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Sha
«We’ll survive, honey girl.»
«That’s because yondering men don’t court ignorant little widowed eggs,» Sha
While Whip washed his hands, Sha
Dear Lord, that man eats enough for three. Of course, he works enough for six.
She bit her lip. Whip kept them in meat and fish, and she gathered fresh greens, but flour couldn’t be stalked and shot in the forest. Nor could it be gathered in the meadow. Neither could beans, apples, rice, salt, and other necessities. Not to mention luxuries like coffee and ci
«I’ll have to go into Holler Creek and buy more,» Sha
Sure. And just how will I pay for them?
Sha
No. I won’t touch that gold.
I’m not that desperate.
But Sha
After she spent the last of Silent John’s legacy, she would have to depend entirely on her own ability to wrest gold from the stubborn rocks. So far, she had enjoyed even less luck hunting gold that she had hunting meat.
Shutting the cupboard door firmly, Sha
Whip was standing only a few feet away, watching her with quicksilver eyes.
«I’ll go into Holler Creek for more supplies tomorrow,» Whip said.
«Thank you, but no. You’ve given me too much already.»
«I’ve eaten nearly all of it myself.»
«Whose stove wood are you chopping?» Sha
«I’m barely earning my keep.»
«You’re earning food, wages, and then some. You never stop working.»
«I like working,» Whip said.
«I’ll find a way to pay you.»
«I won’t take money from you.»
«But you’veearnedit,» she insisted.
«No.»
The single word made Sha
«You’re as stubborn as that mule you shod,» she said.
«Thank you. I’ve often thought the same about you. But I’ll outstubborn you, widow lady. You can count on it.»
Irritation surged through Sha
«No, yondering man. All I cancounton from you is that someday I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone. Maybe you’ll outstubborn me before then, but I doubt it.»
Without another word Sha
Not until both of them had eaten some food and drunk a cup of coffee did Sha
«What kind of jobs have you worked at since you became a yondering man?» she asked.
Whip’s mouth thi
But it did.
«Teamster, sailor, surveyor, jackaroo, teacher, shotgun rider,» Whip said in a clipped voice. «You name it and I’ve probably done it, one time or another.»
«What’s a jackaroo?»
«An Australian cowpuncher.»
«Oh.» Sha
«Here and there.»
«Find any?»
Whip shrugged. «Here and there.»
«But not enough to stake a claim?»
«Claims are like wives. They tie you down.»
«You mean you’ve walked away from gold just because it would tie you down?»
«Yes,» he said succinctly.
She swallowed. «I see.»
«Do you?» Whip asked, echoing her earlier words.
«Indeed I do. You’ll walk away from home, family, friends, gold, land, any or all of them. And for what, yondering man? What’s worth more than all that put together?»
«The sunrise I’ve never seen,» Whip said flatly. «For me, there’s nothing more beautiful or compelling than that.»
Sha
And she had just realized a truth that would break her heart.
«Love is more compelling,» she whispered. «Love is like the sun, burning through darkness…always burning, always beautiful.»
Whip started to argue, but Sha
«And like the sun,» Sha
Whip shifted uncomfortably and reached for the biscuits again.
«For you, maybe,» he said in a clipped voice, rankled again. And again not knowing why. «For me, love is a cage.»
«No one can build a cage of light.»
Whip bit back a savage word and drank scalding coffee.
«What about you?» he asked after a moment. «What do you want? Love?»
«I don’t know.»
«You mean you don’t have any dreams?» he asked curtly.
«Dreams?»
Sha
«Once I dreamed of a home,» Sha
Sha
Whip paused in the act of reaching for a biscuit. He didn’t want to pursue the subject, but found it impossible not to do just that.
«Once you dreamed of those things, but not now?» he asked.
«No, not now.»
«Why not? You can still have your dreams, Sha
«Marry me?»
Sha
«All thosefine, upstanding men,» Sha
«Just because I won’t be tied to —»
«— a home, a garden, and love don’t have a damn thing to do with what those men want,» Sha
Whip’s cheekbones became ruddy against the tan of his face.
«I told you, I never left any kids behind,» he said flatly.
«What does that have to do with anything?» Sha
«I would make a piss-poor husband!»
«Am I arguing with you?» she asked gently.
Whip opened his mouth, then closed it with a distinct clicking of his teeth.
«No,» he said curtly.
«Then why are you yelling at me?»
«I’m not yelling.»
«I’m so relieved. I fall apart when I’m yelled at.»
Whip shot Sha
«Now,» she said, chewing thoughtfully, «where were we? Ah, yes. We’re not yelling about the fact that neither one of us is in a rush to get married.»
«It’s fine for me to be on my own,» Whip said grimly. «It’s different for you.»
«Really? Why?»
«Because you can’t take care of yourself and you damn well know it!»
«Oh, good. Another subject not to yell about. Pass the jam, please, and isn’t the weather lovely?»
Whip said something blasphemous under his breath.