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She was glowing.
“You’re just in time,” she said as he walked closer.
It was there, all right. Her inner excitement. The shine in her eyes and the smile on her face proved it. She’d found gold again. And that had a chilling effect on his heart—which was still pumping blood from his feet.
“Oh?” he said.
She nodded.
“For what?”
“The first cleanout of the day.”
His feet came to a halt, or maybe his heart did. Either way, Cole froze where he stood.
She moved closer, still smiling, eyes still twinkling. “I found it, Lucky. We found it. The bonanza.”
“The bonanza?”
Nodding, she kept walking, coming closer with each step. “The mother lode.”
Cole took a breath to prepare himself, but it wasn’t enough, not when she leaped and landed in his arms. He stumbled backward, but managed to keep them both from falling.
“More gold than you can imagine, Lucky,” she said, hugging him with both arms around his neck. “Pounds, not ounces.”
If only he could contain the exhilaration that shot through his body like a bolt of lightning. Or if that thrill was because of gold instead of holding her. It wasn’t. And he couldn’t. So he kissed her, long and deep.
Her response was pure heaven, and he kissed her again and again, until she forced him to stop by pushing on his shoulders. With his hands still holding her hips, keeping her close, he asked, “Your honey hole again?”
She shook her head. “The outhouse.”
Cole smoothed down her windblown hair, and then, stunned, or confused, held both of her cheeks in his palms. “The outhouse?”
After a swift, sweet kiss, she answered, “Yes, the outhouse. Let me show you.”
She led him up the hill to where she’d dug deep into the dirt that he’d already piled up while digging for the outhouse.
Cole’s eyes locked on the dirt while his insides took to quivering. It was gold, all right. More than he could have imagined, and from the looks of it, more than enough to rebuild DuMont Shipping. Scooping up a handful, he let the dirt run through his fingers. How had he missed this?
A bolt of excitement shot through him. He leaped to his feet and grabbed Maddie. “You did it, darling. You did it.”
She hugged him tight. “No, Lucky, we did it. We did it.”
By the end of the day, they’d processed more than all of their other cleanouts put together. Maddie wanted to dance and shout for joy, but she didn’t. There wasn’t time for that. Lucky needed gold, and she was going to make sure he got it. Dumping the last pan of dried gold into a bowl, since she didn’t have any more bags, she set the pan on the table and looked up to where Lucky stood next to her.
His gaze was on their gold. “I can hardly believe it.”
A tiny giggle escaped; she just couldn’t help it. Even though she’d told him several times how the find had come to be, she said, “I couldn’t believe it when I looked at my hand. It was covered in gold. Covered.”
He picked up a fairly good-size nugget—one of many. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice it while digging.”
“Your mind was on other things, I suspect,” she said, not wanting him to feel bad. “You were quite determined to get the camp set up before we started mining.”
He set the nugget down and turned, taking her by the shoulders. Her heart skipped excitedly. It had only been one night, but she’d missed him terribly, and wanted to make up for it.
“My mind wasn’t necessarily on setting up the camp,” he said, kissing her forehead. “It was on trying to become so exhausted I’d be too tired to think about holding you.” His lips touched the tip of her nose. “Kissing you.”
“Are you too tired right now?” she asked hopefully.
“No,” he answered.
Feeling a need to clear the air between them, she said, “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday.”
“I’m sorry, too,” he said.
“I like the stove,” she said. “And the outhouse.”
He laughed. “I suspect you do, darling. Especially now.”
She giggled. “I liked it before I discovered the gold.” Running a fingertip along the line of his jaw, she then admitted, “I do like eggs, too. Though I must admit, chickens stink.”
“I’ll agree with that.”
She pressed a finger against his lips. “I like wood floors, too, and our bed.”
