“After getting to know Miss Nilsson during the journey, I can see that Hallock picked a very sweet woman.”
“That may be.” Wyatt settled his hat on his head. “But she ain’t my problem.”
“Hallock was your friend. What would he want you to do?”
“He sure as cow patty wouldn’t want me to marry her.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure if I was you.”
Wyatt’s chest tightened as he remembered the excitement on Hallock’s face when he’d said good-bye last autumn. He’d been so happy to have a woman who wanted to marry him that he’d decided to travel to California and spend his gold on all the fancy things a woman could ever want.
When Hallock still hadn’t returned by late May, everyone concluded that the decomposed body several miners found in the pass leading north to the Overland Trail had been Hallock’s. From what they’d been able to tell, Hallock had died a gruesome death, having been mauled and mutilated—maybe by a wild animal. Knowing such a gentle and peace-loving man had died so violently hit Wyatt hard. Still did.
As difficult as Hallock’s death had been, he couldn’t marry his friend’s mail-order bride.
“She’ll need to find another taker, Steele.” He’d wasted enough time on a conversation that was going nowhere. He tipped his hat to Steele and started to move away, but the man spread his feet and crossed his arms, clearly not done.
Wyatt paused and bit back a sigh as his ma’s training on respecting his elders held him in place.
Steele scrutinized him long and hard. “I’m sure plenty of other fellows in the area would pluck Miss Nilsson up and marry her today. But I can’t think of any other man I like half as much as you.”
“Thank you kindly, Steele, but I ain’t lookin’ for a wife.” Wyatt worked at keeping the irritation out of his voice. “Not when I’m too busy lookin’ for an investor.”
“Investor?”
Wyatt kneaded the back of his neck. “All I’m saying is I don’t have the means to support a wife and child right now. Not when I’m pouring everything I’ve got into building my ranch.”
Steele’s eyes took on a glimmer. “What kind of investor you looking for?”
Wyatt’s ready retort faded. Just minutes ago he’d been contemplating which of the rich men in town might be willing to invest in his ranch. But he hadn’t really expected anyone would want to take such a risk. After all, no one had ever done full-scale ranching in the high country before, and there were no guarantees he’d be able to succeed. The honest truth was that the odds weighed against him.
Yet, without an investor, his chances at making a go of it were even slimmer. He’d be left fighting Brawley for every scrawny ox that made it west. And it’d take years to form a large enough herd to start turning a profit.
A picture of Ma flashed into his mind from the last time he’d visited home three years ago. She’d had a swollen bruise under her eye. She’d claimed one of the colts had kicked her, but he knew their stepfather had hit her again.
Wyatt was trying as best as he could to make a new way for Ma and his four siblings. He’d been trying since the day he’d left home at the age of fifteen.
And now he was so close. He had plenty of land and plenty of know-how. He just had to get the cattle.
Was Steele the answer to his problem?
Wyatt narrowed his gaze upon Landry Steele. A shrewd entrepreneur, Steele had arrived in South Park shortly after gold had been discovered. After visiting mines in the area, he’d invested in several. Two had been profitable, including the one in Fairplay. Steele had taken his profits and invested in other mines farther up near Leadville as well as businesses that catered to the miners’ needs.
Would he see the benefit in investing in cattle? It wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it?
Wyatt swallowed his trepidation and forced out the words he needed to say. “Next spring, I’m aiming to buy a herd of Shorthorns and drive them up here.”
“And you need someone to loan you the cash for the purchase?”
“Yep. In addition to the loan payback, I’d offer a percentage of the market sales.”
“Of course.” Steele’s attention drifted to the end of Main Street to the treeless, grassy plains that surrounded Fairplay for miles and miles. Wyatt hoped Steele was seeing the same thing as him—hundreds of cattle roaming the fertile land, fat and content and ready to sell for a huge profit.
“I might be new to ranching.” Wyatt tried to tamp down his growing excitement. “But I’ve got a whole heap of experience with livestock. My pa raised cattle on our farm, and I worked alongside him since the day I was born. After he died, I got a job driving cattle from Ohio to New York. And you know about my work freighting livestock for Russell, Majors, & Waddell.”
Steele continued to stare at the boundless land. “I don’t doubt your experience, son. And I don’t doubt your determination.”
“But . . . ?”
“But if I’m going to invest, I want to make sure you’re planning to stick around and follow through for the long haul.”
The excitement bubbling inside Wyatt pushed higher. “I wouldn’t have built a cabin and a barn on my homestead if I wasn’t fixin’ to make a go of this place.”
Steele turned his focus back onto Wyatt, and the sadness in his eyes set Wyatt off-kilter. “I telegraphed my wife again when I was in Denver. She’s still refusing to come out here to Fairplay. Says she won’t move until I make it into a bigger town with more to offer.”
Wyatt wasn’t sure what Steele’s personal business had to do with agreeing to invest in his cattle ranch. Even so, he had to offer a word of consolation. “I’m sorry. I reckon you miss her an awful lot.”
Steele’s jaw worked up and down.
“You’ve already built a church and a theater,” Wyatt continued. “There ain’t much more you can do.”
“If we get more families here, the town will become more civilized.”
Wyatt nodded, still unsure of the direction Steele was taking the conversation. “Yep. I agree.”
“Then you’ll agree to marry Miss Nilsson, settle down permanently, and start a family?”
As the conversation came full circle and slammed into Wyatt like a steer from behind, he had to catch himself. Protest rose swiftly, but he captured and stuffed it since Steele was watching his reaction.
“I am settling down here, Steele, but that doesn’t mean I wanna get married.”
“She has no place to go. I’d let her stay in Hallock’s house, but I can’t kick out the renters.”
“Give her some of Hallock’s gold.”
“You know I can’t do that. They weren’t married, so she has no legal claim to his assets.”
Across the street, the front door of the general store opened, and Miss Nilsson stepped out onto the plank sidewalk.
Her bonnet hung down her back, revealing a worried crease between her eyebrows. She searched the street, taking in each of the wooden signs that hung above the businesses, before she lifted a hand and twisted a loose strand of her hair.
Wyatt held his breath and waited for her to glance toward him and Steele. No doubt if she did, she’d catch on real fast that she was the topic of their conversation. Thankfully, however, after only a moment more of hesitation, she started toward the hotel. Once she disappeared inside, Wyatt allowed himself to breathe again.