Texas Temptation

by Kathryn Brocato

  There was another light from inside the stables, too. She could make out the long shadow of a man standing in one of the barn aisles. She held her breath. None of the cowboys worked this late. Could it be a trespasser? She’d never had to defend herself before. Her knuckles tightened around the lantern grip and turned nearly white. As she strode toward the stables, her heart hammered within her chest.

  But her heartbeat slowed to a steady rhythm within seconds. Jesse was soothing one of the horses as she entered the barn. The corner of her mouth quirked up in surprise. He was whispering to Blue Star.

  As she stepped closer, she heard his words drifting from down the aisle. He didn’t seem to notice the lantern cautiously approaching him. “Do you think I’m taking it out on Loretta, Blue?”

  The hay underneath her feet rustled as her boots landed in a pile a few stalls away from where Jesse stood. She swallowed hard at her dead giveaway. He turned sharply.

  “What are you doing here?” His voice was rough. She couldn’t understand why the sound sent a thrill up her spine.

  “I thought maybe someone had been trespassing.” She dared to step closer, watching him for a sign of apprehension. “Ranch hands don’t usually come by the barn at this hour.”

  “You should go back in the house.”

  She gestured toward her horse instead, one arm holding the lantern high while the other one swung at her side. “What are you talking to Blue about? Is it about Loretta?”

  He didn’t respond. His shoulders stiffened as she drew near him.

  “Jesse . . ." Emboldened by the letters, she decided to push her luck. If he really was the one writing them, she needed to give him a sign, right? “Do you want to go riding with me?”

  “It’s after dark.”

  “Never stopped us before.” In fact, she’d spent plenty of nights racing with him after her father fell asleep when they were teens. “I was planning to go for a ride anyway. Do you want to accompany me?”

  “Reckon I better not . . .”

  Her stomach plummeted. She’d been so sure he was the one sending the letters. Their recent suppers together even seemed friendly. But now he’d turned cold once more. Who was she sharing her heart with?

  “I just want to be friends, Jesse. Can we?”

  Still no response. At least she’d tried. Evelyn nibbled her bottom lip and reached out to pet Blue Star. Jesse drew back at the gesture. She opened the stall door to let her horse trot out.

  “I can ride for a little while,” he conceded.

  She gave a small smile as she heard him ready his own horse. His tone was wary, but she would take it. Her voice perked up. “We can check on the new barbed wire fence, too, and see how it is holding up.”

  Jesse made a gruff sound of approval. The two of them trotted their horses out of the stable. She brought her horse to a canter across the pasture, and he did the same.

  The night air sent a chill through her, but she’d never felt more at ease. The cotton trousers and long-sleeved woolen shirt kept her warmer than any mass of skirts and shawls ever had. The comfort she felt extended beyond physical protection from the cold. She’d finally broken through to Jesse.

  She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, half expecting him to be riding away from her already. He matched her pace instead, staring straight ahead toward the fence at the edge of the ranch.

  The horses whinnied as they trotted close to the barbed wire. She calmed Blue Star, stroking the wide bridge of her horse’s nose. Blue sidestepped away from the wire, lifting her muscular legs a safe distance from the threatening spikes.

  After Blue settled down, Evelyn shifted out of the saddle. Jesse had just stepped off his own horse and held out his hand for her to take. She nearly laughed. It had been years since a man held out his hand to help her down from a horse. She pushed it away and hit the ground herself. Her gaze turned from his hand to the new fence. The soft green grass rustled beneath her boots as she stepped toward a grueling week’s work. The boys had spent all week pulling the wire tightly against the po­sts and hammering nails into place.

  “Only problem is that the cows keep pressing against it and not realizing the damage till they’ve been cut up.” Jesse kneeled down and pulled one end of the wire to check that the nails were in place. He ran his finger lightly against one of the tips. “I don’t like them much.”

  “All the new ranches have them, though. We have to keep up if we plan to turn Breighton around.” She knelt down next to him and mimicked his motion of testing the wire. “The cattle are going through a testing period with it. Give them time. Soon enough they will all learn to stay away. Worth the investment, I think.”

  She leaned over to the other side of the barbed wire to check the tautness he had been testing. She didn’t realize she was checking that side at the same time he was examining the other end. They both reached forward to check the same section of wire, bumping into each other in the process. The force sent him reeling backward as her weight pinned him to the ground.

  Her eyes widened. She was sure he could hear her heart beating furiously through her shirt. Her lips were only inches away from his. Even during his days as a ranch hand, before leaving for California, his lips always looked so soft. The corded muscles of his jaw clenched. Against her will, she found herself drawn closer and closer to him.

  The feel of his body underneath her was so wonderfully familiar, even after all the years apart. His hard muscle beneath her soft curves made her long for increased contact. Heat pooled in the pit of her stomach. So much heat. Warmth radiated off his chest. Without thinking, she arched against him.

  He slid out from underneath her. His breath came out in ragged gasps as he backed away. Evelyn fell to the ground with a hard thud, and a plume of dirt rose up as soon as she hit the ground.

  “I’m sorry, I . . . Something just came over me.” She dusted off her wool trousers to hide what she was sure was a sweeping blush. “I should have been more careful.”

  Jesse just nodded and headed in the direction of the horses. His pace was brisk, as if he couldn’t get away fast enough.

  She sighed as she stared at his retreating form. What had she been thinking?

  She hadn’t been thinking, not at all. Evelyn shut her eyes, the embarrassment washing over her in waves. This was what happened when she didn’t rationalize her actions. So much for a night ride. All her attempts at friendship seemed to end in the same way: with him walking away from her. She wasn’t sorry she’d landed on him.

  She was sorry she couldn’t reach out to him.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Jesse sighed. “Preston, you know I have to do what’s right for my sister—”

  “And that apparently involves ignoring her wishes. Got it, Greenwood.” His friend let out a low huff. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and scuffed his boots against the dirt. “Don’t like it, but I get it. That doctor’s son gonna amount to more than I ever will. Just seems funny to me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Being a ranch hand used to be enough for you.” Preston spit on the ground, and Jesse had a strong feeling Preston actually wanted to spit at him. “You used to talk about running away with Evelyn and making a living being a cowboy. You never had a problem with our way of life then.”

  He rubbed his jaw. “That was a long time ago.”

  “So you’ve changed?”

  “I grew up.”

  Preston remained silent. He brought his arms over the posts of the corral, staring out at the ranch. Jesse wanted to apologize, but he wasn’t sure what he would be apologizing for. He remembered when he had spoken those words to Preston. That vision of the future had only existed when seen with the clarity of a sixteen-year-old.

  Preston whistled long and low. “There’s nothing she can’t do on the ranch. Is she fixin’ up that wire by herself?”

  Jesse narrowed his eyes out at the pastures. Evelyn was kneeling against the wire, a hammer in one hand and the other hand pressed aga
inst the post. It was closer to the house than the barbed wire they’d inspected the other night, but that didn’t make the job any easier. Surely she wasn’t putting up a barbed wire by herself. He scanned the area surrounding her. To his surprise, no one else was there. Usually two men handled that wire: one stretched it while the other nailed it to the nearest post.

  Together he and Preston approached Evelyn.

  “We can handle it for you.”

  She looked up at the sound of Preston’s voice. Sweat beaded down the side of her forehead, and she wiped it away with her shirt sleeve. Her eyes caught Jesse’s.

  Suddenly, the sun’s heat seemed a whole lot hotter.

  She tore her gaze away to consider Preston’s offer. “Sure could use a hand. One of you needs to milk the cows. Denny usually does that, but he said he was sick today.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  Before Jesse could respond, Preston had already scooted off in the direction of the barn.

  She didn’t look up at Jesse, though. He watched her work, her thin arms somehow whacking the hammer against the post with more masculine strength than most of the ranch hands. He picked up the wire, stretching it out so it was easier for her to nail.

  “Thanks.” She nodded and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear before she began hammering again. Her black hair was tucked neatly in the back, but her hat was off, leaving the loose tendrils to frame her pronounced cheekbones. She’d lost weight. Working on the land hadn’t been kind to her. Still, the apples of her cheeks flushed, and she grinned when the nail was secured. For someone who’d been educated at one of those fancy East Coast seminaries, he’d never seen anyone look more fulfilled performing physical labor than Evelyn.

  The sun rose high above them, and the rays beat down on the back of Evelyn’s neck. She unbuttoned the top of her shirt, allowing the wind to caress more of the creamy skin at the nape of her neck. Jesse’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he gulped at the sight. They worked in silence for a few minutes. Well, she worked. He just held up the wire against the post and tried desperately not to look at her.

  When they’d finished at least half of the posts, she stepped back to admire her handiwork. She clapped her hands together, dusting them off. Jesse lifted a nearby canteen and passed it over to her. She grabbed the canteen with eagerness, gulping down the water as if she would otherwise die of thirst if she wasted a single second.

  “Thank you.” She handed him back the container. “You know, I always used to watch you work on the ranch and wonder what it was like.”

  “And what do you think?”

  “I think it suits me.” She let out an unladylike snort and placed her hands on her hips. “I like getting my hands dirty more than I ever thought I would. I always thought I would pursue an academic career, you know? But I’ve realized the right career for me is here, managing the ranch. Suits me better than reading indoors or studying piano ever did.”

  “I always thought so.”

  “You did?” Evelyn beamed with pride. Her eyes shone in the light of the sun, the specks of gold in her emerald eyes gleaming. The orbs of her eyes were nearly as green as the pastures rolling in the hills behind her. “Did you always?”

  “Yes, I did.” Jesse took a few sips from the canteen and placed it back on the ground next to one of the posts. When he stood, he noticed she was still staring at him with that same expectant expression of hers.

  “When did you first think so?”

  He shifted his weight. “Remember when I taught you how to ride? Reckoned you were a cowboy to the manner born.”

  She brushed a stray tendril of hair behind her ear and laughed at his question. “Of course I do. My father was so shocked to see a girl not riding sidesaddle. That was the first real time I ever talked to you, too. I miss that sometimes, you know? The innocence. The childhood that came before responsibilities.”

  “Before society placed you in a certain class,” he added.

  She considered his words for a moment. “There is one thing I never understood about childhood, though.”

  “What?”

  “I never understood what they always told us about growing older, that everything would make more sense, that we would understand the world infinitely more. ‘You will understand when you are older.’ Well, I am older.” She threw her hands in the air, an exasperated expression on her face. “Twenty-three and I barely understand myself, let alone anything else!”

  Jesse couldn’t help himself. He threw back his head and laughed for the first time in a long time. “You’re right,” he agreed. “There’s something else I never understood either.”

  She smiled. “What was it?”

  “How on earth folks manage to wear those pinching fancy dress shoes.” He shook his head, with what he hoped was a solemn expression on his face. “Cowboy boots are all I wore here, and cowboy boots were all I ever wore in that hotel in California.”

  This time it was her turn to laugh. “I can just imagine you strutting about that hotel, owning the place among some high-class guests, marching around in your dust-covered black stovetop boots.”

  “Hey, those dust-covered boots are comfortable,” he protested. A grin spread on his face. Knowing he’d made her laugh made him throw his shoulders back just a bit more. “Wore them around so much that the rest of the hotel staff started to wear ’em, too.”

  “No!” She giggled. For a moment, he could have sworn they were sixteen again. “I would pay anything to see that sight. What is your hotel like out there in California?”

  “Sure a lot different from here, that’s for sure.” He sighed, folding his arms. “Wasn’t easy to start out there, but as soon as the manager died and left me the place, money started to flow into my pocket pretty quickly.”

  “But what is it like?” Evelyn bent down again and lifted up the wire. This time he took up a nail and hammer and started securing the wire against the post. He felt her curious gaze on him, imploring him for more information.

  “Looks a lot like your house, to be honest. Just a big, nice house where people would stay on their way up further north. The rich folks, I mean.” He glanced down at Evelyn. “The ones who looked disapprovingly at cowboy boots.”

  He could have sworn she winked. “I certainly would not have looked disapprovingly at them.”

  “No, because you’d be wearing the outfit you have on now.”

  She took her free hand to pinch her shirt’s calico cloth between her forefinger and thumb. “I bet I would. How would they receive me, Jesse?”

  “A lady strutting around in cowboy boots, britches, and a calico shirt? They would look at you like you came from the moon. Should have taken you along with me to California. You would have given those guests a real fright.”

  Evelyn stood up to her full height. She looked up at him through the tops of her full lashes. A look that was far from just friendship. “Maybe you should have.”

  His heart lurched against his own will as he watched her walk back toward the house. You need to stay on your guard, he reminded himself. She’d broken his heart before; could he trust her again?

  “Maybe we should also grab something to eat,” she called over her shoulder.

  And maybe there was hope for a second chance.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Evelyn entertained images of Jesse Greenwood’s strong arms around her narrow waist as she walked to the barn. The cows in their stalls didn’t seem to care what romantic ideas were running through her head. She picked up the cool metal pail from the corner of the barn and hauled it to the first of the stalls.

  At the end of the aisle, she caught a glimpse of a man smoking a cigarette and leaning against the closed stall door. She scowled as soon as she recognized him.

  “Denny!” She marched over to the ranch hand. By the time she reached him, the incriminating cigarette was out of his hands, probably discarded somewhere in the haystacks. “You’re not milking the cows today. Where should you be?”

  “Helpin
g set up the fence posts, ma’am.” Denny slumped his shoulders.

  “I do not ever want to see you neglecting your work again, you hear me?”

  He mumbled something under his breath, averting his eyes from hers.

  She raised her voice. “I said, did you hear me?”

  “I heard you, ma’am.”

  “Go help set up those fence posts right now!”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Denny slunk away, down the aisle and toward the barn door.

  “If I catch you hiding away from your chores again I will not hesitate to let you go next time!” she called out. As soon as the barn door swung shut behind him, she shook her head. Breighton had barely begun to turn a profit. She couldn’t risk paying the wages of inefficient ranch hands.

  Evelyn returned to the business of milking cows. She heard a small sound coming from where Denny had stood, but she ignored it. Probably one of the cows just being restless.

  The cow shifted in place as she approached her. “Calm down,” she soothed. “It’s only me.” Her hands gripped the udders and squeezed downward into the metal bucket below.

  Her thoughts wandered to the mysterious man behind the letters. The notes had increased in frequency as the friendship between them grew. They even shared multiple letters a day sometimes. Other suitors had expressed interest in her in the past, of course, especially the ever-patient John, but these letters were filled with such longing and intimacy. Jesse was the only possible man she knew that could have written them.

  But he wasn’t the kind of man to deny the truth when caught. Or at least he wasn’t before he left for California. Who knew, now? Evelyn sniffed the air. Strange. A scent she couldn’t quite place filled her nostrils. It was a mix of old hay and something else entirely. An odd smell filled the barn. It wasn’t manure either; it was something richer.

  She continued to milk the cow until the pail filled to the brim. There. Another chore crossed off the list. She picked up the large pail and stood to begin the trek back to the house. Yet that charred scent still lingered in the air. She scanned the area, searching for the source of the smell. There was nothing odd in the stall.