Betina Krahn
Page 34
“Wait—” Bear grabbed him by the sleeves to hold him still. “You’re saying Beecher blew down half of the buttes … and the blast left a ledge of some kind?”
“Slick as brilliantine,” Nigel said, scratching his head in wonder. “Never seen anything like it. As soon as we bend the roadbed to avoid that dry river, well be building track through what used to be a bad section of solid rock. You gotta come and see!”
All around them the men clapped each other on the backs and talked excitedly about seeing this bizarre twist of fortune for themselves. Bear turned to Diamond in shock that transformed to disbelief, then to a booming laugh.
“Bless Lionel Beecher’s crusty black heart!” he roared, picking her up and swinging her around. When he put her down she was laughing, too. “When he finds out what he’s done, he’ll be furious! He’s the only man I know who has worse luck than me!”
As things calmed, Nigel Ellsworth bit the corner of his lip, then called for their attention again. “Ummm … there was one more thing …”
The look on his face caused Bear to freeze, waiting for the other shoe to drop … the one with the disaster in it.
“Yes?” Bear looked at Diamond, then at Halt, bracing.
“As I was climbing around over the blast site, I noticed some rather odd debris.” He pulled two sizable rocks out of his pockets and his assistant did the same, holding them out for Bear’s inspection. “Now … I’m no mining engineer, but … don’t these look a lot like …”
Diamond’s heart stopped as she watched Bear’s face drain of color.
“My God,” Bear said, reaching for one of the rocks. It was meant as a prayer. Halt pushed through to take one of the rocks with the odd blue streak in it from Ellsworth’s assistant.
“Sweet heaven above,” the Irishman said, giving a whistle.
“What is it?” Diamond demanded, trying desperately not to jump to any conclusions.
Ellsworth looked at her with a faintly befuddled look. “I think it’s silver. And there’s a whole streak of it running through the cliffs the blast exposed.”
“Silver? Could it possibly be?” Bear said. “Beecher not only blasted us a roadbed—he blasted us a damned silver mine?”
She took one of the rocks from Ellsworth and rubbed the blue streak with her fingers, feeling its sleek texture. And somehow she knew.
“It’s silver, all right,” she said. She looked up at Bear and began to laugh. “You’re going to be a very wealthy man, Bear McQuaid.” Then she looked at the workers around them, beaming at the expectation and hope in their eyes. “In fact, you’re all going to be quite well off.”
“How do you know?” Bear said, seizing her shoulders and pouring all of his passion for her into that one look of hope, longing, and love.
“Because … I’m a soft touch with a ‘Midas touch,’ remember? I’m the girl who can’t even give her money away. I’ve invested heavily in the Montana Central and Mountain. And I always make a huge return on my investments.”
“So you do.” Bear laughed and took the rock from her and handed it back to Ellsworth. “But, you know … you’ve invested a lot more than just money, this time. You’ve invested your heart and soul and dreams. And I think it’s high time you started collecting dividends.”
And he kissed her.
For Nathan O. Krahn and Zebulun A. Krahn
whose love has sustained my heart.
BANTAM BOOKS BY BETINA KRAHN
The Unlikely Angel
The Perfect Mistress
The Last Bachelor
The Mermaid
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BETINA KRAHN lives in Minnesota with her two sons and a feisty salt-and-pepper Schnauzer. With a degree in biology and a graduate degree in counseling, she has worked in teaching, personnel management, and mental health. She had a mercifully brief stint as a boys’ soccer coach, makes terrific lasagna, routinely kills houseplants, and is incurably optimistic about the human race. She believes the world needs a bit more truth, a lot more justice, and a whole lot more love and laughter. And she attributes her outlook to having married an unflinching optimist and to two great-grandmothers actually named Pollyanna.
And look for Betina Krahn’s
next delightful historical romance
THE SWEET TALKER
IN SUMMER 2000