Frank made a grunting sound before saying, “It’s not exactly what I expected.”
She nodded, aware he was probably referring to the mining rights Pierce had given to Thomas. “He’s doing okay for himself, though. We’ve been keeping an eye on him.”
Frank immediately frowned. “He told you what happened? The reason why he’s here?”
“It came up eventually, and…I’d like you to know that I’m really sorry for your loss.”
A shadow fell across Frank’s face, so dark Sarah feared he might shout at her. But then the door opened again, and Pierce stepped out with Fido already attached to his leash. He handed the dog over to Frank, who chose to ignore Sarah’s comment by walking away.
“See you later,” he called over his shoulder while offering a wave of his gloved hand.
“I should probably get back inside,” Pierce said as soon as Frank had disappeared from sight.
Pushing aside the distinct sense of loss that threatened, Sarah simply smiled and gave an agreeable nod. “I know. You have company, and I’ve kept you far too long.”
He nodded. “It was nice seeing you again, though.” Raising his hand, he caught a loose strand of hair between his fingers and tucked it back behind her ear.
As brief as it was, the touch made her heart tremble and yearn for a closeness she didn’t quite dare to pursue. “You too,” she said. And although she meant it, she couldn’t help but feel as though she’d never said anything more inane in her entire life.
What was wrong with her?
She’d never had a problem speaking her mind before, and yet now, with this man, she found herself shying away and hiding her emotions. Because if she were honest - truly honest – there was no denying the fact that she’d somehow lost her footing the moment she’d first heard his voice on the phone. And it seemed as though she’d been falling ever since. The only question now was how she might eventually land.
With that thought threatening to unravel her cool façade, she told Pierce to have a good day before hurrying back to where Jack and the others were being ordered about by Thomas. She couldn’t help but grin at the sight of them all, rushing to do the old man’s bidding as if he were some formidable general issuing commands to strapping young privates.
“I want this thing ready to go in one hour,” Thomas said as he slapped his hand against the trommel’s hard metal body. “Do you think that’s doable?”
“I don’t see why not when all we have to do is get her level and then fill her with gasoline,” Klaus said. His Swedish accent broke through on a few of the words, reminding Sarah that he wasn’t originally from these parts. “Hey, Peter. Do you think you can even out the ground over there?”
Peter studied the area a moment before calling, “Jack! Raise the front end of the trommel with your digger, will you?”
“What?” Sarah gaped at him. “Are you out of your mind? That will never work.”
“We just have to raise it enough for me to get in there with a shovel – smooth out a few bumpy areas.”
“And a car engine can be fixed with elastic bands and chewing gum,” she muttered.
“Depends on what’s wrong with it,” Peter told her with a grin, “but I don’t get what that has to do with this situation.”
“What if that thing falls on you?” she asked, not bothering to explain. It was a monster of a machine, twice the size of their old one, and by jacking it up they’d be making it very unstable.
“Then I’ll probably die or lose a limb or something.”
“Oh God!” Sarah turned to her grandfather with the sort of exasperation one could only have with careless men who thought themselves invincible. “Please tell him that this is a terrible idea, and he shouldn’t attempt it.”
“It’s a terrible idea,” Thomas told Peter flatly. “You probably shouldn’t attempt it.”
Shrugging as though he’d just been encouraged rather than warmed, Peter signaled for Jack to maneuver the digger until it was in just the right position. “Now lift it up,” he called.
“This is madness,” Sarah murmured. She could already envision all kinds of tragic outcomes to this scenario. She turned to her grandfather. “I can’t believe you’re letting them do this.”
“It’s the most expedient solution.”
“So was digging close to the ridge, and that proved to be incredibly unsafe.”
He eyed her with a sigh. “I honestly didn’t anticipate that going as wrong as it did, Sarah.”
“No, but here’s a situation where you can actually gauge how risky it is, yet you’re still willing to go through with it.”
“Only because they are,” he said, nodding toward the men. “This was their suggestion. I would never have urged them to do it unless they were willing.”
“And you wouldn’t try talking them out of it either, apparently,” she grumbled.
“Not when it would be like talking hungry dogs off a meat wagon, Sarah. These boys enjoy the thrill of a little danger. You know that as well as I.”
She did. But that didn’t make it any easier for her to watch them do something potentially life threatening. She drew a breath and held it, her entire body tensing as she watched the men work to move the trommel. It didn’t budge at first, but then it slowly started to groan with the strain of being maneuvered into an unnatural position that sent Sarah’s heart straight up into her throat.
“We’ll need to hire a really expensive lawyer if anything goes wrong with this,” she said as she watched Peter clamber underneath the beastly monstrosity and begin tossing stones aside before putting his shovel to good use. He dug and leveled, patting the ground with his hands as he turned the lumpiness into a smooth surface.
Something creaked and Sarah’s eyes flew to the digger’s bucket. “Get out,” She said. Realizing no one had heard her, she shouted, “It’s buckling! Peter, get out. Now!”
Dropping his shovel, Peter launched himself sideways, skidding out from under the trommel at the exact same moment the digger lost its hold and the entire thing came thudding down onto the ground in a cloud of churning dirt. Not wasting a moment, Sarah rushed to where he was lying, stretched out on the ground with both arms flung sideways.
“Is he all right?” Jack called as he leapt from his seat in the excavator and hurried forward.
“I’m fine,” Peter sputtered.
“Of course he is,” Thomas said with a grin. “The trommel didn’t even graze him.”
Looking up from where she knelt beside Peter, Sarah met her grandfather’s gaze with unequivocal firmness. “This could have gone really bad and you know it.” She stood up and brushed off her hands on her jeans.
“But it didn’t,” he said without so much as blinking.
She shook her head, unsure of what to make of that statement. “Whatever this is – this dream you’re chasing—it isn’t worth any of us dying over.”
“I know that, Sarah, but you also know that sometimes we have no choice but to solve our problems with a bit of elbow grease. Calling a crane in for something like this would have taken several days. Valuable days we need if we’re going to accomplish our goal before the ground freezes over again. The seasons—”
“Are short in the Klondike,” she said, repeating one of the many mantras she’d heard over the years. “But still. I think you have to consider safety before gain.”
“I agree,” Pierce said. Without realizing his approach, he’d come to stand beside her. He looked at her grandfather. “Sarah could have died last week, Thomas, and now this?”
“Have you seen the other crew you’ve leased to?” Thomas asked in a bitter tone. “They’ve already pulled their first few ounces of gold out of the ground, and what do we have to show for our efforts? We’re late, that’s what, and—”
“You’ll be even later if there’s a serious accident,” Pierce calmly told him. “Now, Sarah came to tell me you’ll be running the first load of dirt through this thing.”
“It’s called a
trommel,” Thomas grumbled. He stared at Pierce stiffly for a moment, but then, to Sarah’s surprise, the tension in his features eased and he slowly nodded. “I suppose you’d like to watch?”
“If it’s not too much trouble,” Pierce said, “and as long as you promise to be more careful in the future. The men you’ve hired depend on you for that. It’s not right for you to risk their well-being just because you’ve set your mind on something.”
Frowning again, Thomas looked at Sarah. “Looks like I’m at the losing end of this argument.”
“You know he’s right,” she said with a sympathetic smile. If anyone knew how important this dig was to her grandfather, it was she.
Flattening his lips, Thomas grimaced. “Very well.” He turned to Peter and Jack who were helping Klaus prepare the machine for operation. “Are we almost ready?”
“Pretty much,” Klaus called back. He tightened a bolt with his spanner before stepping aside and wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “Do you want to do the honors, Thomas?”
“No. I think I’ll leave that to Sarah,” Thomas said with a glint in his eyes.
Smiling, Sarah thanked him before putting on her hard hat and striding across to the control panel. Inhaling deeply, she then pressed the ‘on’ button and listened as the engine whirred to life, settling into a purr of mechanical motion. “I think we’re ready for the first bucket load.”
“I’m on it,” Jack said as he hopped up into a vacant digger. A few minutes later, the first load of dirt was being dropped into the hopper to the sound of stones grinding against metal.
Rounding the trommel, Sarah walked across to the sluice box and peered into it, her stomach swirling with emotion at the sight of the grey sludge that greeted her. “I don’t see anything yet,” she told Pierce who’d followed her over. “Not even a fleck.”
“Isn’t it too soon?” he asked. “I mean, you’ve only just begun.”
“I know, but if the ridge is as profitable as my grandfather thinks it is, I would have thought I’d see something.” Sighing, she shook her head, not liking the prospects so far. “I really wanted to give him encouraging news, but this…it’s just gravel so far.”
“We probably have to dig deeper, Sarah.”
A knot formed in her belly. “That’s just it. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to, that we’d be able to stay closer to the surface.”
Nodding, he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked her straight in the eye. “I see your point.”
“Do you?”
“He’s mining his last season, and you were looking to ensure that he got his reward early on, rather than later.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Makes perfect sense, considering his age, that you’d want him to slow down a bit.”
Feeling her throat tighten, she turned to stare out across the landscape. “He’s all I’ve got, Pierce.”
A moment passed, and then she felt his hand on her arm, and the soft whisper of his words. “No. He isn’t. You’ve got Jack, and…you’ve got me now as well.”
Snared by emotion and not liking it one little bit, Sarah took a deep breath and banked her feelings to the best of her ability. “Thank you,” she said, her voice much steadier than before. “It’s kind of you to say so.”
His gaze sought hers, locking with it just long enough to convey that his words had not been spoken lightly. And then he released her, the moment evaporating into thin air as though it had never happened at all. “I was thinking,” he said, “that it might be good for Thomas and Frank to talk.”
“You’re joking, right?” She took a hasty look at her grandfather to ensure that he hadn’t overheard the absurd suggestion.
“It might be helpful for the two of them to get their emotions off their chests instead of just stewing over the past.”
“Says the man who doesn’t want to discuss his dead wife.” She knew the moment the words were out that she’d made a horrible mistake. Pierce’s face paled, his eyes grew hollow, and Sarah immediately wished she could take back the comment. An unpleasant heaviness filled her stomach. “I…I spoke without thinking, Pierce. I’m sorry.” She reached out toward him, unsure of what she hoped to accomplish with such a gesture and unable to find out as he backed away with a look of flustered bewilderment.
“Don’t worry about it,” he muttered, the words digging a trench between them that suddenly seemed unsurpassable.
Sarah’s heart dropped to her feet. “Pierce…”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned on his heels and walked away, the churning of the trommel’s rotating drum producing a clanging of rocks so meaningless when compared to what had just happened.
“Is he all right?’ Sarah heard her grandfather ask as he came toward her.
Blinking, she turned to face him. “I don’t think so.”
“You look as though you’ve just taken a beating yourself.”
Forcing back the ache in her chest, she admitted, “I haven’t felt this bad in ages.”
The rest of the day passed without Sarah exchanging another word with Pierce. So did the next one after that. Which only made her feel even more rotten since he obviously wasn’t getting over her comment or showing any sign of forgiving her any time soon.
“Are you all right?” her grandfather eventually asked. “You’ve seemed very preoccupied and distant lately.”
“It’s nothing,” she said as she tossed the remainder of her lunch in the garbage and took a long sip of water.
Thomas didn’t let up. “Apologies tend to help.”
She put her bottle back in her bag and zipped it up. “What are you talking about?”
“Pierce, of course. It’s obvious the two of you’ve had a quarrel, and it’s been bothering you to bits.”
Sarah considered denying the accusation, but gave up on the idea when she met her grandfather’s intense gaze. Sighing, she slumped onto a folding chair and leaned back. “I said something to him that I shouldn’t have.”
“People make mistakes, Sarah. It’s part of being human. Hell, I’ve made my fair share, you know. The hard part is admitting you were wrong and doing whatever must be done in order to fix it.”
“I know that. I’m just not sure if this can be fixed. The hurt in his eyes…” She bit her lip at the recollection. “I feel terrible.”
“Then tell him that. Let him know and you’ll see…he’ll come around, Sarah. Especially if he cares for you half as much as I think he does.”
The thud of Sarah’s heart resounded in her chest. “What do you mean, Grandpa?”
Thomas chuckled. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way he looks at you.”
She scrunched her nose, unwilling to admit to any such thing, because even if she had noticed, she really wasn’t sure of what it meant or of where it might lead. If it might lead anywhere at all. So she shook her head. “He’s a widower.”
“And? Does that mean he’s not allowed to fall in love again?”
“Fall in love?” Sarah almost choked on the words. “Nobody is falling in love with anyone. He and I are just friends.”
Thomas responded with a snort. “You didn’t see the look in his eyes that day when Billy stopped by. I’d say he feels a bit more for you than just friendship, Sarah. The question is whether or not you feel the same way about him.”
Unable to stop herself, she frowned. “I don’t know what I feel, exactly. This whole thing with Billy has messed with my head and my emotions.”
“It’s been a rough ride for you, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah.” Turning aside, she thought of all she’d been through during the past five years, the education she’d given up in favor of following her heart, of her shattered dream, a broken heart, and pain that still lingered beneath the surface. If it had taken her this long to get this far, there was no way Pierce would recover from his loss anytime soon. “You’re wrong,” she found herself saying. “All Pierce wants right now is company, perhaps even a distraction from all the pain he’s feeling.�
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Her grandfather gave her a critical look. “Don’t presume to know his mind or his heart.”
Clamping her jaw together, she spun back to face her grandfather. “I’m not. But I know what it is to feel loss and to need people. Let’s not confuse that with something it’s not.”
“All I’m saying is—”
“He lost his wife, for heaven’s sake.” She shook her head. “Think of how difficult it was for me, losing someone I hadn’t even met yet, and then think of him, a man who had to bury the woman with whom he’d built a life. She was his best friend and closest companion, and he lost her.”
“As I lost my Mary,” her grandfather murmured. His eyes remained steadily on her, never wavering for a second.
“That’s different and you know it.”
“Why? Because she was old? That doesn’t mean it was any easier for me, you know.”
“I know,” Sarah said with a sigh. For some reason, she kept managing to say the wrong thing. “I’m sorry.”
“We had thirty-three wonderful years together, she and I. And just so you know, not a day goes by that I don’t think of her or expect her to suddenly walk through the door and tell me about the squirrels in the yard, as she so often did.” Squinting, he bowed his head just enough to prevent eye contact.
“Could you ever imagine starting a new relationship with someone else?”
He jerked his head as if startled by the mere idea of it. “Of course not.”
“Then how can you possibly imagine that Pierce might do so?”
“Because he has his entire life ahead of him.” He looked at her again, his eyes entreating. “He lacks the accomplishment of having had children and grandchildren. There are several chapters there still waiting to be written, Sarah.”
Her breath shuddered in response to the unbidden trembling that stirred her heart. “And you think I’m supposed to help him do so? Me, for whom the very idea of going through another pregnancy is just about the most terrifying thing in the entire world?”
“It shouldn’t be,” he told her seriously. “Living without love in your life and never having children – that is what you ought to be terrified of, Sarah, because once you’ve lost the chance at those, it’s gone forever.”
The Love That Saved Him Page 13