“Exactly,” Bill agreed. “I’m assuming by now the entire town knows you have company, and they’ll expect you to bring Miss MacCarthy and her brother to Garretsville. Plan a trip into town soon. Eat at the diner or at that new hotel. Show your kin around town. Folks will want to meet them.”
Oliver’s brow rose. “I’d like to visit Garretsville.”
Charles flashed Daniel a wry look. “Since it’s my turn to cook supper tomorrow evening, I propose we head into town then.”
“Fine with me.” Charles turned back to the sheriff. “One more thing. We’ve done a lot of thinking about who might be feeding these three information. It could be anyone who happens to be observant, but we suspect Joe Biggs might be involved. Rumor is one thing, while an assayer telling a gang of thieves there’s gold to be had? That’s fact.”
“Makes sense.” Bill’s expression turned pensive. “I’ll see to it that Biggs is detained on the morning of the nineteenth, and if the crime doesn’t happen then, we’ll figure something else out for the following Monday. Might be our assayer will have to close down for a week due to a sudden illness. We’ll stash him away somewhere safe and secure.”
“Sounds good.” Daniel stood up and stretched.
“Would you like more coffee, Bill?” Meredith asked as she too rose from her chair.
“Naw.” Bill pulled a pocket watch from his vest and checked the time. “I’ve got to get going. I have things to do before I head home.” He rose from the table and moved the chair back into place. “You all take care now, and if I were you, I wouldn’t go anywhere unarmed.”
Daniel walked the sheriff to the door. “We won’t. Thanks for coming out our way.”
“Glad to oblige. I’m hoping those three are the same men who’ve been terrorizing our town for the past few years. I haven’t been able to turn up a single clue as to their identities, and I’ll be mighty relieved once we put a stop to them.”
Once they’d said their goodbyes, and the sheriff had ridden off on his horse, Oliver turned to Daniel. “Sorry. I got caught up in my role when I said I’d checked out the place where the ambush happens. You’ll have to take me there before the sheriff returns.”
“Dan and I took a look around the ravine this morning. You and I can go check it out right now,” Charles told him. He disappeared into his room, and when he returned, he had a gun belt strapped around his waist and his revolver holstered.
Daniel’s eyes widened. “I see you’re taking the sheriff’s advice to heart.”
“I am, and so should you, Danny.”
“I will.”
“Let’s go, lad.” Charles gestured toward the door. “We’ll be back in about an hour and a half,” he said. “We’ll walk.”
The door shut behind the two, and Daniel’s pulse raced. “We’re alone, love.” He opened his arms in invitation, waiting with bated breath for her to come to him.
Meredith didn’t hesitate. She walked into Daniel’s arms. “I wish we could somehow capture those three before they actually try to ambush you and Charles.”
“As do I, but at least we have help and a plan.” He smoothed the hair from her face and gazed into her eyes. “Meredith, why is it I feel as if my entire life has been about waiting for you to appear? I’ve only to look at you, and I’m filled with …” His brow creased.
“I don’t have the words to adequately describe what I feel. Overwhelming happiness and a sense of homecoming will have to do.” He ran his hands up and down her back. “And desire the likes of which I’ve never before experienced.”
He kissed her forehead, his touch feather light. “I feel as if we’ve known each other for a lifetime, and yet the idea of getting to know you even better makes me dizzy with anticipation. Can you make any sense of what I’m trying to say?”
Meredith pressed closer to his work-hardened chest, inhaling his intoxicating scent. “It’s possible we’ve known each other in another lifetime. These feelings could also stem from the strands of time between now and the future are intersecting, giving us that sense of knowing.”
She put her arms around his neck and returned his searching gaze with one of her own. “I was summoned to help you, Daniel. All of this seems … surreal, a dream, and I don’t want to wake up. Maybe fate led us to this point in time.” She shook her head. “I don’t have the words either, but I can’t ignore what I feel.”
He kissed her, and none of the bewilderment about what was between them mattered anymore. She’d known she wanted him from the moment she’d decided to travel through time to save him. Meredith broke the kiss, took him by the hand, and drew him to the stairs leading to his room—to his bed.
“Do you mean to have your wicked way with me, Meredith?”
“I do.”
“Hmm.” He placed his hands on her hips and followed her up the narrow stairs. Once there, he swooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. There, he laid her down gently, moving to sit at the end by her feet. “I recall feeling quite disconcerted by how your presence stirred lust within me when I was a ghost.” He unlaced her boots and took them off.
“While I found it awkward and disturbing to want you even though you had no physical form,” she admitted. “I fought those feelings.”
Daniel took off his boots and placed them on the floor next to hers. He stretched out beside her and propped himself up by his elbow. His eyes roamed hungrily over her, and a look of wonder suffused his gorgeous features. His nearness, coupled with that expression, were all it took for her blood to heat and her heart to pound. Her entire being quivered with wanting him, and she could hardly breathe.
She reached out and stroked his cheek,
