Caleb laughed softly, even as he understood the pain in Shannon’s smile.
«Does Whip think Silent John is dead?» Caleb asked.
«Yes.»
«Then what’s the problem?»
«I beg your pardon?» Shannon asked.
«Why did Whip light out of here like his heels were on fire?»
«He wants me to stay with you and Willow.»
«So do we,» Willow said from the stove.
«I…thank you,» Shannon said. «But I can’t.»
«Can’t or won’t?» Caleb asked in a clipped voice.
«Caleb,» Willow said. «We have no right.»
«Did you see your brother when he rode out?» Caleb asked curtly.
«No.»
«I did. When someone you care about looks the way Whip did, you start asking questions. And you get answers.»
As Shannon looked at Caleb’s face, she remembered what Whip had once called him — a dark angel of vengeance who had followed a man for years to avenge the seduction, betrayal, and death of his sister. It reminded her of the man called Hunter, another dark angel moving over the face of the lawless land.
Shannon closed her eyes and laced her fingers together until they ached. When she opened her eyes, Caleb was watching her with both compassion and determination.
He knew his questions were painful for her. But he was going to have answers anyway, for Whip, too, was hurting.
«If I thought you didn’t care for Whip,» Caleb said calmly, «I wouldn’t have said a word about any of this to you. But I’ve seen you watching him. It’s the way Eve watches Reno, the way Jessi watches Wolfe, the —»
«— way Willow watches you,» Shannon finished for Caleb. «I’m sorry. I don’t have much practice at hiding my feelings.»
«There’s no need,» Willow said, putting the bowl of stew on the table. «You’re among friends, here. You know that, don’t you?»
Shannon nodded and tried to speak. Tears threatened to overflow her long, dark lashes.
Willow put her arms around Shannon and hugged her like a child.
«Then why can’t you stay with us?» Willow asked softly.
Shannon hugged Willow in return, took a deep, broken breath, and tried to make Whip’s sister understand.
«How would you feel,» Shannon asked, «if you loved Caleb and he wanted something more than he wanted you and he left you?»
Willow’s breath came in swiftly. She stepped back, wanting to see Shannon’s eyes. Then she wished she hadn’t.
«How would you feel,» Shannon said painfully, «if, after Caleb left, you lived in his sister’s house, saw Caleb in his sister’;s sun-bright hair and catlike eyes, saw Caleb in his sister’s child, a dimple in one corner of the baby’s smile…you saw all this and you knew every day, every breath, every heartbeat, that there would be no baby for you, no home, no mate to share your life?»
«I couldn’t bear it,» Willow said. «Loving Caleb, knowing he didn’t love me, being reminded of it everywhere I looked…. It would kill me.»
«Yes,» Shannon whispered.
She turned to Caleb, who was watching her with troubled eyes while his big hand stroked Willow’s hair in silent love.
«That’s why I can’t stay,» Shannon said to him.
«Is that what you told Whip?» he asked. «Is that why he looked like he had a knife in his guts?»
Shannon shook her head slowly, sending veils of autumn-colored hair sliding over her shoulders.
«No,» she said in a husky voice. «That’s not what I told him.»
«Why not?» Caleb asked.
«It would have been like asking him to stay…begging him. I won’t do that.»
«Too proud?»
Caleb’s voice was gentle but his eyes were the unflinching amber of a bird of prey.
He didn’t have all of his answers yet.
«Too practical,» Shannon corrected with a bittersweet smile. «Watching my mama and papa taught me how bad things can get when a man wants one thing and a woman wants another. He left and she took laudanum for the pain. For the first time, I understand why she did it. And I hope it worked.»
«Does that mean I have to lock up the laudanum?» Caleb asked dryly.
«No.»
«I didn’t think so. You’re tougher than your mama was, aren’t you?»
«I had to be. I took care of her at the end.»
«What did you tell Whip?» Caleb asked again.
«The other half of the truth. That I don’t want to be obliged to anyone, no matter how kind they are, for my bread and salt. I want to be free.»
«But you’re a —»
«Woman,» Shannon finished curtly. «Yes. I had noticed that very thing.»
«So does every other man who sees you walk by,» Caleb retorted.
«Caleb!» Willow said in exasperation. «Honestly!»
«Well, honey, it’s the truth, and all the talking about freedom and such won’t change the way Shannon walks.»
«I don’t do it on purpose,» Shannon said tightly.
«Hell’s fire, I know that,» Caleb said. «You’re no more a flirt or a tease than Willow is. That’s not the point. The point is that males are going to notice you’re female. The decent ones will strike up a conversation and come calling with candy in one hand, flowers in the other, and a gleam in their eye. If you aren’t interested, they’ll ride off and not come back. But not all men are decent.»
«I know that better than most women,» Shannon said.
«But you’re still insisting on going back?» Caleb asked.
«Yes. I’ll leave tomorrow.»
«Aren’t you going to wait for Whip to go with you?» Willow asked, surprised.
«What makes you think he’s coming back?» Shannon asked.
«Did he say good-bye to you?» Willow countered.
«No.»
«Then he’ll be back.»
Shannon only shook her head, remembering the anger and anguish in Whip when he rode away.
«Rafael isn’t that unkind, no matter how hard the wanderlust is riding him,» Willow said. «He’ll be back.»
«Will he?» Shannon said. «Some men love gold, some men love the sea, and some love only the horizon they’ve never seen. Whip is hearing that sunrise calling him.»
«All he mentioned to me,» Caleb said, «was getting gold out of a hard rock mine. He was hell-bent on it. He went to Reno for advice.»
«Yondering requires money,» Shannon pointed out. «Whip probably needs some. He refused to take wages from me.»
«Whip has more gold than he knows what to do with,» Willow said. «Ingots of Spanish gold so pure you can mark it with your fingernail.»
Shannon looked startled. «I didn’t know that. Then why is he going to Reno to find out how to dig more gold?»
«If Whip offered you his own gold to buy supplies or a home in a safer place than Echo Basin, would you accept it?» Caleb asked.
«Never,» Shannon said softly. «I’m a widow, not a harlot to be bought by any man with an itch in one pocket and gold in the other.»
Caleb smiled slightly and nodded, unsurprised.
«Why don’t you stick around until Whip comes back?» he asked. «You shouldn’t ride all the way to the basin alone.»
«No, thank you. My dog was injured defending me from the Culpeppers. I should have gone back days ago.»
«Stay,» Willow said quickly. «Whip has…tenderness toward you. He might…»
«Settle down?» Shannon whispered, shaking her head and smiling sadly. «Only love could hold Whip, and Whip loves only the sunrise he hasn’t seen.»
15
Whip rode up to the small home whose finishing touches were still being completed. When he reined in his tired horse, a young woman with hair and eyes the color of pure gold came running out of the kitchen. She leaped lightly off the low porch that ran the length of the house and smiled up at Whip.
«It is you! What a lovely surprise! Reno thought the yondering urge must have come over you again and taken you to the far side of the earth.»