the sheriff in Hays.” He glared toward Lester, who had regained consciousness and was littering the air with foul curses about the pain in his head and the indignity of being tied sideways on his horse. “Wake Jesse up and tell him to watch them. Then get back here as quick as you can. Griff and I will round up the strays, as long as they haven’t run far, and meet you back here.”
Looked like sleep wasn’t going to happen tonight. By the time they got this rustled herd back to camp and combined with the others, there were likely to only be a couple of hours before daybreak. Not worth the trouble of getting back on his bedroll.
“Got it, boss.” Charlie and Morris headed for their horses.
The assignments taken care of, Luke turned to Jonas and Emma, who stood side-by-side next to Jonas’s horse. The sight of her downcast head stirred up a storm of conflicting emotions. She actually looked as though she felt guilty for being rescued. What was wrong with this woman? Didn’t she realize how close she’d come to—He shook off the images that had plagued him from the moment he saw her being hauled into the rustlers’ camp. The idea that she’d committed some sort of wrongdoing by knocking a man off his feet when he was about to shoot a friend was so foreign to Luke’s thinking he couldn’t get his mind around it. The whole thing made him angry.
“Charlie and Morris will make sure you get back safely. This horse can ride double, no problem.”
Jonas stepped forward and extended a hand. “Once again, the Lord has used you to help my family.”
Luke stared at the outstretched hand for a moment. Jonas’s beliefs might be a little more than he could handle, but Luke couldn’t help respecting the man. He lived what he talked.
He clasped the work-roughened hand. “The diversion was your idea. A good one too.”
A step sideways and he stood in front of Emma. “Here. Let me help you up.”
As he stooped to clasp his hands for her to step into, he realized she was not wearing Jonas’s trousers. She must have taken them off before going to sleep. Instead, he placed his hands around her middle to lift her up into the saddle. His fingers circled her waist, which was much tinier beneath that bulky black dress than he’d realized. Her arms rose and she placed her hands on his shoulders, lifting her head as she did so. Her face was mere inches from his. Twin moons reflected in the eyes that searched his, and glowed on the even white teeth he glimpsed between her parted lips. Anger evaporated, replaced by the almost overpowering urge to pull her close and cover her mouth with his. The memory of her arms around him when she was rescued returned so strongly his hands trembled at her waist.
Beside them, Jonas cleared his throat and shifted his weight from one foot to another.
Exercising a will he didn’t know he possessed, Luke lifted her up into the saddle. Before he released her, she spoke, her voice low and earnest. “I’m sorry I acted foolishly by leaving the camp and putting everyone in danger.”
So that was the cause for her guilt. She felt responsible. Sort of like he’d felt responsible for Willie’s and Kirk’s deaths yesterday. Well, and in a way, she was.
“Why did you do that, Emma? You’re not usually reckless.”
Her eyes flickered sideways, toward Jonas, before returning to his. She spoke in a whisper so low he almost didn’t hear. “I wanted to talk to you alone.”
She removed her hands from his shoulders and leaned back, balancing her weight on the horse’s back. Luke couldn’t tear his gaze away as he stepped back to let Jonas mount. A girl sneaking away from her family to meet up with him in the middle of the night? Jesse would rib him forever if he found out.
But this wasn’t any girl. This was Emma.
Jonas dug his heels in, and the horse trotted away. Charlie and Morris, each leading a second horse with a prisoner lying crosswise over the saddle, fell in behind them. Luke watched until they entered the pass and disappeared behind the hills.
Griff came up beside him leading their horses. He tossed Whitey’s reins at Luke’s chest. “We’d best get to rounding up those strays.”
Luke tore his gaze away from the empty pass to find Griff grinning at him. The old cowboy pushed his hat back