He caught her shoulder and pulled her back inside. “Don’t get angry, Chris. Under other circumstances, I’d love to climb into bed with you, but I don’t want to go back to that hellhole and I don’t want to be unfair to you. You deserve a man who’s husband material. I’m not. I hope you can understand.”
“I think I understand better than you think,” she said coolly. “I want to apologize for my forwardness, for following you, as you’ve asked me not to do, and for imposing myself on you. I will try to do better in the future and not give you cause to fear that you will have to return to prison because I have put you in an impossible situation. Is that what you wanted to hear? May I go now?”
“I think you’re angry with me. I didn’t mean—”
“I am angry with myself,” she interrupted. “And deeply embarrassed. I’ve never thrown myself at a man before and I can assure you that I will never do it again. You won’t have any more problems from me, Mr. Tynan. Now, I’d like to go back to my tent and take a nap, if that’s all right with you.”
He frowned. “Yes, of course. Chris, I really do appreciate the offer, I mean when you thought that physically I couldn’t—”
“We shall never know, will we?” she said as she left the shelter.
Chapter Seven
By the time they entered the little town at the edge of the rain forest, Chris had cried all the tears she could cry. She had done a marvelous job of staying away from Tynan. No matter what he said to entice her to stop and talk, she’d ignored him.
Nor did she spend much time with Asher. She did what work was required to keep the camp running and nothing else.
Tynan, after a day of attempting to talk to her, began to stay away from the camp more and more often until, at the last, he was the shadowy figure he had been at the beginning of the trip.
“This has not become the joyous trip I’d hoped for,” Asher said with sadness and confusion in his voice. Chris didn’t say anything. All she wanted was to get away from the place where she’d made such a fool of herself.
It was still morning when they pulled into the little town at the foot of the rain forest. The place was busy with shoppers, wagons being loaded, cowboys strolling about, and a few women stopping and talking to each other. Most people halted when they saw the strangers come into town.
At least that’s what Chris first thought was the cause of their staring. For the first time in days she came out of her dejection and began to take an interest in her surroundings.
As she watched the people, she became aware that they were actually stopping to stare at Tynan.
He was in front of her, his back held as straight as a piece of steel, eyes ahead, looking at no one. As they passed the sheriff’s office, a man ran inside and the sheriff came out within seconds.
“I don’t want no trouble,” the sheriff called, directing his plea in Tynan’s direction.
Tynan didn’t acknowledge the man’s presence but kept riding in a slow, steady pace.
As they passed a saloon, a garishly dressed woman came out, did a double take when she saw Tynan, then began running through the dirty streets. As they neared a place called the Pink Garter, the double doors swung open and out stepped a tall, older woman with hair an extraordinary shade of red—not natural-looking at all, Chris thought.
“Tynan!” the woman shouted.
Ty put his hand up for them to halt while he went to the woman.
Chris had never strained her ears so hard in her life as she did to hear what the woman had to say.
“You shouldn’t have come back here,” the red-haired woman said. “You’re askin’ for trouble.”
Chris couldn’t hear Ty’s answer. With his low voice he could make the sound disappear when he wanted to.
After a moment of listening to the woman, he reined his horse away and motioned to the others to follow him as he led them to a hotel.
“You’ll stay here tonight and tomorrow we’ll ride out early.”
“And where will you be staying?” They were the first words Chris had spoken directly to him in days.
He looked at her a long moment. “I have friends here. Go inside and ask them for a bath,” he said before turning on his heel and leaving them.
“What do you think that was all about?” Chris asked Asher.
“The bath? I agree, Miss Mathison, that it’s been so long since I had one that I’m close to forgetting what they are too, but you’ll remember as soon as you see the hot water.”
Chris ignored his attempt at humor. “No, I mean out there in the street,” she said, following Asher into the hotel. “Why were all the people staring at Tynan? And why did that woman warn him?”