Mountain Moonlight - By Jane Toombs Page 0,32

body lying next to him. Before he could enjoy it too much, he slid out from under the covering sleeping bag, recovered his strewn clothes and donned them.

Davis wasn't likely to be out exploring early, so there was no reason to be concerned about the boy wondering why his mother and Bram were sleeping together naked. Pauline was a different story. Not that she'd care or tell anyone, but he didn't want her to know what was between him and Vala. This was private.

Pauline, not being born yesterday, would certainly suspect, but she wouldn't know for sure and, somehow, that mattered to him. What had happened between him and Vala was a secret he wanted to share with no one else except Vala. First of all he had to come to terms with it. As he walked toward the cabin, he realized he'd called it square on when he'd told himself Vala was different. In herself, and as far as he was concerned.

Sex with women was easy. When it was over, that was the end. Somehow, though, his night with Vala had been more than just plain sex. It scared the hell out of him.

Vala woke to daylight and saw Bram, fully dressed, walking away. Without a word. Even though she knew she wouldn't want them to be found lying naked together, it upset her that Bram hadn't so much as offered her a good morning kiss. Or even the words.

Over was over, is that what he meant to convey?

As she fumbled for her clothes, she tried to tell herself she didn't care. There'd been no promises exchanged, after all. Bram had asked her to look at the stars with him. A reluctant smile broke through her hurt--they hadn't seen much of the stars, had they?

Before she headed for the cabin, she zipped up the sleeping bags one at a time, rolled and tied them, leaving no evidence behind. Davis would never understand.

She wasn't any too sure she understood. Mostly she felt confused. When she hadn't expected more than the one night they spent in each other's arms, why did she have this aching feeling of loss when she thought there'd be no more? It frightened her.

Once inside the cabin it was clear Davis was feeling like himself again--except for a sore backside. He was torn between his eagerness to go on with the treasure hunt and the realization it would hurt to ride.

"We'll go along with Pauline," Vala told him. "She says you'll be pretty well healed by tomorrow. So we'll wait until then."

"But Bram told me you already found the bear. That's the second marker. So only two are left--the snake and the deer. We're almost there."

"They'll still be waiting for us even if we don't hit the trail until tomorrow," she said.

"I have things to teach you, boy," Pauline put in. "You were too sleepy yesterday to understand. Besides, pain doesn't make for a good listener."

"What things?" Davis muttered.

Pauline cast a pointed glance at Bram who was busy stirring oatmeal on the stove. Then she looked at Vala before fastening her gaze on Davis. "Secrets." She hissed the word at him.

His eyes widened. "Really?"

Pauline nodded. "As soon as we get rid of those two. They didn't bring me back the roots I need so they got to hunt for them today. Once they're gone...." She let her words trail off and smiled conspiratorially at Davis.

He smiled back, obviously impatient to be rid of Bram and her, Vala thought, admiring Pauline's deft handling of her son.

But when breakfast was over, cleared away and she and Bram were saddling the horses, Vala wasn't so sure it was a good idea for the two of them to go off alone together. Not that she expected or anticipated a repeat of last night, but for the first time since they'd met again in Apache Junction, she didn't feel at ease with Bram.

Once they were mounted, the trail he took only allowed for single horse passage. She followed, not attempting conversation. Pauline had given Bram the directions and her the basket with the digging and clipping gear. All Vala had overheard was Spanish something.

They rode farther than they had yesterday, through rocky defiles and between huge clumps of cacti, until Bram made a sharp right turn between two mesa-like rises. She was surprised to see a clump of paloverde trees. Before they'd only been visible in the ravines and crevices where they'd get the most water, but here they were on the