Just a Kiss Away (19 page)

“It’s not all my fault. You let me have it, remember?”

“I’ll let you have it, all right.” He took two more menacing steps toward her.

Too late she realized that trying to split the blame was not a good thing to do, especially with a frustrated man who still had two knives.

“I ought to make you climb up there and get that knife.” Lollie looked up at the tree, way, way up. Her stomach lurched. Suddenly her head felt light and she raised her hand to her forehead. “I don’t feel very well.”

He started counting again, then muttered something about “all those berries.”

Chicken gizzards! He knew. She had been so sure about sneaking them, always making sure his back was turned and he was busy hacking away before she’d eaten them. There had been those two times he’d turned around while she was still chewing, but she’d swallowed so quickly. Oh, well, she’d been found out, so she might as well use e fruit to her advantage. She delved into her pocket and held out a handful of berries. “Since you figured it out, here, have some.”

“I’m not that stupid.” He shrugged out of the pack and put :t and the rifle against another tree. “Stay by these and don’t move” With that pronouncement he strode to the coconut palm to pulled off his boots.

“Are you really gonna climb all the way up there?”

He unsheathed the small knife. “How the hell else am I going to get the machete?”

“Maybe it would fall down it you threw something at it.

“You’re too heavy.”

She’d have loved to throw her shoes at him again, but one more glance at the knife told her she’d thrown enough things for a while.

He placed the knife between his teeth and straddled the tree, pulling himself up the scarred gray palm bark like a logger shimmying up a Carolina pine.

She watched him, her breath slowing as he moved higher and higher up the tree. Its base was sturdy and thick, but the higher Sam got, the thinner the trunk was. His movements slowed. Every time he pulled himself upward, the tree would bend, a little more and a little more, until it was arched like a rainbow. Within a few minutes he reached the coconuts. He wrapped one arm around the trunk and tried to grab the knife. His arms weren’t long enough. He looked down, and Lollie could almost hear him swear.

He seemed to do a lot of swearing. An occasional “damn” slipped from her lately, often preceding the word “Yankee.” That was pretty mild compared to the language her brothers used when they didn’t know she was around. Actually, she’d learned some real humdingers, but she would never use them. Ladies didn’t swear. Lord knew she had reason enough to swear. Besides which being a lady in this jungle had its drawbacks, and if the truth were told, Lollie had always hated those silly rules. A coconut thudded to the ground like a falling rock, giving her attention back to Sam. She could see him pull small knife from his teeth. Hanging on with one a leaned out and sawed at some more coconuts, eat dropping like the last.

Sunlight broke through the clouds and beamed though the ceiling of treetops. She shaded her eyes with her hand. Sam still couldn’t reach the machete.

“Lollie! Can you hear me?”

“Yes!”

“I’m going to cut this whole bunch, so stay back. The knife’s going to come down with them!”

“Okay!” she shouted, then turned to stand in safety behind a banyan tree. She stopped when she thought she heard him say something else, something about he’d be damned if he’d lose the money now, after earning every last dime. It didn’t make sense to her, so she figured the machete must have had something to do with his job at the camp. She moved around behind the tree.

A moment of silence hung in the air, and then the coconuts pounded to the ground louder than horses’ hooves, the machete falling out to lie a couple of inches from the mound of green coconuts.

Lollie figured it was safe, so she walked toward the knife, but her eyes were still on Sam, who slid down the trunk in a quick minute.

“You got it!” She smiled.

He just gave her one of those male looks that said “of course I got it.” He walked past her, picked up the machete, and examined it with a practiced eye.

“Is it okay?”

He checked the edge, then grunted. “It’s fine.” She breathed a quick but very quiet sigh of relief.

He turned and kicked a coconut away from the bunch, then hunkered down beside it. He raised the knife and slammed it downward, cleaving the coconut in two. He handed her half. “Here drink this. We might as well not waste it.”

Lollie took the green, bowl-like shell and looked inside. Though the outside was bright green, another hard brown hairy shell lay within. Inside that was a rim of white nut meat. A small amount of milky, sweet-smelling liquid pooled inside. She watched Sam lift his half to his mouth and drink. Slowly she did the same.

Her dulled taste buds almost exploded. The liquid was strong with the flavor of coconut, a delicacy she’d had only in small flakes on special desserts or in rare holiday macaroons. It was as wonderful as those berries and she drank some more, until she could feel the heat of Sam’s gaze. She lowered the shell from her mouth, licking the juice she could feel clinging to her upper lip. He looked away, digging his small knife into the white meat inside the shell.

He must still be mad at me, she thought, drinking down more of the juice and watching him cut some coconut.

As if drawn by her stare he looked up. He stared for a long moment, then looked at the coconut and jabbed the knife into the shell.

She winced.

He withdrew the knife. A hunk of coconut meat was poised on its sharp end, and he handed it to her. “Here. Taste this.”

She plucked it off the knife tip and took a small bite. It was tougher than an apple, but not nearly as bad as the jerky, and the flavor was smooth and rich and exotic. She smiled at Sam and bit off some more.

He stared at her for a long, puzzling time, during which the air got thicker and steamier. Then he quickly tossed his coconut into the bushes, straightened, and strode over to where the pack and rifle were, his stiff back to her.

“I’m sorry about the machete.”

He slung on the pack and rifle and grunted as he turned. “Forget it.”

She finished the coconut and gave the shell a look of longing. “Can we take the rest of the coconuts with us? They really taste fine.” She watched him hopefully.

“I’m not going to lug those coconuts, and the pack, and the rifle, and you through this jungle.”

“I didn’t ask you to. I’ll carry them.”

His snort of laughter hit her like a slap in the face, which made her all that much more determined to show him she could do it.

“I can carry them . . . well, not all of them, but that small bunch couldn’t be too heavy. I can strap them to my back, the way you do with that pack. Besides, we’ll be using them up along the way.”

He gave her a long, thoughtful look, then walked over to the bunch of coconuts and lifted them by the thick green stem, testing their weight. He withdrew the machete and sliced two more off, then put them back down. He removed the pack and knelt down, opening it and pulling out some rope.

After a few minutes’ work, he had a rope sling attached to the nuts, and he stood, holding them out to her. “They’re all yours.”

She grinned and joined him.

“Turn around.”

She did, and he slid the rope slings up her arms until they were secure over her shoulders.

“Turn,” he ordered.

She did.

“Now pull your arms back so your elbows touch the coconuts.”

She did. Now her shoulders were arched back, her chest out. She waited for his next command.

Nothing happened.

She looked at him. His gaze was on her chest. It roved slowly upward until he was looking her in the eyes.

After a minute he smiled then asked, “Is that too heavy?”

“No.” She moved her shoulders a bit, and he shook the ropes. It wasn’t too heavy, and even if it had been, she wouldn’t have cared, because the flavor of that juice still lingered in her mouth and she wanted more.

“You’re sure? The more you walk the heavier that’s going to feel.”

“I know,” she assured him. “I’m fine. If it gets too heavy I’ll tell you, all right?”

“Just remember, I’m not carrying it.”

She heaved a sigh. “Fine.”

“I just want it clear from the start. Okay?”

“Okay.” She watched him pick up the pack and rifle, and they moved on, Lollie feeling right proud.

Her pockets were filled with berries, and those wonderful coconuts were tied to her back. The journey couldn’t be so bad now.

Besides the freshness and flavor of their new food, Lollie finally had something to do, something she didn’t have to depend on Sam for. So off she went, marching along behind him, her stomach full and her thirst quenched, coconuts bobbing on her small, straight back, and her eyes focused on Sam and all that intriguing, massive muscle.

“We have to go over that hill ahead,” he said between bites of his own. “It’ll be pretty steep climbing. You might want to lighten your load.”

“You mean leave my coconuts here?” She stared at him as if he’d suggested she cut off her hands.

“Last time I looked, that was the only load you carried.” The sarcasm was automatic with him, but he managed to bite back the rest of his thought—that lopping off her head wouldn’t relieve the load at all. It didn’t seem necessary now to cut her down as he had before. The last few hours had been tolerable, and they were making some time, even if it wasn’t as good as he’d have done alone.

She eyed the five remaining coconuts as if they were her treasured pets. “They were getting a little heavy, but we just ate one, so that means the load will be lighter.” She smiled and he could see the wheels turn slowly. “I don’t suppose you would—”

“No.” He stood, ready to move on before she was foolish enough to ask him to carry the damn things.

“I didn’t think so.” She sighed loudly, then got up and shouldered the coconuts again.

“We’re not that far from camp. You don’t need those. If it’s too much for you, leave them here.”

Her face grew determined. “That’s not the point. Toting these coconuts is my job, and I intend to do it.”

“Have it your own way, then.” Sam turned and closed the hundred-foot gap between them and the hillside trail. She stayed right behind him, and for the next hour they climbed, trudging up the steep dirt sections of the trail and crawling carefully over the walls of rock that often blocked their progress.

She lagged behind him now, and he turned in time to see her swipe at the back of her hair. She gave her hand a puzzled look, shook her head a second, and waited. Apparently nothing happened, because she shrugged and met his gaze.

“I thought I felt something.” She turned around. “Do you see anything?”

He inspected her back. “Nothing there. Not even a mosquito.” He turned back and stepped on a high, jagged rock ledge that ran along the sharp face of the hill, forming a bridge between the end of the trail and where it started again some hundred fifty yards away.