by Nerys Leigh
The only thing keeping her from falling apart was Jonah’s presence. Much as they teased each other and bickered, he’d become the rock she clung to. He would keep her safe, she knew that. As far as he was able, anyway.
But that knowledge didn’t make her any less terrified of sleeping outside.
“They might have abandoned Ralph Baker like this, rather than killed him,” she said, in an effort to distract herself from the approaching night and their probable imminent deaths. “Maybe he’s still alive somewhere.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced.
“You don’t think he is?”
He gave her a small smile. “Anything is possible.”
“I wonder how many men at the mine know about what Mr. Brewer did. Maybe someone will tell Marshal Sanderson. At the very least, someone will notice we’re missing.”
Except they’d noticed Ralph Baker was missing, and that hadn’t helped him. But it made her feel a little better to think that someone might be searching for them, eventually.
“That’s true.” He kept his eyes on the trail in front of them.
She lifted her skirt to step over a log lying across their path. “What do you think Mr. Baker found in his audit?”
“That Brewer is embezzling from the mine, most likely. Misreporting the amount of gold they’re extracting, keeping it for himself. You’d be surprised the lengths men go to for gold.”
At that moment, she wouldn’t have been surprised by anything men did. “It doesn’t seem like a very good plan, with an audit happening.”
“The case file said they do these audits once a year. Maybe Brewer was planning to be gone by now but got greedy. Or maybe he thought no one would be able to tell he’d doctored the books.”
“Maybe Ralph Baker was a better auditor than most,” she said. “He did say in his report that it all mostly looked all right. Maybe other auditors wouldn’t have continued to dig.”
“Could be.”
A puddle lay across the trail and he turned to her, a silent question on his face.
She held out her hands without hesitation. The wilderness wasn’t a place she was in the least bit comfortable with, and she was going to need all the help she could get.
Straddling the puddle with his long legs in a way she couldn’t, he wrapped his hands around her waist, picked her up, and deposited her on the far side of the water.
It was a far from unpleasant experience.
“Having first Mr. Baker disappear and now us is going to seem very suspicious,” she said as they resumed walking.
“My guess is that Brewer is going to want to leave quickly now.”
The thought of him escaping angered her. That was good. Being angry meant being less afraid. “Then we’ll have to get back quickly so we can stop him.”
Jonah glanced at her and smiled. “My plan exactly.”
They followed the horses’ tracks for as long as they could through the forest. After a while they met a small stream and the tracks turned to follow it downhill, but eventually the approaching darkness forced them to stop.
“It’s going to get cold,” Jonah said, looking around them. “We’ll have to make a shelter.”
“Out of what?”
He picked up a long branch that had broken from a downed tree. “Wood.”
She eyed the bough in his hand skeptically. She couldn’t imagine how he could create a structure from it with no tools. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“I grew up in western Missouri, in a remote place with lots of forest. My father taught me how to build a shelter just about before I could walk. I know what I’m doing.” He indicated a spot a little way from the trail of hoof prints. “We’ll set up the shelter there. Help me find a good log to start it off. It needs to be about ten feet long.”
“Just a moment.” She bent to pick up some pebbles and arranged them into a large arrow pointing in the direction the horses had gone. “So we can find the trail easily in the morning,” she said as she straightened.
She refused to consider the possibility of rain obliterating the prints. Or rain at all.
Jonah nodded approvingly at her marker. “Good idea.”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “I didn’t mean to sound surprised.”
“Yes, you did.”
He was teasing her, and she hoped he continued. It helped her feel a bit less frightened.
“You were building these from before you could walk?” she said as she followed him to the place he’d indicated for their shelter.
“I may have been exaggerating a little.”
~ ~ ~
Less than an hour later, Phoebe stood back to assess their shelter.
While it was hardly a cozy bedroom, or even a hovel, it was impressive for something that had taken such a short time to construct.
A long branch formed the apex of the tent-like structure, one end set into the ground and the other resting in a v-shaped notch between the split trunk of a tree. Along the sides leaned sticks to create a roof. The foliage they’d covered the whole thing with even looked like it might keep out water, if it didn’t rain too hard.
Although she still refused to contemplate any chance of it raining while they were stuck out here.
Jonah had created a floor of juniper boughs inside. It wouldn’t make the hard ground any more comfortable, but at least she wouldn’t be lying on the dirt.
The construction was surprisingly simple. She even thought she might be able to make one by herself, if she had to. And the fire he’d built a little way from the entrance put out a good amount of heat and drove away the encroaching gloom. Not that she planned on ever spending a night out in the woods again, but all in all it made her feel a little better about their circumstances.
“Not bad,” Jonah remarked, standing back to admire their work. “I’ll make a woodsman out of you yet.”
“No,” she replied firmly. “Absolutely not.”
Chuckling, he dusted his hands off on his thighs. “I’ll be back in a minute. Need to answer the call of nature.”
A rustle in the forest from somewhere beyond the reach of the firelight made her jump. Nature was calling pretty loudly to her too, but she was too nervous to venture away from the fire now that the sun had well and truly set.
“What kind of wild animals are there here?” She tried to keep the inquiry casual. She wasn’t at all sure she succeeded.
His pause was far too lengthy to not be suspicious. “Oh, nothing very dangerous.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“You could come with me,” he said.
She turned to stare at him. “I very much hope that’s a joke.”
The light from the flames danced across his smile. “I didn’t mean with me. I meant we could go away from the fire together, then separate a bit, do what we need to, then come back. That way you wouldn’t be on your own, but you’d be alone.”
She thought that through. “I suppose that could work.” Not that she had a choice. Nature was now all but screaming at her.
He held out his elbow. “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me into the bushes?”
She heaved a sigh. “If I make it out of here with any dignity intact at all, it will be a miracle.”
His chuckle didn’t banish her fear completely, but it was nice to hear. If he was laughing, they couldn’t be in imminent danger of being eaten or savaged. Could they?
Her stomach fluttering, she followed him into the gloom.
A few minutes later, they returned.
It had gone better than she’d expected, although a noise in the undergrowth at the worst possible moment had almost scared her out of her wits. But she was much more comfortable now, at least where her bladder was concerned. Her stomach, however, was another matter.
She pressed a hand to her abdomen as it uttered an embarrassingly loud protest. They’d passed a bush of wax currants not long af
ter they’d started following the trail, but berries didn’t do a thorough job of satiating her hunger. How long was it since she’d eaten a proper meal? Seven hours? Eight?
“I could make a torch and go find us something to eat,” Jonah said.
There was no way she wanted to be left alone. “I’m fine. I’d rather just rest anyway. I’m exhausted.”
Maybe she was even tired enough to be able to fall asleep.
She eyed the darkness around them. Naturally, an owl chose that moment to startle her with its call.
“You don’t have to worry,” he said, “I’ll keep watch.”
Strong and capable as he was, she knew even he had his limits. “And do what if something attacks us? Drive it away with some stinging verbal barbs?”
“Skewer it with my rapier wit!” He bent to pick up one of the branches left over from building the shelter and brandished it with a flourish, as if he was holding an elegant sword instead of a dry stick.
“Will that defend us against a bear? I mean the stick, not your wit.”
“Of course.” It was clearly a lie.
Disappointingly, he also hadn’t denied her suggestion that there were bears in the area.
“And are you going to stay awake all night? You’re as tired as I am.”
“I’m all right.”
“Liar.” But she appreciated his attempt to ease her fears. She looked around them again, then down at the ground, wrapping her arms around herself. “I’m cold.”
There was a pause. “Are you saying you want me to sleep in the shelter with you?”
She shifted her feet, moving her attention to somewhere to the right of his shoulder. “I’m saying I’m cold. It just makes sense to share body heat. That’s all.”
It made perfect sense.
That she also wanted him close was neither here nor there.
“Well, um… all right.” He sounded surprised. “If that’s what you want to do.”
She moved her eyes to his. “Don’t make it any more than it is.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“It’s purely practical.”
“I understand.”
“It’s not a matter of personal preference.”
“Got it.”
“We’ll just be warmer together.”
“That’s true.”
“Well… all right then.” She nodded, glancing at the entrance to the shelter. “Good.”
Was she blushing? She hoped not. Forty-one-year-olds did not blush.
While he added more wood to the fire, she crawled into the shelter and settled on the bed of juniper boughs, shifting around until she was marginally less uncomfortable.
Half a minute later, Jonah slid in beside her, inching down until they were level.
His eyes met hers, the light from the fire dancing in their deep brown depths. Feeling inexplicably self-conscious, she lowered her gaze to his chest.
After a few moments, one of his arms snaked around her.
She tensed in his embrace.
“Relax,” he whispered into her hair. “You can trust me. I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
His voice was soft and rich and comforting and, against all the odds, her tension melted away as she rested her head against him. After half a minute or so, she moved a little so she could fit her body more snugly along his. Purely for the extra warmth, of course.
“For all I know, you orchestrated this whole thing just so you could sleep close to me again,” she murmured against his chest.
His voice rumbled in her ear. “As I recall, it was you who was on my side of the bed when we woke up.”
The memory made her smile. Had that really only been that morning? It felt like days ago.
“How can I be sure you didn’t get us captured and left out here so you had an excuse to sleep close to me?” he said.
She snorted a laugh. “You’ve found me out. I did it all. I just couldn’t resist your Pinkerton agent manliness any longer.”
A smile warmed his voice. “Thought so.”
Chapter Fourteen
Phoebe awoke to the feel of a man’s arms around her.
She didn’t hate it.
And she hated that she didn’t hate it.
Outside the shelter, it was light. She was somewhat surprised she’d slept so well, and for so long. She must have been even more tired than she’d thought, because it had absolutely nothing to do with sleeping in Jonah’s arms.
She told herself to move, to slide from their makeshift bed and get up. The fire must have gone out because the air was chilly again. So the best thing to do would be to get up and get warm.
She didn’t move.
She felt safe where she was. Outside, there was weather and wilderness and wild animals. Inside, there was security and… other things.
Jonah smelled nice.
“Morning.” His voice rumbled through his chest and into her ear where it rested against it.
His voice startled her. She’d thought him asleep. “Uh… good morning.” She didn’t dare lift her head to look at him. “How long have you been awake?”
“Not long. Did you sleep well?”
Was there any way to answer that without revealing how well she’d slept in his arms? “Passably.”
“I’m surprised I slept so well. Guess I was more tired than I thought.”
“I thought you were used to living out in the wilderness with all the wild animals and bears and such.”
His chest vibrated with his chuckle. “More when I was younger. Not so much nowadays. I do prefer an actual bed.”
“Yes.”
There was half a minute of silence before he spoke again. “So… are you planning on us getting up, or would you prefer we stay here?”
There was no way she was answering that honestly. “We should go. We don’t know how far we have to walk today.”
Reluctantly, she lifted her head. She was greeted with the sight of Jonah’s handsome smile. His hair stuck out at odd angles and she had an almost irresistible compulsion to run her fingers through it.
Keeping her hands as far away from him as possible in the tiny space, she wriggled out of the shelter.
Her muscles protested as she pushed to her feet. Sleeping on the ground most definitely did not agree with her.
She drew in a deep breath of fresh, pine-scented air and looked up at the patchwork of blue peeking through the canopy above. Tiny feathered silhouettes flitted between the branches, hunting down breakfast. She envied them. Her stomach was a gaping hole.
Jonah crawled out beside her and stood, stretching his arms over his head with a groan. “I’m getting too old for this.”
She snapped her eyes from where his stretch had exposed a tear in the fabric of his shirt to reveal a sliver of skin. “Sixty is rather too old to be sleeping outside.”
“And I was just about to get the fire going and find us something to eat, but I don’t think I can do that, what with my advanced age and all.”
Smiling, she looked at the ashy remains of their fire. She’d watched him light it the previous evening so she knew how it was done. “I’ll start the fire.”
A single eyebrow rose. “Really?”
She waved him away. “Go find us breakfast. I can do this.”
He looked like he was fighting a smile.
“You don’t think I can do it?”
“It’s not as easy as I made it look.”
“You can be so condescending sometimes.” She waved him away more emphatically this time. “Go away. I’ll have the fire ready when you get back.”
He clearly didn’t think so. “If you say so.”
She ignored him and set about finding some dry wood and tinder.
After watching her for a few moments, he shrugged and headed in the direction of the stream.
She’d show him she wasn’t completely helpless. It was just a fire. People had been lighting fires since the dawn of the human race.
How hard could it be?
Jonah made his way back to their camp carrying a large, rolled up leaf stuffed with edible plants he’d washed in the stream. Not that he’d ever been very far. If Phoebe had called for help or cried out in fear, he could have sprinted back there in seconds. But he’d gathered enough in the area to assuage their hunger for the time being. He’d even found some wild strawberries, which he was sure she would love.
He crept back to where he’d left her, hoping to see how she was doing with the fire. He didn’t expect her to have actually been able to start it, of course. Lighting a fire without the aid of matches or a flint took a long time to master. But he was proud of her. For someone with no outdoor experience at all, she was coping well.
His mind wandered to the night they’d spent in the shelter. He’d taken a long time to fall asleep, and it wasn’t only because of the distant howl of a wolf he’d heard after she’d drifted off. Aside from the worry over how he was going to get the two of them to safety, lying with Phoebe in his arms had been extremely distracting.
Not that he wouldn’t want to do it again.
And that was the problem. He did want to do it again. And again. And every night for, well, the foreseeable future. He didn’t want to be falling for her, but every time she touched him, or teased him, or laughed at something he said, he got a little closer to doing exactly that.
The sooner they wrapped up this case the better, as far as he was concerned.
Reaching the camp, he stopped, his mouth dropping open.
Phoebe sat in front of the shelter, carefully setting sticks onto the fire. The lit fire.
“How on earth did you do that?” he said, walking up to her and staring at the growing flames.
She grinned up at him. “I just did what you did last night.” She held up the stick and fireboard he’d made the previous evening. “It took me a few tries, and my hands are sore now, but I did it. Told you I could.”
“Well, yes, I know, but even with the fireboard I didn’t think you’d be able to…” He waved at the fire.
“I’m not completely helpless, even out here.”
No, she wasn’t, and he needed to stop underestimating her.
Lowering to the ground beside her, he placed the leaf-basket down. “You’re quite a woman, Mrs. Hays.”
