Trail of Secrets by Lacy Williams

Author:Lacy Williams [Williams, Lacy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lacy Williams Books LLC

THIRTEEN

It took all day, but they found all but two of the Spencers’ cows. It was a hard loss, a monetary one that Stella was sorry for. The storm hadn’t left the Spencer family unscathed after all.

The sun was setting as they pushed the herd back to where the company had made camp, Stella kept as much distance between herself and Collin as possible. For the most part, she kept the entire herd between them.

She kept replaying their kiss in her mind.

And she’d come to the only possible conclusion.

It couldn’t happen again. She had to stay away from him.

His kiss was… dangerous. She’d liked it far too much.

She’d lost herself in his touch. Lost any sense of propriety, of where she was. Coop could’ve ridden right up on them and she’d been so lost to passion that she wouldn’t have known.

Collin had helped her immensely.

She liked him.

But her sisters’ survival depended on her. Her own happiness, her own desires would have to wait.

And it wasn’t fair to him to pretend something could grow between them when it was impossible.

Back at camp, Collin stayed with the herd while Coop rode in to camp to talk to Leo.

They didn’t need Stella any more. She’d only just dismounted her horse when she felt all of it catch up to her. The long nights and the terror of the storm and the uncertainty of not knowing whether her sisters were all right…

All of it hit her at once, and she was grateful for the stallion’s height. She hid behind him, the wagon at her back, as she moved to unsaddle him, allowing herself one moment to duck her head, one moment to try and stem the exhausted tears gathering in her eyes.

She was so tired. Tired of running, of constantly looking over her shoulder, of searching for home.

“You look plumb worn out.” The female voice came from too close. Stella quickly worked to blink away her tears, still hidden by the brim of her hat shading her face.

She straightened her shoulders and hefted the saddle off the horse. Looking up, she saw Alice Spencer standing by the nearest tent, an empty plate in her hand. Stella knew there’d been a young woman grievously injured, and Alice and Maddie and the Spencers were taking care of her.

Alice looked at Stella with concern.

This was the uncomfortable thing about parking their wagon so close to the Spencers and Masons. No privacy. She hadn’t erected her wall of crates the way she’d done before. Too tired.

“Food’s still warm. I can make you a plate. You’ve got first watch, right?”

She knew Alice was just trying to be neighborly, but the words made Stella want to cry all over again. She’d forgotten about going on watch. She wanted to curl up in her bedroll beneath the wagon and fall into a dreamless sleep.

But she’d made a deal with Leo, brought Maddie and Irene and even Lily under his protection. There was safety in numbers, and the unrest in camp had made it necessary.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.