Evie cleared her throat and forced herself to stop looking at his mouth. Only then was she able to remember what she’d been saying. “The Silvas, when they first settled here, did everything they could to make this ranch self-sufficient. For flour and sugar and other necessities, of course, they could go into Santa Fe or Serenity, but my understanding is that the Silvas preferred to stay on Montaña del Trueno as much as possible, though I would hardly know if that’s true. They were long gone by the time I came here. The only one left was Serafina, the children’s grandmother.”
“Come.” She led him closer to the house. “Toward the end of her life, her memories had faded quite a bit and she couldn’t remember much of anything. There were times when she didn’t know who we were. Or thought we were someone else.” She let out a sigh of regret. “She passed last year.”
“I’m sorry.” His voice held sincere sympathy.
“She was a good woman.” And as she said the words her throat constricted a little. “I miss her.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“There’s a photograph of her with Savannah in the study. Lucy took it just after Savannah was born.” She paused, then added, “I will admit, sometimes I still talk to her.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
At the front of the house, she stopped and stepped up to the porch. “Would you like some water? I think there might be a bottle of whiskey if you’d prefer that.”
“Don’t put yourself to any trouble. Water will be fine, thanks.”
“Make yourself comfortable.” She gestured to one of the rocking chairs, then let herself into the house. Someone had been there recently. There wasn’t any dust on the furnishings and the floor had been swept clean. There were two glasses on the counter beside the sink, washed and left to dry on the drainboard. One of the boys, perhaps, looking for a moment alone with their wives?
She filled two glasses with water from the pump and brought them outside. “I saw you outside the bunkhouse the other night,” she said, as she handed him his.
He accepted the glass and frowned as she took her seat next to him and slowly rocked back and forth.
“You were…well, it looked like you were fighting.”
“You saw that?” He laughed.
“I did.”
“Father O’Malley, at the home, loved boxing, which one would find unusual, I’m sure, given that he’s a priest. He loved the mechanics of it, the elegance, the discipline, and yes, even the brutality, though he’d never admit that part to anyone. He taught boxing to all of us boys.”
He’d spoken of the priest before, and she loved the way his feelings for the man animated his features. “Clearly you were quite fond of Father O’Malley.”
“I was. Still am. In many respects, he was the only father figure I had in my life.”
She took a sip of water, watching him over the rim of the glass. “What would you have said if, when we first met, I wanted to get married? If I had written to you? Would you have gone through with it?”
A look passed over his face and his warm amber eyes seemed to be full of secrets. But then he smiled and said, “Yes.”
She watched him, wondering if he told the truth or not. “When I asked you why you responded to Lucy’s letter, you said you were looking for change, looking for something more. Have you found it?”
He looked out at the river, and for a moment, she didn’t think he would answer, and then he spoke, his voice rather hoarse. “I think I have.” He cleared his throat. “Perhaps it was fate that Father O’Malley placed the newspaper with Lucy’s advertisement in front of my face and told me, in no uncertain terms, that it was time I grew up, became responsible. Respectable. Fall in love, marry, and settle down. Make a life for myself other than what I’d known.”
“Oh.”
“He was angry at the time, but he was right.” He paused, then looked at her. His eyes were bright. “It was time. I was lost, Evie. In so many ways. A man without commitment to anyone or anything aside from myself. And I had been looking for…something. I just didn’t know what. Purpose? A reason to keep going? A special person who would be an answer to the prayers I hadn’t known I’d been praying? At that point in time, I seemed to have failed at every turn.” He smiled a sweet smile, then reached out for her hand.
“Plus I was amused by the advertisement.” He recited the beginning of the notice Lucy had placed in the newspaper. “Wanted: Gentleman interested in marriage to a mature, older woman.”
She laughed even as her face flamed. “Is that what it said? That’s awful!”
He laughed as well. “But effective. The advertisement listed some of the benefits of such an arrangement. I admit, I found it charming and funny. It struck something in me. I wanted to meet the person who wrote such a sweet advertisement, so I responded. I didn’t think anything would come of it, but then I got your—I mean Lucy’s—letter, inviting me to come here to meet.” He rubbed his thumb against her fingers. “I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I took that leap of faith, as Father O’Malley would say.”
“Are you sorry?”
He shook his head. “No, not at all. I’ve learned so much since coming here. A lot about myself. Things I never knew.”
“Like what?”
