He laughed. “I never could understand the attraction. A man of my years has seen enough that he needs more to stimulate his interest.”
He waited. What did he want her to say? She knew what excited some men. Liquor was forbidden in the park, except in the dining room of the National Hotel and the Fire Hole, and she wouldn’t have served it anyway. Nor could she condone gambling. And she wasn’t about to suggest he go hunting.
“I was told you’d come to take the waters, Mr. Jones,” she said. “We don’t have a bathhouse here, but we have on occasion brought in warm water for bathing. We have two copper tubs. I’d be happy to have Pansy set one up in your room.”
He waved a hand. “If I want to soak, I know where to go. I didn’t come here for the bathing. I’ve run across a rough patch of luck, and it suits me just fine to recuperate at your excellent establishment.” He glanced back at the hotel again, then pulled his cap lower, until it nearly covered his eyes. “In fact, I think I’ll avail myself of the pie your cook offered me before I came out here. Excuse me.”
He started for the inn just as Will rode into the yard.
It wasn’t time for his afternoon patrol. Was something wrong?
Had he come to see her?
Kate shook herself and hurried back. By the time she reached him, he was reining in and the door was banging shut behind Mr. Jones.
Will nodded to her in greeting before dismounting. “New guest? I just caught his back in passing. He seemed in a big hurry.”
“Apparently he likes pie,” she said. “But he was behaving himself on the geyser field. I don’t think he’ll be any trouble.”
“Unlike me and my men.”
She glanced at him in surprise. “Why? What have you done?”
“Damaged the reputation of the Geyser Gateway,” he said, eyes dipping at the corners. “And for that I apologize. Now I just need to figure out what to do about it.”
She was frowning so fiercely, head tilted as if she just couldn’t believe what he’d told her.
“What have you heard?” she fumed.
He grimaced as he pulled off his hat, then went to tie Bess to the hitching post. “More than you should hear. Suffice it to say, your honor and the quality of the hotel are in question because you agreed to let us stay this winter. I’ll inform Captain Harris the arrangement is off.”
Her eyes narrowed. “No. This is ridiculous! You can’t tell me the other hotel owners wouldn’t welcome the opportunity to have the Army protect their property through the winter.”
“Most of the other hotel owners are men,” he pointed out.
“So, I’m to be deprived of the protection because I’m a woman?” She threw up her hands. “I won’t have it. We have an agreement, Lieutenant, and I expect the Army to honor it.”
He knew only one way to respond to such bravery. He stood tall and saluted her. “Ma’am.”
“At ease, Soldier,” she said, familiar twinkle starting in her eyes.
Will shook his head as he lowered his arm. “I can’t be at ease, Kate. I don’t like the idea that our presence could damage your livelihood.”
“It isn’t your presence. This is the fault of the Virginia City Outfitters. Can’t you see? They’re spreading rumors to stop people from staying at the Geyser Gateway. You heard the lodge keeper last night. My place is rough. I lost guests this afternoon because someone convinced them to try the Fire Hole instead. As if the Geyser Gateway was in any way inferior.”
“Smith overheard the guests claiming your inn was fit only to be barracks,” Will admitted.
Her face darkened even as her lips tightened. “Oh, how scurrilous! The Army should be so fortunate as to have barracks this fine.”
“No arguments there. Are you sure you want us here all winter?”
“Yes,” she insisted. “And it won’t be long now. Elijah and the other drivers are out of the park by October first. One or two private parties might come in by horseback or wagon in early October, but by Halloween, we’ll be snowed in.”
Hard to imagine those heated pools surrounded by white mounds. “Sounds like Yellowstone has three seasons—July, August, and winter.”
She laughed. “See how well you know the place?”
“I’m learning,” Will said. “And I wouldn’t have half this knowledge without your help.”
“Everyone needs help sometimes.”
“Even you?”
She climbed to the porch and sat on a bench, and it struck him that this was one of the few times he’d ever seen her still on purpose. He came to join her, and they sat a moment, watching the play of water across the geyser field. Much as he hated to admit it, Smith was right. It was an excellent vantage point. He could see clear across to the pines beyond.
“I need help,” she said, so quietly that her words were just audible over the plop of mud and hiss of steam. “You saw me the other day with the bear. If you hadn’t been there, Danny or I might have been mauled.”
“The bear didn’t look all that interested in charging,” Will demurred.
She knit her fingers together in the lap of her blue gown. “I thought I’d be fine, that I’d lived here long enough to know how to handle myself around animals. But look what happened. One glimpse, and I panicked.” She nodded out onto the field, where the waters of one of the pools trembled a moment before shooting into the sky, crystal and bright. “Toby’s death made me feel like that geyser, uncontrolled, unable to control. I don’t know what I should have done differently, how I should have reacted.” Her voice vibrated with confusion, pain.
“I suspect anyone could feel that way after someone they love dies,” Will allowed.
She shook her head. “My parents died when Toby and I still lived in Boston. Influenza. I mourned them, missed them terribly. This is different.”
He wanted to take her in
