Today's Reading
His gaze skimmed the pipeline, then the rocky shoreline, and finally settled on her. He sighed. “Very well.” He handed up the bone and followed her other directions. She tried not to snicker as he flung his foot up and over and pulled with his heel. He’d been right about not being much of a mountain goat. But he managed to straddle the pipe, then carefully moved to his hands and knees before standing upright. For a moment, he teetered, his mud-caked soles slipping. He caught his balance, straightened his jacket, and blew out a noisy breath.
“All right, I’ll take the bone now.”
She tucked it against her chest like a shield. “Are you sure you don’t want me to carry it? At least until you get your footing?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m fine.” His eyes shifted briefly to the river, and he made a face. “Well, as long as I don’t look down, I’m fine.”
She laughed again and gave him the bone. Extending her arms for balance, she turned a half circle and set off. She wanted to peek back and see how he was doing. The noise of the rushing water covered the sound of footsteps. Maybe he hadn’t budged and was just standing there, hugging the bone. But she needed to stay focused on the pipe. She had a job to do.
There was a way to know if he was following her, though. Her gaze on the pipe, she called, “There’s only about a mile and a half of pipe left this direction. Then we’ll turn around and go back.”
“How far back?”
His voice sounded close, right behind her. She grinned to herself. He was keeping up. “My family lives near the midpoint of the pipeline. It’s a little over seven miles long altogether. You do the math, college boy.”
She scanned the pipe below her feet and waited for his reply.
“So...approximately three and a half miles back?”
She nodded.
“How often do you walk this thing?”
As much as she’d longed for company, conversation could distract her. She needed to finish examining the pipe before she let herself get lost in talk. Reluctantly, she paused and peered over her shoulder. “I don’t just walk it. I look for damage—cracks, holes, tiny leaks, rusting places in the iron bar...” He seemed to study her face as she spoke. “I have to report any damage to the waterway men so they can send someone to repair it before there’s a bad break in the line.”
“Is that your polite way of telling me to be quiet?” Although his words were teasing, his intense attention while she spoke made her feel as if he was truly interested in what she said.
She squelched a smile. “For now.” Then she pointed at him. “But on the way back, you can ask me whatever you want to and I’ll answer.” Oh, it would be so nice to talk with someone.
“You’ve got a deal.” He pointed with his chin in the direction of the end of the pipeline. “Lead on, mountain goat.”
She choked out a laugh. “Mountain goat?”
He grinned. “You call me college boy.’ I have to call you something.”
Did he mean the term as a compliment just as she did with college boy, albeit with a hint of envy? Maybe, but she’d rather not be compared to the shaggy, curly-horned, stubborn critters that lived on the rocky crags. “How about you just call me Jennie.”
“Fine, and you call me Leo.”
Like friends. A delightful shiver rattled her frame. She should say no. After all, he was interested in only the dinosaur bone, not her. After today, she’d probably never see him again. Even Aunt Delia, who was ten years younger and a lot less strict than Mama, would warn her to be careful. But Jennie said, “Leo it is.”
His smile rewarded her. Maybe a little too much. She cleared her throat. “Leo?”
“Yes, Jennie?”
She liked the way her name sounded in his warm baritone voice. This suggestion was going to be harder than she realized. “Why don’t you stay here while I finish the route? There’s really no sense in you following me. Or...” She gulped. “If you want to, you could walk the pipeline the opposite way. You’ll see my family’s cabin on a rise to your right of the pipe. Nobody else lives out here, so you can’t mistake it. That way you can talk to my daddy about the bone and be on your way faster.”
He angled his head, his dark-blue eyes narrowing slightly. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No!” The word burst out more forcefully than she’d intended. She swallowed hard and forced a shrug. “Not at all. I just don’t want you to feel like you’re wasting your time. You probably have to get back to the college pretty soon. Don’t you?”
He bent over and laid the bone on the pipe with as much care as Mama used when putting her wedding china in the cupboard. Then he sat, dangling his feet on the river side of the pipe and placing his hand over the bone. “I’ll be in Cañon City all summer, so I have some time to spend.” He playfully shooed her with a swish of his fingers. “Finish your duty. I’ll wait here and make a list of things to ask you when you get back.”
This excerpt is from the paperback edition.
Monday we begin the book Serial Burn by Lynette Eason.
...
