"Okay. Come back to the saloon with me." He guided the boy to a bench. "Sit right here. Don't move. I'll be right back."

Inside, he found Lily. "You have any dinner left?"

"Sure," she said, drying a glass. "I can make you a plate."

He took several coins from his pocket and placed them on the shiny wood surface of the bar. "Not for me. Could you make up several sandwiches with cheese and maybe a couple jars of milk?"

"You planning a late-night ball practice?" She leaned across the bar. "You're gonna need it."

He chuckled and then explained the situation, knowing Lily would understand and maybe even have an idea of how to help.

She pushed the coins back toward him.

Nate covered her hand with his. "You're not the only one who can lend a hand. I'm paying for the food."

Lily took the money and placed it in the box under the bar. Then she went to the kitchen and returned with a gunny sack. Nate suspected it held more than a few sandwiches.

"Come meet him."

Lily followed Nate out the door.

"Boone, this is Miss Lily. She made some sandwiches for your family."

"Thank you, miss," the boy said solemnly.

"You're welcome."

"My ma'll likely be mad I came into town," he said.

"That's because she'd be worried about you." Nate looked him over. "Did you walk all the way here?"

"Nah. Rode Nelly. Couldn't get lost 'cause I could see the lights and hear the music."

"Well, I'll ride back with you. It's a little harder to find a campfire than a whole town."

"Thanks, Sheriff."

Lily stood on the boardwalk behind them as they headed out.

Nate rode within a shout of the campfire and handed the boy the gunny sack. "Tell your ma I said she wasn't to be mad at you. And I'm the law in these parts."

Boone grinned and shifted the weight over his shoulder. "I'll tell her."

"There's no shame in needin' a little help now and then, Boone. You remember that. And remember, you did the right thing."

"Yessir."

Nate watched from the cover of night as the boy approached the camp and his mother caught sight of him. He slid from the horse and showed her what he'd brought.

His mother's gaze lifted and she scanned the darkness. Nate knew she couldn't see beyond the ring of light thrown by the fire. He turned the roan's head and started back toward town.

NATE RAPPED on Lily's kitchen door the following morning, and Mollie opened the door to him. "Sheriff Nate! Come in. Helena made cinnamon rolls, and I'm cooking up some eggs and sausage. You're just in time."

Nate glanced around and took a seat. "Does Miss Lily cook?"

"Some," Mollie replied. "She has a knack for game. You want me to get her?"

"If she'll be along for breakfast, I can wait."

Within twenty minutes the household had gathered around the long table, and Mollie and Helena served up heaping platters of food.

"You're not in church this morning," Lily said to Nate. "Backsliding already?"

He took a cinnamon roll from the plate that was passed and refused to be goaded by her teasing.

"I've been trying to come up with something to help the Waldrop woman," he said.

Lily explained the situation to those gathered around the table.

Helena clucked in distaste. "Someone should find the husband and introduce him to the end of a rope."

"Probably didn't even do anything illegal," Nate replied.

"Not since all the property was his in the eyes of the law and she has no legal claim to any of it. Think on it," Lily said angrily. "If I married, all that I own would become the property of a man who could sell it and leave me destitute. And the law wouldn't blink an eye!"

"Well, we're not changin' any laws today," Nate said.

Lily ate her breakfast in a thoughtful manner.

"I've thought and thought how to supply more jobs for women," she said. "I can't buy enough butter or soap or find any more room here."

"My room will be available soon."

All eyes focused on Celeste, a few of them clouded with tears.

"That will be one room open," Celeste said with a shrug. "And one less hand around here."

"You are not replaceable," Helena told her.

"And even so," Lily went on. "That's just one room. I'm thinking bigger. The livery will employ only men, with the exception of Charlotte. What other occupations are there for women?"

"Schoolteachers," Rosemary said.

"Laundry," Mollie added, "which me 'n' Helena already do."

"Cooks," Thomas added.

"What kind of business employs a lot of people? You've been in plenty of cities, Sheriff. Where have you seen women employed? Besides dance halls."

"Restaurants," he replied. "Bakeries. Hotels."

"Hotels." Lily's attention had been arrested. She laid down her fork. "Beds to change, laundry to do, meals to prepare. That'd take a lot of workers, wouldn't it?"

"I'd say so."

"What are you thinking, Lily?" Celeste asked.

"I'm thinking the sheriff really came to practice with us this morning. Did you, Sheriff? Because we can't let you in on our secrets for winning the ball game today."

"Your tactics are no secret," he said. "Distract the other team with those-" he gestured with his fork "-dresses."

Everyone laughed, and Lily pretended to take offense. "You're underestimating our talent!"

Nate threw up his hands.

One by one they finished eating and went about their tasks.

"I'll let you know if I have any ideas," Lily said to him.

They studied each other, and Nate couldn't help thinking how fleeting and elusive the best moments in his life had been. What he and Lily had shared so briefly were among the times he most regretted losing.

He grabbed his hat and left.

THE PEOPLE OF THUNDER CANYON stood beneath an overcast sky that afternoon. The rain would be much welcomed, but what a day for it to announce its arrival.

"We could postpone the game," George said.

"Those dark clouds are on the other side of the mountains," Howard replied. "The rain might blow on over."

By an overwhelming vote, the players chose to go ahead with the match.

They tossed a coin, and Lily's team was up to bat first, a discouraging predicament in Nate's opinion, because they started tallying points immediately. Each time Rosemary ran, she hiked up her dress with both fists and ran to the bases with her red drawers on display.

Saul was a powerhouse behind that wooden bat, and Lily could send the ball sailing herself. Once, she hit it low and it bounced up at first base where Nate was standing, striking him in the knee. He hit the ground in pain.

As the ball rolled away, Lily ran past in a blur of skirts and petticoats. Scowling, Nate got up and rubbed his knee. By the time they changed positions, her team already had six runs.

Old Jess pitched the ball fast and low and struck out a good many of Nate's team. Nate hit the ball and hobbled to a base. They only had two runs by the time Nate got his second turn. Ignoring his throbbing knee, he remedied the score, and by the time the first drops of rain hit the dirt, they were tied.

Most of the women bystanders headed home, but Evangeline remained. She held a black umbrella over her head and called encouragement to Nate and his team.

Lily and her girls had the energy, physical agility and drive it took to compete and win. They won the game and received good-natured congratulations from the other teams and most of those who'd come to watch. The fact that the other women had already left helped keep the atmosphere friendly.

As Lily headed for home, she crossed Evangeline's path.

"You played very well," the young woman told her.

Surprised to be addressed in public, Lily said, "Thanks."

"It's a shame it had to rain and spoil the afternoon."

"Yes." Lily was getting soaked, and she had mud caked to her boots. Evangeline still looked pretty as a picture under her umbrella.

As an awkward silence stretched, Mayor Gibbs joined them. "You showed us all how the game is played, Lily. Well done. Let's get home, Evangeline."

Father and daughter hurried to a covered buggy.

Lily ran through the rain toward home.

MONDAY MORNING Lily sat in Amos Douglas's office at the bank and announced, "I want to buy the vacant hotel building."

No reaction showed on his face, but his hands paused on the papers he'd been shuffling on his desk. He released them and sat back. "Well. This is a surprise."

"You keep telling me I should invest and vary my holdings. You said you'd support me."

"That's right, and I do. I just wasn't expecting this particular request."

"Does the building belong to you?"

"It does."

The previous owner had unloaded it in a hurry, so it had probably been a bargain, but Lily knew Amos would never pass that good fortune along. He was in the money-making business.

"How much?"

He probably knew to the penny how much he had invested, but she could see the wheels turning in his head as he calculated how much he could get. He named a figure.

Lily didn't have that much ready money, not after rebuilding the livery, and she would never use the savings that cushioned the Shady Lady from hard times.

"What can I do?"

"Do you have any property to put up against bank notes?"

"I won't put up the Shady Lady. I have too many people depending on it."

He shrugged. "What about the other lots you own?"

"I could use those."

"Of course, they're not worth much without buildings on them."

"I have some jewelry that was Antoinette's."

"That might take care of part of it."

She thought about the rest of her holdings, and something occurred to her. "I have the deed to a mine."

"Indeed."