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“Remind me to thank him,” Cole said drily.
She glanced up and then grinned as she started swishing the blanket around in the tub. “Frank Harper seems like a nice man. His claim is next to Sylvester’s, and Roman Carmichael hasn’t found anything on his claim. He’d probably appreciate a job.”
Cole swallowed a hint of uncalled-for bitterness. He’d been the one to encourage her to be neighborly, but Roman Carmichael wanted Maddie for himself in the worst way. “We’ll need more equipment, too. Bigger equipment,” he said, taking the subject off men to hire.
“It’ll take a lot of money, won’t it?”
“Don’t worry,” he answered. “We can afford it.”
“But will it be a good investment?” she asked.
“We’ll know soon enough.” He nudged her aside. “Let’s get this cleanout done so I can start hiring men.”
Over the next few days, men appeared out of thin air. That was what it seemed like to Maddie, and though she tried to be neighborly—as Lucky called it—she found it hard. Not all, but some of the new men reminded her of those that had ridden with her father, and she took to tucking her gun in her pocket again. After months of it sitting on a shelf, it felt heavy and foreign. She’d use it, though, if needed, as she had in the past.
The gun, though, didn’t help with the other things happening. While some men continued to use the small sluice boxes, others were building a much larger and far more elaborate one. The pounding and sawing never stopped, nor did the mining. Torches were lit and men worked around the clock.
Crews took turns sleeping and working, which meant the hustle and bustle never slowed. Albert was hired to cook meals for everyone and found two men to assist him, including one who stayed up all night, feeding those working.
The outhouse had been moved and though their main tent remained in the same spot, nothing resembled their old camp. Lucky said it was all necessary to harvest the gold. Though none of it was how Maddie had envisioned things.
Her fingertips were sure to be wrinkled permanently from having her hands in the cold water so much, and awaking this morning to three tubs awaiting her was troublesome rather than exciting. She couldn’t grow lax on her duties, and wouldn’t, but frustration gnawed at her, and she knew why.
She and Lucky no longer had any alone time. Not even at night. When he finally entered the tent it was to fall on the bed exhausted. It seemed the more men he hired, the more work he had to do. That was true of the gold, too—the more they found, the more work it made. The gold dust and nuggets could no longer be safely hidden beneath the outhouse floorboards. Instead, it had to be transported to Bittersweet to be refined into bullion for shipping.
Maddie accepted that, too, and how Lucky had to accompany the gold, but he’d barely been in bed a few hours. “If you wait until this afternoon, I’ll have the gold collected that dried last night. You can take it with you, too.”
Lucky grinned from where he sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on his boots. “Today’s load can wait until the next trip.” He stood and crossed the room. Stopping in front of her, he ran his hands up and down her sides.
Excitement filled her heart like it hadn’t in days. Lately, they’d barely seen each other and had rarely been alone. Lucky hadn’t touched her, either, not like he was right now, and she’d missed it. Missed him. Silly, considering they were still living together, but it was true.
“Having second thoughts?” he asked.
“About what?”
He shrugged. “Hiring all these men, making our operation so big.”
Knowing he needed the gold, she answered, “No, are you?”
“Not as long as you keep your promise,” he said against her lips.
“That we leave in thirty days,” she said softly, leaning closer against him.
“It’s less than that now,” he whispered.
The kiss, their coming together had scarcely started when it was brought to an abrupt stop. Maddie had chosen to disregard the hard knock, and to her delight so had Lucky, but the opening of the door couldn’t be ignored.
One of the new men—one who left her feeling uneasy every time he looked her way—entered. “Sorry, Cole. Ma’am,” the man said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, but the boat’s ready to be loaded.”
Maddie removed her hands from Lucky’s shoulders and turned to the table that still held their breakfast plates.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” Lucky answered.
