Chapter Eleven

Adam picked at his dinner, then went to his office where he worked on the drawings for the Hotaling Building. Everything had to be ready by the middle of May so he could send the drawings to Robert to check before the two men presented them to Mr. Hotaling in June along with several other architects vying for the contract. He had also been requested to come up with drawings for a state capitol building, the likes of which no one had ever seen, by the city council of Virginia City. Based on the agreement he had with Robert, the work was performed under the Slater and Cartwright name and payment was sent directly to Robert. Because every other architectural firm in Virginia City, all two of them, had backed out when they found Adam would be representing his San Francisco firm, Adam had to recuse himself from all council votes dealing with statehood, and he was fine with that. He felt the effort to make Virginia City the capital of the State of Nevada was a time-wasting exercise, and he did not have time to waste.

When he heard Abel crying, he had just finished an elevation drawing of his state capitol building. He smiled as he listened to Shiloh shushing the baby, talking to him as she settled him down for a meal. Pushing away from the desk, he decided he'd done enough for the night. This would be one of the very few nights when he'd see Abel awake before he slipped into bed beside his wife.

After blowing the lamps out in the study, he walked around the downstairs turning down or blowing out the rest of the lamps. He stoked the fire, adding more logs, and then quietly climbed the stairs, not stopping until he was leaning against the doorframe of the nursery with his arms crossed, watching as Shiloh smiled down at her son, whispering to him as he nursed.

Abel's eyes were wide open as he watched his mother's face, reaching up to touch her, but not quite making it. His little legs would start to kick as his face turned red with frustration, and every now and then he'd almost cry, but when he realized he couldn't nurse and cry, he'd settle back down.

Adam wondered when Abel had begun to see his mother. With his smile disappearing, he bowed his head, wondering what else he'd missed. As he drew closer, Shiloh caught the movement and looked up. Her smile left her, and without saying anything, she turned her attention back to the baby.

Moving his elbow to the top of a chest-of-drawers, Adam propped his head on hand. "Would you tell me what else Paul said?"

She glanced up at him only for a moment. "Other than what I've already told you, he didn't say much. He did an examination and said everything had healed well, and asked if my hips were still bothering me. I told him there was still some soreness, and that I hurt more in the evening, but that I've been walking. I told him I try to do as much as I can on my feet, but I don't really have that much to do yet."

"Did he say anything about...us?"

Trying her best to hide a smile, she answered, "I don't know what you mean," and gave him her most earnestly confused look.

She wasn't quite successful at hiding the slight upturn at the corner of her mouth or the impish sparkle in her eyes, because he stepped forward and grasped her chin, turning her face up to his. He gave her a stern look for teasing him, then gave her a long, deep kiss that warmed her blood so, he could feel the heat rising from the bare skin of her shoulders.

When he finished his kiss, she immediately looked away. Considering he hadn't shown any interest before, she hadn't expected it now.

"Sweetheart, what is it?"

She hesitated, tilting her head. "It's hard not to feel uncomfortable when you've felt...undesirable...for so long."

Adam's mouth fell open as his brows creased. It seemed his mouth froze at the beginning of the word 'what' for a moment before he actually said something. "Why do you feel that way?"

Abel had fallen asleep, so she stood and lay him in his crib, wiping his mouth with a piece of flannel, then pulling her robe around her and clutching it closed before she turned back to face Adam. All she could manage was a sheepish look before she stepped around him and hurried into the bedroom.

He was right behind her, and when they were far enough away from the nursery so as not to disturb Abel, he took her arms and stopped her from going any further. "Shiloh, why?" he said softly, waiting patiently while she gathered her thoughts.

"I..." she started, but closed her mouth again. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, and reopened them to look up at the ceiling. "You haven't shown much interest in me since Abel's birth. I thought maybe I wasn't...I mean, I'm wearing the same clothes...mostly. They just fit a little differently."

Taking a deep breath, he allowed his cheeks to bubble as he blew out. "Shiloh, I couldn't afford to show that kind of interest in you. You had just had a baby, and it was a difficult birth. If I had allowed anything to start..." he looked sideways at her. "You needed time to heal, and I didn't want to do something that might make it worse." He turned her so that she had to look at him. "It's not that I don't want you. I do. I knew I had to...leave you alone...to give you time to heal."

She gave him a straight, though fretful look. "I don't look the same."

He chuckled. "It's not as if I haven't noticed you. There are some small differences. You're bigger...here," he said, nodding at her chest, and maybe have a little more curve here," he said, moving his hands to her hips and pulling her into him. The corner of his mouth turned up as his nostrils flared and his eyes gleamed. "If I had to use one word to describe you, I'd say you're…" He lowered his face and looked up from under his brows. "Voluptuous," he finished in a husky voice.

Her blush got the best of her and she began to shrink away, but he held her against him. "So Paul said it was all right. And how do you feel about it?"

Her discomfiture was such that she couldn't keep her eyes open. "It almost feels like our wedding night again. With all the problems and changes, I don't know what to expect."

"And do you remember what I told you on our wedding night?" he asked softly while lightly kissing the side of her face and her ear. "I don't want you to be afraid of me." He slipped her robe off her shoulders and enveloped her, covering her mouth with his whenever she began to speak. When her breaths came faster, and her fingers began to unbutton his shirt and move lightly over his chest, he backed her up to the side of the bed, and fell with her, catching himself with his hand on the mattress before he landed on her. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

As she watched him disrobe, she moved over to her side of the bed and pulled the covers over her.

Just as he winked at her, there was a knock at the door. He stopped, his eyes wide as he crooked his jaw. "Who is it?"

"Ming Lin, Mr. Cartwright. A man called Digger is here from the mine. He says there has been an explosion and fire."

Adam's brow furrowed as he hurriedly redressed while Shiloh sat up in the bed and pulled the cover up. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I have to go." He sat on the bed next to her and pulled his boots on, then leaned into her for a kiss. With his forehead against hers, he whispered, "I'm sorry."

She smiled and kissed his nose. "It's all right. I'll be right here when you get back. Unless Abel calls. Then we'll both be here waiting."

Standing, he bent and kissed her one more time.

As he opened the door, she called to him. "Adam?"

He looked back. "Yeah?"

"Come back to me."

"Always," he said, smiling before he pulled the door closed behind him.

Digger was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, wringing his hat in his hands. Before Adam took the first step down, he was already speaking. "Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Cooper sent me. The powder shack at the mine's exploded."

Adam stopped halfway down the stairs. "Anyone hurt?"

"Don't know yet. When I was leavin', they was still lookin' for everyone."

Continuing down the stairs, Adam went straight to the entry table and began to fasten his gun belt. "Do we know what caused the explosion?"

"No sir. Mr. Cooper sent me real quick. All I know is it was big. My ears is still ringin', and I wadn't real close."

"What about fire?"

"Yessir. The trees behind the shack caught fire. Don't know how bad, though."

On the way out the door, Adam gave Digger instructions. "Go to the bunkhouse at the Flying W. Tell the men to come out to the mine ready to fight a fire. Send one out to Hank's to let him know where everyone is."

Hesitating at the door of the barn, Adam moved his hands to his hips, bowed his head and bit his bottom lip. There was a lot of black powder in that shack. An explosion would have sent flames high up, possibly into the crowns of some of those trees, and if that happened, it would spread fast. At first he dismissed the idea of bringing the men over from the Ponderosa. After all, the mine belonged solely to the Flying W. But in all good conscience, he couldn't wait to find out how bad it was for himself. A fire could well be on its way southwest toward the lake, and that part of the Ponderosa was heavily treed.

"Digger, after you go by the Flying W, go to the main house and let my father know. Tell him I said this fire could spread fast."

Digger mounted and left, and Adam wasn't far behind him, riding hard all the way to the mine. Still several miles away, he saw a dome of orange low in the sky, and kept himself low in the saddle, letting Sport run.

When he arrived, he saw chaos all around him, miners running to and fro with buckets, some with burlap. The few with shovels and hatchets were working at the front of the fire rather than behind it to clear a break.

Adam realized the miners weren't going to make a difference and headed east to the closest timber camp. The men there would have some experience felling trees to clear a break.

Shorty had seen the orange sky from the higher elevation of the timber camp, and he and a contingent of men along with a wagon of tools met Adam halfway. By the time they arrived back at the mine, the miners had run out of water, and the fire had doubled in size.

Adam sent the lumberjacks forward a half mile to start cutting a break and moving toward the fire. He had the miners stay in front of the fire to prevent it from moving any closer to the other mine buildings. Luckily, the area around the shaft had been cleared of trees, so they were fighting mostly small spark-ignited fires around the mine.

By that time, Ben arrived with Hoss and Joe and all the men from the Ponderosa bunkhouse along with tools to fight the fire.

"Adam! Where do you need us?" yelled Ben.

"I've got lumberjacks west. We need men to the south to cut another break."

Ben turned. "Joe, take the men south and start a break. Hoss, can you see well enough to ride out to the timber camp up on Mt. Rose?"

"Yessir. I'll bring down every man there." Ben watched as Hoss rode away until the darkness overtook the eerie glow at his back. Turning, Ben moved an arm around Adam's shoulder and turned away from the roar of the fire. Still, he had to yell to be heard. "What happened?"

"All I know is that the powder shack exploded!"

There was no time to say more because Digger rode in with the men from the Flying W. Adam grabbed the bridle of Digger's horse and held his hand up to the men. "All of you head south and meet up with the Ponderosa hands. You'll be cutting a break and moving this way."

Without a word, the men turned their horses and rode south. Digger, dismounted and smacked his horse in the rear. "What can I do, Mr. Cartwright?"

Grasping Digger's shoulder, Adam bent close to his ear. "Count heads here, Digger. Find out if we have injuries to tend. And find Cooper and send him to me."

Both Ben and Adam grabbed tools that Adam had taken from the lumber wagon and headed into the front edge of the fire.