He raised his brows. “Something like what’s come between us.” The darkening of his eyes couldn’t be only from shadows.
Now it was her turn for her ears to burn. She shifted her body to study White Horse, doing her best to shift her thoughts as well. With Tanner so near, and the way his hand slid up to wrap around her back, settling at the small of her waist, her mind struggled to think of anything other than him.
Besides ... White Horse and her sister? He was a brother to them. Rosie didn’t think of him in any other way.
Did she?
Lorelei adjusted the men’s trousers she wore as she stepped outside in the dim light of early morning. White Horse had said he and Rosie were leaving at first light to go search for the cave again, so she had to be ready.
The courtyard stood empty, except for Curly, who only lifted his sleepy head to study her as he lay nestled by the fence.
She moved toward him. “Don’t you recognize me, boy?”
Perhaps he hadn’t known it was her without the skirt he liked to nuzzle, for at the sound of her voice, he scrambled to his feet and started toward her. His steps were awkward, as though his legs hadn’t awakened as much as the rest of him, but he managed a gangly trot by the time he reached her.
He sniffed her pants, and she stroked his neck as she usually did. “Tanner’s going to feed you this morning, and tonight too, if I’m not back in time. He’ll take good care of you.” This would be the first day Curly would go without having the abscessed hoof soaked in salt water, but she’d been planning to stop anyway. He should be fine. “You behave for him, do you understand?” The calf took a piece of her trouser cloth in his mouth and began sucking, as he did with her skirts sometimes.
She stepped away and turned toward the gate. Men’s voices sounded outside, so Tanner and White Horse must already be out with the horses.
When she passed through the opening, both men held the reins of a saddled horse, Tanner gripping her own mare. He was speaking to White Horse, but he glanced her way as she approached. His gaze stalled, and his eyes widened a little.
White Horse too looked her way, and his mouth twitched.
It must be the trousers. She really hated these things, but setting off into the mountains would be much easier wearing them.
As she neared, Tanner blinked, then looked from her to White Horse as his throat worked. Was he trying to remember what he’d been speaking of before?
Finally, he turned back to her and motioned toward the saddle. “I packed a satchel of food. Just a few extra things in case you’re gone longer than you expect.” He gave a weak smile.
“Thank you. I hope we’re out no more than a day.” She moved around to tie on the bundle she’d been carrying. What if something happened to keep them longer? What if Curly needed her? Perhaps she shouldn’t go on this search.
“I’ll take good care of the calf. Don’t worry about him.” Tanner must have read her mind. He’d been doing that often of late. “You haven’t fed him this morning, have you?”
She should have. Why hadn’t she risen earlier to do that before she left? “No, but maybe I have time before Rosie—”
“Lorelei.” He broke through the weight of her guilt. “I’ll feed him. This morning, this evening, and every morn and eve until you return. You don’t have to worry about him.”
The directness of his gaze held her, helped slow her breathing. She took a deep breath, then released it, allowing her worries to seep out with the spent air.
The edges of his eyes crinkled. “Shall I soak and rewrap his hoof each day?”
She shook her head. “I was going to stop today. The hoof seems healed. You can take the wrapping off if you’d like, but it’s fine to stay on another day.”
“I’ll take care of him.” He spoke the words with a firmness that sounded like a promise.
She worked for a smile of thanks, even as that knot of guilt for leaving tried to rear its head again.
A rider appeared at the northern pass. Rosie. Her sister sat atop a horse the same way she traveled through life—with competence and determination that made her a natural leader. Riley had once joked that she would make a good army general, and he’d not been wrong. But though she didn’t wear a uniform, those same qualities made her an excellent leader of the Collins clan.
She scanned them as she approached, and she didn’t wait to reach them before she called out, “Mount up. We have ground to cover.”
Lorelei’s mouth twitched at her sister’s lack of greeting. As she moved to her mare’s side to comply, she couldn’t help saying, “Good morning to you too, Rosie. Sleep well?”
When Lorelei landed in the saddle, she glanced over to see her sister’s expression. Rosemary had found her own grin, acknowledging the reprimand. “I did, though not as long as I might’ve wished. I want to make sure we have time to search all those mountains before we need to get back.”
With a quick farewell to Tanner, they headed out. Just before they crested the rise that would hide the trading post from view, Lorelei glanced back.
He still stood where they’d left him, a short distance from the fort. He raised a hand to her, and she did the same. From this distance, she couldn’t see his expression, but she could feel the connection between them.
