Freedom's Treasure (7 page)

“Not to mention the value from the historical significance,” Anna added. “I’m surprised this place isn’t crawling with treasure hunters.”

Hunter stopped walking and looked at Anna. “Which brings us to the point of this story.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. The ones that come think it’s buried on the land you just rented.”

“Excuse me?” Anna
stopped walking and stared at Hunter.

“It’s true. Every few years people come through town, usually with metal detectors and shovels,” Hunter paused. “And sometimes guns.”

“Did you say guns?” Anna’s jaw dropped. “Have people been shot?”

Hunter jerked a shoulder. “There’s been an instance or two over the years. The last I know of was a couple of years ago. It’s almost cyclical. I wouldn’t be surprised if strangers were poking around this summer.”

“Hunter, I have no desire whatsoever to have strangers roaming around with shovels and guns when I’m out there by myself! This seems like something you or your mother should have told me before I moved in!” Anna was fuming. Known for her short temper she tried to rein it in.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was going to put you in the Lucas place. If I’d known I would have rented you a different one. We can take care of that when we get back to town. I’ll help you move your stuff, if you want.” This conversation wasn’t going how Hunter had envisioned but it was close enough.

Anna’s eyes flashed. “Thank you but no. I’m settled in and I like that cabin. Have any locals been hurt or killed in all of this searching?”

“No, no one I know has been hurt. We’ve had emergency services out in the woods helping haul out other wounded or searching for lost hikers.”

“Then I should be fine. Don’t you think?” Anna swung to face Hunter. “Maybe this is what I needed. A treasure story always gets people excited.”

“Yeah, I thought you might see things that way.” Hunter looked into Anna’s eyes and tried to judge what he saw there. He slid half a step closer. “It’s important you be careful, keep an eye out and if you see anything weird, call me or the Sheriff.”

“We’ll have to talk about this some more. I definitely won’t be moving, however.” Anna could practically feel the gears churning in her brain. This is the story she needed to write. She nodded. “Oh yeah, we’ll definitely be talking about this some more.” She’d heard but didn’t hear his request, he knew it.

“I don’t want to worry about you out there by yourself, Anna,” Hunter put a finger under Anna’s chin, raised her eyes to meet his. “I already think about you.”

“You do?” a squeak. Anna would have been mortified if she hadn’t been lost in the intensity of his stare.

“Oh yeah,” he bent his head the final few inches and his lips found hers.

Anna had seen the move coming. How could she not? He’d been broadcasting it since they’d started dancing. Half the town probably knew he’d be kissing her right about now. She felt her body hesitate, anticipate and was disappointed when the chemistry she was sure she’d felt didn’t ignite her senses. Then again this wasn’t a romance novel.

Anna pulled herself back from the kiss and tried to ignore the flash of disappointment she saw on Hunter’s face. “Wait. We can do better than that.”

She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him close. She turned off her brain and let herself just feel. Her body melted against his and she pulled his lips back to hers.

Hunter couldn’t believe the difference; it was like kissing two different women. The first kiss had been timid and somewhat cold. The second blew his mind. A hot, writhing mass of woman curled into him. He wrapped his arms around her to contain the movement before it drove him crazy.

Anna opened her mouth beneath his questing tongue and felt her toes curl with the first touch. One of them groaned lightly. She felt her feet move and a bench pressed against the backs of her legs. She broke contact and put both hands against his chest to feel the warmth his body emitted and to hold him back.

“This could get out of control very quickly,” she loved and hated that she was slightly breathless. “We should slow down.” Her hands rubbed up and down his chest, her eyes glittered.

Hunter brought his hands to where Anna’s rested on his chest. He took a deep breath, exhaled sharply and stepped back. “You’re right, of course. My God, I don’t know what I was thinking,” he looked at the surroundings. “It’s cold, wet and getting dark out here. A more pleasing atmosphere I couldn’t imagine.”

Anna laughed. “We’ll do better next time.” She ran a hand over her hair and realized it was damp. “We should head back. Is it raining?”

“It has been for a while. That leaf canopy protects us.”

“That is really freaking cool,” Anna grinned. “I’ll have to remember that next time a storm blows in.”

They walked in silence, his large hand wrapped around hers, keeping a connection neither wanted to break.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye. “I think there’s a bit of the storyteller gene in you, Hunter Williams.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was an awful lot of detail in that story for something that happened more than 150 years ago.” She nudged him with her elbow. “Confession is good for the soul.”

“Confess what? I read the journal.”

Anna stopped walking. “What journal?”

“Well, journals, plural. The library has copies of Samuel Belvette’s journals and some from Robert Lucas, the patriarch of the Lucas clan and the man who lived next door to Samuel. I read them in middle school when we learned about the Civil War and wrote a report. I got an A on that one.” He grinned. 

Anna poked him in the stomach. “We have a lot to talk about,” she warned. “And you’ll have to show me where to find these journals.”

“I thought that might pique your curiosity,” he mused. “I’d be delighted.”

“You know,” Anna began as they started walking again, “I may have found a campsite some treasure hunters used. I found a circle that might have been made from a tent and a rusty shovel over by the creek. There was a weird pair of headphones too. Maybe they came from a metal detector.”

That got Hunter’s attention. “You’ll have to show me where you saw it. You’re writing the story in your head already, aren’t you?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll put you in the Acknowledgements.” Anna kept turning the story around in her head. An FBI thriller could wait unless the story unfolded in such a way as to bring the feds in. Oh yeah, she could work with this and then some.

“I can hear your brain working,” Hunter teased. “I should get you back to your truck. Will you have dinner with me tomorrow?”

‘Sure. I have a few things to do but I should be done by 6:00 or so.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at 7:30.”

Anna rocked back on her heels.
“Women don’t sweat, they glisten, my ass,” she muttered. “It’s like a sauna in here,” she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

It had looked so easy at the store. She’d bought the Do-It-Yourself television stand to hold the new TV that was still out in the back of her truck. The box claimed it could be put together in an hour. Anna was in her second hour and the thing looked like an abstract sculpture meant for a second grade art fair.

When she’d once again woken at 6:00 a.m. the rain had been coming sideways. Lightning ripped across the sky in blinding flashes and thunder boomed from near and far. She had thought the sound of rain on the roof would be soothing and she’d tried to meditate. When that failed she’d put a movie on her laptop and found she couldn’t settle.

By 9:00 she was chopping vegetables and had prepared a roast for the slow cooker. If she was going to be trapped inside all day she might as well make it smell nice. Inspiration had struck while she was chopping an onion. Putting the TV stand together would be a good indoor project for the day and she could put a mental checkmark to that part of her list.

Now she was debating tearing the whole thing apart and starting anew when her cell phone rang across the room. She was pleased to note the signal booster worked. She didn’t reach the device in time and the call went to voicemail. Anna waited for the tone indicating the message had been left and dialed.

“Hi, Anna, it’s Hunter. I wanted to see if you needed anything from town.” Anna smiled. He was a sweet guy. “It looks like the storm is only supposed to get worse so some branches or trees might fall. It’s also possible the power will go out.” Anna’s brow creased in concern. She hadn’t considered what it would be like out here with no power and no way to go into town. “Your generator has gas so you should be okay there.” Generator? Anna hadn’t seen one. “I’ll try you back in a little while or you can call me. See you.”

Anna saved the message and set the phone down. She had a week’s worth of groceries so that wasn’t a concern and, if need be, the roast she was making could feed her for a week. She thought about calling him back and figured she could do that as soon as she mastered the television stand.

She picked up her hammer and eyed the sculpture in the middle of her living room. Destruction or construction? It could be a difficult choice at times. This inanimate object would not defeat her, Anna decided, even if it took all of today and the next. She huffed out a sigh and went back to work.

Hunter stepped around and over large mud puddles as he made his way to Anna’s door. The backyard was beginning to look like a shallow lake and he knew it would get worse if this front didn’t blow the rest of the way through the area. He glanced back at his truck, parked next to hers, and noted with relief that the rain was washing the mud from the undercarriage. Apparently there were a few good things that come with sideways rain. He took a blast of cold water to the face and hurried to the door.

It looked like every light in the cabin was on and she must have bought some more lamps. He couldn’t remember it ever being that bright in the small cabin. The loud twang of country music spilled out and he could hear a buzzing undertone. A gust of wind whipped through and Hunter’s eyes nearly crossed in joy. He deeply inhaled the scent of cooking onions and meat.

His arms were full of supplies and he couldn’t knock without dropping everything. From the sounds of it, Anna wouldn’t have heard him if he had banged on the door with a sledgehammer. He used his hip to open the storm door, stepped into the mud porch and came to an immediate standstill. His eyes locked and if the scent of the cooking meal hadn’t already caused it he would have drooled.

Anna was wearing a pair of tight black pants that hugged her from hips to heels. She was on her hands and knees, bent over some pieces of wood. Her perfect, heart-shaped derriere wagged as she swayed between some paper on the floor, a large bowl and the wood. Hunter’s eyes swayed with her.

Anna rocked back on her heels and reached her arms above her head to stretch her back. Hunter nearly swallowed his tongue. She was wearing a flashy red tank top with the skintight pants and nothing was left to his imagination. Her long hair was twisted into a lopsided bun with tendrils of hair falling to frame her face.

When she turned slightly to the side Hunter found himself wishing he were a painter. He couldn’t imagine a more appealing or sexier profile as she seemed to glow in the day’s gloom.

Hunter remembered her wicked right hook and cleared his throat. When she didn’t turn he watched and waited with pleasure until the song began to wind down. He cleared his throat again.

“Knock knock!” he stamped his feet a few times and hoped she wouldn’t know he’d been watching her. Then he felt creepy.

Anna spun around quickly. A shiny, very lethal looking hammer was in her hand and Hunter thought he recognized murder in her eyes. “Whoa! Hi! I come bearing gifts,” he tried a smile. He held the bags up as a peace offering.

“Oh! Hunter! I wasn’t expecting you. It’s not 7:30 yet, is it?” Anna looked at the clock with panic. “Hey! You’re early.” She gracefully rose from the floor. Hunter was proud of his ability to lock his eyes above her neck and keep them there.

“The, ah, storm blew down some trees. I wanted to make sure my favorite renter had everything she needed in case one blocks the road.”

“Well come in, put those bags down. You’re dripping. I’ll grab a towel,” she darted into the bathroom and reappeared with one of her new towels. Extremely puffy and extremely pink, she hadn’t decided if they were awesome or awful.