Jim smiled, remembering a fight with a man even bigger than Harry down in San Antonio. He’d been a year or two younger back then. Not so tough, and he’d put on considerable weight since.
He held up his own fists. The knuckles were flat and scarred. “I’ve done my share.”
Harry grinned. “Best to leave all that behind. Much easier to cook for a living. Safer, too. Though I miss it sometimes.” He gave Jim a meaningful glance.
Jim started to respond about how a man might get too old for such things, but another pair of men opened the front door and Harry’s attention fell on them.
“Right with you, gents,” he said. Then to Jim and Ellen, “Let me know if you need anything at all.”
“Friendly fellow,” Jim said when he’d gone.
“Too friendly,” Ellen said. “But the food is good.”
They ate, and Jim couldn’t argue with the choice of restaurant. Whatever else Harry might have been, he knew his way around a kitchen.
For a time after their meal was done, they sat and sipped their coffee and listened to the running stream.
“I still want to find a place to ranch,” Jim said.
“A gold mine isn’t enough?” Ellen smiled.
“No. I don’t know much about gold or mining. Cows and horses I know. I want someplace quiet where we can raise cattle and children and not have neighbors.”
“No neighbors at all?”
“Not close ones. Your parents can have a place near us, of course.”
“What about Captain Neill and Delphi?”
Jim gave her a dubious look. “What about them?”
“They might want to live near us as well,” Ellen said, and sipped her coffee.
“The way you looked at her, I wasn’t sure if you liked Delphi,” Jim said. “But if they want to settle near us, that’d be great.”
“And how exactly did I look at her?”
Jim laughed. “Hard to describe. Suspicious-like. Maybe the way a hound dog looks at another dog with a new bone. Or the way—”
“How many children?” Ellen interrupted.
“A few more. Seems like six would be the right number.”
“Six?” Ellen’s brows lifted. “You’re expecting a lot of me.”
Jim grinned. “That’s why I said your parents could stay close. You’ll need the help.”
Ellen laughed.
They settled the bill and went out into the street arm-in-arm. The day was warm, the sun bright and clear. They strolled by a new bank and the Methodist church. There were more houses than Jim remembered. Onionville was growing. Soon it would grow even faster. Halfway down the street, a voice came from behind Jim.
“Found you,” the voice said.
Jim knew the voice. He’d heard it before. He turned to see a stocky man squared up behind them.
“I told you I would,” Cord Bannen said.
“Yes, you did,” Jim answered. Ellen was clutching at his arm, and he took a sidestep to put some distance between them. She was entirely too close. If this ended in gunplay, he needed her well clear of it.
Bannen was alone, but there were several men loitering against the awning posts behind him. They seemed nonchalant, but Jim noticed they were listening closely.
“I don’t suppose we could settle this between the two of us,” Jim said.
Bannen laughed. He smiled and it didn’t touch his eyes. They were hard and cold. “If it comes to that, I’d make your woman here a nice young widow.”
“Leave her out of it,” Jim growled. His hand hovered near his pistol.
“Suppose I don’t.”
“Then I’ll call you out.”
Bannen laughed again. “This isn’t that kind of fight, friend. There are no rules. Call me out all you want. I won’t come. I don’t care about your woman or your precious honor. You and I will settle up after I have the gold. Until then…” Bannen shrugged. “I’ll be patient. I know where you are now.”
“And I know where you are,” Jim said. Bannen was right, of course. He could afford to wait.
He won’t start anything until he knows where the gold is.
It wouldn’t take long. A few questions around town, a trip out to the valley. After today, the claims would be public knowledge. No secrets then.
