Trail of Kisses Read Online Free PDF Page A

Lynne turned to
her friend. “It seems the man who was hired to mind me needs
someone to mind him.”
    “ I hope you don’t mind,” Cade
added to Emma with a wink.
    Emma turned beet red and scurried off without
a word to Lynne.
    Cade chuckled. “She’s a bit jumpy, isn’t
she?”
    “ She’s shy.” Lynne crossed her
arms. “And you’re heartless, as usual.”
    Cade’s only answer was to shrug. Lynne marched
back through the advancing wagons to where Ben was watching the
whole scene with as much of a scowl as ever. Cade turned his horse
to follow. It took only a few seconds for Ben and the wagon to
catch up to them. Lynne spared half a smile for Ben as she matched
her pace to the wagon where Clover was tied. The mare had been
walking with the sidesaddle in place and ready to go.
    “ I know what you were up to just
then.” Lynne untied Clover and led her to the side so that she
could mount.
    “ I’m not up to anything,” Cade
said with a smile.
    Lynne arched a brow at him. “You shouldn’t
have taken me away from Callie’s side. She’s terrified and she
needs a friend. Dr. Meyers said he doesn’t think her brother or his
wife or their little boy will live.”
    “ I’m sorry to hear
that.”
    Lynne mounted with a strength and grace that
still surprised Cade. She settled herself with one knee hooked
around the pommel and flicked the reins to send Clover walking.
Cade matched his pace to hers and waited for her to give him the
inevitable tongue lashing.
    Instead, she kept quiet, chin held high, the
ribbons of her hat fluttering over her shoulder along with her
hair. After marching away from him that morning she had come back
for the hat but didn’t bother sticking around to put her hair up,
in spite of some odd looks from other women in the train. She was
unusual as far as women went, that was for sure.
    “ You’re not going to talk to me?”
he said, fighting to hide a grin.
    “ I’m not certain I have a reason
to talk to you,” she answered.
    “ Not even to tell me how heartless
and cowardly I am?”
    She turned to him. “You said it, Mr. Lawson,
not me.”
    “ Cade.”
    “ I’m sure.”
    He couldn’t help chuckling, just a
little.
    “ Did I say something funny?” she
snapped.
    “ Oh no, not at all.”
    “ Then why are you
laughing?”
    “ I’m not laughing, I’m talking. To
you. The woman who just said she had no reason to talk to
me.”
    Lynne let out a breath and shook her head. She
nudged her horse to walk faster. Cade followed suit, keeping by her
side. They passed the front of the wagon where Ben was glaring at
them. Let the boy be jealous. Cade was too pleased to care. He had
Lynne where he wanted her for a change.
    “ I’ve just told you that a man and
his wife and child are doomed, and you’re smiling?” Lynne scolded
him.
    His grin dropped. She had a point
there.
    “ At least you’re riding with me,”
he said.
    “ You’re somewhat hard to avoid,”
she replied, her tone flat.
    “ And that’s the way it should be.”
His smile threatened to return. When she peeked at him, he said,
“It’s my job to keep an eye on you, to keep you safe. What are you
doing right now? You’re riding next to me, where I can see you. If
that means I’m hard to miss, then I’d say I’m one step ahead of
you.”
    “ Really?” she scoffed. “We’ll just
see about that.”
    She tapped Clover’s side and the horse hopped
forward. Lynne wasn’t satisfied with the quick burst of speed and
urged her on. Cade had no trouble keeping up with her, even when
she veered off the packed dirt of the trail and into the rocky
ground to the side. It was sweet of her to think she could outrun a
horse like Arrow with a darling beast like Clover.
    He was getting ready to make it a race in
earnest when Clover lost her step mid-stride. Lynne gasped and
clutched her saddle hard as a flash of dull metal shot to the side.
Clover slowed to a walk, then stopped altogether, bobbing her head
and puffing.
    “