Trail of Kisses by Merry Farmer Read Free Book Online Page A

the
war.” Along with her brothers. She had to swallow the lump of worry
that hit her throat.
    “ You have a special fellow out
there in the army?” Cade’s question was impertinent, but his voice
was so soft and warm that somehow she wasn’t offended.
    “ No,” she confessed, meeting his
eyes, shoulders squared. “Not really. Those ‘society boys’ prefer
meek, docile wives. I don’t qualify.”
    He chuckled. “No, you don’t.”
    Rather than open herself to the prickling
gloom that thought brought with it, she held her head high. “It
doesn’t bother me one bit. I would rather stand on my own two feet,
by myself, than be dependent on a man, even if it means I die a
spinster.”
    Of all things, Cade laughed. Lynne wasn’t sure
if it was the sunset painting his face with shades of red or if he
was flushed. “I have a hard time believing you will die a spinster,
Lynne Tremaine.”
    She felt her own face color. “If that’s
supposed to be an insult….”
    “ Not at all.” Cade continued to
chuckle. “Although I suppose it will take a brave man to climb up
to the ivory tower you’ve set yourself in.”
    “ Why, I never,” Lynne exclaimed.
She let the end of her braid drop. “You are insulting
me.”
    “ Not really.” He pushed up from
his elbows and leaned back on the barrel. “I don’t suppose you can
help being a snob, really. Your father’s well-placed. I’d be
willing to bet your mother comes from money.”
    “ My mother passed away eight years
ago,” Lynne told him. The old hurt was nothing more than a memory
now.
    “ Sorry to hear that.” His teasing
ebbed.
    Lynne tried to make herself more comfortable
on her barrel. She reached for the end of her braid, shaking the
whole thing out and starting over from the beginning.
    “ I’m not a snob,” she insisted.
“If that’s what you’re implying.”
    “ Is that what I said?” His eyes
flashed with mischief.
    She pursed her lips and watched the fire
instead of him. “I’m not. I can’t help how I was born any more than
the next girl. I can’t help my independence either. Life has been
full of twists and turns since I was a girl, and there’s only one
right way to face that. It’s better to be independent and strong
than….” She bit her lip and let her chin drop.
    Cade waited a moment. “Than?”
    Lynne focused on her braiding her hair,
shoulders sagging. She didn’t know how to finish her own sentence.
No, if she was being honest with herself, she did. It was better to
be independent than to be afraid. Even thinking the word sent cold
shivers through her gut. She had been afraid when they had left
Lexington to move to St. Louis. She had been afraid when her mother
fell ill, when she died. She was afraid for her brothers at war.
And the Briscoe Boys?
    “ No,” she said aloud, standing.
“It’s better to be independent. That’s all.”
    She was brave. She was her Papa’s brave girl.
Even if she wasn’t a little girl anymore.
    “ I need to find something to tie
my hair.” She made her excuse and left Cade grinning where he
was.
    “ You’ll make some man a fine wife
one day,” he called after her.
    She made a show of huffing at his arrogance,
but swirls of warmth flared in her stomach, sending tingles of
longing all through her body. She covered them by moving a crate of
supplies to serve as a step so she could climb into the
wagon.
    “ All I really care about is having
a comfortable home and a bunch of happy children someday,” Cade
continued. Lynne couldn’t see him, but his voice was warm and
contented.
    “ Is that so?” she said, stepping
up into the wagon bed with one hand still around her
braid.
    “ It is. You may not believe it,
but I come from a good enough family myself. My father works in
shipping, in partnership with your uncle. That’s how I got my
job.”
    “ Oh?” She paused as her eyes
adjusted to the darkness in the back of the wagon. There was a lamp
nearby somewhere. She searched for it in