Free Emma's Blaze (Fires of Cricket Bend Book 2) by Marie Piper Page B

their lives with animalistic determination in their eyes. The beasts knew what to do. Emma realized how stuck-up people were to think they knew any better than the other creatures in the world when it came to survival.
    And by the grace of God, Maggie got across and climbed from the water with a few lumbering strides. Emma was wet up to her collar. As Maggie rode on to land, she couldn’t help but laugh as the others came across. Pete and Nick whooped as they crossed. Appie kept a firm hand on the leads as the water went up nearly to the point of flooding the wagon.
    Emma watched Andrew cross at the end of the drive, his scowl noticeable from a distance.
    “You made it.”
    Josiah had ridden up near her. Emma realized she was dripping wet from head to toe. Still, she held Maggie’s reins. They were alive and unscathed. Josiah’s eyes locked on her for a long moment. Then he gave a little nod. Though it was almost imperceptible, she saw it. It was as if he’d stood up and cheered for her. Her heart felt it might burst from relief and joy.
    And then he was gone, riding off to circle the herd.
    Emma rode up to the drenched brothers.
    “Not bad for your first drive.” Jess grinned. “How’d you like it?”
    “There are a few things I never imagined I’d do in my life, and that was wilder than all of them. What happens now?”
    The dripping men all looked at Emma, and she saw a bashful collection of expressions.
    “Usually we strip down for a bit and let the sun dry everything,” Jess explained quietly.
    It took Emma only a moment to realize what they meant. “Oh,” she said.
    “Yeah,” he answered awkwardly.
    Emma found her composure. “Well, boys, don’t let me stop you. You go right ahead and do that, and I’ll set myself up over there a ways where I won’t be able to see a thing unfit for my ladylike eyes.” With an overdramatic flutter of her eyelashes, she turned Maggie and rode off to a dip in the plains. There, she could be mostly hidden.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER EIGHT
     
     
    Bill
     
    The men stripped down to nothing, airing their clothes out on hastily strung lines and anywhere else they could while those who kept their clothes on took turns taking shifts patrolling the cows. It was typical, normal, and only because a woman was a few yards away did anyone even think twice about modesty. The plains were a man’s territory, and the presence of a female changed things.
    Bill saw different men glancing Emma’s way from time to time. When she’d gotten out of the water, she’d been dripping wet, and her clothes had clung to her in a most unladylike fashion. He knew he hadn’t been the only one who noticed. He also knew that the idea of a potentially naked woman not far away was driving more than a few of the men crazy.
    He didn’t like it, but he understood it, because it was driving him ten times as crazy. He’d only had only a little taste of what her affection felt like. When he thought back to how long he’d been without a woman, it nearly made him ashamed of himself. At the thought of her soft lips on his, he stood up quickly to slide back into his still-damp pants and the boots he’d had the foresight to toss into the wagon before the crossing. He’d leave his shirt to dry for a while longer. “Gonna take some coffee over to her,” he announced.
    “Good idea. If you go quiet enough, you might even catch her off guard.” Jess wiggled his eyebrows, and the gathered men laughed. “Sneak a peek for the rest of us, why don’t you?”
    “Mind your manners,” Bill replied.
    “I’ll mind mine. You make sure you mind yours.”
    Knowing he’d be ribbed about it for days, Bill set off walking with two hot cups of coffee toward where she’d set up her things for the night. The spot she’d chosen was nice, with low grass just on the other side of a small hill. Though it was a private spot, it wasn’t so far off that in case of trouble she’d be unable to easily get back