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“No,” she said as she looked down. She pretended to mess around with the shoe polish as she tried to swallow back her tears. “Both my parents have passed on.”
Her father, Jonas, had been a dreamer. He’d regaled his children with tales of the American West—stories he’d heard all the way in Norway which drew him to the United States. One day, he’d intended to take his family out west. Rowan had spent many evenings planning with her father on how they’d strike it rich mining for gold.
Unfortunately, when Rowan was only ten, he’d gotten severely injured at his job as a welder. On his deathbed, he’d made Rowan vow she’d someday escape Chicago, and she would go West with her family. She’d worked hard to fulfill her promise to him, but her mother had passed five years after her father.
It had taken awhile, but she’d worked hard and finally saved enough money to buy train tickets for herself and her brother to go to California and start a new life. One of Ted’s friends was already out there, working and making a good deal of money as a carpenter for a construction company. He had a great job lined up for Ted, but her brother had to be there within the next month or it would go to someone else.
Everything had been going well until the first night they were in Butte. They had a three day wait for the next train heading to California and decided to stay at a cheap hotel while they were here. That night, they’d been robbed while they slept. To make matters worse, when Rowan woke the next morning, it was with a raging fever. With only the little bit of money they’d had hidden away, Ted managed to find a doctor for her, but they’d faced a bitter decision. Winter was coming soon, and the trains sometimes shut down entirely for months due to the weather. She couldn’t travel, but if Ted waited for Rowan to get better, he’d miss his chance to get to California and the good job as a brick layer they so desperately needed.
Together, they’d made the decision that he needed to go.
That was six weeks ago. Every day, her remaining hope that he would make it back to Butte before winter dwindled.
“You live around here?” His question pulled her from her dreary thoughts.
She had to cough into her sleeve to clear her throat before saying, “No, sir. I’m heading west, to the gold mines. My brother’s out there right now, and he’s going to come back for me soon.”
Tilting her head down, she bit her lip and cursed herself for saying too much. Something about this man made her want to talk, to tell someone about the trouble she found herself in. Sneaking a glance up at him, she decided it was his eyes. Despite the fact that he was big, leanly muscled and taller than most of the men around them, his turquoise eyes were so kind.
She hadn’t seen a lot of kindness lately.
The sun was starting to set, and she was getting desperate, hoping she’d have enough to at least get a room in one of the hotels, so she’d be safe from Mr. Charles. While part of her wanted to flee, she knew there was a Mr. Charles in every city. Plus, Ted would never find her if she left Butte. Despair soaked through her, making her just want to sit down in a dark alley and never get up again.
Her dreams were over, shattered on the rocks of bad luck.
“He’ll come back for me,” she said more to reassure herself than the stranger watching her so closely. “My brother loves me. He’ll come back.”
When she didn’t add anything more, he made that odd ‘Huh’ again before adding, “My name’s Garret Finley. I live about a two day’s ride away in Bridgewater. We’re in need of a hand on the ranch to help us during sheep shearing season in a few weeks, if you’re needing a place to stay while you wait for your brother to return. We could leave word with the constable for your brother.”
“Constable?” She frowned at him as she motioned for him to turn his boot a little.
“Ah, yes—sorry, the local law enforcement. We can visit with them and make sure word reaches your brother as to your location. In the meantime, you could help us with work on the ranch. We need the assistance and will give you room and board in addition to paying you.”
Buffing the cloth in the small tin of shoe polish, she shook her head. “Thank you for the offer, sir, but I’m not sure how much help I’d be on a farm. I don’t know a cow from a bull.”
He laughed. The deep, rich sound reached out and tickled something low in her belly. “Well, my family raises goats and sheep, so you wouldn’t have to worry too much about identifying bulls.”
A strange burst of jealousy went through her as she imagined some beautiful mystery woman being married to the attractive and kind man. “Surely your children can help out?”
“Children?” he switched feet, putting his dirty boot on the box as he admired the one she’d just polished. “No, no children. I’m not married. My best friend Edward and I run the ranch together.”
As she worked, Garret went on to explain that he and Edward had served together in the British Army, regaling her with tales of traveling all over the world. She worked slowly as he talked, entranced by both his voice and the stories he told. In a way, it reminded her of how her father used to tell her stories when she was young. Garret was so descriptive, and she could easily imagine the lush, hot jungle palace where he’d spent five years serving as an emissary to a foreign government. A place where elephants roamed free, and everyone had dark skin like herself.
“You know,” he said in a low, contemplative voice, “You kind of remind me of the people from there with your copper skin, but your eyes are a pale blue like ice.”
“We’re done,” she said quickly, noticing that the sun had set while he was talking.
Admiring his shoes, Garret smiled then handed her five dollars.
Gaping at the money, she said, “Uh, sir, the shine is only seven cents. I don’t have any change.”
“Consider it a tip,” he replied with a wink that made her feel that strange warmth in her belly again.
Her hands trembled as she gaped up at him, but she made herself say, “Are you sure? That is a lot of money.”
“I’m sure. Take it.”
Standing, she quickly stuffed the money in her pocket, afraid one of her fellow street urchins would see it and decide to rob her tonight. “Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this helps.”
