Boneyard Ridge by Paula Graves Read Free Book Online Page B

jeans were a notch too large, but not so big that she needed a belt, thanks to her stress-induced chocolate binge over the past week.
    He was waiting outside the cave, his sharp green eyes scanning the misty woods. He seemed to take his sentry duty very seriously, making her wonder what, exactly, he used to do for a living before taking a job as a hotel maintenance worker.
    Clearly there was more to the man than she’d assumed. His earlier show of shy deference was long gone, replaced by a stubborn implacability that was somehow both unnerving and comforting.
    “Any sign of intruders?” she asked quietly.
    He answered without looking at her. “No. But we can’t assume they’re not out there.”
    “So we hike out of here, anyway?”
    “Something like that.”
    She shifted from one foot to the other, testing the feel of the shoes on her injured feet. He’d included a pair of thick, fluffy socks that padded her wounds well enough, but they made the shoes a tighter fit than she might have liked.
    On the other hand, the tight fit offered good arch support, which she’d probably appreciate if they were planning to hike their way out of these woods.
    Unfortunately, she realized a half hour later, leaving the woods didn’t seem to be part of the plan. They were headed into deeper forest, on a winding but unmistakable upward climb. The mist thickened, but the air thinned. They were heading higher into the mountains, which meant they were going east.
    She might not be a geographer, but she knew that Barrowville and civilization lay to the west. “We’re not heading out of the woods, are we?”
    He didn’t look at her. It seemed to be a habit with him. “I have a cabin about two miles from here. Not much, but it’s warm and there’s food and water there.”
    “You want us to hike two more miles tonight?”
    “If we wait until morning, there’ll be cops and searchers swarming this area looking for you.”
    “You’re not exactly providing me a good reason to go with you.”
    “Well, how about this? I know there’s at least one cop on the take in Barrowville, which has jurisdiction in this area. I just don’t know who he is. Or what he looks like.”
    “And I have to take your word for that?” she countered sharply. “Because you’ve given me such a good reason to trust you up to this point.”
    “I saved you from being mowed down in the hotel parking lot.” His voice was razor-edged. “I brought you clothes to warm you up and shoes to protect your feet. Hell, I carried you piggyback. Twice. And let me tell you, princess, you may not be an Amazon, but you’re not exactly dainty, either.”
    She faltered to a stop, shooting him a dark look. “Clearly, you’re not looking to impress me with your gentlemanly charms, either.”
    He laughed, turning to look at her for the first time since they’d left the cave. “I’m a lot of things, darlin’, but a gentleman ain’t one of them.”
    As he started hiking forward again, she caught up and asked, “Does the cabin have indoor plumbing?”
    She saw the slight curve of his lips but he didn’t answer her question, pushing forward at a surprising clip, given his obvious limp.
    Gritting her teeth against the pain of her injured feet, she hurried up the mountain after him.
    * * *
    T HE CABIN WAS , to put it mildly, rustic. It had running water and electricity, but that was the extent of luxuries his little bolt-hole could offer, and during the winter, when the snows fell, electricity wasn’t a given.
    He had a woodstove for the long, cold nights when the power failed, and a rainwater cistern if a pipe burst from the occasional deep freeze. Canned goods in the pantry could be opened by hand and heated over the woodstove.
    It wasn’t Highland Hotel and Resort, and he doubted Susannah Marsh would find much to please her refined tastes, but she wouldn’t freeze and she wouldn’t starve. Considering how close she’d come to bleeding out in the hotel employees’