Chapter Thirteen

Lucas stirred in his sleep. Something had disturbed him. What was it? He thought he heard something slither or scurry on by. His eyes flew open, and he sat straight up. The moon was full tonight, allowing him plenty of light to see what was going on around him. But there was nothing nearby that should alarm him. His horse grunted as if it was laughing at him. He glanced at the steed. Horses didn't really laugh at people, did they?

Forcing the question aside, he looked at the spot next to him. Gail was sound asleep. Zeke slept on the other side of the campfire, which was mere embers by now. Zeke had warned them that they wouldn't be able to light a fire tomorrow night in case the bandits saw them. The warning made sense. They needed to catch Bower and his men by surprise if they were going to have any chance of getting Bernadette. Still, the lack of a bright fire did add to the eeriness of the night.

Lucas scanned the area one more time. He didn't see anything that posed a threat. He released his breath and collapsed back into his bedroll. He was exhausted. Ever since he arrived in Arizona, he hadn't had a good night's sleep. If he didn't get a good night's sleep tonight, he didn't know how he would manage through tomorrow. From what Zeke said, they would arrive at the southern portion of the canyon by evening.

He heard Gail's deep, slow breathing and turned his attention back to her. How he envied her. How could she be in this wild territory and not let it affect her sleep? Didn't it occur to her that some creepy thing might slither up to her at any moment?

A breeze swept over him, and he shivered. Without thinking, he shifted closer to Gail until their bodies were touching. At once, he felt better. His heart rate was still pretty fast. He was still acutely aware of the strange sounds that were going on around him. But he did feel better. Not only did the chill ease, but there was something about touching her that calmed him. He released his breath and stared at the sky above him.

"Is something wrong?" Gail whispered.

Unaware she had woken up, he turned in his bedroll so that he was facing her. "I can't sleep," he whispered in return. He debated whether or not to add the next part, but in the end, he admitted, "I thought I heard some strange animal sneaking up to me. It turned out to be nothing."

"There are a lot of unusual noises out here."

Thankful she hadn't laughed at him, he relaxed. "I miss Pennsylvania. We were all safe there."

"It was safe there, but isn't it fun to see somewhere new?"

Sure he hadn't heard right, he asked, "You like being out here?"

She chuckled. "I don't like being in this situation. It's terrible what's happening to Bernadette. I would much rather be in Arizona under better circumstances. But it is fun to see a new place. My parents and I don't do as much traveling as we used to. We used to read about a place to visit and then go there. We never did get west of the Mississippi, though we had discussed what it might be like to come out in this direction. The last trip we took was to Chicago, and that was two years ago."

Now that Lucas thought about it, there had been quite a few marks on the map her father had hanging on the wall of his library, and they were all to the east of the Mississippi River. "Did your father keep track of where you went on the map in his library?"

"Those are my marks, but yes, it's his map."

He briefly recalled hearing stories about her family taking trips. He'd assumed they were all business ventures. He didn't think the trips had been for pleasure. Her family must be even wealthier than he believed if they could afford all of that. He wouldn't be able to take her on trips like the ones her parents had until he secured the financial standing of the business he had inherited. And he couldn't do that until he spoke with Egan, Algnon, and Johnson about properly investing the money he'd acquired from marrying her.

"I don't know how soon I can take you on a trip," he warned her. "I need to deal with the steel mill now that my father is no longer there to oversee its operation."

"Oh, I understand that. I don't expect you to neglect your family business."

Good. It was nice to see she was reasonable. "I'm going to do the best I can with that steel mill," he promised her.

"I know you will."

He studied her expression in the moonlight and was shocked to see just how much she trusted him. He didn't deserve it. There was so much he had hidden from her. But it didn't seem right to come out and tell her the truth. She had this view of their courtship that was actually quite romantic when he thought about it. In her version of events, he had admired her from afar for years before he got the courage to ask her father for permission to court her. He preferred that version to what really happened.

"I'm glad you're here," he whispered.

Her face lit up in the way it always did whenever he chose to say something sweet to her.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the comfort her presence brought to him on this dark, chilly night, but he got the sudden urge to kiss her. He closed his eyes and brought his lips to hers. The kiss at the wedding had been quick, and because of that, it'd been easy to avoid overthinking how kissing was supposed to work. Now, however, no one was watching. It should have made kissing easier, but in some ways, it made it more difficult. What if she found his skill lacking? It wasn't like he was used to going around kissing ladies. He drew back and looked at her.

She opened her eyes and smiled. "I've been waiting for that."

His eyebrows furrowed. "You've been hoping I'd kiss you?"

She offered him a teasing grin. "Well, sure. You are my husband. It would be strange if I was hoping someone else would kiss me."

He chuckled at her joke. "I suppose a wife does expect a kiss from the man she married."

"I didn't expect it out here. We've been so busy trying to find your sister, and Zeke's leading us to the bandits. It's not like we have our privacy."

"It's hard to have privacy when Zeke won't stop hovering near you." He stopped himself before she caught the surge of jealousy that rose up within him. She might have married him, but he wasn't the one comparing her to sunsets.

"Ever since we left Flagstaff, Zeke has made it clear he thinks I'm stupid," she said. "He didn't realize that I knew I needed a canteen. He told me that horses get thirsty and need to drink at watering holes. He didn't think I knew how to read until I told him I did. Sure, he said all of us ‘rich types' read, but I think he really didn't think I could read. He criticizes my cooking, no matter how many times I've proven I can do it." She paused then let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't wait until we're done with this so I can get away from him."

Lucas' eyes widened. Her feelings of revulsion for Zeke went a lot deeper than he thought. "I didn't realize how much he's done to upset you."

"You weren't there for most of it. I'm glad you don't see me the way he does. It means a lot to me that you told him I'm smart, and it was fun to watch you say that to Zeke's face."

"Well, it's true. You are smart."

"Yes, but he doesn't think so. I saw the way he was fidgeting while I was making those biscuits tonight. He thought I was going to burn them."

Lucas wanted to argue the point with her, but it would be a lie. Zeke had worried about that.

She gave him another smile. "It doesn't matter what he thinks. The only person's opinion I care about is yours. As long as you think highly of me, I can handle whatever Zeke says."

"I do think highly of you."

Her smile widened.

He didn't think the compliment should have meant so much to her. Surely, she had to have known he'd always held her in high esteem. He had no idea that Zeke had only seen her beauty when he looked at her. It seemed to him that both he and Zeke were wrong about her. All of her was worth appreciating.

Though Zeke better not do any of it. This was Lucas' job. He had married her before Zeke even met her. That gave him the right to think of her in more intimate ways.

Compelled to show her that he was going to start treating her like his wife, Lucas kissed her again. This time he let his lips linger on hers. She melted against him, so he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. On his wedding day, who would have guessed that he would come to enjoy touching and kissing her like this?

"You two need to sleep if you want to be alert for tomorrow," Zeke called out.

Lucas jerked away from her and sat up in time to see Zeke heading off to a tree to relieve his bladder. Lucas' face grew warm with embarrassment. How long had Zeke been watching them?

"I didn't realize we woke him," Gail whispered.

Lucas settled back into his bedroll then turned to her. "I hope he didn't hear everything we said."

"I don't care if he heard or not. That's what he gets for eavesdropping."

Lucas wasn't so sure that Zeke hearing them could be considered eavesdropping, since they were all out in the open, but he supposed there was nothing he could do about it. Zeke had heard whatever he'd heard. Lucas couldn't unsay any of it. However, Lucas did think over the conversation he and Gail just shared. Had they said anything that would have upset Zeke?

Gail yawned and closed her eyes. "Good night, Lucas."

"Good night."

Lucas waited until Zeke returned to the camp before he closed his eyes. Zeke hadn't looked upset. He had fumbled around a bit while getting back into his bedroll, but otherwise, he seemed content. Lucas relaxed. They needed Zeke in order to get Bernadette. He'd hate to think that he would unknowingly say or do something to make Zeke decide to head on back to Flagstaff without helping them.

Tomorrow they would reach the canyon. And the day after that, they would finally get his poor sister out of the clutches of those bandits. Then they could put this whole experience behind them. Feeling much better at the reminder that the trek out here was only temporary, Lucas put his arm around Gail's waist and drifted off to sleep.