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“We noticed,” Laredo said in dry amusement. “Care to share it with us? You looked like you were miles away.”
“I suppose I was, in a sense,” Jessy admitted. “I was remembering Trey telling us about that calf that was stuck in the mud at the Broken Butte range. I thought I’d better head over there tomorrow and check it out for myself. If the water in the creek has gotten low enough to create mud bogs, we probably need to move those cattle to another range.”
With eyebrows raised, Cat sighed and looked at Laredo. “Cattle. We should have known it had something to do with the ranch.”
“Tell you what,” Laredo straightened away from the counter and took Jessy’s arm, drawing her away from the sink, “why don’t you let Cat wash these few glasses and walk me to my pickup?”
“You don’t have to leave right now, do you?” Jessy said in mild protest.
“It’s a long drive to the Boar’s Nest,” he reminded her referring to the old line shack that he had converted to a snug cabin years ago.
“Go on, Jessy,” Cat urged. “You two rarely have the chance to spend any time together. Don’t waste it when you do.”
Advice from a woman who had recently lost her own husband was too wise to ignore. Jessy smiled her thanks and walked with Laredo out the back door.
Night and its shadows enveloped them as they descended the steps, arms brushing. There was an invigorating coolness to the air that sharpened the senses. When Laredo hooked an arm around her shoulders at the bottom of the steps, Jessy automatically slid hers around the back of his waist.
“How does it feel knowing that soon both your children will be married?” His eyes were warm and curious in their study of her.
“It’s the way of things.” A small shrugging motion accompanied her statement. “Children grow up, get married, and make a life for themselves. I’m just glad Trey won’t be moving away.”
“Something tells me it won’t be long before there’ll be little ones running around here calling you Grandma.” The chrome bumper on his truck gleamed silver in the moonlight.
“Probably.” She smiled at the thought. “I think Sloan will make a good mother. She seems to be a caring person, intelligent and level-headed.”
“Want’a bet Trey isn’t counting up her good qualities? He probably couldn’t even name them without giving it some thought first. He just knows he loves her. And when you get right down to it, that’s all that matters.”
“I know.” Jessy noticed with regret that they had arrived at the pickup’s door. “You know there’s really no reason you have to live at the Boar’s Nest. The Atkins’ house has been sitting empty since Ruth died. You could move there.”
“I suppose I could.” Laredo made a lazy turn to face her, his arms forming a loose circle around her. “It’s for sure it would be within walking distance of The Homestead. But there’s too many neighbors living too close, whereas the Boar’s Nest gives me privacy, and I like that, especially when a certain someone pays me a call,” he added with a wink.
Tipping her head back, she laughed softly in her throat. “Everyone on this ranch knows we’re seeing each other. They have for years.”
“I don’t care that they know. I just don’t want their imagination working overtime just because they live next door. Me loving you might not be a secret, but I’m damned sure going to see that it stays private.”
“You have a point there,” Jessy conceded. “Right now they spend most of their time trying to figure out why you haven’t made an honest woman out of me. I understand there’s been some wild speculation about that.”
“Let them wonder all they want—just as long as you don’t.” This time there was no smile, just an earnest need to know that she understood.
“I don’t.” Long ago Jessy had learned to embrace the good things life gave her and never cry because there wasn’t more.
From the very beginning, she had known Laredo would never marry her. His reason lay somewhere in his past. What it was, she had never asked, although she suspected Chase knew, and possibly Cat’s husband, Logan, had learned of it, too. Whatever it was, it hadn’t mattered to them, and it didn’t matter to her.
“So what are the chances of you spending Saturday night at my little hideaway in the hills?” Laredo wanted to know. “It would do you good to get away from the phones and the pressure, and just be a woman.”
“Sounds good.” But Jessy knew it would depend on whether she decided to move the cattle off the Broken Butte range. But she didn’t say that. She was too busy enjoying the very thorough and satisfying kiss Laredo gave her with a promise of more to come.
Chapter Ten
Palm trees towered over the beach house, their fronds dipping and swaying with the strong breeze that came off the ocean. The taxi followed the curving driveway to the front door and stopped there. The driver, of Polynesian descent and dressed in a colorful Hawaiian shirt, immediately hopped out of the cab and opened the rear passenger door for Sloan.
Smiling her thanks, Sloan hooked the strap of the leather case over her shoulder and stepped out of the vehicle, too weary from the long flight and time change to notice the tropical warmth and the air’s fresh tang. The strap slipped slightly when she stood up. As she reached to adjust it, the single-carat diamond on her ring finger flashed in the sunlight. There was a newness to the weight of it—and to the heady joy she felt. Some of the tiredness fell away at the remembrance of them.
The driver retrieved her bag from the trunk of the taxi and carried it to the front door. Sloan followed and handed him the fare along with a sizable tip.
“Mahalo,” he said, using the Hawaiian word for thank you.
“Mahalo,” Sloan echoed.
