Courting Carrie in Wonderland by Carla Kelly

Author:Carla Kelly [Kelly, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc.
Published: 2017-03-13T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Daylight came at four o’clock, and Ramsay lay there wide awake, constitutionally unable to sleep once the first bit of daylight poked over the mountains. He pulled on his trousers and boots, rounded up Xerxes, and lit out casually and bareback for the Norris bathhouse.

He dunked himself first in the frigid Gibbon River, which brought him back to life. Trust those icy streams to either start your heart or stop it. A quick wash in hot water did the job. He hadn’t time to scrape away at his whiskers, but Caroline had already seen him scruffy. At least he didn’t smell so bad now.

Why on earth Caroline? He thought about that bit of impertinence for a moment, wondering why he needed a private name. He smiled inside. At least it was more discreet than Honey Bunch. Caroline in private, Carrie in public, he thought. Just because.

He put on the rest of his uniform for the return ride, arriving as Caroline came out of the kitchen, holding a bowl of oatmeal for him. It touched his heart to think for one tiny moment she had been watching for him.

“Jake said you weren’t in the tent, and I was afraid you had changed your mind,” she said as he dismounted. “It’s already sugared and creamed. Here’s a spoon.”

“Bail out? Not me. I can’t face that woman alone,” he said. “I rode to Norris where we have a world-renowned bathhouse.”

“That good? Do your soldiers ever loan it out?” she asked and then blushed. “Forget I said that.”

“Miss McKay, it could be arranged,” he said, then he had the good sense to shut up and eat.

By six o’clock they were on the road to Mammoth, the buckboard reins in Mrs. Wylie’s capable hands and Caroline sitting beside her. He rode ahead, looking back once or twice to make sure Caroline hadn’t turned tail and left him to face the dragon alone. He heard the women laughing and then singing together.

He gave his usual salute and shout, “Thank you, Lieutenant Kingman!” at the gateway to the cantilevered road. Both ladies clapped, so he bowed elaborately from the saddle. He was still smiling when they descended into Mammoth past the terraces.

The smile left his face and his stomach started to hurt as they rode directly through Mammoth and continued down the slippery slope to Gardiner, where he knew Mrs. LaMarque, along with her luggage of spite and umbrage, waited to pounce. He toyed with the idea of insisting that Caroline give him back the cash, which he would lob into the foyer of the Gardiner Hotel and then run. He could easily pay Caroline fifty dollars and call the whole thing a mistake on his part. Even fifty dollars would put her well ahead of her usual summer’s scrimping and saving.

Instinct told him the girl—no, woman—riding in the buckboard would never show the white feather, so he couldn’t. Five days, six days at most, equaled one hundred forty-four hours. Some of that time would be logically committed to sleeping.

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