Heart of Gold by Lacy Williams Read Free Book Online Page B

hasn’t he said anything? He’s been sick, but not that ill.”
    “Maybe he’s a little stubborn, like someone else—” He tweaked the end of her nose and Opal flicked his hand away impatiently.
    “Yes, but—”
    “Maybe he’s afraid to admit he wants you here. Worried your heart’s back in Omaha and you might not be happy on the Circle B. It can be tough for a woman out here in the West.”
    Opal’s breath caught in her throat. Was Charlie talking about her father now, or himself? It almost sounded as if he had personal experience, but he didn’t offer more. He shifted, dislodging her head from its resting place on his shoulder. “I should go check and see if the bandits have fallen asleep.”
    She wanted nothing more than to escape the mine shaft, but when Charlie stood and moved away, the emptiness he left behind had her reaching for him in the darkness.
    He wasn’t gone long.
    “Two of ‘em are bedded down but the third is keeping watch,” he muttered as he settled beside her again. He curled his arm around her, which was nice because the night had cooled. “It’s almost as if they know we’re nearby, trapped here. We need to get out before daybreak or they’ll be able to see the entrance to the mine.”
    Thinking of the bullets flying after them, and Charlie putting himself in danger over her stupid mistake wasn’t helping her to stay calm. He must’ve heard her breath going ragged again, because he squeezed her tightly.
    “We’ll be all right. It might be best if you could rest for a bit. Do you think you can manage it?”
    She doubted it. She’d started shaking again and couldn’t seem to stop.
    “Hey, hey.” His voice was warm, and close. His breath warmed her temple. “I’ll do everything I can to get you out of this predicament safely. Even if it comes down to creating a diversion and us splitting up.”
    That didn’t help. She didn’t need a hero, she needed someone who would stick by her side. Someone to build a life with, who wouldn’t send her away.
    For a moment, when Charlie had suggested bringing her orphans here and settling them on the ranch, she’d thought he might be that person. His intuitive suggestion that God might be answering her prayers, unasked as they might be, had touched her heart.
    “It helps when you talk,” she admitted softly. And when they’d kissed, she’d forgotten all about being stuck in the dark, trapped by men who wanted to hurt them. But her aunt’s training was too much ingrained in her to mention that.
    “Tell me about Carl,” she said instead.
    “Carl. What about him?”
    “Yes. How did you come to have him? What happened to his parents?”
    He hesitated, the moment unusual for such a decisive man. Was his nephew such a sensitive subject? She hadn’t realized.
    “I was engaged once.”
    It wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. Perhaps she should have been. Charlie was a confident, personable man. Mostly. He’d make a fine husband. But he’d told her once before he’d never been married. She couldn’t help wanting to know what had happened.
    “She was a real pretty gal. Citified, like you.”
    He tensed, as if he might be afraid she’d take offense at that.
    “How did you meet?” Opal asked, because she sensed he wanted to tell her something with his story.
    “We started exchanging letters through a mutual acquaintance. I told her all about how I hoped to have my own spread some day, and she told me all about the parties and teas she liked to go to.
    “I didn’t realize how much she needed her social activities to be happy.” He spoke softly, his words carrying a wealth of old hurt. “Not until it was too late.”
    She felt his chin brush the top of her head as he shook his head. “We got on so well through our letters that we decided to get married. She came out here to meet me. Your pa let her stay in the big house—she’d brought along a female friend for company—but I guess… I guess I wasn’t what she