over to the horses.
Wyatt did his best to hide his disappointment at Lonnie’s retreat and turned back to Cora with a smile that didn’t chase the throb from behind his eyes.
At the way her gaze followed Lonnie, he knew she wondered at the boy’s sudden withdrawal.
“He’s shy,” he said by way of explanation.
“Lilly is much the same way.”
“So how old are you?” He hoped it was the kind of question that would divert her from following any suspicions she had about Lonnie’s behavior.
“Twenty,” she answered, her gaze still on the boy. “And you?”
“Twenty-one.” He felt a lot older. Old enough to be weary, though that was as much the result of a year in prison as from being on the road for weeks. “Lonnie’s sixteen.”
She took a good look around. “You’ve got a pretty good setup here.”
“It suits us.”
She nodded. Her gaze came to him and she gave him serious consideration.
What did she see? He banked every thought but survival. She must never guess his secret. “Care to sit a spell?”
She sat on a log to his right.
“I’d offer you cookies and coffee, but I have no cookies and haven’t built a fire yet, so I don’t have any coffee.”
She smiled, sending golden light through her eyes. “Maybe I can help.”
She opened the sack she carried and pulled out new potatoes and carrots so fresh he could smell them. She held up a jar of milk, then set it by him. She unwrapped a generous piece of cheese and set down a half-dozen eggs.
Despite his practice of hiding his feelings, he felt his eyes widen with pleasure at such delights. He swallowed a rush of saliva. He hadn’t seen food such as this in so long it was but a hungry memory.
Then she removed another packet from the sack and unfolded the paper. “Cookies. Ma said you looked hungry.” She grinned with such innocent happiness that his heart twisted into a knot.
Her smile would not be so warm and welcoming if she knew the truth about him.
She would never know.
His gaze clung to the cookies. They’d had nothing but hard biscuits and jerky for three days. “Lonnie, she brought milk and cookies,” he called. “Come have some.”
“What kind?”
Wyatt almost laughed. As if it made any difference. Lonnie was every bit as hungry as Wyatt. “Cow’s milk.”
Lonnie snorted. “I mean the cookies.”
“Oh.” He knew what Lonnie meant but he went out of his way to force his brother to talk to him.
“Oatmeal and raisin,” Cora said. “Ma made them, and she’s a very good cook.”
“Your favorite, if I remember correctly,” Wyatt added.
Lonnie still hesitated.
Wyatt pulled three tin cups from the supplies and held them out to Cora. She unscrewed the lid from the jar and poured milk into each cup. He handed her one cup and took a long drink from another.
“This is so good. I haven’t had fresh milk since—” He smiled as Lonnie moved closer and sat down as far away from Cora as possible and took the cup of milk Wyatt offered.
Cora passed around the cookies. “Have two.” They needed no urging.
For a moment they enjoyed the snack without need for words.
Cora, who only ate one cookie, finished before Wyatt and Lonnie. “Where do you plan on going?”
He’d answered the question when her pa had asked and she knew it. And her quiet tone didn’t make him believe she only made conversation. She wanted to know more about him. And he couldn’t blame her. Two strangers camped so close to their home posed a risk. But not the sort she probably imagined.
“We’ll know when we get there.”
“I suppose. When did you leave your home? Where did you say it was?”
“Didn’t say. We’ve been on the road a couple weeks.” Give or take. He didn’t intend to offer any more information. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Lonnie’s leg bouncing and shot him a look of assurance.
“You have any other family?”
Wyatt choked back the mouthful of cookie, suddenly as dry as dust. He took a sip of milk to wet his mouth.
Lonnie grew as still as the log on which he sat. Wyatt wondered if he even breathed.
“No other family,” Wyatt said softly.
“No ma and pa?” She sounded shocked.
“Ma died a couple months back.” Wyatt figured she’d hung around just long enough for Wyatt’s return. Long enough to make Wyatt promise to take care of Lonnie. Even without Ma’s admonition, he’d have made sure Lonnie was okay. He’d been Lonnie’s guardian and protector since Ma had put the tiny baby, only one day old, in Wyatt’s arms. She’d hugged them both. Wyatt had put his finger in Lonnie’s palm and the baby’s tiny fingers had curled around it.
It probably wasn’t manly to say it, but it had been love at first touch.
He loved his troubled little brother even more now.
“I’m so sorry.” Cora’s voice thickened as if she held back tears. “I can’t imagine not having a ma.”
The river rumbled by, on its way to the ocean, where it would become part of something so much bigger it would disappear. Was that how death was? Or maybe it was only how it felt to those left behind, because he knew Ma had gone to something better where her pain and fear disappeared and she became whole and happy again.
“What about your pa?” Cora asked.
Her words vibrated through the air. Wyatt kept a firm look on Lonnie, silently begging him not to overreact.
Lonnie met his eyes, correctly read Wyatt’s message, and didn’t speak or move.
Relieved, Wyatt smiled and nodded reassurance. He didn’t break eye contact with Lonnie as he answered Cora.
“Our pa’s been dead several months now.” He’d survived the beating but from what Ma and Lonnie said, it seemed something inside him had been broken. He never regained his strength but slowly faded away to a shadow before he died, which was a mercy for Lonnie. It had freed the boy from the fear of more abuse. But from what Wyatt had put together about the year he’d been missing, he figured the boy was made to feel ashamed because he had a brother in prison, and he remained afraid even after Pa was dead and gone.
Cora touched
