“She told me about your fiancé, too, Hope.” He braced a hand on her shoulder and peered at her with a tangible amount of compassion and concern—something new for Jonas. “I’m terribly sorry you’ve had to go through so much. I wish I’d have known sooner.”
He’d been every mother’s dream for her daughter—dashing, intelligent, witty, chivalrous. But she’d never known him to be compassionate. Had he discovered a new and meaningful side of himself?
“Thank you, Jonas,” she responded, oddly moved by his kindness. “I appreciate your concern, but really, I’m getting along fine.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.” He patted his chest.
She searched for any amount of insincerity in his gaze but came up surprisingly short.
“Well, like I said, you look beautiful. The fresh mountain air must agree with you, Hope, my dear.” He draped his arms at his chest and peered off toward where the sun had dipped behind the mountains. “You know, I’ve never been west of the Mississippi. It’s really something out here, isn’t it?”
“I love it,” she breathed, taking in the horizon’s beauty burning all pink and orange and purple behind the mountains.
“You’re a rare jewel,” he said, his voice low. “You could find something good to say about the hottest, driest desert if you had to. That’s one of the many things I love about you.” Brief and whisper soft, he skimmed the back of a hand down her cheek. “Hope…the eternal optimist.”
“How have you been?” she asked, inching away. She chided herself for the squeezed sound of her words, but she was still dumbstruck by his presence here. He was the last person she’d expected to see.
“Lost without you.”
“Oh, come now, Jonas. Surely, it’s not been that bad.” Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Aaron, his intense gaze leveled this way. Even with the dimming light of day she could see the way his brow furrowed, the way he’d drawn his mouth into a grim line.
She appreciated his concern, but he had to stop taking watching over her so seriously. Jonas was just an old acquaintance.
“A friend of yours?” Jonas nodded to where Aaron stood, watching like some mountain lion on the prowl.
“Yes, his name is Aaron Drake. He’s been assisting me on the farm,” she said, wishing that he was so much more.
“I see.” Jonas sidestepped, blocking Aaron from view. When his expensive cologne wafted to her senses, she was instantly transported back to her days in Boston, where she’d dine at one of the lovely little eateries with Jonas. “I’ve missed you, Hope. I’ve missed you a great deal.”
She couldn’t exactly say she’d missed him. That would be a lie. Yes, she’d thought about him, but her thoughts had usually been carried on a bed of hurt.
But seeing him now, the concern he showed, the compassion and his attentiveness, she had to wonder if he’d changed.
“After your mother told me what had happened to your fiancé, I couldn’t get out here fast enough.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, concerned that something awful had transpired and he’d been sent to let her know.
“Oh, it’s nothing to worry your pretty little head about.” The condescending way he touched his finger to the tip of her nose, irritated her, but she forced herself to appreciate the apparent changes he’d made. “I’ll tell you all about it over a nice dinner. Or maybe breakfast?”
She tightened her grip on her handbag, worrying the beaded tassels to the point that they might fall apart. “Why not now?”
Jonas heaved a sigh, removing his fashionable rounded hat from his head and working his hands around the brim. “Honestly, I’m exhausted from my journey, but I couldn’t wait to see you, which is why I tracked you down here.”
Jonas had never gone out of his way for anything, and the fact that he had on her account struck her as peculiar. Endearing. “You went to a tremendous effort.”
“Not really. Although you, my darling Hope, would have been worth it.” He gave her one of those dashingly handsome sideways grins of his that had stopped her in her tracks early on in their relationship. “Really, I just stopped into the mercantile, and Mrs.—”
“Duncan?” She smiled.
“Yes. Mrs. Duncan.” He chuckled, settling his hat on his head again. “She offered quite a pallet of information. She told me more than I asked and surely more than I wanted to know. But it was worth my time,” he said, grasping her hand. “You are worth my time.”
“Jonas, I—”
“What do you say?” He twined his smooth, manicured fingers through hers.
Self-consciousness rained down on her—especially when he paused and slid his thumb across one of the work-induced calluses that had formed in the past few weeks.
When he moved his hand up to her elbow, she had to wonder if he was offended by her work-roughened hands. “Why don’t you join me for breakfast in the morning? I’m staying at the Boulder Inn. We could eat there if you’d like.”
With Jane doing all of the baking there in the mornings, Hope could only imagine what kind of gossip she’d concoct. “I don’t think—”
“The accommodations seem nice enough.” He dipped his head, catching her focus. “Hopefully the restaurant will be equally satisfactory.”
Curious as to whether Aaron was still monitoring the situation, Hope craned her neck to see, unnerved at the sight of him standing just a few feet behind Jonas, his arms folded at his chest. An unattractive scowl was marring his good looks and an undeniable look of warning showed in his gaze.
Vexation pricked thorn-sharp. How could Aaron be so bold? So unfriendly? So possessive? He couldn’t just kiss her whenever he pleased and then keep his heart far from reach. She refused to allow him to act as though he had some claim on her when he clearly didn’t.
“It would have to wait until I get my morning chores completed.”
“Chores?” Jonas was not a man to be put off, especially after he’d traveled so far. But this time he’d have to wait.
“Milking Gertrude, feeding the cattle, the goats and the horses. I’ll need to get some weeding done in the garden, too. Before the sun gets too hot,” she added, distractedly reviewing her mental checklist. “I can meet you just as soon as I’m finished.”
“Hope Gatlin doing chores?” Jonas gave a wry chuckle. “You have fallen from grace, my dear. Though I must say, the idea of you filling the role as a domestic goddess is appealing.”
She nervously clasped her hands at her waist. “I’m doing what’s necessary.”
“Had I known you’d needed a hand with all of those chores, why, I would’ve arrived far sooner.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you, Jonas, but—”
“She won’t be needing your help.” Aaron appeared from behind Jonas and planted himself at Hope’s side. “She has me.”
In an instant, her irritation increased tenfold. “But I—”
“You’re Mr. Drake. Hope just told me about you.” Jonas stuck out his hand, his squinty-eyed gaze nailed to Aaron. “I’m Jonas Hargrave. The Second.”
He met Jonas’s intense gaze and set his back teeth, tensed his jaw. Aaron seemed to take pleasure in swallowing Jonas’s manicured hand in his, large and work-worn. The air around him seemed charged with maleness and challenge and strength as he finally released his hold.
Jonas moved a step closer to Hope. “Hope and I, we were engaged to marry at one time.”
“Funny, she’s never really talked about you.” Aaron slid his gaze from Jonas to Hope then back again.
“That doesn’t surprise me with what happened between us. I’m just grateful that she’s not one to hold grudges. Although, when it comes to me, she has every reason to.” Jonas’s candid contriteness almost knocked her feet from beneath her.
She whipped her disbelieving focus to him. She’d never known him to willingly admit to any fault. The fact that he’d taken some kind of responsibility for the demise of their engagement—and in front of Aaron, no less—took
her by complete surprise.
Jonas turned his undivided attention on Hope. “This town certainly seems nice enough. Pleasant folks—for the most part.”
“Aaron. Oh, Aaron.” Jane’s grating voice shattered the evening air. The woman stood on the town hall steps, her hand flapping about madly from her wrist. “Are you ready to go?”
“Looks like you’re needed over there,” Jonas said, on a provoking wink.
Heaving a sigh, Aaron threw a frustrated glance over his shoulder then settled his focus on Hope. “I’ll follow you home.”
“There’s no need. I’ll be fine.” From the corner of her eye, she noticed Jane slinking their way.
“It’s getting dark, Hope. And I’m going to make sure that you get home safely.” Aaron’s I-will-not-argue-this tone brought any remaining protest up short, and when she remembered the marauding wolves, she felt a small sense of relief.
“He’s quite a welcoming fellow,” Jonas remarked under his breath as Aaron stalked to his rig and gave Jane a hand up.
Returning to Hope’s side, he circled her waist and lifted her up, his touch searing straight through her dress, setting her skin afire. “I’ll wait for you.”
She struggled to hold in place her thin membrane of poise. But sorting through the past few hours, let alone the past few minutes, set her head to spinning. Here was Aaron, taking his promise to town and then acting like he had some claim on her when just a few hours ago he’d made it clear that he wasn’t ready for any kind of relationship. And then there was Jonas, his humility and caring ways in direct contrast to what he’d ever shown of himself in the past. Just this afternoon, she’d prayed that God would bring some kind of clarity to her situation. Had He answered her prayers in a way she’d least expected, dropping Jonas into her life once again, even when her heart yearned for Aaron?
On the heels of a gallant bow, Jonas reached up for Hope’s hand, the kiss he pressed to her fingers inciting none of the magnificent sensations invoked by Aaron’s touch. “I will be expecting you tomorrow morning around eight-thirty. Will that be all right?”
“That will be fine,” she muttered.
Jonas gave her hand a parting squeeze. “Until then, I bid you good night.”
Good-night? There was nothing good that she could find about tonight.
Chapter Seventeen
The heifer heaved another anguished groan as Aaron rolled up his sleeves and entered the stall. In spite of Hope’s determination that she’d take care of the chores, he couldn’t stay away. And when he’d arrived less than twenty minutes ago to find Hope’s face etched in concern and her eyes rimmed with tears, he knew he’d made the right decision. She’d been out here since before dawn had split the murky horizon, trying to comfort the laboring cow. The minute she’d caught sight of Aaron, her shoulders had wilted in obvious relief.
“What’s going to happen to her baby?” Hope knelt in the corner of the stall, stroking the heifer’s wide face.
“Hopefully, nothing.” He hunkered down to check the heifer again. “Just pray, Hope.”
“I will.” She adjusted the small pink bow she’d tied around the cow’s curly tuft of hair at the top of her head. “What else would you like for me to do? There must be something.”
“You’re going to miss your breakfast date if you stay any longer.” He angled his focus her way to gauge her response. “Why don’t you head into town? You can take my rig since it’s already sitting out there ready to go.”
When her jaw dropped, a small sense of satisfaction rose within him. “I wouldn’t think of leaving Daisy in her condition.”
“Suit yourself.”
“Thank you, I will.” Hope’s feisty whisper tipped his mouth to a half grin. When the cow eased to its side, straining with another contraction, Hope hunkered down, almost nose to nose with the creature. “Aw…poor Daisy. It’s all going to be over soon. And you shall have a new baby calf to show off.”
Unbidden, a mesmerizing image of Hope tenderly cradling a baby flashed through his mind. His heart swelled as if he was witnessing the real thing. But an instant later, when he pictured himself standing with her as they peered down at the baby—their baby—he was rattled to the core.
He swiped a sleeve across his perspiration-beaded brow, sure that she could see straight through to his thoughts. “I’ll need you to hold on to that rope around her neck,” he ground out, grasping for control over his thoughts. “Just in case she decides to get up and move around. With her baby being breach, I’m going to have to get it turned around so she can push it out.”
“You would do that for her?” When Hope’s eyes misted with tears, he felt his control slip a little more.
He nodded then shoved his sleeve up as high as it would go, preparing to inch his arm inside the enormous animal. “You can be sure that she’s not going to like it much, so be prepared for her to balk.”
She nodded with a fair amount of confidence, and that tugged at his heart.
“You can do it, Daisy. Aaron’s going to help you.” She gave him the most endearing smile then. “You’ll do just fine.”
His heart surged at her vote of confidence. Especially when he wasn’t feeling overly confident, himself. “Thanks. Something about bringing a baby—animal or human—into this world pretty much strips away my general confidence.”
“You’ll do very well. I know you will, Aaron.”
He sighed, holding on to her words as though they proclaimed a new day. “Do you have a good hold on her?” He flipped his gaze up to Hope.
“Yes, as much as I can.”
“Good. Now that this contraction has let loose, I’m going to inch my arm inside of her.” He maneuvered through the tight opening, pushing all the way up to his shoulder. “I’m feeling for the front hooves. There’s the calf’s head,” he grunted as another contraction bore down on the cow and the fleshy walls surrounding his arms constricted tight as a noose.
“Did you get him turned around?” Her voice was laden with sweet innocent hope.
He held still so as to not disturb the cow. “Kind of. But at the moment she has me wrapped tight. Until this contraction lets loose, I’m stuck.”
“Oh, my. That sounds horrible.”
After the walls had relaxed again, he found the front hooves and started inching the calf around. When he finally got the job done and was able to slide his arm out, he gave the mama a pat. “It’s all right now, Daisy. Next contraction, you give it all you’ve got and push your little one out.”
Glancing up, he saw Hope staring at him, her eyes pooled with tears. “You’re so sweet,” she whispered.
He held her gaze, loving every minute he’d spent with her this morning, loving that she was here with him and not in town having breakfast with her city-slicking former fiancé.
“I think she’s starting to have another contraction, Aaron.” The concern he saw in her expression near broke his heart.
“You’re right,” he agreed as the cow began straining. “Here we go, Daisy. You may be new to this, but be a good girl and push that baby of yours out.”
After several more contractions, a black-and-white-spotted calf finally appeared. Aaron eased the good-sized male down into the fresh hay he’d spread for bedding. “There you go, little one.”
“Oh, how precious.” Hope heaved a relief-filled sigh. “The baby’s all right?”
“Alive and well.” Tears stung his eyes as he braced a hand on the heifer’s rump. “You have a little—well, not so little—boy, Daisy. How do you feel about that?”
The cow’s low moo tugged a smile across his face.
“Aww, a baby boy.” Hope eased the lead rope from around the cow as the new mama heaved her tired body to standing and shifted around in the stall to inspect her newborn.
Dipping his arms into a pail of fresh water, Aaron scrubbed himself clean then dried himself off as he watched the heifer attending to her newborn, licking him off and giving him a tender nudge now and then.
“How does she know how to do that?” Hope’s awestruck gaze remained fixed on the cow and her calf.
Aaron crossed to her and settled an arm around her shoulder, loving how the rawest, most innate things in life seemed to incite absolute awe from this city girl. “I suppose that, just like with other things, they follow their instinct. And their heart.” Pulling her into his side, he rested his cheek on top of her head. If he were to follow his heart, would it lead straight to Hope? “You did good work, darlin’. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“There you are.” The unmistakable sound of Hargrave’s smooth voice broke the mystical tender moment and set Aaron on edge. He stood at the doorway of the stall, clad in every kind of fashion contraption there probably was for a man. “I was worried.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t make it in for breakfast.” Hope’s moist gaze flitted over to Hargrave. “But Daisy was having a difficult time giving birth.”
He barely looked at the mama and calf. “I see she managed all right.”
“Oh, Jonas, you should’ve seen it.” Hope eased over to the doorway. “Aaron had to reach inside and turn the calf around so that Daisy could push him out.”
“Really?” Hargrave spared him a brief and bland glance.
If not for the fact that Hope just flashed Aaron one of her appreciative heart-stopping smiles, he’d have scowled all the way to tomorrow.
“Can you believe that someone would be so caring and tenderhearted as to do something like that?” That wonderful sense of awe filled her voice yet again and settled into his heart like warm honey.
“I can’t,” he remarked, giving Aaron a cursory nod. “That’s really something.”
Hope clasped her hands beneath her chin. “It was so—”
“Are you ready to go now?” Hargrave’s congenial tone might have fooled some, but Aaron could tell the man’s feathers had been ruffled, and for some reason that brightened Aaron’s dour mood.
She peered up at Jonas. “I still have all of my chores to do.”
Rocky Mountain Proposal Page 18