“Surely you must understand how I care for you. You plan to live the remainder of your life alone and die all by yourself with no one else around you?”
Goodness, she had never considered being single that way. She set down the glass. “Someday, I suppose I will—”
He clapped his hands together as if the matter were already settled. “Then I will do everything within my power to convince you of marriage as soon as possible. You will love married life.”
Her shoulders sagged. His optimism made her want to agree with him. She struggled to find solace in the idea of a future with John. He did love her, after all. He’d sent the letters. She turned toward him. “I miss the letters. You have stopped sending them.”
He coughed. “Why would I? They no longer appear necessary now, my dear.”
She shot him a quizzical expression. He shifted in his seat. Why did John look so uncomfortable all of a sudden?
“Those letters were to help me get close to you, dearest Evelyn.” John placed a hand over his heart. “I was expressing my honest feelings for you.”
She wished he would stop giving her endearments. “But surely you could leave another letter again, even if we are courting formally.”
“Is there another man?”
She blinked. An image of Jesse flashed through her mind. “What?”
“There is another man, is there not? Another man you prefer over me?”
“I . . . I do not know what you are talking about.”
“I am handsome, brave, and wealthy. But that seems to not be enough for you. You seem to want me to prove my feelings for you further. Am I competing against someone?” John lifted a brow. He clasped his hands over his bowl, elbows propped up on the table.
She remained silent, and he sighed. “Has he asked to court you as well?”
“No, no, he has not.” Her mouth felt dry. “I was under the delusion that he cared for me, but I do not think so anymore.”
He clucked his tongue. “This gentleman is missing out on a wonderful woman. Did he ever express his feelings for you?”
“Once. A long time ago.” Memories of a brown-haired cowboy drifted to the top of her mind.
“Does he still feel the same way?”
“No, he does not.”
John placed his palms on the table and sighed again, as if the world was a great mystery to him and he couldn’t be bothered with it. “I am deeply humbled that he would forsake such a beautiful treasure for me, a simple man.”
Evelyn nearly rolled her eyes again at his theatrics. “No one is competing with you.”
“How he ever gave up on you, I shall never understand.”
She bit her lower lip. Had Jesse given up on her? He had never shown romantic interest in her, really. He’d never kissed her, never reached to hold her hand . . . never wrote the letters.
The letters were what she missed above all. Even if the notes did not come from him, the words were so genuine and touching. There were no theatrics or polish. It was odd, really, that John’s written words were so wonderful and simple, yet his spoken words seemed meaningless and empty.
No one loved her as much as the author of the letters. Evelyn tried to shake off the unsettling feeling in her chest. She had to face the facts—John Cooper had written the letters, and not Jesse Greenwood.
John lifted his glass. “May I propose a toast?”
“To what?”
He eyes softened. “To the beginning of our relationship.”
She always imagined when she’d finally heard those words, she’d feel a sense of joy and excitement. But John’s words only made her wish she was back at Breighton instead of sitting in the restaurant with him. Evelyn snapped out of her reverie when she felt John’s hand cover hers again. There was no comfort in the gesture, like when she’d held hands with Jesse in the church.
There was only a dull weight over her palm, and a sinking feeling in her heart.
• • •
Jesse ran through the list one more time with the general store manager, checking to make sure everything had been ordered for the wedding. He didn’t understand why she couldn’t send one of her friends down to the store instead, but Loretta had insisted she trusted only him to make sure everything on the list was taken care of.
He figured she’d probably done so partly out of guilt, since he was paying for all the items. She’d assured him before he left that if there was anything on the list that was too expensive, he did not have to place the order. After checking the purchases twice, he folded the list into his pocket. She still didn’t seem to register that money wasn’t an obstacle anymore.
As he walked away, the general store owner called after him that the items would be ready to pick up a day before the wedding. Jesse thanked him, and opened the doors of the store—bumping into a woman passing along the street. Her packages fell, tumbling to the floorboards with a clatter. Guilt wracked his chest. He kneeled down to help her.
“Oh, it’s quite all right, I’ll be just fine . . .” The woman’s voice trailed off, and her hands stilled over one of the packages.
Jesse looked up at the familiar redhead. He inclined the tall crown of his hat toward her. “Hello, Annie.”
Annie Inglewood looked like she’d just seen a ghost. He’d never really known her growing up; he only knew her as Evelyn’s friend now. The few times he had seen her growing up, she’d never looked this surprised. Her jaw dropped, and her blue eyes bored straight into his. He placed the last package into her hands, but her limp arm barely held it as she continued to stare.
He stood, and she did the same. Suddenly she didn’t look so shocked anymore. Her chapped lips curved into a smile, and she seemed to be blinking faster than normal.
“Is there something in your eye?” He pointed to her eye but dropped his hand when the blinking stopped.
“Oh no, I was just batting my lashes at the handsomest man who entered Hamilton.” Annie’s eyes shined like a proud cowboy who’d just caught a wild white mustang. “Jesse Greenwood, I heard you were back in town. But no one sure told me how handsome you’ve become.”
He shifted his weight on the wooden floorboards. No one had ever called him handsome. “Handsome” was a word that belonged to men from blue-blooded families, not rugged ranch hands. He wasn’t sure what to do with the flattery. “Thank you, Miss Inglewood. Now if you’ll excuse me . . .”
He moved to walk around her right side. But she stepped to her left, blocking his path. “I hear you’re in town for your sister’s wedding.” A bright red blush rushed to her cheeks as she continued. “Evelyn mentioned to me that you were working back on the ranch. You must miss being further west. It must be so exciting out there in California. You’ve become quite the self-made man.”
“Just a man, no different than anyone else.”
“Hardly. She told me about your investment. You’re the rags to riches cowboy. I bet if people in Hamilton knew what you’ve done for the ranch, they would all be beside themselves gossiping about you.”
He didn’t want to be the subject of gossip in the town. He wanted to get back to his ranch. “I think I will be heading back after my sister marries. Breighton’s barn has been fixed. I’ve made my investment and seen it through. I won’t be needed much longer.”
“Oh, of course. I’m sure after the wedding John will help out around the ranch as well.”
Jesse smirked. He sincerely doubted John knew what a corral was, much less know how to build one. Then the realization of her words sank in. “Wedding?” There was no way he was staying in town for Evelyn’s marriage.
Annie nodded. She leaned in closer to his ear, as if she was whispering a secret with the power of changing the fate of the entire state of Texas. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I heard him bragging to his father that within the year he was going to marry her, come hell or high water.” She flipped a curl behind her shoulder. “For them, marriage is just a step away. Everyone says John’s wanted to marry her since he s
et eyes on her. Surely you must know.”
He did know. He’d have to be blind not to. Every afternoon he saw John Cooper’s horse hitched in front of the big house at Breighton. Sometimes John wouldn’t leave until evening, with Evelyn watching his horse ride away from the porch.
Jesse caught her eyes a few times, but he didn’t dare delude himself any longer. She had chosen John Cooper.
“How are you and Evelyn?” Annie tilted her head, batting her thick lashes once more. “I know you two used to be sweet on each other, but that was ages ago.” Her eyes seemed to grow alarmingly larger as the seconds ticked by, waiting for his confirmation. “You don’t care for her anymore, do you?”
He flicked his gaze away from Annie and shrugged. She was as prying as Loretta. “Reckon not. Why would I be sweet on a girl who’s chosen to court another fella?” He asked himself that question every morning. Why was he, anyway?
“Good,” Annie responded a little too quickly. She seemed to realize it, too, because she covered her mouth after the word slipped out.
“Just life. Time changes everything.”
“First love is not the last love. That’s what my mother is always telling me. I think she’s right.”
No, Jesse wanted to add, it could be the only love. He kept quiet instead, as he saw Evelyn and John approaching them.
John’s grip around her arm tightened as they slowed to a halt in front of Annie and Jesse. Jesse’s hands twitched in reflex. His every instinct wanted to grab John’s hand and wrench it away from her.
“Evelyn, what a pleasure to see you!” Annie threw her arms around her friend. When she pulled away, she giggled. “I see you and John have been getting along.”
John patted Evelyn’s hand. “And it is always a pleasure to see you again, Annie. Jesse, how is your sister’s wedding coming along?”
“Fine.”
John raised his eyebrow. “And how is Loretta?”
“Fine.”
He laughed. “Is that the only word you know?”
She elbowed him, and he scowled. His grip clenched her tighter.
The urge to yank John’s arm away from Evelyn’s was stronger than ever. He hated the way John handled her. Now that she’d finally agreed to let him court her, he acted as if he owned her. How could she spend time with a man who treated her like cattle? “Both of you are invited to her wedding. She sent out the letters today.”
“Of course, I will be happy to come.” Evelyn smiled at Jesse. She unhooked John’s arm from hers, and Jesse suppressed a grin when she glared at the other man. “Do not grab me, John.”
“We will be happy to come.” John remained undeterred in his mission to brand Evelyn as his own. The judge’s son draped an arm around her, and Jesse’s insides churned again. “Will we not, dearest Evelyn?”
She dropped her gaze from Jesse’s, as if ashamed. “Yes, Father is coming with some of the other ranch hands. John is taking me in his buggy down to the church.”
He raised an eyebrow at Jesse. “Are you traveling to the wedding by yourself?” He looked him up and down, his pleasant tone disguising a patronizing gaze.
He didn’t know what possessed him just then. He clenched his fists, though he knew he couldn’t lay a blow so long as Evelyn stood there. She’d never forgive him. But after seeing another man’s arm slung across her shoulder as if he owned her, hearing Evelyn admit she was allowing John to accompany her to Loretta’s wedding—something inside him snapped.
“Annie’s accompanying me.” Jesse watched with a sick sense of satisfaction as John’s eyes widened in surprise. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Evelyn.
Annie didn’t miss a beat. If she’d been caught off guard, she sure didn’t show it. “I said yes immediately, of course. The wedding will be just grand.” She did that fast blinking that Jesse vaguely understood to be flirtatious. “Couldn’t let the most handsome man in Hamilton walk away, now, could I?”
“Well, then!” John clapped a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. He tensed at the contact. “Seems like we have both managed to find ourselves our own pretty women to court.”
“Seems like we have.” Another flare of jealousy rose within him when John called Evelyn his. She wasn’t a possession. “Cannot wait to see you at the wedding.”
“Evelyn, we must get ready together. We simply must,” Annie gushed. She hooked her arm around Jesse’s. “I would not miss the event for the entire world.”
Evelyn remained quiet. She only nodded at Annie’s comment, as if her mind were already preoccupied with something else. Probably financial matters on the ranch.
• • •
Evelyn wanted to leave. She tugged on John’s arm and told him so, and then they said their goodbyes and started back toward Breighton. He insisted on accompanying her back to the house, but she managed to convince him she was tired and needed rest. The moment his horse disappeared at the end of the road, she’d left for the stables to clear her head with an evening ride.
She hadn’t even had enough courage to look Jesse in the eye. She didn’t know why her chest ached when she thought of Jesse and Annie together. If he really didn’t care for her and Annie was the one he wanted, then she was just being selfish.
Not to mention disloyal. She was supposed to be falling for John, not Jesse. She’d practically sealed her fate to him when she’d allowed him to court her.
Evelyn pressed her upper body closer to Blue Star, urging her horse forward into a gallop back to the house. All she wanted was a warm bed and a respite from courtship of any kind. Jesse was older than she: twenty-four. He was more than old enough to begin courting a woman. He could be married with children by now.
He’d never truly courted Evelyn, not in the proper way that society encouraged. She somehow doubted sneaking out to the stables after sunset was proper.
How had John known Jesse was interested in Annie, anyway? She wrinkled her nose. Grabbing her arm like that, as if she was his dog and he was trying to discipline her. She shook her head. Surely a man who wrote such affectionate letters would never intend to hurt her. He was just upset she elbowed him, that’s all.
She spent the rest of the day in bed, poring over all the letters she’d received. Some of the writing along the creased lines had faded from the amount of times she had folded and unfolded the letters. She knew at least half of them by heart.
The lines were read by the last light of the sun as it set beyond the plains once she’d brought them out to the porch. She set aside half of the stack when another envelope caught her eye—a new letter, nestled between the posts.
Evelyn rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing visions. No, the envelope still lay against the column, her name written in the same scribbled scrawl she had come to love. It looked just like the others, but kept on the porch instead of its usual knothole.
She picked it up and tore open the seal. The letter fell into her lap, waiting to be read. The penmanship was the same as the other letters, but messier, as if written in a hurry. Could it be John apologizing?
Dearest love,
I don’t know what’s come over me these days. Letting you go has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I’m not giving you up—but what can I do? If you want someone else, it’s not in my power to stop you. I thought maybe if I let you go, then I’d stop loving you. It couldn’t be farther from the truth, and that’s dawned on me now. Maybe my love for you means I allow you to love who you want. Loving someone means letting that person go.
Evelyn folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope. Letting her go? She had just seen John; she hadn’t let him go at all. Her brows furrowed. Well, she had mentioned that there was another man she’d wanted first. Maybe that was whom John was referring to.
A small surge of satisfaction filled her as she walked back into the house and toward her desk. John had listened to her request and written another letter. She sat down and pulled out a sheet of paper. The letter deserved a reply, even if it wasn’t fro
m Jesse.
• • •
There was something to a Texan sunset.
The ones in California were gorgeous, of course, with rich hues of purple and blue tinting the sky. But he’d felt there was something missing every time he looked at it. Whatever was incomplete became whole when he saw the sunset in Texas again.
Maybe it was the memories. The memories of holding Evelyn against him while they watched the sunset together, admiring the red sun dip its head below the end of the prairie, farther than the eye could see and beyond the borders of the ranch. Maybe it was the shadows. The shadows of seeing the profile of a cowboy on his horse in the distance, a lone rider admiring the sunset in solitude. The shadows of home.
Jesse leaned against the top railing of the corral, his arms folded over the top. The cool Texan wind blew against the back of his neck, causing the hairs to stand. Either that, or Evelyn’s voice behind him.
“The sunset is beautiful, is it not?”
“Sure is.” He adjusted his hat on the top of his head, refusing to look behind him.
But he didn’t need to. She stood next to him, leaning against the top railing as well.
He couldn’t help it. His eyes averted to the left, watching her close her eyes and breathe in deep in the direction of the sunset.
His heart lurched. Her hair was done up in some fancy style, but loose tendrils dropped from the bun, falling down along the nape of her neck. She smiled against the wind as her eyes closed, enjoying the night air around her. When her eyes flashed back open to see the sunset, he looked away.
“Do you remember watching these sunsets together?”
“Not really.” Lies. How could he forget? He tensed his jaw. What good would it do to tell her he thought about it all the time?
“I think about it. I think about it a lot, really.” She laughed, but the sound was hoarse and devoid of joy. “That first year after you left for California, I watched the sunset every night. I used to imagine that cowboy in the distance was you, riding back here to Breighton . . .” Her voice trailed off.
Texas Temptation Page 141
