Randy smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I just like hearing you say it, that’s all.”
He yanked her wide-brimmed hat farther down on her head when she looked up at him again. “See?” he told her. “You’re distracting me again. And there’s Shortbread and the packhorse, already headed down. Come on.” He kept hold of her arm as they made their way down the escarpment, Randy voicing little squeals at a few slips on the steep hill. Jake’s strong grip kept her from tumbling down like a loose rock.
“What a relief!” she said when they reached the flatter pathway.
“Must have washed out in that rain we had last night.” Jake helped her remount and handed her the reins to the packhorse again. He untied and mounted Midnight, and they headed farther along, ever downward until they reached the vast expanse of green valley below the cabin.
Randy glanced up at the line shack, feeling a little sad at wondering if and when they would go back again. Their last two days there were the sweetest, most peaceful, most satisfying days they had ever spent together. It was as though all the bad things they’d ever faced together never happened, as though he was thirty again and she was twenty and they were starting over. “Jake?”
“Yeah?” He kept riding ahead of her, heading even farther down into the valley, where they would turn south and head closer to home.
“I really enjoyed the last couple of days. We can go back again sometime, can’t we? Maybe after roundup?”
“Sure we can. It’s just that I can’t take you with me every time I leave the house. I have my ranch work, and you have work to share with Evie and Katie—and the grandkids would have a fit if Grandma was gone all the time. They are probably already asking about you.”
“Oh, I know that. I wouldn’t want to be gone all the time. It’s just that this time together seemed so special. I’m glad I came along.”
Jake slowed his horse and let her catch up. He looked her over lovingly. “I’m glad too. But I love you and I want you to be safe.”
“I’m always safe when I’m with you.”
He smiled and shook his head. “Well, out here it’s the unexpected things that even I can’t stop that worry me. And I like you at home, because after days of mending fence and herding and branding cattle and seeing nothing but the ass end of cows and horses, I look forward to coming home to something that looks a lot better.”
Randy laughed. “It’s nice to know you think I look better than a cow’s hind end.”
“Woman, your own hind end is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.” He rode off again. “And if we don’t stop this kind of talk, I’ll end up dragging you back up to that cabin.”
I wouldn’t mind, she thought, feeling strangely sad at having to leave their little hideaway.
“And if you don’t stay home next time I leave, how can I come home to you all warm and comfortable and rested and baking that great homemade bread?” he called out.
He rode a little faster then, and Randy nudged Shortbread into a trot to keep up. What a contrast he was to the angry, mean, unhappy wanted outlaw he was when they met. It had been a long time since she’d seen that dark, brooding side of her husband, the look that came to his eyes when something happened to threaten anyone he loved, or something came along to wake up ugly memories. He was a man capable of extreme gentleness for his size and demeanor—and also capable of extreme violence, though only against anyone who threatened those he cared about.
“Have I told you how you fit this land?” she told him, urging Shortbread up beside him. “When I watch you from behind, I see a big, tall man on a big horse handling a big ranch in big, big country. You fit this land, Jake. It’s like Jeff said in his book.”
Randy loved Jeff’s description of Jake, saying that he had a way of filling up a room with his bold presence…that sometimes it seemed he filled up the whole land.
Jake turned and bridled closer, then reached out and pulled her off her horse and onto his in front of him. “Ma’am, if you don’t quit your flirting, we’ll never make it home. I’ll end up making camp early and we’ll be cavorting right out in the open. Some of my men could show up and catch us in a very compromising position.”
Randy laughed and sat sideways, removing her hat and resting her head on his chest as he kept his horse at a slow walk. Jake reached over and grasped Shortbread’s bridle, pulling the horse close enough to grab the reins. “Here.”
Randy wrapped the strings of her hat around the saddle horn on Shortbread, then took the horse’s reins. Jake urged Midnight around so he could grab hold of the packhorse. “Hell, between hanging on to the packhorse and handling my own reins, I can’t put my arms around you.”