Colorado Dreams (Rocky Mountain Romances Book 7)

by Heather Horrocks

  As he walked away, Joseph knocked.

  A short man, balding on top but with a nicely trimmed brown beard, opened the door. He smiled broadly and motioned them inside. “Come in, come in. I understand you may be interested in conducting a little jewelry business with me. I’m Mr. Paulson of Paulson Gems.”

  Emily stepped inside first. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Paulson. I’m Miss Emily Maxwell.”

  “Please come in and have a seat,” the man motioned to one of the plush seats in the common area of the spacious suite.

  Robert and Joseph introduced themselves and settled into two other chairs.

  Mr. Paulson asked, “Would you like some tea? Coffee? Something stronger?”

  They assured him they were fine, and he sat down in the chair between Emily and Joseph. “Are you wishing to buy or sell gemstones?”

  “Sell,” Emily said, and opened her reticule, pulling out the first stone, the ruby and diamond ring she’d shown the men last night.

  Mr. Paulson carefully took it. He pulled a jeweler’s loupe from his pocket, held it in front of his eye, and studied the ring. “Ah,” he said, and looked up. “This is of the highest quality. And you have six more of equal quality?”

  She nodded.

  “You’ve come to the right place,” he said with a happy grin, and he named a sum that felt fair to her.

  She nodded, relieved to realize that the stones might actually bring in more than the men owed on the mortgage.

  “If the others are truly equal in quality, I will need to transfer funds to your account to purchase them.”

  “We would like to go to the bank with you,” Joseph said, “and have you transfer them directly to the bank for a mortgage payment, with the remainder to go into our account.”

  “All right,” Mr. Paulson agreed. “May I see the other stones?”

  By the time he’d inspected all seven, Mr. Paulson was grinning widely. “Good doing business with you, Miss Maxwell. I will meet you all at the bank tomorrow at noon to finalize payment and receive the gems from you.”

  The next day, Emily stayed behind at the store. When someone came in to shop, she helped them in the back room; when no one was there, she worked on setting up the main area of the store.

  They’d decided that since someone needed to tend the store, the three men would go to the bank to meet Mr. Paulson. They didn’t want to run the risk of having the stones stolen. They were also meeting an attorney there to make sure everything was done above board and legal — and that the banker couldn’t cheat them out of the building or claim he hadn’t received the payment later.

  The same attorney had drawn up the papers to make Emily an equal partner in their store, and those were already signed.

  She’d expected to be anxious when they left with her jewels, but found she was okay with them going without her. She’d carried the weight of those gems — more than just the physical weight, but the weight of their value — for too long now. She was glad she had men in her life whom she trusted to do the right thing for her.

  Two men, one younger and one a bit older, entered the back rooms, whistling as they examined some of the items still on discount.

  “Hello, gentlemen, and welcome!”

  The older one smiled at her, his eyes twinkling with excitement. “Did you hear the news?”

  “No,” she replied, wondering what had them so merry.

  The younger one jumped in. “There’s been gold found at Cripple Creek! A lot of it!”

  “Really? That’s wonderful news!” She paused. “Is it just another rumor, though, or is it a true find?”

  “It’s hard to say, ma’am, because when people find gold they tend to keep it secret. But a friend of ours said he seen it with his own eyes.”

  “Do you need some supplies to go stake your claim?”

  They did, and she helped them find what they needed. “And it’s on sale while in the back room.”

  She put the money away, and said goodbye and good luck to them, then went back to work, singing softly to herself.

  The door opened and she looked up, a smile ready on her face — and froze.

  It was the Pinkerton agent who’d threatened her.

  “We’re closed,” she announced, and headed for the main room.

  He caught her before she got there, grabbing her arm. “I just want to talk to you, Miss Maxwell.”

  “No, you don’t. You want to arrest me.” She pulled hard, but couldn’t get free — and she couldn’t reach the gun that was under the counter, either.

  She kicked him in the shins.

  He swore and released her, hopping around. She made it into the main room and reached the front door — and he grabbed her again. This time he slapped her. “Shut up.”

  He wrapped a strong arm around her and stuffed a rag into her mouth, making her gag.

  Then he looked out the front door, and hurriedly carried her out to a carriage along the street. He opened the door and tossed her in, then jumped in, pulled the door shut, and wrestled with her until he locked one end of a pair of handcuffs on her and the other to the side of the carriage.

  People had been walking along down the street, but she didn’t even know if they’d seen her because it happened so fast.

  She’d been kidnapped!

  She was going to be taken back to her father — and to Mr. Lloyd.

  Panic overcame her and she struggled against the cuffs. She would never marry that odious man; she’d run away again at the first opportunity.

  The full weight of her situation crashed upon her, and she stopped struggling, trying to regain her wits so she could possibly find a way out. She was being taken away from her brother — and from the man she loved, and Joseph wouldn’t even know where she’d gone.

  The agent smiled down at her. “I really thought the fire would make you reconsider.”

  Her eyes narrowed to slits and it was probably a good thing she was gagged, because the words she spat at him were most unladylike. “Yes, I set the fire. I did make a ruckus in the alleyway so the men would wake up and get you out safely. We can’t kill the golden goose, now, can we?”

  She kicked out at him but missed.

  He laughed. “Just in case you’re wondering, I’m not really a Pinkerton man. I was sent by your father, though.”

  With a happy spring in his step, Joseph walked from the bank with Henry and Robert . They had the deed to their building in their hands and enough money in their account to keep the store running for several months until they got the place truly off the ground. Things were better than they had been since the three men had arrived in the Springs.

  There’d even been enough money that they were bringing cash back to Emily.

  The last piece of his puzzle was waiting at home; he could hardly wait to tell Emily all about it. The thought of the petite blonde’s smile brought him joy. Suddenly, an epiphany struck him, and he felt as if something had smacked him between the eyes with a brick.

  He stopped walking, and his friends bumped into him.

  He was in love with Emily Maxwell.

  “What the—” Robert said.

  They looked at him.

  He laughed and clapped Robert on the back. “I’m in love with your sister.”

  “Emily?” Robert punched his arm. “Forget it.”

  “I can’t. I’m serious. I’m head-over-heels in love with her and I want to marry her.”

  Robert shook his head.

  Henry shrugged a shoulder and said, “At least he has honorable intentions.”

  “I suppose.” After several more paces, Robert threw his hands in the air and laughed. “You still have to convince Emily.”

  A man came running up to them, calling out to them. It was one of the miners who frequented their store.

  He struggled for air and then gasped out, “He took Miss Maxwell!”

  “Who took her?” they asked in unison.

  “I didn’t recognize him, but he pulled he
r out of the store and threw her in a carriage, and then drove off out of town. That way.” He pointed. “In a red carriage with two bays pulling it.”

  Joseph didn’t wait to hear any more. He was running for the livery stable. They needed horses in order to follow.

  He heard his partners’ footsteps a couple of paces behind him, but didn’t slow down.

  They were as winded as the old miner by the time they reached the stable. Within minutes, the owner had them saddled on his fastest horses; Emily had charmed him the first time he’d entered the store, and he would do whatever he could to see her rescued. He slapped the rump of the nearest horse as they leapt away from the barn. “I’ll notify the sheriff so we can get a posse out after him, too,” he called.

  And then the men were off, leaning over the necks of their galloping horses as they rode after Emily.

  The carriage bounced along and Emily tried to stabilize herself so as not to get beaten to death, though that may have been preferable to what awaited her.

  The carriage jerked and picked up speed, and she heard the fake Pinkerton man yelling at the horses. She slammed against the side of the carriage, hurting her arm.

  Moments later, she heard the hooves of more horses beating a pattern right alongside the carriage, and then it jolted again. She felt the carriage slowing and, moments later, the horses were reined in and the carriage came to a stop.

  Silence fell as the dust inside the carriage settled. Not knowing what to expect, she readied herself to fight, to kick, anything. Was it some of her captor’s helpers? Bandits? Rescuers? She didn’t know — and she would not give in to whatever fate had thrown at her now without a fight.

  The door opened and Henry’s loveable face peeked in. The tension that had immobilized her drained from her body as she realized that her partners, her three wonderful men, had come for her. “You’re safe!”

  He climbed in and her brother followed him. Carefully, Robert pulled the disgusting sodden cloth out of her mouth.

  “Thank you,” she rasped out, crinkling her nose. “That was horrible.”

  Robert held up a ring of keys, and started putting them up to the handcuffs. “Ah, here it is,” he muttered.

  A moment later, her hands were free. She rubbed the feeling back into her wrists and looked around the two men, searching for the third, the one that held her heart. “Where is Joseph?”

  “Your love is fighting your kidnapper,” Robert smirked.

  “Really?” She ignored the annoying, taunting tone of voice in favor of indulging a bit of her new wild-west side: seeing Joseph in action.

  “Come see,” Henry said.

  They helped her down out of the carriage, where she could see Joseph boxing her father’s man.

  When he punched this man in the chin, sending him crashing to the floor, she cheered — or made as much sound as her sore throat was capable of, anyway.

  She loved that man to pieces.

  After he knocked the kidnapper out, Joseph turned, frantic to see if Emily was safe.

  She stood between his friends, smiling at him, love shining in her eyes.

  Relieved beyond belief, he crossed to her and pulled her into his arms — and her brother allowed it.

  Crushing her to him, he sucked in the scent of her jasmine soap and reveled in the fact that she was safe. He was so relieved that he was trembling with it. “I was so afraid I’d lost you,” he whispered into her hair.

  She said, “I was so afraid I’d been lost!”

  “Oh, eww. And I was so afraid we’d have to listen to something mushy and romantic — about my sister,” Robert said, but his tone was teasing.

  “Shut up,” Joseph tossed at him, not caring.

  Henry laughed and said, “I was so afraid Joseph would punch you, Robert.”

  Finally, Joseph released her, only to grasp her hand. Going down on one knee, he looked into her beautiful blue eyes, and said, “Emily Maxwell, will you do me the honor of becoming my bride? I know you’ve sworn off marriage, but I find I cannot live without you.”

  He waited while tears welled up in her eyes.

  His face lit up with the roguish grin that she’d come to love. “Just think how much fun it will be to be married to me.”

  “It will. When I made that oath, I had no idea that you were out there.” She smiled. “Yes, I will marry you.”

  Henry shouted out, “Yoohoo!” and tossed his hat in the air.

  Robert looked appraisingly at Joseph. “Are you sure you don’t just want your bedroom back?”

  Better Tell Uriah

  TOWARD THE END OF SEPTEMBER, Emily went looking for Joseph. He and Robert were working and Henry was in the mine.

  She strolled into the store, which had been rebuilt and was thriving. Even at that very moment, it was filled with men, women, and children looking for a wide variety of goods.

  She slid her arm around her new husband and asked if he’d seen Lily.

  He shook his head. “I haven’t seen her all day.”

  She asked Robert the same thing. He shrugged and scowled. “I haven’t seen the darned cat.”

  So she went searching. She checked the cupboards where Lily liked to hide out in the store, in the back rooms, and upstairs.

  When she opened the cupboard in their bedroom, she found her. “Oh my,” Emily said. There were six little kittens snuggling up to their mother.

  “Lily, you wonderful cat! You’ve become a mother!” She petted her cat, who meowed. “I’ll bring you some food and water up here.”

  She returned and set the dishes next to the closet, then ran downstairs. “Lily had kittens!”

  She bumped into Joseph at the bottom of the stairs. He frowned. “Kittens? I just thought she was getting fat.”

  “She was getting fat — full of the cutest little baby kittens you’ve ever seen.” She took him by the hand and led him up the stairs, and to the cupboard. “Look at them,” she cooed. “Lily, you did such a magnificent job.”

  He peeked in and his face softened. “They’re so tiny.”

  He looked at her, wonder in his eyes. “I can hardly wait until you have babies.”

  She laughed. “As long as I can have them one at a time. No litters for me.”

  He put a hand on her flat stomach. “I suppose it’s too soon to hope, right?”

  She smiled at him. “I love you, Joseph Keeton. You are exactly the man I needed and I can hardly wait to have your babies. But I don’t think I’m in the family way.” At his frown, she rushed to add his favorite word, “Yet.”

  He chuckled and hugged her, burrowing his face into her neck. “I love you, too, Mrs. Emily Keeton. I’m so glad you came west and found me.”

  She snuggled against him and watched the kittens. “You’re better than all the gemstones in the world.”

  “And you are better than all the gold in the world.”

  She laughed. “We are quite valuable, are we not?”

  “Yes.” He gave her a light squeeze. “At least to each other,” he smiled and gave her a peck on the nose. “I suppose we ought to return downstairs. The store was full when I came up.”

  “I suppose,” she said, but didn’t move.

  He chuckled and held her tighter.

  Then, together, they stood and, holding hands, walked down the stairs.

  Robert was waiting on the last two customers. After they left, Emily said, “The customers cleared out fast.”

  “Yeah. A man came in and yelled that the train was bringing in some Arabian horses, and everyone wanted to see them.” Robert studied them and batted his eyelashes. “Oh, you two are so darned cute together, holding hands and everything.”

  Emily flicked his ear with her finger. “You’re going to fall in love soon, and we shall mock you unmercifully when you do.”

  The door slammed open and they looked up.

  Henry strode into the store and immediately slammed the door shut and locked it, then pulled all of the curtains.

  Emily looked up
, surprised. “Are you all right?”

  Joseph and Robert stepped toward him, but Henry shook his head and grinned like a fool. “I’m fine. I’m better than fine — and so are all of you!”

  Emily had no idea what he was talking about, but she was used to that. “Did you know the cat had kittens?” she asked him.

  “Good,” he said, as though he hadn’t really heard her. “Wait, what? No, but that’s just grand. But not nearly as grand as what I’ve brought.” He pulled a handkerchief carefully from his pocket, then placed it on the counter. “Look at this.”

  They gathered round, and she wondered what he’d brought into the store that was having such a strange effect on him.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  He flipped open the handkerchief to reveal three nuggets, then took the time to look them each in the eye. “There’s gold in our mine!”

  A round of whoops broke loose and Joseph picked her up and spun her around. “Better tell Uriah.”

  ~ The Happy Ending ~

  Golden Cream Cake

  From Mrs. Easterwood’s Memory

  Put wood in the stove and get it up to a medium-to-high temperature.

  Mix the following ingredients together in the big mixing bowl.

  Sugar - one handful

  Butter - an egg-sized chunk

  Sweet Milk - one-half glassful

  Whites of three eggs, beaten (save two yolks for the frosting)

  Flour - one and one-half handfuls

  Baking Powder - two pinches

  Put into your favorite baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

  When it has cooled, cover with this mixture.

  Mix one handful of sugar and two dashes of rich cream.

  Add the lightly beaten yolks of two eggs, and flavor with Extract of Vanilla.

  Enjoy.

  Make two and share with others.