Page 77 of Love’s Silver Bullet

But not the way that you think.

Dash chuckled. “Come to think of it, Sul, you have been awfully chipper lately, so is Blaze right? You looking forward to our little sis coming home?”

“Of course I am.” Jake’s tone was definitely not as “chipper” as before while he moved further downstream and, hopefully, further from a conversation he did not want to have. “Just like the rest of you because Sher is family to me.”

“Or could be.” Blaze’s teasing chuckle didn’t set well, unlike Dash’s hook, which reeled in another keeper.

Refusing to allow Dash’s and Blaze’s probing to ruin his good mood, Jake sloshed back to the bank to rifle through his wooden tackle box, his voice a whole lot calmer than his stomach. “Sher and I are just friends, Blaze, like I’ve told you a dozen times before.” He glanced up with a squint. “Hey, Dash, did you catch that on a dry fly or wet?”

“Wet,” Dash said as he hooked the fish to his stringer.

Blaze ambled deeper into the water, his rolled up blue jeans now soaked to the waist. “Well, I admit, Sul, if I didn’t know what a stickler for the truth you were, I’d say you’re all wet, my friend, and soggier than Dash’s fly. Because it hasn’t escaped my notice—or anyone else’s—that you were fine all through Christmas till Sher left, then a downright crab until now, when she’s fixin’ to come home again.” He held a palm up in the air. “But if you tell me you two are nothing more than friends, then I guess I have no choice but to believe you.”

Shaking his head, Jake laughed as he exchanged his dry fly for a wet one. “I know how anxious you and Dash are to up the gene pool with me in the family, boys, but you’re fresh out of luck because like I said”—he cocked a brow as he rose to his feet—“Sher and I are just friends and nothing more,” he repeated for the umpteenth time, not only grateful that that was now the whole truth, but thankful he no longer had to worry about Sher pushing for more. Her letter had literally set him free, claiming she loved him too much to tempt him with kisses, so she was willing to settle for being close friends like he wanted.

For now. Those two words tacked on at the end of her declaration had definitely taken the shine off her letter, but for now he was safe, able to keep the woman he loved out of harm’s way until she got her degree.

And him out of harm’s way too …

Till he got out of town.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

“Oh my goodness!” Sheridan blinked in her bedroom mirror, shocked anew that Grace’s parents had actually agreed to let her spend the summer at the Silver Lining Ranch. Thank you, Lord, that they were celebrating their 25th anniversary on a whirlwind grand tour of Europe, leaving Grace and Gray to stay with Aunt Marie for the summer in Poughkeepsie. Unfortunately, Gray had athletic commitments on the Columbia University rowing team, much to his dismay, so he was unable to make the trip.

Whirling around, she bolted to the bed where Grace sat straight as a poker, face pinched as white as the hands she gripped tightly in her lap. “I am sooooo excited!” Sheridan said with a joyful shriek, bestowing another giddy hug to her newest best friend. “We are going to have sooooo much fun!”

“Hopefully,” Grace said in a squeaky voice, “if I stop shaking.”

Sheridan laughed as she squeezed her again. “There’s nothing to be nervous about, goose. My family is wonderful and very easy to be around, I promise. And I have absolutely no doubt they will love you even more than I do.”

Body stiff, Grace peeked at Sheridan out the side of her eyes, apparently not convinced. “But I’ve never been away from home or from Gray for this long before,” she whispered, “so I didn’t realize how much I rely on him to carry a conversation.” She blinked, eyes somber. “What if I clam up and can’t say a word?”

“That won’t happen,” Sheridan said with a gentle rub of Grace’s arm. “I won’t leave your side, I promise.”

A hint of a smile twitched on Grace’s lips while a touch of mischief lit in her eyes. “Not even to be alone with Jake?”

Sheridan giggled, a surge of warmth invading her cheeks at the prospect of seeing Jake again. “Especially not to be alone with Jake, you little stinker,” she said with a playful pinch, suddenly as nervous as Grace. “I’ve already made up mind to avoid all alone time with Jake, so I promise you that my goal this summer is only to deepen and strengthen our friendship and nothing more—with family and fun only, not kisses.”

Grace bumped her shoulder against Sheridan’s with a chuckle. “Unless he kisses you first, and then all bets are off, I guess.”

A long, wispy sigh parted from Sheridan’s lips. “I wish, but I’m afraid Mr. Jake Sullivan will avoid being alone with me as much as I will with him.” She patted Grace’s hand and rose, hurrying over to the mirror to finish pinning flaxen curls loosely on top of her head in the more mature style she’d adopted after Christmas. “There,” she said with a final pat, thinking she looked—and felt—so much older in just a little under a year.

She couldn’t help but reflect on how Sophia had talked her into a scheme to get Jake’s attention this same time last year, and it had certainly worked. But now she wanted far more than just his attention. Her heart fluttered. She wanted his love, and thanks to her faith that had grown as much as she, she now knew the only way to achieve that—if Jake was meant for her at all—would be God’s way.

“Ready?” She spun around with a bright smile, some of the giddiness returning at seeing Uncle Finn and her brothers again—along with Jake, of course. Uncle Finn had been in Carson City for the day, and a cattle emergency had kept the others out on the south forty, so only Aunt Libby, Maggie, and Shay had met her at the station, assuring her all would be home for dinner.

“Ready? Not in the least.” Fortifying with a huge intake of air for strength, no doubt, Grace rose from the bed in a lovely lavender silk dress that made her look, for all her angst, like a classic Victorian beauty in a rose garden rather than on a ranch. “But I suppose that doesn’t matter, does it?”

“No, ma’am,” Sheridan said with a sassy wink as she hooked her arm through Grace’s. “Shall we?”

Sheridan was grateful Aunt Libby had arranged for tea and light sandwiches and cakes on the back deck prior to dinner. The men would need time to clean up when they came home, so the lovely tea gave both Grace and her time to relax prior to their arrival. By the time Angus announced dinner, Sheridan could tell Grace had relaxed somewhat, the warmth between her and the ladies a much-needed blessing.

Male chuckles drifted down the hallway from the dining room as Sheridan hooked an arm to Grace’s waist, giving her a quick squeeze of support.

Which … Sheridan readily accepted right back from Grace when she laid eyes on Jake laughing with Blaze and Dash at the end of the dining room table. Chairs immediately scraped when the ladies entered, the men rising to crowd around Sheridan with welcome-home hugs. Her pulse picked up pace as Jake waited his turn with a relaxed smile like the Jake of old, his warm hug confirming that her commitment to friendship in her last letter had been the right thing to do.

Pulling away from his hug with a brace of her arms, Jake squinted at her. “You look good, Sher, but I’m not sure where my little Half-Pint went.”