After reading the same paragraph for the fourth time and still not comprehending what it said, she put the bookmark back in place and laid the book aside.
She rose from the bed and went to the open French doors that led to a small balcony. From here, she could see all the outbuildings and far off into the distance. Moonlight illuminated the barnyard, casting its glow on everything. She saw Hilde and Antonio walk across the yard to their little house. A flash of light flared in the window before the door closed. Tomorrow Hilde would be back in the kitchen before the sun rose, sometimes before Lucifer even crowed, and soon the aroma of her fine coffee would be wafting through the house. Evie awoke to that smell every morning.
A few minutes later, she heard Uncle Charley and Aunt Felicity come up the stairs and head toward their room at the opposite end of the hall.
Life on the ranch was all about routine and yet, her routine had been shaken.
She looked toward the bunkhouse. What was Jake doing now? Trying to get to sleep? Thinking of her like she was thinking of him? Feeling restless and too warm?
A moment later, the door to the bunkhouse opened and Jake came outside, lanterns in each hand. He set them on the railing of the porch, where they cast a warm glow against the side of the barn. He took off his shirt and tossed it over the stump, then bouncing on the balls of his feet, started throwing punches like he was fighting someone, although there was nothing there except his shadow.
What was he doing?
It didn’t matter. She was enthralled by his actions, the grace he exhibited as he pretended to evade punches thrown his way.He moved like a dancer, light on his feet, his hands in constant motion—a jab here, a jab there. It was like watching a carefully choreographed ballet. If he knew she was watching him, he didn’t let on. Not once did he look in her direction, which made watching him thrilling, perhaps because it was a little intrusive. She shouldn’t be doing it and yet, she rested her hands on the balcony railing and continued to watch him dance and dart and jab. How long she stood there, she had no clue.
And then he stopped and moved toward the barrel that captured the rain from the bunkhouse roof. He dipped his head into the barrel and came up sputtering, flinging water everywhere. Droplets sparkled in the light cast by both the moon and the lanterns shining on him. He washed up, grabbed his shirt, and used it to dry himself off then carefully laid the garment over the porch railing to dry.
He picked up the lanterns, then went inside the bunkhouse and closed the door. Evie let out a sigh as she saw the warm glow from the lantern extinguish, and the bunkhouse windows grow dark. Now she’d never be able to get to sleep and it would be her own fault.
She didn’t move from her spot, her hands still gripping the brass railing surrounding the balcony. Was she willing him to come back outside?
Whether she willed it or not, the door to the bunkhouse opened and Jake walked out to the porch. He sat on the chair he’d brought out earlier, leaned back, crossed his legs at the ankles and his arms over his chest…and looked at the house…as if he knew she was there, knew that she’d been watching him the whole time.
She fled inside her room, her entire body flushed with both excitement and embarrassment, hoping he hadn’t seen her, but that was impossible. Wasn’t it?
Just one more kiss. That’s all she wanted. She was a strong, confident woman, had raised her niece and nephews into fine adults. She had built up this ranch, making it one of the most successful in the area when it hadn’t been before. Why couldn’t she just walk across the barnyard and straight into Jake’s arms? What was stopping her?
Nothing. Not a damned thing.
She grabbed her robe and slipped it on then took several steps across the room. She paused with her hand on the doorknob.
Just do it, Evie.
Anticipation racing through her, she opened the door then crept down the stairs, heading through the empty kitchen and outside…
Just in time to hear the rattle of the harness, the steady clip-clop of the horses’ hooves, and the voices of her nephews and their wives as they drove into the barnyard and stopped at the at the edge of the garden. Evie stood in the doorway, thoroughly disappointed, and turned around. Instead of racing across the barnyard to collect her kiss from Jake, she lit several lanterns, grabbed a bottle of brandy and several snifters from the cabinet, then took a seat at the kitchen table to wait for her nephew’s wives to give her the latest news of Lucy and her new house.
It didn’t take long before Esmeralda breezed in through the door, followed closely by Jenny and Ana. “Oh,TiaEvie, I’m glad you’re still up. The boys are putting the carriage away, but they’ll be in in a minute,” she announced, as she slid into a chair and dropped her drawstring purse on the table. “We had such a lovely visit with Lucy and Ben!”
“The house looks amazing,” Jenny added as she followed suit. “Lucy has it all fixed up so nice. Even Ben’s office is taking shape. It won’t be long before he can move his practice there.Lucy’s very excited about that. So is Ben.” She poured a little brandy into the glasses, then passed them around the table.
“And she made the most excellent dinner,” Esmeralda said, as she removed her gloves and adjusted the cuffs of her black-and-white town dress. She stuffed the gloves in her drawstring bag. “She cooks almost as well as you,TiaEvie.” Her grin widened. “She did burn the rolls though.”
“That was our fault,” Jenny chuckled, then took a sip of her brandy. “We just kept talking and talking and the next thing we knew, smoke started to billow into the dining room. Well, by that time, the rolls were beyond saving.”
“Dinner was lovely without them.” Esmeralda said. “Left more room for dessert, which was a chocolate cake so light and fluffy, Hilde would have been jealous.”
That surprised Evie. Lucy didn’t bake. It’s not that she couldn’t, she just never had time. She always had other things to do, like take photographs and keep the books. “Lucy baked a cake?”
“No, she bought it from the bakery that just opened up. It’s called Sweet Somethings, and the cake was to die for!”
Evie looked around the room and noticed that Ana wasn’t with them. “Where did Ana go?”
Jenny frowned. “Probably to her room. She’s upset. Her visit with her folks didn’t go so well. Her mother is ill and has been for quite some time.”
The news both surprised and saddened Evie. “I wasn’t aware Mrs. Castillo was ill.”
“I don’t think it’s common knowledge,” Esmeralda admitted with a small sigh. “Ana certainly didn’t know. She was devastated when she found out. We tried to get her to stay, letting her know you would understand, but she wanted to come back here. Her sisters are there, as well as Mr. Castillo, so Mrs. Castillo isn’t alone, but I get the feeling there’s more to it thanthat. Ana didn’t want to talk about it, but I could tell she’d been crying when we picked her up.”
