He waited by the horses while she went to the stream to wash. He got a peculiar little catch in the back of his throat when she came running back to him. Her cheeks were rosy from washing in the cold mountain water, and she was smiling with pleasure over what she declared was a glorious day. He thought about kissing her then and there, and it took a good deal of discipline to keep his hands off her.
“I’m ready to go now, Travis.”
He was suddenly all business. “It’s about time. We’ve wasted almost two full hours here.”
“It wasn’t wasted time. It was . . . enjoyable.”
He shrugged. “Do you want me to help you get up on your horse?”
“And get tossed over the top again? I think not.”
She hopped about for a minute or two while she tried to anchor her foot in the stirrup, and just when he was going to demand that she let him assist her, she made it up into the saddle on her own. She gave him a victorious smile. It didn’t last long.
“A helpless woman would have requested assistance,” he said.
He was smiling as he swung up into his saddle. He must be crazy too, he decided, because he was beginning to really like Miss Emily Finnegan.
Four
They didn’t speak until they reached the gully he had hoped to use to shorten their journey, but just as Adam had predicted, it was flooded.
“You don’t want to cross the river here, do you? Surely there’s a bridge we could use.”
“There aren’t any bridges up here,” he answered. “And this isn’t a river, Emily. It’s just a gully.”
Her mount obviously didn’t like being so close to the water’s edge and began to prance about. Travis reached over, grabbed hold of the reins, and forced her horse closer to his side so he couldn’t rear up.
“He must think he has to go in the water. He doesn’t, does he?”
He could hear the worry in her voice. “No, he doesn’t,” he assured her. “We can’t cross here.”
His leg was rubbing against hers. She noticed, of course, but though she could have moved away, she didn’t. She liked being close to him. He made her feel safe and yet uneasy too. What in heaven’s name was the matter with her? She didn’t seem to know her own thoughts anymore.
“We can’t cross here.” She repeated his words while she patted her horse in what Travis assumed was an attempt to reassure the animal.
“Now what?” she asked him.
“Your journey to Golden Crest has just been lengthened by at least two more days, maybe three.”
It took all she had not to shout with relief. God help her, she was actually weak with it. It certainly was a peculiar reaction to hearing she wouldn’t have to meet and marry Mr. O’Toole for at least two more days. She should have been disappointed over the news, shouldn’t she?
Then why did she feel as though she’d just been given a stay of execution?
“Cold feet,” she whispered.
“What did you say?” Travis asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing important,” she said.
She wasn’t about to tell him the truth. She wouldn’t look at him either because she was certain he would be able to see the relief in her eyes. Travis already thought she was out of her mind to want to marry a complete stranger, and, honest to Pete, she was beginning to think he might be right.
Perhaps she was having before-the-wedding jitters. Some brides did, didn’t they? Yes, of course they did, and all she needed to do now was read Mr. O’Toole’s letters again. She was sure to feel better then. The man she was going to marry had poured his heart out to her and had proven beyond a doubt that he was a sensitive, caring man who would love and cherish her until death did they part. What more could she ever want from a husband?
Love, she admitted with a sinking heart. She wanted to love him as much as he claimed to already love her.
“You aren’t getting sick on me, are you, Emily?”
“No, I never get sick. Why do you ask?”
“You’re awfully pale.”
“I’m just disappointed,” she lied. “You must be disappointed too. It seems you’re stuck with me for a couple of days. Will you mind?”
“No. Why are you so anxious to get to Golden Crest?”
“I should be, shouldn’t I?”
“Did you love Randolph?”
The question jarred her. “What made you think of Randolph?”
He shrugged. “Did you?”
“I might have.”
“What kind of answer is that? Did you like the way he kissed you?”
“For heaven’s sake, it isn’t appropriate for you to ask me such personal questions. It’s going to rain soon, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” he agreed. “Answer my question.”
She let out a loud sigh to let him know she was becoming irritated with him before she finally acceded to his request.
“I didn’t like or dislike them. His kisses were all right, I suppose.”
He laughed.
“What did I say that you find so amusing?”
He didn’t explain. Her answer had pleased him though. She hadn’t liked being touched by good old Randolph if his kisses were just “all right.”
“Where will we stay tonight?” she asked, trying to turn his attention so he wouldn’t ask her any more personal questions.
“We’ll have to backtrack a couple of miles and stay at Henry Billings’s way station. The food’s bad, but the beds are clean and dry, and if we hurry, we should get there before the rain starts. What are you staring at, Emily?”
“Your eyes,” she blurted out, blushing because she’d been caught in the act. “They’re very green. Did your brothers tease you when you were a little boy?”
“Tease me because of the color of my eyes?”
“No, because . . .” She realized what she was about to say and felt her face burn with mortification. Lord above, she’d almost asked if he’d been teased because he was so absolutely perfect. There’d be no living with him if she said that, she realized, and the rest of their journey would be filled with one vexing remark after another. She had already noticed he had a tendency toward arrogance.
“Tease me about what?” he asked again.
She stared up at him while she tried to come up with a suitable and impersonal remark.
“Being tall,” she said.
He looked exasperated. “I wasn’t tall when I was a child. I was short. Most children are.”
“If you use that condescending tone in the courtroom, you’re going to be a dismal failure. It’s just a suggestion,” she added when he frowned at her.
“Emily, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to get the notion you want me to kiss you.”
“I don’t.”
“Then stop staring at my mouth.”
“What would you like me to stare at, Travis?”
“The water,” he snapped. “Stare at the water. You sure you don’t want me to kiss you?”
The conversation was doing strange things to her. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She knew she was daring the devil, but she couldn’t make herself look away from him. She wasn’t at all interested in staring at the water; she wanted to continue to stare at him. What was the matter with her?
“It probably wouldn’t be proper for you to kiss me. I’m going to be married soon.”
“You have no business marrying a stranger, Emily.”
“Why do you care what I do?”
He didn’t have a ready answer for the question. “I get bothered when someone does something I consider stupid.”
“Are you calling me stupid?”
“If the hat fits . . .”
Five
Neither one of them said another word until they reached Billings’s way station. Henry came outside the rectangular log cabin to meet them. He was a middle-aged man, as bald as a rock, and just about as talkative. He greeted Emily—at least she thought he did—but he mumbled so, she couldn’t make out
a word he said. He wouldn’t look at her either. He motioned her to follow him inside and showed her where she would sleep by pointing toward a closed door.
The main room had bunk beds lined against every wall. A long wooden table with benches on either side was in the center near a potbellied stove.
Travis acted as though he and Henry were good friends. During supper, he filled him in on all the latest news. Emily didn’t say a word. She sat close to Travis’s side at the table and tried to eat the foul-smelling soup she’d been offered. She couldn’t get any of it down though, and since the proprietor wasn’t paying any attention to her, she ate the brown bread and goat’s milk instead and left the soup alone.
She excused herself as soon as she finished, but when she reached the door to her bedroom, she turned back to Travis.
“Will we reach Golden Crest tomorrow?”
He shook his head. “No, the day after,” he said. “We’ll stay with John and Millie Perkins tomorrow night. They rent out rooms in their home.”
She told both men good night then and went to bed. Travis didn’t see her again until she came outside the following morning with her satchel in her hands. She was wearing a pink dress with a matching sweater. The color suited her, and damn, but she was getting prettier and prettier.
He wanted to kiss her. He frowned instead and made a silent vow not to get near her today. He would keep the talk impersonal, no matter how much she provoked him.
The day’s journey turned out to be extremely pleasant. Emily obviously didn’t want to argue either, so the topics they ended up discussing were of a philosophical nature.
She confessed to being a voracious reader. He suggested she read The Republic. “It’s all about justice,” he explained. “I think you’ll like it. I did. Mama Rose gave me a leather-bound copy along with a journal, and they’re my most prized possessions.”
“Why did she give you a journal?”
“She told me it was for me to fill with my accounts of all the cases I defend. She said that when I’m ready to retire, she wants me to be able to hold The Republic in one hand and the journal of my experiences in the other. It’s her hope that the two will balance.”
“Like the scales of justice,” Emily whispered, impressed by the wisdom of Travis’s mother.
She began to question him about Plato’s work, and they debated justice and the law well into the afternoon. He thoroughly enjoyed sparring with her, so much so, he was sorry when the discussion ended.
It was his fault. He made the mistake of getting personal again.
“You’re a contradiction, Emily. You’ve obviously been well educated, and I know you’re smart . . .”
“But?” she asked.
“You’re doing something that isn’t smart at all. In fact, it’s just plain stupid.”
His bluntness got her all riled up. “I don’t believe I asked for your opinion.”
“You’re getting it anyway,” he replied. “You just gave me a passionate argument about honesty and justice, and surely you can see that the pretense you’re thinking about pulling on your unsuspecting groom is downright dishonest.”
It was the beginning of an argument that lasted until they reached the yard behind the Perkinses’ house.
Travis did most of the talking. He gave her at least twenty reasons why she shouldn’t marry O’Toole, but he believed his last reason was the most convincing one.
“You won’t ever be able to keep up the charade of being a delicate little flower in need of pampering, Emily.”
“I am delicate, damn it.”
He snorted with disbelief. “You’re about as fragile as a grizzly bear.”
“If flinging insults is the only way you can argue your position, heaven help your clients.”
Travis dismounted, then went to Emily’s side and lifted her off her horse. His hands stayed around her waist much longer than necessary. “A good marriage takes effort, and honesty is a definite prerequisite.”
“How would you know? You’ve never been married, have you?”
“That isn’t relevant.”
“Is flirting honest?”
He was caught off guard by her question and had to think about it for a minute before he answered. “Sometimes it’s honest. Flirting is part of the courting ritual, but I personally think it’s only honest when a woman flirts with the man she’s set her cap on.”
“ ‘Set her cap on’? Are you telling me you think she should only flirt with the man she’s already decided to marry?”
“That’s what I’m saying all right.”
“That’s ridiculous. Flirting is the first step in a long process of finding the right man or woman. Men flirt too, you know. They just don’t do it the same way women do.”
“No, we don’t.”
Arguing with him was proving exasperating. “It’s all a game, isn’t it, that’s played out between men and women. It’s harmless too. Besides, men like women who flirt with them,” she added, remembering how Barbara had always been able to get every available man at a party to flit around her as though she were their queen bee.
“No, we don’t like women who flirt with us,” he insisted. “We’re much more intelligent than you think we are, and we sure as certain don’t like being manipulated.”
“You needn’t use that superior tone with me. I’ve patiently listened to you argue your position for the past hour, and I never once scoffed at you. Granted, I wanted to, but I didn’t. Now it’s my turn. It’s too bad I can’t prove my point to you.”
“What point?”
She knew he was deliberately trying to frustrate her and refused to cooperate. She stared at the buttons on his shirt so she couldn’t be distracted by his smile, and said, “If the circumstances were favorable, I’d prove to you right this minute that a delicate little flower gets far more attention than a practical one.”
“You really believe a helpless little woman who flutters her eyelashes and hangs on a man’s every word will get his full attention?”
“I do.”
“You’re as nuts as a tree full of acorns.”
She ignored his criticism. “I’ve done a complete study on this subject, Travis.”
“What makes the circumstances favorable?” he asked, latching onto an earlier remark she’d made.
“Boston,” she answered. She waved her hand toward the Perkinses’ house as she continued. “I’m not about to draw any attention to myself in front of a crowd of strangers here because it would be foolhardy and perhaps even dangerous to do so. The men in Boston are more refined and know how to conduct themselves as gentlemen around ladies. There are rules, after all, and they abide by them. I can’t say the same for the men who live out here because I don’t know any of them.”
“Most of the men out here are gentlemen, but there are a few who would think nothing of trying to drag you off with them. The way I see it though, being your escort means I’m responsible for your welfare, and I don’t like the notion of getting into a fight just because you acted silly.
“Furthermore, we’re about to eat, and I don’t want to have to shoot anyone afterwards. It’s bad for the digestion.”
It was such an outrageous thing to say, she struggled to force herself not to laugh.
“Indigestion is the only reservation you have about shooting someone?”
“Just about,” he told her.
“I don’t believe you. You’re teasing me, and a gentleman would never do such a thing.”
“Now, Emily, we’ve been though this before. I know I mentioned I wasn’t a gentleman. Fact is, you should be thankful I’m your escort.”
She was so surprised by his matter-of-fact remark she didn’t bother to push him away when he put his arms around her waist.
“Is that so? Why exactly should I be thankful?”
“Because if I weren’t escorting you, I’d probably be one of the few who would drag you off with me.”
She thought that was a lovely thing to say to her. He
wasn’t really serious. She shook her head at him to let him know she wasn’t so gullible, then began to laugh. She stopped when she noticed he wasn’t even smiling.
“We both know you aren’t serious. Stop tormenting me. You wouldn’t really . . .”
“You wouldn’t have to flirt with me either.”
“I wouldn’t want to,” she admitted. “Why are you holding on to me?”
“It makes it easier.”
“Makes what easier?”
He slowly bent his head toward hers. “Kissing you.”
He caught her whispered “Oh,” as his mouth covered hers. His tongue swept inside to leisurely explore the sweet taste of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. The last thought that fluttered through her mind was that she was going to insist that he let go of her just as soon as she finished kissing him back.
All that mattered now was Travis. She could feel his hard muscles under her fingertips and was a little overwhelmed by the sheer strength of him, yet he was being so incredibly gentle. She loved his masculine scent too. It did crazy things to her heart. She could feel it beating frantically now.
Lord, but he did know how to kiss.
He didn’t understand why he suddenly felt the need to kiss her, but once the thought came into his mind, he couldn’t get rid of it. He wasn’t going to let passion get the upper hand, however, and as soon as the urge to become more aggressive entered his mind, he pulled away from her.
Damn, she was seductive.
Emily had a bemused expression on her face, but quickly came to her senses.
“You really can’t kiss me whenever the mood strikes you.”
To prove her wrong, he kissed her again. She let out a little sigh of pleasure when he lifted his head again.
“That was the last kiss you’ll get from me,” she announced, groaning inside over the shiver in her voice. “I mean it. You mustn’t ever kiss me again.” She added a frown to let him know she meant what she said.
“You were a willing participant,” he said. “Or wasn’t that your tongue inside my mouth?”