It had taken a long time not to be suspicious of everyone and everything when he’d left prison. Even now, he found himself living as if he was still in a regimented environment. Get up in the morning, work out, take a shower which wasn’t always the greatest of places, and then have breakfast. Sometime after that, if he were lucky enough, he’d be able to walk outside in the yard and feel the sunshine on his face for an hour or so. That’s what he missed the most being in prison. The sunshine and warmth of being outdoors.
Those days were behind him. Today he was out in the sunshine in a beautiful meadow with an even more beautiful woman who with every smile took his breath away.
“I wonder if there are any eggs inside the nest.”
“I don’t want to touch the nest,” Brody said. “The mother bird might not come back if she smells my scent. Did you happen to take your cell phone with you?”
“Yes, it’s in my purse in the truck.”
“I left mine back at the house. Why don’t you get yours? I might be able to reach up and take a picture of the nest so you can see what’s in it without actually getting my scent all over the nest and risking the mother bird not coming back.”
He watched as Tara ran back to the truck and quickly grabbed her purse from the floor and of the cab. She rummaged through it, and pulled her cell phone out. Then she tossed her purse back into the cab, and slammed the truck door.
Brody patiently waited, reveling in just watching Tara as she fiddled with the phone as she walked back to the spot where the nest was located. When she finally reached him, she looked up at him with wide eyes that astounded him. Why had he never noticed that her eyes were so big and magnificent? Maybe because every time he’d seen her in court she’d been crying or angry.
But today she had a wide smile on her face. He wouldn’t trade a day like this for anything.
“Do you know how to use the camera on this phone?” she asked.
“I’m pretty sure I can figure it out.”
Brody reached up his arm up as high as he could so that the phone was still a good distance from the nest on the branch. He took about six pictures before he stepped away from the tree and handed the cell phone back to Tara.
Giddy, she glanced at the pictures he’d taken. “This is amazing.”
“What? Were there eggs inside the nest?”
She shook her head. “No. Well, yes, but they’re not eggs anymore. Just shells. The eggs have hatched and the babies are gone.”
“Let me see.”
She handed the phone to Brody so he could inspect the pictures he’d taken.
“That’s too bad.”
She beamed as she smiled up at him. “No, it’s not. That’s nature. And look at the color of those eggshells. I love that.”
“What color would you say that is?” he asked.
“Periwinkle. I’ve never seen eggs such a pretty color of periwinkle.”
“Haven’t you ever had an Easter egg?”
She chuckled as she swatted him. “I’m not talking about that, and you know it. It sure is pretty,” she said.
“Like you.”
She shied away from his compliment by dipping her head and the hesitant smile that pulled at her lips.
“So what about this color?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“What about it?”
She drew in a deep breath. “For your house, silly. Do you like this color?”
“It will remind me of you.”
Her bottom lip dropped open just a fraction making him want to bend his head and kiss her lips. He wanted to taste her. And more than that, he wanted to know if she’d respond to his touch.
“Is that a bad thing? I mean, I’ll be picking out the pieces for your house, but like everything else, you’ll know where it came from. It’s kind of hard for you not to think about Sweet Sensations when you look at them.”
“I already think about you, Tara. “
She suddenly looked uncomfortable, and Brody immediately regretted going too far. He didn’t want to ruin what he was feeling and what seemed to be flowing between them. He dragged his gaze away from her face and the torture he felt in holding himself back from touching her. He focused on the meadow and saw a butterfly.
“What about that?” he asked.
Tara turned her attention to the direction he was pointing. “You mean the butterfly? Or something else?”
“Do you know what kind of butterfly that is?”
She shook her head.
“Really? I figured you’d know. It’s the state butterfly. The Mourning Cloak.”
She frowned, crinkling her nose in the most adorable way. “We have a state butterfly?”
“Yes. Most states do.”
“How do you know that?”
Brody sighed, but kept his smile to keep things light. “I had a lot of time to read a while back.”
“Oh.” Tara continued to look at the butterfly that was now flying over a meadow of wildflowers. “Then I guess we’d better not let it get away.”
Laughing, she took off running through the meadow. Brody hadn’t seen the wildflowers blooming until they began to run. Tara moved faster than he had expected. He loved this sudden burst of joyfulness he saw in her. It was infinitely better than the pain he’d seen in her eyes in the past.
“Do you see it?” she asked. “It’s getting away.”
* * *
Tara raced through the field, feeling the laughter inside her bubble up in her chest until it was ready to explode. She could understand why Brody had chosen this spot to come to. It was vibrant with color of all kinds. Nature in its true perfection.
She looked over her shoulder to see if he was following her. Her excitement surged when she saw that he was closing in on her.
“It’s getting away. Hurry,” she called out.
He laughed. “There’s more than one butterfly in this field, Tara. I’m pretty sure there are a lot of things crawling around out here.”
She stopped in her tracks. “What are you saying?”
His expression collapsed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Oh, no, you don’t start something like that and not finish it. What are you telling me?”
He scratched the back of his neck and looked around at the distance they’d just run. “Maybe we should just go back to the truck.”
Her feet were still on the ground, what a miracle because normally something as simple as a spider would have her climbing a chair. There were no chairs in this meadow, but there was Brody and the thought had occurred for her to jump on his back just to get her feet out of the weeds.
She glanced around, imagining all kinds of things that she didn’t want to imagine. Creepy crawly things. She lived in Montana a long time. Practically her whole life. She knew there were insects that were native to any part of the country and people just got used to it. Her mother had told her that when that when they’d lived in the South for a short time. She didn’t remember living there, but she remembered her mother’s expression when she talked about scorpions and cockroaches that were so big she gave them names.
“I think I hate you right now,” she said, sprinting past Brody as she made her way back to the truck. She didn’t look down as she ran. She just moved quickly through the field. She wasn’t wearing boots. She was still wearing clothes she wore to work and those flat shoes she’d worried about getting dust on back at Brody’s house. It was way too easy for creepy crawlies to find their way inside her shoes. Thinking about it only made her mind go wild.
When she was nearly back to the dirt road, she heard Brody chuckle behind her.
“You’re a real jerk, you know that?”
“What? I’m not the one that ran off the trail towards the butterfly. Well, I did, but only after you did it. And I was smart enough to do it with boots.”
“I hope a spider crawled in your boots. How about that?”
He laughed louder. “You don’t want me to respond to that.”
“And don’t you dare blame this on me.”
“Blame what? Nothing’s happened to you. All you did was run across a beautiful field of wildflowers to chase a butterfly. I have to say you looked wonderful doing it.”
“Shut up!”
She didn’t want to laugh but she did. She refused to let him off the hook. It was easier to let him think she was angry or at least annoyed with him instead of letting him see how much she’d enjoyed their playfulness in the field.
When she reached the dirt road where the truck was parked, she slipped out of her shoes, putting her stocking feet on the dirt so she could empty out whatever might have fallen or crawled in her shoes. Then she bent over and started brushing the bottom of her pants.
Brody came up alongside her. “Find anything?”
“For your sake, you better hope I don’t.”
“Or what?”
“Or you’re on your own. I’m not going to help you anymore.”
“Do you really think that that’s going to keep me away from you, Tara?”
He took her in his arms and held her tight. But Tara had a feeling that if she’d protested, he would have let her go immediately. She didn’t know why she felt that way or why she didn’t do just that. There were a thousand reason why being here with Brody was wrong.
She couldn’t help but think that somehow she was betraying her brother by feeling these strange feelings for Brody. She loved the way he laughed. She loved the way he’d teased her. It was as if he’d awaken something inside her that she had forgotten existed.
And when he looked down at her with eyes that pulled her into his gaze, she felt hypnotized. She didn’t want him to let go of her.
He continued to gaze into her eyes as he brushed an errant piece of hair away from her face.
“You are a surprise, Tara Mitchell.”
“No, I’m not,” she whispered. “I’m just me.”
His smile grew wider. “That’s what is so surprising.”
He bent his head and brushed his lips against hers. He was gentle at first, tasting her with a quick flick of his tongue against her lips. Then he pressed his mouth harder against hers in a crushing kiss that stole her breath away. The heat of the sun mixed with the heat of his body pressing against hers and her head began to swim.
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He was so much taller than she was and she felt small in his arms. Protected.
The sound of someone clearing his or her throat startled her. She pulled back abruptly and saw Trip and a few students coming up the trail on their horses.
“Oh, no,” she said as her cheeks flamed.
The riders came closer and then kept riding by the two of them. Trip tipped his hat at Tara. “Good afternoon.”
She waved back to Trip and the two young riders who were coming up behind him.
When they were past her and Brody, and out of earshot, Tara said, “I’m so embarrassed.”
Brody chuckled. “Why? Because they caught us kissing?”
“Yes!”
Somehow, she’d dropped her shoes during the passionate kiss she and Brody shared. Tara searched the ground and found each of them one by one.
“I need to get out of here.”
“What about lunch?”
Flustered, she said, “I told you I couldn’t stay for lunch.”
“What about decorating my house. You said you’d help.”
“I think I’ve done enough.”
“Really?”
She stalked back to the truck. “Okay fine. You can come to the shop and pick out a few things. I think I have an idea of where you need some color and what you might like.”
She reached the truck and yanked on passenger side door with one hand while holding her shoes with the other hand.
“Aren’t you going to put those on?” he asked, coming up to the passenger side.
“When I get inside the truck and when my cheeks aren’t flaming as hot as they are now.”
He leaned into her. “Admitted. You had fun.”
She didn’t want to admit it, but she had. Tara had forgotten what fun was until she’d found herself running in the field.
“Climb in,” he said. “We’ll go back to the house and have some lunch.”
“Do you have a problem with listening?”
“Yes. When it comes to you.”
“I’ve already left Dixie at the shop alone too long.”
“And it will be even longer if you don’t get into the truck.”
She stood by the open door and dropped her shoes inside the cab. “This isn’t a good idea, Brody. You know that, don’t you?”
“What? Lunch? You already said that.”
“It’s probably burnt by now.”
“According to Mercy, it shouldn’t burn. It’s in the Crock-Pot.”
She frowned and then laughed at the oddity of his statement. “You used a Crock-Pot?”
“I know. Hard to believe. Trip made Mercy come over and help me. There, my secret is out.”
Tara shook her head. “I don’t know why but you continue to surprise me all the time.”
His smile was wide and it only made him more handsome. “Sometimes surprises are a good thing.”
She was having too good a time. This wasn’t right. And yet, she wanted him to kiss her again. She’d wondered, and now she knew what it was like to be held in those strong cowboy arms and feel the muscles bunch up as he held her. And she wanted it again.
What had happened to her? Nothing about this made sense and it certainly wasn’t right.
“I really do have to get back to the shop. I know you went to a lot of trouble. I’m sorry.”
He hid his disappointment well. Maybe that was something that was learned. Tara hadn’t quite mastered that yet, but she appreciated that Brody didn’t push her.
“Too bad. You smelled how good my cooking is.”
She squinted her eyes as she looked up at him. “I thought you said Mercy came over?”
“Yes, but all she does did was supervise. I put all the ingredients in the pot.”
Her shoulder’s sagged. “Then it’s my loss.”
She climbed into the cab of the truck and settled herself in the seat. Then she waited for him to shut the door. When he didn’t do it readily, she turned to look at him and found him staring at her.
“What?”
“You are the prettiest thing I’ve seen in this meadow.”
His complement touched her despite her wanting to be immune. She could still feel his lips against hers as if he were still kissing her.
“I need to get back.”
He slammed the door, and then checked to make sure it was shut tightly. Then he walked around the front of the truck and climbed inside. He turned the key in the ignition and the truck’s engine fired up.
He shifted the truck into reverse, backed up, and then turned the truck around on the road. They headed back to the ranch parking lot where she’d left her car.
When she got out of the truck and he walked her to her car, he asked, “You’re not coming back here again, are you?”
She closed her eyes for a second and then turned to him. The sun had moved in the sky so she didn’t have to shield her eyes in order to see his face.
“No. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Too bad. I think it might be.”
“I guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree on that.”
She climbed into her car, started it, and drove down the driveway without turning to look at Brody. She had no idea if he was watching her leave, but she suspected he might be.
It was best this way. Even though she sensed his disappointment, he’d done his best to keep it hidden. But it was best this way. As she drove back to town she repeated that over and over again, trying to convince herself it was true.
Sweet Montana Outlaw: Chapter Nine
It had been nearly a week since Tara had been out to the ranch and they’d spent the afternoon toget
her. He’d scared her. He knew it. He could see it in her face as soon as he’d kissed her.
But he also knew that she’d kissed him back. She’d felt something. But she was scared.
Brody was a patient man. He’d wait. There was something special about Tara Mitchell that he’d never seen in another woman. In some ways, he felt like he was playing with fire. But the fire felt so good. It made him feel so alive. How could it be wrong?
He’d arrived in town and headed straight for the diner where he’d agreed to meet Hunter for breakfast. Things were going better than he’d expected at the ranch despite the little snafu with Tara nearly putting him in jail for something he didn’t do.
Maybe she’d done him a favor. If she hadn’t been so quick to blame him, he never would’ve seen the way Trip and the other ranch hands had rallied around him. It had been a long time since he felt like someone else had his back.
But it wasn’t just that. It was Tara. She had awakened something in him. He hadn’t known her much all those years ago when his sister was hooked up with Doug Mitchell. If they hadn’t had a history between them, Brody knew he’d move harder to pursue a relationship with Tara. She wasn’t just pretty. And yes, she was definitely that. She was amazing, and kindhearted, and hard on herself the way he was with himself.
He’d never seen that as strength before. He’d always imagined that one day he’d find a woman who balanced him out. And maybe that was it. Maybe her being hard on herself made it easy for him to see that same trait in himself. He’d expected it to quiet the beast in him. But now he wondered if that doubt was really a beast at all. He never would’ve questioned this if he hadn’t seen it in Tara.
The waitress brought over a coffee he’d ordered and set it on the table in front of him.
“Should I wait for your friend to arrive?” she asked with a smile.
“Yeah, this is good for now. We’ll both be eating pretty big breakfasts when Hunter arrives.”
The woman’s eyebrows stretched up on her forehead as she smiled. “Hunter Williams? The farrier?”
“You know him?”
She chuckled. “We all do. He eats here most mornings. He does have a big appetite. And he’s a good tipper. Oops I shouldn’t have said that.”
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