Only 04 - Only Love

don’t you?”
    She nodded.
    “As naive as an egg,” Whip muttered. “ God. Silent John must have been about as much fun in bed as a rattlesnake. No wonder you don’t mind being his widow—he’s been as good as dead to you for years!”
    Shannon’s breath caught at the contempt in Whip’s voice. She shivered and wrapped her arms protectively around herself.
    As naive as an egg.
    Abruptly, Shannon’s desire was transformed into anger.
    Whip has no right to act so superior just because I’mnot as knowing about men as Clementine or Betsy.
    But Shannon wasn’t going to open the subject again by pointing that out.
    “Don’t call me a widow,” Shannon said through her teeth.
    “Why? It’s likely the truth and you know it.”
    “But if the truth goes beyond this cabin, who will protect me from the Culpeppers after you leave? And you will leave, won’t you? Yondering man. ”
    “Yes,” Whip said harshly, stung by the anger and distance in Shannon’s voice. “I’ll leave one day. But not until I find a safe place for you to stay.”
    “As long as I’m Silent John’s wife, I’m safe enough here.”
    “That’s crap, Shannon. You’re his widow, not his wife, and this place isn’t safe for a girl alone. Especially one as naive as you!”
    “It has been for seven years.”
    “Only because Silent John was here with you,” Whip retorted. “Without him you wouldn’t last two months.”
    Shannon barely bit back the hot retort that was crowding her tongue. Telling Whip the truth would do no good, and could do a great deal of harm.
    “I’ll live where I please,” she said tightly.
    “Alone?”
    “Yes.”
    “You can’t.”
    “I can!” she said savagely. “And what business is it of yours how I live, yondering man? You have no right to order me about like I was bound by law to you.”
    Whip was appalled by the idea of Shannon’s living alone through the winter in Echo Basin’s high,icy wilderness, having no one to depend upon but herself. He shook his head, said something profane beneath his breath, and raked his hand through his hair in frustration.
    His fingers were bright with his own blood, blood drawn by Prettyface in defense of his naive, stubborn mistress.
    When Shannon saw Whip’s fingers, she felt her hot, inexplicable rage at him drain away, leaving only an edgy kind of concern for his wounds.
    “Come on,” Shannon said, turning away. “One secret spilled between us won’t matter.”
    “What?”
    Without a word Shannon walked to the dry goods cupboard. She opened the door, pushed on the center of a shelf, and stepped forward into the darkness.
    An instant later she vanished.
    The warm, humid smell of a hot spring floated back out to Whip, along with Shannon’s voice.
    “Silent John told me never to tell anyone about the hot spring, but…”
    Shannon’s voice died. Light flared as she struck a match and set it to a lantern’s wick. Glass clinked quietly as she replaced the chimney. A warm yellow glow spread out to Whip.
    “Well, come on,” Shannon said impatiently. “Silent John swore by— swears by—the healing power of the spring, and your hands are pretty well chewed.”
    “I’ll be damned,” Whip said, stepping toward the cupboard. “So this is why he built the cabin right into the mountainside.”
    Shannon shrugged. “All I know is the hot spring boils meat and washes clothes and dishes real clean at the far end, and is just right for bathing at thisend. Everywhere else, the hot spring keeps the worst of the cold at bay when I can’t get out to gather wood in the winter.”
    Shannon set the lantern on a wooden crate that had once held ammunition. Light transformed twists of steam into ghostly golden wraiths.
    Whip ducked low as he went through the cupboard. Once inside the cave, he saw that the ceiling was high enough for him to stand upright. Lantern light glanced off the rocky walls and uneven floor, and made the many deep cracks in the rock look like ragged slices of midnight. But for the tiny hissing of the lamp and the seething, whispering swirls of water, the cave was utterly still.
    A metal pan scraped over rock as Shannon dipped up hot water for Whip. She put the steaming pan on the crate next to the lantern, fished a lump of soap from a smaller wooden box and stepped aside to make room for Whip.
    When Whip looked from the water to Shannon, but didn’t move farther into the cave, she made an exasperated sound.
    “Surely you aren’t afraid of