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

the piles of boxes and
other trail supplies.
    “ Yep. In fact, what I’m most
looking forward to about getting back home to Denver City is making
my case to your uncle for him to give me more
responsibility.”
    “ I see.” Lynne was impressed with
his initiative in spite of herself.
    She found a lamp sitting next to a box of
matches on top of one of the crates. The only way to keep her braid
from unraveling was to clamp the end in her mouth. Cade was
outside, so she bit her braid and set to work lighting the
lamp.
    “ There’s a lot of men out in the
Colorado Territory right now who have their hearts set on building
their own business, working for themselves,” Cade went on as light
flared in the cramped space of the wagon. “I don’t know if it makes
me less ambitious or that much smarter than those men, but I’m
content to work for your uncle, as long as he’ll have
me.”
    Lynne spit her braid out and held it once
more. “Why wouldn’t he have you?”
    She moved the lamp across its stack of boxes
so that it could shed light on her hope chest. Her box of hair
ribbons and pins should be near the top. Braid in one hand, she
opened the lid.
    Cade hadn’t answered. She twisted toward where
she knew he was sitting outside. The light of the lamp reflected
off of the canvas of the wagon cover, giving her a closed-in
feeling.
    “ Is there some reason my uncle
wouldn’t keep you on?” she rephrased her question.
    “ Well,” Cade began
slowly.
    Lynne turned back to the open hope
chest.
    “ The thing is,” Cade went
on.
    On top of her things, turned so that it faced
her, Lynne found a photograph of her father, splattered with blood,
his throat slit.
    She screamed.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Cade shot to his feet at the sound of Lynne’s
scream, letting his coffee tumble to the ground. He reached to his
waist, but he’d laid off wearing his gun belt for the last few
days. A few of their closer neighbors glanced up, wondering what
was going on. Cade tore around to the back of the wagon, reaching
the opening in the cover at the same time as Lynne backed toward
it. For half a second, she teetered as if she might fall, her long
hair coming undone.
    “ What’s wrong?” He reached to pull
her out of the wagon, looking to see what had startled
her.
    His arms slipped around her and he held her
close as he lifted her down. She leaned heavily on him, clutching
something. The press of her weight, the feel of her body trembling,
had him tightening his grip, cradling her close. Even at the end of
a hard day on the trail, panic rippling off of her, she smelled of
sunlight and life. He touched his lips to the top of her head to
comfort both of them. Then he peered inside the wagon.
    It was empty. The sunset was fading fast, but
Lynne had lit a lamp which still sat atop a pile of boxes in the
wagon. With its light, all he could see were the supplies they were
carrying with them and the bedroll he’d laid out for her when he
set up camp. At the far end of the wagon, Lynne’s hope chest stood
open, but that was it.
    “ Was it a spider or something?” he
ventured, knowing no spider could have made Lynne scream the way
she had.
    She shook her head against his
chest.
    “ You folks all right over there?”
one of their neighbors called.
    “ We’re fine,” Cade answered. “Just
a little spook is all.”
    He turned his attention back to Lynne as she
lifted her hands.
    His heart skipped a beat. She held something
up to him, a photograph. Reluctant as he was to let go, he loosened
his hold and stepped away so that he could see. Her face was pale
and her eyes were large as she handed him the ruined photograph. It
was a picture of her father, but a slash had been made across his
throat and a line of something resembling blood had been drawn
across it.
    Cade saw red. “I’ll find who did this,” he
growled. Find them and string them up by their toenails.
    “ No,” Lynne whispered. She brushed
a hand over her