Winter's Camp by Jodi Thomas

Author:Jodi Thomas [Thomas, Jodi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460385999
Google: 8rXYBgAAQBAJ
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2014-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

SPRING WARMED THE AIR in Fort Worth as Millie waited for James to return from his business dealings as she did every night. Now that her brother was always with her, her canyon man didn’t talk to her as much.

He was busy making all the dreams he had told her about when they were at the winter camp come true. He had land to buy and cattle to choose for breeding his herd. Even when James was near her, there always seemed to be something between them. She missed his rambling about one subject or another. Their nights under the endless sky when they watched for shooting stars were over. She longed to feel him next to her, holding her safe and warm as he slept.

Millie missed the James she’d known. Now everyone called him Captain or Mr. Kirkland. Mrs. Harris whispered once that there was no doubt he would be a very important man one day. The men he hired to work for him were all cut from the same cloth as James. Most weren’t far into their thirties, but they’d been hardened by war and seasoned from cattle drives. All wore chaps and spurs and guns strapped to their legs.

Millie felt as if he’d stepped up as a leader in a world she couldn’t enter. Every night men circled the table poring over maps and numbers. Every morning James was gone before dawn.

Mrs. Harris continued to teach her to cook and sew, and Millie worked with Andrew every day. Her brother wasn’t as hungry to learn as she had been. He gave in to bathing, but he still insisted on wearing his Apache clothes. He spent his mornings beside her, but disappeared into the wooded area every chance he got. In the afternoons he wandered the garden, picking tree branches to fashion into bows.

Late one afternoon, as she watched Andy in the yard, James appeared at her side. “What’s the kid doing?” he asked.

Millie folded her arms, frustrated at her brother. “He’s building an arsenal.”

“I figured that.” James put his arm lightly around her waist. “He sees himself as a warrior. He’s preparing for battle.”

“Who is he going to fight, James?” She fought tears, afraid of the truth.

“Me, I’m thinking.”

For a moment she leaned into James. For years she hadn’t cared about anyone and now the two men she loved seemed destined to be on different sides. James didn’t trust Andy and her brother had told her once in Apache that James had cold eyes, the eyes of a killer. She knew he’d been in the war. She’d heard Ranger Price talk of it. Millie didn’t know that side of James Kirkland. She only knew the one who was gentle, the one who touched her heart.

When James pulled her closer, his voice stayed calm in case Mrs. Harris was within hearing distance. “What do you and Andy talk about, Millie? Does he ever mention his home or your parents?”

“He wants to talk to me only in Apache, telling me of the great adventures he’s had.

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