“You call yourself a woman of morals, but what’s the difference between selling yourself for a few bucks and selling yourself for a piece of paper and a gold ring?”
She glared up at him. “At least I get to choose what the price will be—not you.” She swept past him and continued up the trail after Pilar.
She found Pilar standing outside a dark hole that seemed to be the mine entrance, holding a rock like the one Chris had found in the chest in the cabin.
“It’s full of this stuff. I guess he thinks it’s gold and everybody is just too stupid to know that it is.” Pilar looked up at Chris. “Uh-oh, it looks like you two have been at it again.”
“No, we haven’t. He is the most stubborn man. He can’t seem to get it through his thick skull that when I say no, I mean no. Hasn’t any woman ever said no to him before?”
“I doubt it,” Pilar said seriously. “But then I’ve never seen him pursue a woman before you either. He usually just sits down and that face of his does the rest. At worst, he has to open his mouth and speak and if there’s one woman who hasn’t yet thawed, she will when she hears that voice of his.”
“I expect more from a man than just beauty and a nice voice. And Tynan doesn’t seem capable of giving that.”
In the distance, they heard the sound of a rifle shot. “I think he got us something to eat. Let’s go and meet him,” Pilar said.
When Chris seemed determined to stay where she was, Pilar took her arm. “In a few days your father will be here and you’ll never have to see Ty again. This is the first rest any of us have had in ages, so let’s make the most of it, all right?”
Reluctantly, Chris allowed Pilar to pull her forward. She wasn’t about to show anyone how the thought of never seeing Ty again made her heart jump into her throat.
When they found Tynan he was already skinning a small deer and Chris built a fire. Soon the smell of roasting venison filled the air.
“Nice place, isn’t it?” Ty asked, handing Chris a piece of meat.
She looked around and realized that this was the place he’d just described—the place where he’d wanted to make love to her. “It’s all right,” she said coolly. “Pilar, why don’t you tell us about the joys of married life? And about your children? How old are they?”
She ignored Tynan’s heartfelt groan as she turned her head and began listening to a homesick Pilar as she told about her husband and children. She didn’t gloss over the hardship of their lives, or dismiss the constant poverty and struggle, but there was a lovely sense of togetherness that Chris knew she wanted in her life. In turn, Pilar asked Chris about her newspaper stories and said how exciting all that must be.
“It was, but I’m ready to settle down.”
“She’s been ready ever since a certain party jumped out of a clothes wardrobe,” Tynan said from behind her, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “She thinks that if a man touches her, he has to marry her.”
“That’s not true at all!” Chris said, turning on him. “I don’t know why I ever thought I was in love with you. You are insufferably vain and are too used to getting your own way. I doubt if I’d marry you now if you were to beg me.”
“Don’t hold your breath. A week from now, I’m going to be free. I won’t have the responsibility of taking care of some spoiled little rich girl who thinks she can have whatever—or whoever—she wants merely by asking. I’m going to be free, you hear me? Not you or anybody else is going to take away my freedom.”
“Stop it, both of you,” Pilar said. “You sound like my two boys. Look, we have to spend the next few days together so why don’t we try to get along? Ty, you’re probably angry because you haven’t had any sleep and your leg hurts. Why don’t you lay your head in Chris’s lap and she’ll tell us a story? I’d offer my lap but I pl
an to stretch out here and sleep myself.”
Chris didn’t look at Tynan and there was a long moment of silence. “All right,” she said at last. “Maybe we do need some rest. You may use my lap.”
“Only if you swear this won’t be taken as a marriage proposal.”
“If you were one of my children,” Pilar said, “I’d smack you for that. Now lay down there and behave yourself.”
Chris leaned back against a tree and Tynan lay his head in her lap. For a moment, they were very stiff, touching as little as possible.
“I read a book in French last year, Le Comte de Monte Cristo, I could tell that story,” Chris said.
“Only if the people don’t get married and live happily ever after,” Tynan said, his head turned, his eyes closed.
“It’s a story about greed, betrayal, infidelity, murder and revenge. I think it might be your autobiography.’
“Sounds all right,” he said, snuggling his head in her lap.
“I’m sure the French nation will be pleased that you approve.” She started her story, telling of the revenge that began over two men in love with the same woman.
“Figures,” Ty grunted, but said nothing else while Chris’s voice began to soften as she told the story.