“I don’t want to use you like that.” He shifted away, turning to face her, and held her eye contact. “I’m sorry your father did. I promise I never will. You’re safe with me.” He infused meaning into his words and hoped she saw sincerity in his eyes. “When we’re back on my family’s ranch, you’ll be safe there too. No one will make you do anything you don’t want to.”
Wariness flashed in her gaze. Did she not believe him? Or did she worry about going to their ranch?
He’d have to cross those hurdles later.
He settled beside her again, enjoying the feeling of her shoulder against his, her hand in his.
It was amazing that such ugliness—her father, his business, these caves—could coexist with the beauty of this place.
How could they explore the tunnel without being caught?
He mulled the question. “If we had a couple of lookouts, we could search the cave where the storage areas are.” He angled toward her and found her watching him. He wouldn’t define the look in her eyes, needing to attend to the problem at hand, but if he were to define it…
Wonder?
He swallowed emotion that crawled up his chest. There was nothingwonderfulabout him. He was just a man who knew how to treat women. The fact that she was so surprised by him wasn’t so much about his—for lack of a better word—goodness, but about her father’s ugliness. And that of all the people he’d chosen to surround his daughter with.
Focus, Coulter.
Right.
“Sampson and your friend Ezekiel. Could they distract your Father and Jedidiah?”
Fear flitted across her gaze. “No. Nobody talks to Dad or Jedidiah unless they have to. They’ll punish a man for the tiniest infraction.”
Gil didn’t want to put his brother or that godly old man at risk. “What about at night? Where does Jedidiah sleep?”
“He has a chamber off the side of the bunk room.”
Another hidden room Gil didn’t know about. How many more could there be? He’d have to talk through the map with her and see if she remembered any other spaces, no matter how insignificant.
But an idea was beginning to form.
“Maybe tonight when both of them should be sleeping, we can ask Sampson to help. He can stand inside the tunnel near the bunk room and give some kind of signal if Jedidiah comes out. Do we need a lookout at the other end for your father?”
Doubt gathered in her expression. “Probably not.”
Probably not.
Should Gil ask Ezekiel so they could be certain? Bringing in another person would add to the risk—that they’d get caught, or that someone could get hurt. Maybe she could watch for her father and distract him if he started to leave the cave
Sampson wouldn’t like the plan, but he’d go along. Gil just had to find a way to ask. “Are you going to tend to Ezekiel while your father and I eat at midday?”
She gave a wary nod. “He was in a lot of pain yesterday.”
“Could you slip a note to Sampson, or put it under his blanket?”
She let out an exasperated breath. Clearly, she understood his plan and it didn’t sit well with her. “I suppose.” Her browsgathered in a frown. “The sapphires might be somewhere else. I need to think about it.”
“All right.”
She pushed to her feet. “I want to check on a flower I found on the other side of the waterfall before we go back.”
He stood, too, as she stepped to the edge of the bank, then onto a flat stone that poked up above the water’s surface.
As she moved to the next rock, he scanned the opposite bank for what flower she meant. A low bush with bright green leaves sat at the base of the falls. Purple flowers peeked out from the leaves. It wasn’t a plant he’d seen in this area, and it was lovely. No wonder she liked it.
Jess threw her hands wide, and his gaze snapped to her.
