A Mother's Secret by Pat Warren

Author:Pat Warren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2003-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

By twilight, they were still a distance from Rainbow Ridge, and although he badly wanted this trip over and done with, Kincaid decided they should make camp and do the last leg in the morning, rested and refreshed. They’d stopped to eat a small dinner two hours ago and opted to go on, even though he knew Sara was tiring. But now it was simply too dangerous to walk the narrow trail in the dark, even with their flashlights. Storm clouds were still rumbling around, and the moon was nowhere to be seen.

Just about the time Sara thought she couldn’t take another step, they came to a small clearing. Not nearly as big as the one where the helicopter had landed, but an unexpected grassy area situated between two high rocky hillsides. When she saw Kincaid shrug out of his backpack, she almost dropped where she was standing.

“I think we’ll use the tent tonight,” he said casually.

She whirled toward him. “You have a tent? And we slept in that creepy cave last night?”

“If you’ll recall, the storm came up suddenly, and we didn’t have time to pitch the tent. I can just picture us struggling in the wind and rain to get it up. We’d have been soaked to the skin. Besides, it’s only a small tent.” He didn’t tell her that it was basically meant for one person. It would have to accommodate two tonight.

Sara didn’t answer. Why bother? It was all part of this wonderful experience. When she slipped her backpack off her aching shoulders, she almost cried in relief. She’d never considered herself a softie. Along with her neighbors at the condo complex, she went hiking occasionally, walked a great deal and belonged to a gym which she admittedly should use more often.

But these past two days, with her emotions in turmoil, she’d found the hike particularly tiring. Not too much farther, she reminded herself as she left to gather twigs and sticks for the fire, leaving Kincaid to pop open the tent.

When she returned with her arms full, she stared at the tent for a full minute without speaking. She saw him finish pounding in the last support peg with a pleased expression on his face.

“This is your tent?” she asked, incredulously.

He’d guessed her reaction and kept his face expressionless. “Yeah. Nice, isn’t it?”

Sara dropped the wood and circled the tent, which didn’t take long. She was at least a foot and a half taller than the top of the bright yellow tent. There was a mesh window on one side, and the door was a zippered flap of the same material. Peering inside, she saw that the space measured about six by six.

Straightening, she looked at him, not saying a word.

He shrugged. “All right, it’s not the Ritz. But it’s waterproof, windproof and actually pretty cozy inside.”

Cozy wasn’t the first word that came to Sara’s mind. “There isn’t room in there for two sleeping bags side by side, much less two people.”

“Sure there is.” He reached for one of the bags and ducked inside with it.

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