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and
considered herself familiar with the landscape, having photographed it countless
times. Even so, the view sent a rush of awe coursing through her.
    “Cool, huh?” Conner grinned as if he’d discovered this view
himself.
    “Way cool.” Without thinking, she bent and reached for her
camera bag on the floorboard beneath their feet. The strap evaded her grasp, and
she had to abandon her efforts. “Is it possible for us to get out? I’d love some
shots.”
    “No problem. The girls could use a rest.”
    He reached around her and set the brake. Gripping her hand, he
steadied her as she climbed down the side of the wagon. Only when she was safely
afoot did he wrap the reins around the handle and descend. Dolly and Molly
didn’t budge, except to give each other a disinterested sniff.
    While Dallas clicked away, Conner waited beside the horses,
gripping Molly’s bridle.
    “You were right. The view is amazing.” Dallas was already
mentally composing the list of contacts she’d send the photos to in the hopes of
making a sale.
    Conner materialized beside her. “Watch you don’t get too close
to the edge.” He took her elbow, drew her back a step.
    A step that brought her up close and personal with him.
    Tall. Broad. Strong. Masculine. The
words blinked in her mind like a flashing neon sign. Conner was all those things
and more.
    “I’ll be careful,” she assured him. Careful to keep a watch on
her heart. He could easily steal it.
    She returned to the wagon bed and reached in the ice chest for
a bottle of water. What she really needed was space. No reason to put ideas in
either of their heads.
    Dallas might be over Richard, but she was still vulnerable. She
didn’t need a man messing with her priorities. Derailing her plans.
    She’d seen the results of that firsthand with her mother.
    Moving to a different spot, she continued snapping pictures.
The mountains, harsh and primitive, erupted from the earth like an offering to
the heavens. At their base, the city, with all its modern wonders, spread out in
every direction, devouring the landscape.
    These were the kind of photographs Dallas sought, the ones that
told a story.
    Conner appeared in her viewfinder, unaware that the camera had
found him. He stood staring at the city. Behind him, a rocky brown ridge rose
like a wall. Cacti and shrubs grew out of it, clinging to existence against
impossible odds.
    Molly, her head beside Conner’s, also stared at the city, with
a look of ancient wisdom in her eyes.
    It was as if the past and present were colliding right there in
front of Dallas.
    Talk about a story.
    Chills ran up her arms as she snapped a quick shot. Then a half
dozen more. Instinct told her these would be her best pictures of the day.
    “You done?” Conner asked.
    “I am.” God, she loved her work.
    The drive to the box canyon took another hour and a half,
during which Dallas and Conner chatted amiably.
    In the canyon, he tethered the horses to a tree and then
fetched water for them from a natural spring. They drank lustily, emptying one
bucketful after another.
    Dallas unloaded the ice chest, adding the trail mix and protein
bars she’d brought to Conner’s canned tuna fish, crackers and apples. It was, in
her opinion, a perfect lunch.
    Afterward, they walked the length of the box canyon. He watched
over her as she got all the pictures she needed and then some. Several shots
included him, but none were as compelling as the ones from the top of that first
hill.
    When they finally pulled out, about two o’clock, Dallas’s
eyelids were drooping. Sleeping was impossible with the wagon bumping noisily
along the narrow trail.
    “Thanks again for taking me today,” she said.
    “My pleasure.”
    Hers, too.
    “Can you imagine what it must have been like, crossing the
country in a wagon? How incredibly tough those people were to have endured the
hardships they did.”
    Her comment sparked a lively discussion about pioneers heading
west, which eventually