Gabe went blank. “Long enough to know Jessi’s the one for me,” he blurted, adding, “Don’t worry about the wedding. You just expedited the inevitable and probably did us both a big favor. It’s a commitment we might never have gotten around to.”
“I doubt that. Any fool could see that you two are devoted to each other. And if I’d met her earlier, I’d never have demanded a wedding.”
At once, Gabe wondered if now might not be the perfect time to tell August the truth. It seemed that the man might accept it. They could rent another motor home for Jessi and Anna Kate. Everyone would be happy...except, he abruptly realized, himself. Now that he’d gotten used to the idea of sharing a roof with Jessi and her daughter, he wasn’t particularly eager to let go of it. All that was missing was Ryder, who’d complete the picture of a perfect family.
“You just seemed a bit too footloose when we first talked,” August continued. “On the prowl, if you will.”
That’s because I was, Gabe thought.
“And I was worried that...well—” Abruptly, he ended the sentence with a shrug of apology, leaving Gabe to guess at his meaning.
“There’s nothing to worry about now. We’re good and married.” And would stay that way—at least for a while—since Gabe had no intentions of sharing the details of this little tête-à-tête with his new wife.
August nodded and stood, no doubt indicating an end to their talk. Gabe did the same and moved toward the door, where, on impulse, he paused and looked back.
“I probably shouldn’t say this....” Gabe hesitated, suddenly consumed by second thoughts about the wisdom of advising this man, or any other, on his love life. God knows, he was in no position.
“I prefer honesty.”
“I think you worry too much. Your wife seems very nice and very much in love with you.” August said nothing, and Gabe guessed he’d overstepped his bounds. Muttering “I’ll get the women together for our meeting,” Gabe quickly left the trailer.
A glance around the clearing revealed that Jessi, Anna Kate, and Shari were coming out of the trailer that would be the Dillard home for a while. Gabe perused Jessi’s expression, trying to decide how she felt about the place. She looked pleased, he thought, a sure indication that the three-room house on wheels would do. As for Anna Kate, she leapt from the bottom step to the dirt, landing flat-footed, then dashed to the Taylors’ motor home and entered it uninvited.
Clearly flustered, Jessi started after her, but stopped when Gabe waved her away. August might as well get used to having the kid around. Short of tying Anna Kate to a tree, Jessi wouldn’t be able to contain her daughter’s natural curiosity and four-year-old energy without making everyone miserable.
Almost immediately, August came out of the trailer, Anna Kate in his arms. She rubbed his bushy beard and laughed. Gabe could’ve sworn he saw a smile tugging at the corners of the man’s mouth and noted that Shari’s jaw dropped at the sight, leaving him to wonder if the couple knew each other at all. Clearly, Shari hadn’t expected August to like Anna Kate, though it was at her insistence, at least according to Elaina, that she was allowed to come along. Was there a hidden agenda? Life—or marriage—lessons to be learned?
Probably, Gabe decided, and August might not be the only student. These next weeks playing husband to Jessi and daddy to Anna Kate would undoubtedly be a learning experience for him, too—preparation for Ryder. And his impulsive decision to maintain his and Jessi’s deceit would be one he surely rued when all was said and done.
“Everyone ready to be briefed?” Gabe asked to get the attention of his companions.
Immediately, they gravitated in his direction and sat wherever they could—Gabe on the lowered tailgate of his truck, now accessible since the hatchback of the camper top had been raised; Anna Kate on a stump, and Shari and Jessi sharing a fallen log. August chose to lean against a tall pine tree.
“As you probably know, we’re going to cover a lot of ground in the next three to four weeks. August, here, has done his homework the past several months, researching countless north and southwest lost treasure legends. Based on the information he’s gathered, I’ve mapped out our expedition, and I can tell you that we’ve got ten locations to explore in a very short time, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Jessi and Shari exchanged a glance at that point, making Gabe wonder what they’d been talking about since they met. Belatedly, it occurred to him that Shari could have told Jessi that she’d scolded her husband for demanding a wedding. If so, Jessi might have spilled the truth—women were notorious for that in his opinion—a disconcerting possibility he’d somehow have to confirm or disprove without showing his own hand. How else would he know where he stood?
“Do these locations have names?” Jessi asked.
Gabe realized he had better concentrate on the matter at hand instead of worrying about what she might or might not know.
“Actually, most of them are nothing more than dots on a map, if that,” Gabe replied. “And most are in the middle of nowhere, just like this.”
“Will there be any dangerous wildlife to worry about?” Jessi stole a glance at her daughter, almost as if having second—or was it fourth by now?—thoughts.
“I’ll answer that one, Gabe,” August interjected as though reading those thoughts. “There’s always a risk of encountering wildlife, and some of it could be dangerous. Campsites have been carefully selected with safety in mind, however. I wouldn’t risk any of you ladies.”
“Any reason why we’re starting this treasure hunt here in these mountains?” Shari asked, confirming Gabe’s suspicion that she was just along for the ride and knew little about the actual game plan.
“Yes. My most promising lead comes from the journal of a gold miner, one Silas McHenry. His great-grandniece let me reprint passages of it for my book. I have one here I’d like to share.” August took a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket, unfolded it and read:
“ ‘November 13, 1849. John thinks someone is watching us from the mountains, waiting for the right moment to take advantage of our good luck. He won’t even close his eyes at night for fear we’ll be murdered in our beds. I told him that cave we found up on Panther Ridge would make a good hiding place for our treasures.’”
“Treasures?” Shari asked. “Plural?”
“That’s right,” August answered with a nod.
“Odd way to put it,” Jessi murmured.
Her expressive eyes, window to her thoughts, sparkled with speculation and curiosity. Gabe grinned, glad to note that her reservations about this little trip had apparently been forgotten... at least for the moment.
“Not if the men, who were certainly partners, split whatever gold they found each day.” August bent down and picked up a rock, examined it, then gave it a toss into the trees. “Silas McHenry, according to his great-grandniece and only living descendant, was a young journalist from Philadelphia. When he heard about the California gold rush, he decided to try his luck and filled up the pages of several journals in the process. Unfortunately, that luck ran out in these very mountains when whoever was watching him and his partner apparently decided to attack...or that’s the theory. No one knows exactly what happened, of course, but apparently all that was ever found of the two miners were these journals.”
“I can’t believe no one’s tried to find their gold before now,” Shari murmured. “Especially since you reprinted this in your book.”
“Who says they haven’t?” August retorted.
“You mean there’ve been other searches for this cave?”
“Lots,