Undercover Texas - By Robin Perini Page 0,51
guess you don’t forget.”
They rode past the destroyed structures and picked up a faint trail that wound around and led into some rolling hills nearby.
Erin glanced up at a telephone pole. The sophisticated security monitoring system was attached to the top of the pole. With equipment like that, it was amazing anyone got near the ranch. How much was functional?
She said nothing until they passed a second one that had fallen onto the ground.
“Wait,” she called to Hunter. She indicated the monitoring equipment on the ground. “I want to take that security camera back to the cabin.”
“What are you planning, Erin?”
She paused. “We have nothing to warn us if someone’s sneaking up on the cabin. I don’t think it would take much for me to repair it.”
“I like it. I’d feel a lot better if we had an advanced warning system. Keep using that sexy brain of yours, sweetheart.”
His words fed a warm glow in her core. “With the quality of this equipment, I bet I could come up with a design that’s tamper-proof.” Erin could already see the circuits in her head.
They started back a different way. Hunter pointed out some of the local grasses and birds, and a short while later, they came upon a gurgling stream. With the Texas heat, it was a welcome sight.
“Want to stop for a while?” he asked. “I brought some food and something a little special in case we needed it.”
Erin shifted in the saddle, and the baby started to fuss. “If I don’t stop, I won’t be able to walk when we get back to the cabin.”
Hunter helped Erin down from her horse, then pulled his binoculars and some snacks out of his saddlebag. Brandon had been lulled asleep by the horse’s cadence, but because of the jostling required for his mother to dismount, he was wide-awake now.
Hunter built a small fire, and Erin studied the water’s ripple. “I didn’t think west Texas had creeks.”
“There’s the occasional water source, but having this makes Logan’s land all the more valuable.”
Hunter looked around him. “This is the kind of place I’ve always wanted, you know. My mother and I lived in a tiny apartment. I slept on the sofa and I dreamed of wide-open space. That’s one of the reasons I joined the military.”
“My dream was a lot different than yours,” Erin said softly. “I wanted to run a research lab and invent things that would make life better.” She toyed with the grass brushing her legs. “I reached that goal, but it didn’t turn out like I imagined. I guess after all this, I need a new goal.”
Hunter lifted a package of marshmallows and chocolate. “How about we start with s’mores.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I got a hankering for them. We’re in the middle of nowhere. Why not?”
She watched as he skewered the white fluffs on a stick and handed one to her. She let it toast and then suddenly the marshmallow erupted into a flame.
Quickly she doused fire with a few quick breaths. A crispy, crunchy, charred mess remained.
“Want a new one?”
Erin shook her head. “Hand me the chocolate and the graham cracker.”
She trapped the marshmallow on the stick. The hard charcoal crust faded and oozed inner sweetness. She licked the sticky mess and looked up at Hunter.
“I finally figured you out,” she said softly. “You’re a burnt marshmallow.”
“How do you figure?”
“You act all tough and hard.”
“I’m a spy. Of course I’m tough,” Hunter said.
She handed him Brandon and he kissed the boy’s cheek.
“You’re gooey on the inside.”
Brandon rolled over on his back and grinned up at them. Erin blew a raspberry kiss on his tummy, and her son laughed. He reached out his arms to Hunter. “Da.”
“He knows you’re gooey, too,” Erin said, a bittersweet realization that this might be the only time left for the baby to be with his father.
“I’ll miss him,” Hunter admitted. “I just didn’t know how it would be. The reality of having a son is so much more than I expected. Leaving him...” Hunter paused and looked into Erin’s eyes. “Leaving you both is going to kill me.”
She took a deep breath. “What if you quit, Hunter? What if you got new identification along with us when we see that woman today? You could come, too. We’ll find a place like this, far from all the conflict surrounding us. We could be a family.”
Hunter didn’t respond. He just stood with his back rigid and stared around him. The grasses swayed in the wind, and