Only 04 - Only Love

anything but respectful toward Shannon.
    The thought of Whip trying to see to her welfare from afar was another knife turning deep in Shannon’s soul. Whip had left the larder full of store-bought supplies, Cherokee’s smokehouse full of venison and fish and grouse, and firewood stacked to the eaves all around both cabins. Reno had found enough gold that Shannon could leave Echo Basin and live in comfort anywhere she wished.
    There was no doubt that Whip had cared for her very much.
    But not enough to stay.
    May God keep you, yondering man, Shannon prayed silently as she had many, many times in long, painful weeks since Whip had left. May you someday find what you want.
    And may it want you in return.
    “Excuse me, ma’am,” the miner said politely. “I’ll be getting along, now.”
    Shannon tore her thoughts from Whip to the miner, who was standing with his arms full of supplies and watching Prettyface with wary eyes.
    “The dog is betwixt me and the door,” the miner explained.
    “Prettyface,” Shannon said, stepping to the side. “Come here and be quiet.”
    After another seething snarl, Prettyface subsided. When Shannon walked toward the counter, the dog followed. But he never took his wolf’s eyes off the miner.
    The front door of the mercantile slammed shut behind the miner, shoved by a gust of cold September wind.
    Shannon felt the chill and pulled her worn jacket more closely around her body. September had been filled with storms and wild, icy winds. Elk and deer had already left the high country, sensing that the first heavy snows of the season could come at any time.
    That was what had forced Shannon to come into town. She needed to buy warm clothes for herself and supplies for Cherokee. The old woman was in no shape to make the trip herself…although Shannon suspected that Cherokee was lying in ambush somewhere back up the trail as Silent John often had, making sure that Shannon wasn’t followed.
    “Good afternoon, Mr. Murphy,” Shannon said, approaching the counter. “Would you please fill this order for me while I select some warmer clothes?”
    Murphy grunted.
    “And Mr. Murphy?”
    He grunted again.
    “Keep your thumb off the scales,” Shannon said crisply.
    The storekeeper grinned. “Whip told you.”
    “He didn’t have to. I’ve known for years that you cheated me. Silent John accepted it as the price of doing business close to home. But I don’t. If that means going into Canyon City for supplies, I will do so.”
    “No need to get your water hot, missy. I’m not about to go and get in Whip’s bad graces.”
    “Or mine?”
    “Or your’n,” Murphy agreed. “Folks what issmart enough to come in out of the rain don’t have no trouble with me.”
    “Good. My pack mule is outside. Please load the supplies for me when you’re done.”
    “Cost you three dollars extra.”
    “One.”
    “Two.”
    “One and two bits.”
    “You drive a mean bargain, missy.”
    “Not really. You load Betsy and Clementine’s supplies for free.”
    “They throw in a little, uh, extra for my trouble.”
    Murphy leered cheerfully.
    “One dollar and two bits,” Shannon said coolly. “Do we have a deal?”
    Sighing, Murphy nodded.
    Shannon handed over her supply list and went to the piles of clothing that were scattered about the mercantile’s floor. By the time she had found two warm jackets, four warm shirts, two pairs of wool trousers, and everything else required to turn winter’s icy winds, Murphy had sacked up and loaded her supplies on her pack mule.
    “Add these to the total, please,” Shannon said, dumping the clothing on the counter.
    “Huh. Guess I’m gonna have to order some femi-nine frippery. Gets mighty wearisome for a man to see his gal tricked out like hisself.”
    Shannon’s lips thinned, but she said not one word while Murphy totaled her bill. The amount made her eyes widen.
    “May I see the bill, please?” she asked, holding out her hand.
    “What fer?”
    “To check your sums.”
    Murphy handed the bill over and watched nervouslywhile Shannon checked his addition.
    “You are thirty-one dollars and twelve cents over,” she said after a few minutes.
    Muttering, Murphy subtracted thirty-one dollars from the total. Shannon handed over a fat poke of gold.
    “I have Silent John’s gold scales at the cabin,” Shannon said. “I know precisely how much gold is in that poke. When I return home, I will weigh what is left.”
    Murphy shot Shannon a look that was