“It’s a long way, farther than we’ve come so far,” I said, rising onto my feet and doing a mental inventory of our supplies.
“I thought you were leaving,” The Kid said. I stilled. That was right. I was supposed to leave them now. The deal we’d struck outside of Vegas didn’t apply anymore.
“Rule number six, Kid,” I said, and he looked up at me expectantly. “Pay your debts. If you wanted to get rid of me so badly, you should tell your brother to stop saving my life.”
Jesse stared at me with an unasked question on his lips.
“The train, remember?” I said.
He smiled, all the way to his eyes.
“You’re coming with us?” The Kid asked, and I nodded, watching as he blinked himself into wakefulness and started running around camp in his excitement. We gathered our things and mounted up again. I locked eyes with Jesse as we started out for the morning’s ride together.
Something had changed between us last night. Something I was through running from.
Chapter Fourteen - Jesse
Fort Hood. Yet another mystery location where my uncle might or might not be. My mother’s instructions loomed over me like a falling tree, heavy and unyielding. It hadn’t occurred to me that Michael Kincaid wouldn’t be in Roswell.
I appreciated Bonnie’s quick thinking, because I didn’t know what to do.
Even as we set out, Fort Hood our final destination, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was all for nothing. What if we traveled all this way, and when we got there, nothing? Mom would never steer us wrong intentionally.
“Not sure about Eagle,” I said a while after we set out, “but my horse’s shoes are pretty worn. We’re gonna need to find a blacksmith soon.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard to find. Probably would be good to give them a couple of days to rest, too,” Bonnie said, eyes narrowed as she stared out across the vast desert.
We pushed the horses forward at a steady trot, not wanting to drive too hard. As the heat of the day wore on, my eyes lingered on Bonnie more often, watching nearly every move she made. Like a moth drawn to the flame, I was hooked. In such a short time, I’d learned more about her than I’d ever thought I would. Not to mention the hot and cold between us.
One second, she could be kissing me, and the next, hitting me.
Bonnie was infuriating, but she was also tantalizing. I couldn’t control myself around her. Back on the train, I’d thought I was done with it. I’d thought I could shove those feelings down and fight my way through to Roswell, long enough for her to ride away.
Except she wasn’t leaving.
What did that mean? What did the kissing mean? What did the small pieces of herself that she’d given to me mean?
Now that she was leading us to Fort Hood, the questions kept coming, and my mind kept racing. I didn’t know what to feel. I was glad she wasn’t leaving us but, at the same time, worried what that meant. Rescuing her on the train was a flimsy excuse for her to stick around, and we both knew it.
By the middle of the day, we stopped long enough to take inventory of our supplies and eat a quick bite. The food from Flagstaff wouldn’t last forever. We rationed what little we had left.
After another half hour of riding in relative quiet, I glanced over at her again. Her shoulders were relaxed. While she wasn’t smiling, she wasn’t scowling either. I missed seeing her smile, especially when she thought I wasn’t looking.
“I’d give just about anything to be back at that lake,” I tossed over at her. Before our argument, it was the best day I’d had since leaving Montana. “Maybe we’ll go back some day.” The words tumbled from my mouth without thought. Of course we wouldn’t. Because one day, Bonnie would be gone, and it would be me and The Kid again. Without her.
“Say we go back,” Bonnie said, breaking through my dark thoughts. “What would we do there?”
A smile crept across my face. There were plenty of filthy things I’d like to do to her at that lake. Although none of those things were appropriate to say within earshot of my brother.
“Anything. Everything,” I said, turning to face forward. “That’s the beauty of it.”
I felt Bonnie’s eyes on me. When I turned to look at her, a smile rested on her lips.
“If you had one day,” I said, “one day that you weren’t on the run and didn’t need to pull cons on people, what would you do?”
Bonnie paused, thinking over her answer. She was quiet for so long, I thought she might not answer me.
“I think I’d sit in a room all day and read,” she said, her voice dreamy. Her eyes seemed to glaze over.
“Why in the world would you want to do that?” I asked. Her shoulders straightened, tense. I’d offended her, but she tried not to show it. She turned forward.
“Why not? What would you do?” she asked, her tone masked.
“I’d go to Hershey, Pennsylvania,” The Kid chimed in. “Mom said they had a chocolate factory.” I smiled, remembering how much he loved sweets.
“I’d go to the ocean,” I said. “Mom once told me that Pop took her there before we were born. There was water as far the eye could see. Gotta be better than this desert anyways.”
Another two days passed before we came upon the first sign of life. While Quanah gave us more than enough food for the trip from Santa Fe to Roswell, none of us could have prepared for how much longer we had to go. Water supplies were frighteningly low. I would take barely a sip, just enough to wet my tongue, before passing the canteen over to one of the others.
I had to make sure they had enough. I trusted that if anything happened to me, Bonnie would press on, and she would take care of The Kid. My faith in her surprised me. We weren’t just a couple of strangers leaning on one another to get through the night anymore.
It was more now. Much more.
Each night, we’d roll out our bedding, and by morning, Bonnie’s stuff would be tangled with mine. We tried our best to keep watch during the night, but there were plenty of times one or both of us fell asleep when we shouldn’t have. Having her in my arms was the most natural thing in the world. The nightmares that had plagued me since Montana ceased to exist. The desert was still exhausting, but either I’d become used to the harsh conditions or could handle them better when I was well rested.
On the days I woke up before her, I would study the lines of Bonnie’s face, committing the arch of her eyebrow and the pout of her bottom lip to memory. I imagined drawing her untroubled expression, so I could keep her long after we went our separate ways. I wanted to remember how warm and soft she felt; I wanted to capture her likeness so a part of her would always be mine.
As the sun descended behind us on the third day of endless desert, we crested a hill that opened into a large valley. Not far ahead, a stone structure stuck a few feet out of the ground. A man stood by it, a small wagon beside him. In the wagon were water jugs.
A well. I watched the man tug on the rope to pull the bucket up, then dump its contents into one of his containers. I climbed down from my horse.
“Excuse me,” I called. “Can we use your well?” My throat ached; the words came out scratchy. He looked us over for a moment before nodding.
“You three look rough,” he said, passing the bucket to me. I lowered it into the well.
“Been a long ride,” Bonnie said from beside me. I lifted the bucket and filled my canteen. As I gulped the water, Bonnie took over lowering the bucket into the well.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Almost to Brownfield,” the man remarked.
“Do they have a blacksmith?”
“Naw. Nearest one is in Lamesa.” He pointed toward the southeast. “’Bout half-day’s ride.”
“Thank you,” I said to the man, watching as he started off away from us.
“Best be careful; there’s slavers out in these parts,” he said. “You won’t make it to Lamesa before nightfall. If ya need somewhere to sleep, you can use my barn.” He pointed to a large building
not far off. It didn’t look much like the barns I was used to, but I appreciated the man’s offer.
After filling our bellies with water and topping off the canteens, we set off to the barn. We tied up the horses for the night and climbed into the hayloft. The Kid fell asleep in moments, and Bonnie curled up beside me seconds later.
A rooster crowed, waking me from feverish dreams starring Bonnie. I kept my eyes shut, wishing I could fall back asleep, to a place where I didn’t have to hide my feelings for her. One of the horses let out an annoyed chuff. I opened my eyes, finding myself face-to-face with the woman featured in my dreams.
Bonnie’s dark hair covered half of her face from view. I reached up, tucking the dark strands behind her ear so I could get a better look at her. Her lips were swollen from sleep. Her chest rose and fell against me as she clung to my side, resting in that spot where she fit so well. The rooster crowed again, interrupting my peaceful study of how the shadows played across her flawless skin.
I caught the scent of freshly baked bread. My eyes flashed toward the ladder, where a basket rested. I tried to lift my arm. Bonnie inhaled sharply and turned toward me, her arm wrapping around my waist. She buried her face in my chest.
“Five more minutes,” she mumbled incoherently. Pieces of wheat-colored straw stuck out, stark against her black hair. I chuckled, not hiding my amusement as I plucked one out.
Bonnie stretched her arms above her head, pressing her breasts deliciously against my chest.
“What’re you doin’?” she asked, her voice thick from sleep.
“You have hay in your hair,” I said, pointedly picking out another piece.
“You tryin’ to turn me into a farm girl?” A sleepy smile crossed her face, sending my heart fluttering in my chest.
“You don’t have what it takes,” I said with a sarcastic grin. Bonnie snickered beneath her breath, her eyelids growing heavy.
“Like it’s that hard,” she said, yawning. She moved her head back into the crook of my shoulder, her sleepy breath hot on my neck. “Besides, I’d have you teach me.”
The words vibrated against my neck. I tucked my arm around her. Very suddenly, I realized that her body was solidly against mine, my desire embarrassingly apparent against her leg. I slammed my head back into the hay, willing it to go away. This was the last thing I needed.
I stayed that way for a couple minutes more before nudging Bonnie awake. I got up to inspect the basket near the ladder. Sure enough, someone had left bread and cheese for us. The bread was still warm. We feasted on it, for once glad to have something fresh for breakfast. Then we set off toward the southeast.
Even after a night of rest, I could sense my horse’s exhaustion. Bonnie was right. They needed more than one night if we were going to make it to Fort Hood in one piece.
By the early afternoon, we spied buildings in the distance. We reached the outskirts of town and navigated through dilapidated neighborhoods. Most of the houses were either crumbling to pieces or boarded up with symbols spray-painted on them. None of it made sense to me. I glanced toward Bonnie.
“Gang markings,” she said, her voice quiet. I grabbed my shotgun and laid it across my lap.
No one bothered us. We eventually made our way to the busiest part of town: a single road paved with red bricks. Old buildings lined either side of the street. People standing outside of bars or walking down the street stopped to look at us, but, for the most part, no one seemed concerned with our presence.
We located the blacksmith, who said it would take two days to get the horses shod.
After securing a room at an inn, we sat down in the bar, poking around at our bowls of some kind of stew. Honestly, I would have preferred rattlesnake. My brother’s interest in the town had renewed his vigor, and he chattered away at us.
A pretty blonde woman with a red choker around her neck sauntered down the staircase at the back of the room. She caught sight of me and winked. The blonde woman back in Vegas had worn a ribbon just like that around her throat.
“She’s a whore,” Bonnie said matter-of-factly as she sipped her whiskey. I glanced at her, not sure if that look in her eyes was anger or fatigue. I turned back to my bowl. The last thing I wanted was for Bonnie to think I was interested in that woman. Then again, there were no promises between us. I may have wanted more with Bonnie, as afraid as I was of admitting it, but I still didn’t know where she stood.
“Well,” I said, my appetite gone. “We’re stuck here for a couple of days. Anybody have any ideas on what to do?”
For months, all we’d done was run. Now that I had the chance to sit, I didn’t know how to handle it. Our days were filled with nothing but the desert and each other. What did one do when they weren’t running from murderous psychopaths or crater beasts? Could we ever have a life like they did in Flagstaff, with celebrations and bonfires and dancing? I stole a glance at her, watching as she picked through her own stew. I realized how much I wanted to dance with Bonnie again.
“Let’s go shoot some stuff,” The Kid said. I turned to look at him.
“Like what?”
“I dunno. Birds?”
“That’s not a bad idea, Kid. You need to learn how to shoot a moving target,” Bonnie said.
“I saw some shops on the way in. We could check them out,” I suggested.
Because it was getting close to sunset, most of the stores were closed for the day. We settled for a relatively vacant area of town, where dozens of black birds sat atop old electric lines. I threw rocks at the birds, sending them flying up into the air, and Bonnie and The Kid would compete to see who could shoot the most.
She always let him win.
When we swapped places, with The Kid sending the birds up, I lost to her every time.
Night fell as we entered the inn. My brother rubbed his eyes, climbing up the stairs ahead of us. As usual, he didn’t hesitate to strip down the moment we were inside. He peppered Bonnie with more requests for stories, but we were both tired of entertaining him.
I’d noticed the band setting up in the bar on our way in. The last thing I wanted to be doing right now was sleeping. By the alert expression in her eyes, I thought Bonnie felt the same way. I tried not to watch her. I tried to push my thoughts of her away. Just because we’d come to some sort of peace didn’t mean that my feelings for her had resolved themselves. Once The Kid was snoring, I gave her a smirk.
“Want to have some fun?” I asked. Her eyes lit up. She slid her hand into mine as we left the room, locking the door swiftly behind us. I kept a firm hold on her hand as we moved through the crowded barroom. It had become such a natural thing to touch her that I didn’t realize until we reached the bar that I’d been holding it at all.
The band played a merry tune. The bar’s patrons sang and danced along in front of the small stage in the corner. A man playing a fiddle stood at the front of the band, singing bawdy songs. Every now and then, he broke off to tell a joke or give an anecdote that sent the crowd howling.
It was nice to be around people again. Bonnie and I settled down on two barstools, taking shots of whiskey for a while, not talking. Honestly, the only thing we truly had in common was The Kid, and whatever this thing was between us. Of course, neither of us wanted to talk about that. I worried that if I even broached the topic with her, it would put an end to whatever this was.
Bonnie wore her short shorts again. How I hadn’t noticed before was beyond me. I took the time to admire the way they accentuated her ass as she walked to the bathroom.
“Hey,” a man said from beside me. I glanced over at him. He couldn’t have been much older than me. He had a gold tooth, and I could tell by the whiskey on his breath he was quite a few in. “Listen, that woman with you?” He motioned with his head toward where Bonnie’d left.
Jealousy, hotter and brighter than what I’d felt back on the train, flared up. I didn’t realize that I had to worry about Bonnie sneaking off with another guy.
But I was now.
I scowled at him, grabbing his drink on the bar.
“What’s it to you?” I asked. I downed the rest of his whiskey, reveling in the burn as it went down.
“It’s a simple question. Yes or no?” His eyes flashed at the empty glass in my hand. I didn’t care. I set it back down hard.
“And if I said no?” I asked, motioning to the bartender for another.
“She’s hot. I figure I could get her out of those shorts in five minutes, tops,” the man said.
I lifted my eyebrows. A smile crossed my face. Oh, I had to see this. I lifted my glass in salute to him, waiting with baited breath for Bonnie’s return. Doubt crept back in, hot and bitter in my mouth. What if she wanted to give in to the other man’s advances? She sauntered back a few minutes later, and I ordered her a fresh drink. I leaned in close, placing a hand on her leg. Her blue gaze fell to where my hand rested on her bare thigh.
“The guy on the other side of me wants to get you out of your shorts,” I said with a smirk. “Tried to bet me he could do it in five minutes.”
Bonnie’s brow furrowed as she pulled back from me. At first, I thought I saw disappointment when she looked at me, but it faded quickly, replaced with bald fury. That look was dangerous. I checked to see if she had the M9, and was pleased to see that she didn’t. Then again, it might be fun to see her shoot the guy.
Doubt crossed my mind again. What if she wanted the guy to get her out of her shorts? She was, after all, wearing the same outfit from Vegas. I couldn’t help but trail the curve of her shoulder with my eyes down to the low neckline of her shirt, which revealed the faintest patch of smooth skin.
“Five minutes, huh?” she asked. Bonnie was furious. It was clear as day by the straight set to her shoulders and the barely veiled anger in her voice. Relief formed in my chest; for once, that fury wasn’t directed against me.
“Hey,” she said, her voice loud above the music. She turned to the guy. “So you bet you could get me out of my shorts in five minutes.”
The man’s smile faltered before he leaned back against the bar. His friends were making snide comments but overall egging him on. Bonnie leaned toward him, giving him the same smile she’d used to lure me in.
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