Bristlecones, ponderosa pine, and blue spruce covered the mountainside along with the enormous granite outcroppings that made the area a perfect place for hiding treasures.

She breathed in the cool air that would soon burn away in the heat of the July day. The earthiness of evergreens filled her nostrils along with the scent of smoke, which had grown more prominent the higher in elevation they’d climbed.

Behind her, Hance and Otis rode quietly, letting her lead the way up into the rocky areas she’d traversed plenty during the years she’d lived in South Park.

Ever since the Independence Day celebrations, she’d known she had to strike out and search for hidden gold. Wyatt and Flynn had made it mighty clear they wouldn’t tolerate her competing as Buster Bliss any longer in the cowhand contests. And without the prize earnings, she had no choice but to join the hunt for treasure or lose out on Steele’s land.

She bit back a sigh. She’d probably lose the land anyway. Finding hidden treasure in the mountains was about as likely as locating a sober man in a saloon. But it didn’t hurt to have a look. It was a heap better than sitting around waiting for gold to fall into her lap.

And it was a heap better than sitting around moping over Jericho.

At the thought of him, another piece of her heart crumbled away, just as it’d been doing ever since the other night. As she’d urged her horse across the barren prairie outside of Fairplay, she’d hoped and waited for the sound of him galloping after her, shouting her name, telling her he was being a pig for letting her go.

But only the lone howl of a coyote had resounded in the night above the pounding of her horse’s hooves. By the time she’d ridden the five miles home, the truth had driven into her harder than a mule’s back kick.

Jericho didn’t want her.

Hadn’t mattered that they’d shared a kiss. Hadn’t mattered that he’d felt the same thing she had. Hadn’t mattered that Wyatt and Flynn wanted him to marry her. Hadn’t mattered that she’d asked him for an explanation.

Her throat tightened around a lump that wouldn’t go away. This time she intended to put him from her mind and to stay as far from him as she could. She’d decided to skip out on the church service today to avoid him. She didn’t know how she’d be able to sit in that small chapel with him nearby and not think on their kiss.

How was it he could kiss her like that one moment and then push her out of his life the next?

She shook her head, her long braid swishing sharply across her back.

“What is it?” Hance asked from behind her. “Do you see something?”