He wiped crumbs from his mouth with a napkin. “Well, you just make sure you charge them for your services.”
“Charge?”
He ate another piece of pie. “Yes, ma’am. A dollar a meal.”
She laughed. “That’s outrageous. I could buy three meals for that in San Francisco.”
“This isn’t the city. Not to men who’ve not had a decent meal or a woman’s touch in their lives in months.” He ate another bite of pie. “Miss Smyth, you’re going to make a fortune.”
Mr. Barrington’s purposeful footsteps sounded on the front porch and in the next instant his large frame blocked the front door. The top four buttons of his shirt were open, revealing chest hair curling with sweat. The sight of him made her heart miss a beat.
And she’d have smiled a greeting if he didn’t look angry enough to spit nails. “Holden, you got to the count of three to get out of my house before I shoot you.”
Chapter Nine
Murderous thoughts shot through Matthias when he’d first seen Holden’s carriage ride over the horizon. He and Abby were in this mess together because of his friend’s meddling. But when he’d strode onto his own front porch and heard the laughter and joy in Abby’s laugh, anger turned to jealousy.
In the week she’d been here, he’d seen her smile at the boys but he’d not heard her laugh. Her laughter rang as sweet as church bells, filling the cabin with life.
Though he’d done his best to keep his distance, he still noted the changes she conjured each day. Abby had filled the lifeless cabin with an energy it had never possessed. No longer a solemn place he dreaded returning to each night.
All were good reasons, in his mind, to keep his distance. He didn’t want to need her. Add to that the attraction that sizzled in his veins each time he saw her, and he had an explosive mix that was sure to blow up in his face sooner or later.
But he’d vowed to keep his hands to himself. His arrangement with Abby was temporary. And he’d be damned before he let lust or loneliness bind her to this harsh and fickle land.
Holden was a good man—they’d been friends of five years and he’d helped him through the darkest days after Elise’s death. But Abby wasn’t right for him.
As Matthias shoved through his front door he noticed Abby first. She sat at the table across from Holden, her eyes sparkling with laughter, her hair in a long braid that draped between her full breasts. The sun had lightened her hair and added color to her cheeks, making her look almost radiant. Damn, but he could feel himself growing hard just looking at her.
Color rose in her cheeks as if she could read his thoughts. “You’re home early, Mr. Barrington.”
He cleared his throat. “I saw the stage.”
With a great effort, he tore his gaze from Abby and settled it on Holden. He had to remind himself he was angry with his old friend. “If you had any good sense, you’d stay clear of my property after what you and Mrs. Clements did.”
Holden, who sat in his chair at the dinner table, glanced up from his half-eaten piece of pie. “I figured if you hadn’t cooled off after a week you’d never cool off. Plus I wanted to make sure Miss Abby was faring well.”
“She’s doing just fine.”
Holden rose and thrust out his hand. “So I can see. Though I don’t know how she could be, stuck out here with a sour-faced man like you. You look like you could eat nails.”
“I just might before it’s all over.” Matthias hesitated, then took Holden’s hand. “Stop feeding my boys candy. Their teeth are going to rot out of their heads.”
Holden laughed. “Ah, leave ’em be. Isn’t often a boy gets to chew on a stick of licorice and stare at the clouds with his brother. And the boys look fitter than I’ve seen ’em in months.”
Matthias had Abby to thank for that. “So what brings you this way? You don’t waste daylight unless there’s a reason.”
Holden nodded, the laughter fading from his eyes. “A couple of reasons. A friend of mine in Butte said a representative from the rail is coming through town around early July. He’s looking for horses—lots of ’em. You met him last week. Name is Stokes.”
Matthias remembered the dandy. “How many horses?”
“As many as he can get.”
Matthias hadn’t rounded up his stock yet this year. There’d simply been no time. But with the railroad man coming to town and Abby watching the boys, he could do it. He’d have to work extra hard and fast, but if he pulled this one off, he could earn hard cash. “I can have three dozen for him by August.”