Forever Eva [Sequel to When Kat's Away] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Missy Martine

what you know about Anna and Katarina’s disappearance.”
    Eva sank back into the softest cushion she’d ever been on. “Damn, I’d have given anything to have seats like this on the buckboard back home.” Tony glared at Zach when he laughed. Eva sighed, placed the can on the table, and looked at the two men. “Okay, I can tell you what Mama told us when we were little.
    “She and Kat were taking a trip, trying to get some background on some feller Kat wanted to write a book about. I don’t remember his name, but he was a painter and writer and he was supposed to have grown up around Hamilton. Anyway, they went to Hamilton to look around, only Mama said it was almost gone, rotted away with age.
    “Kat wandered off to look at the mill, while Mama was drawn to the saloon. She went inside and snooped around. At one point, she started down the basement steps and saw a red glowy circle on the wall. She got scared, so she tried to go back up, but tripped and fell toward the circle. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in the cellar of the saloon and it was 1871.”
    “Who owned the saloon then?” asked Zach.
    “Papa Beau and Papa Zeke owned it together. Story was they won it in a poker game and decided to settle down there.” She lowered her eyes to the floor and felt her cheeks getting hot. “The two of them had a special relationship together, and they felt safer in a small town.”
    “You’re saying they were gay.”
    Eva looked up and frowned at Tony. “I guess they was happy. I never really asked.
    Zach laughed out loud and quickly put his hand over his mouth. He cleared his throat. “Honey, men who fall in love with other men are referred to as gay.”
    Eva worried her bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head. “I never heard Mama refer to them as gay.”
    Tony sighed loudly. “Just get on with your story.”
    She nodded. “Okay. Well, my fathers found her unconscious in the basement, and they cared for her until she woke up. She explained to them about where she came from, but she didn’t think they believed her.” Eva leaned forward in the chair, her feet dancing up and down. “The best part of her story is she saved the town.”
    Tony glanced at Zach, who shrugged, and then back at Eva. “What do you mean, she saved the town?”
    “Mama had read a book on the history of Hamilton and knew about this huge fire that would wipe out most of the town. She knew when and where the fire would start, so she convinced my fathers to help her stop it. Papa Beau said she saved hundreds of lives that would have been lost, not to mention she saved the mill.” She leaned back in her chair and stared toward the sliding doors. “Her saving the town is what got her in trouble.”
    “What do you mean?” asked Zach.
    “A nasty man by the name of Bart Canders ran the Seligman mine, but he was cheating the mine owners. He had a hand in everything in town. The man even ran a house for tainted ladies. He started the fire to cover up his stealing and even left one of his soiled doves in the office to burn up. Once Mama stopped everything, he had to go on the run from folks.”
    Zach placed his cola can on the table. “What happened to him?”
    “He made the mistake of kidnapping Mama. She said he became convinced that she knew things before they happened, and he wanted to know more. He took her to this little shack way out in the woods and left her there tied up so he could go home and make excuses to his family to be away for a few days. Luckily, Mama had made a friend of an Indian man after she helped his wife give birth to their son. He followed Canders when he kidnapped Mama, and when he left, Running Bear cut her loose and took her home.”
    Zach crossed his arms over his chest. “Running Bear?”
    “That was the Indian’s name. His wife was Moon Dancer. They were Shoshone. Mama delivered their son, Winter Warrior, in Papa Beau and Papa Zeke’s cabin.”
    “What happened to