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Emily, what are you hiding from me?
“I promise I won’t insist on hanging your drawings all over the walls at Jesse’s house if you allow me to watch you work.” He shifted over toward her, and handed her the pad. “Go on. Enjoy yourself.”
She took a deep breath and opened the pad. “All right. But it’s been a long time.”
Talent didn’t even begin to describe the way the pencil skimmed over her pad, creating a picture of the view right there in front of them. On the paper, the pond glistened and he could almost feel the slight breeze rippling the leaves in the drawing. Although he hadn’t seen one since they’d arrived, she sketched in a bunny rabbit, his eyes wide as he stared in their direction from the page.
“Honey, you are amazing. That’s wonderful.” Hunter rose to his knees, and resting his hands on her shoulders, gazed down at her sketch pad. “I’ve always admired people who could create beautiful things from nothing more than their imagination.”
She turned to him, her eyes bright with excitement. “Do you really think it’s good?”
“Of course I do. Didn’t you just say your mama and papa loved your drawings?”
“Yes, they did, but I thought perhaps they only said that because I was their daughter. That’s what . . .”
“What?”
She clamped her mouth closed as if afraid she would say more than she should. A little bit of a clue there. Someone after her parents had disparaged her art work.
Hunter removed the pad from her hands and drew her into his arms. “I think you are a talented artist. And anyone who’s told you otherwise didn’t know what they were talking about.” His fingers played with the tendrils that had escaped her bun and danced around her face in the slight breeze. The flush on her cheeks told him her thoughts were going in the same direction as his. S
lowly, he lowered his head and took her lips in a soft caress. He moved his mouth back and forth, brushing his lips over hers. When she sighed he pulled her closer and took her with a savage intensity.
The next morning Hunter strolled into Jesse’s office. His uncle looked up as Hunter approached. “Did you see this morning’s paper?” Jesse held out the copy of the Guthrie Sentinel.
“I did.” Hunter settled into the chair across from Jesse’s desk. “I’ve had some tips about who is on the receiving end at the newspaper. Hopefully that will help lead me to whoever is feeding the information to him.”
“There are days when I see what’s happening to Franklin, and I ask myself why I even want to be involved in politics. I’ll be facing another election for my territorial senate seat in a few months. I have a nice law practice, my children are doing well, and my lovely wife is one in a million.” He stabbed the paper with his index finger. “I don’t know why I bother with this nonsense.”
“And the answer is?”
Grinning, Jesse leaned forward, his eyes sparkling. “I love being part of the early stages of Oklahoma statehood. We have a golden opportunity here to make our state one of the best in the nation. We have such a diverse population of Indians, Mexicans, easterners, and northerners that we can be dynamic and do great things for our people.”
He turned and swept his arm toward the window behind his desk. “Look at the vast land we have here, and the resources. Ranching is keeping food on the table for a large part of our population. And oil. Mark my words, son, with automobiles becoming more popular and affordable for the average man, our oil industry will boom.
“One day I hope to see Oklahoma use all this wind we’re troubled with put to good use. There’s just so much we can do . . .” He looked at Hunter. “What? Why are you grinning?”
“I’m grinning because like it or not, Jesse, politics is in your blood. You just gave a great campaign speech.”
Jesse gave a slight cough. “You sound like Tori. She always accuses me of using her as an audience of one for my next speech.”
Hunter stood. “I have a few leads to follow up today.” He still contemplated looking into Emily’s background, but his sense of honor told him to wait for her to tell him. Hopefully, she would trust him enough sometime soon. All his protective instincts welled up to add to the niggling fear that she was in dire need of help, but either too stubborn or too scared to ask for it.
He also needed to get back to his own search. Ten years with the Rangers hadn’t uncovered the information that drove him, and that still had the ability to keep him awake some nights. He’d been too distracted by one lovely blonde, blue-eyed angel.
“Good. Stop back here later today because I have a couple of other clients who need some undercover work done.”
At Hunter’s raised eyebrows, Jesse continued, “Wipe that look off your face, I’m not talking about spying on someone’s wife or husband.”
“Whew. That is not something I want to get involved in.”
“Me neither.”
Hunter rested his hands on his hips and cleared his throat. “Before I go I wanted to ask a favor. I’ve been seeing a young lady.” He flushed at Jesse’s smirk. “She is alone here in Guthrie, works for the Harvey House. I thought Sunday I could invite her to dinner with the family.”
“Sounds serious.”
He shrugged. “Truthfully, I’m not sure. There are issues.”
