Luke's Cut by Sarah McCarty

Author:Sarah McCarty
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2017-12-05T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SHE HAD TO wait to develop the tintype. Complications came about when they had to figure out a safe place to put the wagon. The first suggestion had been the barn. To the outsider it was a perfectly logical solution. There was shade, water and some privacy. At least during the day. It would be hard to find a better space except for one thing. The chemicals she worked with were highly flammable. She’d been keeping that quiet. For a very good reason. People tended to react the way Luke was right now.

“What the hell do you mean they could explode?”

“In the right environment, if the proper precautions aren’t taken, ether can become...unstable.” So could collodion, but it only burned.

He slapped his Stetson against his thigh, a habit she was beginning to understand meant he was furious. “You mean it can damn well blow up.”

“Or catch fire.” She shrugged. “It’s not an all or nothing kind of thing. But fire would be more likely.”

The minuscule hope that downplaying the risks would soothe Luke’s reaction died when he narrowed his eyes.

“And you’ve been working with this for how long?”

“For a couple years, but let’s not get sidetracked. We were figuring out where to park the wagon.” She had no idea where the courage to face down a grown man was coming from, but she liked it.

“I’m not sidetracked. I’m just looking at the much bigger problem in front of me.”

He said that while looking directly at her. “I’m not a problem and neither is my profession. There are just certain precautions that need to be taken.”

He raked his hand through his hair, sending it spiking in different directions. “I thought Tucker was bad with his dynamite, but you’ve got him beat six ways to Sunday.”

“You’re getting emotional.”

“I passed emotional about five minutes ago when I found out you’ve been riding around in a bomb.”

“It is not a bomb.”

“That’s your opinion.”

“And it’s the only one that matters at the moment since this is my wagon, my endeavor and my problem.”

“If you park that wagon in the barn, it’ll be everybody’s problem.”

Taking a deep breath she rubbed her fingertips against her temple. He was giving her a headache. “This whole discussion started because I told you I didn’t want to park the wagon in the barn.”

“But you didn’t have any intention of telling me why.”

“Contrary to popular opinion, I am not stupid.”

“In accordance with current opinion, current being mine, you are out of your ever-loving mind.”

For heaven’s sake, he was impossible.

“Is this a private argument, or can anybody join in?”

Josie turned. A handsome blond-haired man with green eyes and a rakish hank of hair falling over his right brow stood beside the paddock, holding the reins of a beautiful pinto. At his other side stood a very mean-looking, very large dog, one that could easily pass for a wolf. Both man and beast had a wildness about them that made her uneasy.

“That depends on how you feel about flammable substances.”

As she watched, the wolf lifted its lip.

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