"I hope you guys enjoyed supper, because this is going to be my last trip."
Davis glanced sharply up at her and then at Bordeaux. Fritz and Royce exchanged knowing glances and Pete merely nodded. Obviously they all thought she was leaving with Bordeaux. She lifted her chin.
"I'm going back home."
Bordeaux looked relieved. He probably thought she was getting serious about him as well. Apparently it was the only thing that frightened him.
Pete took a swallow of his coffee. "It might be the last trip for all of us. The railroad is close enough now that wagons can reach it from Ashley faster than we can cross the desert."
"Yeah," Fritz said. "Royce and I have been considering a job with an outfit in Wyoming." He glanced at Pete. "What are you going to do?"
"I had an offer to ramrod a horse ranch in Texas. I'm considerin' it."
Pete stood and looked down at Davis, who was silently nursing his coffee.
"How 'bout you, Davis? I'm sure you saw this coming."
Davis nodded absently. "I've got a small place down by Brownsville. It don't amount to much, but it's home. I was hoping to find someone to take back with me. It gets lonely out there all by myself."
Cassie kicked sand over the fire. Was he tossing out an invitation? She scraped the pot out and rinsed it with the last of the coffee. Bordeaux picked up the plates and started scraping the bones into a pile. Fritz, Royce and Davis wandered back to their wagons.
Pete drank the rest of his coffee and handed the cup to Cassie.
"Bordeaux, are you going to throw in with the Army again?"
"No, I'm here on business. I spent enough time out here a few years ago."
Cassie smiled. "Mrs. Hertz was always talking about a nephew that..."
She stopped, remembering the photo on the wall in the Hertz cabin. That was where she had seen Bordeaux! The photo was fuzzy and the boy was young, but the eyes - she was certain it was Bordeaux.
She shot a glance at Bordeaux, who had stopped scraping on a plate.
"I thought I recognized you that first day," she said, "but I couldn't place you. You were the one in the photo - the wandering nephew."
Pete frowned at Bordeaux, who was carefully stacking the plates. Bordeaux didn't look up when he replied. "Yes."
He wasn't surprised that she knew the Hertz's, which could only mean that he knew the situation that brought her to the desert. So, why hadn't he said something? Unless...She stared at him, fear clutching at her heart. "You were looking for me, weren't you?"