{Chapter 13}
Katie pulled the chuck wagon to a stop at the end of the day in the place where they would camp.
“Hey Katie. Guess what’s just over there?” Mark pointed east.
Katie looked in the direction but didn’t see anything.
“There’s a little river over there about half a mile” Mark smiled.
Katie giggled. For once she wouldn’t have to make a dry camp. This also meant that she could finally take a bath!
“I’m gonna go help them bed down the herd. You be careful” Mark looked around. “We’re pretty close to Indian country now.”
Katie looked around, seeing many places that an Indian could hide. She wasn’t afraid, because she had a trunk full of weapons in the chuck wagon.
Smiling, she looked in the back of the chuck wagon to see Justin laying there, sound asleep. It was nearly time for his mother to find him, but Katie knew that it would wait until after the herd was bedded down.
She strapped the baby on her back and took a pail toward where Mark had pointed out the river.
She fetched water and prepared supper, having it all ready and piping hot by the time the cowboys came into camp after bedding the herd down.
Adam was at the back of the line, and looked even worse than he had yesterday. Mark had put him on drag again, and Katie didn’t appreciate that at all. Adam was covered in dust and his face was etched with fatigue. For a nickel Katie would march right over there and give Mark a piece of her mind, yet she knew that Adam wouldn’t want it that way.
Katie handed Adam his plate and poured him a cup of coffee.
“Sit with me?” she asked.
Adam narrowed his eyes at her. “What about Mark?”
“He can answer to Toni, that’s what,” Katie said in confidence.
“Toni?” Adam looked amused now.
“Yes. I’ll simply tell her the issue and she can take care of him” Katie poured herself a cup of coffee and went to sit on the wagon tongue that faced opposite the camp.
Adam sat beside her and looked down at his plate, not touching it.
“Not hungry?” Katie asked.
Adam shook his head. “Not really. I’m too tired to eat.”
A smile lingered on the end of his words. Katie felt her heart soften. Adam was not cut out to be a cowboy. He was a lawman, and that’s how he was born.
She put a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think he should be treating you this way.”
Adam shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I’m just a wimp for now. I’ll get used to it.”
Katie smiled. “You’re not a cowboy, that’s the problem. Why even take this job? You don’t know a thing about cattle.”
Adam fell silent for a moment. “Several reasons.”
“One of them being?” Katie pressed.
Adam studied her for a moment. “What if I told you that it was so I could spend more time with you?”
Katie stared at him for a moment and noticed a faint blush come over his face as he looked away. She forced back a smile.
“I don’t know what I’d say,” she said.
Adam sighed. “Well, that’s not one of the reasons.”
Katie put her head down. Why did she feel put out?
“But I’m glad it worked out that way” Adam added.
She slid her gaze over to him. “Me too.”
Their gazes locked and they stared into each other’s eyes until Katie felt herself blush. Adam brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled faintly. He looked so tired.
“Sterling! Where are you?” Mark’s harsh voice broke through the sweet moment.
Adam started and jumped off the wagon tongue. “I’ve gotta go.”
“Promise me you won’t take the midnight shift tonight,” Katie demanded.
“I can’t promise that” Adam turned to leave.
Katie caught his arm.
“Promise Me,” she repeated.
Adam huffed. “Fine. I promise.”
He left and Katie smiled at her success. She watched Adam walk away, dusting off his chaps as a cloud of dust came from them. She had to admit that, even with that blasted ponytail, Adam was a good-looking man.
But not as handsome as Ben.
Her own voice echoed in her mind.
“Of course not” she whispered to herself.
After the dishes were done, Katie smiled as all the cowboys made a beeline for the river and splashing sounds were heard a few minutes later.
“Come on Katie” Toni appeared beside her as she threw a clean pair of jeans over her shoulder, gripping a towel and a bar of soap. “We’ll go down the river a ways.”
Katie smiled and fetched a clean shirt and riding skirt.
“Wade and Erik are staying back to watch the camp and the kid, so we can take our sweet time” Toni linked her arm through Katie’s and they headed down the creek about two hundred yards. Katie wanted to be far away from the cowboys.
The women undressed and jumped into the water with two loud splashes. Katie never realized that she had collected so much dirt on her until the water around her became tinged with brown.
She scrubbed her hair until her scalp hurt, loving the feeling of a clean head of hair. Next she scrubbed every inch of her body.
The sound of the cowboys laughing and carrying on down the river was the only sound that pierced the air except for the occasional bawl from the nearby cattle.
Then it hit Katie.
If the cattle were nearby, that meant the guard had to be, too.
**********
Adam kept his back turned to the river. Toni and Katie had no idea how close they were to him. Every once in a while he heard a girlish giggle and a splash of water, but he kept his back politely turned to them. Katie would have a conniption fit if she knew that the both of them were completely visible from where he was perched overlooking the herd.
He heard a snapping sound behind him, and he sneaked a quick look behind him. Though Katie and Toni were completely silhouetted in the moonlight, he still felt dirty for doing it.
Until he saw the dark figure of a man near the edge of the river, hiding from the women’s view in the dense shrubbery. Adam felt a protective wave wash over him that drove him from the fallen log he sat on and toward the figure. Keeping low so that the women couldn’t see him if they happened to look in his direction, he approached the man from behind and clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Don’t you say a word, hear?” he kept his voice low.
He dragged the fussing man away from the river and out of earshot.
Back at the log he was sitting on, Adam threw the man down and got a good look at his face.
“Alex Harrison. I should have known” he spat out.
Alex pulled himself into a sitting position. “What are you thinking?”
“A better question is what are you thinking” Adam said.
Alex started to get to his feet, but Adam put a boot on the man’s chest. He felt completely natural addressing this man for what seemed like a crime to Adam.
“Look, if you let me go I won’t mention a word about this” Alex said.
Adam laughed. “Nope. Sorry, pard.”
“There’s room for two to hide down there, you know” Alex said pointedly with a grin.
Adam felt a wave of rage at the very idea wash over him and drew back his fist, punching the man in the jaw.
“Don’t you ever even think of that again, do you hear me? You’re lucky I don’t tell Miz McBride you were spying on her,” Adam threatened.
“No, please don’t. She’ll kill me,” Alex begged, rubbing his jaw.
Adam smiled. “Precisely. But I’m going to let you go with a warning.”
He knelt beside the man and leaned close to him. “If you ever decide to pull a stunt like this again, or even go near Miss Morris again, I’ll punch that filthy grin into the soles of your boots, savvy?”
Alex nodded.
“Get out of here” Adam jerked the man to his feet and sent him in the direction of camp.
Katie would never be seen in public again if she knew about this.
**********
Katie watched the cowboys around the campfire from her bed under the chuck wagon. She had watched for Adam to come from the earliest guard shift. She trusted his promise that he would get some sleep and not take the midnight shift.
Now he lay with his head on his saddle and his grey hat of her eyes. His hair was loosed from its ponytail and was still wet from the creek water where he had washed off a week and a half of dust and dirt. A faint smile tugged at his lips as three of the other cowboys exchanged playful banter.
She found herself watching him until her eyes drooped closed and she fell asleep, reliving a scene from her past.
“One day we’ll be ready to marry, Katie. You wait and see” Adam smiled and kissed her hand.
Katie smiled up into his eyes. “I believe you.”
Adam sighed, “We just have to get past your Pa.”
“I don’t think it’s a matter of getting past him, but a matter of convincing him that you’re the best thing that ever happened to me” Katie said.
Adam turned her around by her hand until her back faced him and took her in his arms. Katie sighed with satisfaction and leaned back into his solid chest. They both knew why her father didn’t approve of Adam, and that was because of his interest in becoming a deputy sheriff. Pa claimed that she would be a widow within a week of their marriage, and refused to condone their union.
“I overheard a conversation between my father and this lady the other day,” Katie said.
“Eavesdropping again?”
“No” Katie huffed and elbowed him gently. “He was saying ‘There are no secrets in our family’ and whatnot again.”
Adam laughed. “If he only knew.”
Katie giggled. “He’d have a conniption wouldn’t he?”
“It would be funny to see, wouldn’t it?”
Katie smiled. “Probably.”
Adam wrapped her tighter in his arms and kissed her temple. “I love you,” he whispered.
“Love you too” Katie smiled.
She turned in his arms until she faced him. “Always.”
Adam nodded. “Always.”
**********
I'm not really sure about leaving this chapter. Thoughts?
Best answer gets a dedication!