Katie Rose (31 page)

“Have you any experience?” Emily asked her.

The woman nodded, then dug through her purse. “I worked for Mrs. Bates in Philadelphia for many years as her seamstress. I came out here a little over a year ago with my husband. Unfortunately, he passed on, and I’ve been struggling since. I’m certain I could learn how to stitch hats or can take care of customers.” She held out a rumpled letter of recommendation.

Just then another woman approached and tapped her fan on the counter. “May I have some help here?”

She was an older, heavyset woman, with a beaked nose and a tight mouth. A demanding type, Emily could tell immediately. She glanced at Lynette. “Why don’t you assist this woman? I’ll be right back here if you need anything.”

Lynette turned to the older woman. “Certainly, Madam. I’m sorry you had to wait. What can I show you?”

“I need a winter bonnet. Not one of those new-fangled things that wouldn’t keep a baby warm, but a good, solid winter bonnet. In black. I am in mourning for my husband. I cannot possibly wear colors.”

“I am sorry,” Lynette said softly. “I know what it is to lose a husband. But the mourning period isn’t quite so long now, and I can’t help but picture how lovely this one would look on you. However, I do have some plainer bonnets, if you prefer.”

The older woman’s manner changed at the compliment, and she reluctantly allowed Lynette to tie the ribbons beneath her chin. Looking into the mirror, her eyes opened appreciatively.

“Why, it does look nice, doesn’t it?”

“Very nice,” Lynette agreed. “And that blue is
definitely your color. The ladies of the sewing circle will be green with envy. Did you just need the one, or would you like to look at the pattern book? Miss Emily can custom design a lovely bonnet for Sunday, or perhaps something special for Christmas.”

“I could use a pretty bonnet for the holidays,” the woman said happily. “Can I sit down?”

“Certainly, right over there. And let me bring you some tea while you look.”

Emily smiled, watching as Lynette efficiently bustled the woman into a seat, then waited on the next woman. She successfully sold the first woman two more hats, then convinced the other that she should place orders for new ostrich feather bonnets, since she had the deportment to carry the style off. Both women left impressed and satisfied. When she returned to the counter, Emily put a hand on her shoulder.

“You’ve got a job, if you want it.”

“Really? Oh, that’s wonderful! This is perfect! We are going to make great partners, I just know it!”

“When can you start?”

“Right away,” Lynette said enthusiastically. “Today, in fact.”

“Good. I’ll be in the back for a while. If you need anything, just call me.”

Emily went gleefully to the rear of the shop, her notes under one arm, her glasses tipping at the end of her nose. Finally she could sleuth undistracted, and make some real progress on a case that was quickly getting hot. Things were working out better than she could have hoped.

A few days later, Emily and Lynette were working silently and companionably together sewing hats when the door to the shop opened softly. Emily glanced up. A rush of emotion went through her as she saw Thomas watching her, his eyes warm and admiring, taking in the pretty scene of the two women bent over their needlework. Sunlight filtered through the lace curtains, making soft, dappled patterns against the floor, and bringing out the highlights in Emily’s hair. Dr. Watson played contentedly with a ball of yarn, while Lynette’s needle flashed silver in the gentle light.

Emily rose, putting her work aside. The sweetness of their lovemaking, when she had so boldly intruded on his bath, was still fresh in her mind and she gave him her hand, feeling a warm tingling when he touched her.

“Good morning,” Thomas said, his eyes twinkling. He glanced curiously at the other woman. “How are the hats coming?”

“Wonderfully.” Emily smiled. Lynette glanced at Thomas, then Emily, obviously sensing the emotion between them. “Reverend Hall, this is Mrs. Stockbridge. She’s helping me with the shop. Mrs. Stockbridge, Reverend Hall. He is a local preacher.”

“Reverend.” Lynette bowed her head, then looked up at Thomas again. “I’ve heard so much about you. The ladies in town are very taken with you.”

“Thank you.” Thomas seemed pleased with the compliment. “I try to do the Lord’s work.” He turned back to Emily, his gaze inviting. “I had a few things
to do in town and I thought you might like to come for a walk. It’s a beautiful day.”

Lynette nodded quickly, waving her hand at the couple. “Go. I can easily finish what’s in the bag here. If any customers come in, I’ll help them.”

Emily smiled and slipped her arm through Thomas’s. “It looks like I’m free. I won’t be long,” she promised.

Outside, Emily turned to Thomas excitedly. “Isn’t she great? I can get so much accomplished now! I was so lucky to find her!”

“I didn’t know you were thinking of hiring help,” Thomas replied. He paused at the dry goods store, taking out his shopping list.

“I didn’t plan to. She just walked into the shop one day. She has been a tremendous help already.”

“She does seem like a nice lady,” Thomas commented, filling his sack with a razor, shaving soap, and a few other toilet articles. “And I’m glad you have someone in the shop with you. I didn’t like the idea of you alone there, and exposed.”

A shiver went through her as his hand softly caressed her cheek. What was wrong with her, that the simplest touch of this man turned her into jelly? “I have everything under control,” Emily assured him. “You’ll see.”

Emily returned home, overjoyed by her success. With Lynette’s help, her productivity would increase dramatically. She would be able to fill the orders she already had in record time, and would soon have new stock to put on the shelves.

And she would have time to investigate. She hadn’t told Thomas that part, for she knew what his reaction would be. Yet, as soon as she put Watson on the floor, she sent Darrel outside to cut wood. Fishing out her measuring tape, she took the remaining measurements of the house: the outside walls, then the interior rooms. Suddenly she gave an excited shriek. She’d found what she’d been looking for: four feet of unaccounted space.

This was it! A secret chamber must be hidden within the walls, just as she and Rosie had suspected. Now all she had to do was pace off the rooms to find the exact location of the discrepancy.

Emily stood with her back against the wall, then began to walk carefully between rooms. “Nineteen feet for the parlor. Twenty-one feet for the kitchen. Yet the total house measures forty-four feet. Somewhere here …” Emily put the pencil behind one ear and began to tap on each wall with a hammer, as intent as a bloodhound caught up in the scent. It took several hours of work, and a few slips of the hammer, but she finally discovered a section of wall behind the fireplace that didn’t sound as solid as the rest. But she didn’t hear the door open behind her, nor did she see Thomas’s scowl as she crawled across the floor, gently rapping and listening to the hollow sound.

“Here it is!” Emily rose, unaware of neither the smudge on her nose, nor that her hair had fallen from its prim knot. Disheveled and excited, she whirled around, nearly shrieking when she saw Thomas standing on her threshold. “My Lord, you scared me!”

“Emily, didn’t I tell you to lock this door at all times?” he said grouchily. “Lynette said you’d gone home for the afternoon, so I thought I’d check and make sure everything was all right. What in God’s name are you doing?”

Emily shrugged, as if the answer were perfectly obvious.

“I’ve just discovered a secret chamber in the house. I think the gold may lie here!”

Thomas’s expression changed from annoyance to interest, then admiration, as Emily explained her thought process.

“Rosie told me there were secret doorways in the house, and that got me thinking. I tried to put myself in my father’s shoes and imagine what he must have thought before he died. He knew someone was after the gold, and he wanted to protect the treasure. The only logical hiding place was in this house, which is why he left it to me. He must have known that I wouldn’t sell it, and he probably had confidence in my ability to figure it out.”

“And how did you?” Thomas asked, intrigued in spite of himself.

“I simply measured all of the interior rooms, then the exterior of the house,” Emily explained. “There are four feet unaccounted for. Our answer lies somewhere behind that wall.”

Pointing to the plaster barrier, she dug out her pencil and confirmed her findings. Handing the measurements to Thomas, she saw his brows rise as he verified her calculations, and a smile crept over his face.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Emily. You really are a hell of a detective. Are you just going to stand there, or will you let me help you break down this wall?”

A flush crept over her face at his sincere compliment. His acknowledgment of her abilities meant the world to her, and Emily didn’t care if he knew it. Putting her papers aside, she dashed down to the basement, returning with a miner’s pickax. She handed it to Thomas, then stood back as he slammed it into the plaster.

The wall cracked, then the pickax slipped easily through. Excited beyond measure, Emily used the hammer to pound at the weak material. Bit by bit the wall disintegrated, until there was an opening large enough for them to see inside. Plaster dust filled the room. Emily choked, then backed away from the wall, coughing heartily.

“I’ll get a candle,” she murmured, waving at the air. Thomas nodded, then went back to work, enlarging the hole.

A lit taper in hand, Emily rejoined Thomas. Both of them held their breath in suspense as she thrust the light into the secret chamber, and the blackness dissolved. The yellow gleam illuminated a tin box.

“The treasure!” Emily breathed reverently. “Do you see it, Thomas?”

He nodded, staring in awe at the small, stout metal box gleaming in the darkness. Using the pickax, he was able to pull it close enough to the hole they had made, where Emily, with her slender arms, could grab it.

“Here it is,” she said in hushed tones as she pulled the box through the broken lath and plaster and set it on the floor of the parlor.

Neither spoke for a moment. The treasure might solve some of their problems, but it would inevitably compound the conflict between them. Fleetingly, Emily almost wished she hadn’t been so clever—for once the gold was found, Thomas would have no further reason to stay in Denver. The thought was unbearable.

Worse, the presence of the gold would confirm Thomas’s theory that her father was a thief.

As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Thomas looked at her with compassion. “I’ll have to break it open. Do you mind?”

Emily shook her head. The box had to be opened, they’d come too far for anything else. Even though she was afraid of the outcome, a thrill raced up her spine as Thomas took up the pickax once more and split the lock with one swift motion. The broken padlock tinkled to the floor, rusted and useless. Emily reached down in breathless anticipation and flipped open the lid.

Inside there was a stack of papers. Emily’s face fell as she leafed through them and discovered her father’s will, some letters, and a few other documents. One by one, she took the missives from the box, then peered at its flat, smooth bottom.

“This is it?” Part of her hadn’t wanted to find the gold, because of what it would prove about her father, but the disappointment still stung. Emily
stared at the gaping metal box in disbelief. She pushed against the bottom of the box, thinking to find some second layer or hidden compartment, but there was nothing.

“I’m afraid so,” Thomas sighed. He seemed disappointed as well. Glancing over the documents as Emily handed them to him, he shook his head. “It looks like the original of your father’s will. Why did he go to such lengths to hide it? The rest of these papers seem to be personal letters, and have no bearing on the case. I’m so sorry, Emily.”

Tears stung her eyes, and she wiped them away quickly. “I shouldn’t be so surprised,” Emily said logically. “The chance of finding that gold was a long shot, but I really thought I was onto something here. It still doesn’t make sense for my father to hide this will so well. Ewert Smith has a copy in his office downtown. It has to mean something.”

“Maybe we’ll never know, Emily, but that was a damned brilliant bit of detecting. I’m just sorry it yielded so little.”

His kind words made her really feel like crying, and instinctively, she found herself in Thomas’s arms. He held her tightly, and when she lifted her face to his, Thomas leaned closer and kissed her—a soft, soothing kiss that made her feel warm and fluttery.

It was amazing the effect this man had on her. Her sense of failure dissolved. Everything felt so right in Thomas’s arms. Could they ever get past the damned gold? It seemed that the stolen money hung between them like a black cloud. Once she had
proven that her father had never stolen Wells Fargo’s money, perhaps Thomas would put the past behind him. But if he were right … she couldn’t bear the thought.

“Thank you, Thomas.” Emily stepped back, her own thoughts troubling her. Thomas smiled, then wiped at a suspicious drop of moisture on her cheek.