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“I’m still here,” he said, reaching for her hand.
“I can go,” Aaron said, glancing at the door and starting to rise from his chair.
“No, we have too much work to discuss. My darling, Aaron has agreed to take over for me. I will put everything in his capable hands, and he will make sure no one takes advantage of you and Isabella. Who, by the way, he no longer hates.” He began coughing again.
She smiled. “Thank you, Aaron. I know this will give him great peace of mind.” She pulled the cork from the bottle she held, then took a spoon from her pocket.
“So long as it doesn’t give him too much,” Aaron replied.
Mrs. Garcia looked at him oddly, and her husband explained between coughs. “He thinks that by accepting my proposal ... he will cause me to lose the will to live.”
She nodded. “We have all had thoughts like that about various things, but I came to terms with the fact that, no matter how willful my husband can be, only God knows the number of our days. I’m content to take whatever He gives and cherish them.” She poured a spoonful of syrup.
Aaron so admired their attitudes about the situation. They weren’t spending their last days or hours mourning their loss. They were living life to the fullest and enjoying whatever time they had. There would be plenty of time for mourning after Daniel was gone.
Helena helped her husband take two spoonfuls of medicine and then waited as his cough quieted.
“Isabella and I are managing the arrangements for the celebration,” she said as she recorked the bottle. “We’re following all of your notes and instructions, so don’t worry about a thing. I know you’re going to have plenty to do in instructing Aaron, so just leave it in our hands.”
Daniel nodded. “Thank you. I will. I know you two can manage most anything.”
Helena leaned down and kissed her husband on the forehead. “I love you, my darling.” She straightened and turned to Aaron. “Don’t let him work too hard.”
“I won’t,” Aaron promised.
She then surprised him by giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I hope you don’t mind. You’re practically family.” She left before Aaron could even reply.
“She’s a good woman. She gave up so much—” Daniel coughed several times, then continued. “She gave up so much to marry me.”
“I don’t think she lost that much, given the love of a lifetime that she gained.”
Daniel struggled to sit up, and Aaron quickly jumped in to help him. Together they managed to get him propped up with pillows and comfortable enough that he continued his thoughts.
“Aaron, most of my business arrangements are straightforward. In my desk are files on all of my personal affairs, as well for my various business ventures. Each file details what you’ll need to know. The most important thing I want to stress is caring for the people here. I’ve been a father to them and Helena a mother. They are good people. Smart too. I don’t know that they really need anyone to hold their hands anymore. We’ve become a good town with folks who understand what it is to put differences aside and truly care for one another.”
He motioned to the water glass, and Aaron handed it to him. Daniel sipped the water slowly and calmed another coughing fit. The medicine seemed to be working, as the cough was much less intense. He handed the glass back to Aaron and picked up where he left off.
“The people are changing every day. Some less-than-trustworthy characters have moved in, but you can’t stop them. It’s bound to happen. In the early days I had a gang of outlaws try to use Silver Veil as a place to hide from the law.”
“How’d you get them to leave?”
Daniel chuckled. “I didn’t. I gave them jobs and responsibilities. I told them if they were going to live here, they were going to help protect the people. For a time, they acted as guards at the silver processing mill. They would accompany any shipments when it came time to send them out. With most, I helped arrange things with the law. Some went to jail and then returned here after they served their sentences. Others moved on.” Daniel smiled. “Men are often bad only for the sole reason that no one gave them a chance to be otherwise.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“I hope so. I hope you will see what I’ve done here, with God’s help, as a ministry unto Him. I wanted this place to be a second chance for those who had fallen from grace. I wanted it to be a first chance for those born into poverty and hopelessness. Above all, I want Silver Veil and its silver to be used not for some chance to amass fortune, but to help others. I don’t live on the money from the silver mine. The silver goes toward Silver Veil and its people. I have a huge inheritance from my family to live on, and now part of that will be yours.”
Aaron didn’t even try to hide his surprise. “I don’t know what to say. I can’t take that. Your family will need every cent for their survival. Women have no other way to make their fortune, as you well know. I will manage it for them and see that no one takes advantage of them, but I won’t rob them.”
Daniel chuckled, but this time it didn’t lead to coughing.“I know you won’t rob them, which is why I want to give it to you. I don’t want you having to worry about making your living. This is my salary to you—it’s just coming all at once. There will still be plenty for them. I’ve already discussed it with Helena and will get around to telling Isabella, as well.”
Aaron felt honored and worried at the same time. Sharing Isabella’s inheritance made him feel all the more obligated to follow his growing feelings for her into matrimony. But what if she wasn’t interested in marrying him? What if she still loved Diego, despite all the things that he’d done?
“All right, here’s what I want you to do first,” Daniel said. “Go to your people at the Santa Fe and resign from your position.”
Isabella enjoyed working on the plans for the Founder’s Day celebration with her mother. They were able to talk about a variety of things, including Mama’s family, of whom Isabella knew very little.
“My father made his fortune,” her mother explained. “He was a poor farmer’s son, and he wanted to go west in hopes of striking it rich with the forty-niners. He had nothing but the clothes on his back when he answered an ad from a dairy farmer who wanted to start a new life in Oregon and needed help. My father knew how to handle dairy cows and went along to help the man tend his cows on the journey. When they reached Oregon, my father bid the dairyman good-bye and went to find his fortune in the gold fields. He became quite wealthy.”
