"I know. I have thought about it, Devi—Garrett. I admit that I might have misjudged you—"
"You might have?"
"All right, I did misjudge you. Just because you're wealthy doesn't mean you're like Burke."
"Thank you," Devlin said dryly.
"No, I mean it. You aren't anything like him."
"In one respect, I am. I make money for a living. If you can't accept that, then we have a problem. I don't see any need for me to slave away at manual labor for a mere pittance."
"I can accept it."
"And you're going to learn to trust me?"
"Yes," Jess said in a small voice.
He put a finger under her chin, keeping her from avoiding his gaze. "I want your promise. I don't care what the situation is, if I do something you don't like, you talk to me first before you go off half-cocked. Do we have a deal?"
"Yes . . . yes, I promise."
He smiled then and bent his head, giving her a kiss that held such tenderness it nearly shattered her soul. Jess clung to him for support, even after their lips had parted.
"Oh, Garrett . . . I do love you so."
"I'm glad you finally admitted it, sweetheart." Holding her gaze, he moved his hands to lightly frame her face, his thumbs tracing delicate circles along her cheekbones. "And since you have, I don't mind telling you that the feeling is entirely mutual."
Jess's heart seemed to stand still. "You . . . mean it? You love me?"
"I mean it, sweetheart. I've been waiting for a damned month—"
His words were nearly drowned out when a tremendous commotion sounded from outside in the hall. Both Devlin and Jess wanted to ignore the intrusion, but the shouts didn't die down, and the sound of running feet seemed ominous.
Reluctantly Devlin pulled away. "We'd better see what's going on."
Jess could have screamed in frustration at the untimely interruption. She ached to know what Devlin had been about to tell her. He'd said he wanted her, that— incredulously—he even loved her. But did that mean he wanted her enough to marry her? Enough to overlook her shortcomings and the awful way she'd treated him in the past? Enough to give up that Lena woman as his mistress? Or did he merely want her as a replacement for Lena in his bed?
But all her anxious questions would have to wait, Jess realized when Devlin had turned the key in the lock and opened the door to the hall. Men and women in evening attire were frantically rushing past.
Above the din, though, Jess could make out what one man was yelling.
"Fire! Fire! The Plume is burning! Silver Plume's on fire."
Chapter 22
By the time Jessica and Devlin managed to push their way through the crowd and out the front door, they could hear a fire bell ringing, giving the alarm. Up the canyon, in the distance, a faint glow lit up the night sky.
"Dear God," Jess breathed. She started to tremble, but it had nothing to do with the chill breeze attacking her bare shoulders.
"It looks bad," Riley added fearfully as he came up behind her. "We've got to get home, Jessie."
"We have to find a carriage first," Devlin responded grimly.
He dragged off his coat and threw it around Jess's shoulders, then grabbed her hand and pulled her along through the frantic crowd. People were running in six different directions, searching for loved ones and transportation amid the tangle of horses and vehicles that had suddenly packed the residential street.
The terror that the shouted word "Fire!" struck in the hearts of Westerners was well earned, Jess knew. Most towns lacked the adequate resources to fight a blaze of any magnitude. And while Georgetown had its own volunteer fire department and an efficient waterworks, Silver Plume had only one major source of water—Clear Creek—and no equipment to speak of. Bucket brigades would have to battle the blaze until the Georgetown fire companies, with their hand-drawn carts and lengths of fire hose, could make it up the hill to help.
With the ominous glow on the horizon, however, Jess was deathly afraid that Georgetown's rescue would be too late.