Chapter Nine
"I don't believe it," Mary said, staring at Utopia's nearly deserted main street as the gusting wind sent spirals of red dust and bits of trash whirling about.
"Believe it," Lee told her. "Because according to the directions I got from the stationmaster, our house is at the end of Main Street."
"House?" Mary was genuinely confused.
"Yep. You and I are the proud owners of a house and silver mine in Utopia, Colorado."
"You bought a house and a silver mine here? In this town?" Mary looked around. As far as she could tell, there wasn't much to Utopia—certainly nothing to recommend it. The town had obviously already peaked in popularity and was currently on the downswing. Utopia was dying. Anyone with an eye and a modest amount of intelligence could see that.
"I've never been to Utopia before," he told her. "And I didn't buy the house or the silver mine. I inherited them. Or, rather, Madeline did. Ettinger House and the Ettinger Silver Mine."
"Maddy's father left her a house and a silver mine?"
To keep from lying outright. Lee nodded.
Mary sucked in a breath as another gust of wind caught the hem of her skirt, lifting it a few inches. "So we came here to look at the property?"
Lee didn't hear her. He focused his attention on the wooden floor around Mary's feet, hoping to catch a glimpse of her bare ankles. He was vastly disappointed and vastly amused when she grabbed a handful of fabric and pulled her skirt tight to keep the wind from lifting it higher. By doing so, she inadvertently managed to give Lee a wonderful view of the outline of her lower body and her long, luscious legs.
"Lee?"
"What?" He jerked his gaze away from her skirt.
"I said we came here to have a look at the property, right?"
"Wrong."
"But…" Mary protested.
"Hey," Lee smiled at her. "We haven't seen the house yet and the stationmaster says it's the biggest one in town."
Mary glanced around. "That's not saying much."
"Come on, Mary, where's your spirit of adventure?" Lee teased.
"I left it on the train," Mary replied glumly as she watched the train chug down the track toward Denver. "Along with my luggage."
Lee laughed out loud. "I took care of our luggage. It's being delivered to the house."
"By whom?" Except for their little group and the man behind the cage in the ticket window, the depot appeared to be as empty as the town.
"I paid the porter to deliver it," he answered. "And he left with our luggage right before I left to get you and Maddy." Lee stared at her meaningfully. "He should have reached the house by now."
Mary shivered at the thought.
Lee, thinking it was the cold, placed Mary's bundle of clothing on the rocking chair Judah had vacated, and removed his canvas duster. "Take this." He draped the coat over Mary and Maddy, buttoned the top button, and tucked the ends around Maddy's bare legs.
"Thank you."
"Yeah, well," he shrugged. "It's a shame to cover up your pretty skirt with my old canvas duster." And an even bigger shame to hide those wonderful legs, he thought. "But…"
She glanced at him sharply. The look in his gray eyes contrasted with the all too innocent expression on his face. "But what?"
"But I imagine you need it more than I do."
"Why…" Mary stopped to clear her throat and start over when her voice came out several octaves higher than normal. "Why would you imagine that?"