“I’m fine. I turned my ankle when I dismounted Queenie, that’s all,” she said.
“Are you sure?” He lifted a hand to the foot she had outstretched. She flinched just slightly when he gently touched her ankle. It appeared a little swollen, but nothing that alarmed him.
“Yes,” she said. “Did you ride all the way here?”
He sat back on his heels, satisfied there were no broken bones. “Of course. I’m hardly an invalid. I wasn’t going to let you go riding off after my horse alone.” His heart was still pounding, and exhaustion was the last thing on his mind at the moment.
“Fred would have followed me.” She began to press herself into a standing position when he rose, but Jeremiah shook his head.
“You’re my wife.” He caught Queenie’s reins and led the mare closer to Deirdre. Then he bent down and lifted Deirdre from the ground.
She gasped in surprise, which made him smile for some reason. He carried her the few steps to the horse and helped her settle back onto the saddle.
“These horses need water before we ride back,” he said as he knotted a rope around Robin Hood’s neck. He patted the bay’s nose, grateful to have him back too. It felt ridiculous to love a horse as much as Jeremiah loved Robin Hood, but he did. And his sorrow would have run deep if he’d lost Robin Hood.
He led the way over the railroad tracks toward Silver Creek, which ran behind the trees at the base of the foothills that climbed into the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The peaks loomed above them, a sight that never failed to fill Jeremiah with wonder, even in a moment like this.
Winding between the evergreens and cottonwoods, they reached the creek. It flowed slowly this time of year, but at least it wasn’t cold enough yet to have frozen over. He led Robin Hood and the gelding he’d ridden through the valley to the water, where they drank greedily.
Then he reached up for Deirdre. “Put all of your weight on me,” he said.
She hesitated, but finally gave in, and Jeremiah had to close his eyes with the power of the feelings that rushed through him at that moment. He simultaneously wanted to fight off anyone who might ever cause her harm and lay her down on the pine needle strewn ground to kiss her until he passed out from sheer exhaustion.
He carried her to the base of a large boulder that sat nearby. Queenie joined the other two horses at the creek as Deirdre extended her leg and leaned back against the rock. Jeremiah lowered himself to the ground next to her.
“How did you manage to catch Robin Hood?”
Deirdre laughed, and Jeremiah thought the sound was the most joyful thing he’d ever heard. “Oh, that wasn’t hard at all. I’d pictured him running all the way to Cañon City, but instead I found him grazing right by the road. And before you ask, yes, he’d already rolled in the dirt. Your horse is quite the character.”
Jeremiah shook his head. Of course Robin Hood would stop running as soon as he got hungry, which was frequently. And the animal wasn’t happy unless he was coated in a fine layer of dust and dirt. He watched Robin Hood fondly for a moment before turning to Deirdre. “Thank you for going after him.”
“You’re welcome. I love that horse. I couldn’t simply let him disappear.”
Her words warmed his heart. She really was the dearest friend he’d ever had. Roman was a good friend, of course, but that was a different sort of friendship than what he had with Deirdre. He’d been so afraid to lose it—and he still was—but against all of his fears, she kept proving him wrong.
Washe wrong?
She set a hand down against the ground, a mere fraction of an inch from his own. It would be easy to lay his hand over hers, and the longing to do so grew and grew until it was the only thing in Jeremiah’s mind.
He was fighting his attraction to her every moment of the day, and yet he’d told her brother he had no intention of calling off this marriage. And he knew that if he did, he would certainly lose her in his life forever.
What was he doing?
Suddenly, he had no idea. Everything he thought he knew no longer made sense, and all he wanted in this very moment was to hold Deirdre’s hand in his own.
And so he did.
She tensed for just a second as he curled his hand over hers. But he could feel her smile as she turned her hand to fit in his. It was such a simple gesture, and yet it meant everything. He relished the warmth of her palm against his skin. He had to let her know about his conversation with her brother.
“Deirdre, there’s something I need to share with you.”
“What is it?” Her hand tightened against his, and he hated that he’d made her nervous. “When I met your brother yesterday, he was worried that I’d only married you to impress my parents.”Worriedwas putting it mildly.Enragedwas more accurate.
“He told me he wasn’t certain about your motivation at first,” she replied.
“In light of that, I didn’t mention the annulment to him,” Jeremiah said. He caught her eyes then, wanting to see her reaction.
“I see.” Her expression was unreadable.
