“The further west you go, the more the sky changes.”
“Really?” Kate asked wonderingly. “Could you tell me about it?”
Jacob rubbed a hand over his neatly trimmed beard. “Well, we’ll be comin’ into the bluff country soon. The sky there feels … sharp. Almost like it’s been cut out of glass, all pale and clear. The colors are washed out and the clouds look like someone drew them onto the sky. Then you get to the mountains and it’s just”—his eyes got a far-off, dreamy look that made Kate smile—“wild, you know? You look away for a moment and suddenly it’s different. The sky could be clear, and next thing you know, it’s all dark clouds and lightnin’. But just wait another five minutes and it’ll be clear and blue all over again.” He laughed. “It’s like one of those mountain mustangs. Good luck tryin’ to tame it.”
“I can’t wait to get there and see it for myself,” Kate said softly.
Jacob sighed contentedly. “It’s somethin’ else.”
“What’s your favorite spot? On the trail, I mean.”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s hard to pick really, everywhere’s so different. But there’s something about them mountains. I can’t seem to get enough.”
Kate sighed dreamily. “I have a feelin’ me and the mountains will get along just fine.”
Jacob smiled at her. “I figure you just might.” He gazed out over the swaying bluestem and buffalo grass. “Where do you think y’all will end up?”
“Ma says the first place we find,” Kate said ruefully. “But as long as there’s space enough to roam, I’ll be happy.” She cocked her head to the side, looking at him curiously. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Where are you gonna end up?”
He shrugged his thick shoulders. “Don’t rightly know yet. Been doin’ this for years. Not sure I’d know what to do with myself.”
“Hmm,” Kate said, squinting at him sideways. “Somewhere in the mountains I think, or near enough to them.”
His mouth tilted. “You think so, do ya?”
“They make you happy. That’s reason enough to settle there.”
“That’s true enough, I reckon.” He propped his boot up on the running board and leaned his broad frame forward, elbows on his knees. “Though space enough to roam sounds pretty good too.”
Kate smiled. “The foothills then. You’re good with the stock. You could get some land, build a ranch. But always with the mountains close by.”
“That sounds just about right.”
“Just about?”
He looked back at her with an unreadable expression. “There might be a missing piece or two.”
“And what might that be?”
His mouth tipped in a mysterious half smile, and he looked back out over the backs of the mules. “I ’spect I’ll know it when I see it.”
They fell softly into silence. It wasn’t awkward or strained, as she was so used to with people outside her family, but comfortable and warm, like basking in a ray of sunshine slanting through a window on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
The ease with which she could talk to him surprised her. She felt safe with him, Kate realized. Like she did with her brothers. Like she could be completely herself. And there was that moment a few days ago. Had he really been about to kiss her? But no, that was impossible. Just her romantic daydreaming getting in the way of reality yet again. She shivered, trying not to think of that terrible night at the fort. Goodness knows it had landed her in enough trouble already.
But she couldn’t seem to help it, with his solidness taking up the space beside her, his knee brushing against hers as the wagon jostled over the ruts of the trail. Unwittingly, her mind conjured the image of him sitting in the back of the wagon, shirtless, his broad, muscled back riddled with bruises, his tanned skin warm under her hands. She hurriedly looked away before he could see her blush. Now that was definitely not rooted in sisterly affection! Besides, it’s not like he would ever think of her in that way—not her, a too-tall, awkward girl who liked animals more than most people. No, she wasn’t anything special, not to him. She stamped down hard on her daydreaming, heedless of the self-inflicted pain, vowing that it wouldn’t get the better of her again.
“Hey, where’d you go?”
Kate glanced at Jacob. His brows were pressed together as he studied her.
“What do you mean?” she asked cautiously.
“Just now. It’s like your mind went to a different place.”
