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“Right They've got a great artist colony I'”
“I thought so Turn to the first page”
She eased open the cover, afraid the obviously old book would tear Diary of Rebecca Morrell, Dry Creek Nebraska, 1865 Josie traced her fingers across the bold but faded script
“I won it a few years ago in a poker enerations It seeon Trail with her dowry to meet her fiancé out West She made it as far as Nebraska when she discovered he'd died Heartbroken, she stayed in Dry Creek, where she eventually married a rancher”
“How sad” Like a real sap, her heart winced at the tale
“Yes, but according to the young man and what's in here…” He tapped the diary with one arthritic finger “She buried her dowry outside of Dry Creek Many have looked for Rebecca's Bounty, as they call it, but none have found it”
“I'm not surprised”
“But they didn't have the map You do”
Her breath hitched A real treasure h to pay off her er stay in Dry Creek “Map?”
“Oh yes, I took the diary to be appraised and the examiner found the map secreted in a false flap on the back cover It took ht it was just sos—Rebecca, it seems, was an artist herself—but then one day it hit me She'd drawn a treasure irl, that Rebecca My Marlene would have liked her”
“Mr Rosenberg, this gift is truly lovely, thank you, but it must be valuable I can't accept this” She held out the book, but he waved off her offer
“It is worth o on any more adventures; however, you're certainly not Take it with you to Dry Creek Who knows,else, think of it as the diary of a fellow artist and a reminder of an old man who enjoyed your company”
She sed the senti her throat “Thank you”
After a quick hug, he shuffled back to his poker table and she hid the diary in a safe spot behind the bar
Mr Tall Drink of Water sat a few chairs away from Saul, deep in conversation with the er, relaxed and mellow, unlike the man who put an extra bit of sway in her hips as she strutted toward the players He had an air of alertness about him and an intensity that couldn't be missed Still, the resemblance between the twohazel eyes—left little doubt they were related Both were handso about the older one that sent a tingle sprinting across her exposed skin as surely as if he'd touched her She couldn't wait to get close enough for better inspection