Read Last Night's Kiss for Free Online Page B

doing it. Now I’m rarely without a camera.”
    Lifting the instrument again, she took a shot of Bailey.
    “There’s not much to see around here. You should go to some of the parks. Maybe you can get Adam to take you. He used to be a summer guide before he went off to college.”
    “Maybe I will,” Rosa said, knowing she had no intention of asking Adam anything. He’d shown his dislike for her and Rosa didn’t want to be in anyone’s company if they didn’t want her around. “There’s a lot around here, though,” she said. “It might be commonplace to you, but it’s all new and gorgeous to me.”
    She panned the area with her camera, then lowered it and looked directly at Bailey.
    “Have you always lived here?”
    “Every one of my sixty-nine years.” He said it with pride. “I spent time in the Army. Vietnam. Traveled some when my wife was alive. But the bulk of my time has been right here.” He pointed toward the ground.
    “You love it here.”
    “Like Texans love Texas,” he agreed with a smile. “And if you stay here long enough, you’ll love it, too.”
    “I already do,” Rosa said. “I have an apartment in New York and I grew up in Dallas, but I love small towns much better. Waymon Valley is small and big at the same time.”
    “I know what you mean,” he said. “In town, where Vida lives, everything is practically within walking distance. Yet out here there seems to be so much room. My great-grandmother came out here in the 1890s. She was a teacher named Clara Winslow Evans. Clara moved from Virginia to Montana to teach school and help my great-great-aunt Emily Hale run a boardinghouse for the miners. Copper mining was big back then. Since then our family has always lived here. I’ve got more cousins and aunts and grand-aunts here than any family in Georgia.”
    Rosa laughed as his voice displayed both consternation and pride when he spoke of his heritage. She thought of her own family, her siblings, and how their heritage would begin with them. “That must be wonderful,” she said. Rosa had no cousins or aunts or uncles. No grandparents. Only her brothers and sisters and the promise of nieces and nephews.
    “It’s great country,” Rosa finally said. “I think I’ll ride over there.” She pointed toward a distant outcropping of rocks. “And take some more photos.”
    Bailey stopped her as she pulled the reins from her belt. “Not today,” he said. “And not alone. There are some dangers to this country, too. Why don’t we ride back to the stables and I’ll get you breakfast?”
    Rosa smiled. “I’d like that.” Her stomach growled as if on cue. “It must be the air out here. I’m suddenly very hungry.”
    Rosa was surprised half an hour later when they turned in the horses and Bailey stopped his pickup at the ranch house instead of a restaurant.
    Her heart began to pound as she knew Adam was on the other side of that front door.
    “I thought we were going into town,” she said.
    Bailey got out and came around to open her door. “Got the best food in the county right here,” he said.
    She slid out of her seat. “It’s just that I have an appointment in town and thought I’d get a ride.”
    They were on their way to the door. “I’ll have Adam drive you after we eat,” he said.
    “That won’t be necessary. I’ll give Vida a call. I haven’t seen her in a couple of days. We can get together.”
    “Nonsense,” he boomed. “Adam’s going to town anyway.”
    “What’s that?” Adam spoke, and Rosa’s entire body tensed at the sound.
    “Rosa needs a ride into town right after we eat,” Bailey explained.
    Adam was freshly showered. Water still glistened on his hair. His face was clean shaven and he wore jeans and a polo shirt.
    “Come on,” Bailey said. “I can smell the coffee.”
    The kitchen was huge, a country kitchen with a wide table in the center and huge windows opening one wall. Several individual sections had jars with peppers or colorful