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“Thank you kindly. So do you.”
“Hi to you, too, sis.”
Leah gave him a quick wave.
“Where are you two heading off to?” Michael asked.
“We’re going into town. You want to come with us, Selina?”
Michael blurted, “No!”
Leah lips curled upward. “I see. And just where are you two going?” She waggled her eyebrows.
“That’s none of your business.” He smiled.
“A surprise,” Abby chimed in. “Ooo, I love surprises.” She walked over to him and cupped her ear with her hand. “Whisper to me what it is. I won’t tell.”
Michael leaned down near her ear. “No.”
Abby yanked her head back. “Oh, you. You’re so mean.”
He tweaked her on the nose. “And don’t you forget it.”
“Come on, Abby,” Leah said. “Help me get Lambie ready so we can go. I don’t want to miss…” She stopped and yanked her gaze over at Michael.
“You don’t want to miss what?”
“Nothing.”
“Le-ah. Who is he?”
Leah shook her head. “No one, Michael. I’m teasing you. Do you think I would take my little sister with me if I were going to see someone?”
“Yes.”
Leah blushed.
Something wasn’t right. He wanted to follow her to see what she was up to, but Abby was going with her, so the thought of her meeting someone did seem pretty far-fetched. Still.
“We goin’ ridin’ or what?” Selina tossed him a halter.
They readied their horses and rode off, making their way down the Palouse River into the deep woods. Michael followed the tracks until they came to a grove of trees. There they were, just as he had hoped.
He dismounted and held up his arms to her, waiting for her to refuse his help and jump down by herself like she always did. This time, however, she accepted his help, which pleased and surprised him. She swung her right leg over the horse’s withers and placed her arms on his shoulders.
He held on to her even when her feet touched the green grass below their boots.
She gazed up at him, and his lips curled upward. “You smell nice, Selina.”
“It’s that lavender water Rainee give me.”
He smelled her neck, letting his breath brush the hollow of her throat.
She swallowed. “What—what’cha doin’?”
“Enjoying my wife’s perfume.” He breathed deeply, his senses coming to full alert.
“I—I see.”
He raised his head, and when their eyes connected, the sun suddenly seemed brighter in spite of the clouds covering most of it.
Selina stared up at him.
He leaned and lightly touched his mouth to hers, whispering, “Your lips are so soft.”
She said nothing.
He pulled back and stars sparkled through her eyes. The urge to kiss her floated over him like the clouds above, but he wanted to take things slowly with her. “I brought you here because there’s something I want to show you.”
“O-Okay.”
Leaving her nearly speechless was something that rarely happened.
From out of his saddle bag he grabbed his spy glass and gazed through the trees with it. “Look.” He handed it to Selina and stood behind her. “Hold it up to your eye and look over there.” He reached his arm around her and pointed to a place in the midst of the trees. The scent of lavender and soap swirled around him like the air from a crisp spring day. He needed to concentrate on showing her what he’d found. Focus, Michael, focus. And not on Selina and how nice she smells and how good she feels in your arms.
Selina held the spy glass against her right eye and shifted her head one way and then the other. Michael knew the exact moment she spotted it. “Is that—is that who I think it is?”
“Yes. It’s your wolf pup.”
She turned to glance up at him. The surprised innocence of a child on Christmas morning clothed her features. “How—how did you find her?”
Those lips of hers so close to his were tempting.
Slow, Michael, slow, remember?
He forced his gaze from her mouth and onto the woods where the pup was. “I noticed the wolf pack the other day. I wondered if the pup you doctored was among them, so I kept track of their whereabouts until I could show you that she’s back with her family and doing well.”
“You—you did that for me?” She blinked.
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Michael. That was mighty nice of you. I’m much obliged.” She walked in the direction of the pack of wolves.
Michael caught up to her and clasped her upper arm, halting her. “Stay here. It’s too dangerous. We’re taking a chance by being this close as it is.” Although his voice was but a whisper, he kept it stern along with the look he sent her.
