"She's right," Belle agreed. "There's nothing you need to worry about today except resting."
Clara looked between the two women. "You know I'll go crazy, don't you? If I have to sit here with nothing else to do but replay the moments in that mine."
Aria pushed passed the mother hens and gripped her hand. "Clara's right. It'll be better if she has something to do."
Olivia's hands went to her waist. "Oh, all right. But nothing too strenuous."
Aria rolled her eyes. "Yes, ma'am."
"Clara? Sawyer's here," Rosalie said, hovering in the doorway as she looked over Clara like an ever-watchful nurse. "Should I tell him to come back later?"
Rosalie must have decided she looked too rough for company. But Sawyer wasn't just company. She wanted to see him. "Let him in."
"If you're sure," she said as she walked out.
Olivia started fluttering around, fluffing pillows, and straightening blankets. "Now, you mustn't overtire yourself. It could give you a setback."
A setback from what? Clara wanted to ask. It wasn't as if she'd suffered from a cold. She couldn't have a setback from a cave in unless she was transported straight back into the mine, and she was not going back there. But she knew Olivia was just being kind. "I won't."
When Sawyer walked in the room, her heart skipped a beat, but what was even more interesting was that, for the first time, she felt her body relax. Truly relax. As if she hadn't felt safe until this very moment.
It was ridiculous, of course. She was perfectly safe in her room, but the feeling did make her wonder. Would she ever feel safe without him?
"How are you?" he asked, discreetly glancing over her.
"I'm well. You? How's your arm?"
He waved that away as he perched on a seat across from her. "It'll heal."
His posture put her on alert. "Is something wrong?" His jaw clenched, and her worry flared. "Did something else happen?"
"No. Nothing else." He looked around at the women gathered there. "I have some news I wanted to let you know about. All of you."
He looked at Belle. "Could you gather the rest of the women here?"
"Of course," she said, but she looked back into the room as if she worried she'd miss something.
Clara smiled encouragingly at her to go on, but it was all for show. Something was wrong.
She wanted to cry. Why must so many things go wrong? Why couldn't any of this be easy? She was sick to death of trying to force things to work and having them all fall apart.
As others filtered into the room, the noise level increased until Clara wanted to claw at her ears. Once Belle returned with Juliette, the last of them, Clara turned back to Sawyer. "Out with it."
"Clara," Olivia reprimanded, but Clara didn't care about manners just then. If she didn't have the information out of Sawyer's mouth immediately, she would scream.
"It's all right." He smiled at Olivia. "She's been through a lot. We all have."
Sadie took a hopeful step forward. "Then, you have good news?"
He sighed and took off his hat. "No. Heaven knows I wish I did. I have more information about the cave in. As you all know, I've hired Ronan Briggs to work the mine. We were up there earlier, scouting it out, assessing how much damage was done during the accident."
Violet glared openly at Clara, but she didn't say anything. In truth, she felt she deserved it. If it wasn't for her stubbornness, her frustration at what she'd witnessed in town, she never would've set foot in there, and none of this would be a problem. Now, supporting themselves would be ten times harder. "And what were your findings?" She wanted to know, but in truth, she dreaded it. "How bad is the damage?"
"The good news is that it shouldn't take too long to clear out the rubble. The damage was localized to the entrance of the mine."
Relief pumped through her, and she shared a smile with Belle. Everything was going to be all right. She hadn't completely messed things up.
Her attention turned back to Sawyer. "That's good, then, right?"
He nodded slowly and the smile slid from her face. Something wasn't right. "What else?" she asked.
"The mine was rigged to collapse."
Olivia gasped. "I beg your pardon?"
"Rigged?" Belle asked.
Clara was too stunned to asked anything.
"Yes. Rigged." He looked at each of the women. "The support beams were cut in a way that with little force, they'd collapse."
Willow looked ready to murder someone. "Who would do such a thing?"
"We don't know. What we do know, is that someone doesn't want the mine worked."
Clara whispered, "What are we going to do?"
Sawyer only had eyes for her. His gaze caressed her face as gently as fingertips. "We'll continue doing what we've been doing. We'll just go about it a little more cautiously."
Some of the women nodded, agreeing with Sawyer's plan. But Clara couldn't stomach that.
They'd almost died yesterday. Sawyer and she could've died in the initial collapse. Or worse, slowly withered away, praying for death, trapped in the mine. If Sawyer hadn't been able to find another exit, if their lamp had gone out, if any number of other things had happened, they wouldn't be here. They wouldn't have a chance for a future together.
She couldn't let that happen again. Not to her, him, Ronan, or anyone else that stepped foot into Ivan's mine.
Into their mine.
She would do whatever was required to protect it. "I refuse to just sit and wait until something else happens." She looked toward the other women. "Next time, we might not be as lucky. I'm not willing to gamble with any of our lives."
"There's nothing else we can do." Sawyer shifted as if frustrated that he couldn’t hunt down the person who’d caused this. "We have no suspects. No motive. No way of knowing who's behind this or why. Until we do, we need to sit tight."
Juliette cocked her head. "Why would someone want to damage the mine?"
"So no one would go in it?" Rosalie offered.
"Doesn't make sense."
Sadie wrung her hands. "Perhaps it has nothing to do with the mine at all. Maybe the person wants to hurt us."
Sawyer shook his head. "I don't think so. There's been no talk about you leaving. From the moment you arrived, everyone wanted you here."
Theories were tossed around like candy as each person offered suggestions as to why someone would damage the mine. But what really got Clara was the motivation behind it.
What prompted someone to do something so extreme? If the women were the targets, there were much more efficient ways to kill them.
She shivered at the thought.
Damaging the mine only devalued it. And from what others had told them, it wasn't worth much to begin with.
She froze, the noise around her fading.
From what she'd been told.
What if the mine was more valuable than they'd been led to believe? What if most everyone didn't know that, and that was why the mayor gave them the mine in return for them staying? The town would never have turned it over if there was a fortune to be had.
But if there was gold. And someone knew it…
Her gaze locked on to Sawyer. "Could someone be trying to damage the mine so we'd sell?"
"They might. But why go to all that trouble?"
"What if there was more gold in there than what we were told?"
"If there was, we'd know about it. Ivan would've mined it all."
"Would he have?" She cocked her head. "I didn't know Ivan well, but he was eccentric. Crazy. He had enough gold to do everything he'd wanted to do. What if he'd just left the rest in there?"
Sawyer opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it.
"If there is a fortune in there, and someone knows about it—"
"Then they'd want to take the mine," he said, shaking his head. "You might be right."
"But how would we know who the saboteur is?" Violet asked, her body strung tight. "It could be anyone."
"It could," Clar
a agreed. "But there's a way to flush them out. Leaking information that we've hit it big is the only solution. It will drive the person to desperation. With any luck, this will all be over by tomorrow night."
"No." Sawyer stepped forward as if he could physically block the thought. "It's too dangerous."
Not caring that others were around, he lifted her off the ground and shook her softly. "I almost lost you once. I'm not going to gamble with your life. We'll find the person another way."
"But not as quickly. This needs to end. Next time, it might not be my life. It could be one of theirs." Her chin notched toward the group of women who watched their exchange. "This has to happen."
His hands opened and closed over her arms as if he were trying to bring himself under control. "I can't let you do this."
"You don't have a choice." She'd be firm in this. She loved Sawyer, respected him. But she couldn't obey him right now. She wouldn't live with this hanging over her head. She wouldn't wait for the person to strike again. The next time they made a move, she'd be ready.
She would put them on the defensive.
She gave the other women her attention. "It's the only way if we want to end this quickly. We could do as Sawyer suggests, but we'll always be watching, wondering when and who will be targeted next. I don't want to live that way. But this is about more than just me. It's about all of us. We all need to make the choice. Together."
She felt Sawyer's unease, but was glad he remained silent. The fact that he was willing to let them all choose what to do, that he respected her enough to let them make that decision, made her love him even more.
After a vote, it was unanimous. They'd leak information tomorrow morning that a mother load had been found in Ivan's mine.
Whoever wanted the gold would come after them.
And they'd be ready.
Chapter 14
Olivia volunteered to go into the mercantile the next morning and accidentally let it slip that they'd struck gold. In front of the town's biggest gossip.
When Sawyer had asked for someone to take over the task, he was surprised she'd stepped forward.
He liked Olivia, of course. She was a nice, fine woman. But out of all of Ivan’s brides, he wouldn't have guessed she had the mettle to do it.
"People underestimate me," was the only explanation she gave.
He certainly had.
He strolled the street in front of the saloon as he had several times in the past, but he didn't feel the ease he used to. Nothing about this was easy.
Nothing was comfortable.
He should be with her. By her side. Protecting her.
But instead, he was here. Acting like everything was normal.
He hated it.
He watched the door to the mercantile and slowly began making his way down the street to be in position when Olivia exited.
Standing in the doorway, she gushed something to the owner and waved her arm enthusiastically one last time before dancing out.
He had to hand it to her, she knew how to put on a show.
"It's done," she said quietly when she reached him, then nodded brightly for any onlookers. "Sheriff, I hope you're enjoying this fine day."
He couldn't help but grin. Olivia was classically beautiful, although she couldn't compare to Clara in his mind, but what really shone was her smile.
"Absolutely. Looks like you're full of good news."
"I am!" She looked around like she'd misspoke. "But I really shouldn't say yet." Noticing the mercantile's owner's wife in the doorway, she winked.
It took all of Sawyer's strength not to laugh. He tipped his hat. "Well, I wish you well with whatever good news you have."
"Thank you!" She practically sung as she sauntered to her wagon and climbed up before snapping the lines.
Sawyer shook his head, chuckling as she drove away. He'd have to tell Clara exactly how well Olivia had played her part.
"Oh, Sheriff?" As if on cue, Mrs. Hennisy scurried down from the boardwalk and into the street to intercept him.
The gossipy woman just couldn't help herself. But in this case, Sawyer was grateful for the woman's loose tongue. "Good morning, Mrs. Hennisy. How are you?"
"Well, Sheriff. Very well." She glanced back at Olivia's retreating form. "Not as well as Miss Hardy though. Of course you know all about her astonishing news."
Sawyer's brows rose. "News? Miss Hardy didn't share anything with me."
"Oh dear." She looked down, attempting to look regretful but didn't quite succeed.
"What was her news?"
"It's a secret. I shouldn't have said anything."
He leaned forward and whispered, "I'm a civil servant, ma'am. You can trust me."
And with just that little bit of encouragement, she filled him in on all the details he'd told Olivia to share. Word of their strike would travel quickly in town. By nightfall, not a soul would be unaware of it.
As the woman wound down, the poor mayor happened to join their conversation. "Good afternoon, Sheriff. Mrs. Hennisy."
"Mayor, have you heard the news?"
Apparently, Mrs. Hennisy thought that as mayor, he’d keep the secret too. Or she just didn't care anymore. Sawyer guessed the latter.
The mayor's brows rose clear to his hairline. "Well, I'll be. I didn't think Ivan's mine would ever pay out. I reckon the whole town didn't either."
Sawyer shrugged, not wanting to outright lie to the mayor about the mine's circumstances. But Sawyer knew better than to let him in on the details of what was happening before they found the culprit. When you told one person, that person told one other, and another, until the whole town knew. That's what was happening in this case. Except by telling Mrs. Hennisy, they were speeding up the process. Her one person was actually thirty.
"I wonder what will happen to the mine once the women start marrying," Mrs. Hennisy mused. "I imagine the husbands will have a say in what happens."
The mayor nodded. "That sounds right. They would own a portion of the mine just by marrying into it."
"That first man will have a lot of power." She whistled.
There was truth in that. But Sawyer wasn't worried. He intended on marrying Clara soon. Very soon. And from what he could tell, none of the other women had formed an attachment. By marrying Clara, he would ensure that the women kept the claim’s entire profit for themselves.
He'd never allow another man to come in and take it from them.
All he had to do was convince Clara to marry him. And if nothing else worked, he might just use that excuse to wrangle her to the alter.
It was almost eleven at night when Sawyer left the main house and headed out to the barn. He'd come by after dinner to confirm that the information they'd leaked had indeed made its way around town. He was happy to report, jokingly of course, that men were even more eager to court them now that the ladies had a fortune as well as looks.
Clara snorted as she snuffed out candles and recalled Sawyer’s words As if they needed any more male attention. If they ever did hit the mother lode , she guessed there'd be similar problems. At least this way, they knew about those problems up front.
The others had gone to bed, weary from the stress of the day. Hopefully, there wouldn't be too many days like this in the future.
If they could just catch the person responsible.
She squelched one of the candles a little harder than necessary and glared at the offending bow in the wax. She'd have to fix it later. They may be pretending to have enough to never worry about wasting a candle, but that wasn't reality.
They still had to count their pennies. Their theory about why the mine was being sabotaged was just that.
A theory.
It seemed almost impossible that someone, even as crazy as Ivan, would leave large amounts of gold in there, regardless of his needs.
Footsteps sounded in the hall behind her. It had to be Sadie. She always waited to go to sleep until everyone else turned in.
She smiled at the thoughtful gest
ure. "I'm going straight to bed, Sadie. You go ahead and settle in."
But when no one answered, she glanced over her shoulder toward the doorway. "Sadie?" she asked, but the hairs on her arms lifted as she saw a large shadow in the doorway. Too big to be Sadie… or any of the other women.
"If you scream, I'll shoot."
She believed him, whoever he was. With dim moonlight as the only light in the room, she was able to make out a gun in his hand but not his identity. "What do you want? Whatever it is, just take it and go."
"Exactly my intention."
He lunged toward her, and covered her mouth with a dirty bandana before she could scream. She fought against him, but she'd struggled too late.
He bound her hands behind her and turned her to face him.
Shock pulsed through her when he stepped into stronger light, the moon’s rays illuminating his face.
Mayor Bracken
Why was he doing this?
Her mind filled with ideas, but none of them made sense. As if he'd heard her question, he said, "Both you and Ivan’s claim are mine."
She closed her eyes in prayer. The mine. He’d rigged it to collapse.
"Why?" she asked, the word muffled by fabric.
"By taking you, marrying you, I will own a part of it. No one can stop me."
She fought against him when he tried to haul her out of the house, but only succeeded in gaining bruises on her arms and further threats of bodily harm.
She stilled when he cocked his gun.
Grunting his approval, he dug his weapon into her shoulder and forced her out the door.
Sawyer met Ronan at the mine early the next morning. Ronan had volunteered to stay close to it overnight in case someone tried anything, but it was quiet. Too quiet.
"Did you see anyone?" Sawyer asked. He was sure something would happened.
"Besides a few dogs in heat, things were pretty dead around here." He sounded almost disappointed.
"Someone should've come by. I would've bet money on it."
Ronan shrugged. "You would've lost it."
It was easy for Ronan to think like that. That's how he lived his life.
Sometimes you won, sometimes you lost. Except Ronan didn't seem to care either way.
A Mail-Order Heart (Miners to Millionaires Book 1) Page 10