Tracie Peterson by Hearts Calling Read Free Book Online Page B

horse and stow this gear.”
    Pamela watched him move away, totally unconcerned with her urgent need. She looked first in one direction, then another, somewhat bewildered by her predicament. Jim glanced up and realized she’d probably never had to see to nature’s call in the great outdoors.
    “Just pick a direction,” he called over his shoulder. “One way is just about the same as another.”
    Pamela reddened and stalked off toward a thicket of brush. She could hear Jim chuckling in the background, and it irritated her more than she could say.
    “We’ll see how he laughs when we get back to Dawson,” she muttered.
    The mountain trail was winding and laborious for the horse. He struggled against the weight of two passengers for, while Pamela barely weighed a hun dred pounds, Jim was a good-sized portion of baggage. From time to time, he dismounted and led the horse while Pamela rode alone.
    For the first time, Pamela began to notice the scenery. The land around her was both beautiful and deadly. At times, the roadway was barely suited to accept the width of a horse, and Pamela felt herself leaning toward the rocky wall as loose gravel and rock shifted and plummeted down the ravine.
    A heavy cloud bank moved in and rained on the valleys below them. Pamela watched as it blanketed everything in billowy blackness and lingered on as the morning passed into afternoon.
    When they stopped to rest the horse and eat a meager lunch, Jim watched the skies, shaking his head. “It doesn’t look good,” he said.
    “What doesn’t look good?” Pamela asked curiously.
    “It looks like we’re going to get wet,” he replied and motioned behind her. “There’s another storm moving in.”
    Pamela glanced at the heavy sky and shrugged. At least she’d be back with Zandy and Riley by nightfall. Thinking of Zandy, Pamela remembered Jim’s words from the night before.
    “Why did you want to take Zandy?” she suddenly questioned. “I mean, why did you think she needed rescuing?”
    Jim pulled his hat down low before shoving his hands into his jeans. “I wronged her a long time ago,” he finally said. “I was partially to blame for her ending up in a loveless marriage with that no-good Riley Dawson.”
    Pamela nearly choked on her food. “Loveless marriage?” She began to laugh gaily. “There were never two people more in love than Riley and Zandy. She worships the ground he walks on. He stares at her with such devotion that I honestly think he’d perish if she were taken from him.”
    Jim’s eyes narrowed and his face grew flushed. “I don’t believe you!”
    Pamela got to her feet and smoothed her burgundy skirt into place. “Well, it doesn’t much matter what you believe. It’s true. Zandy and Riley are very happy. In fact, they’re going to have a baby in the autumn.”
    Jim moved away angrily. He threw things back into his saddlebags, muttering all the while. “No one could be happy with Riley Dawson.”
    “But Zandy is,” Pamela said, refusing to give an inch on the argument. “Riley has changed from the man he used to be.”
    “What would you know of the man he used to be?” Jim raged. “I knew him then. I worked for him and he was a cutthroat, no-good person who. . . .” His words faded into a growl. “He was just ruthless, that’s all.”
    “He got saved,” Pamela offered. “Zandy says God made Riley a new man, and she loves him.”
    “I can’t believe this trash,” Jim said, throwing the reins over the horse’s neck. “Get up there,” he said, motioning to the saddle.
    “I will not be ordered about. You’re just mad because the woman who you thought needed you, doesn’t. You should have checked things out a little better.”
    “Get over here so I can help you into the saddle,” Jim muttered between clenched teeth. Pamela’s news just couldn’t be true. Surely he hadn’t been even more stupid than he’d already figured.
    “I won’t,” Pamela said, striking a pose with hands on