pain sliced at him. “You think I would hurt you? I would never—”
“Please, please stop.” She kept her hand in her pocket.
He realized he had taken another step toward her. He halted, reeling with disbelief and realization. Someone had hit her before. That made Jake angry all over again, but he struggled to keep it from showing.
“I’ll back up,” he said as he did it. The woman was terrified, her green eyes huge in her pale face. The distrust on her face twisted his gut. “I’m not coming closer, see? I’ll stay right here.”
After long seconds, she nodded, her pretty eyes full of turmoil.
Crushing his hat in his fist, he said quietly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
The wariness in her eyes was so deep, so dark that he wanted to gather her to him and soothe her until she knew there was no need to fear him. But that would probably scare her spitless. “Can you tell me if you’re hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she said tautly, her arms wrapped so tightly around the baby that the little girl protested with a loud noise.
“You have a cut above your eye. Your left one.”
She reached up to touch it, looking surprised at the blood on her fingers. “I’m all right.”
She was as frightened and defensive as a wounded animal. He could see she wasn’t going to let him get any closer and they needed to get home before dark. “I’ll tell you what. I’m gonna unhitch the mare. I’ll walk and you and the…baby can ride back to the ranch.”
She looked at the horse, then the damaged wagon. “I’ll walk, instead,” she said quickly.
He started to insist she ride then realized he would have to help her mount. She didn’t want him putting his hands on her.
Agreeing to let her walk went against everything his uncle had taught him about how to treat a lady, but Ike hadn’t seen the pure-dee terror in Emma York’s face when she’d thought Jake was going to hit her. “Are you sure you won’t ride—”
“I’m sure.”
The unsteadiness of her voice told him she was still afraid. He didn’t blame her. She didn’t know him well enough to know that she didn’t need to fear him. “If you’re in pain or hurt anywhere else,” he said gruffly, “I can carry her.”
“I’ll do it.”
He knew the relief was plain on his face when her mouth tightened. After placing her glasses carefully on the corner of the lopsided wagon, he walked around the mare’s head to the other side. Letting Emma York know she had plenty of room.
Jake jammed his hat on his head. After making sure the mare was uninjured, he unhitched her and looped the wagon reins into one hand. Letting his nurse walk to the ranch, especially carrying the baby, grated hard on him. “You tell me if you need to stop or if something starts hurting.”
“I will.”
With one last look back at her, he started walking. But she didn’t. After a long moment, he finally caught her movement out of the corner of his eye.
Someone—some man—had obviously hit her before. Who? When? Was that why she was here? Was she running from someone?
Jake didn’t want any trouble, didn’t need to get involved in someone else’s trouble. He was involved in plenty of his own.
But he couldn’t forget the paralyzing fear he’d seen in her face, her eyes. Jake cursed under his breath. He could shine it up any way he wanted, but he was involved.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
