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“As Jim said, it’s been a pleasure. More than likely Sylvie is going to confine you to bed for a few more days, so be prepared.”
“I’m not at full strength yet, so that’ll be okay.”
“You two will get along well.”
“She seems nice.”
“If she hires you, you’ll enjoy working with her, too.”
“We’ll see what happens.”
“Her house isn’t very large and the men she takes in are always respectable.”
“That’s good to know,” Eddy said, watching him.
“She originally owned this place. It was much smaller back then of course. She and her late husband Freddy have been here since the first big Comstock strike in ’fifty-nine.”
If Eddy didn’t know better she’d think he was prolonging the conversation in order to delay leaving. She hoped she was wrong. That they might actually be attracted to each other was too outrageous to even contemplate. “You should go and do whatever it is saloon owners do. I’m a bit tuckered out. I think I’ll get some sleep.”
“Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m fine for now.”
But instead of leaving he stood there silently, just as he had last night, his gaze holding hers, and the sensations shimmering over her were getting harder and harder to ignore.
“Rest up,” he said softly.
After his departure, Eddy made her way back to the bed. Lying there, she thought the sooner she left Fontaine the better off she’d be. California was her goal, not exploring whatever was calling to her from a pair of smoldering green eyes.
Descending the stairs, Rhine wondered again what the hell was wrong with him. Instead of leaving her when Jim had, he’d stayed behind babbling inanely as if he hadn’t wanted to part from her. Had she not politely sent him on his way, he’d probably be still there searching for something else to talk about. Frustrated, he entered the kitchen were Jim stood chopping vegetables for the evening’s stew. “I’m going over to the orphanage.”
“Will you be back in time for lunch?”
“Probably not.” Limiting his contact with MissCarmichael would hopefully stifle this kernel of attraction that seemed determined to blossom in spite of his protestations.
“Okay. I’ll look in on our guest while you’re gone. Give my regards to Sister Mary, Willa Grace, and those troublemaking boys of yours.”
“Will do.” Confident that by the end of the day Eddy would be with Sylvie and he’d be returning to his well-ordered life, he stepped into his new Rockaway carriage, gathered the reins, and drove away.
The orphanage run by Mary Fulmer and her assistant Willa Grace was housed in an old mansion on the edge of town. Mary used to be Sister Mary of the Sisters of Charity, a local Catholic Order, until she locked horns with the Mother Superior over the Order’s refusal to allow children of color into their orphanage. Mary found no charity in that, so three years ago, after much back and forth, she renounced her vows, left the Order, and established her own orphanage. The children under her care were of various races and ages. Over the years, she’d taken in as many as seven. Presently, there were four. Two of the four were eight-year-old twins Micah and Christian Sanford, the troublemaking boys Jim referenced. Rhine had come to care for them a great deal.
When he pulled up in front of Mary’s place, the twins came tearing down the steps to greet him and his heart swelled.
“Did you bring us something?” Micah asked excitedly.
“Soldiers, candy, a yo-yo?” his twin chimed in.
“That depends. How much trouble have you been in since I saw you last?”
They went silent and shared a look as if deciding how much to confess. His last visit had been a few days before his trip to Reno with Jim and coming across Eddy in the desert.
Smiling, Rhine stepped down and tied the horse’s reins to the post. He knew they’d gotten into some kind of mischief because trouble was their middle names. They’d arrived at the orphanage a year ago following the death of their father, and they were both so solemn and filled with grief Mary worried about their well-being. She asked some of the men in town like Rhine, Doc Randolph, carpenter Zeke Reynolds, and others to spend time with the boys in hopes it would help them adjust to their new life. Everyone pitched in. Doc helped with their lessons, Zeke Reynolds showed them the rudiments of carpentry, which they took to instantly, and Rhine concentrated on making them smile. He brought kites and drove them out to the desert to fly them. They hunted lizards, pitched horseshoes, played marbles, and had foot races. In many ways his times with them were reminiscent of the fun he and his half brother Andrew shared before assuming the roles forced upon them by slavery.
“Still waiting on an answer,” Rhine prompted as the silent twins accompanied him up the steps to the front door. Much to Mary’s delight, the boys did adjust to life at the orphanage, and there’d been hell to pay ever since. They were rambunctious and so bursting with energy that someone without Mary’s patience and love might have taken them out to the desert, tied them to a cactus, and driven away. Which is exactly what Lady Ruby wanted to do the night they snuck over to her place in the middle of the night to play with the chickens in her coop and left the coop unlatched when they snuck back to the orphanage. “Were any snakes or lizards involved?”
They shared another look, and Christian admitted, “Maybe?”
Rhine knew that meant yes.
