His Brother's Wife (21 page)

She wondered if her face
was as red as it felt. Embarrassment at being caught in his room
tightened her throat and caused a wave of dizziness to overcome
her. When he braced his hands on the doorframe, she swallowed the
lump forming in her throat. “I wasn’t snooping!”

A slow grin pulled at his
mouth. “I didn’t say you were.” His gaze ran the length of her and
stopped at her hands. She realized then she was still holding the
photograph.

She stuffed it back into
the book and sat it on the dresser. Her pulse was tapping out a
fast rhythm and she looked around the room to avoid his knowing
eyes. The pile of clothes in the corner caught her attention and
she rushed over to them, gathering them in her arms. “I just came
in to see if you had anything that needed washing.”

Rafe straightened and gave
her a quizzical look. “It’s a little late in the day for laundry,
isn’t it?”

She shrugged one shoulder.
He entered the room fully then, walking to where she stood. When he
was close enough she could smell the scent of his skin, that
tapping little pulse started pounding in her chest. He was entirely
too close. “I thought you left.”

“I did,” he said, lifting
his hand and pushing a stray curl away from her face. “I was on my
way to the far pasture when I remembered you were here
alone.”

“Oh.”

He lowered his hand, the
back of his fingers brushing her cheek. “Want to come with
me?”

His request was simple but
the way he said it made Grace think he meant more than he implied.
The gentle caress of his fingers on her cheek, and something in his
eyes, told her he did. “Come with you where?”

“Out on the
range.”

Grace raised her eyebrows
at that. “You mean, on a horse?”

He grinned. “Yes. It’s too
far to walk.” He glanced at the clothes still in her hands before
reaching for them and tossing them back to the corner. “You said
you could ride the day you wanted to go into town
alone.”

“I can.”

“All right. Then, will you
come with me?”

She said nothing and he
continued to stare at her. He looked expectant and she remembered
the way he’d looked at her when he came in for lunch. Like he was
thinking dirty thoughts. She suddenly couldn't catch her breath.
Was he now going to act on the promise his eyes had
made?

“I don’t want to leave you
here alone, Grace. I don’t know if I’ll be back before Jesse gets
home and I’d rather you not be here by yourself.”

So maybe her over active
imagination was getting away with her. Maybe what he was saying was
true. That he just didn’t want her at the house alone. Why, she
wasn’t sure, but who knew how men thought.

Grace smiled to cover her
disappointment and nodded her head. “Yes, I’ll come with
you.”

He returned the smile and
grabbed her hand, turning and walking to the door and across the
kitchen. He stopped at the back door, pulled her cloak from the peg
and draped it around her shoulders.

When they were outside,
Grace saw he’d already saddled another horse. He apparently hadn’t
been willing to take no for an answer.

Releasing her hand once
they reached the horse, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted
her up. When she sat sidesaddle, he frowned at her. “Please tell me
you don’t ride that way.”

“Of course I do. A lady
doesn’t… straddle a horse.”

“The west isn’t exactly
the place for high born ladies, Grace. The country is too rough for
them. Besides, there’s no one here to see you but me and I won’t
mind how unladylike you think you may look.”

He walked away then,
climbing onto his own horse before turning it and heading back for
the hill she’d seen him disappear over earlier. She watched him for
a few moments before lifting her leg and throwing it over the
horse, adjusting her skirt so her legs weren’t showing, and nudged
the creature forward. When she caught up to Rafe, he glanced over
at her, smiling as she sat straddling the horse.

“So,” she said, “What are
we going to look at?”

Urging the horse into a
trot, Rafe readjusted his hat. “The fence line. After the repair I
made, I wanted to check the rest of it to make sure we didn’t have
more down lines.”

“Does that happen
often?”

“What?”

“The fencing coming
down.”

He gave a small laugh and
shook his head. “It’s known to happen but not the way I’ve seen.
The cattle didn’t do it. They have no reason to. There’s plenty of
fresh grass to graze on and more water than they’ll ever need. No,
someone is cutting the fence.”

“What will you
do?”

“Nothing at the moment.”
He sighed and looked out over the valley. “Once we move what cattle
we have left to the winter range, I’ll shore up the rest of the
fence and hope for the best.”

Grace looked at him and
noticed the lines of strain on his face. He was tired. She could
tell by the way he held his body, the sound of his voice. Trying to
do everything alone was taking its toll, just like it had on his
father. He was working himself to death. “Why don’t you get someone
to help you with the fence and the other chores around the
ranch?”

He smiled and glanced over
at her. “And pay them with what? As pretty as you are, I don’t
think your smiling face is enough for most men to live off
of.”

She blushed. “How much do
men usually make working a ranch this size?”

Rafe moved forward in his
saddle, repositioning himself on the horse. “Depends. Some stay on
for a place to hang their hat and a hot meal three times a day.
Others will take whatever money they can get and leave the minute
its in their hand. There used to be quite a few cowpunchers back
when I was younger but they slowly drifted off after I left. Jesse
said Pa couldn’t afford to keep them on. It’s why the ranch looks
the way it does. It wasn’t always so run down.”

Grace could tell by the
sound of his voice that it pained him to think of how things used
to be. How they were before he left home. She remembered the photo
she’d tucked back into the book on his dresser. Had the girl in the
photograph been what kept him away for so long? She was itching to
ask but wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

They rode in silence and
Grace took in the beauty around her. The leaves on the trees had
started to take on darker tones. Crimson, brown and magenta colored
the horizon. The fence disappeared over the hill and she wondered
how long it would take to ride the entire line. Much longer than
one man could take when he had other things to do as well, she was
sure.

The sun was unusually warm
and small beads of sweat were trickling down her spine. The cool
wind blowing down from the mountains in the distance was a welcome
relief. The snow capped peeks were just a reminder that winter was
coming. A winter she’d be trapped in Willow Creek with a man she
couldn’t have and a boy she couldn’t marry.

A bright object glinted in
the distance and it took another few moments for Grace to realize
what it was. The sun was reflecting off the water of a nearby
creek. The closer they drew near, the more the sounds of rushing
water became apparent.

When they were close
enough to smell wet earth, Grace’s horse galloped into a flat run,
jerking her in the saddle.

She yelped, a little
squeal bursting forth, and she held the reins tighter, laughing as
the horse ran across the field. She could hear Rafe behind her, his
horse racing to catch up, her name caught on the wind.

When they reached the
creek, the horse lunged to a stop and Grace screamed as she flew
from the beasts back, head first into the water.

Chapter
Nineteen

“Grace!”

Luck smiled down on her
for once as the water was deep where she landed. Her feet had
touched bottom for only a few seconds before she felt hands on her
shoulders.

When Rafe pulled her to
the surface, the look on his face nearly stopped her heart. He
looked terrified.

“Are you all
right?”

Grace coughed, nodded her
head and then laughed. “I think you need to teach your horse to
behave better than that, Rafe Samuels. He's positively
uncivilized.” She wiped her wet hair out of her face, coughed again
and looked up.

The look of horror on
Rafe’s face receded in slow increments until he was smiling at her,
his arms around her in a grip so tight she could barely breath. He
lowered his face to her hair, the warmth of his breath felt on her
face. “I forgot how much that old horse loves the water. I wasn’t
thinking.”

“It’s all right.” Grace
closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of him. They were still
standing in the creek and even though the water was cold, his arms
around her warmed her to her toes. She turned her head to look at
the horse, which was now in the water with them. He was drinking
his fill, walking further in and splashing as his hoofed feet hit
the water. “I take it he doesn’t get out of the barn
much?”

“No. Not in a while he
hasn’t.” Rafe released her, much to her disappointment, and led her
out of the creek, helping her climb the small
embankment.

Her new boots made a funny
squishy sound with every step she took and she stopped to untie
them and kicked them off, along with her stockings and cloak, and
tossed them to the ground not far away. Half the pins in her hair
had come loose as well, long strands falling around her face and
dripping water across her cheeks. Pulling the remaining pins free,
she let her hair down.

Rafe startled her when he
touched her, laying a blanket across her shoulders. She gathered
the edges and smiled up at him. "You just happened to have a
blanket handy?"

He grinned at her. "The
weather is unpredictable this time of year. A smart man doesn't
travel far without being prepared."

She pulled the blanket
tighter around her shoulders and grinned. "Prepared for what,
exactly?"

Rafe pulled her hair from
under the blanket, his fingers threading through the strands. "I've
a bit of hardtack in the saddlebags, coffee, a pot to fix it in and
dry clothes." He grinned. "You never know when something unexpected
will pop up. A man never leaves home without
provisions."

"Well, lucky for me,
you're so organized. I'd be frozen solid in a hour."

"Are you cold?"

He pulled the blanket
around her tighter, holding the ends together. Something in his
eyes as he looked at her warmed her, made her feel precious in that
moment. His touch, the very nearness of him leaving her limbs
tingling. "I'm fine now," she said. "It's hard to be cold when
you're so near."

Something heated moved
behind his eyes at her admission. She felt it along her skin as his
gaze roamed her face. When he leaned in and kissed her, his tongue
sliding between her lips in one forceful movement, that same heat
traveled her flesh until her knees went weak.

He followed her to the
ground, laying her back against the grass as the sun heated their
wet skin, their clothing sticking to them as his demanding kiss
drew a gasping breath from her throat. "Rafe."

Breaking the kiss, his
lips moved along her jaw, down the column of her throat to the top
of her dress. He lingered, Grace's breath hitched and she prayed
he'd take advantage of the situation.

Rafe released a breath,
the warmth of it caressing the flesh on her throat before he laid
his head on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry,
Grace."

"For what?"

He chuckled and held her
tighter. "For wanting you so much." He looked up, raised a hand to
caress the side of her face. "I'll have you here by the creek like
some untried school boy if you're not careful.

She licked her lips and
stared him in the eye. "And if I don't object?"

The heat she'd seen
earlier moved behind his eyes again. Grace swallowed the lump
forming in her throat and wondered if she was wanton enough to let
him have his way with her out in the open.