Page 13 of Borrowed Time

Sighing would have required too much work, thanks to that damn corset, so instead, I plucked the napkin from its spot next to my place setting and put it in my lap as Seth sat down in the chair opposite mine. To be fair, it seemed as if my body was getting used to the constricting whalebone, and I had to admit Ithought I might actually be able to survive wearing the thing for hours and hours at a time.

I’d better. It wasn’t as if I had much choice in the matter.

The menus were simple pieces of card stock printed with the breakfast selections on one side and the lunch offerings on the other. To my relief, while there were a few dishes I didn’t recognize, most of them seemed familiar enough.

So, did my healing body want eggs and bacon, or a big plate of pancakes?

I had to admit pancakes sounded wonderful, although that was probably more because I hadn’t had them in forever than because they’d actually help me recover more quickly from that gunshot wound.

“Coffee?” asked a girl who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen at the most. She wore a high-necked black dress with a white apron covering most of it and a poufy little white cap that couldn’t quite hide her bright red hair.

“Yes, please,” Seth and I both replied at the same time, and a hint of a dimple showed next to her mouth.

“Coming right up.”

She sounded Irish to me, which I supposed made sense. Hadn’t there been a lot of Irish immigrants in the United States during the nineteenth century?

My recollections from the U.S. history classes that had once bored me to tears seemed to tell me that was the case, so I thought it wasn’t too surprising that some of those immigrants had made their way to the Arizona territories. I hoped she had family in Flagstaff, though; the girl seemed awfully young to be here on her own.

After she poured our coffee, she asked what we would like for breakfast. Seth ordered a big plate of eggs and ham and muffins, while I made a last-minute decision and also ordered eggs, although with bacon and toast.

Feeling virtuous for resisting the lure of those pancakes, I reached for the little pitcher of cream that sat on the cloth-covered table and poured some into my coffee. “Cream?” I asked, and Seth shook his head.

“No, thank you.” His blue eyes took on a wicked glint as he added, “I’m surprised you don’t remember that,sister.”

It probably would have been too much to stick out my tongue at him, so I settled for shaking my head before I got down to the business of blowing on my coffee so it would be cool enough to drink.

Eyes still dancing, he did the same. “So, what’s the plan for today?”

Good question. I supposed if we really had been Prewitt siblings looking for “Eliza,” then we would have gone around town and talked to any people who’d known her, trying to see if we could turn up any clues that might point to where she had disappeared.

Maybe that was what we should do anyway. It would fit our cover story, and it would give Seth and me a chance to get out and about and learn a bit more about Flagstaff in the 1880s. Yes, my mother had told me the tale many times, but still, hearing the details from someone else was nothing like experiencing a place in person.

“We should talk to the people who knew Eliza,” I said, and for just a moment, Seth looked blank.

But then he nodded, as though pulling up the details of the story I’d told him the day before. “Yes, that sounds like a good idea. They might not have anything new to offer, but we won’t know unless we try.”

Before I could say anything in reply, the front desk clerk came over, holding a folded piece of white paper. “For you, miss,” he said, and handed it to me.

Mystified, I took the note from him and murmured a thank-you. As Seth looked on, equally confused, I unfolded the paper so I could read its contents.

A man’s hand, dark and slanted, one I’d never seen before.

Dear Miss Landon,

I hope this note finds you and your brother well. If it is not too much of an imposition, I would like to have the two of you over for tea at three o’clock this afternoon so we might discuss the particulars of your sister’s disappearance.

If you cannot attend, please let the desk clerk know, and he will pass the word on to me. Otherwise, I will see you both at three.

Your servant,

Jeremiah Wilcox

I blinked, and looked up to see the man still hovering near my elbow. “How kind,” I said, and gazed across the table at Seth. “Mr. Wilcox would like to see us for tea this afternoon. I trust that will not interfere with our plans?”

“Not at all,” he replied at once. “I know we can make room in our schedule for tea.”

Even though the note had said to let the clerk know only if we couldn’t make it, I still thought I should say something to confirm our attendance. “We will be there,” I told him.

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