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Rena.
She seemed to be the lone occupant of his thoughts this morning. It shouldn’t have surprised him. He’d thought of little else since her arrival in Holiday.
She’d left behind everything she’d ever known and traveled all the way to Oregon by herself just to escape the nightmarish memories of her past. He admired her for her strength and courage.
Truthfully, he admired so much about the woman.
Her kindness and gentleness. Her sense of humor. Her wit and intelligence. Her beauty. Her willingness to turn her hand to whatever hard work was given to her.
She might think she was too scarred for any man to want her, but she was wrong. He’d seen the glances tossed her way after the church service Sunday by several of the single men in the congregation, and that had further aggravated him.
It seemed everything aggravated, annoyed, and irritated him lately.
But especially thoughts of Rena.
A woman who shunned the good Lord, worked at a mine in a dangerous job that would likely end with her dead, and proclaimed to detest love and romance was one he should actively avoid.
Even if Rena didn’t wear trousers, or have secrets she thought no man wanted to know, she was nothing like the woman Josh was convinced he needed in his life. A feminine woman—one content to stay in the house cooking, sewing, and cleaning while guiding Gabi into becoming a proper young lady—was the type of female he should pursue. A woman who focused on her family’s comforts and had no ambition beyond being a loving wife and mother was exactly the example his daughter needed.
Wasn’t it?
Or would his life, and that of his daughter’s, be enriched by someone who was so … unexpected, extraordinary, and remarkable?
Gabi was already thoroughly fascinated with Rena and spoke about her constantly. The wise thing to do would be to nip the relationship before it could go from a tender bud to a full bloom.
It wasn’t that Josh didn’t like Rena. He did. Far too much.
But Rena was as wild as the wind, and nothing he could say or do would ever tame her.
Josh felt about as wild as a deeply rooted oak tree. He owned a successful business, had a daughter that needed her days filled with routine and steadfast guidance, and still grieved a wife he’d buried years ago.
He knew Maxine wouldn’t want him to remain alone, but Rena was as different from her as night was from day. How could he be falling in love with a woman like Rena? If ever there were a free soul, Rena possessed it.
Even if he were willing to overlook her current employment situation and her anger at God, he couldn’t get past the notion that Rena would never be content to sit at home stitching pillow covers or crocheting lacy things. Try as he might, he couldn’t envision her meekly submitting to his every command.
She was full of fire and spirit, sass and spunk. The man who wed Rena Burke would have more than he could handle.
Josh already had his hands full with his busy life.
The wise and prudent thing to do would be to set all thoughts of Rena, of her freckled nose and amber eyes, and that glorious abundance of sun-kissed brown hair right out of his mind.
Aware he was in no mood to work on the saddle, Josh opened the back door and strode over to a pile of firewood that needed to be chopped.
Swinging the axe and burying it in a chunk of wood didn’t alleviate the tension coiling in him as he’d hoped it would. He’d chopped and stacked a cord of wood before he gave up and returned inside, guzzling water to slake his thirst. He needed to get out of his own head, and he knew that would never happen if he remained in the shop.
He left a note on the door that he’d be back in a few hours, went home and saddled Hawkins, then took off down the road toward Baker City so he wouldn’t be tempted to ride over to Theo’s cabin on the off chance he might find Rena there. What would he say to her if he did seek her out? In his current frame of mind, he was sure whatever came out of his mouth would likely insult or infuriate her.
“You are pathetic,” Josh admonished himself as he urged Hawkins into a gallop down the road. It felt good to have the fresh spring air in his face and nothing pressing upon him except the weight of his thoughts. If he could turn them off and chase Rena from his mind, maybe life would once again return to normal.
“That’sthelastone,”Theo said as he and Rena finished drilling the final hole at the end of a tunnel.
“Thank goodness,” Rena said, mopping the sweat from her brow onto her shirt sleeve before she carefully packed dynamite into the hole, then checked the fuses while Theo prepared to set off the blast.
“Ready?” he asked, waiting for her further back in the tunnel.
“Almost,” she said, giving the dynamite one last look before she hurried toward him.
“Fire in the hole!” he bellowed three times before the two of them sought safety around a corner, then the blast rocked the mountain, shaking rocks and dirt loose around them.
