She blinked, then said in a steady, slow voice as though explaining to an idiot, “I tried the Tarik Mine, but I didn’t go to the others because they were too far away. I’m on foot. And in this dress it’s a bit difficult to get around.”
“Ah, yes. Bet you the manager was nice, but his foreman sent you away.”
“Yes,” she said, looking at him in wonder, since he still didn’t seem to be understanding what her problem was.
“Last month the foreman’s girlfriend in Denver married someone else, and he’s, well, a bit off women at the moment. Doesn’t want to see any of them.” Cole put her hand back in her lap. “Rotten luck that you tried the Tarik first. I’m sure the Lily or the Amaryllis needs a cook. And what about the jail? It’s a couple of miles out of town, on the way to Denver, but maybe they need someone.” He glanced at the church door. “I have to go now. Thanks for coming, and I’m very glad to see that you’re all right.”
For a moment Kady sat there in stunned silence. He couldn’t be going to leave her just like that, could he? “Cole!” she hissed at him, making him turn back, his body half inside the church.
“Yes, Miss Long?” he whispered so he wouldn’t disturb the people singing in the church.
“I am not all right,” she said. “I’m not all right at all.” Then, to her disgust, she began to cry. Turning her face away so he wouldn’t see her, she looked back when he handed her a clean handkerchief. He had seated himself beside her and was waiting with a small frown on his face. No doubt he was annoyed that she was keeping him from choir practice. She was in danger of starving to death, and he was worried he’d be late for choir practice!
“I don’t mean to keep you here, but I . . . I need help,” she said, the words foreign to her. Even in the kitchen she refused to ask the men to lift the huge copper stockpots; she liked to do things by herself.
“What can I do to help you?” he asked softly.
“I can’t find a job,” she repeated. “No one needs a cook; no one will even give me a chance to prove that I can cook.”
He was silent.
Kady blew her nose. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“I don’t know what to say. You’ve made it clear that you don’t want me to protect you, so there is nothing I can do. I can’t very well force someone to give you a job, now can I? It’s not as though I own the town.” He chuckled at this thought.
“But couldn’t you put in a good word—”
“If I did that, later you would hate me. You’d think I’d interfered in something that was none of my business and you’d hate me. Miss Long, I value your friendship too much to do anything to jeopardize it.”
He patted her hand, glanced toward the church door, and looked as though he was going to leave again.
Kady grabbed his arm. “I wouldn’t hate you no matter what. You’ve lived in this town all your life and—”
“Actually, I came here when I was four.”
“That doesn’t matter!” she gasped, then took a breath to calm herself. “All I’m asking is that you talk to some people.”
He looked at her in sympathy. “The problem is that there are ten people for every job. When we needed a new schoolteacher, every man’s wife and half the daughters in this town wanted the job. The town council had a devil of a time choosing just one person. It’s the silver, you see. Legend is fairly rich in silver, and everyone wants to be here in hopes of striking it rich.” His face lit up. “I could take you to Denver. Maybe there you’d find—”
“No! I can’t leave here because I must find the rocks where I came through. If I’m ever to get back, that’s the way.”
Turning away, he looked
out toward the lovely lawn in front of the church. “Ah, yes, Gilford.”
“Gregory,” Kady said. “The name of the man I love is Gregory.”
Cole kept his face turned away, but she could see a tiny smile playing at the corner of his lips, as though what she’d said were a great joke.
But none of this was a joke to Kady, she thought as, once again, she buried her face in her hands. “You have to help me. I’m hungry. I haven’t had anything to eat in—”
She broke off because Cole let out a rather loud belch.
“I do beg your pardon,” he said, his hand to his mouth. “Beans. It’s the only thing Manuel knows how to cook. It’s beans for breakfast, beans for lunch, beans for supper. Beans and—”
“I can cook something besides beans,” Kady said brightly, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “I can cook anything.”
Cole looked at her with the eyes of a man explaining the very simplest concepts of life. “You are an independent, self-supporting woman, and I respect that. I know you take a great deal of pride in being able to care for yourself with the help of no one else on earth, so how could I—”