"She'll admit to it hurting, which I imagine means the pain's fearsome, but her mind is clear." Mae smiled. "And she's showing signs of her usual stubbornness, so I imagine she'll be fine before long."

"I'm sorry."

Mae stepped into the hall and drew Jessie away from the door.

She kept the door ajar so that she could see into the room in case Vance wakened. With a hand on Jessie's arm, she regarded her quietly. "I'm sorry for blaming you the way I did earlier. It's not your fault that Vance got hurt."

Jessie shrugged, remembering the terror in Mae's eyes when she'd first seen Vance. When Jessie had gotten down from Star after easing Vance into the arms of several waiting men, Mae had flung herself at her, accusing her of letting Vance get killed over nothing more than a few horses. She'd thought for a second that Mae was going to slap her.

Then Mae had just run out of steam and turned away, shaking. At that moment, Jessie had wished that Mae had struck her. "It was my fight, not hers."

"Vance is your friend. She was only doing for you what you would've done for her." Mae sighed. "When I first saw her and all that blood...I thought I might lose her. I just needed a target for my fear.

You were handy." She patted Jessie's chest. "And strong enough to take it. I'm sorry for forgetting that tender heart of yours."

Smiling, Jessie caught Mae's hand and held it. "She saved my life today. She's more than a friend." She kissed Mae's forehead. "You both are."

"Montana," Mae said softly. "I have loved you, I think, since the first time I saw you walk into the Nugget, covered in trail dust and sunshine." She laughed when Jessie blushed. "Somehow I always knew it wasn't meant to be, and it wasn't until I saw you with Kate that I understood why." She looked back into the room at the pale woman, so fragile appearing now, asleep in the bed. "Your heart was meant for Kate. And mine was meant for her."

"You'll always have a place in mine," Jessie whispered.

"And that means the world to me." Mae regarded Jessie intently.

"I want you to do something for me."

"Anything."

"I want you to see that Vance doesn't try to change the way things are for me. At the Nugget." Even in the half-light of the hallway, Mae could see the muscle jump in Jessie's jaw. "You know how things are.

That's not going to change, and there's no sense her getting killed trying." She grasped Jessie's hand again and squeezed, hard. "It would kill me to lose her. Please."

"I can't make that promise," Jessie said, adding quickly, "but I can promise she won't be alone. I won't let anything happen to her. I swear."

"You get yourself mixed up in this and end up getting hurt, Kate will never forgive you or me."

Jessie shook her head. "Kate understands."

Mae closed her eyes. "Lord. There's no talking sense into any of you."

"Don't worry." Jessie kissed Mae's cheek. "Vance isn't going to do anything foolish, and if she has a mind to, I'll see that she doesn't."

"I'll hold you to that, Montana."

"You can."

v The next time Vance woke, Mae was gone and Jessie was standing at the foot of the bed. "What time is it?"

"Morning. Mae's asleep down the hall. Kate made her finally lie down."

"Good." Vance braced her hand on the mattress but found she couldn't push herself up. Grimacing, she said, "Can you help me here?"

"I'm not sure I'm supposed to," Jessie said, coming around the side of the bed and easing an arm behind Vance's back. "You do anything to start that bleeding again, Mae and Kate will skin me."

"Don't worry. I don't want the both of them after me." Vance leaned back against the headboard with a sigh. "Thanks. How's the leg?"

"It's nothing. It'll be stiff for a day or two, but that's all."

"And Star?"

Jessie smiled. "She's fine. Little scratch no bigger than mine." She shifted and sighed. "You got the worst of it."

Vance grinned. "Not as bad as the two fellows we put down. Both dead?"

"Yep. Charlie went back up with a wagon after we got you down.

He took them into town."

"What about the other two?"

"Long gone, and I don't think they'll be back." Jessie leaned a shoulder against the bedpost, her expression pensive. "At least those two won't. But I think we haven't seen the end of rustlers. Too many people came out here thinking there was gold running in the streets, and most of them ended up with nothing. Horses and cattle are money on the hoof."

"No matter where or when, it seems that it comes down to fighting to protect what's yours."

Jessie shrugged. "I never thought otherwise." She met Vance's gaze. "I owe you for what you did up there."

"You don't owe me for anything. You insult me to suggest it."

Jessie grinned. "You Easterners are pretty easy to insult."

Vance's brows rose. "Now you add injury to insult."

"Just the same, I expect you'll let me return the favor if needed."

"If needed," Vance said seriously, "I will."

"That's good enough."

Vance shifted restlessly. "Do you think you could have one of your men drive me into town later today? I never was a good patient, and I don't want to be any trouble."

"Could be you want to be closer to the Nugget?"

"Could be."

"I'll take you in myself if you promise not to try taking these men on until you've got your feet back under you."

Vance sighed. "I can see that Mae's gotten to you."

Jessie grinned. "Could be. But it makes sense."

"I'll wait till I'm healed, but I intend to right this wrong."

"You'll get no argument from me." Jessie gently squeezed Vance's shoulder. "I'll talk to Frank. I trust him. Between the two of us, we'll keep an eye on things until you're better."

"Thank you."

"No need. We're friends, right?"

Vance held up her hand. When Jessie took it, she said quietly, "That we are."


CHAPTER THIRTY

When Vance stepped up to the bar shortly after midnight, Frank broke off his conversation with a grizzled cowboy who looked as if he had just come in off the trail, judging by his dirt- caked clothes and apparent thirst as he downed three shots of liquor in quick succession. On his way to the end of the bar where Vance stood half in shadow, Frank picked up his best bottle of whiskey.

"Good to see you up and about, Doc."

"Thanks. Even better to be here," Vance said. "More than a week indoors, most of it in bed, feels like a year."

"Been pretty quiet around here. Can't say as you've missed a whole lot."

Vance met Frank's deceptively placid gaze as she sipped the bracing drink. "I appreciate you keeping an eye on the situation."

"I'd do more but," he shrugged, "can't really change what ain't my affair."

"It wouldn't do anyone any good if you lost your job." Vance finished the shot and shook her head when he gestured with the bottle for a refill. "You do what you can." She turned sideways to survey the room. "Has our friend been around this week?"

"He was in and out a few nights ago. Picked up what he came for, but didn't linger."

"Does he have a regular time for coming by?"

"Not that I've noticed." Frank stepped away to pour a drink for a nearby customer, then leaned his elbows on the bar and lowered his voice. "One thing I do know. The bank transfers cash to the reserve in Bradford once a month, and he always comes by the night before the stagecoach takes the shipment. Tidying up accounts, I suppose."

"And when would the next run to Bradford be?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"So we can expect a visit tomorrow night."

Frank nodded.

"Thanks." Vance studied the bartender, thinking that she had always been comfortable with him. He cared about Mae, and that was what mattered most to her. "Besides tending bar, what else do you do here, Frank?"

Frank was silent for a moment, as if deciding how much to reveal.

Then, apparently coming to a decision, he said, "I suppose I manage the place, when it comes down to it. I order the stock, tally up what's in the till and take it to the bank, see that the place is looked after. Cleaned up and all that."

"So how is it you don't know who owns the Nugget?" Vance knew she was putting him on the spot, but it was time to put all the cards on the table.

"I've been tending bar here for almost ten years. Before Hanrahan, there was another fella who did pretty much the same as him. He hired me and spelled out how things would run. One day, he was gone, and Mike was doing his job." Frank blew out a breath. "I didn't ask any questions."

"I understand. I probably wouldn't either. You have any particular liking for the way the place is run now?"

"I like that I can do things my own way and don't have to answer to nobody. I take my wages out at the end of the week, leave receipts in the bag for whatever I spend to replace the liquor or the broken tables and chairs if things get rowdy, go about my business."

"Sounds like a pretty good deal."

"It suits me."

Vance tapped her hand lightly on the bar. "Thanks for the information. I think I'll head on upstairs."

"Mike Hanrahan's a mean son of a bitch," Frank said conversationally.

Vance smiled thinly, her eyes glittering dangerously. "So am I, when provoked."

She walked away to the sound of Frank's quiet laughter.

Vance stopped in front of Mae's door and listened. Although Mae had been by Vance's hotel room that afternoon and had said that she would be free that evening, Vance was never certain that would be the case when she came around. She didn't completely trust herself to come face-to-face with someone who had just left Mae's bed, and it would do Mae no good for her to vent her jealousy on a customer. When she heard nothing from within, she tapped quietly.