Trail of Kisses (2 page)

Lynne crossed her arms, glancing from her
father to Mr. Lawson. She was outnumbered. She was being trundled
off to relatives like a helpless child, and how it stung. All she
could do was swallow her sadness and harden her heart enough to
bear it. “I see.”

“
I’m glad you do,” her father
replied.

He was teasing. She wasn’t in the mood to be
teased. What had started out as a bad idea on her father’s part was
already on the verge of becoming a catastrophe, as far as she was
concerned.

Cade Lawson shifted his weight from one leg to
the other and studied the tumultuous look on Miss Lynne Tremaine’s
pretty face. She was a beauty all right, with thick, dark hair and
deep brown eyes a man could drown in. But one look told him that if
he wasn’t careful, a man looking into those eyes would drown in
storms. Clearly the beauty wasn’t happy about going west. He’d been
an optimistic fool to think this job would be an easy way to get
back into George Tremaine’s good graces. Now he was beginning to
see it for what it was: a trial by fire.

“
Papa, I promise you, I do not
need this stranger looking out for me,” she said. Her arms were
crossed tight in a way that emphasized her bosom. It was a nice
bosom too. “You can pay Mr. Lawson what he’s owed, thank him for
his time, and send him on his way.”

Judge Tremaine sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“You have no case, my dearest,” he told his daughter. “It is too
dangerous to go alone, and that is the end of the
story.”

Lynne huffed and dropped her arms, tilting up
her chin in a way that had ‘stubborn as a mule’ written all over
it.

Cade felt more than a little sorry for the
judge, and Miss Tremaine, if he was being honest. Clearly, neither
of them wanted this. George Tremaine had explained the threats
against his brother’s family months back, but seeing the mournful
look on the judge’s face and the unshed tears in his daughter’s
eyes drove home how hard it truly was for both of them.

Lynne sent Cade a sideways glance, as if she
had heard his thoughts. Her lips twitched again the way they had
when she had first set eyes on him, teasing and disapproving in
turn. Cade kept his face as straight as could be, willing himself
not to look at those lips. Those were kissing lips or he wasn’t the
best shot in Arapahoe County. He didn’t have time to put up with
them one way or another. He had his own hopes for this
journey.

“
I can assure you, Miss Tremaine,”
he said, “that I will see you through to your uncle as safely and
quickly as the trail allows.”

She eyed him with that tilted chin of hers, as
if sizing up a horse she might purchase. “Well, I—”

“
Your daughter is in good hands
with me.” He stepped right over her protest to give reassurance
where it was most needed. “I promise you, sir, that I won’t let any
harm come to her.”

Lynne huffed.

Judge Tremaine smiled. “I believe you, son.”
He extended a hand.

Cade switched the leads for the two horses
into one hand, took the judge’s offered hand, and shook. He didn’t
need words to tell the judge that he would keep his daughter in
line. How hard could it be? She was a young slip of a thing. She
had spice, that much was certain, but it was nothing he couldn’t
deal with. She would settle into the monotony of trail routine and
end up docile enough as they walked through endless miles of
prairie.

“
I will go,” she said, “but I am
only going under protest.”

“
Understood, my dearest,” Judge
Tremaine said.

“
And if I’m not happy in the
Colorado Territory, Papa, if I miss you and Robert and Graham and
the girls too much, I am purchasing a ticket for the first
stagecoach home.”

“
Of course you will be happy.”
Judge Tremaine answered her threat by taking her in his arms and
kissing her forehead.

She hugged him in return. In fact, as Cade
stood watching, a flash of sorrow that bordered on panic twisted
Lynne’s face. It was gone by the time she let go of her father and
pulled back, replaced by a puzzled frown.

“
Papa, what on earth do you have
in your coat pocket?” she asked.

The judge gave her a guilty smile, one that
was full of sadness as well. He lifted one side of his coat and
reached into an inner pocket, bringing out a doll. It was old and
faded, the paint on its porcelain face chipped in one spot. Lynne
squeaked and took it from him. She held the doll to her chest for a
moment, stroking its painted hair. Then she swallowed hard and
tried to give her back.

“
I am not a little girl, Papa,”
she insisted, stiff and straight. “I do not need old toys for my
new life.”

Cade covered his smile with one hand. Judge
Tremaine didn’t seem at all deterred.

“
Your mother gave you that doll.
There was a time when you wouldn’t let her out of your sight. Did
you think I would let you travel all the way across the prairie
without her?”

Lynne clamped her mouth shut. She stole a
glance at Cade. He cleared his throat and wrestled his expression
back to neutrality. Lynne arched an eyebrow and held her doll close
to her chest once more.

“
I’ll take her because you asked
me to,” she said. “To remind me of the home I love. Just as I will
take every mile of this journey only for you.”

She turned to the wagon, holding the doll out
as if looking for a place to store it. The boy Judge Tremaine had
hired to drive the wagon took it from her with a wide smile. At
least one of them was happy about this trip.

“
I’ll find a nice, safe place for
her, Miss Lynne,” he said.

The corner of Cade’s mouth twitched in a grin.
Benjamin would guard the doll and he would guard the
girl.

“
Mount up! Mount up!” The trail
boss’s call sounded through the sea of wagons waiting to set out.
“Start moving, folks! Last one to Oregon picks up the
tab!”

A pack of miners in the next wagon over
guffawed at the joke. Cade caught himself chuckling. It was about
time they got on the trail. He was anxious to get home and see if
he still had his job.

He turned to Lynne to ask if she needed any
help climbing into the wagon only to find her clasped in her
father’s tight embrace.

“
I’m really going.” Her high,
genuinely distressed voice was muffled against her father’s
shoulder. “I’m really leaving you.”

“
It’s for the best,” her father
answered, choked up himself.

Cade turned to the side and pretended not to
be listening so that they could have as much privacy as they were
going to get in a sea of wagons, animals, and pioneers.

Judge Tremaine held Lynne at arm’s length. “Be
brave, my girl,” he said, voice rough.

“
I will, Papa.” Lynne sniffled. “I
love you so much.”

Cade peeked at her long enough to see her
swallow and stand straighter, determination accentuating her
beauty.

“
You always were my brave girl,”
her father said.

“
And now I’m your brave woman,”
Lynne answered.

For a moment they stood looking at each other.
Then they launched into each other’s arms once more.

“
Mount up, folks!” The trail boss
called, passing near them. “It’s off into the frontier for us, and
the sooner the better.”

Cade gave the man a quick nod as he passed.
Then he took charge.

“
I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said,
stepping forward with their horses. “We need to get
going.”

Lynne and her father squeezed each other one
last time before stepping apart.

“
I’ll write to you as soon as I
get to Denver City,” Lynne said. “Sooner. I’ll send updates at the
forts that we pass.”

“
And I’ll write to you and send it
by stagecoach so that my letter will be waiting for you at the
other end.”

Lynne made a sound between a laugh and a
sniffle. “If only you would send me by stagecoach as
well.”

“
Go with Mr. Lawson,” Judge
Tremaine said. “And stay safe.”

“
I will. I love you.”

Cade could see Lynne wanted to say more,
wanted to stay there and argue with her father or hug him a little
longer, but the time had come. She squared her shoulders and
stiffened her back as she turned away from her father and marched
toward the wagon. It could be she was every bit as brave as her
father had said. The judge lifted a hand to wipe his face, then
stepped back through the crowd who had come to see their loved ones
off.

Ben resumed his seat driving the wagon and
snapped the long whip over the backs of the oxen who would pull it
from Independence to Denver City. Oxen weren’t like horses. They
responded to verbal commands and prods with a pole or whip, and in
the din of dozens of wagons leaving, they were confused. Before
they would move an inch, Cade had to hand the horses’ leads over to
Lynne so that he could jog to the front of the team and pull them
to get the whole operation going. There was no set order to the
wagons in their train, but the families and teams of miners and
would-be entrepreneurs moved into position smoothly.

Once the oxen were moving, Cade turned back to
find Lynne halfway through mounting her horse.

“
Just a minute there,” he called,
striding back to her. “I was going to take her saddle off and tie
her to the back of the wagon to walk.”

Lynne lowered her foot from the stirrup, and
gaped at him. “Why ever would you do a foolish thing like
that?”

Cade frowned. The last thing he needed was for
his charge to go questioning him. “You don’t want to tire her
out.”

“
Tire her out?” Lynne blinked at
him. “Mr. Lawson, Clover is a horse. They were made for
riding.”

“
Miss Tremaine,” he answered her
stubborn for stubborn, “this is a trail. We’ll be walking over
seven hundred miles to Denver City, and it’ll take six weeks if
we’re lucky and maybe three months if we’re not. You don’t want to
wear that horse out before her time.”

Lynne sniffed and resumed her efforts to
mount. “I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life.” She
pulled herself up with surprising ease and plunked into the
sidesaddle. It was unusual to see a sidesaddle this far west, but
not unheard of. Lynne sat on hers with perfect grace, like a lady.
“You’re free to walk if you want to spare your horse, Mr.
Lawson.”

She nudged her horse forward, but didn’t get
far with the crush of wagons, people, and animals all trying to
move in the same direction. Cade fetched his horse from where it
had started to wander off and walked it up to Lynne’s
side.

“
Do you see any other women
riding?” he asked, and before she could answer him, said, “No. No
you don’t. Because on the trail, women ride in the
wagons.”

She sent him an arch look down her nose. “It
looks to me as though most women do not ride in the wagons, they
walk.”

Cade fought the urge to sigh aloud. She was
only being contrary to hide her sadness, he told himself. It would
pass. If he could just get through this journey, he would be back
where he needed to be to build the rest of his life.

“
All right, then,” he said. “Get
down and walk like most women.”

“
Ah, but you see, Mr. Lawson,” she
said with a smile, “I am not most women.”

She had that one damn right.

Before he could argue with her, she tapped her
horse’s side. It responded quickly and pushed forward as Lynne
steered it around the wagon and set off as though she hadn’t a care
in the world. Benjamin had the gall to grin after her as if she was
a prize at the county fair. They were a big train, with dozens of
wagons, hundreds of dangers. Half of the train was going to Denver
City while the other half was in it for the entire months-long
journey to Oregon and the Pacific coast. Cade thanked his lucky
stars that he didn’t have to escort Lynne all the way. He had an
itchy feeling that Denver City would be more than far
enough.

He muttered a curse under his breath and swung
his horse around to mount. “This is definitely a
punishment.”

Chapter
Two

Two weeks along the trail, Lynne was still not
ready to let go of her sadness. From Independence, they had crossed
the miles and miles of flat grassland that made up the northeastern
corner of the Kansas Territory. The bustle of the city quickly gave
way to the monotony of trail routine. Wake up, walk for four or
five hours, stop to rest and eat during the heat of the day, walk
for four or five hours, stop to sleep. Every day. The same food,
the same strangers, the same gloom settled in her soul. She missed
home, missed her family with her whole heart. The trail was an
irritating, uncomfortable bore. The only interesting thing to look
at all day was Cade Lawson’s devilishly handsome face. But comely
though he was and as much as she appreciated a handsome man, she
wasn’t about to follow his orders. Every day, he told her she
should walk like the other women, so every day she rode. This new
day would be no exception.