When he returned, he found her sitting with her arms wrapped around drawn-up knees and her face tilted toward the sky.
“Searching for more constellations?” he asked as he sat beside her.
She smiled at the stars. “Always. Have you ever thought about how many more stars there might be that we cannot see? How many more constellations might exist that don’t yet have names?”
Cade looked up. Thousands of stars stared back at him. “I can’t say that I have. It’s a rather fascinating thought, though.”
They were quiet for a moment, and Cade again imagined Lucas sitting in this exact same spot, staring up at the sky and counting the stars. Grief wrung through him like a twisted rope, knotted and painful and all too raw. Would there ever come a day he could think of his brother without feeling such an immense sense of loss?
“Do you suppose the sheriff sent word of the white horse to other nearby towns?” Jolie asked. It was as if she’d read his mind and knew he’d been thinking of Lucas.
“I doubt it,” he forced himself to say, although he’d rather speak on any other subject but this one. “It was just as likely the man on that horse was in the area for legitimate purposes, or simply traveling through.”
“That is true.” She went quiet, and just as Cade was finally able to distract himself with thoughts that weren’t of Lucas, Jolie spoke again.
“And yet it’s strange that the man was in such a hurry, isn’t it? One would think he wouldn’t want to tire his horse if he had far to travel. And if he was simply returning home, why would he be in such a rush?” She looked to him for confirmation.
Her reasoning made sense. But it didn’t matter. Too much time had passed. A resolution to this crime wouldn’t come, and chasing it would do nothing but make it take longer for him to come to terms with Lucas’s death.
“We’ll never know,” he said in a way that he hoped made it clear he didn’t wish to converse about the topic any longer. And then for better measure, he added, “I prefer to leave it be.”
Jolie appeared to understand. She glanced back up at the stars and shivered.
“You’re cold. Here.” Cade reached over and grabbed one of the folded blankets that sat nearby. He wrapped it around her shoulders, and she tugged it close around her.
“Thank you. I’m beginning to fear the chill of winter out here,” she said.
“It does get cold.” Cade opted not to tell her about how early the snow could come. It was best not to scare her too soon. “I’m hoping to have the house built enough that it can provide us shelter within the week.”
The smile she gave him was brighter than all the stars above, and Cade wished his words could cause such a look again and again.
“That soon? It would be wonderful to be inside at night. And here I thought I’d never tire of camping outside in a tent.” She gave a laugh.
“Well, it’s one thing when it’s something you do for fun now and then, and something else entirely when you must live that way,” he replied.
“Thank you for working so hard on it.” Her eyes reflected the firelight when she looked at him. “I know that if I weren’t here, you might have chosen instead to finish the barn so you would have a place to store equipment. Or have started a stable for the horses.”
“I don’t regret my decision, if that’s what you’re implying.”
She gave him a light smile. “I should hope not, considering you’re stuck with me now.”
Something about the way she held his gaze stirred something deep within him. Cade couldn’t put a name to it, but it left him with the intense desire to wrap an arm around her shoulders and keep her warm himself.
He held her gaze a half second longer, and when he could stand it no more, he made do with laying his hand on top of hers. She went still, and for one heart-pounding second, he thought she would withdraw her hand. But she didn’t.
Instead, she turned it, palm-up, and laced her fingers between his.
Chapter Nine
Daybyday,thehouse began to look more like a house. The men worked hard, and Jolie found herself refilling their canteens every few hours.
Bringing the bucket back from the creek was a heavy chore, but Jolie didn’t mind the slow walk. It allowed her to better study the land—and its inhabitants and plants—around her. Everything was fading now as it was fully autumn, but she’d found numerous plants and insects that were new to her, and one exciting evening, she’d even spotted elk. Cade warned her profusely to stay away from the elk, particularly the males, but Jolie hadn’t had the opportunity to see any again.
This late afternoon, the sun warmed the cloak she wore and dazzled the golden-green grasses of the valley as she walked toward the creek. After so many cold nights, Jolie decided never to take the sun’s heat for granted again.
With the sun warming her face, it was easy to let her mind wander. Having Cade sit so closely to her by the fire each night made it almost impossible to keep her attention on the stars. And when he rested his hand on hers, she gave up all pretense of intelligent thought. It was so easy to simply turn her hand and let their fingers entwine each time. His hand was warm and strong, and the gesture felt intimate, with no one else around. And after she managed to breathe again, she’d found it comforting.
It was just the two of them at night in this wide, dark valley set between two mountain ranges. Only them, facing the entire world. It was a terrifying and yet wonderful thought.
