The Cowboy Meets His Match by Meagan Mckinney

Author:Meagan Mckinney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2000-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

By the time they finally caught up with their horses, they had descended well down into the tree-covered slopes again.

“No point riding on now,” A.J. grumbled as he gauged the amount of light left in the sky. “We’ve lost all our wood, anyway, and I’ll need to gather more. We’ll camp right here.”

“What’ll we do for water?” she asked as she studied the little pine copse where they’d found the horses grazing.

“We’re okay for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll just watch where the closest birds go at dawn. They always drink at daybreak.”

He left to forage for firewood while she tended to the horses. The huge adrenaline high of the bear incident was now followed by a zooming crash of her emotions. Her despair had returned with a vengeance.

Hazel was right, she decided. The trip was a benchmark event in her young life. It was throwing into stark relief the harsh fact that she was alone, cut off, walled off.

Suddenly her throat closed so tight it hurt. Hot tears welled up from her eyes. Afraid A.J. would return and catch her, she sought out a lonely spot behind a tangled deadfall far away from camp. And there she dug up the grave of her hopes and buried them all anew.

“Was hoping the bear got you,” the cowboy greeted her when she returned to camp. His tone was gruffly cordial.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” she volleyed back. “Maybe you’ll get rid of me on Devil’s Slope.”

He laughed.

Trouble’s coming, she warned herself as she looked at him. She was becoming fragile; he was becoming friendly. I’ll pay, she thought blackly as she sat in front of the fire to warm herself.

Night settled down on the mountains like a dark blanket. The campfire was going strong.

“What’s that…interesting smell?” she finally asked.

He pointed to a skinned rabbit roasting on a greenwood spit over the fire. “Caught it with a snare,” he informed her. “That’s how Jake took care of his supper more than once up here. Didn’t have to shoot his gun and announce his position.”

“I’m sure it’s tasty. But I think I’ll settle for a granola bar and an apple,” she demured.

He stared at her. All he said was, “Leaves more for me.”

She was able to set up her pup tent like an old pro by now. When she finished, she noticed that he was gingerly removing his flannel shirt. She spotted blood spatters on the back of it, and a little prickle of alarm went through her.

“You’re hurt,” she said, crossing to the spot where he straddled a log beside the fire.

“Ahh, it’s small potatoes,” he assured her. “Mama bear swiped me once up on the slope, but it wasn’t deep.”

“You let that bear get so close?”

“Let? She didn’t exactly require my permission.”

She moved around behind him. Several long scratches covered the hard ridge of muscle across his upper back.

“You’re right, they’re not deep,” she agreed, her tone relieved. “But they really should be disinfected.”

A.J., looking a little sheepish, held up a brown plastic bottle. “I know Jake didn’t have hydrogen peroxide.

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