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to drive a stagecoach? Griff told me you’ve been hounding him to hire you to drive.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo, you’re not ready.”
    Vashti held back her retort and gazed up at him. She liked Johnny in a way. He was boyishly handsome and had a fun-loving streak, but he’d be trouble for the woman who lost her heart to him.
    â€œSo how did
you
get ready?” What she really wanted to know was how he’d convinced Griffin Bane to hire him. Maybe it amounted to the same thing.
    â€œWhen I was a kid, my pa put up a rig for me in the barn, so’s I could practice handling the reins without anyone—or any horses—getting hurt.”
    â€œWhat kind of a rig?”
    â€œIt’s just a frame with six reins attached like they are on a real hitch. You can pretend to drive for hours at a time, working those lines with your fingers until you can tighten or ease up on any one of the six without affecting the others. That’s what you need to do if you’re going to control all six horses ’t once. You can’t drive them all like you would one horse. They’d learn to take advantage of you worse than a tinhorn gambler.”
    Vashti scowled at him, but what he said made sense. Already her mind was groping for a place where she could have someone make a rig for her. It couldn’t be at the livery—Griff would see it. Besides, she wouldn’t want to be over there for hours on end, practicing.
    Trudy Dooley would let her have it in her barn if she still lived with her brother. But she’d married the sheriff last summer, so she was Mrs. Chapman now and lived out on the sheriff’s ranch. It wasn’t far out of town, but it was too far for Vashti to trot out there every day.
    Augie and Bitsy didn’t have a barn. They had a woodshed, though. She wondered if there’d be room out there. They’d burned all of lastwinter’s wood, so the shed was pretty nearly empty. But Augie would be filling it soon and ordering a ton of coal, too.
    The pastor and his wife stepped outside. All of the church folks must be finished shaking their hands. The reverend closed the church door, and they turned to walk down the steps together.
    Vashti smiled as another option came to mind. She hurried toward the couple.
    â€œMrs. Benton, Reverend—I’ve got a favor to ask.”
    Apphia paused and waited for her to reach them, a smile hovering on her lips. “What is it, Vashti? You know we’ll do anything feasible for you.”
    Vashti wasn’t quite sure what
feasible
meant, but she knew the Bentons were bighearted when it came to folks in need.
    â€œYou folks have a stable you’re not using.”
    The minister’s eyes widened. “Are you getting a horse, Miss Edwards?”
    Vashti shook her head. “No, sir, that would be nice but too expensive. This is cheaper and easier to clean up after.” Mr. Benton laughed.
    Apphia squeezed her hand. “Well, my dear, you have us on pins and needles. What is it you want to use the stable for?”
    â€œFor a place where I can learn to drive my imaginary stagecoach.”

CHAPTER 4
    T he next day as the coach came in from Reynolds, Vashti stood in front of the Wells Fargo office, ready to make sure the disembarking passengers had their needs met. Sure enough, a couple got out and turned expectantly toward her.
    Too bad—it was nearly time for her to set out for the shooting club’s regular practice. But Mr. Bane had made it clear that directing the passengers to food and lodging and hearing any complaints they might make was part of her job, for which he now grudgingly paid her a dime a day, plus the commission on tickets she sold.
    â€œMay I help you folks?” she asked, remembering belatedly that Griffin had also specified she smile when addressing customers. She tacked on a perfunctory curve of her lips.
    â€œI think you might be able to.” The man doffed his