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“Until she and Colt settle on a date.”
“If we set a date,” Regan tossed back, still simmering from their earlier brief encounter.
“You don’t think you’re good enough?” Minnie sneered.
“I think he may not be good enough.”
“Beggars can’t be choosy.”
Regan ignored that. “How much are your rooms?”
“Thirty-five cents a night.”
In response to the ridiculously high price Regan showed no emotion, but thought the place better be fit for a queen. “May I see it, please?”
Minnie grudgingly stepped back so they could enter. The interior was shadowy, and the furniture in the parlor they passed through appeared to be as old as its owner. Regan didn’t see any evidence of other boarders.
The room for rent was built onto the back of the house. A quick view showed a thin cot placed upon a wooden platform atop stacked wood. It appeared terribly uncomfortable. Beside it, a listing nightstand held a badly chipped porcelain basin. The ceiling above showed stained wooden beams still damp from a recent rain. Sleeping in the street might be better. “Is this the only room available?”
She responded with a nasty smirk. “Yes.”
Regan asked the sheriff, “Is there another place in town?”
Before he could reply, Minnie snapped, “Not for a colored woman.”
“Is she correct?”
He gave Minnie a sharp look before replying, “There may be. Let’s go, miss. Sorry to bother you, Minnie.”
Outside, Regan climbed back onto the wagon seat. “Should I take her unpleasantness personally, or is she that way all the time?”
“Yes, and yes.”
Regan was confused.
“She’s unpleasant all the time, and she’s the great-aunt of Doc’s late wife, Adele.”
A chill claimed her. “I see.”
He got the horse under way. Regan looked back and saw Minnie standing on the porch watching their departure with hostile eyes.
They were soon outside of town and traveling along a narrow road that cut through a forest of towering pines. The snowcapped peaks in the distance ruled the horizon. Unlike Arizona’s red-hued mountains, these were gray and they loomed like ancient gods.
“How well do you know Dr. Lee?” she asked Lambert.
“I’d say pretty well. We grew up together.”
“Do you think my injuring him will make him want to call off the wedding?”
She sensed him carefully choosing his words. “You’ll have to take that up with him. All I can say is he’s fair, honorable, and been a good friend to me.”
It wasn’t the response she’d hoped for but supposed it would have to do.
As they headed west, Regan thought about the woman who had been Colton Lee’s wife. Had she been well-loved by the people here? Would those who knew her resent Regan’s presence, and view her as contemptuously as Minnie? The largest question remaining was whether she and Dr. Lee would be able to move past their disastrous introduction and go forward. From his letters, he’d seemed like a good man. He’d been very up front about his lack of wealth. Many of his patients were unable to pay for his services but he treated them just the same. She’d been moved by his kindness and concerns for his motherless daughter.
The travel-weary Regan spotted a ranch in the distance and hoped it was their destination. The sizable low-slung structure was made of timber and sat atop a small tree-filled rise. To its left were corrals and two outbuildings. “Is that the place up ahead?”
“Yes. The woman who owns it is named Spring.”
