Page 65 of Inventions of the Heart

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

BUT WHAT ABOUT OURTRACTION ENGINE?”Michelle shook Zane’s shoulder.

She knew Zane had gotten very quiet this afternoon. He was very alert for trouble, as they all were. But in the city, well, it was almost impossible to notice everyone. And as a man who’d rarely left his ranch, trying to notice everyone in a madhouse like San Francisco had to be nearly overwhelming. Still, she’d thought he intended to stay awhile. He’d definitely mentioned shopping.

“Do we have to decide this now?” Zane sounded more than half-asleep.

She’d noticed he tended to fall asleep quickly after they’d spent some time doing married things in the night. She did too.

But go home tomorrow? Tomorrow? “The last time I saw Mama and Laura we barely had a day with them. I thought maybe we’d have a bit longer.”

A rustling stirred the bed and suddenly the lantern on the bedside table, which was kept turned down through the night, went brighter as Zane turned it up. He rolled onto his side to face her.

“Michelle, I thought you knew when you married me, we’d be living at the ranch.”

She swallowed. She had known that. Yes, he’d agreed to lengthy visits during the slower seasons on the ranch. She didn’t think summer was one of those, as Zane and his men were out working from dawn to dusk every day, doing ... she wasn’t sure what.

The silence stretched, but she wasn’t upset with him. She was upset with herself.

“I did know that. You’re right. We’ve been away long enough. The train makes the trip to Lodi daily. We’ll head home tomorrow. It would be best especially to get Jilly out of here since she’s still vulnerable. Though I do feel as if I’m leaving Mama and Laura in danger, too.”

“They should probably get back to the mountain as soon as they possibly can. They’re not safe here. There is no way to know who might be on the payroll of one of those men you talked about.” Zane yawned. “It also occurred to me, you’re familiar enough with ironworks and waterwheels and other such things that you can place your orders with a letter. We don’t have to go to the businesses to buy them. You could even write the letter before we leave tomorrow so they’d receive it right away and could make arrangements to ship things. I really like the idea of a waterwheel. Do you think we need to hire skilled men to put it in or can you and Jilly do it? With my men’s help, of course.”

That coaxed a smile out of her. “Thank you for trusting me with such a big project. I’ve looked at the waterways on your property, and Jilly has done a thorough inspection of your pastures. Small waterwheels will do the trick, so we’re not talking about massive projects with terribly heavy rockwork, although the streams will have to be temporarily rerouted, and that’s always a big job. Yes, the orders can be done with letters more quickly than if I went to the businesses individually. The traction engine can come later. As a matter of fact, I heard of a new development in the engines that makes them even more useful. I can give them a few months to work on it and get the most up-to-date device. We can head back. There’s work to do at the ranch, and the drought is stretching on. We need that irrigation.”

“Thank you, Michelle.” Suddenly, a very warm and friendly Zane was kissing her. She had pleased him. It surprised her how much she enjoyed doing that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight to the man she was choosing over her childhood home, her mother, her dreams of how she’d live her life.

That was all as God commanded, and it pleased her that God’s way suited her.

THE WHOLE FAMILY LEFT TOWNthe next day. Once Zane spoke of his concerns, it spread like wildfire.

Yes, they needed to get to a safer place. Yes, trouble could follow them. Jarvis’s breaking into Zane’s house proved that. Much had been done to make them safe, but risks still remained.

Mama Stiles, Laura, Caleb, Nick, and those with them would stop at a few more businesses, then head for the mountains. Michelle wrote her orders and sent the letters, and then she, Jilly, and the whole Hart family went to the ranch.

Rather than whine about missing her mama, Michellehad acted like getting to see her family was a treat that she appreciated and would get to enjoy again. Zane’s heart was warmed by hearing Michelle speak of the ranch as home.

Jilly agreed easily to leave the dangers of San Francisco. But for her it was more. Zane saw the spark in her eyes when Michelle talked with her about waterwheels, windmills, copper boilers for hot water, and lots of pipes. There were plans already being discussed to erect a special building for Michelle’s experiments.

A woman who got this excited about boilers and pipes might have some trouble finding a husband. Especially a woman as hostile to the idea of marriage as Jilly. Zane had hoped she might turn her eyes toward Josh, but the two seemed to have no interest in each other. Jilly was prone to rolling her eyes when Josh got started about his travels. And Zane had to admit his brother could get very long-winded. Oh, all right, he was boring.

Mama planned to head for home through Sacramento for an additional meeting with Governor Booth. Zane absolutely refused to think of him as Uncle Newt. While in the state capitol, they were going to talk to the US Marshals about additional guards, hoping the marshals could be trusted.

Before the sun was straight overhead in the sky, Zane and his family were on a train headed for Lodi.

The ordered items would be a while shipping to Lodi, and Zane planned to arrange for them to be hauled by wagon at least to Dorada Rio, while some of the larger pieces that needed specially built heavy wagons and mule teams would be hauled all the way home. No reason he had to ride all over creation tracking them down. The orders were to be shipped as they were ready, so Michelle and Jilly could get to workon whatever arrived first. Not all of the overwhelming order would come at once, thank heavens.

The trip home took them until nearly sunset. Only an almost desperate need to get Michelle to safety pushed Zane on. He considered the Two Harts safe, even knowing it had been attacked before.

It might have been wiser to stay overnight in Dorada Rio rather than risk riding in the waning light when they had men after them with reputations as sneaks and back-shooters. But tiring as the train ride was, he’d done little but sit all day. He was full of restless energy.

Michelle was riding side-by-side with him, everyone else strung out behind on horseback, when the Two Harts came into sight.

“It’s nice to be home.” Michelle sounded genuinely relieved to be here.

Zane turned and smiled at her.

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