Only 06 - Winter Fire

three days she’s done everything but climb the sky to avoid me .
    Maybe she knows if she’s pregnant .
    The thought made his heart jerk.
    â€œWhat are you doing up here?” he asked. His voice was harsh even to his own ears.
    She spun around and eyed him as though he were a wild animal.
    Or a Culpepper.
    â€œLola is looking for one of her goats,” she said distinctly. “She asked me to bring your supper to you. Conner and Ute are both asleep.”
    Well , he thought sardonically, that answers my question. She’s up here because no one else could come .
    â€œThank you,” he said.
    â€œYou’re welcome.”
    He grimaced.
    â€œNo need to treat me like a stranger,” he said bluntly. “We’re considerably more than that.”
    She flushed and then went pale.
    â€œWhere do you want your supper?” she asked, her voice tight.
    â€œNot flung in my face, for starters.”
    Belatedly Sarah realized that she was indeed holding the supper plate as though she planned on slinging it at him just as soon as he got within range.
    â€œSorry,” she muttered ungraciously. “You startled me. I thought I was alone.”
    â€œAre you pregnant?”
    The question was so unexpected that her jaw dropped.
    â€œExcuse me?” she said numbly.
    â€œYou heard me.”
    â€œOf all the ill-mannered—”
    â€œJust answer the question,” he interrupted. “Save the lectures for Conner.”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI. Don’t. Know.” Sarah bit off each word as though tearing out hunks of his hide. “Satisfied?”
    â€œFor about ten minutes,” Case said under his breath, “and that was days ago.”
    â€œIf you expect me to conduct a conversation with you,” she said sweetly, “quit mumbling in your beard.”
    â€œI thought you liked my beard, especially on the inside of your thighs.”
    She flinched as though she had been struck.
    â€œDamn,” he said savagely. “I’m sorry. I have no right. It’s just when I think how—”
    Whatever he had been going to say was lost in the sound of hoofbeats approaching.
    Case changed in an instant, cold and remote and utterly controlled.
    â€œGet in here,” he said. “Fast and quiet.”
    Before he finished talking, Sarah was sliding into the brush that screened him.
    â€œDid you bring a gun?” he whispered.
    She shook her head.
    â€œSorry. I didn’t think I would need—” she began.
    â€œYou didn’t think period,” he interrupted.
    She didn’t bother to argue. He was right and they both knew it. No one— no one —was supposed to go more than ten feet from the cabin without a gun.
    But she had been so upset at the prospect of being alone with him that she hadn’t stopped to think about anything at all. She had simply rushed out to get the chore over with.
    â€œGo behind me,” he said softly. “About fifteen feet back there’s a crack in the stone where you’ll be out of sight. Stay there until I call for you.”
    Sarah hurried past Case. On the way, she grabbed the revolver he held out to her.
    He didn’t turn to watch her retreat. The small soundsof brush sliding over doeskin told him that she was doing as she had been told.
    For once , he thought sardonically.
    The hoofbeats stopped.
    There was only one path down off the rim for several miles. Case’s rifle was covering it.
    He faded back into the brush just as Sarah had. While he moved, he never took his eyes off the spot where the riders would have to appear.
    A horned lark called from the left. It was answered from the right.
    He let out a breath of relief that was also the sweet call of a lark.
    The silence that came back was like thunder.
    â€œWhoever is in that brush,” said a voice finally, “we’re not looking for trouble.”
    â€œThen you came to the wrong place, Hunter,” Case called. “There’s nothing here but trouble.”
    An instant later a tall, strongly built man burst out of cover, rifle in hand.
    â€œCase?” Hunter demanded in disbelief.
    â€œAs ever was,” he said, stepping into the open. “Is that Morgan out in the brush with you?”
    â€œMy God,” Hunter said.
    He grabbed Case and hugged him hard enough to crack the ribs of a smaller man.
    Case looked startled. Then he hugged his brother just as