Read All for the Heiress for Free Online Page A

bottles,” he said, pointing to two dusty brown bottles with cracked cork stoppers. “What are ye using them for?”
    She shrugged, embarrassed. It seemed frivolous to add unnecessary things to their packs, which would already be laden down. “I thought to bring a bit of soap and lotion, so we aren’t all crusty and stinky when we finally see them,” she admitted.
    “Good thinking,” he said. “That Oliver seems like he’d never get his hands dirty, and always smell like Paco Rabanne.”
    Mellie cracked up at his dejected voice, and specific choice of cologne. He’d always been a slightly weird kid. “Yes, he did smell very nice, even after all he’d been through.”
    She closed her eyes to better remember but wasn’t able to conjure anything, and in fact, when she tried to recall his face, his friendly smile morphed into Shane’s teasing grin. She snapped open her eyes to see him now scowling at her, so at least she’d been able to rile him a little. She wondered for a moment why it seemed necessary for her to goad him and struggled to get back on track.
    “I got us some clothes,” she said briskly. “But I think we should bring our own, um, underwear. And shoes, too. Do you have anything that’s gold? Those wee coins probably aren’t worth much, and we’ll need something to trade if we need to buy a horse or something.”
    “I have my class ring is all,” he said with a frown.
    “No, don’t bring that. It’s too modern looking. I have a couple pairs of earrings and my first communion cross.” She held up her hand at his look of disbelief. “It’s just in case. We very likely won’t need them.” Snapping open the brilliant map, that showed what the land and surrounding area actually looked like in 1760, which wasn’t exact, but she was grateful they wouldn’t be going in totally blind.
    Shane rubbed his arms. “I canna believe we got everything so easily. When shall we be off, then?”
    She stared down at the copy paper map, imagining herself traveling those thin lines, trying to picture who might greet her at the end of the journey. Would she return? All of a sudden, she was itching to go, didn’t even want to wait for the weekend.
    “Let’s try tomorrow,” she said, laughing at his gobsmacked look. “For real, Shane. Shouldn’t we? It’s like you say. Every day we wait, Catie’s one step closer to getting married. We shouldn’t wait much longer or it could involve changing history.”
    He looked over at the hungry horses, who looked back at him reproachfully. “Let me get to work, then,” he said. “Are ye absolutely sure ye’re going with me?” he asked, clapping his hands on her shoulders.
    She shook him off and put everything back in the box. “Better than absolutely sure,” she said.
    She stood up and he placed the box in her arms, giving her a long look. Her face started to prickle under his intense contemplation.
    “I dinna want ye throwing your life away, if ye’re just having a tough go of it in school right now.”
     She wrinkled her nose in irritation at his out of nowhere maturity, not in the mood for life advice, and especially not from him. Her heart raced and her mind reeled. For the first time in months she was excited about something, and she didn’t want to be shaken up with responsible thoughts. She had twenty years of doing the responsible thing under her belt and it got her nothing but disillusionment. If she thought he’d go for it, she’d drag him to the woods right this minute.
    “Are you saying you don’t want me to go now?” she asked, tapping her toe and putting her chin in the air.
    “No way. Ye’ll probably end up saving my life,” he said hurriedly. “Just making sure, is all.”
    “Okay, then, shut up with the concern. Let me take this stuff to my room, and I’ll come back and help you. I’ll feed Tawny.”
    He looked like he would refuse her offer until she brought up the pig’s name and he nodded gratefully. “And I can help