Regina looked up and down the main street of town, a bit bewildered. There was so much construction going on, it was hard to determine which businesses were open and which were closed, and she wasn’t seeing a sign for a hotel or a boarding house right off. The man at the station had said that he could hold their trunks for two days without a storage fee, and that was nice to hear, but she’d just as soon have them back as soon as possible. He seemed trustworthy enough, but she’d always been overly cautious.
“At least there are lots of women in town,” Ariadne said in an undertone. “I hardly saw any on the train platform, and I was starting to wonder if they were a rarity out here in the west.”
“They are, actually, from what I’ve been reading,” Regina said. “Most of the people out this way are men who have come to work on the railroad or the mines. The ratio of men to women definitely favors the men.”
“I would say something about our chances for romance being rather good, but I haven’t caught sight of a man yet who isn’t covered in some sort of filth.” Ariadne shook her head, disgust on her face. “Have they never heard of baths in this town?”
“You must understand, my dear ladies, that Creede is situated near a mine, and mining is very dirty work indeed.”
The sisters turned at the sound of the new voice. A man stood there dressed in a fine suit, clutching his lapels. He gave them a small bow. “My name is Archibald Grady, but you may call me Archie. It’s much friendlier, I believe. Welcome to our humble town.”
Regina nodded. “We’re pleased to meet you. I’m Regina Stoker, and this is my sister, Ariadne.”
“Ah, Ariadne. From Greek mythology, the lovely maiden who helped the hero escape the minotaur.” He gave another little bow, and Ariadne giggled.
Regina was not amused. Anything that made her sister giggle was likely not good for her.
“I’m impressed,” Ariadne said. “Most people don’t know where my name comes from.”
“Don’t be too impressed, dear lady. The bits of knowledge in my head are few and far between. That was mere chance.” He held out his arm. “I wonder if I might invite you into my saloon. There are certain aspects of it that are still under construction or repair, but I’ll buy you a drink to welcome you properly.”
“A drink? Mr. Grady, we were brought up as gentlewomen in a gentleman’s home. Offering us a drink is hardly the way to win us over, or whatever you might be trying to do.” Regina tried to keep her voice modulated, but she couldn’t help the flash of irritation she felt. She’d thought they’d met their first friend in town, but now she was sure that they’d met their first snake in the grass. She liked that expression—it sounded so very Western.
Archie pressed his lips together, but then smiled. “My dear ladies, I meant no offense. We serve lemonade as well as liquor, and that’s what I meant to offer. I regret that I was so unclear.”
His apology sounded well-meaning, if a bit flowery, but she’d seen the glint of anger in his eyes, and she wasn’t any likelier to trust him now than she had been thirty seconds before.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to decline. Thank you for your offer.” She tipped her head at him, threaded her arm through Ariadne’s, and all but forced her sister to march down the street.
“What on earth? Regina, how could you be so rude?” Ariadne snatched her arm away. “He was being polite.”
“He was being predatory. Gracious, Ariadne, with all those novels you read, I would have thought that you’d recognize a villain when you met one.”
“Really? You think he’s a villain?” Ariadne turned to look, but Regina grabbed her arm again and flipped her to the front.
“Yes! And why must you sound so excited about it?”
“Because I’ve always wanted to meet a real-life villain. And you just ruined it for me!”
Regina looked skyward. “We need to find a hotel or boarding house. Once we’re settled, I’ll do my best to find you at least three real-life villains to choose from, but none of them will be Archibald Grady. He makes my skin crawl.”
“I thought he was handsome.”
“You’re only interested in him because he recognized the origin of your name. Choose someone else, I’ll buy him a book, and then he’ll know too.” Regina nudged her sister to keep walking, ignoring the curious looks of the men they passed. “Look—over there. I think we just found a hotel. Let’s go inside and see if it’s decent.”
***
Jake had just dismounted in front of the general store when he caught sight of two pretty blonde ladies walking down the street. They were both striking, but it was the one on the left that caught his attention the most. She had a lively, intelligent face—which, sadly, she turned away from him when Archie Grady came up from behind and started a conversation.
Archie Grady. Jake disliked that man in every which way he could think of. He was always scheming, always trying to push ahead, always grasping for whatever he could get. Jake doubted he even knew what it meant to speak the truth, and now it rankled on him that these two pretty young women were having a conversation with him.
Before he knew what he was about, he’d tied up his horse and was heading that direction, thinking he’d interrupt before anyone got bamboozled. Of course, he’d never met these ladies and he didn’t know how they’d feel about a perfect stranger busting in, but he had met Archie, and he was willing to risk breaking whatever rules of etiquette this fell under. He’d never been much for etiquette anyway.
Just before he got there, though, he suddenly found himself flanked by the younger Crowther sisters. He never could remember their names, just that they had a fondness for cowboys, and they certainly weren’t shy about making their feelings known.
“Hello, Jake,” one of them said, tucking her arm through his. “We haven’t seen you in town for a while. Been busy?”
“Just doing some chores around the ranch.” He tried to pull his arm free, but she was stronger than she looked, that one was.
“What kind of chores?” the other one asked.
“Mending fences, that sort of thing.” He tried to keep his eye on what was going on with Archie and the two ladies, but those Crowther girls . . . they were determined.
“We’ve been talking about having a little party, and we’d sure like it if you came,” the first one said. Was her name Penny? Seemed like it was Penny. “You could even bring a few of your friends from the ranch. Couldn’t he, Lissy?”
That’s right. The other one was Lissy. Jake cleared his throat. “They aren’t much into parties, and I’m not either, sorry to say. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
“Why, that’s silly! Everyone likes parties,” Lissy said. “Even if you don’t care for dancing, we’ll have all sorts of food, and we’re inviting lots of the new people in town so we can all get a chance to meet them.”
“There are lots of new people, you know,” Penny added. “We can’t let them feel unwelcome.”
The two ladies had turned and were walking away from Archie now, and Jake breathed a sigh of relief. His objective hadn’t been met at all, but at least they weren’t in Archie’s clutches. He wished he could say the same for himself and the Crowthers’ clutches. Their older sister, Benita, had been the town’s biggest flirt until she found herself married, and it seemed that her younger siblings had decided to take up her banner.
“I’ll see what I can do. I’d best be going—Mrs. Clark is waiting for her order from the store.” Jake tipped his hat and escaped as quickly as he could, knowing he’d been a little rude, but not sure how else he could have gotten free. He’d never been so glad to go shopping for thread and ribbon in all his days.