High Plains Bride by Valerie Hansen

Author:Valerie Hansen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2010-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Will finally slowed his lathered horse, but insisted they continue to ride side by side the rest of the way home. To his relief, his companion didn’t argue. After the scare she’d just had, he wasn’t surprised, although it would have been totally in character for Emmeline to have balked at any suggestion she thought might be an order, no matter how sensible.

“There’s a light in the window. Looks like your family waited up for you,” he said.

“I hope so. I want to show them all the ribbon.”

“Do you think that’s wise?”

“Why not?”

“I was just thinking of Bess. You said she was a bit better and I thought perhaps it would be best to save the ribbon for later instead of shocking her unnecessarily. It won’t change anything.”

“Of course it will. It will tell us which direction Missy went.”

“Only if it stayed in her hair during the tornado and she left it behind later, as a clue. You have to admit, it’s a lot more likely the ribbon got blown loose in the storm. It might not even be the one she was wearing—it could have just been an extra ribbon that got scattered with all the rest of your belongings.”

He dismounted in the yard and held the bridle of Emmeline’s winded horse so she could get down safely. When he noticed that she seemed a bit unsteady, he shouted for Clint to come and take the horses so he wouldn’t have to leave her.

“Walk them out, give them a good rubdown and feed them as soon as they’ve cooled down,” he told the lanky cowboy.

“What happened, boss?”

“Indians. Post a guard tonight, just in case. Use Hank for the early-morning shift. He’s used to being up before daylight, anyway, so he shouldn’t have any trouble staying awake.”

“Right.”

As Clint led the horses toward the barn, Will continued his conversation with Emmeline. “Do you really think Missy might have left the ribbon there on purpose?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I can only remember scattered details about being caught in the storm, so I doubt an eight-year-old would be calm enough to plan ahead. Not at a time like that.”

“True,” Will said. He saw her arch her eyebrows and roll her eyes as he opened the door for her.

“Now you agree with me? Why?”

“Because this time you’re probably right.”

“Probably?”

The look of exasperation on her face was so amusing he had to fight the urge to smile. There was nothing humorous about the situation, yet everything Emmeline said or did seemed to please him unduly. To say that that was a strange reaction, especially for him, was to understate the subject greatly. In the space of mere days, this young woman had breached the stone wall he maintained around his emotions and had become a part of his life. He looked forward to seeing her, conversing with her, even arguing with her. She gave as good as she got and was an intelligent adversary in many areas, not the least of which was logic.

Except for her obsession about those missing children, he added to himself.

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