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Her hand drifted to the derringer that lay on the nightstand beside her bed, then she shrugged off the notion of taking it today. She needed no further protection while she was with Runner.
Humming beneath her breath, she strolled lightly into the small kitchenette that had been built at the far end of her private car, opposite her darkroom, and picked up a steaming pot of coffee from the small cookstove.
After she poured herself a cup, she went to the door that led outside to a small walkway to Adam’s car. She had not yet told him what her plans were for today, and that she didn’t need his escort.
She swirled around, laughing, uncaring that she was clumsily splashing coffee, dizzied by the thought of being with Runner for an entire day.
“Together—we’ll be together,” she said, laughing drunkenly.
Her laughter faded as she stopped and stared at the door again. “I guess I’d best go and tell Adam.” She set her cup aside.
She left her private car and raised her hand to knock on Adam’s door, then paused and listened for any movement inside. He hated to be awakened, but she had no choice but to go against his wishes this morning. She knew that it was best to tell Adam what her plans were today before Runner arrived. She was going to try and keep those two separated as much as possible. She had no idea what to expect of them if the bitterness they now felt for one another was allowed to get out of hand.
The breeze between the two railroad cars made shivers race up and down Stephanie’s spine. She gave a brisk knock on Adam’s door, then hugged herself with her arms in an effort to ward off the chill.
While waiting for him to come to the door she looked toward the mountains. She was glad to see the first glimpse of the sun easing its way upward. Soon the air would be warm, perhaps even too warm once she got out into the open desert on her horse.
Brushing all thoughts aside except to wonder why Adam had not yet answered the door, Stephanie knocked once more.
Again, she got no response. She leaned an ear against the window, to see if she could hear any signs of Adam moving around, since the shade was pulled on the door, making it impossible for her to see inside.
Suddenly she recalled that she had not heard Adam return on his horse during the night, though it hadn’t worried her at the time. It was foolish to worry about Adam. Even if he hadn’t come home, perhaps he had slept over at Damon’s ranch after drinking too much, or after gambling into the wee hours of the morning.
She flinched at the thought of him having gone to a brothel at Gallup. She did know that he had done this from time to time back home in Wichita.
“I doubt he will ever take a wife,” Stephanie whispered to herself. She knew that he was too absorbed by his obsession to have a town of his own to have a lasting relationship with a woman. She pitied any woman who would expect it from him. He had already left a trail of broken hearts everywhere he traveled.
Running out of patience, Stephanie tried the door and found that it was not locked. Slowly opening it, she stuck her head inside.
“Adam?” she said. She peered in and discovered that all of the shades on the windows on both sides of the car were still drawn.
She squinted her eyes in an effort to see his bed at the far end of the private car. Finding it impossible to make anything out in the dark shadows of the car, and because Adam had not yet made himself known to her, Stephanie went on in.
She stepped lightly across the room and rolled a shade up on one of the windows. When she turned and saw that Adam wasn’t in his bed, she gasped. It was apparent that Adam hadn’t come home after the dispute with the Navaho.
“Oh, Adam,” she whispered, shaking her head slowly back and forth. “Where on earth did you spend the night?”
At times like this, she feared for her brother. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that he was old enough to take care of himself, she saw him as vulnerable in many ways. As far as she was concerned, he didn’t have the common sense of a toad. Too often she had been forced to intervene in awkward situations to save him from embarrassments she did not even want to think about.
“Well, big brother, it seems you are on your own today,” Stephanie said, sighing.
She went back to her private car. Just as she was about to pour herself a fresh cup of coffee, she heard the sound of an approaching horse.
Her heart skipped an excited beat. Was Runner arriving this early? Or was it Adam?
Again recalling her lovemaking with Runner, she walked to the window with weak knees. A sudden, wild desire leapt into her heart when she saw Runner approaching.
She gazed at him with a rapid heartbeat as he wheeled his horse to a stop and tied his reins to the makeshift hitching rail beside the train cars.
In a flurry, she went to the door and opened it.
When her eyes met Runner’s, Stephanie felt giddy, and she knew that her face was flushed with color. In flashes of her mind’s eye she was remembering what Runner had taught her with his lips and hands the previous night. She would never forget how it felt when their nude bodies had pressed together that first time. And how could she ever forget how he had so magnificently filled her? She ached even now to share all of this with him again.
She felt wicked to the core for allowing her mind to wander to such decadent thoughts. If her stepmother were there—oh, how Sally would shame her for her wanton behavior. But how could she feel otherwise when a man as handsome as Runner was in love with her? Stephanie concluded.
Her gaze swept over Runner as he climbed the stairs. Today he was dressed in a fresh buckskin outfit with a red velveteen headband tied around his brow. He wore moccasins, and he had a knife sheathed at one side of his waist and a pistol holstered on the other.
Runner was in awe of how vibrant and alive Stephanie was this early in the morning. Her eyes were wide and bright and filled with excitement. Her cheeks were rosy, her lips even more enticing from having been kissed by him so often, and so fiercely, the previous night.
