Then again, there was still the chance that Uncle would send money once he heard about her predicament, and it might arrive before she had a chance to earn fare—which would likely please Mr. Burke. “Thank you, then. I’ll return when I have the correct amount.”
“That sounds fine.” His gaze settled on her letter and froze, brows drawing together. “Can I see that?”
He reached for her letter, but she withdrew her hand. “No, remember? I won’t be sending it.”
“I’m not going to send the letter.” Mr. Star chuckled. “I just want to see the artwork on your envelope.”
This one contained a sketch of a buffalo in the prairie grass. She’d spotted a herd near the trail and had drawn one from the safety of the stagecoach.
She handed over the letter. When she’d used her envelopes as her canvas, she’d had Aunt Mildred in mind. The dear woman asked her not to stop drawing just because she traveled off to become a wife. The art had been for her, not only to prove that Winifred hadn’t stopped, but also to help Aunt see the beautiful land Winifred had planned to call home.
All for naught now. She’d have to give the sketches to her dear aunt in person when she returned home, humiliated and still unmarried, yet again. Which was why she’d wasted one of her envelopes to seal up the letter to “Mr. Businessman”—a letter that would never leave her valise in all her days.
“An envelope very similar to this came through the other day.” The postmaster turned the envelope over, following the scrawling sketch. “Ah, yes, see here? The initials embedded in the drawing itself. WS.”
Her eyes widened. She’d thought the initials were hidden quite well in the drawing. And wait—how did the postmaster know...
“Are you Miss Thoroughly Disgruntled?” The man’s gaze twinkled, meeting hers. “This buffalo is quite nice.”
“I beg your pardon?” Winifred felt the blood drain from her face, along with her ability to understand complete sentences. Surely he hadn’t just called her...
“The advertisement reply to Mr. Businessman,” Mr. Star prompted. “Your letter had no return address, so when he mailed a response, I kept it in the back in case you came in—though I wasn’t sure how I’d know you, without a name or description. Handy thing, having those drawings as a calling card. I couldn’t believe he had the gall to call you that on the envelope. Though I suppose you must’ve kept your name a secret or he would’ve used it. But ‘Miss Thoroughly Disgruntled’?”
He let out a deep belly chuckle, and Winifred had to catch herself on the counter to keep her knees from giving out beneath her.
“I think you have me confused with someone else.” No way could he have meant her. The advertisement, a reply...they had to be coincidental. Her letter still lay secured in her valise. Though she couldn’t exactly explain away how he’d guessed the nickname she’d signed to the letter or how he knew her initials were in the sketch.
“You did respond to an advertisement for a wife, didn’t you?” He cocked his head to the side. “The envelope that came through looked just like this, except it was of a hummingbird. Wait one moment.”
The man left the counter and went into a back room. Alone, Winifred plopped her valise on the counter and unhooked the buckles. It didn’t make sense. Everything he said described her response to the ad. But it couldn’t be hers. The envelope remained in her bag.
She riffled through her tangled contents. “Come on, come on...” Heart beating wildly, she yanked out her stack of envelopes and flipped through them. Empty. Every single one, and no sign of the one with the hummingbird.
“Here we are.” The postmaster returned with a letter, and she prayed it would be hers. But no, she could see the envelope’s crisp whiteness from a distance, void of her rambling sketches. As he set the envelope on the counter, he grinned as if he’d found himself involved in a most creative and intriguing plot. “Your mystery suitor replied immediately. Same day, actually. I’ve never seen someone so eager. And what providence to be in the same town, so your mail reaches each other so quickly. Do you want to know who he is?”
“No.” Winifred’s stomach flipped. “I—I need to get to work now. We’ll be opening soon.”
“Of course.”
He scooted the envelope closer, and she jumped back. Silly, it’s not a rattlesnake. With a shaking hand, she dragged the envelope to the edge of the counter and dropped it into her bag.
“You said you work at the Golden Star Mine?”
“Yes, in the store.”
A strange smile lifted his lips, one she didn’t know how to read. Then he cleared his throat. “If I come across a letter for you, I’ll direct it there. Your name, ma’am?”
“Winifred Sattler.” Why, oh, why couldn’t she disguise the tremor in her voice?
Muttering a farewell, she took to the street, weaving through passersby and breathing in dust without really noticing it as she returned to the Golden Star Mine. With every step, her heart plummeted farther into her gut. The realization that somehow her letter had been mailed washed over her again and again until all she wanted to do was sink into a mine shaft and disappear forever.
What had he thought of her? While the poor man had used an unfortunately phrased ad to seek a wife, that did not mean he deserved to be barraged with the bitter sentiments of a jaded woman. The valise bounced against her hip as she walked, almost like it begged her to look inside at his reply.
Why had he written her back? To berate her, lash out at her careless words? No one spoke to strangers in such a forthright way, least of all through formal written correspondence.
At least she hadn’t used her real name, so he couldn’t hunt her down in person. As her feet hit the long wooden walkway that led to the shop’s door, she glanced at the sky and groaned. “Lord, please help me know what to do now.”
“Miss Sattler?”
Having just stepped over the threshold, Winifred gasped at the sound of her name. She hid her bag behind her as if she’d been caught with pilfered goods. Mr. Burke stood at the counter. He raised one brow at her jittery response, so she forced a smile. No reason to look guilty in front of her employer. She’d done nothing wrong. He acted suspicious of her enough as it was—the last thing she needed was for him to think she’d been up to something.
* * *
Ewan felt the smooth wooden counter beneath his fingertips, hoping the action would calm his irritation. Kindness, regardless of affliction.
Miss Sattler scrambled into the store in a manner not unlike a little whirlwind. Commonplace behavior for her, it seemed. “I’m not late, am I?”
He glanced at the small clock perched on a shelf. “No, you’re on time.”
“Oh.” Miss Sattler relaxed her shoulders and made her way to the counter, then slipped her bag beneath it, out of sight. “I had to...run an errand.”
Did a blush color her cheeks? She was permitted to run errands in her free time, so why the embarrassment?
