Trail of Kisses Read Online Free PDF Page B

as
Lynne trotted back to him, she had the audacity to smile. Her
cheeks were rosy and her eyes were bright.
    “ That was exhilarating,” she
declared, breathless.
    “ Not the word I would use,” he
said. His voice was rougher than he wanted it to be.
    “ Did I mention that before Papa
was appointed to his bench in St. Louis we lived in Lexington,
Kentucky?” Her grin was definitely gloating. “I learned to ride
before I learned to walk.”
    “ I believe it. Now come down from
there and walk before you do yourself any harm.”
    “ I think not.” She leaned forward
to rub Arrow’s neck. “This darling boy and I are just becoming
acquainted. But I promise we’ll walk for the rest of the
morning.”
    “ That wouldn’t have anything to do
with being chewed out by Mr. Evans, would it?” Cade
asked.
    Lynne blushed. “That’s none of your business,”
she said and tapped Arrow to walk on.
    Cade stood where he was, watching them catch
up to where Ben was practically hanging off the side of the wagon
goggling at them. A knot of warmth curled deep in his gut and sank
lower as he watched the way her body moved in harmony with Arrow’s
strides. Her dark hair swung down her back. The sunlight caught her
smile. The pool of warmth spread full on into his groin.
    “ This is not good,” he told
Clover, tugging her forward to catch up to the wagons.
    He had been charged with protecting Lynne,
seeing her safely to her uncle. His job and his future depended on
it. She was already making that job next to impossible, but now?
Now he had a real problem. He should have scolded her for
needlessly running his horse, but all he wanted to do was stand
there and watch her. He’d never met a woman in his life who had
turned his head as swiftly and as thoroughly as Lynne Tremaine had.
How was he supposed to keep her safe when all he wanted to do now
was see just how much trouble the two of them could get into
together?
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
    The inevitable happened three days later.
Lynne could do nothing but stand helplessly by while Callie’s
entire family, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, all died. Mere
hours, and poor Callie was alone in the world. The wagon train
stopped so that the bodies could be buried. Lynne was determined to
help her friend in any way she could.
    “ It’s tragic,” she told Cade as
she searched through her belongings in the back of the wagon,
looking for anything that could bring solace to her friend. “To
lose your entire family like that.”
    “ Does she have any other
relatives?” Cade asked.
    Lynne shook her head and closed the lid of her
hope chest. Her pride wanted her to argue with Cade in some way,
but Callie’s tragedy had put her in a far more somber mood. There
were some things worse than having a handsome, overprotective man
breathing down your neck.
    She felt years older as she climbed down from
the wagon with the only token of comfort she could find for her
friend, an embroidered handkerchief. “The only relative Callie has
left is an old maiden aunt in Philadelphia, but it’s too late for
that. She can’t exactly turn around and go back.”
    “ She could hop on the next
stagecoach we pass heading east,” Cade suggested.
    Lynne considered for a moment. “Not with all
of her things. Her brother packed everything they owned into that
wagon of his and now it belongs to her. It’s all she
has.”
    Cade nodded, running a hand through his
hair.
    “ I should go to her now,” Lynne
went on. She braced for an argument. Cade had taken issue with her
efforts to help Callie and her family from the start.
    Instead of bullying her, he nodded. “You go do
what’s right.”
    She stumbled over her first step walking away
from him. “Really?”
    “ Yes, of course.” His brow was
knit in concern, and even though he still looked as though he
hadn’t slept since the train started out, there was something
appealing in the kindness in his eyes.
    “ All… all right, then.