“Oh.” Danny bent and hefted a rock at the edge of the pool. “Could I throw this in, Ma? Please?”
“Very well,” Kate said.
The rock sailed over the pool and plunked down into the shallow waters. Then Danny ran to the cliff and set about trying to wiggle in behind the waterfall.
How quickly he forgot the kiss. A shame she couldn’t forget so easily. But then, did she really want to? Her lips still tingled. Her heart still sang.
Will was rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, gaze now on the ground, as if as conflicted about what had just happened.
“Forgive me.” His voice was barely audible over the splash of the waterfall. “I had no right.”
“Do you want the right?” she asked.
He dropped his hand and met her gaze. “It’s not that simple.”
She could believe that. It wasn’t simple for her either. Some would have said she owed it to Toby to mourn longer than a year. Others would have urged her to grab the opportunity that had fallen into her lap. It wasn’t a bad thing to marry a cavalry officer. Danny could do with a father.
A father who would stay by his side, not ride off to the next adventure.
She raised her chin. “Don’t let it trouble you, Lieutenant. All this grandeur can go to anyone’s head.” She turned to eye the waterfall, then frowned. “Danny?”
No one responded.
Heart leaping into her throat, Kate rushed to the edge of the pool, looked left, right. “Danny! Danny, answer me!”
“He was right here,” Will said, coming up beside her. He added his voice to hers. “Danny! Report!”
From somewhere not too distant, she thought she heard a giggle. She could not find it in her heart to laugh along.
“Daniel Tobias Tremaine!” she shouted. “Come out here right now!”
Danny darted out from the recess under the falls so quickly the water splashed his head and shoulders. Thoroughly damp, he waded to her side.
“You didn’t know where I was,” he said triumphantly. “That’s a really good hiding place.”
Too good for her nerves, that was for sure. For one moment, all she could think about was another mangled body.
“Yes, it was,” she said, willing her speeding heartbeat to slow. “But you must always come when I call, Danny. I worry too much otherwise.”
“You don’t have to worry,” Danny said, bending to pick up another rock from the shore. “I’m smart, and I’m strong.”
She wanted to hug him tight, pick him up and carry him all the way back to the safety of the hotel. She managed a smile for his sake. “You are smart and strong, but bad things can happen even to smart, strong people.”
“That’s why you have a mother who watches over you,” Will said.
Kate exhaled and inhaled slowly. “That’s right. We must look to friends and family to help us when we need them.”
Danny smiled up at Will. “Like Lieutenant Prescott.”
“Yes,” Kate said. “Like Lieutenant Prescott. Now, come along. It’s time to start back.”
He let go of the rock, just far enough away from his slender body that it plopped into the pool. Boys. Men! Would she ever understand them?
The walk back was even faster than the one out. Danny seemed as eager to reach the hotel as Kate, and Will strode along, glancing her way from time to time as if unsure what to say to her. At least she didn’t have to direct his gaze away from their special spot. They passed the entrance to the meadow without a remark, and she told herself to breathe easier.
Impossible. Every time she looked at Will, she remembered the feel of those lips against hers, the warmth of his embrace, the tenderness in his eyes. She wanted to run toward him and away from him at the same time!
He could well have felt the same way, for he distanced himself from her the moment the three of them crossed onto the geyser field in front of the hotel.
Come on, Kate! You have to remember why you’re here, why he’s here. Do your duty.
As Danny ran ahead, Kate caught Will’s arm. “Now that you know the way to Fairy Falls, you might check it and the Grand Prismatic Spring at least once a week.”
“We will,” he promised, face so still it might have been carved of stone, “as soon as the rest of my men return.”
Kate released him. “Very well, then.” She started past him, and now he moved to block her way.
“Kate, I . . .” He stopped with a sigh. “I don’t know what to say about that kiss.”
“Not much to be said,” Kate answered. “I understand. Neither of us is in a position to court. We both have responsibilities.”
“Responsibilities, yes.” He seemed to cling to the word like a lifeline. “I just want you to know I don’t take such things lightly.”
She cocked her head. “Do you mean responsibilities or the kiss?”
He visibly swallowed. “Both.”
Kate straightened. “Good to know, Lieutenant. I wouldn’t like to think you were trifling with my affections. You might find yourself near a geyser without a guide.”
His smile inched into view. “I wouldn’t want that.”
With a nod, she passed him for the hotel even as he headed for the barn and his horse. Perhaps they could put that kiss behind them. Perhaps things would be calmer from here.
As if to disagree with her, Alberta came out onto the porch, door banging shut behind her.
“Is it true?” she begged Kate, big hands wrapping themselves inside her apron. “We’re to host a fancy dinner for the Army?”
Who kept starting these rumors?
“I sent an invitation with Elijah to ask Lieutenant Kingman and his staff to dinner with us before he leaves for the season,” Kate told her. “This is his last summer in Yellowstone. But the dinner doesn’t have to be anything fancy.”
Alberta let go of her apron and drew herself up. “Of course it must be fancy! He deserves no less. I remember all the times he and Mr. Tremaine sat in this very hotel, talking
