Page 108 of Eleanor’s Earrings

“Then why are you blushing?”

“I am warm.”

“It is cold.”

“I have been walking.”

“So have I.”

Eleanor glared at him. “Do you have a purpose?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“To see how long you will continue explaining.”

She stopped.

Nathaniel stopped too.

“That is cruel.”

“A little.”

Eleanor looked down the trail. “Perhaps I should stop touching you.”

Nathaniel’s amusement vanished. “I did not say that.”

“No?”

“No.”

Her eyes lifted.

Their eyes held for one heartbeat.

Two.

Then Caroline’s voice floated back from the wagon.

“If the two of you stop walking much longer, we will have to put a wheel around you.”

Eleanor moved immediately.

Nathaniel followed.

Caroline called again, “You are welcome.”

Eleanor muttered, “I am selling her in Oregon.”

Nathaniel said, “Thomas Reed may object.”

Eleanor looked at him sharply.

He grinned.

“You noticed?”