A Road Paved In Copper (Wildflower Women Collection 02) by Angela Christina Archer

Author:Angela Christina Archer [Archer, Angela Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Long Valley Press
Published: 2017-05-18T04:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

“So this is Tonopah.” Craig’s tone was more of a statement than a question as all three horses meandered through the dusty little town. “It’s smaller than I thought it would be. How far is your homestead from here?” he asked.

“A half of a day’s ride. But I’d like to check on a few things before we head out of town.”

Smoke billowed from several of the chimneys, the early morning hour had left a chill in the air that only a fire could better. Combined with the dust clouds from the logging mill, the dark haze rose high into the air over the town. Built into the side of the mountain, it stretched upward, winding through the rock and spreading out like the long fingers of a delicate hand.

Tumbleweeds rolled across the street, stirred by the gentle breeze as the men followed me to the Buckhorn General Store and dismounted. While Benny kept his gaze fixed on the ground, a sense of curiosity blazed in Craig with every fleeting glance in one direction then another. His neck craned over his shoulders once then twice then several more times.

“Are you coming with me or do you want to look around so more?” I asked Craig, amused.

“No, I’m coming with you.”

Leaving Benny to stay with the horses, we made our way into the store. Deserted in the morning hour, the aisles of groceries and supplies stretched along the inside of the building with a certain loneliness, and it hummed a silent tune back and forth between the dust-covered shelves. Sacks of flour and sugar sat propped up against barrels of fruit and vegetables grown by several families in the town, while different shovels, rakes, hammers, and buckets lined the far wall. Their wooden handles hung on nails.

Mrs. Pruett stood behind the counter, a pencil in one hand, and a pad of paper in the other; she took inventory on the different jars of pickled fruit and vegetables stacked on the shelves.

“Good day, Madeline,” I said.

“Oh. Good day, Ava.” With her hair spun in a tight bun on top of her head, she stuck the pencil behind her ear. “I was just talking about you to Huck. He came in here not but a few days ago and bought up a wagon full of supplies. He said you were in San Francisco and didn’t know when you’d be back.”

“Yes, I was. I just got into town.” I cleared my throat as the town gossip queen ran her eyes up and down Craig. A smirk hinted through her lips, vanishing within seconds as if she wanted to hide it before anyone caught her.

Lord only knows what she’s thinking.

While a tiny part of me cared, the rest of me knew just to ignore the woman. No matter what I told her, she would form her own version of the story anyway, so the endeavor proved more pointless than not. I could almost hear the chatty tittle-tattle around the wives of the town about the handsome new man accompanying the unmarried Ava De La Vega.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.