“Okay.” She grabbed a few dishes and brought them to the sink.
Jake rose as well, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. It was the most charming thing Evie had ever seen, and something in her heart shifted.
“I should go. Thank you all.” He grabbed the sketchbook and pencils from the table and slipped out the door before she could utter a word.
She followed him outside. “Jake, wait.”
Jake stopped and turned to face her.
“It was you who left the drawing for me.”
“Yes.” His gaze roamed her face, causing those butterflies to flutter in her belly once more. “Do you mind?”
“No, not at all. I was…I am flattered.” She studied his handsome face with its boyish charm. “Why did you draw it?”
“I saw you that afternoon and you looked so lovely, I knew I had to capture that moment. I wanted you to see how beautiful you are to me. I’m not sure I fully managed that, but I tried.” He reached out with his free hand and smoothed his knuckles along her jawbone then dipped his head and kissed her, his lips warm and inviting. By their own volition, Evie’s arms raised and wrapped around his neck, pressing her body close to his as the kiss deepened. She felt the sharp jab of a pencil but ignored it as her toes curled in her boots and a certain excitement rushed through her, making her pulse race and her heartbeat thunder in her ears.
He broke the kiss and smiled down at her as he took a step back, neatly breaking their embrace. Caressing the side of her face with his knuckles once more, he stared into her eyes. “Good night, Evie, and thank you.” He left the patio with a swagger in his step.
Evie let out a sigh as she watched him go, suddenly bereft that he wasn’t holding her close, though the feeling of his lips on hers remained.
She should follow him, just to steal another kiss.
Be brave, Evie. Take a chance. Not because it would benefit Regina’s children or Montaña del Trueno. Do something for you. Just you.
She took a step off the patio—a small step in one way, but a big one in so many others—then stopped as the back door opened behind her, and a little voice interrupted her thoughts. “TiaEvie, will you read us a story?”
She glanced down at Miguel and sighed. “Of course,mi corazón.After the dishes are done.”
“Okay.” The boy disappeared into the house. “She said yes!” he exclaimed to his sister, then launched into which story he wanted to hear. She heard Savannah’s reply, claiming a different story than the one Miguel wanted amid the clanking of dishes being washed and dried.
Evie watched as light flashed in the bunkhouse window and the door closed.So much for being brave, she scoffed, then turned and went into the house.
CHAPTER 15
From the corner of his eye, Jake saw Evie jump from the top railing of the fence where he was riding Clementine and head toward him. He turned the horse in her direction, then squeezed his knees, bringing Clementine to a halt. “Am I doing something wrong?”
“Not at all.” She tilted her head as she looked up at him. He loved it when she did that, the sight warming his heart and making him want to pull her into his arms. “I think you’re ready.”
“For what?”
She rubbed Clementine’s nose as she studied him. “We’re heading out to the summer pasture today. You should see what we do out there, see all the horses and the cattle. It’ll be good for you.”
It was one thing to ride Clementine around the riding ring. It was an entirely different story to ride her out to the summer pasture. “If you think so,” he said, with a confidence he didn’t feel.
“I do. You’ll be fine. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think it was true,” she assured him. “If you’ll saddle Spitfire for me, we can go.”
Jake slipped from the saddle, walked Clementine toward the corral gate, and wrapped the horse’s reins around one of the slats in the fence. Evie followed him into the barn. She let Spitfire out of her stall while he headed to the tack room for the saddle, bridle, and reins.
It didn’t take long before he was mounted up and following her out of the barnyard and into the field beyond the outbuildings. He had no idea how far they’d gone, but the house was no longer in view when he turned in the saddle. A ribbon of blue off to the left—the river that wound through Montaña del Trueno—supported a multitude of cottonwood trees, their limbs spreading out to provide shade. Other trees—ponderosa and spruce possibly, but he couldn’t be certain—formed a line of green against the horizon. Beyond the trees, he saw nothing but mountains rising up to the azure blue sky.
He rode beside Evie, admiring the way she sat in the saddle, her hands on Spitfire’s reins sure and competent. And the expression on her face! It was a mixture of pride and love and excitement, making her cheeks flush and her eyes turn more blue than gray. She really did love this ranch, loved everything about it. He’d never felt like that about any place, but he was beginning to. Montaña del Trueno seemed like heaven on earth, but he suspected it was only becauseshewas here.
He followed her through the thick stand of pine trees until she broke free and reined in Spitfire, her gaze encompassing what lay before her. She turned toward him, and his heart stopped for a moment then resumed with a hard thud. She had never looked more beautiful, although he admitted—to himself, at least—Evie, with the glow of the setting sun reflecting on her, was a picture he’d keep with him for the rest of his life, and a close second to what he saw now.
She let out a sigh. “This…is the summer pasture.”
It was an effort, but he shifted his focus from her to the vista before him.
