Secret of Deadman's Ravine

But as he swung up onto his horse, knowing better than to offer Eve any help getting on hers, he vowed to move heaven and earth, if that’s what it took, for the chance.

LIGHT-HEADED and beyond exhaustion, Eve found she also ached all over as she swung up into the saddle.

She’d seen Carter’s worried look and suspected she looked like a woman who’d fallen down a mountainside. She had.

But none of that was as painful as having to sit there while Carter Jackson saw to her injuries. It was the gentle way he touched her, reminding her of their lovemaking the one and only time they’d been together. It was his concerned expression. For an awful moment, he sounded as if he was about to apologize for breaking her heart.

Eve Bailey could take a lot, but she couldn’t take that.

They rode west, working their way along the top of the ridges, the land dropping precariously to the old river bottom. She could feel the piece of costume jewelry in her pocket biting into her flesh as if mocking her for feeling so righteous when it came to Carter.

She argued that the way he’d betrayed her—and her keeping the pin in her pocket from him—weren’t the same thing at all.

The lie caught in her throat like dust. But to admit she’d recognized the pin and knew who it belonged to would be to consider that her family had something to do with that plane and—worse—the dead man inside it. It was easier to lie and pray it was a coincidence that the plane had gone down just miles from the Bailey ranch.

Eve still felt chilled in the dry clothing, although the day was warm as the sun dipped toward the western horizon. Hours had passed without her even noticing it. As she rode, she watched for the ravine where she’d found the plane.

In the distance, she recognized an outcropping of rocks and knew they weren’t far now. She glanced over at Carter.

How easy it would have been to keep riding, to pretend she’d gotten turned around, to leave the plane and its secrets buried where she’d found it.

“We getting close?” he asked, as if he’d caught her indecision.

She’d been wrong about him not knowing her anymore. He knew she couldn’t pretend to have lost the location of the plane. Any more than she could pretend he hadn’t broken her heart.

CARTER REINED in his horse next to Eve’s. Below them was another steep ravine much like the others they’d passed.

He glanced over at Eve. What had her running scared? Eve wasn’t squeamish when it came to dead animals. True, seeing a body would have upset her, but it wouldn’t have her scared. So what was going on with her?

“Is it down there?” he asked. All he could see was a thick stand of junipers growing out of a rock ledge at least halfway down the steep ravine.

She nodded, looking ill.

“You went down there?” He couldn’t see anything that would have tempted him into sliding down that slope.

“I heard a moan. I thought there was someone down there.” Her voice broke. “It was just the wind blowing over the metal of the plane.”

“The plane is in the junipers?” He couldn’t help sounding skeptical.

She looked down into the ravine. “That’s why it’s never been found I would imagine.”

He couldn’t believe the chance she’d taken going down there. But Eve wouldn’t have thought about her own safety if she thought there was someone down there injured.

He had to see the plane and body for himself and that meant going down there. He’d have to be quick. He needed to get her back to her house. He felt badly about putting her through this. But he feared if he had waited until tomorrow, Eve might have changed her mind about showing him where the plane was. Although he couldn’t imagine why.

“Will you be all right up here?” he asked, worried about her.

She slid off her horse, practically collapsing as her boot soles hit the ground. “Leave me some water and your hat. I lost mine. I’ll just rest while you’re gone.”

He dismounted and, pulling down his pack, reached inside for his rain jacket. Rolling it up, he handed it to her. “Put your head on this,” he said, clearing a spot for her on the soft sun-dried earth.

She did as he said without even an argument. He knew she was simply too exhausted to put up a fight today. Eve hadn’t changed. And that’s what made this so painful. He’d been such a fool to throw her over for a woman like Deena.

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