gun.”
“But not kill you,” Raine said.
“I didn’t think I needed to point that out,” he said dryly, “but clarification never hurts.”
Raine pressed her mouth flat to keep her lips from twitching. She vowed she would not say another word until he was finished.
“Mr. Burdick did not impress me as someone who required much in the way of encouragement to draw his gun. I could have insisted that he address you as Mrs. Berry, taken possession of his bottle without his permission, or beat him at cards. He would have taken out his gun, and he would be dead. It would have been self-defense, confirmed by every customer in your saloon.”
Raine held her tongue, waiting. When he lifted an eyebrow, she recognized he was inviting her to applaud his brilliance. She braced her arms on the back of the chair and set her gaze level with his. “That is where you very much mistake the matter. You could count on my testimony to confirm what happened, but you should never depend on anyone else to come forward. Killing Eli Burdick is like poking a stick in a nest of vipers.”
“The father and brothers, you mean.”
She nodded. “Uriah, Clay, and Isaac. And every ranch hand employed at the Burdick spread.”
“Fifteen, give or take.”
“More like twenty.”
“Eli told me fifteen.”
“Eli cares about cattle, not men. He probably doesn’t know the name of half of the hands that work for his father.”
“So no one crosses them.”
“Not any longer,” she said. “Not since Isaac Burdick’s trial.”
Kellen reached for the lamp and turned up the wick. The flame flickered at first, then held steady. The circle of light widened and chased the shadows from Raine’s finely wrought features. She faced his scrutiny head on. He said, “Walt hinted at something about a trial, but wouldn’t elaborate.”
“When were you talking to Walt?”
“I suppose you’re not watching me as closely as you think. I’ve talked to Walt every night after dinner. I meet him on the porch when he’s done with his chores. We sit outside and talk, watch people coming and going, mostly to and from the saloon.”
“But it’s been bitter cold out there.”
He shrugged. “I dress for it. I go back to my room to get my coat.” And the derringer, but Kellen chose not to mention it. “As for Walt, I am under the impression that he is impervious to the cold.”
Raine nodded absently, vaguely troubled that she hadn’t known what Kellen was doing. It didn’t make sense, given the fact that he was hired for protection, yet she somehow felt obliged to offer it in return. She came around the chair and sat down. “Has Walter been helpful?”
He smiled, recalling how Walter’s broad shoulders extended beyond the back of the rocker, and how the man had folded his arms to rest just below his chest because the arms of the rocker could not contain them.
“I admit I was surprised,” Kellen said. “He doesn’t seem the sort to offer conversational delicacies, does he? Turns out, he’s very good at it.”
Raine thought back to Kellen’s conversation with Eli Burdick. “So that’s how you knew you could talk to Eli about the piano. Did he mention that Eli’s mother left his father for a railroad surveyor who regularly passed through the territory?”
“He didn’t get to that, no.”
“I didn’t think so. I thought Eli was going to hammer your skull when you decided to toast mothers.”
Kellen remembered thinking the same thing. “Do you like it when he calls you Lorrainey?”
Raine stiffened. “No,” she said. “It makes my skin crawl.”
“Then there is no understanding between you.”
“He said there was an understanding? What did he say? What were his exact words?”
Kellen put out his hands. “Whoa.”
“Whoa?” Raine looked at him sharply. “You said whoa to me?”
“I beg your pardon,” Kellen said. He could have avoided Eli Burdick’s bottle more easily than the Widder Berry’s stare. Her green eyes
“But not kill you,” Raine said.
“I didn’t think I needed to point that out,” he said dryly, “but clarification never hurts.”
Raine pressed her mouth flat to keep her lips from twitching. She vowed she would not say another word until he was finished.
“Mr. Burdick did not impress me as someone who required much in the way of encouragement to draw his gun. I could have insisted that he address you as Mrs. Berry, taken possession of his bottle without his permission, or beat him at cards. He would have taken out his gun, and he would be dead. It would have been self-defense, confirmed by every customer in your saloon.”
Raine held her tongue, waiting. When he lifted an eyebrow, she recognized he was inviting her to applaud his brilliance. She braced her arms on the back of the chair and set her gaze level with his. “That is where you very much mistake the matter. You could count on my testimony to confirm what happened, but you should never depend on anyone else to come forward. Killing Eli Burdick is like poking a stick in a nest of vipers.”
“The father and brothers, you mean.”
She nodded. “Uriah, Clay, and Isaac. And every ranch hand employed at the Burdick spread.”
“Fifteen, give or take.”
“More like twenty.”
“Eli told me fifteen.”
“Eli cares about cattle, not men. He probably doesn’t know the name of half of the hands that work for his father.”
“So no one crosses them.”
“Not any longer,” she said. “Not since Isaac Burdick’s trial.”
Kellen reached for the lamp and turned up the wick. The flame flickered at first, then held steady. The circle of light widened and chased the shadows from Raine’s finely wrought features. She faced his scrutiny head on. He said, “Walt hinted at something about a trial, but wouldn’t elaborate.”
“When were you talking to Walt?”
“I suppose you’re not watching me as closely as you think. I’ve talked to Walt every night after dinner. I meet him on the porch when he’s done with his chores. We sit outside and talk, watch people coming and going, mostly to and from the saloon.”
“But it’s been bitter cold out there.”
He shrugged. “I dress for it. I go back to my room to get my coat.” And the derringer, but Kellen chose not to mention it. “As for Walt, I am under the impression that he is impervious to the cold.”
Raine nodded absently, vaguely troubled that she hadn’t known what Kellen was doing. It didn’t make sense, given the fact that he was hired for protection, yet she somehow felt obliged to offer it in return. She came around the chair and sat down. “Has Walter been helpful?”
He smiled, recalling how Walter’s broad shoulders extended beyond the back of the rocker, and how the man had folded his arms to rest just below his chest because the arms of the rocker could not contain them.
“I admit I was surprised,” Kellen said. “He doesn’t seem the sort to offer conversational delicacies, does he? Turns out, he’s very good at it.”
Raine thought back to Kellen’s conversation with Eli Burdick. “So that’s how you knew you could talk to Eli about the piano. Did he mention that Eli’s mother left his father for a railroad surveyor who regularly passed through the territory?”
“He didn’t get to that, no.”
“I didn’t think so. I thought Eli was going to hammer your skull when you decided to toast mothers.”
Kellen remembered thinking the same thing. “Do you like it when he calls you Lorrainey?”
Raine stiffened. “No,” she said. “It makes my skin crawl.”
“Then there is no understanding between you.”
“He said there was an understanding? What did he say? What were his exact words?”
Kellen put out his hands. “Whoa.”
“Whoa?” Raine looked at him sharply. “You said whoa to me?”
“I beg your pardon,” Kellen said. He could have avoided Eli Burdick’s bottle more easily than the Widder Berry’s stare. Her green eyes
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