Foxfire Light by Janet Dailey Page B

Joanna emerged. Reece pretendednot to notice the way her glance went immediately to the place where Linc had been sitting. “Linc said to pass along his goodbye. He wasn’t able to stay longer. By the way, did you reach Elizabeth?”
    â€œNo.” Actually she hadn’t tried, but she didn’t tell her uncle that. It would be akin to admitting cowardice. “It’s just as well. It would take too long to mail the things to me anyway. I’ll go shopping tomorrow in town and pick up the few things I’ll need while I’m here.”
    â€œThat sounds sensible,” he agreed.
    â€œWhy did you tell me it was safe to come out just because Linc Wilder was gone?” She wanted to know.
    â€œIt was obvious the two of you had been exchanging blows,” he stated. “You wanted to avoid him. That’s why you decided to call your mother.”
    â€œI couldn’t help it. I know you like him and if I had stayed in the room—” she began tightly.
    â€œYes, I was aware of the sparks flying,” he smiled gently. “What happened yesterday?”
    â€œHe started giving me a lecture on my manners.”
    â€œWhich you needed?” Reece suggested with a raised eyebrow.
    â€œEven if I did, he had no right to tell me about it, and I told him so,” she retorted.
    â€œJoanna.” He shook his head at her with affection. “Hasn’t it occurred to you that you aren’t the only one with a lot of pride?”
    â€œYes, a couple of times,” she admitted grudgingly,then smiled. “How about a game of backgammon?”
    â€œGet the board and I’ll pour some more coffee.”
    They played until nearly midnight with neither one winding up a clear-cut winner although Reece did have the advantage.
    Upstairs in the loft, Joanna undressed for bed. A cool breeze was whispering through the trees outside her window where a whippoorwill was making its plaintive call. After pulling on a nightgown, she folded down the bed’s coverlet and used only the sheet. She switched off the bedside lamp to send the room into darkness.
    Her thoughts roamed over the evening’s events, spending too much time on Linc Wilder and the way his presence had unnerved her. Joanna turned on her side and punched the pillow beneath her head. She couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Maybe it was her conscience that was troubling her. On that thought, she closed her eyes.

Chapter Six
    J oanna leaned her head out of the opened car window to call to her uncle. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me? It might not be smart to trust me with this car. I could run into a mule.”
    â€œI trust you.” Reece laughed from the doorway of the cabin. “I have some notes to go over. Later on this afternoon I plan to do a little fishing.”
    â€œYou just don’t want to be dragged around from store to store while I try on clothes,” she accused.
    â€œYou’re right.” He waved to her and she waved back before shifting the luxury car into reverse to back out of the driveway. “Enjoy yourself!”
    The big car made better going over the roughroad. As she neared the fork in the road where a lane turned off to Jessie Bates’s cabin, she chewed her lip thoughtfully. It had been at the back of her mind since last night that she really should apologize to the man. She slowed the car and made the sharp turn onto the track leading to his cabin.
    It was set a quarter of a mile back, deep in the woods that grew thickly all the way to the lake. All the buildings looked ancient—the log cabin, a shed, and a small barnlike structure, yet there was an absence of litter in the yard. It had a tidy and neat appearance, not at all what she had expected.
    The two mules were standing head to tail inside an enclosure fenced with rough cedar posts. One turned its head to look at her, its big ears flopping at the flies, but it lost interest when she