite Evans’s desk. “Got those beeves taken care of.”
“Glad to hear it. I don’t much care for being in the livestock business. Let’s avoid any more acquisitions of four-legged merchandise.”
“I agree. The men aren’t cowboys. A couple of them nearly lost their lives trying to manage that bunch.” There was a hint of a smile on his lips. A rare thing for Synder, to be sure.
“And you’re certain no one is the wiser as to where the animals got off to?”
“No one is ever going to have a clue. When the time is right, we’ll get them sold, and that will be that.”
“Good. Now, what do we have on the agenda?”
For the purposes of the payroll, Gus was in charge of Granite’s three warehouses. For Granite’s more nefarious purposes, however, Gus was his right-hand man.
“We’ve been watching the stage schedule and passenger lists out of Denver. I learned from a friend that there’s to be a money box sent up from Denver on the fifteenth. It’s headed to the First National Bank.”
“Perfect. With any luck, maybe we’ll get a rich banker ortwo accompanying the goods. Those men tend to be foolish enough to travel with large amounts of cash on their person as well as in their strongboxes.”
“It’s always possible one will accompany the money.”
“Well, whoever rides the stage will hopefully be carrying plenty of cash and maybe even jewelry. We’ll take it all. Can your boys be ready in time?”
“Yeah, I have to collect a few of the things we need, but it shouldn’t be all that hard.” He leaned back in the chair. “Oh, I got another cousin comin’ to Cheyenne. He’d be trustworthy to hire on.”
“Good. We can use more men like you.” Granite fixed Gus with a hard look. “You know my daughter is living with me now.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want it clear that no one lays a hand on her. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Gus replied with a nod. “I’ll make sure everyone knows that.”
“I have plans for her, and I won’t have any of those low-life hoodlums taking liberties with her. She’ll be around the house and here at the shop, and I won’t have anyone disrespecting her. Make sure that’s understood.”
