Page 70 of Love’s Silver Bullet

Brrrrrrrnggg!

Aunt Marie launched up from the settee, surely setting the record for the most exercise during a tea as she rushed to the front door. “I’ll get it!”

Grace rose as well, offering shaky smiles all around. “It was lovely meeting you all,” she said with a nervous nod, first to the older ladies, and then to Maggie and Libby before she grinned at Sheridan. “Especially you, Sheridan, because I have a feeling we’re going to become the best of friends.”

“Me too,” Sheridan said, rising to escort Grace to the foyer, where Aunt Marie was ushering in a tall, dark-haired young man who looked vaguely familiar.

Turning at the parlour door, Grace gave Sheridan a hug. “I’d love to chat tomorrow if you have time, Sheridan, so just let me know, okay? I live next door on the right.” Glancing over her shoulder to where Aunt Marie was talking to the young man, she looped her arm through Sheridan’s to lead her toward them. “And I want you to meet my twin brother, Gray, as well, because we’re almost inseparable, so he’ll be around a lot too.”

On cue, the young man glanced up with an easy grin, striking gray eyes twinkling as much as the polished silver on Aunt Marie’s foyer table. Over a head taller than his sister, he was her male version in almost every other way, from a fluid grace that was clearly masculine, to thick black hair parted on the side with a slight wave. But where Grace’s eyes were soft and shy, Gray’s were confident and bold with just enough mischief to hint at the barest trace of a rogue to his sister’s genteel lady.

“Gray! Let me introduce you to my new best friend,” Grace said with a definite thread of excitement in her tone, promptly hauling Sheridan to a halt in front of her twin. “Sheridan, this is my twin brother, Mr. Grayson Carmody, who, I might add is far too charming for his own good or that of any lady. Gray, this is Sheridan Donovan from”—she blinked, head whirling to stare at Sheridan wide-eyed—“gracious, where are my manners, Sheridan? I forgot to ask!”

Sheridan laughed as she gave Grace’s arm a quick squeeze, mischief lacing her tone while she lowered her voice with a nod toward the parlour. “That’s okay. I believe they may have been stolen by Mrs. Feuerrude, who could certainly use them.”

Giggling along with Grace, Sheridan extended a hand to Gray with a bright smile, his teasing eyes suddenly putting her at ease because they reminded her of Dash. “Sheridan Donovan from the Silver Lining Ranch in Virginia City, Mr. Carmody. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“My thoughts exactly, Miss Donovan,” he said with a short bow, surprising her when he lifted her hand to kiss it instead of the handshake she was expecting. “And since Grace and I spend an ample amount of time together socially,” he said with a wink, “it appears you’re my new best friend too.”

Grace bumped Sheridan’s shoulders with an affectionate roll of eyes. “Which is far better than the alternative, Sheridan, because Gray is an insatiable flirt, so friendship is undoubtedly the safest course.”

Gray wrinkled his nose as he looped an arm to his sister’s waist, giving her a playful pinch. “Safest, yes, but considerably more boring, Miss Donovan. And please call me Gray, if you will. And may I call you Sheridan?”

“Please,” Sheridan said with a comfortable smile. “We don’t stand on formality out west, Gray, so that suits me just fine.”

Hugging Sheridan’s waist on one side and her brother’s on the other, Grace giggled with a little hunch of shoulders. “We are going to have soooo much fun together, I just know it, and hopefully be friends forever!”

Grinning along with Grace, Gray sent Sheridan a wink over his sister’s head that, true to Grace’s words, seemed a tad too friendly. “Well, I’m certainly willing to do my part and then some, Gracie. How ’bout you, Sheridan?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Sheridan grinned right back, thinking that with his playful manner and rakish charm, Gray Carmody was a dangerous mix of both Blaze and Dash, making her most grateful she’d already committed her heart to Jake. “Friends forever,” she said, warming more to the brotherly side of Grace’s twin rather than the other, prompting her to toss a wink right back.

And nothing more.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

“Jake!”

He spun around with his fishing rod slung over his shoulder, a low groan trapped in his throat when he saw his little sister dart out from the house in her bare feet, black curls bouncing on tiny shoulders as she scrambled to catch up. “Wait for me, please?”

“Aw, Josie.” Cocking a hip, he gouged the bridge of his nose, wishing just once he could sneak out to go fishing without her tagging along. “Go home! Ma will wonder where you are.”

Tears pooled in pale-blue eyes so like his own as she drew close, her tiny feet dirty from running on the dirt road. “But I want to come with you.”

“You can’t, Moonbeam,” he said, employing one of his favorite nicknames since she was one of the few sources of pure light in his life. He scowled. Except lately, when Ma’s fear seemed to poison Josie’s mind like it did everything else, making his little sister downright needy. “So, go home, Beam, now!” He turned on his heel and took off in a sprint.

“But, Jake, I love you. Don’t leave me, please!”

But he did, as fast as he could, running from both Josie and the guilt that ate at his soul. Chest heaving, he never slowed once … until her shouts faded completely away …

“Sully, wake up!”

Jake jerked up in his bed, fingers instantly locked on the trigger of his Colt as he blinked at Clint Keller, the ranch hand who slept in the next cot.

“You were dreaming again,” Clint snapped, evidently getting as tired of Jake’s nightmares as Jake was. “What the devil is wrong with you anyway? That’s the third time this month.”

“Sorry, Clint.” Jake’s voice was rusty with sleep while he mauled his face with his hands, not blaming Clint one bit for being testy. Heck, Jake was testy, too, over the once-familiar nightmares that had started up all over again for absolutely no reason.

No reason? Expelling a weary sigh, Jake tucked his Colt into the holster he kept alongside his bed and laid back down, eyes wide open as he stared at a knotty-pine ceiling he didn’t even see. No, no reason at all.