Silently Willow and Caleb watched the couple leave. Despite Eddy’s effort to conceal his stiffness, it was apparent that he was in pain.
«Will he be all right?» Willow asked softly.
«As long as his old enemies don’t find him until he heals up, he’ll be fine.»
«Enemies?»
«Eddy wore a lawman’s badge in some bad places. A man who does that makes enemies.» Caleb turned his bleak, golden glance on Willow. «Where are your horses?»
«At the livery stable down the street.»
«Leave them there. I’ll provide you with a horse that won’t quit the first time the going gets hard.»
«That’s very kind of you, but —»
«I’m not a kind man,» Caleb interrupted roughly, «I’m a practical one. Where we’re going, a delicate, nervous, over-bred horse will be a hell of a lot more trouble than it’s worth.»
«My Arabians are well-bred, not over-bred, and I’ll put them up against anything you own for stamina.»
Caleb said something harsh under his breath. «Where in the San Juan country do you want to go?»
«The part with mountains.»
«Ma’am,» Caleb said dryly, «there’s no part of the San Juan country that doesn’t have mountains. Which peak did you have in mind?»
«I’ll tell you when we get there.»
«Southern lady, if we take your fancy horses, we won’t ever get there at all.»
2
Before Willow could respond, there was a commotion from the direction of the dining room. In the spreading silence of the lobby, a man’s voice boomed out.
«You and your second-hand woman can just wait for the next table, old man. In fact, you can damn well wait until me and my friends are finished eating. I don’t want that slut sitting in the same room with me.»
Appalled, Willow turned and looked toward the dining room. An instant later she realized that Eddy and Rose were being confronted by four young men, all of whom wore pistols. A murmur went through the crowd as people backed away from the confrontation. Willow sorted out a few of the muttered words, something about gunmen and Rose refusing to let Slater’s kid brother stay at her boarding house.