Desert Shadows by Emilie Richards

Author:Emilie Richards [Richards, Emilie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950365135
Publisher: Emilie Richards

Chapter Ten

They shared the Coke before sunrise, lingering over each sip as if there might never be another one.

“Think of all the times when someone’s offered you a drink and you’ve turned them down,” Felice said, handing the can to Gallagher for his last drink.

“Think of all the water we waste when we shower or brush our teeth.”

“A shower. Do you think we’ll ever take a shower again?”

“Tonight, hopefully.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yeah.”

“If anyone who knows me could see me now. . .” Without the plastic to protect her from the ground, Felice had chosen to sleep in her robe. It would never even approach white again, nor, she was sure, would her face, which between bruises, dirt and sunburn had to be a grotesque rainbow. She hadn’t been able to make herself look in the mirror to find out.

“You’ll bloom again, desert flower, just as soon as you mix with a little water.”

She managed a smile. “Did you check the well?”

The “well” was really nothing more than a hole they’d dug at the bottom of the wash, then lined with plastic weighted by cool stones excavated from a distance beneath the ground’s surface. Gallagher didn’t have a lot of hope for it, but it had given them something concrete to do without expending too much energy.

“Let’s check it now,” he said. “We’ll need a piece of cloth to sop up what moisture we’ve trapped.”

“I’d hoped we’d get enough to scoop it up with the hubcap.”

“We’ll be lucky if there’s enough to soak a handkerchief.”

“Do you have a handkerchief?”

He shook his head, and his eyes fell to the hem of her robe. Felice knew what he was thinking. “We can use Ralph’s work shirt.”

“And then the water will taste like Ralph smells.”

“Bad idea,” she admitted.

“You’re well covered. A patch from the bottom of your robe won’t hurt anything.”

“Sister Marietta weaves this fabric herself. And I did some of the work on this robe.”

“Sister Marietta wouldn’t expect you to die of thirst to protect her creation.”

She grimaced, but she knew he was right. “Fine, but I’ll do it.”

“Better let me. The middle of the back hem will be best. That way the tops of your feet won’t be exposed.”

“Oh, go ahead.” She felt petulant this morning, but she wasn’t sure exactly why. Maybe it was because they had another day of desert trekking in front of them. That would be enough to make anyone petulant, especially since they weren’t sure that they were trekking anywhere in particular.

Or maybe it was something else. Maybe it was because she had awakened in Gallagher’s arms again and found herself wishing she was there for another reason.

She was going to have to be careful not to let a little thing like being thrown together with him in a life-and-death situation affect her libido. She had gone from the life of the convent to that of a desert rat. Certainly she needed comfort and human warmth. Who wouldn’t? But she had never been a person who let her needs dictate her actions.

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