For all her strength, for all her brave certainty, she was wounded, and Mae would not risk having her hurt more. She eased away, smiling.

"There's three people in town it's good to know--the banker, the marshal, and the doctor. You're the best looking of the lot."

Vance laughed. "Then I count myself fortunate."

"I suppose you know it might help if you ate right and tried to sleep regular," Mae said carefully. "With the spells."

"You're quite correct. I have never been an easy patient."

Mae laughed. "Somehow, I find that easy to believe."

"Will you dine with me tomorrow?"

"A friendship with me will be frowned upon by every important person in this town, and most that aren't."

Vance made an impatient gesture. When she spoke, it was with the unconscious force she had used to command men. "Will you dine with me tomorrow? Here or at the hotel or any place of your choosing."

The only other woman who had ever looked at her and seen more than a whore in a fancy dress had been Jessie. But even Jessie had never looked at her with the kind of fire that burned in Vance Phelps's eyes.

"Yes. Yes, I will."


CHAPTER TEN

"I shall return in thirty minutes." Martin looked dubious as Kate took a stack of the freshly printed broadsheets from his arms and started toward the side door of the Golden Nugget. The jaunty sound of the piano was muted, but still audible--an uncomfortable reminder of the raucous activities within.

"I'll go directly upstairs, so you needn't worry," Kate replied, as if reading her father's mind. "One of my friends will bring the papers down and leave them at the bar. I'll just have a visit, and I'll watch at the window for you to return. I'll be fine."

"I'm not entirely certain--"

"When Jessie was here, recovering from her wounds, I came every day and almost every evening. It was perfectly safe."

"Those were extraordinary circumstances. You were helping to nurse her." Martin smiled fondly. "And I knew I would not be able to keep you away."

"No, you couldn't, and I'll always appreciate you understanding that." Kate remembered the terrible few days after Jessie had been shot. Even now, the thought that she might have lost her caused her stomach to clench painfully. She hated being separated from her, even for a few days, and every time Jessie left with Jed or one of the other men on these increasingly frequent trips up into the mountains, she worried. She pushed away the uneasiness that came from not knowing just where Jessie was or what she was doing. It was something she supposed she would have to get used to, now that they lived together. It had been easier, in some ways, when she lived in town and Jessie was at the ranch. Then, what Jessie did every day was less real to her, and the dangers far more abstract. Now, she was learning just how difficult life could be in the untamed land where she'd chosen to make her home. "I have friends here. You needn't worry."

"I expect I shall always worry, as is a father's duty." He touched her shoulder affectionately. "But I have always known you to be sensible, so I will yield to your judgment." He turned as if to leave, and then looked back. "Are you still happy with your decision to...go with Jessie?"

Remembering that she was speaking to her father, Kate chose her words carefully. The love he would surely understand. The passion, the sense of completeness--those were things too private to share. "I love her, and she loves me. I have the life I want." She couldn't hide her joy.

"I'm so happy that you and Mother have allowed it. Thank you."

Martin snorted softly, thinking of Kate's threat to run away with Jessie if anyone tried to keep them apart. He had no doubt she'd meant it. "You left us no choice, but I'll admit that I can see she suits you." He shook his head. "I never thought that I would see the things I've seen out here--men killing other men for a pocketful of gold dust, women doing for themselves and surviving, nature claiming lives like some merciless servant of an avenging God. Happiness can be a rare thing. If she gives you that, and you her, it's a gift."

"She does." Kate kissed his cheek. "Now, off with you or we'll be so late that Mother will surely want to know where we were."

With that threat hanging in the air, Martin waited until Kate entered the building, then hurried away.

v Kate climbed the back stairs to the hallway on the second floor and went directly to Mae's rooms. She knew Mae's habits from the weeks she'd spent in these very same rooms helping to care for Jessie, so she was surprised when no one answered her knock. Still, she knew where Mae would be and set off to find her.

She nodded a greeting to several of the young women who had rooms along the corridor and fell in behind them as they started down the stairs to the saloon. Rapidly, she scanned the already crowded room. By the time she reached the first floor and had not found Mae, she decided to leave the newspapers with Frank and return the way she had come. She had almost reached the end of the bar at the back of the room, where far fewer men were congregated, when she was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"Might I be of service, madam?" a man inquired. His black hair was slicked back with pomade and his thick mustache extravagantly curled. He sported a dark suit with a black satin cravat, a brown velvet waistcoat, and an appraising glint in his eye.

"Thank you, but no," Kate said politely, allowing more than a hint of Boston to show through in her speech. "I'm just going to give these to Mr. Williams and I'll be leaving."

"Allow me to accompany you, then," he said, smoothly tucking her hand into the bend of his arm. "Phineas Drake." He bowed slightly.

"At your service."

Kate inclined her head. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr. Drake. I appreciate your offer of assistance, but I can assure you it's not necessary."

When she attempted to extract her hand, he clasped her fingers and drew her even more tightly to his side. Although there was nothing truly unseemly about his actions, she was uncomfortable with the press of his body against hers. Even when she had kept reluctant company with Ken Turner, he had rarely done more than lift her hand to his lips.

She was unused to anyone other than Jessie so close to her. Rather than allow him to see her discomfort, she decided the best course was to complete her mission as quickly as possible. "Let me put these on the bar, and then I shall be done."

"Perhaps then you would do me the honor of sitting with me for a while. You are by far the finest company I could hope for."

Kate managed to deposit the newspapers, slip her hand from his grip, and move away. She faced him, her expression cold. "I'm sorry. I really must be going."

Something in his face hardened and he took a quick step toward her.

"Why, Kate," Mae said with a small laugh, twining her arm around Kate's waist. "I'm so sorry I'm late." She batted her lashes at Phineas.

"Don't tell me your card game is over so soon? You're not losing, I hope?"

Through narrowed eyes he observed them both, then gave a conciliatory smile. "No, not at all. I was merely stretching my legs when it was my good fortune to come upon this beauty." He lifted Kate's hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles, his eyes fixed on her breasts. "Perhaps, Mae my sweet, you will support my humble plea that this dear lady grace me with her company for a few moments."

"And let those cards get cold?" Subtly, Mae drew Kate away.

"You'll have plenty of time for company when you've relieved some of those eager gentleman of the coins weighing down their pockets."

In a voice too low for Drake to hear, Mae said, "Just keep walking and pretend you're telling me the most amusing story."

Kate put on a bright smile as she hurried off with Mae, feeling the gambler's eyes burning on her skin. "I'm so sorry. I hope I haven't created trouble for you."

"Nothing of the sort," Mae said grimly, although her smile did not falter. "I enjoyed getting in the way of his plans." She pulled Kate under the stairs. "What in heaven's name are you doing here?"

"I just came--"

A deep voice said quietly, "I would be pleased to disabuse that gentleman of any ideas he might have regarding you, should you ladies require it."

Kate turned from Mae and looked into the deepest, darkest eyes she'd ever seen. For one brief instant she saw sympathy, gentle empathy, and more than a little temper. She smiled, recognizing a bit of Jessie in the handsome stranger. It was that more than the discreetly pinned-up coat sleeve that told her this was the woman Mae had told of. Like Jessie, she wore her unconventional attire with natural ease, as if anything else would be foreign to her.

"We ladies," Mae said archly, although her tone was playful, "are quite capable of handling a snake on two legs if we have to."

"He seems to have quite an interest in you." From her place in the shadows, Vance had observed the man watching Mae and Kate with sharp attention as they'd hurriedly left him. His expression had been both avaricious and angry, and she knew a dangerous man when she saw one. "I'd take some care around him."

Mae ran her fingers up and down the lapel of Vance's coat. "I will." She left her hand linger on Vance's chest for an instant as she indicated Kate. "This is my friend Kate Beecher. Kate, this is our new doctor. Vance Phelps."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Beecher," Vance said, tipping her head slightly.

"Oh, and I you. I'm sorry if I caused any concern." She looked at Mae. "Really, I just wanted to say hello. Jessie's away again and I was helping my father. I thought I'd drop off the newspapers and then find you upstairs."