Christmas Kisses Collection. Louise Allen

of the river to his right, he could be sure they were still headed toward the coast.

      Now to find a place for them to stay for the night. They were both soaking wet. He was starting to chap and Ellen must be also. But still no complaint. He shook his head. The woman with hot pink fingernails had just saved his life. Who would have thought?

      Where did she find that fortitude? In his experience with women they would have broken down long ago. As the daughter of Robert Cox she’d grown up in a privileged home. He couldn’t imagined her having done anything that would prepare her for this type of undertaking. It was nice to have someone he wasn’t having to reassure all the time. A partner in the effort.

      They walked about an hour without seeing any obvious good place for shelter. Under the tree canopy it was almost dark. He had to find something soon. As if in answer to his prayer, a giant kapok tree came into view. It was so large that its trunk and roots created a cave of sorts. They had just made it to the tree when rain started to fall. Ellen stood with her mouth open, letting the drops off a leaf fall into her mouth. He wished he could let her continue but they had to see to their needs first.

      “Get the bottles and put them where they’ll collect water. I’ll make sure we don’t have any company inside this tree. Then we need to get out of these clothes and shoes. We can’t take a chance on a fire but we do need to give our bodies relief from the damp.”

      Chance left her to see about the drinking water while he checked out the tree. There was just enough room for them to both lie down. At least it was dry. He returned outside and found a banana tree and started stripping leaves from it. He would use them to clean out any ants or spiders that might want to share their room. They couldn’t afford to be bitten.

      He’d just finished and had their bags inside when Ellen joined him, soaking wet. She had one full bottle of water in her hand.

      “I poured what I had in one. I’ll go out after the other in a few minutes. Have some.” She handed it to him like she was giving a Christmas present. “It’s wonderful.”

      Chance gladly took a swallow. And another, before handing it back to her. “Drink all you can so we can fill it up again.”

      She did as he said and passed it to him once more.

      “I think we’re safe here so we need to get out of these clothes. There’s a root we can hang them on. They won’t dry completely but it’s better than nothing.” Chance started unbuttoning his shirt. He couldn’t help but watch Ellen pull her T-shirt over her head. Why couldn’t there be more light? Beneath she wore a sports bra.

      “Please, don’t look at me like that. I’m not used to undressing in front of a man.”

      Chance unbuckled his belt, bent over and removed his boots then dropped his pants. “You certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re amazing.”

      “From what I can see of you, you’re not so bad yourself. So you’re a briefs guy. And I would have said boxers.”

      She’d given thought to what type of underwear he wore? He rather liked that idea.

      Ellen sat on a banana leaf and removed her boots then stood. The sound of a zipper drew Chance’s attention away from hanging clothes. In the dim light he could see a strip of white bikini panties. Once again he had to remind himself to focus on keeping them alive instead of his baser desires.

      “Hand me those,” he said in a gruff voice.

      She gave him her pants.

      “We need to go through our packs and see what we have that we can use to gather food and attend to our feet. I don’t know about you but mine feel like shriveled-up prunes.” The job needed to be done but it would also keep his mind off the half-naked woman sharing a tree bedroom in the middle of nowhere with him. It should have been the stuff that dreams were made of. Instead they were in a nightmare.

      He’d worked hard all day to sound upbeat and not to show his fear and concern. Gut-wrenching anxiety filled him any time he let himself think about their situation. People with guns were after them, they were dehydrated, had no real food, their feet were blistered, they were insect bitten, and exhausted. He just couldn’t let on to Ellen how dire their situation was.

      She sat on a banana leaf again and opened her backpack. She started laying things out. When she found the flashlight she start to turn it on.

      “Wait until we have everything out so we don’t waste the batteries.”

      “It’s so wet it might not work.”

      “It’s the kind sealed for water. It should be fine.”

      She went back to digging in the pack. “What’s this?” She held a rag with its ends tied. She opened it carefully. It was food like the boy had bought them last night.

      “The boy must have put it in there when he was packing things up.”

      “I don’t care how it got here, I’m just grateful to have it. I’m starving.” She handed one to him.

      They stopped what they were doing and took a moment to eat. Neither said anything about saving some but they only ate a little. Chance gave his back to her and she put them both back into the rag and tied it.

      “Okay, what else do we have?” she asked.

      Most of what they had was medical supplies, which did them little good for food or drink.

      “Let me see that light. I want to look at your feet.”

      “Why, Doctor, that’s a kinky idea.” Ellen brought her feet around in his direction.

      “Funny. You keep that up and I might tickle them.” Chance shined the light on her feet. He wanted to cry. They had blisters and were bleeding in some places. “I have some antibiotic ointment I’m going to put on these. Why didn’t you say something?”

      “We couldn’t stop, could we?”

      “No.”

      “Then what was the point? I’m sure yours are just as bad. Finish up with mine and then I’ll see to yours.”

      He gently applied the ointment to her feet but it wouldn’t really help much. The air and time out of her boots were the best healer. “Before you do mine, let me go out and see to the water.” Chance picked up the bottle and headed outside. He soon returned to find her repacking their bags.

      “It’s your turn.” Chance wiped as much dirt off his feet as possible and sat down to let her examine them. Her hands were gentle as she checked each angry spot and applied the cream. She was an above-average doctor.

      “We’re both in sad shape but we’ll survive. My father will never believe this. I’ll be lucky if he lets me out of town again.”

      Chance placed banana leaves so that they had a bed of sorts. He put his bag and her pack on it and lay back. Patting the area beside him, he said, “Join me.”

      Ellen did but didn’t touch him.

      He clicked off the flashlight. “Would you mind keeping me warm?”

      She placed her head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. Shifting, she got comfortable and he became uncomfortable. He could so easily roll over and make love to her but he was bone weary and she could only be just as tired. They needed their rest more than release.

      “These banana leaves make you think a dirty tarp isn’t so bad.”

      Chance chuckled and kissed her temple. “You never cease to amaze me.”

      The soft sound of her even breathing brought the only feeling of peace he’d found all day.

       CHAPTER SIX

      THEY HAD BEEN walking since sunrise and Ellen’s feet were already