“You can give Diana credit for that,” Frank said. “An old pelican like Tip would just as soon live in a tent or a shack. Diana’s the one who fixed the place up. Yes, sir, she’ll make some lucky man a fine wife one of these days.”
“Indeed.”
They climbed to the porch and Frank knocked on the door. It opened a moment later. Diana greeted them with a smile and said, “Hello, gentlemen. Come right in.”
She wore a pale blue dress that went well with her blue eyes, fair skin, and blond hair, Frank thought. This was one of the few times he had seen her when she wasn’t wearing boots and jeans and a man’s shirt. This evening she looked utterly feminine—and so lovely she’d almost take a fella’s breath away.
She seemed to have that effect on Claiborne too, because he was having trouble finding his tongue. Finally, he said, “Ah…thank you, Miss Woodford. And thank you for inviting us to dinner.”
“We want to make you feel welcome in Buckskin, Mr. Claiborne.” She turned to Frank. “Let me take your hat, Marshal.”
Frank handed her his high-crowned Stetson. She took Claiborne’s bowler hat too, but seemingly as an afterthought.
Tip came down the stairs and joined them in the foyer. He wore a dusty brown tweed suit. His shirt had a stiff collar and there was a tie around his neck. He dug a finger under his collar and tugged on it as he grunted and said, “Howdy.”
Diana gave his hand a light slap and scolded, “Father, I told you to stop messing with your collar. It’s not going to kill you to dress like a civilized person for a change.”
“It might,” Tip said. “This here collar’s liable to choke me to death.”
“Look at how nicely Mr. Claiborne’s dressed, and he doesn’t seem to mind.”
“Reckon he’s more used to it than I am. Come on in the parlor, boys, and we’ll have a snort before dinner.”
Diana rolled her eyes but didn’t object. She said, “I’ll go check on the food.”
Tip led Frank and Claiborne into a comfortably furnished parlor and poured drinks for all three of them from a crystal decanter. As they sipped the smooth whiskey, Claiborne said, “You have a lovely home here, Mr. Woodford, and your daughter is quite lovely too.”
“Yeah, well, most o’ the time she’s pretty down to earth, but she likes to put on airs ever’ now and then. I reckon the way she was brought up had somethin’ to do with that. No offense to Diana’s ma, God rest her poor soul, but my wife could be a mite prissy when she wanted to. Diana’s been a lot happier here in Buckskin than I thought she’d be when she came out here to live with me.”
“It must have been difficult for her, losing her mother like that. I find her strength quite admirable.”
Frank said, “So do I. She’s a fine young woman.”
“We can stand here gabbin’ about Diana all night,” Tip said, “or we can talk about the mines. How’d the Crown Royal look to you, Claiborne?”
“Well…” Claiborne hesitated, and Frank figured he was naturally wary about discussing the operation with a rival mine owner.
Tip waved a blunt-fingered hand. “Oh, hell, don’t worry, I ain’t plannin’ on tryin’ to jump your claim. It’ll be fine with me if the Crown Royal’s a success again, because that’ll be good for the town.”
“In that case,” Claiborne said, “I don’t mind telling you that I think opening the mine again won’t pose too much of a problem. There’ll be plenty of hard work that needs to be done, of course, but if I can hire some good men, we can meet the challenge.”
“I know of one man you can hire. Name of Rogan.”
Frank caught Claiborne’s eye and shook his head. “Wouldn’t be a good idea,” he said. “The hombre’s a troublemaker.”
“Oh, hell, I was just joshin’,” Tip said. “I wouldn’t have let the young fella hire Rogan. But I sure as shootin’ fired him. Went by the jail and talked to him just a little while ago, told him he was through at the Lucky Lizard.”
“How’d he take it?” Frank asked.
“Not good. Grabbed the bars and rattled ’em while he was cussin’ at me. He didn’t settle down until ol’ Catamount Jack stuck a Greener in his face and warned him he wouldn’t get no supper unless he stopped carryin’ on so.”
“He
“Not hardly,” Frank assured him. “I’ll give you a hand finding some fellas who want to work.”
Before they could discuss any more business, Diana appeared in the doorway of the parlor and announced, “Dinner is ready.”
It was good too. Fried chicken, greens and potatoes out of the garden patch behind the house, and biscuits and gravy. Frank praised the food, which made Diana blush with pleasure, but the words were more for Claiborne’s benefit. He wanted to make sure the mining engineer understood just what a fine catch Diana would be.
Claiborne was shy, and even though he could be glib enough when he did speak, he kept his mouth shut most of the time, no matter how much Frank tried to get him and Diana to talking. Still, she seemed to like Claiborne well enough, so Frank was a little encouraged.
When it came time for them to go, though, after the men retreated to the parlor for some brandy and cigars, Diana was waiting on the porch to bid them good night. She lingered the longest on her farewell to Frank, putting her hand on his arm and saying, “Please come back anytime, Marshal.”
