At first, she’d been stiff as a board when he’d pulled her to the ground and used his body to protect her. No doubt his act brought back bad memories, but she’d been smart enough to at least tolerate him.
She had to know that he’d never do to her what some lowlife had done. After a while, she’d relaxed. When she’d grabbed hold of his shirt to cling to him as if her life depended on it, he’d realized without a doubt that he’d do anything to keep her safe. The thought that he was losing his heart to Josie had slammed into him with greater force than the rock that left his shoulders sore and bruised.
An irrational thought had come over him while holding her that the storm could rage on forever as he did the best he could to protect her from the worst of the dust and debris. He’d been more than reluctant to let her go when it was all over. The look of gratitude – and even a hint of trust – had swelled his heart more than it had ever swelled from a successful hunt or during those rare times when he’d out-tracked Lucas Walker.
On the long walk back to the wagons, he’d had to admit to himself that he was more than smitten with her. This completely new feeling for Josie Hudson had come out of nowhere. It had grabbed him by the heart and not let go.
He’d wrestled with his feelings for days, and it was the only logical conclusion to draw. He’d fought against it, but the harder he tried to get her out of his mind, the more she took root in his heart.
Trouble was, she still had him pegged as arrogant and irresponsible. How could he ever compete against the likes of Anthony Hammond or even make her see him as someone other than the man he’d been all these years at Harley’s Hole?
“Come and sit, and have some supper, Mr. Wilder. After the excitement from today, you certainly must be famished.”
Travis glanced to where Ada Hammond stood, dishing out plates of food to some eager kids. Next to him, Mrs. Colby nudged him in the arm.
“No one had huckleberries, but we managed to put together a couple of peach cobblers. I hope you like them.”
“I’m sure I will.” Travis reluctantly moved toward Mrs. Hammond, who handed him a plate piled high with food.
Loretta Colby added several biscuits to his plate. Travis nodded at the comments from the other ladies, each letting him know what they had contributed to the meal on his plate. He found himself sitting between a few of the women, all of them eager to hear about how he’d saved Josie and gotten them through the storm.
“I’d gone out for a ride when I saw Josie’s horse galloping toward me. I raced toward the dust cloud and found her lying on the ground,” he recounted between bites of food. Despite his lack of an appetite, he ate without tasting much. Where was Josie?
“She was lying there without moving, and it crossed my mind that she was dead.”
His heart had sunk to his stomach when he’d spotted her on the ground, looking lifeless. It had quickly become apparent however, from the way she was positioned on her side, that she couldn’t be dead.
“Then what happened, Mr. Wilder?” one of the ladies asked, her eyes wide behind her spectacles.
“My horse was acting nervous, so I got off. I saw the rattlesnake, so I shot it.”
Murmurs and gasps erupted around him. Travis shrugged, but he shuddered at the thought of what could have happened. If his shot hadn’t been accurate, Josie would have been bitten. He would have had to watch her die. Hell. The snake was right beside her, and he could have easily hit her, but there had been no other options. No need to go into those details with these women.
“Josie mentioned how grateful she was that you came along when you did, and how you protected her from the dust storm right after saving her life from the snake,” someone else said.
Ada chuckled. “Harley . . . Mr. Buchanan, sure did a good job of raising you and, no doubt, your brothers.”
Travis shoved a piece of fried potato in his mouth and chewed with exaggerated force. Josie’s gratitude had been short-lived. She’d been too busy talking about Hammond and hoping he’d come to the rescue. He forked more food in his mouth, tasting none of it as he forced a swallow.
He was tired from lack of sleep, sore, and out of sorts. All because he couldn’t get Josie Hudson out of his mind, or how he was going to compete against Anthony Hammond for her.
At that moment, he glanced up to where Hammond sat. The preacher had stood from his seat, and he held out his hand to Josie. Travis forgot to chew as he stared at her. She’d obviously cleaned up, too. Her hair, which had been a mess and come loose of its usual braid, looked freshly washed and once again neatly braided.
The smile on her face was shy, yet she glowed as she accepted Hammond’s clear invitation to sit next to him. How had Travis been so blind all this time and not noticed her for the beautiful woman she was? Now it might be too late.
After forcing most of the food down, Travis stood. He couldn’t remain sitting in camp, watching Josie and Hammond together like a couple of lovebirds. He set the plate down down on the ground, thanked the women for the good meal, excused himself, then hurried from camp without a clear purpose or direction.
His skin prickled with irritation and jealousy. There had to be something he could do to get Josie Hudson out of his mind. His legs carried him toward Eli Dansforth’s wagon. Men’s laughter erupted from somewhere in the shadows.
Travis moved around one of the wagons to find Dansforth and the other newcomers in a lively game of cards. Dansforth saw him first and waved for him to come closer.
“Come and join us, Mr. Wilder.”
Before Travis pulled up an overturned wooden bucket to sit with the men, Dansforth had already poured whiskey into a cup and handed it to him.
“Have a drink, Mr. Wilder. You look like you could use it.”
Travis took it and sniffed the rich aroma of the alcohol. He and his brothers shared an occasional drink with Harley, but none of them enjoyed the liquor as much as their old mentor. What harm could it do? The whiskey might just be what he needed to forget all about Josie Hudson.
Travis tilted his head back and drained the cup in one gulp. The liquor burned his throat as it slid down into his stomach. A soothing, warm sensation quickly overtook him, and he downed another shot when Dansforth refilled the cup.
A welcoming calmness came over him as the whiskey warmed his insides. For the first time in countless days, Travis relaxed and thought of little as he sat with the men, playing cards and drinking.
Time seemed to pass in slow motion, and his mind was in a fog when he stood. With his rifle in hand, he found himself shooting at a card that someone had nailed to the trunk of a tree.
The men around him laughed and cheered, and someone slapped him on the back.
“That was a nice shot, Wilder,” Dansforth announced close to his ear. “I didn’t think you could hit that ace of hearts right in the center. You win, and with that, you get to marry my daughter.”
Travis blinked and frowned.
Marry his daughter?
He shook his head. He must have heard wrong. The alcohol was clouding his mind. How had he ended up betting on the outcome of a shooting match?
Travis sobered. He blinked to clear his mind. Whatever bet he’d made was lost to him. Why couldn’t he remember it? One thing was for damn certain. He was not going to marry some woman he’d never even seen, especially since he was . . . in love with Josie Hudson.
Images of her smiling and laughing with Anthony Hammond swam before his eyes, and sudden fear gripped him that he was going to lose her. Travis stared into the hard eyes of Eli Dansforth, who looked anything but pleased. He straightened and stared back at the older man.
“I’m not marrying your daughter, Dansforth.”
“A bet’s a bet, Wilder.” Dansforth didn’t disguise his anger. “You said you were ready for a wife, and the bet was that if you could hit the ace of hearts with one shot, you’d get married.”
“Sorry, Dansforth. I wasn’t referring to your daughter.” Travis swayed slightly before catc
hing his balance. “I’m getting married to someone else. In fact, tomorrow’s my wedding day.”
Chapter 14
She was late for the supper the ladies had prepared, but it felt good to be clean again with no dirt or grit rubbing against her skin to make her scalp itch. Josie strode into camp with a sensation of anxious excitement making her jittery all over.
Perhaps it was her grumbling stomach and lack of food. Travis’ smiling face, smudged and dusted with dirt and debris, teased her mind. She hadn’t seen him since they’d reached camp sometime near sunset and had parted ways.
No matter how hard she tried to block out the mental image, it wouldn’t go away. He’d probably cleaned up by now, too, and would be in camp to eat the special meal the women had prepared.
She’d have to thank Ada Hammond for letting her have the privacy of her covered wagon to get completely clean. She’d gone to the lake to wash most of the grit from her hair, but with so many people nearby, she hadn’t dared remove all her clothes for a swim and full bath. She only did that at Harley’s Hole when one of her sisters or Anna was close by. They’d always take turns watching out for each other at their secluded swimming hole.
“Are you feeling better, now that you’re all washed up again? Wearing all that dirt couldn’t have been comfortable.”
Anthony Hammond chuckled and stood from his makeshift chair. He motioned with his hand at the empty seat next to him.
“When your horse came galloping into camp, followed a short while later by Mr. Wilder’s horse, I didn’t know what to do. You gave us all quite a scare.”
Josie accepted the cup of coffee Anthony handed her and took a sip before sitting. The aromas of food made her stomach growl again.
“My mother alerted us to the dust storm in the distance, and we all feared the worst.”
“It’s a good thing you didn’t come to look for us, Anthony. There was nothing you could have done, and you might have gotten turned around and hopelessly lost.”
“I thought about riding out to try and find you and Mr. Wilder, but my mother convinced me that if anyone could survive out there, it would be you two. Together, you and Mr. Wilder knew exactly what to do.”
Josie sipped the hot coffee again, savoring how it warmed up her insides. Or was it something else that caused the sudden flushing? Thoughts of Travis crept into her mind again. The events from the afternoon had left her shaken up, but she didn’t linger on what could have happened to her. Instead, she focused on the pleasant sensations of how Travis had made her feel safe and protected.
She mentally shook her head and smiled. Travis Wilder, of all men, making her feel safe. How had that happened? There was no denying it, however. The way he looked at her lately sent her mind spinning. Her skin tingled, her heart pulsed, and her stomach fluttered whenever he was nearby, not to mention when he touched her. These sensations were the most pleasant – and at the same time the most unsettling – she’d ever encountered. They weren’t feelings she’d ever associated with a man, least of all Travis, but they were real and undeniable.
Anthony kept on talking about the three new wagons that had joined them after being caught up in the storm, but Josie barely paid attention to what he said. If he hadn’t invited her to join him, she would have preferred to find Travis and sit with him. When she finally spotted him sitting with Ada and Loretta, he was already finished with his meal and leaving.
Was he hurt more than he’d let on? No doubt he was tired, so perhaps he was leaving to get some sleep, but his body had to be sore after what he’d endured. Josie stared after him as he disappeared behind one of the wagons and into the darkness. Would it be too bold for her to go after him and thank him again for saving her life? It could probably wait until morning.
In all these years of knowing him, she’d never had the desire to seek him out, but he was currently the one person she wanted to spend time with. What had happened today had brought her closer to him in ways that left her confused, but also eager to explore those new feelings. Maybe they could grow to become friends and put their differences behind them.
They’d walked back to camp in silence, both absorbed in their own thoughts, and she hadn’t taken the opportunity to tell him how much she appreciated what he’d done. The long walk had given Josie plenty of time to go over the events in her mind, but mostly she’d lingered on the feel of his arms holding her, and his body shielding her from the storm. Never had she expected a man’s touch to be so . . . so comforting.
She’d come to the conclusion that she trusted Travis with her life. It had been nice talking to him on their way back to camp, but for some unknown reason, he’d suddenly shut her out.
“Your family back in your valley must be so proud of you. Do you regret coming on this journey?”
Josie blinked and looked at Anthony. He was waiting for a response.
“I don’t have any regrets. I miss my sisters and my little brother.” She smiled, holding the warm cup between her hands. “And I miss Harley, but I’m glad I came along.” Her gaze wandered again to where Travis had disappeared. “It’s opened my eyes to things I’d never thought about before.”
Next to her, Anthony chuckled. “Leaving home and the ones we love can certainly make us see things more clearly.”
Ada and Loretta both joined them at that moment, and Josie was coaxed into retelling every detail of the day’s events to the women. She left out everything having to do with the stirrings Travis had aroused in her. Discussion thankfully led to talking about their families and people they missed. Josie half listened as her eyes drifted through camp, looking for Travis, but he didn’t return.
“When are you and Travis going to settle down and get married?”
Loretta’s question brought Josie’s gaze back to her. A sudden lump formed in her throat, and an uneasy feeling dropped to her stomach. Travis had always proudly maintained that he’d never get married. It was perhaps the only thing they’d always been of like mind about. Every time one of his brothers got married or Harley brought the conversation around to marriage, Travis had been adamant that he had no use for a wife.
At that moment, a gunshot broke through the peaceful evening air. Several gasps erupted, and a couple of women screamed. Josie sprang to her feet, instantly alert.
“Let’s all remain calm,” Anthony called next to her.
“That sounded like Travis’ rifle. I’ll find out what’s going on.” Glancing at Anthony and Ada, Josie added, “Keep everyone calm and the children close. I’ll be back when I know what happened.”
What was Travis shooting at? Only one shot had been fired, so it most likely hadn’t been an intruder. Josie rushed around the Hammond wagon and grabbed her own rifle that she’d left propped against a wagon wheel, then hurried to where she’d last seen Travis.
He’d disappeared between the wagons of the newcomers, which wasn’t where he’d set up his bedroll the night before. A quick glance to where he’d slept the previous night confirmed that he wasn’t asleep. Josie made her way around the damaged wagons and caught a glimpse of a familiar figure swaying in the shadows.
Travis. He looked to be in a heated argument with a man she’d never seen before. Josie gripped her rifle and slowed her step. The two men stepped away from each other, and Travis turned to leave. He didn’t look to be very steady on his feet as he stumbled out of camp toward the lake.
Josie circled around the wagons rather than take a direct line through the newcomers’ camp to follow him. She caught a glimpse of him standing by the lake and hesitated before moving toward him.
“Travis?”
He spun around instantly and looked as if he was going to fall over. He recovered quickly and rushed to her, stopping inches from her. His hands wrapped around her upper arms, and the faint light from several campfires reflected in his eyes as he stared into hers.
“I need to talk to you,” he panted.
Josie leaned back slightly. The strong odor of alcohol was alarming. The warmth
from Travis’ hands filtered through the fabric of her shirt and into her skin, sending a slight shiver down her spine.
Memories she hadn’t been able to get out of her mind all afternoon of when he’d held her came rushing back. While her response was the same now, something wasn’t right, and she tensed.
“Are you drunk?”
Travis smirked. “Yeah, maybe a little.”
Josie pulled away from him, but he didn’t let go. Her heart sped up as her mind tried to deny the warning bells going off in her head.
“I didn’t think you took to the bottle, Travis. I thought only Harley did that.”
“I have to talk to you, Josie,” he repeated.
His words sounded almost like a plea for help. He released one arm, but his hand tightened around the other and he pulled her with him further away from camp. Every ingrained instinct screamed at her to fight and get away from him, but this was Travis. He had no intention of hurting her. Then again, he was drunk and perhaps not thinking straight.
Josie dug her heels into the soft ground and pulled back. The more she struggled, the harder his fingers bit into her skin.
“Stop, Travis. You’re hurting me.”
He came to a stop instantly, and his grip eased. He faced her fully and stared at her with slightly unfocused eyes that were laced with a look of fear. Josie stood still. Her forehead scrunched as she stared up at him. Travis Wilder wasn’t afraid of anything.
His look was one of pure agony and . . . something else that made her heart beat faster all over again. Something warm rushed through her when his fingers moved slowly up and down her arm. She could have easily stepped back and left, but she remained rooted to the spot.
Travis swallowed. He shifted weight and staggered slightly. The smell of whiskey saturated his breath.
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