The Dreammaker. Judith Stacy
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from beside the front desk and marched toward the back of the hotel.
* * *
The streets of Porter were quiet with a wagon or two lumbering along when Tripp and Kaitlin drove into town. A few men gathered outside the barber shop, cowboys and miners moseyed along, women and children moved down Main Street.
At the far edge of town Tripp halted the team at the blacksmith shop. The big double doors stood open; horses waited patiently in the corral.
Tripp set the brake and jumped to the ground. He strode away from the buggy drawing in deep breaths of hay, horses, and dust. Riding next to Kaitlin Jeffers, breathing in her sweetness for two solid hours had been torture. He wished he’d waited for the stage coach.
“Morning!” A tall, muscular, man around thirty years old walked out of the stable, smiling and pushing his blond hair off his forehead. “Name’s Rafe Beaumont. What can I help you with?”
“My horses need tending.” Tripp waved toward the team; he’d driven them harder than he should have, thanks to Kaitlin Jeffers’s scent.
Rafe stroked one of the horses’s thick neck and nodded toward Kaitlin. “You and the wife plan to be in town long?”
Kaitlin came to her feet. “We are not married.”
Rafe glanced back and forth between them and his cheeks turned red. “Oh…”
“We’re business partners,” she said.
“Oh!” Rafe looked relieved. “What sort of business?”
“Maybe you can help us with that.” Kaitlin gathered her skirts and turned to climb down from the buggy.
Tripp hurried over. “Hold on. Do you want to fall? You need to be more careful.” He caught her waist and lifted her to the ground.
Kaitlin shrugged out of his grasp. “We’re looking for a store, Mr. Beaumont.”
“Got a few of those in town.” Rafe smiled and patted the horse’s forehead.
“This one’s called Finch Dry Goods. Used to be owned by an Everette Finch.” Tripp nodded toward town. “Didn’t see it when we drove in.”
Rafe’s eyes widened. “You two bought Finch’s place?”
Tripp and Kaitlin glanced at each other.
“Let’s just say it’s ours now,” Tripp said.
“I can tell you how to find the place, but—”
“Rafe, why don’t you take them over there yourself?”
Two men walked out of the stable, grinning broadly. Like Rafe, they were tall, muscular and blond.
One of them slapped him on the back. “Yeah, Rafe, take these nice folks over to the Finch place.”
Rafe blushed and ducked his head. “These are my brothers, Ned and Wade.”
Greetings were exchanged and proper introductions made.
“So you’re the new owner of old man Finch’s place?” Wade asked. “Well, all I can say is good luck to you.”
Ned chucked Rafe on the shoulder, grinning. “Take them over there. Show them the store.”
Rafe shifted uncomfortably. “I got work to do here.”
“Ned and I will look after the place.” Wade elbowed him in the ribs. “And if you’re a little late getting back, we’ll understand.”
Ned and Wade both broke out laughing, bringing another blush to Rafe’s face.
Rafe grumbled under his breath. “All right. Let’s go.”
The late morning sun warmed the breeze as they walked the short distance to town. The men’s boots echoed on the wooden planks of the boardwalk drowning out the scuff of Kaitlin’s shoes as she walked between the two of them.
“Have you lived here long, Mr. Beaumont?” Kaitlin asked.
“Just call me Rafe. My family’s lived here a while. I took over the livery after our pa passed on.”. He gestured toward the street. “Yeah, Porter is a nice place, all right. Quiet. Not much going on. Your store’s right up here.”
Kaitlin’s heart thumped in her chest. Visions of her recaptured dream filled her mind.
Rafe flung out his hand. “Well, this is it.”
Kaitlin’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach.
Dust covered the boardwalk in front of the store. Dirt streaked the display windows beside the door, and several panes were broken. The shade over the windowed door hung askew.
Rafe shrugged apologetically. “I guess it doesn’t look like much on the outside.”
Her spirits lifted. “It’s better on the inside?”
“Well…no,” Rafe said. “Still want to look around?”
Kaitlin squared her shoulders. “Yes.”
Rafe pushed open the door. Cobwebs clung to the corners. Barren shelves dangled from the walls. A potbellied stove lay on its side. Gray ashes swirled in the slight breeze.
“It’s been empty for a while. Kids got in and tore it up,” Rafe said. “I guess it’s not what you expected.”
Kaitlin looked around. “No, not exactly.”
Tripp gazed down at her. “I don’t know what your dream was, Kaitlin, but you can kiss it goodbye.”
“It just needs a little fixing up.”
Kaitlin gazed hopefully at the two men. Rafe offered her a sickly smile. Tripp snorted and turned away.
She walked slowly around the room. “It has possibilities.”
“To tell you the truth, old man Finch was never able to do much with the place. Tried to sell it, but never got a nibble,” Rafe said. “I heard he finally got rid of the place by betting it in a poker game, then losing on purpose.”
Kaitlin’s gaze collided with Tripp’s across the empty store. So that’s how Harvey Stutz had acquired the deed. It was small consolation to think that for once, Stutz had been the one getting conned.
“Of course, with a lot of hard work and a little luck, maybe you two can make a go of it,” Rafe said. “You—”
“Rafe?”
A young woman walked through the front door. Shapely and attractive, her blond hair gathered in a neat bun, she headed straight for Rafe.
“I didn’t know you’d be here.” She reached for him.
Rafe backed up a step and caught her hands before they circled his waist. “I brought these folks over to look at the store. They’re the new owners.”
She turned to Kaitlin and Tripp. “New owners? Oh, how wonderful.”
Tripp tipped his hat and introduced Kaitlin and himself. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“This is Julia, my wife.” Rafe caught her hand as it splayed across his chest. “Just a minute now, darling. Julia owns the millinery shop next door. She makes hats.”
“You’ll have to come over, Kaitlin, and see the shop,” Julia said as she eased her bosom against Rafe’s side.
Rafe’s cheeks turned pink and he stepped away from her. “For a while we thought business would pick up some around here. There was talk of