Page 71 of The Saloon Girl's Only Shot

“I would.” He nodded. “Thank you. But I should look after my horse first. I came straight here.” He looked to Owen.

“We’ll put him in the wagon house.” Owen scraped the last of his stew in three quick bites. “I’ll meet you out back.”

“You didn’t bring Marigold?” Owen asked when he opened the door of the wagon house. He left the door cracked, so he didn’t have to light the lantern.

“She didn’t fancy a long, cold day in the saddle.”

“I didn’t ask how your honeymoon was going.”

“I honestly don’t know how you still have all your teeth.”

Owen’s gelding, Cobalt, nickered a greeting as Rusty walked by. Rusty gave him a small toss of his head but stood well-mannered as they removed his tack.

“Besides, I’m carrying enough that I didn’t want to lose my partner’s gold to save my wife,” Virgil muttered with a dour look over the horse’s back.

“Thank you for bringing it.” Aside from asking Elmer outright if he’d been responsible for the window, Owen hadn’t spoken to him, but he wouldn’t rest easy until he had cleared the debt with Madame Beauville. He’d told her to put the mine’s takings against it, if necessary. “The strongbox is ready at Pollock’s, by the way. I had a thought to put it down in my cellar. Then we wouldn’t have to walk around with so much on us when we’re in town.”

“Not a bad idea,” Virgil said gruffly. He was a squirrel who liked a hoard in different trees. “We’d have to cement it in. And that doesn’t help us next year, when you’ll be in camp and not here to guard it.”

“True,” Owen agreed.

While Virgil finished drying and brushing Rusty, Owen poured out grain for him, then offered a handful to Cobalt so he wouldn’t feel left out.

“That was a real question, you know. What the hell was I looking at in there?” Virgil asked.

“What? Temperance? It’s the same arrangement you had with Marigold.” Owen started pitching straw into the empty stall.

“She’s your housekeeper and looks after your children?”

“She’s my bookkeeper and looks after my customers.”

“And happens to share your bed while she does that.”

“Whatever Emmett thinks he saw?—”

“Oh, don’t bother. I know when you’re full of shit,” Virgil grumbled. “Who the hell is she, really? All you’ve ever wanted is money, and you finally have some. I’m not going to watch you throw it away on a skirt.”

A sting rose in Owen’s nostrils. “Did I get my nose in your crotch when you brought home the wrong woman from the Express office?” He appreciated Virgil’s concern, he really did, but he was also insulted. “I’m not stupid, Virgil.”

“I didn’t call you stupid. I called you horny. If you’re wanting a woman in your life?—”

“See, you are calling me stupid. I’m not taking Pearl off your hands,” Owen said flatly.

“Is that why you’re here fucking around with this enterprise? Don’t marry Pearl. I don’t care. This isn’t practical. What are you going to do come spring? Leave the running of it to a woman you don’t even know?”

“Damn it, you have always known this is what I want.” Owen pointed to the saloon, aware that Temperance was inside it, relying on him. Which was not what he wanted. Not really. That part was gnawing at him, but he was leaving it alone for now. “If the mine goes bust, or if I get hurt and can’t break my back with a pickaxe anymore, I’ll still have a plot of land and a business to support me. Are you not carrying enough responsibility with your wife and children that you want to keep worrying about me too?”

“I’m just saying, you shouldn’t be trusting a stranger with the future you’re trying to build for yourself.” Virgil led Rusty into the stall and left him there.

“Rest assured, I’m never going back to having nothing but lint in my pockets,” Owen said as they stepped outside. “Check my books if you want to. Then we can both be sure she’s not robbing me blind.”

Clarence trotted up to them.

“He shouldn’t be out—” Owen glanced to the back door and realized Temperance was standing in the open doorway.

“He knew you were out here and kept whining. We have customers.” She closed the door.

Had she heard what he’d just said to Virgil? Shit.

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