Montana Wildfire by Rebecca Sinclair Read Free Book Online Page B

soothed her conscience to be honest with him at least once. She commended herself on doing better than she'd thought she would. And then Amanda saw his eyes widen at her answer, and she wondered if perhaps she wasn't doing poorly alter all.
    "Pony?" he nearly choked on the word. "Pony? Jesus, lady, do you know you're in Idaho?"
    Her shoulders squared, her back drew up in a rigid line that would have made Miss Henry beam. "Of course I know. Roger wanted to see the scenery." Idaho! Amanda thought. Good God, how did we get there? "As I recall, Mr. Chandler, that wasn't one of your original questions."
    "I said 'for starters' Last question. Where are you from that you talk so prissy? And why the hell aren't you on a stage right now, the way any woman with a lick of sense would be?"
    "That's two questions." The glare he shot her told her not to argue, just to answer. "I'm from... Boston" It wasn't really a lie, she told herself. She'd come from Boston, just not originally. Originally, she was from Washington. She saw no need to elaborate about that. It was none of his business.
    "Boston?" He shook his head. "That figures."
    The way he said the word made it sound more like the vilest of curses instead of the prospering city it was, but she ignored the outburst. "Roger and I did take the stage to Virginia City, Mr. Chandler. Before that we were on a cramped, smelly, dusty, dirty railroad car. And before that — "
    "The stage runs right through Pony. You know that, right?"
    "I was informed of such."
    "Yeah? So why aren't you on it, Miss Lennox?"
    Amanda shrugged, as though the reason wasn't important. But it was. Even now, she fumed over the incident that had happened almost two weeks before.
    "Well?" Jake pressed impatiently.
    "Roger hid the tickets."
    Jake grumbled something under his breath. Since his tone was gruff, she presumed it was one of the graphic swears he seemed so fond of muttering. "Now, lady. Why aren't you on a stage now?"
    She scowled. "I just told you. Roger hid the tickets. We missed the stage. Since I knew Pony wasn't too far away, and since the next stage wouldn't come through until the next morning, I rented two horses and... well, you know the rest."
    She didn't add that she'd made the decision impulsively, and only because the thought of being shackled to Roger Thornton Bannister III for even twenty-four hours longer than was necessary was more repellent to her than eating live worms. She'd wanted to unload the little monster on his father as soon as possible and be rid of him. She hadn't counted on getting lost in the thick, mountainous woods of Montana. No, she corrected herself with a mental shiver... Idaho.
    "You rented horses?" Jake asked, and he rubbed a palm down his jaw as though he couldn't quite comprehend her reasoning.
    "Oh, yes." She grinned brightly. "It seemed fitting, since Roger hates to ride. Do you have any more questions before we leave?" He had decided to help her, hadn't he? She eyed him closely. His chiseled copper face was as readable as a stone, his steely gaze narrow and guarded. There was no deciphering him. He could be thinking almost anything.
    "You rented horses," he muttered again, telling Amanda he hadn't gotten past that point in her story. "Jesus! I've never heard of anyone doing anything so pompous—not to mention hairbrained stupid!— in my life. Not knowing where you were going, or how to get there, you and the brat just put your noses in the air and rode right out of town. Then promptly got lost."
    "We did not 'promptly get lost!' " Amanda wished her ankle didn't hurt so badly. She would have loved to show this man in deed, not words, how much his statement grated... because what he accused her of was exactly what had happened. Except for the 'promptly' part. It had taken two good hours after they'd left Virginia City for her to figure out they were hopelessly lost.
    "How long have you been wandering around out here?"
    "Three days," she lied. It was closer to two weeks.