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looks of Wolf, he had more broken bones than not.
    Regret filled Jake. Even if his father wasn’t responsible, he hated to see such a strong, rugged man confined to bed with little hope of leaving it for weeks to come. Jake knew how he would feel if he were forced to rely on a woman Loretta Wolf’s size. He’d be reluctant to request the simplest things, even having his pillow fluffed, for fear she’d try to lift him.
    “What makes you think the trouble around your mine may be due to racial prejudice?” Jake asked softly.
    Wolf toyed with a tuft of blue yarn on the quilt. “Why else? I feel certain the accidents have been—”
    When Jake saw that his host seemed to be searching for the correct word, he quickly supplied, “Engineered?”
    A cool smile touched Wolf’s mouth; then he nodded and grew pensive. “I’ve made no grief behind me. If someone wants to cause trouble for me, my blood is the only reason.” He met Jake’s gaze. “Many people have come to these hills. Some have brought bad feelings. If you stand beside me, you will be hated as well. I almost died in the last cave-in.” A question entered his eyes. “Knowing that, most men would not take this job.”
    “I’m not one to shy from trouble.” Jake knew no one could possibly connect him to Ore-Cal. The Rands did all their business using the company name. But that knowledge didn’t reassure him much. Wolf’s gaze peeled off a man’s layers and made him feel transparent. Jake couldn’t risk having his true reason for being here revealed—not yet. “I’m desperate for temporary work, and you need a foreman. It seems like a perfect solution for both of us.”
    Wolf seemed to consider that. “After all that has happened, I am looking always behind me. Your eyes speak to me of friendship, though. And you have an honest face.”
    “Is that why you considered selling out? Because there’s no one you can trust and because of the danger?”
    “Not because of danger to myself. If it was just me, I would hold on until I healed, then reopen the mine. But I have mouths to feed.”
    It had been a long while since Jake had worried about providing the basic necessities for loved ones, but he still remembered how that responsibility had preyed upon his mind.
    “My daughter, Indigo, has been trying to supervise my men and get repairs under way,” Wolf went on. “I believe she could do a very good job, but after so many accidents, I worry. Her mother worries even more, and with me unable to work, her burdens are already great.” He lifted his uninjured hand in a helpless gesture of defeat. “The doctor says it will be a long time before I walk. Sometimes, a man must put his pride behind him. He must say suvate , it is finished, and look at the horizon.”
    Loretta Wolf was a little slip of a woman. Jake couldn’t blame her husband for feeling protective of her. He hadn’t as yet seen Indigo, but imagining a girl inside a mine that had already suffered several cave- ins made his guts knot. He’d be insane with worry if that girl happened to be his daughter.
    “Well . . .” Jake’s voice trailed off and he gazed sightlessly at the floor. He couldn’t bear the thought that his father might be responsible for this family’s misfortune and could only pray Wolf was right, that the cave-ins were the work of locals who had it in for Indians. “I’m just glad I happened through Jacksonville before you sold out.”
    “I am glad with you.”
    The simple honesty of that response touched Jake. It was indicative of a man who dealt in truth, even if it humbled him. What would happen to this family when Jake had to leave? While making his plans to come here, he hadn’t thought of the people at Wolf’s Landing as being real, nor had he considered that he might like them so much.
    “If something should happen—if it ends up that I can’t stay until you’re completely recovered, isn’t there anyone—a friend or a relative—who could help you