Donners of the Dead by Karina Halle Page A

the minute. When we finally arrived, Isaac and Hank abandoned their horses, even though they were steaming with sweat, and rushed on inside to get warm. Avery volunteered to rub them down and I followed suit. It wasn’t really volunteering since we were being paid, and I wouldn’t let a horse be put away without taking care of them first. We even took Trouble and told Jake to go inside and relax, though he seemed a bit hesitant about it. Once again, he hated taking orders from someone like me.
    While we worked, taking off the saddles and gear, and rubbing them down with rags warmed by the fire until their coats were dry, I felt like I had a million things to ask Avery—we hadn’t really been alone yet this whole time, and the words had been building up inside of me.
    I cleared my throat, ready to talk in privacy about how I felt about Isaac, Hank and this “monster,” but for some reason I was bringing up something completely irrelevant.
    “Avery,” I started, unable to keep my lips from being still, “are you in love with Rose?”
    He froze just as my heart did. He was shocked as I thought he would be, and I prepared myself for the possible answer.
    “Eve…” he began, running his hand through his golden hair. “What a thing to ask.”
    “I’m your friend and I can ask such things if I want,” I said.
    He frowned at me. “You always were bold but you’ve gotten bolder. I’m afraid these cowboys are rubbing off on you.”
    I just stared at him, wanting an honest answer so I could be done wondering about it.
    He sighed and leaned his head back, the skin on his neck exposed and pale compared to his tanned face. “Am I in love with Rose? I don’t know. I reckon I don’t know what love is. You know it when you feel it, don’t you? Isn’t that what they say?”
    I nodded, though now I had my doubts too. I had started to think I was in love with Avery, but now I couldn’t quite be sure. I would do anything for him…he was as beautiful as anything. He was warm. And most of all, he was safe.
    Love was safe, wasn’t it?
    “I don’t know,” I whispered to him. I’d thought about telling him how I felt, but it always started with his proclamations first, if there were any. “Do you like her? More than…more than you like me?”
    A wash of pity came across his blue eyes, as if he just got the clue. “Oh, Eve. You’re my best friend. The way I feel about your cousin…”
    “Is different,” I supplied in a dull voice.
    “It is different,” he implored. He slapped the rag on Trouble’s hindquarters and came around to see me.
    “It’s because I’m not like you,” I said, looking him in the eye. “White.”
    “It’s because you’re not Rose ,” he said.
    I bit my lip as a million reasons flashed through my head. I wasn’t pretty enough, voluptuous enough, pale enough, well-dressed enough, or smart enough. I wasn’t privileged. Avery wanted a lady and I for sure wasn’t one.
    I breathed in deeply through my nose, feeling a queer sense of warmth build inside. I loved Avery. I wanted him to be happy. He was a good man, a handsome man, and my best friend. He deserved a lady above all else. I couldn’t be mad at him because I wasn’t what he deserved, what he wanted.
    “Do you know if she feels the same way?” I asked.
    He rubbed at his chin and looked away. “I don’t know. And even if she does…feel something, it’s not as if your uncle is going to let her run off with the ranch hand.”
    “Unless you had a great deal of money,” I pointed out. “Which this trip will surely give you.”
    “I’d give it all to Rose, if she’d have it. I’d buy her anything she wanted.”
    “And what if what she wants is to leave River Bend?” I asked softly.
    He looked me in the eye, a sad smile on his thin lips. “Then I’ll take her away. As far as she wants.”
    “I won’t be there.”
    “You could come too, Eve. In fact, I’d want you to come.”
    “That would be more than