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us.”
    “Okay, so maybe they don’t bring trouble to our doorstep, but… what if they’re thieves?” Selena cast desperately.
    “Now don’t you think they’d want to move faster if they were in the business of upsetting people?”
    Selena wrung her hands. Shane was right. A few moments passed before she figured out a compromise.
    “How about this? We bring them close, maybe a half a day’s ride from the Crater and one of us goes home early and brings the others to meet up.”
    “Wel , we don’t want to insult them, bein’ too cautious do we? He’s offering to be hospitable. Shouldn’t we try to do the same?”
    “We decide as a group when everyone’s met them.
    If they al think it’s okay to bring them in, then fine,” Selena told them with resignation. “It’s going to take me some time to make those clothes.”
    “Sounds like a plan!”
    Shane wheeled and rode back and Selena fol owed slowly. She knew that most of her discomfort with the situation had to do with Jack’s brazen flirtation, but she liked to think that there were legitimate reasons to be cautious outside of her own comfort.
    “We’ve got some rules we gotta stick to, but here’s what we decided,” Shane cal ed to them when he got close.
    “If you’re wil ing to ride back with us, we’l take you somewhere nearby and give the others a chance to get to know you. We can do some trading and Selena’s agreed to work on those pants. If everyone is comfortable with you coming to our humble residence, you’l be welcome to stay a while.”
    “That’s just fine,” Jack said with an enthusiastic smile and a glance at Selena.

    Navigating the hil s with the wagon wasn’t quite as difficult as they expected, despite the forest. Jack was very practiced and seemed to know just what angles were safest without sacrificing too much speed.
    Shane had forgotten al about the hunt and Selena couldn’t blame him. These new developments were much too distracting. They wouldn’t be catching anything with al the noise from their company anyway. The girls chatted a lot and although Selena didn’t bother to listen too closely, she could tel that they were often in disagreement. Amy had perked up at the notion that they were coming for a visit, but Loraine appeared detached from it al .
    Jack ignored his sisters for the most part, and was even behaving himself toward Selena, at least for the moment.
    Shane had explained that home was three days’
    ride on horseback at a walking pace, so they estimated the return trip to take an extra day with the wagon.
    When the first evening fel , Selena made sure to stick close to Shane. She didn’t want to give Jack any opportunities to embarrass her. Unfortunately, they didn’t have to be alone for that to happen.

    have to be alone for that to happen.
    The five of them sat in a loose circle over their dinner, which was simple that night. They al had their own supply of dried meats, but Shane was feeling generous. He tossed each of them a plum.
    “Here. Keeps the scurvy away,” he explained with a grin.
    “Oh, nice!” Amy exclaimed, biting into it eagerly before adding with her mouth ful , “Now I real y want to see where you live! We don’t get a lot of these.”
    “Thanks,” Jack and Loraine said together.
    Selena cast a glance at the other woman, but was interrupted when she realized that Jack was watching her again. She tried to focus on the food but she couldn’t help her eyes from darting up to see if he was stil looking at her.
    Most of the time he was, and with a subtle smile that everyone else seemed to miss but was clearly meant for her to see.
    She tried hard to distract herself by examining the clothes they were wearing. The girls were both in long cotton skirts. They looked casual and the prints were simple, but they did have a few ruffles. Jack wore jeans and a long-sleeved, brown button-down shirt. Their clothes were unusual y nice, but the familiar tan dust that clung to them lent some