Trail to Shasta (9781101622049) by J. R. Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

hadn’t lied about being on watch all night. He was concerned about being followed from Saint Louis so he intended to stay on watch with his rifle across his knees. Anytime he might have dozed, he could depend on Eclipse to alert him to any trouble.
    Halfway through the night he noticed Bridget turn over and toss off her blanket. She got to her feet, straightened her skirt, and then came over to him by the fire.
    â€œDo you mind if I sit?” she asked.
    â€œNot at all,” he said. “Would you like some coffee?”
    â€œPlease.”
    He poured her a cup and handed it to her.
    â€œThank you.”
    He nodded, drank from his own cup. He stared straight out into the darkness.
    â€œHow do you do this?” she asked.
    â€œDo what?”
    â€œKeep watch,” she said. “Not sleep?”
    â€œIt’s not hard,” he said. “My body is still at rest while I sit here.”
    â€œDo you stare into the dark all night?”
    â€œOh yes,” he said. “If you look into the fire, it destroys your night vision. If someone—or something—comes at you in that moment, you won’t see them.”
    â€œI understand,” she said. Then she added, “‘Some-
thing
’?”
    â€œA wolf,” he said, “or a big cat. They don’t usually come near a fire, but sometimes . . .”
    â€œSometimes what?”
    â€œSometimes they get hungry enough . . . I didn’t want to worry your sister.”
    â€œSo you decided to worry me instead?” she asked with raised eyebrows.
    He looked at her.
    â€œYou’re stronger,” he said. “I suspect that’s why you came with her to meet her prospective husband.”
    â€œI came with her because we are family,” she said, “the only family we have.”
    â€œDoes Ed know you’re coming along?”
    â€œHe does,” she said. “We made it a condition.”
    â€œOh, of course,” Clint said. “He told me in the letter I’d be meeting two ladies.”
    â€œYou appeared to be very surprised when you saw us,” she said. “You were expecting two older women, weren’t you?”
    â€œI was,” he said. “Ed is . . . well, I’m sure you know he’s over sixty.”
    â€œWe know,” she said. “But we wanted to get out of Ireland, and he sent the fare money.”
    â€œDid it ever occur to you to go your own way when you got to this country?”
    â€œI’ll not lie, Clint,” she said. “’Twas more than a passing thought. But we cannot do that.”
    â€œToo honest?”
    She laughed.
    â€œToo frightened.”
    He laughed then.
    â€œI admire your honesty.”
    She put her hand on his arm.
    â€œMay I continue to be honest?”
    â€œPlease.”
    Now she gave his arm a squeeze.
    â€œI find you very attractive,” she said. “I did from the moment I saw you.”
    â€œI’m flattered.”
    â€œAre you attracted to me?”
    â€œVery much so,” he said. “You’re lovely.”
    She removed her hand from his arm, put it on his thigh.
    â€œI almost approached you on the train, and again in the hotel,” she said.
    â€œWhat stopped you?”
    She smiled and removed her hand from his body completely.
    â€œBride,” she said. “She made me promise . . . I had a wild period in my youth, Clint.”
    â€œYour youth?”
    â€œMy teens,” she said. “I was . . . a rebel. Our parents were very religious, and I rebelled against that. Bride made me promise I’d never do that again.”
    â€œI see.”
    â€œBut it wouldn’t be that . . . with you,” she said. “I know that.”
    She leaned closer to him, and he did the same. They kissed, gently at first, and then the kiss deepened until Clint pulled away.
    â€œAnother time and place, Bridget,” he