“It’s about time you stirred.” Rodland turned away from the fire as he picked bacon out of the skillet and put it on a plate. “You were sleeping hard, and I thought I was going to have to wake you. I hate the idea of serving cold bacon. It offends my culinary expertise. Go down to the creek and take a quick bath but be back in fifteen minutes.”

She sat up and looked around. “Where’s Caleb?”

“He’s on the phone with MacDuff. He talked to Palik last night after I came back to camp.” He saw her frown and said, “It’s not as if he’s getting ahead of you. He didn’t want me to wake you because he thought you needed the rest.” He suddenly grinned. “A baby, Jane? Not anything I expected. You could have given me a hint.”

“Why should I? It wasn’t your business.” She made a face. “And look at the way you’re behaving now. Just what I didn’t want to happen. I’m very strong, and having this child shouldn’t make any difference to my general good health. I remember Eve was as strong as a horse all through most of her pregnancy with Michael. I’ll exercise and make sure that nothing gets in the way of my keeping my baby well.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Rodland said. “Caleb did warn me. I’ll watch myself from now on. I only meant that Caleb wanted to put Palik and MacDuff in place right away in case he decided to bring them into going after your Dr. Campbell.” He added, “Which you should be thinking about yourself. You know Caleb is unique. Take advantage of him.”

“I will.” She got to her feet and grabbed her clothes, towel, and soap. “But our agreement is that we take advantage of each other for the greater good. I prefer that philosophy.”

“Very concise, but a little puritanical. Caleb is a loner. You might have trouble keeping him in line.”

“Not if we work at it.” She took off in the direction of the creek.

“Fifteen minutes,” he called after her. “And don’t try to keep me in line. I’m the cook.”

She was chuckling as she reached the creek. But the smile faded as she waded into the cold water. She had no desire to keep Caleb in line. They had a long way to go, and she had no idea how it was going to end. She instantly rejected the thought. It had to end well because she wouldn’t accept anything else. She had Caleb, and now she had a child, and she would work and do everything to make them happy.