Emma's Blaze (Fires of Cricket Bend Book 2) (7 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Bill

First light came, and with it Emma’s nervousness. When he’d returned to camp the previous night, she’d been teaching Pete and a few others how to play, and cheat at, cards. The men had hung on her every word. She’d been confident and sassy, the star of the show. As she woke, he noticed that all of her bluster had melted away. As Bill rose and rubbed his eyes, she sat wide-eyed on her bedroll twiddling a loose string on her shirt.

“Good morning.” He yawned and stretched.

“I’m not sure what’s good about it.”

“You’re alive, ain’t you?”

She glared at him. “Until I drown in a river a few hours from now.”

“Men have been crossing rivers on horses since there were men. And horses have been doing it since before that. You’ll be fine. Though, if you’ve changed your mind, you can cross in the wagon with Appie. No one’ll think less of you.”

“Except your father.”

“Except him.”

“I won’t give him the pleasure of thinking I can’t handle myself.”

From the look on her face, anything other than her crossing the river on Maggie’s back was simply no longer an option. With a sigh, she got to her feet and grabbed for her broom. It was a little bit out of her reach, and Bill stood up to hand it to her. Their hands touched as he held it to her, and even just the brush of skin on skin made him grin.

“What are you so happy about?” Emma grumbled as she hooked the makeshift crutch under her arm.

Bill couldn’t tell her what had really made him smile; that she’d kissed him the day before. Maybe she’d even want to again someday. He hoped she would, even if her mind was on anything else but kissing at that moment. “Should be a nice day. Good for a river crossing.”

“And maybe a funeral.”

Everyone ate a fast breakfast and packed up, knowing as soon as it was light that Josiah would sound the call to get moving. Appie shook his head when Emma declared her intention, but didn’t fight her for long, instead muttering comments under his breath about women being crazy.

Before the drive took off, before he rode to the front, Bill rode to her. She stood by Maggie, tightening the ropes that held the blanket on the mare. Though her skin had become tanned over the days spent outside on the drive, at the moment she appeared pale as a ghost.

He leaned down. “I have to go up front, so I can’t be with you. Stay between Saul and Ollie on the left side of the herd by the horses. The horses’ll cross best, and the men will keep an eye out for you. Hold on to your ropes, and let your feet dangle free. If you float up, that’s fine. Just hold on to those ropes. Maggie’s smart. Let her do most of the work and carry you across like a sack of potatoes. She don’t wanna die today either. Remember that.”

“Anything else, boss?”

“Try not to drown.”

“Thank you for the sage advice.” Her attempt to glare at him failed, and she wound up wearing a shy smile.

“What?”

“Follow your own advice, Bill. I will be most unhappy if you drown.”

“And why is that?”

“’Cause I’m looking forward to kissing you again later tonight. Provided I survive this hellish ordeal.”

His heart thumped. Emma, damn bold woman that she was, had surprised him again.

“You’ll be fine. Just keep your head.” He squeezed her hand in his. Though protecting her was foremost on his mind, he couldn’t take her across the river. She was a grown woman, hearty and tough enough to make her place on their drive. “You can do this,” he said quietly. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

***

Emma

Bill’s reassurance calmed her. Emma tucked her journal into her bedroll in the wagon. It seemed the best place to keep it dry. She’d thought of keeping it on her person, maybe in her hat, but the wagon was full of things that would be destroyed if they were to get wet, and it would likely be a safer bet.

She mounted Maggie and reached down to stroke the horse’s neck. “Looks like it’s just you and me and two thousand longhorns, pretty girl. Easy as pie.”

“You ready?”

Looking up, she saw it was Josiah who had spoken. She wasn’t at all ready, but she also wasn’t about to hold up the operation and give him any chance to gloat. If he wanted her to ride across the river, good Lord she was going to.

“Maybe she’s scared, Pa.”

Andrew’s voice irked her. Not only did Josiah think she couldn’t do it, but Andrew’s smug tone sealed the deal. There was no turning back now.

“I’m not afraid of a little water,” she said with too much confidence, and bumped Maggie with her heels.

In half a mile, the drive reached the river. Bill and Jess, followed closely by King and the leaders, were already heading into the water when Emma caught first sight of the crossing. The water wasn’t calm. From the looks of the cows going in ahead of her, it also wasn’t shallow. The cows ahead plunged into the river, clumsy and jumbled together. Their heads bobbed on the top of the water as they charged across to the flat shore on the other side.

Before Saul went in, he turned to her. “You good?”

“No,” she replied. “I am quite far from being good. But I’ll be all right.”

She watched closely as Saul rode into the water. He took his feet out of the stirrups, just before they became submerged.

Maggie huffed with audible displeasure as she stepped into the water. Emma followed Saul’s lead and Bill’s words and held on tight to the ropes that tied the blanket to the horse. A drop-off surprised her and plunged Maggie into water, and Emma felt her legs float up behind her, as if she were flying. All around her were cows and horses, swimming for their lives with animalistic determination in their eyes. The beasts knew what to do. Emma realized how stuck-up people were to think they knew any better than the other creatures in the world when it came to survival.

And by the grace of God, Maggie got across and climbed from the water with a few lumbering strides. Emma was wet up to her collar. As Maggie rode on to land, she couldn’t help but laugh as the others came across. Pete and Nick whooped as they crossed. Appie kept a firm hand on the leads as the water went up nearly to the point of flooding the wagon.

Emma watched Andrew cross at the end of the drive, his scowl noticeable from a distance.

“You made it.”

Josiah had ridden up near her. Emma realized she was dripping wet from head to toe. Still, she held Maggie’s reins. They were alive and unscathed. Josiah’s eyes locked on her for a long moment. Then he gave a little nod. Though it was almost imperceptible, she saw it. It was as if he’d stood up and cheered for her. Her heart felt it might burst from relief and joy.

And then he was gone, riding off to circle the herd.

Emma rode up to the drenched brothers.

“Not bad for your first drive.” Jess grinned. “How’d you like it?”

“There are a few things I never imagined I’d do in my life, and that was wilder than all of them. What happens now?”

The dripping men all looked at Emma, and she saw a bashful collection of expressions.

“Usually we strip down for a bit and let the sun dry everything,” Jess explained quietly.

It took Emma only a moment to realize what they meant. “Oh,” she said.

“Yeah,” he answered awkwardly.

Emma found her composure. “Well, boys, don’t let me stop you. You go right ahead and do that, and I’ll set myself up over there a ways where I won’t be able to see a thing unfit for my ladylike eyes.” With an overdramatic flutter of her eyelashes, she turned Maggie and rode off to a dip in the plains. There, she could be mostly hidden.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Bill

The men stripped down to nothing, airing their clothes out on hastily strung lines and anywhere else they could while those who kept their clothes on took turns taking shifts patrolling the cows. It was typical, normal, and only because a woman was a few yards away did anyone even think twice about modesty. The plains were a man’s territory, and the presence of a female changed things.

Bill saw different men glancing Emma’s way from time to time. When she’d gotten out of the water, she’d been dripping wet, and her clothes had clung to her in a most unladylike fashion. He knew he hadn’t been the only one who noticed. He also knew that the idea of a potentially naked woman not far away was driving more than a few of the men crazy.

He didn’t like it, but he understood it, because it was driving him ten times as crazy. He’d only had only a little taste of what her affection felt like. When he thought back to how long he’d been without a woman, it nearly made him ashamed of himself. At the thought of her soft lips on his, he stood up quickly to slide back into his still-damp pants and the boots he’d had the foresight to toss into the wagon before the crossing. He’d leave his shirt to dry for a while longer. “Gonna take some coffee over to her,” he announced.

“Good idea. If you go quiet enough, you might even catch her off guard.” Jess wiggled his eyebrows, and the gathered men laughed. “Sneak a peek for the rest of us, why don’t you?”

“Mind your manners,” Bill replied.

“I’ll mind mine. You make sure you mind yours.”

Knowing he’d be ribbed about it for days, Bill set off walking with two hot cups of coffee toward where she’d set up her things for the night. The spot she’d chosen was nice, with low grass just on the other side of a small hill. Though it was a private spot, it wasn’t so far off that in case of trouble she’d be unable to easily get back to camp. Maggie munched contentedly on the thicker grass nearby.

As Bill got closer, Emma came into his sight. She stood near a small fire with her arms folded across her chest, head tilted up to watch the few clouds move across the sky. Her hair hung loose from its braid, with wet ends. From Bill’s best guess, she only wore her man’s shirt and nothing underneath. He took in a sharp breath when he realized her long legs were bare, as were her feet. Averting his eyes, he cleared his throat to let her know he was there.

She jumped about a foot at the sound of his voice, and whirled to face him.

“It’s just me.”

“Goodness. You startled me.”

“I brought you some coffee as a warm-up. Was going to be a gentleman and see if you needed me to start a fire, but I reckon Appie’s taught you so well you could start one in a snowstorm by now.”

“Indeed.” Emma gestured to the small flames. “I crossed the river, and lived to tell the tale.”

“That you did.”

“You saw me?”

“Of course I did. I doubled back. Figured if you had any trouble, I could help. I should have known you’d be just fine.”

When she lifted her head, he watched her study him from head to toe. He’d come bare-chested, and now wondered if it had been too informal. Then again, she stood before him in only a shirt, and he knew she’d have figured he would find a way to come to see her. Knowing that, and seeing how she hadn’t bothered to cover herself, dried his mouth. Across the fire, he thought he saw a flicker of desire pass in her eyes before she diverted her gaze and kicked at the grass.

Now that he knew her name, he wanted to know everything.

“Tell me something about you,” he said.

She answered calmly. “I was born in Virginia.”

“You got people there?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “It’s been over ten years. I lost touch.”

“You got brothers?”

“Sisters. Two of them. At least I think I still do.”

“And your folks?”

“You ask lots of questions. I was under the impression you’d wandered out here to kiss me again, not to try and unravel a great mystery.” He recognized her deflection tactic; she put up a flirty front to distract him from further inquiry. She’d given him little pieces of the puzzle, and he wanted to know more. So he pushed on.

“Are you married?”

“I was.” She let her words linger.

“Is he—?”

She shook her head. “I don’t like to talk about him.”

“All right.” The answer could mean lots of things. Her husband could have died tragically, and it was too painful to think about. Or he could have run out on her, though he couldn’t imagine what kind of fool would do such a thing. But men ran out. The west had plenty of men who’d simply walked away from their lives for one reason or another. Bill had always felt a man who left his family was no more than a coward, but he’d met more than one. Whatever had happened to the man she’d been married to, or whatever he had done, Emma seemed to have closed the door on him.

“Folks start their lives over all the time. There’s no shame in it.”

“Do you trust all your men?” Emma interrupted, catching him off guard.

“My men? Mostly.”

“I’m not accustomed to being able to trust people,” she said. “You have to forgive me from time to time if I’m prickly. I know that you have questions about me, that you doubt me.”

“I don’t like to. But you hold things back. They can’t be as bad as what you think they are.”

“Maybe they’re worse.”

“Emma—”

“Shh.”

Music, soft across the distance, caught Bill’s ear.

Saul was playing a waltz to the cows.

“He may not talk much, that shy brother of yours, but he makes himself known,” she whispered.

The music seemed to soothe her, and Bill let the rest of his long list of questions go. They had ten or twelve more days ahead of them before they reached Cricket Bend. He’d get to the bottom of the mystery of Emma the Sparrow from Virginia before it was over. In that moment, she looked delicate and beautiful. More than he’d ever wanted anything, he wanted to hold her.

“Will you dance with me?” Hope shone in her lovely eyes.

“Here?”

“Right here.”

Accompanied by the soft music, Bill reached out a hand and set it on Emma’s waist. Gently, half afraid she’d startle and run off, he stepped closer. She lay one hand in his waiting palm, the other on his shoulder. They began to move.

They danced simply but well, two people who fit together. For a large cowboy, Bill knew how to lead, and she allowed him to do just that. Thinking of her foot, he lifted her a little, which allowed her to lean her weight on him so as to keep it off her injury. The dance turned into two bodies swaying together. He became vividly aware of how she pressed her whole body to his.

“You dance quite well,” she whispered. “I’ll admit I’m surprised.”

“My mama insisted we boys all learn,” he replied. “Said it was a good way to woo the ladies.”

“And was she right?”

“Why don’t you tell me?”

“Consider me thoroughly wooed.”

Bill took his hand from her waist and let it slide lower to rest on the curve of her hip. Once it was there, he dragged his fingers over the bare skin just below the hem of the shirt. Emma pressed herself tighter against him. Knowing that only a little fabric separated them charged Bill with desire he could barely restrain. He wanted to know her in whatever way he could. Emma brought her arms up and draped them around his neck, urging him closer to her. Bill moved his hands to her waist and took a hard grip of the fabric of the shirt.

“Your lips are a little blue,” he said.

“I’m soaked through,” she replied. “I am a bit cold.”

“Someone should warm you up.”

“Someone should. If only there were someone near who was up for the chore.”

“It’d hardly be a chore.” Even if kissing her was a stupid thing to do, it was the only thing in the world that seemed right at that moment, and he was going to do it, and he wasn’t going to stop there unless she told him to. He knew she wouldn’t. Wanting each other wasn’t a crime. The lean majesty of her body trembled against him when he pressed his face into her hair. With his fingers splayed against her lower back, he brought their bodies tighter together.

Lord, what had she done to him in just a few days?

Bill moved to kiss her.

Pots and pans banged. The loud clang of metal pulled the two apart.

“Damn,” Bill said.

“If Appie thinks that’s music, he’s lost his mind.”

“Pa must have decided we’re packing up.”

“We’re moving already?”

“Looks like it,” Bill answered. “God knows what bee landed in his bonnet now. Come on back with me.”

She dressed quickly, while Bill tried to ignore the little peeks of her form he saw as she hobbled into her pants. He put out the fire, plopped Emma up on Maggie, and led them back to the rest of the drive.

Josiah waited on horseback as the two of them approached.

“We ain’t all dried out yet,” Appie called to the boss. “You trying to get everyone a cold?”

“Don’t matter,” Josiah said with his gaze hard on Bill. “We get in a few more miles before we camp for the night. Never get to Abilene if we dawdle. This is a drive after all, not a spring picnic.”