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A grin spread across his face and he leaped out of the truck and ran around to her side and helped her out.
“Don’t worry, the rattlesnakes are hibernating. We should be safe,” he said.
“What are you doing?”
“Look up?” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her in close. “Look at that moon. It’s so full and bright. It’s beautiful. You don’t get that kind of moon in Dallas.”
It was true, and yet all she could think about was the way his arm felt around her and the closeness of his body. It was like she’d come home and this was where she belonged. The aroma of a strong man overwhelmed her and she liked the smell.
A cow mooed in the distance as they stood there, arm in arm, gazing up at the moon. The bright light reflected off the pasture. The night echoed with the sound of a coyote bemoaning his loneliness.
“He’s calling for his mate,” Adrian said as they leaned against the truck.
If they were actually dating, she would have loved that they had stopped somewhere along the road and were out gazing at the land and the moon and the cattle. But instead, all she could think about was that kiss and now she wanted him to kiss her again. To once again feel his lips caressing hers.
So far, she felt like she’d been instigating most of the kisses, except for that very sweet, gentle kiss he’d given her earlier on the Burnett’s property. And that one had been so good.
But this relationship was not going anywhere. It was doomed to fail before it began. And yet, she had not experienced these emotions since Randall, her former fiancé. Looking back, they had not been right for one another. She didn’t even fully understand why she’d accepted his proposal. But it had finalized her feelings on marriage.
“Why did your family name this the Kissing Oaks Ranch?”
Maybe her mother had told her when she was a kid, but she didn’t remember, and now she wanted to know.
“You see that old, gnarled oak tree in the distance?”
“Yes,” she said, squinting at the tree in the shadow of the moonlight.
“My great-grandparents, the original settlers, were married beneath that tree. There is a superstition in our family that your marriage will last if you ask the person you love to marry you beneath that tree.”
Strange how families developed superstitions or ghosts or other things to keep them together. Maybe it was why her parents’ marriage didn’t last, because they had no traditions, no superstitions. And they most certainly had not liked one another.
“Did you ask Laurie to marry you beneath that tree?” she asked.
He was silent and then with a sigh he replied, “No. She wouldn’t go horseback riding with me. And she was definitely not going to walk across a field filled with cow patties and possibly rattlesnakes to see an old tree. She didn’t know until later the significance of that tree in our family. By then, it didn’t really matter. She laughed at the very idea of such nonsense.”
They watched the moon’s shadow dance over the grass, both of them silent.
“Your family has such a rich, colorful history,” she said. “The Burnetts have a wonderful history too. My parents didn’t have any of that and now the only thing we share is a divorce. You’re so lucky to have this story to tell your children.”
It was another reason not to have children. What could she tell them about their lineage? Oh, your grandparents hated each other so much that your grandfather created a second family and when your grandmother found out, he left. Then he dumped his daughter for them.
“I feel very blessed to have been raised by loving parents and grandparents and the times we have on this land. And you can’t imagine the horror I had of almost losing this place when I was eighteen. It would have devastated me. Honestly, I think my great-grandparents probably helped me win that lottery. That’s why it’s so important to me, that I make this place a success. I’ve been given a second chance. I doubt there would be a third.”
A shiver of cold went through her. It was the first of February and they were out gazing at the moon in the darkness. And yet, she was enjoying every minute of being with Adrian.
“And now you have something that your children will tell their children about,” she said.
“I hope so. Are you cold?”
“A little, but I’m enjoying being out in the country at night, listening to the cows, watching the moon, and just talking to someone I enjoy being with.”
Had she said too much? It was true. She liked Adrian. Always had, ever since her mother came to work at the ranch. He’d been her favorite Landry boy.
Pulling her in front of him, he wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm.
“This is peaceful, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she said. “In Dallas, I would be listening to sirens and cars and airplanes. Occasionally, a gunshot. But here, all I hear are cattle and the gentle breeze blowing through the grass.”
