Wildstar

"It ain't the money, goldammit! I don't give a flyin' hoot about the money! If I did, I wouldn't've stuck by you all these years!"

"He's gonna help us fight," Riley said quietly.

"We done just fine by ourselves till now. We sure as hell don't need any two-bit—"

"We can't go it alone any longer, Clem. Do you think I would have trusted a near stranger with something this important if I didn't think he could do better than me at protecting my daugh—" Riley suddenly broke off and fell silent when he spied Jess standing at the door.

Her heartbeat slowed down. Her father and Clem were sitting at the kitchen table all alone, with no Devlin in sight. "I'm sorry I slept so late," she said uncertainly.

Clem glowered, while her father tried to smile. "You needed it, Jess"

She walked over to the stove to pour herself a cup of coffee. "Where's Devlin?" she asked casually, as if the an­swer held little importance to her.

"He said he was going to check into a hotel last night."

Jess turned with a startled look. "A hotel?"

"He didn't want to inconvenience us any longer, especi­ally you. Said he didn't feel right, turning you out of your bed and all."

It had been something of an inconvenience, his staying here at the house, so why did she feel as if she had been slapped in the face? She'd been worried sick about how she would act toward Devlin, how he would act toward her. In fact, she would have given anything to avoid him today. But now that she was getting her wish, all she could think was Why? Why had he suddenly decided to move out? Was it something she had done? Had she scared him off by demanding he make love to her, by forcing him to do something he hadn't wanted to do? Had it been so dis­tasteful to him?

"He said he'd be by later on to pick up his things."

He was actually leaving. As the realization sank in, Jess was shocked at the fierce knot of hurt that was gathering in her chest. She bit her lip to keep it from quivering and turned away, holding on to the towel rack at the end of the stove. Her face felt as if it were burning, while her mind wouldn't seem to function.

"What were you two arguing about?" she asked finally, surprised that her voice hardly shook.

"We weren't arguing," her father began.

"Yes we was!" Clem said with a growl. "I never thought I'd see the day, Jessie, but your pa done sold us out." Pushing back his chair, the old mule skinner stood up, jammed his hat on his head, and stomped past her, out the back door.

Turning, Jess stared white-faced at her father. "You didn't sell to Burke?" she demanded hoarsely. "No, not to Burke."

Relief flooded through her, until she realized Riley wasn't meeting her eyes. "Then what did Clem mean about selling us out?"

"Your Mr. Devlin bought a quarter interest of the Wildstar."

"My Mr. Dev— You sold part of the Wildstar to him?"

"That's right," Riley replied irritably. "And I don't need you giving me any grief over it. Clem's already likened me to Judas."

Jess didn't know what to say. Like Clem, she felt be­trayed. She had worked hard for years to make sure Riley could keep the Wildstar operating, and now . . . It was more than giving up part ownership of the mine. It was selling out a dream. How could you, Riley?

"Why?" she asked in a raw voice. "Because we needed the money?"

"That, partly. We couldn't have afforded to dig out and shore up the timbers and make it safe to mine again with­out the cash Devlin's willing to put up."

"We would have found the money somehow."

"How?" He lifted a weary gaze to hers. "Jess, I'm tired of scraping by. I'm tired of having you scrimp and save and work your fingers raw so I can beat my head against a rock wall. You deserve better than that."

"But I don't mind! And anyway, it won't be forever. Just until you make a strike."

Riley sighed. "I don't know if I even believe that any­more. And even if I did, it's too dangerous to go on like we have been. We can't fight Burke alone—it was foolish to try. It nearly got you killed. If you had died in that ex­plosion, I couldn't have lived with myself. . . ." His voice quavered and broke off.

"You're letting Burke win," Jess said tonelessly.

Her father shook his head. "I don't think so."