“Morning!”
Jake looked down at the towheaded boy, his smile filling his face. The sun had almost passed the horizon, filling the sky with pinks and lavenders, and the promise of a beautiful day.
“You’re up early,” Jake said.
“Cowboys get up early,” Sean explained, his face taking on a seriousness that belied his youth. “You riding out?”
“Yep. Gotta check on my herd.”
The boy looked down at the ground, burying his toes in the dirt, shot a look up at Jake as though about to ask a question, thought better of it, and went back to covering his feet with dust.
“Want to come with me?”
The boy bobbed his head up and down so fast that his hair was up when his head was down. “Go ask your mother.”
Sean tore off towards the wagon, coming back wearing a bright smile. Jake leaned down from his horse, and brought the boy up with one arm.
“Where’s your shoes?” he asked.
“They got too small.”
“You don’t think your feet got too big?”
“That, too,” Sean said as he leaned forward in anticipation.
Jake placed his hat on top of the boy’s head.
“A real cowboy wears a hat,” he said as he put his arm protectively around the child and sent the horse into a slow gait.
Rebecca’s nose twitched as it touched something soft, and a familiar fragrance surrounded her. Opening her eyes, she smiled, reaching out to touch the bluebonnets resting beside her pillow. She wondered when Jake had gone to gather them. Looking out the window, she saw him riding out, his arms protectively circling a small rider. Rolling back over, she buried her face in the bluebonnets. She had come to care deeply for Jake, at moments wondering if perhaps she did love him. But what she felt for him was so different from what she had felt for Brett.
Brett had filled her dreams, surrounded her with excitement. Across a room, she could feel his gaze touch her, warm her. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to banish all thoughts of Brett from her mind. He was like a ghost, haunting her mind, flitting in and out, always there, not always visible. She wanted to give her heart to Jake without reservations, but Brett somehow managed to keep a hold on a piece of it. She wondered what it would take to free herself of Brett so that she could truly love Jake.
She got up and dressed and moments later Maura knocked on the door.
Rebecca smiled her greeting. “Jacob should sleep for a while. I don’t think he’ll give you any trouble while I’m gone.”
Maura’s eyes widened “You’re wearing a gun! You dinna wear one yesterday.”
Rebecca glanced down at her attire, her pants, her cotton shirt, and her Colt hanging low on her hip.
“Yesterday I knew I’d be by Jake’s side. Today, I’ll be out working, riding the range, looking for strays. I have to be able to protect myself.”
“You mean Jake wants me in the house so you can go be a cowboy?”
Rebecca laughed. “Something like that.”
“And it’s what you want to do?”
“Yes, it is. And Jake knew it more than I did.”
Picking her hat up off the table, she called, “I’ll be back before lunch.”
Smiling, Jake watched as his wife drew even with him. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Oh, Jake! I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy!”
Slipping a hand to the nape of her neck, he said softly, “It’s what I promised you when I married you.” Looking deeply into her eyes, he added, “I love you, Reb,” just before his mouth covered hers.
She felt an ache, unable to say the words she was certain he longed to hear.
Pulling back, she said, “I saw you riding off with Sean this morning.”
He removed his hands from her. “Yeah, I gave him a quick tour. Boy’s got no shoes. And his parents are too proud to let me buy him a pair. A boy shouldn’t be running around out here without shoes.”
She rubbed his cheek. “We’ll think of something.”
He grinned. “I had Frank run off some of the cattle. They headed south. Go round them up.”
Tilting her head back, she laughed. “You did no such thing.”
“No, but I thought about it.”
She left his side, and he watched as she chased after an errant calf. Her body barely moved as her knees hugged the horse. She leaned down, riding close to the stallion, her long braid laying still against her back. She cut in front of the calf, her horse pivoting on his hind legs. The calf tried to move around them, but with the barest shift in her weight, Rebecca directed the horse to block the calf’s progress. When she’d skillfully turned it back towards the herd, Rebecca lifted an arm to wave at Jake, her smile visible even from this distance. He felt a familiar tightening in his loins. How many times had he watched her ride across the Lazy A, experienced the same stirrings, and ridden away so she’d never know what his true feelings were? He didn’t have to ride away today. He could watch her graceful movements to his heart’s content.
After her morning working with Jake, Rebecca was eager to see the baby. She found him in the O’Hennessys’ wagon, Maura jiggling him on her lap.
“Hope you dinna mind me bringing the lad over here for a while.”
“Not at all,” Rebecca said as she dismounted. “He needs to be outside.”
Brian tipped his hat, trying to keep the disapproval off his face. The woman was not dressed the way a woman was supposed to dress. He wondered why Jake had married her. Had to be her beauty.
As the adults talked, Sean spotted the large rock, glistening in the sun. Glistening like gold. What if it was gold? He’d be rich and he’d share it with his family. He left the wagon and walked towards it, studying it as he went. He reached down to pick it up, halting when he heard Jacob’s rattle. His breath stopped when he heard the scream, followed closely by the sound of an explosion. Something in front of him went flying. Then his mother was sobbing, pulling him close to her, taking him away from the gold, suffocating him in the process.
Brian looked at the gun being held firmly in Rebecca’s hand, not certain he had witnessed what he thought he had witnessed. One second the woman was standing relaxed, talking, and the next the gun was in her hand and she was aiming it at his son. Had he been younger, or not so heavyset, perhaps he could have stopped her. He thanked God that he had been neither.
Rebecca walked over and picked up what remained of the rattlesnake, then brought it to Sean.
Shaking its tail, she asked, “Do you hear that, Sean?”
His eyes widened. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Never move if you hear that sound.” She laid the battered snake down, cut off the tail, and handed it to the boy. “These are rattlers. You keep them as a reminder.”
Standing up, she faced Brian and Maura. “I know you’re proud people and don’t want charity, but Saturday when Jake goes into town for supplies, your children will be in the wagon with him and they’ll come back wearing boots. We have no saints here to drive the snakes away.”
Picking up her son, she headed back to the house.
Maura lightly touched her husband’s arm. “What do you think, Bri?”
“I’m a-thinkin’ Jake dinna marry her for her beauty.”
Frank approached the wagon where the two women were putting away the last of the dishes.
“Evening,” he said as he removed his hat, wondering at his nervousness. He’d never felt this jumpy in his stomach when he’d approached Ruth.
Both women stopped working, Maura studying him intently and Arlene looking up at him through her lashes, trying to decide if it would be appropriate to smile at him.
“I was wondering, Miss Arlene, if you’d be interested in taking a walk with me.”
Arlene looked to her mother for her approval and was disappointed to see she wasn’t going to receive it.
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” Maura said. Her daughter was young and pretty and this young m
an with his flirtatious ways seemed too worldly.
“We’d just walk over there to the windmill,” Frank said with a flick of his head. “You’ll be able to see us the entire time. I swear, ma’am, I wouldn’t take advantage.”
Maura blushed at being so easily read, pursed her lips, and gave her daughter permission to go.
The walk to the windmill wasn’t nearly long enough, Frank discovered. They quickly reached it and stood beneath the towering structure, listening to the clacking sounds made by the wooden wheel above. The sun was setting in the distance, and Frank was determined to have Arlene back to the wagon before the sun was gone.
“Have you ever had a drink of water brought up from the earth by a windmill?” he asked.
She shook her head, wishing her tongue would come untied. She’d never had a gentleman show interest in her before.
Frank dipped his hand into the water, forming a cup, and brought his hand to her lips. She sipped on the water, and Frank felt the warmth of her lips clear down to his boots. The water dribbled down her chin and she laughed, taking a step back, wiping her chin with the back of her hand. She had a sweet laugh, and Frank tried to remember what Ruth’s laughter sounded like. He realized he’d never heard her laughter, only her derisive snorts.
“Tell me, Mr. Lewis. What sort of plans does a man like yourself make for the future? I mean what does a man do here to better himself?”
In his entire life, Frank had never been called mister, and it warmed him more than the pressure of her lips against his hand.
“Well now, I’m hoping to be foreman of this spread someday.” “Foreman?”
“Yes, ma’am. See, Lee Hastings carries that title now, but he’s always talking about heading out to Wyoming or Montana or somewhere. When he goes I hope to have enough experience that Jake’ll trust me with the position. I been with him longer than anyone else has.” He decided not to mention that the time he was counting began when Jake first told him about the land and not when they’d all started heading for it.
“Is it how long a man’s been here then that’ll get him the job?”
“No, ma’am. It’s experience and knowledge. I’m short on knowledge, but Jake’s kinda taken me under his wing and is teaching me everything he knows. He’s the best man I’ve ever known.”
Frank’s impassioned speech silenced him. He wasn’t used to revealing his feelings for people he cared about.
“Do you miss Ireland?” he asked before realizing that it was a stupid question. If she did, the thought might sadden her, and he wasn’t ready to give up her smiles.
“Only a bit,” she said. “Mostly, I miss the little people.”
“The little people?”
“You know … the elves and leprechauns and fairies. The wee folk who are whispered about at bedtime.”
Frank pushed out his chest. “We don’t have no wee folk here. Everything here is as big as it can get. Now, you take a jackrabbit for instance. Why they’re so big, you can saddle ‘em and ride ‘em.”
Arlene broke out into a big smile. “I think you’re funning with me, Mr. Lewis.”
“Call me Frank.”
“Frank,” she said shyly.
“And no, ma’am. I’m not funning you. Why just last week I saddled one up and rode him down to Mexico.”
She laughed. “You are funning me!”
“No, ma’am.” He leaned down conspiratorially. “I’m spinning a tall tale.”
“Is that a polite word for a lie?”
“No, ma’am!” He placed his hand over his heart. “I swear next time I go riding a jackrabbit, I’ll bring you along.”
Her laughter followed along beside him as he walked her back to the wagon, and it stayed with him throughout the night.
Purring like a cat, Rebecca stretched her lean frame.
“I’ve thought of this all day,” Jake said in a husky voice as he ran his tongue down the center of her back. “I had forgotten how beautiful you look riding a horse. Your hips have spread a little since you became a mother. Those pants fit real snug now, outlining your little bottom real nice.”
He nipped at her bottom and she squirmed. Straddling her hips, he brought his lips back up to her neck, giving her little love bites before running his hands and his mouth down her slender back. He spread warm kisses along her thighs, her knees, down her calves and back up again. She sighed contentedly. “Nice.”
He rolled her over, trailing hot kisses along her throat. His tongue outlined the tiny shell of her ear and dipped inside, sending shudders through her body. He cupped a breast in his palm, kneading gently as he drew the tip into his mouth, feeling it harden as it came into contact with his swirling tongue. His thumb slipped under his mouth, to aid his tongue in caressing the tiny sensitive pearl. She gasped with pleasure, and her body began moving as though he were buried deep within her.
“Have you been practicing?” she asked throatily.
“No,” he said as his mouth returned to cover hers. “Just been thinking about it all day, like I said.”
Drawing his tongue into her mouth, she suckled gently before releasing it to allow it to roam the confines of her mouth. He eased his hand down her midriff, lightly sending it back and forth across her stomach, as his mouth sought to pay homage to her other breast. Shivers of anticipation raced through her as she raked her hands through his hair, down his neck, onto his shoulders. Then reaching down, she wrapped her warm fingers around him, his heat increasing her own. He emitted a low moan as she tenderly stroked him. And then his hand moved down, covering the tight curls nestled between her legs, his hand sliding back and forth until his fingers parted the frail barrier and touched her silky wetness. Tightening her hold on him, she thought she might die if he touched her anymore. But she didn’t and he did. Slowly he explored the velvet smoothness. She gasped, lifting her hips up, her hand stilling as he continued his exploration in earnest.
Rebecca felt the heat waves rolling through her, each one more intense than the next, clouding all sane thoughts until the only thing she could think of was Jake and having him nestled deep within her. Her body was inflamed and she wanted him, needed him to extinguish the fire. She tightened her hold on him. “Now, Jake.”
He thrust himself hard and deep within her, and she cried out as her body came up off the bed, her arms tightening around him. Then she lay below him, trembling violently. And it scared the hell out of Jake.
He stilled, enfolding her in his arms. “Reb? Reb, honey?”
Her trembling slowly eased, and in the moonbeams dancing across her features, he could see the blush creeping up her cheeks. She captured his face in her hands, her eyes searching his. “It was glorious, Jake,” she whispered.
A low guttural moan escaped his throat as his mouth sought hers and his hips began undulating. Rebecca tore her mouth off his and began searing his neck with her kisses. She ran her tongue down his chest, until it touched and snared his nipple, then pressed her mouth against the hardened tip, alternately suckling and stroking until he was shuddering above her.
Burying his head against her neck, he sought to control his quaking body as her hands trailed up and down his damp back.
“Jake?” “Mmm?”
“I like it when you spend the day thinking.”
He brought his head up, twinkling eyes and a mischievous grin gracing his countenance.
“Reb, honey, that was just what I thought about this morning. Wait until I show you what I thought about this afternoon.”
Chapter Fourteen
JAKE STRETCHED OUT at an angle on the wooden bench suspended from the overhang of the porch. Rebecca was curled up at his side. He lazily pushed his foot against the porch, enticing the bench to sway back and forth at a leisurely pace. Beside them, nestled in his crib, Jacob welcomed nighttime by curling up into a ball and snoring softly. And over the horizon, the sun bid its final farewell to day.
Jake hadn’t closeted himself off in secret when he had made the bench. Many an evenin
g Rebecca and Jacob had sat on the porch watching Jake work. He wouldn’t tell them what his project was, making them guess. Even after she had figured it out, Rebecca didn’t know what he was going to do with it. Now, she sighed contentedly as his hand idly stroked her arm.
“This is nice, isn’t it, Reb?” he asked, somewhat awed that life could have turned out to be so good. He’d never known such serenity existed.
“Yes, it is,” she said as her fingers nimbly worked to undo a button on his shirt and her hand slipped inside to rest against his heart.
In the distance, they watched the silhouette of Frank and Arlene as they walked hand in hand towards a private destination. Men headed out to watch the herd; men headed in to bed down for the night. A warm breeze blew across the land. Kevin O’Hennessy put the last of his father’s tools away, gave a final longing glance towards the horses scampering in the corral, and made his decision. With his hands stuffed in his pockets, he walked over to the porch.
“Evening, Mr. and Mrs. Burnett,” he said as he removed his hat.
“Kevin,” Rebecca said, acknowledging the lad.
Kevin’s eyes focused on Jake. “Mr. Burnett, sir, I was wondering … I mean … I been thinking and seeing as how Frank’s as old as me and he works for you and all … well … I was wondering if maybe you could hire me and teach me to be a cowboy.”
Jake studied the young man before him. Already his arms were thick, his legs sturdy from laying hammer to anvil with a poetic rhythm that rivaled many of the ballads sung around roaring campfires. “Being a cowhand is hard work,” he said.
“I’m not afraid of hard work, sir.”
“Thought you were going to learn your father’s trade?”
“Yes, sir. Me da wanted me to, and if we’d stayed in Ireland I would have been content to do so. But here”—he threw his arm out in a circle—“there’s so much more.”
“Have you talked to your father about working for me?”
“Yes, sir. He understands me wanting something different.”
“Gotta get up before the sun.” “Yes, sir.”
“Gotta work all day.” “Yes, sir.”
“Gotta go over to that corral and decide which horse you want to ride when the sun comes up in the morning.”
Lorraine Heath Page 18