“Then I’ll ride.” The words came out shaky. She saw the hesitation on his face. “Please, Habakkuk. Will you saddle a horse for me?”
“Miss…” He shuffled his feet and gave her a skeptical look. “Have you ever ridden?”
“Yes. All the time before my accident.”
His expression cleared, and he tugged on his hat as if thinking. “Miz Addie—that’s Tyler’s ma—had a sidesaddle. Riding habit. She was Eastern-bred, was Miz Addie. Be a bit wide on you, but you’re about the same height. You go change. I’ll have Aaron take care of Chico here, and I’ll saddle up the new mare for you. She’s gentle and well-behaved, but she’s got stamina.”
“Oh, thank you, Habakkuk!”
“I’m coming with you, Miss. Tyler would have my head if I let you go off alone, not being on a horse in ages, not knowing the area.”
“Very well,” she said, relieved at the thought of being accompanied.
He gave her his skin-crinkling grin, and extended a hand to help her out of the buggy. “Better git on going if you want to catch up with that man. We don’t want to have to quarter the whole ranch to find him.”
Lily hurried into the house and found Mrs. Pendell in the kitchen.
Dove jumped to her feet and, with a happy doggy smile, scampered over.
Lily sat in a chair, so she could lean over and scoop the dog into her arms. She stroked Dove while she told the tale to Mrs. Pendell, barely taking time to breathe.
The woman immediately caught the significance and left the kitchen to collect the things Lily needed.
Lily set Dove down and hurried to her bedroom, the dog following her. She rummaged through her art supplies and grabbed a pencil. Taking Oliver’s book, she turned it over and drew a quick sketch on the back. Then she started to undress.
Mrs. Pendell returned with a riding habit, smelling of cedar, a pair of well-worn boots, and a hat. She loosened Lily’s corset, helped Lily into the habit, and stood back, hands on hips, watching Lily pull on the boots. Finally, she held out the leather hat that looked like the ones the men wore. “Miz Addie preferred this one.”
Hat on her head, Lily glanced at herself in the mirror. She hardly recognized the slender form in the brown riding habit and hat. The woman staring back at her looked sturdy and confident.
I’m going to have to be.
Impulsively, she hugged Mrs. Pendell. “Thank you.”
The woman set her chin, but her eyes looked misty. “You just make my boy happy.”
“I’ll try my hardest.” Lily flashed her a smile. “Stay here,” she ordered her dog, stooping for a pat before hurrying out of the house. As she limped across the yard, the full skirt of her habit swished against her ankles.
True to his word, Habakkuk had two horses saddled, one the gray gelding she’d seen him ride before and the other the sable brown mare Nick Sanders had delivered yesterday.
“Don’t think. Don’t stop,” Lily muttered. If she slowed down, she might never mount that horse. She repeated the phrase a second and a third time. She marched straight over to the mare, not even pausing to get acquainted.
Habakkuk must have understood, for he stooped to give her a leg up.
Stomach a-jitter, Lily grimaced with pain but settled into the saddle, hooking her knee around the pommel, and gathered the reins.
Don’t think. Don’t think.
Her mind jumped to her accident, to the fall. Her heart began to race. “Don’t, don’t, don’t,” she chanted, fixing her gaze on the horizon to head off the dizziness that she knew came next.
Habakkuk drew up beside her. “You all right, Miss?”
Lily lifted her chin. “Fine.” Hoping Habakkuk didn’t see through the lie and insist on giving up the expedition, she turned her horse in the direction of the river. Grateful for the looser corset, she forced herself to take deep breaths and made her stiff muscles relax, and then urged the mare forward.
After about ten minutes, Lily realized that the wave of panic had subsided. Gradually, she relaxed, realizing her old love of riding had returned. Relieved, she leaned over and petted the horse’s neck.
Straightening, Lily grinned at her guide. “We’ll never catch Tyler at this rate.” She urged the horse into a trot, found that gait too hard on her hip and leg, and kneed the horse into a canter, the rocking motion more comfortable.
Habakkuk kept pace, at first obviously prepared to grab the reins if she needed help. Gradually, he eased his vigilance and moved his horse a few feet ahead.
As her fear fell away, freedom filled her, and Lily felt almost as if she could fly. She imagined sprouting wings and soaring to Tyler. Or maybe the mare would turn into Pegasus. Her cheeks stretched from grinning.
Until the river came into sight.
Suddenly Lily’s excitement burst like a soap bubble. Her hands tightened on the reins, and the mare, obedient to her signal, slowed to a walk.
Habakkuk pointed downstream. “The ford’s there, ’bout a quarter of a mile.”
Her throat tight, Lily nodded, following his direction. To her eyes, the river looked as deep and swift as the day the water swept Dove downstream.
Don’t think of that. Don’t. Don’t. Think of Tyler. Think of babies!
The vision of babies helped. She imagined her child as a toddler, a boy who looked like Oliver, riding on the saddle in front of her.
Guess I’d better learn to ride astride.
All too soon, they came to the place where the river widened, perhaps only three feet at the deepest. The water still churned and boiled.
Habakkuk pointed. “The ford. You sure about this, Miss Lily?”
Lily firmed her lips.
I can do this.
But still, she didn’t urge the mare forward.
“You want to head back, Miss?”
“No.” The word came out sharper than Lily intended. “No,” she said softly. She leaned forward and gave a light press of her heel to the mare’s side.
The mare surged forward, heading into the current with quick, sure steps, working her careful way around some boulders. Habakkuk kept pace, at her downstream side.
As the water level rose, Lily’s heartbeat quickened. She bunched up the material of her skirt, bending her bottom leg to avoid getting her boot wet.
The horses waded through the water.
Lily kept her eyes focused on the opposite side, growing closer with each step.
They reached the bank and the mare lunged up.
Lily let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. Relieved, she looked at Habakkuk. “We did it! Thank you.”
He winked, and then leveled a finger toward some cottonwoods.
Lily followed his line and saw Tyler on Domino, watching them.
Habakkuk touched the brim of his hat. He wheeled the gray around and back through the river.
Alone, Lily walked the mare toward Tyler, until they were opposite each other, knee to knee. Her heart beat so loud, she wondered if he could hear it.
“You’re riding,” he said the words in a tone of wonder.
“It was the only way to get to you.” Lily reached into the sack tied to the horn and pulled out Oliver’s book. She turned it over and handed the upside down book to Tyler.
He gave her a curious glance, and then looked at the picture she’d sketched there—a family, Tyler, Lily with a baby in her arms, and Oliver. A dog on each side completed the family picture. His eyes widened. At long last, he met her gaze, a question in his own.
“I didn’t accept Oliver’s proposal yesterday because I wanted to leave to become a famous artist,” Lily blurted out. She paused, took a breath to steady herself. “What I didn’t tell you was that the accident had damaged me to the point I couldn’t carry a child. During my recovery, the doctor told me if I tried, it was likely we would both die.”
Tyler made a shocked sound.
“But today, Dr. Cameron examined me and said he thinks it’s safe for me to have a baby.”
He tapped the book in his lap. “My baby, Lil?”
She nodded, hoping…. Her heart started to pound again.
Tyler caught her hand, and, leaning over, he drew her to him, cupped her jaw, and kissed her.
As his lips pressed against hers, the kiss deepened. The tension seeped out of her body, replaced by a delicious languor. She could have melted off the saddle.
After one final kiss, he pulled back but kept his face inches away as he gazed into her eyes. “What about your art?”
“I have plenty to paint right here at Green Valley Ranch.”
He smiled and playfully rubbed her nose with his, and then released her and straightened. Making a circling motion with his finger, he motioned to her to head home.
Lily turned the mare in the direction of the ranch.
They rode side by side. “Seems to me,” Tyler said. “You could do a book on the flora of Green Valley Ranch. Then one titled
The Flora of Sweetwater Springs
. When those babies you want get old enough, we can travel around Montana, and you can do a book on the whole darn state. What do you think about that?”
“I think that’s a fine idea.” She liked the way the word “babies” sounded in Tyler’s voice. “But first, I want to experiment with portraits, starting with Oliver’s.”
“That boy’s going to be over the moon when he hears the news.”
They reached the river, and, eager to get home to Oliver, Lily urged the mare right into the water. This time she was more relaxed, her muscles looser, not stiff and tight.
Tyler rode next to her, watchful.
They crossed to the other side.
Tyler picked up the conversation. “Is your father going to be angry that I didn’t first ask him for your hand?”
“My father will be ecstatic. He was with me when the accident happened. We were racing, jumped a fence we’d taken dozens of times. I was in the lead. There was a dog on the other side. My horse swerved, clipped her hooves on the fence, went down, broke her leg….” She shook her head, not wanting to go on. “He blamed himself. For years, he’s grieved that I couldn’t marry and have children—give him grandchildren to dandle on his knee.”
“You’ll have quite a surprise for him then.”
“He’ll be pleased I’m riding again, too.” She transferred the reins to one hand and reached out. “I’ll leave in a few days, Tyler. Break the good news to him and my sisters.”
His hand clasped hers, squeezed, and then released. “When will you return?”
Something about his tone puzzled her, made her tilt her head.
He caught the glance. “Oliver’s mother, Laura, ran off with a traveling painter. They died in a carriage accident a few months later.”
She caught her breath, stunned by how Laura abandoned the very boy that Lily yearned to call her own. “Oh, Tyler. How terrible. I know marriages can go bad, but I can’t understand how a mother would leave her child. Oliver’s so special.”
“I didn’t know our marriage was bad. Came as quite a shock.” Tyler shrugged and shook his head. “And I’ve never understood her leaving Oliver, either.”
“A painter,” she mused. “Is that why you gave me the cold shoulder when you first found out about me?”
He gave her a sheepish grin. “Yes. But I changed my mind right quick!”
She laughed. “What made that happen?”
Tapping a finger on his chin, he pretended to think. “Started with besting Widow Murphy.”
Lily gathered her reins in one hand and gave him a playful smack on his thigh with her other. “Be serious.”
He captured her hand. “I
am
serious. My wife’s leaving poisoned my mind, and I didn’t even know it. I was bitter. When Widow Murphy took a stance against Dove…that pushed me to stand
with
you. Cleared my thinking somewhat so I could see the pretty lady I’d rescued. Then I started paying attention to your character. Saw the good person you are, Lil, inside and out. Took me a while, though, to rid my system of the taint.”
Moved, Lily squeezed his hand. “But you did, and that’s what’s important.”
“Thank God!” Tyler said fervently.
She gave him a warm smile. “I’ll be back as soon as I’ve packed my things and bid adieu to my family and friends. Although my father and Emma won’t let me be married without them. Sophia may not be able to get away from her production. She’s playing the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s,
The Magic Flute
.”
“I look forward to meeting your family. They are welcome to stay at the ranch for as long as they want.”
The rest of the ride passed in serious conversation as they opened up to each other, sharing stories of their pasts, of their hopes for the future. They crested a small hill, and Lily reined in.
The familiar ranch lay before her: the house, barn, outbuildings, the stream and hot springs, the big oak with the table underneath. Only this time, Lily studied them with proprietary eyes, feeling a deep sense of contentment, of belonging.
Tyler watched her with a loving expression on his face. “Welcome home to Green Valley Ranch, Lil.”
Through a mist in her eyes, at a distance down the road, Lily saw the familiar form of Oliver riding his pony, his shoulders slumped, the picture of dejection.
With a surge of maternal love, Lily pointed at the boy. “Let’s hurry. Someone desperately needs to hear our news.” She urged the mare into a canter.