Reinicke (Bear Shifter Dating Agency Romance) (Bear Dating Agency Book 5)

by Becca Fanning

  “Annie!” Al called up from below.

  I snapped back to reality. “Time’s almost up Sue!” I stammered, closing the door suddenly and running down the hallway, hoping my blush wouldn’t be too obvious.

  I skipped every other step on my way down the stairs and sauntered over to the bar. “Sue is still…working,” I said to Al.

  “Hmm…” he said, pulling out his pocket watch. He gazed intently at the time and I could see the calculations in his head. He’d happily charge Sue for another hour if she was one second over her limit. He was fair, but he meant every word of the deals he cut. An hour was an hour.

  Scurried feet above us preceded a hurried Sue rushing down the stairs. She ran up to the bar to slap down her room rental fee.

  I noticed her John had left her a gift along her jaw and made a motion with my hand.

  She caught my drift and wiped his pearlescent seed from her face.

  Al frowned, knowing she’d finished in her hour and begrudgingly accepted the payment. He went back to wiping down the counter, polishing out non-existent stains and spills.

  “Whew! I think I’m done for the day!” Sue said, leaning back and eyeing me. “Lest you want another show? I only do the first one for free, honey.”

  I turned seven shades of red, and spun around to straighten out chairs. I heard Sue chuckle behind me.

  A moment later her John came down the stairs, pulling a broad coat on and pulling his hat down over his face. Without saying a word he headed for the door.

  “Nice to spend time with you, Padre!” Sue called out after him.

  The man’s last few steps to the door were practically in flight. I didn’t think a man could move that fast. I turned to Sue, my hand over my mouth in delicious scandal. “He was a priest?” I pleaded.

  “A man is a man,” Sue said sagely, pulling on her riding jacket. “Every man has a need, girl. Don’t matter his station, his status, his wallet or his God. We square Al?” she asked.

  Al grunted in concurrence, not looking up from his counter wiping.

  “Then I’m off to take a nice long bath. The good Father had a lot of wisdom to put in me,” she said sordidly. With a wink to me, she sauntered out the front swinging doors. As she reached them, two men about to enter stepped aside and tipped their hats.

  “Gentlemen,” she said smoothly as she walked past.

  Their gazes followed her as she walked away. I could see briefly that she was exaggerating her walk, accenting her hips as they swung left to right. I wondered if my own ample hips could move in such a way.

  The men came in and walked to the bar. They both looked at me as they did, and I froze in place. The first man was taller, lean, and had a rugged face that spoke of years in the saddle. His salt and pepper hair was pulled back behind his ears. The second man was shorter, younger with brown hair. He had a crow feather on a leather cord around his neck. But it was not their appearance that froze me in place.

  There’s a way a wolf will stalk it’s prey. A certain way it’s eyes lock onto a rabbit, no matter which way the wolf moves, the eyes stay level and locked on. For a moment, these men both looked at me in that way. For a second, some primal part of me wanted to run. Luckily, they looked away a moment later, and I was saved the embarrassment of fleeing my own place of employment. I don’t know how I would have explained myself if that happened.

  Al smiled his broadest smile and held his arms out wide. “Welcome to the Lucky Diamond Saloon, the best place to spend an evening in the whole town of Kilcutta!” His showmanship was top notch, but then again it had to be. Back when there was still a silver mine, there were four other saloons on the main thoroughfare. Nowadays his skills mostly went to waste: he was the only saloon still open.

  “Two beers,” the older man said.

  “Coming right up! We have a delicious lager, just brought in by stage coach. So what brings you two into town?” Al asked, filling two glasses with the golden brew.

  “Just the beers,” the younger man said impatiently. He was not in the mood for small talk. He turned to his companion, “You sure about this?”

  “Let’s just sit for a while,” the older man said, taking his beer and walking to a table off in the corner.

  The younger man sighed, took his beer, and followed after.

  I casually walked around and pretended to straighten chairs and wipe down tables. In truth I was hoping to eavesdrop on these two men. They…interested me. They were a breath of fresh air in a town that badly needed it.

  “It’s a big gamble. We could miss them,” the younger man said, tapping his foot. “They might not even come here.”

  “You got your deck?” the older man asked.

  “Yeah,” the younger man said.

  “Then let’s pass the time,” the older man said, tipping his chair back against the wall. It was abundantly clear that he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  Outside the sun was setting, so I went into the kitchen to check on the stew I’d started earlier. Momma taught me the ways around the kitchen, and I could turn out a right tasty stew in a pinch. I pulled the lid off the cast iron pot on the stove. Delicious aromas of beef, carrots and leeks wafted up at me. It’s true, my real weakness was sweets, and anyone could tell I’d overindulge from time to time. But a nice big bowl of this stew later on tonight would be the perfect end to the evening.

  I walked back out to the bar and the younger man at the table beckoned me over. I wiped my hands and walked over to the two men.

  “What can I do for you?” I said.

  “You can start by getting us some refills,” the younger man said. He cocked his head sideways a smidgen, an odd affectation, then added, “and we’ll take some of that beef stew as well.”

  How did they know what was for dinner? Could he smell it all the way in here? Then I realized I had been standing over the pot, and probably reeked of the cooking supper. “Two beers and two bowls, coming right up!” I said.

  They went back to their cards, some kind of slow paced game I didn’t understand. There was no money I could see, and I don’t think I’d ever seen grown men play cards if it didn’t involve gambling. I stopped at the bar to stow their glasses.

  “Two more beers, boss!” I said.

  “Two beers, coming right up,” Al said, his mood improved since earlier in the day. He always said if a customer stayed for two beers, he would stay all night. For the first time in months, the Lucky Diamond Saloon might have a reason to stay open late.

  Back in the kitchen I got two bowls ready, pouring a large portion into each. I reached into the breadbox and found a crusty sourdough loaf I’d baked the previous day. I sliced off the stale end and tossed it into the pot to eat later. I cut two big hunks for the two men and walked out back to the bar.

  Grabbed the two mugs of beers with a practiced flourish, I swept over to the only occupied table and served each man their stew.

  “Smells wonderful,” the younger man said.

  “Indeed,” the older man said, “and the stew doesn’t smell bad either,” he said, winking at me. I was confused, but left the men to their meals. I heard the younger male chuckling under his breath as I walked away.

  I went back to the bar where Al was still wiping down the counter. He glanced at his pocket watch. I knew it was almost time for him to leave for an hour.

  His poor little boy had caught the weakness, a disease that made his legs useless as thin sticks. Couldn’t walk or do much anything for himself. Al’s wife left them, so it was up to him to go home to make sure his boy was taken care of.

  “Head off Al,” I said.

  “You sure you’ll be ok?” he said, leaning in close. He gave a quick glance over my shoulder at the table.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine. ‘Sides, I know where the shotgun is an’ how to use it,” I replied confidently. “No hurrying back, neither. Read little Joey one of those yarns about the knights and ladies,” I said.

  Al smiled, already excited at the prospect. “I
won’t be too long,” he said, taking off his apron and wiping his hands before grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.

  “That man cares for you,” a voice said from behind me.

  I swear on the Bible that I jumped higher than a horse stands tall! Spinning around I saw the older man cozied up to the bar. He wasn’t looking at me, but his cool confidence said he didn’t need to. He had my attention.

  “Yes..Mr. Swinny is like a father to me,” I said, hoping I didn’t reveal how startled I was. How did he sneak up on me so quietly and quickly?

  “No father to speak of?” he asked, “Seems a common refrain in these small mining towns. The name’s Burke. My impatient friend over there is Dusk.”

  “Annie,” I said. “Annie Baker.”

  “Well, Ms. Baker, it’s a pleasure. Kilcutta is a fine town,” he said.

  I laughed, knowing he was poking fun.

  He grinned at me, then got to his real question, “Where’s the privy?”

  “Out back,” I said apologetically. An indoor privy was not a luxury Al was going to spring for anytime soon.

  Burke nodded and walked out to do his business.

  “Did he flirt with you?” Dusk called out from across the saloon.

  “What?” I asked, shaking my head at the absurdity of the question. I walked over to the table to clear their dinner dishes.

  “Pardon, I meant no offense. It’s just that we’ve been riding for weeks now, and this feels like the first stop we’ve made in a long while,” Dusk said.

  “Where are you from?” I asked, hoping to change the subject. “Wait…let me guess!”

  The young man looked up at me, waiting for my guess.

  I was terrible at this. “New York?” I asked. I had a feeling I couldn’t have been more wrong, but I always dreamed about meeting a man from a big city like New York or Chicago. Some place they drank tea and talked about literature.

  He laughed long and hard. He laughed so hard he almost fell out of his seat.

  “Rude!” I said, walking away to put the dirty dishes back behind the bar. Outside the sun had set, the last glowing rays of orange light fading in long beams down Main Street. Dusk’s laughter continued as the front door swung open and three men entered.

  These men all had a weary look about them. They all had long coats on, covered in dust. Their eyes darted around the room, passing over me and settling on Dusk.

  Dusk’s chuckle ended naturally.

  I walked behind the bar. “Welcome to the Lucky Diamond Saloon. What can I get you boys?” I asked. Were Al here, he’d be dancing a jig to have this many customers. Something told me these guys were trouble.

  They nodded silently between themselves, agreeing on some private matter. “Whiskey,” one man said. He had a scar running down from his right eye to his chin. “Whiskey all around.”

  “Three whiskeys coming right up,” I said, placing the bottle on the counter and leaning down to pick up three shot glasses. When I came back up, they’d grabbed the bottle and were drinking straight from it. I knew no good could come from reprimanding them, so I watched in silence as they passed the bottle around.

  Burke came in from the outhouse and walked over to Dusk without giving the three men a single glance. He took his seat and Dusk began dealing cards again.

  Seeing the card game, the three roughnecks walked over to Dusk and Burke. “Hey,” the one with the scar said, “deal us in,” then taking another long swig of the bottle.

  Dusk raised his eyebrows and looked at the man. “What would you play?”

  “Poker goddamnit! What a stupid question,” the youngest of the three men said. He had a nervous twitch that occasionally had him shake his head.

  “You stupid or somethin’?” another of the men said. This one was pudgy, soft, probably used to a life of leisure. I could see that his shoes were spotless, unlike his two compatriots. He probably spit shined ‘em every morning.

  Dusk glanced at Burke and gave a little shrug. “Poker it is,” he said as he began dealing cards around the table.

  The tallest of the three strangers was the oldest. He was quiet and had eyes that darted around constantly. He was the first to pull up a chair from a neighboring table and sit down. The other two joined him.

  I made to continue cleaning the bar, still angry over them taking the whiskey bottle. I reminded myself that we hadn’t had this many paying customers at once all year, and Al would be real happy once he came back. You can’t have bad luck everyday, my Daddy used to say when he was sober.

  “Skirt!” the twitchy one called from across the bar. “Git your big ass over here!”

  I swallowed my pride and walked over to the table. A scattering of coins was in the center of the table, and each man was studying his opponents. Burke and Dusk looked calm and nonchalant. The three rude ones were fidgety and kept checking their cards, as if they’d change. “What can I get you?”

  “Three bowls of that stew,” the oldest one said.

  “And after that I’ll take a piece of your pie,” the pudgy one said, grinning up at me.

  “We’re fresh out of pie tonight, sorry,” I said. We never had pie. Who orders pie in a saloon?

  “He means your pussy,” the young one said with a twitch, still looking between his cards and the pot.

  I gasped in scandal. “I’m not that kind of lady!” I said emphatically.

  “You’re a bar whore. You all spread your legs for the right amount of change,” the pudgy one said. He reached into a breast pocket and flicked a coin at me. “Got change for a dime?”

  My arm shot forward to slap the sass out of him. I could see it in my mind, my hand connecting full force with his soft cheek, his head flying back and him falling out of his chair. It would be something to see.

  But it didn’t happen. The oldest man caught my wrist and squeezed me incredibly hard. I yelped in pain and almost fell. From the corner of my eye I saw Dusk bolt upright.

  “Easy,” Burke said, putting an arm on his friend. Then he addressed the man who held me, “How about you let her go so we can continue playing?”

  The iron vice that held my wrist released. I clutched the sore spot and fled into the kitchen, wiping my tears on my sleeve. I got three bowls from a cupboards, and spat a hefty loogie into each bowl. Pouring a helping of the stew into each, I then found three spoons. I rubbed each spoon on the bottom of my shoe and dropped it into a bowl of stew.

  Coming back into the bar room, I could tell that the tension was higher. Dusk and Burke sat across from the three men, and the pot between them had grown larger. I could only see cards still in front of Burke and the man who grabbed my wrist.

  “You bluffin’ me? I don’t take kindly to bluffin’,” the old man said.

  “Maybe I am, maybe I ain’t,” Burke said smoothly.

  I stood next to the table with their stews, knowing that this was not a good time to interrupt.

  “You got a real smart mouth on you,” the youngest man said. His knee was bouncing up and down under the table.

  “Then it won’t sting as bad when you lose to someone smarter than ya,” Burke replied.