Marry her? In the process of drawing in a breath, Wyatt choked and began to cough. Steele must have knocked his head hard during the bumpy stagecoach ride. Or maybe Wyatt had heard him wrong. He cleared his throat. “Come again?”

“I want you to marry Miss Nilsson.” This time Steele spoke more decisively, as if the matter was settled.

Wyatt opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words to respond.

“She’s a good woman in dire straits.” Steele peered up and down the street, as though gauging who else might be listening in on their conversation. At the early evening hour, the town wasn’t yet as busy as it would be once the miners finished their work and swarmed the taverns. “Miss Nilsson is Hallock’s mail-order bride.”

Wyatt shot another look at the general store and wished he could get a second glimpse of the woman Phineas Hallock had boasted about to no end.

From the moment Hallock had put the ad in the Chicago Daily Tribune for a bride, Wyatt teased his friend. It hadn’t taken long for Hallock to start exchanging letters with a woman. Wyatt had been surprised along with everyone else when the woman had accepted Hallock’s proposal. Even though Hallock was a decent fella, he was shy and eccentric, with a balding head, a paunch, and too much nose hair. And to top it off, he was ancient enough to be Wyatt’s father.

“The stage got robbed up at Kenosha Pass by the Crooked-Eye Gang,” Steele continued, “and Miss Nilsson lost the entirety of her savings.”

Wyatt shook his head. It wasn’t fair some men thought they could get rich off honest, hardworking fellas. But they didn’t have a regular lawman in these parts, which only made crime worse. When things got too rough, about the best they could do was organize a vigilance committee to serve up justice.

“Now Miss Nilsson has no husband and no money. And she has her sick little sister to care for.”

“The girl is her sister?”

“She brought her west to see if the mountain air would cure her consumption.”

“So that’s why she agreed to marry Hallock?” Wyatt could feel his ire rising.

“Now, hold on, McQuaid. Lots of marriages begin as partnerships.”

Yep. Like Ma’s with Rusty. And look how that had ended. “What was in it for Hallock?”

Steele’s brows shot high. “You saw her. I think the answer’s clear enough.”

Hallock hadn’t been so shallow that he’d marry a woman for her beautiful face and body. More likely he’d been lonely and eager for companionship.

“You knew Hallock better than anyone,” Steele said. “He was a good man with a big heart. And he would have wanted to help Miss Nilsson’s sister if he could.”