The Bull Rider by Helen DePrima

Author:Helen DePrima
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

TOM SHIVERED BRIEFLY under the icy waterfall to sluice away the sweat and then eased into the hot spring. What was bothering Jo? She’d covered it well, but something had upset her. Maybe he should have told her he’d be out early, but she’d seemed pretty tired last night and he always looked forward to greeting the dawn alone from the old homestead.

He sank into the warm water, trying to recapture the peace he always felt after completing his routine, but her troubled eyes haunted him. Had he imagined her fleeting expression of... What, horror? Disgust? He couldn’t think of anything he’d done to offend her. He could read animals almost like kindred species—the flick of an ear, a ripple of skin—but he had no clue about women.

The scents of wood smoke and bacon frying pulled him from his reverie; he stepped from the pool and dressed before hurrying to the cabin.

Jo turned to him with a wooden spoon in her hand. “My turn to cook,” she said. “Bacon and beans okay?”

He relaxed and returned her smile. “Good fuel for roofing,” he said. He poured himself a mug of coffee as she set plates on the table and joined him.

When they finished eating, he refilled his mug and beckoned. He would try to make amends for whatever had upset her by sharing his pleasure with her. “The sun’s just about to come up.”

They sat side by side on the porch steps while the eastern sky turned from aquamarine to peach to gold. Neither spoke, and while they watched, two mule deer emerged from the ravine from which the stream flowed. The shy creatures raised their heads just as the sun winked between two mountain peaks and then they faded back into the brush.

Tom saw tears tracing down Jo’s cheeks. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked. He put an arm around her shoulders.

She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong—it’s just so beautiful here.” She gestured, taking in the sky and the rolling valley. “This is magical.”

He gave her a squeeze and then released her. “Always seems that way to me—I never get tired of it. But the quiet spooks some people.”

“Our neighborhood in Brooklyn is relatively quiet in city terms, but there’s always traffic noise. Even on my grandfather’s farm we could hear big trucks on the New York State Thruway.” She leaned her head back against the porch pillar. “I’m going to miss this when I go back.”

He’d be stupid to let himself hope she could be content here, but an image lodged itself in his brain: Jo as his wife, his partner and the mother of his children. He thrust the notion away with almost a physical violence. He’d let himself be fooled once—he wasn’t about to make the same mistake again.

Ghost whinnied in the corral and Tom straightened.

A few minutes later a rider appeared from the direction of the Buck ranch. “We’ve got company,” he said. “It’s Auntie Rose’s grandson Brian.”

“Do you think there’s an emergency?”

“Nope, he’s not riding fast enough.

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