Page 12 of Wagon Train Hope
“Figure I could if I had to.”
She broke into a run, feet moving fast on the downward slope.
He chuckled and followed at a leisurely pace.
At the grassy bank, she stopped and faced him. “Beat you.”
“Yup.” He reached her side and focused on preparing his fishing pole. “Did you bring bait?”
She produced a tin from her pocket and opened it to reveal a mass of squirmy maggots. “Best bait in the world.”
The gleam in her eyes suggested she expected him to show some distaste at touching the insects. Granted, he found them ugly, but she’d never know by the way he took one, put it on his hook, and then tossed the line into the river.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw her shiver at getting a maggot for her hook. He grinned to himself. Maybe she wasn’t as big and tough as she tried to make people believe.
Their lines dangling in the water, they sat on the grass. He stretched his legs out in front of him. She crossed hers into a neat little bundle.
The silence engulfing them was broken only by the water murmuring over rocks and cheery birds singing in the nearby trees.
The grass protested as she shifted, played her line a bit, and then spoke. “What are your plans when we get to the fort?”
His pole dipped. “I’ve got a bite.” He jerked the line and then pulled it in. A rainbow trout dangled from his pole. He unhooked it and dropped it into the bucket. “Mmm. My mouth is watering already.”
Another white maggot on the hook, he again lowered his line into the water.
Irene shook her line. “Come on, fishee, fishee.”
He chuckled. “You trying to sing them to you?”
One shoulder came up in a shrug. “Doesn’t hurt to try.” Her pole dipped. “See.” Her voice rang with glee. “It worked.” She put another trout in the pail, rebaited her hook, and sat down.
Was she a few inches closer than she had been?
And no. It wasn’t wishful thinking on his part. Un-uh.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten my question.” Her tone was half amused and half insistent.
“What question was that?” Not that he’d forgotten either.
“Your plan when we get to the fort?”
“Oh, that question.” He nodded, buying time to sort out his thoughts. He knew what he wanted, but did he want to tell her? But then, if he did, it would give him the right to ask the same question. “First, I have to make sure everyone gets there safely.”
“I didn’t realize you had control over such matters.”
Her nonchalant tone didn’t fool him. She meant to challenge him. “Just plan to do what I can. That’s all.”
A taut silence followed his statement. He didn’t try and guess what it meant. Instead, he continued. “I figure to settle down on a place of my own after that and raise a—”Familyhad been on the tip of his tongue. He wasn’t going to admit it. “Cows.” He was going to raise cows.
She regarded him with narrowed eyes. “Were you about to say you wanted to raise a family?”
“What makes you think that?”
“Seems like a normal thing to do.”
“Oh? Is that what you plan?”
Her fishing rod hung low over the water as if she’d forgotten it. “I wouldn’t mind getting married and having a family.” She leaned over her knees. “I just don’t know if I can find a man who will accept me the way I am. You know?”
