White Nights Read Online Free PDF Page B

trust replace the wounded and wary look in her eyes—and after nine years of raising his sister, he figured he had the patience of a saint.
    Alison tugged at his hand. “Mama, we’re back!”
    Eirica smiled gently at her elder daughter. “So I see. Did you have a good time?”
    The little girl let go of James and jumped up and down between the adults. “Oh yes, Mama. We climbed that big rock and everything looked so very tiny. I tried to see you but I couldn’t. And guess what, Mama? James cut my name into the rock. Right on the very top for everyone to see!”
    Eirica’s head jerked up and around to face him. She pinned James with wide eyes gone smoky-gray. “You took Alison to the top of that rock?” A frown tilted the corners of her vulnerable lips downward.
    James fiddled with his hat and tried to smile reassuringly. “Yes, ma’am, but don’t fret none. Jess and I kept Alison close. She was never in any danger.”
    “We had fun, Mama.” Alison pouted, glancing from one adult to the other. “James and Jessie made me hold their hands.” She folded her arms across her narrow chest. “But I could’ve done it all by myself. I’m a big girl now!”
    Eirica shifted Ian in her arms and visibly relaxed. She drew a deep breath. “Yes, sweetheart. You are a big girl. Your ma is just fussy as a hen with one chick.”
    Alison giggled. Eirica shifted Ian in her arms and smiled down at her daughter. “I think Lara missed you. Why don’t you go tell her about your adventure.”
    “Yes, Mama.” Alison skipped over to her sister and chattered nonstop.
    James stared at Eirica, noting her pale, pinched features. He gentled his voice, spoke slowly and carefully as one might to a frightened doe. “I’d never let anything happen to her, Eirica.”
    Eirica shifted Ian in her arms again, her gaze skittering away from his. “I know. I’m sorry, Mr. Jones, I truly trust you and Jessie. It’s just that I worry so. She’s so young and I feel so guilty for what happened to her.”
    James frowned. “Why should you feel guilty for something you had no control over?”
    Eirica lifted tear-filled eyes to his. “If I had gone with Alison and Jessie to Fort Laramie, or not allowed Alison to go with your sister, that horrible woman and her brother might not have kidnapped them. Without my little girl as bait, Jessie might have been able to get away from them.” She broke off and closed her eyes.
    “If I’d lost Ali—”
    “But you didn’t,” James interrupted, moving closer, drawn by the pain and guilt in her eyes. “Jessie and Alison weren’t hurt. Everything turned out all right.”
    He glanced over at Alison, who was telling her sister about her climb up the rock. Though he sought to reassure Eirica, the memory of her daughter and his sister in the hands of the vengeful criminals still haunted his own nights.
    Eirica glanced up at him, opening her mouth as if to protest. James stopped her by placing one finger gently over her lips. “Don’t torture yourself, Eirica. What’s done is done. Leave it where it belongs—in the past.” He removed his touch, grateful she hadn’t flinched from him. His heart lightened. She was coming to trust him.
    “You can’t convince me you don’t still think about what happened,” Eirica whispered.
    James replaced his hat and pushed the brim up. “Yeah, I do. I go through hell just thinking about the what-ifs, but none of us knows the future, and we can’t wrap those we love in cotton wool.”
    He grinned ruefully. “Though Lord knows, I tried with Jess when she was younger. I guarded her fiercer than a she-bear her cubs, so scared she’d hurt herself and them town folk would come take her away. But most of the time, my good intentions to protect her weren’t appreciated.”
    A genuine and amused smile curved Eirica’s lips. “I imagine Jessie was a handful.”
    James snorted. “Hah, Jess is willful, stubborn, rash—”
    Eirica interrupted with a soft chuckle. “And