Reckless Destiny Read Free

there’s no room for you there, you’re going home.”
    “There must be somewhere for me to stay.”
    “You really have grown up.” His expression told herhe was anything but happy about it. “There’s such a shortage of women out here, something tells me those soldiers would find a place for you if they had to build it special. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
    “Too late. Everything’s settled.” She patted his arm as she headed back inside. “It’s all going to work out fine. You’ll see.”
    Kane Carrington reined in his horse at the top of a rise. He pushed his campaign hat back and ran his forearm across his sweaty brow. Only eight in the morning and already hot. He scanned the desert from left to right and shook his head. He’d been stationed all over the Arizona Territory, and almost everywhere he went the landscape was the same. He hadn’t figured out yet why the barren desert and jagged, spectacular red mountains appealed to him. He only knew there was something about their rugged beauty that drew him.
    He’d just come back from a two-week patrol the day before. Most of Company C thought he was crazy to get back in the saddle and ride for pleasure, but he needed to. At least while his mind was occupied with controlling his mount, he didn’t have time to think.
    As Kane scanned the horizon again, a dust cloud to the right caught his attention. At first he thought the wind had raised it; then he realized it was moving along the road to the fort, traveling steadily and fast. As the cloud moved closer, he could see the dust was kicked up by a horse and buckboard. Something was wrong. The vehicle was moving too fast for that rutted road. If there was a driver, he wasn’t in control.
    Kane settled his hat low on his forehead, tied his kerchief over his nose and mouth, and nudged his horse forward to intercept the runaway. Caution battled hisneed for haste as he guided the animal through the scrub, watching for snake holes, rocks, or hidden gullies that could cause fatal injury. As soon as they reached the road, ten lengths behind the wagon, he urged the animal forward at full speed. Dust swirled around him, and he bent his head to protect his eyes from the worst of it.
    In a matter of minutes, he edged alongside the runaway vehicle and kept pace for several seconds. There
was
a driver; the woman was holding onto the seat for dear life. He saw that the reins had fallen and were being kicked around by the horse’s hooves. He could try to turn the animal off the road, but the scrub was high and might do more harm than good. He only had one choice.
    “Whoa, there,” he called to the lathered horse as he grabbed the harness.
    The animal was tiring, and with very little effort Kane slowed it down. When the wagon was completely stopped, he turned his attention to the driver.
    He couldn’t tell her age, but she was a slender little thing. Her hat, an impractical concoction, had slipped down over her eyes. She didn’t even know enough to wear a wide brim hat to keep the sun off her head and face. With both hands gripping the wagon seat during the wild ride, she hadn’t been able to push the thing out of her eyes.
    “Are you all right, ma’am?”
    She sat very still for several seconds, seeming to catch her breath. Tentatively, she released one hand, then the other. She removed a long pin from the crown of her hat and pulled it free. Golden-brown hair spilled around her shoulders. The strands rested over her breasts and skimmed her waist—a very trim waist.
    She pushed the mass away from her face and shook her hair back before looking at him. Her green eyes,familiar eyes, widened. Something caught and squeezed in his chest. Cady? Cady Tanner? It couldn’t be! But there she was, even more beautiful than the last time he’d seen her.
    He’d been deliberately cruel to her that night. He hoped she had gotten over his harshness quickly. It had taken him a long time to get used to the idea that he