A Ransomed Heart by Alex Taylor Wolfe Read Free Book Online Page B

Her dress was long enough she only exposed her high boots, completely modest in her opinion. 
    Once she had adjusted herself properly she looked around from her perch.  Every man in the area was staring at her. Logan fairly glared at her; Kit gave her a warm smile and quickly swung up in his saddle then walked his burgundy mare over to her. 
    “ Mornin’ ma’am” he said, tipping his hat and giving her a flirty wink.
    “Good morning , Kit.” She gave him a dazzling smile and batted her eyelashes like he was the last man on earth.
    Logan watched the exchange, unsure he liked what he saw. He threw one long leg over the back of his buckskin gelding and then grabbed the reins of Annabelle’s horse, pulling them from her hands.  She was acting strangely and the last thing he needed was for her to try to escape again.  Kit blatantly glared at him but Logan just glared back and jammed his hat on his head. They weren’t going to get anywhere with Kit flirting like a lovesick pup. He hadn’t mentioned Annabelle’s attempted escape but his sore body was enough to remind him not to trust their red-headed captive. His friend seemed unfazed by the lady’s strange behavior and continued chatting in a friendly manner with Annabelle.  She did not fight Logan when he took the lead only smiled even brighter at Kit.  Logan grumbled a ‘head out’ and everyone followed him out of camp.
    Annabelle had opted out of all the petticoats and stuck them in a cranny in the chuck wagon.  Lars, the cook, wanted to protest, but when she smiled sweetly at him, he willingly agreed.  She had only kept her improvised shawl and soon the sun had warmed her enough she laid it across her lap.  The beautiful dress had lost its stiffness and hung lifelessly around her.  The puff sleeves still only covered a small amount of her arms and when she felt the burn of the sun she again covered them with the wrap, this time to save herself from sunburn.
    Kit went right on talking to her all morning long.  He was nice and easy to converse with, so much like her brother.  Finally, Logan called him up next to him and she surveyed her surroundings for a bit.  They had left the river bottom and its rocky banks, along with the little lush greenery which had made its way up in the moist earth.  Now the ground was covered in short brown weeds and sagebrush.  In the distance she could see the hills gradually reaching to high peaks then to the mountains.  They seemed a very long ways away.  The browns and oranges mixed with veins of red and purple and made her feel like she was walking in a painting.  The wind had picked up and she was glad she had her hair pulled back and out of her face.  She wished she had her bonnet and she grimaced as she touched her red nose. 
    Somewhat regretfully she watched as Kit took the reins from Logan and narrowed her eyes as Logan slowed his pace to match hers.  It had been easy to keep her cool with Kit, but Logan was a whole different story.  If he would just keep his cocky mouth shut maybe they could have a civilized conversation. Why did he have to come back here and ruin a perfectly good day?
    “We are almost there ,” he said like she should know where they were going.
    “Where?”
    “My home; we are almost to Hope.”
    Her eyebrow rose. She had never heard of the place and she wondered what awful place he was going to keep her in tonight.
    “The town of Hope is my home, and we are almost there.” He rolled his eyes like she was a small child.
    Her blood boiled inside her, but she bit her tongue. It would do her no good to point out she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about; he was as thick-headed as a mule after all. He didn’t say anything more to her and they rode in an uncomfortable silence.
    “I meant what I said last night.”
    She l ooked at him with her pale blue eyes. “What part did you mean, that I was a princess or that I was a hellcat? Or maybe it was the part about handcuffing