kisses. She prayed he understood how dangerous what they were doing was and how it might explode at any moment. She should be able to tell him, to get him to go at the pace she was trying to set so they wouldn’t lose it all.
But they’d lost so many years, so much love. Maybe they should remain buried behind those years. If not, if there was something to their time together, the journey needed to be taken slowly.
Didn’t it?
Why couldn’t she think?
He pushed her away from him until she could no longer cover him with her questioning kisses. She felt his eyes dig into her, felt his own battle.
Understood, suddenly, the true meaning of danger.
“We can’t-it isn’t-” she began.
“You don’t want…”
No. Not that. Surely not that. “Cord? What we’re doing, it’s-we’re insane. We know better. We should.”
“And you don’t want it.”
If he’d asked a question she could have told him how wrong he was, but he’d misinterpreted and she suddenly felt too exhausted to try to explain. Wondering how long it would take her body to release his memory, she twisted away from him until a full foot of night air separated them.
“You’re wrong,” she whispered. “I want. Oh, how I want.”
Chapter 10
Matt pulled off his boot and twisted his foot around so he could stare at his heel, but the moon wasn’t bright enough to be much help. Despite his aching knees, he’d felt the blister all the time he was walking today and had hoped it wouldn’t pop. Well, it had. As an owl complained about something, he tried to remember what his mother had said about how to take care of a blister.
Mom wasn’t here. He’d have to figure out what to do on his own. After a moment he had an idea. He’d clean the blister in the little creek he’d come across just before dark and then leave it open to the air during the night. Air was good for a lot of things, wasn’t it? That had to be why Mom blew on his scrapes and scratches.
Had Mom called around to see what he was up to after all? Sure, she’d said she wasn’t going to because she knew he would be safe at the campground, but she sometimes still thought of him as a little kid. If she learned-
Sick of what was going on inside him, he scurried on hands and knees to the tree he’d decided to spend the night under. The moon was glinting off the little bit of water just enough to turn the darkness there a real interesting-looking silver. Maybe in the morning he’d spot a fish and figure out a way to catch it. He wasn’t sure what he’d do with the fish once he had it, but he’d seen his father cut some open and hoped he’d remember how.
What was he thinking? There wouldn’t be any creek here if it wasn’t for the last bit of snow runoff. Fish weren’t in it, just some little insects and maybe frogs. Besides, he didn’t have any way of cooking anything and he’d never kill something he didn’t have a use for. That’s what his dad al ways said, don’t kill anything if there’s any other way. He wanted his dad to be proud of him.
Wait a minute! Maybe Dad was looking for him. Oh, gosh! If Mom had somehow learned that he’d decided to climb Copper, she would have found a way to get in touch with Dad.
He couldn’t let his dad find him. No way! For a moment, he nearly changed his mind; he didn’t like how that stupid old owl kept hooting as if he was laughing at him. But he’d fallen asleep last night listening to an owl and his father’s calm voice inside his head and hadn’t woken up even once. There wasn’t anything to be afraid of in an owl. Or in a bear. His dad had told him that years ago and he hadn’t forgotten, still believed.
Just the same, he looked around, wondering despite himself if he might see little bear eyes staring at him. Instead he heard more owls and buzzing insects and other things he didn’t recognize and the wind slapping away at the pine needles in the trees. And then he noticed something glowing off in the distance. Maybe someone a long way away had a powerful flashlight, maybe one of those heavy things he’d seen police carry.
Seeing proof that he wasn’t alone up here reminded him of the smoke he’d noticed yesterday. There had been a lot of smoke, too much in fact. If he had a match and it was all right to build one here, he sure wouldn’t make one like that. If those people-whoever they were-weren’t careful and started another fire, they might set the woods on fire.
His dad would never do anything like that. Cord Navarro knew how to build a fire that used just the littlest bit of wood and hardly made any smoke but would keep a person warm for hours. Indians did neat stuff like that, and his dad knew more about the woods and fire building and bears and stuff than any of the Indians he’d ever seen on TV or at the movies.
If his dad was anywhere around, he sure wasn’t with whoever had the flashlight. He was positive of that because his dad would have somehow sensed he wasn’t alone out here-would know how close his son was.
Those guys, whoever they were, must be hikers. What other reason would they have to be way up here on Copper?
“What the hell are you doing?”
Whirling, Owen tucked the flashlight against his soft belly as if trying to protect both it and him. “Nothing.”
What was it with Owen? Chuck Markham thought. The man had to be at least forty and yet he acted like some lamebrain kid. “You’re going to use up that damn thing.”
He indicated the flashlight, not caring that both Elliot and Andrew had stopped their conversation to listen.
“I heard something.” Owen pointed at the trees. “I was trying to figure out what it was.”
“Owls.” Chuck snorted. “You heard owls. This area’s lousy with them.”
“That’s about the only thing.” Elliot spoke up. “Look, the three of us have been talking. So far the only thing we’ve gotten out of this hunting trip is blisters and a lot of hype from you, plus too damn much criticism. If you think you’re going to get more out of us by dragging things out, you’ve got another think coming”
“Is that what you think?” Chuck challenged. Flashlight still tucked against his belly, Owen had sidled closer to Elliot and Andrew, leaving him standing alone. “I thought you said you’d checked out my reputation before signing on with me. If you didn’t like what you heard, what are you doing here?”
Elliot laughed, his voice going high at the end. “You know better than we do that the country’s not exactly crawling with guides willing to give us what we want.”
What Elliot was saying was that not many people had the guts to risk imprisonment because a sizable chunk of money was waved under their chin. Fine. He didn’t mind being one of a kind. “We’ll find what you’re after,” he said. “Keep those rifles loaded, gentlemen. You’re about to get what you came for.”
“Cord? My mother wants to talk to you.”
Surprised, Cord took the two-way radio from Shannon. Elizabeth’s voice sounded slightly hollow and jerky, but despite the distance that separated them, he heard everything she said. “I didn’t have time to talk to you before you started after Matt,” she said. “And when we talked earlier it was pretty businesslike. I hope you haven’t settled down for the night.”
He wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to sleep tonight, not unless he could shut off memories of those risky moments he and Shannon had spent in each other’s arms. That and men’s footprints. “Not yet,” he told his former mother-in-law.
