Read Online Yellowstone Heart Song (Yellowstone Romance Series Book 1) by Peggy L Henderson - Free Book Online Page A

britches that hugged every inch of her womanly curves. Daniel clenched his jaw as he envisioned running his hands up and down the contours of her body, and burying his fingers in the long waves of her yellow hair that swayed seductively down her back with each of her movements. He had never seen a respectable white woman with loose hair before. He remembered the women in the east kept their hair tied up and covered at all times. Emma’s hair had always been hidden beneath one of those silly caps women preferred to wear.
    Is she aware at all of how beautiful she is?
    “What do you do all day?” Aimee asked conversationally, which put a stop to his wandering mind.
    “I run traps and scout for beaver,” Daniel answered. She struggled with the heavy kettle that hung on the tripod over the fire.  Moving quickly around the table, he reached for it, and pulled it off the hook.
    Their eyes met, and he held her gaze for a moment. His stomach tightened. He moved the kettle away from the heat, and backed away to sit at the table. Aimee ladled out a portion of stew into a bowl, and set it in front of him.
    “You must be pretty hungry after being gone all day,” she said, and sat across from him. 
    Daniel forked a piece of meat from his bowl, and tasted it. He followed it up with a tender piece of root. “This is good,” he commented between mouthfuls. She’d prepared the meat and roots differently than what he was used to, but it had a pleasing taste. He ate in silence, and the woman sitting across from him thankfully didn’t try to engage him in more talk. He was aware of her nervous glances in his direction, but he felt no need for discussion. He emptied his bowl, and refilled it again.
    When he finished his meal, he thanked her for the food and left the cabin.
    The early evening sun cast a golden glow around the mountain beyond the river. Daniel took the rabbits he caught earlier to the fire pit and began the task of skinning and eviscerating. Aimee emerged from the cabin. She’d stopped to watch him before continuing on to the banks of the Madison. In a hasty decision, he set the rabbits aside and caught up with her, his hands covered in blood. Wordlessly, he took the heavy wooden bucket she carried, and set it down at the water’s edge.
    “You don’t have to do that,” Aimee said. “I’m quite capable of pulling my own weight.”
    “I wasn’t pulling you, I was carrying the bucket. Your foot will heal faster if you don’t move around on it so much.”
    He reached for the bowls, and she hesitantly said,  “Um . . . you should wash your hands first before you touch those bowls. I’d rather not catch salmonella or something next time I eat out of them.”
    “There are no salmon in this river.” Daniel wondered what cleaning the bowls had to do with catching fish.
    “Never mind.” Aimee shook her head.
    He washed his hands in the water, then dipped the bowls under the surface, and let the current rinse them out.
    “You don’t have to do that,” Aimee repeated.
    He shrugged. “I’m accustomed to doing for myself.” Finished with the task, he dipped the bucket in the water to fill it, and then carried it back to the cabin.
    He reached for the door, when movement between the trees beyond the cabin caught his eye. Daniel turned his head slowly, and stared into the forest. His hand inched toward the knife at his belt, and he stepped in front of the woman next to him. Seconds later, his hand relaxed on the knife handle. Elk Runner stepped from behind the trees. Daniel strode up to him, and the two clasped hands in a warm greeting. Ignoring the woman standing at his cabin door, he led his brother to the fire pit and offered him one of the rabbits.
    Daniel wasted no time, and asked, “What have you learned?”
    Elk Runner skewered the meat and turned it over the fire, taking his time with a response. “Her trail begins in the meadow near the bubbling mud,” he finally said. “It is as if she fell out of