Desperate Hearts by Alexis Harrington Page A

and dig up a fortune,
considering the rest of ’em have been scratchin’ around up there
since—”
    God, the man was a lunkhead, Jace thought
irritably. He had no sense of urgency, no hint that he was getting
on Jace’s nerves. He leaned close until his face was mere inches
from Albert’s. “I’m in a hurry,” he said softly, letting impatience
slide into his tone.
    Albert lurched upright. “Oh, sure, right
away.” He grabbed a sack of sugar. “Did you say you were here to
visit McGuire?”
    “ No, I didn’t say. What
about the house? Who owns it?”
    “ Well, I guess they still
do. McGuire paid off the mortgage and it ain’t like there was
someone around here begging to buy it. He wouldn’t tell what they
planned to do in Baker City. It was always so blamed hard to get
information out of that feller.” Albert shrugged. “They just took
what they could carry away in a wagon, happy as two peas in a pod,
and left the rest. They could sure afford to buy whatever they
needed when they got there. That was a real step up for Chloe, I’ll
tell you. She scraped along for years after her father died. You
know that’s how she and that McGuire feller came to meet. Looking
for a blacksmith, she was and he . . .”
    The man prattled on, but his voice faded to
a drone in the back of Jace’s mind. That was good news about the
house, and it explained why some of the furniture was still there.
They wouldn’t mind, then, if he and Kyla had to stay there for a
while.
    He glanced out the window—full darkness had
fallen. He needed to get back to her. She was burning with fever
and hadn’t eaten for two days. He inhaled the aroma of food
again—
    “ You said you were just
sitting down for dinner?”
    Albert waved a hand affably. “Oh, well now,
don’t you worry about that. It’ll keep for a few min—”
    “ What are you
having?”
    “ Mrs. DeGroot makes the
best chicken stew in eastern—”
    “ I’ll take that, too.” He
plucked a crock from a pyramid of jars on display. “Put it in here.
I’ll pay you for the jar and the stew.”
    “ But that’s our—I mean—our
supper—”
    Worry and fatigue exhausted his patience.
Jace pulled five silver dollars out of his pocket and began
flipping them at the astounded shopkeeper, one at a time. Five
dollars was more than any meal was worth.
    Albert scrambled to catch the coins, but a
couple of them bounced off his chest and rolled across the
floor.
    Jace reached across the counter and gently
grasped Albert by his shirtfront. He pulled him close, and
murmured, “Now you shut up a minute and listen to me. I’ve got a
sick boy to look after and I don’t have time to think about how
we’re going to eat. I’ll buy this stew from you, and I’ll pay your
wife good money to cook and bring the food to the McGuire house
every day until we leave.” He released him and tossed the last
dollar to him. “Have we got a deal?”
    Albert, speechless for once, could only
nod.
    “ Good. Then I’ll take that
stew now.”
    The shopkeeper gripped the crock in an
unsteady hand and disappeared into the back for a moment. A moment
of heated murmured discussion followed, punctuated by the sound of
an indignant female voice. At last Albert reappeared with the jar,
redolent and steaming with stew, and placed it in the box
containing his other purchases.
    “ Mrs. DeGroot said she’d be
happy to do your cooking, Mr. Rankin,” he said, his smile wobbly on
his now-ashen face.
    Jace nodded and paid for the merchandise.
“I’ll expect her tomorrow morning, then.”
    Hoisting the box, he turned and walked out
the door. He glanced back once and through the window saw Albert
DeGroot scuttling around on his hands and knees picking up the
silver dollars.
    Maybe Kyla was right, he pondered as he
untied his horse. Maybe every man did have his price.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    “ Leave me alone!” Kyla
thrashed and kicked on the bed, scowling at Jace as if he were a
murderer, her eyes wild and