Hannah leaned her head back to look up at him. “Oh, I know for certain. I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“I doubt your experience is vast enough to make that judgment, but I’ll take the compliment.” He gave her a shining smile that warmed her through and through before lifting a hand from her back to run a finger down her jaw.
The gentle press of his finger against her skin made the entire world around them vanish. All Hannah could feel was that sensation, and it drowned out every other sense. He paused at her chin, and after a moment, she raised it to meet his eyes. He kept his finger under her chin, as if he couldn’t bear for her to look away.
It was all right by Hannah. After all, there was nowhere else she cared to look but into his eyes. They were the most curious color, darker than any she’d ever seen, and in the dim lamplight, it was difficult to make out his pupils.
He watched her, his Adam’s apple bobbing as if he were nervous.
Too nervous to kiss her.
The thought made Hannah want to reach for his face, to pull him down to meet her lips. But before she could decide whether to act onthe impulse, a loud bray from a horse sounded through one of the open windows.
Hannah began giggling. It was so absurd, and such terrible timing. And whatever was a horse doing that close to their back window?
And then she tore her eyes from Rafe toward the window in the kitchen area.
The nose of a horse stuck through the window into their kitchen.
Hannah backed up and bent over, unable to stop laughing. Rafe turned around and stood stunned for a second as the horse’s nostrils flared, trying to find the source of the food he must have smelled.
He brayed again, and Rafe had to grab onto the back of a chair from laughing so hard.
Only when the horse’s long tongue drew too close to the apple pie Hannah had baked earlier and set up on a shelf to cool did Rafe compose himself to shoo the horse away.
“Well, I don’t think this evening could get any more absurd,” Rafe said as he shut the window against the curious horse. “But I suppose I ought to go out there and corral the creature before someone finds themselves with a lost horse.”
Chapter Fifteen
Rafepostedtheletterto Jack Donahue, along with another to the police chief for good measure, first thing the next morning. With any luck, both of those letters would do exactly as he wanted, and they’d never need hear the man’s name again.
Hawk hadn’t yet arrived at the office when Rafe unlocked the door. The worst mornings were those he found one of the other men still in the office from the night before. Whether it was because of a rowdy prisoner or a rowdy night that required someone on watch until the morning hours, it meant the day ahead would be a rough one.
Rafe peeked into the hallway where the jail cells lined each side. He counted three men—the same three from the diner steps—all fast asleep. No one else had joined their ranks, and if all went as it should, the two who weren’t expected back in Fremont County would be released later that morning with a warning to behave or risk being expelled from town entirely. Trying to keep out men they’d forced out wasn’t an easy task. It was dangerous, and it required rounding up a group large enough to deter anyone attempting to re-enter to think again. Rafe still bore scars from two bullets that had narrowly missed causing him permanent damage from two such attempts.
He sat down heavily at one of the desks and dropped his head into his hands. It had been a long night. After returning the escaped horse to the livery, he and Hannah had finally sat down to their supper. She’dgone to bed soon after, and Rafe lay awake on the settee for hours, relieved Hannah felt safe enough to sleep, and still cursing the horse for interrupting them earlier.
As a result, he’d barely gotten any sleep. He was half tempted to go find an empty cell and lay down himself for a few hours.
He must have actually fallen asleep sitting up, because he jumped when the door opened. Rafe blinked at Hawk, who carried a stack of plates piled with toast and eggs.
“Morning,” the sheriff said as he crossed to the door leading to the cells.
Rafe grunted a response and stood up in an attempt to rouse himself while he waited for Hawk to deliver breakfast to their prisoners. Lina had taken on the duty of cooking for them. Rafe had told her more than once that she ought to make them plain gruel for all three meals. Maybe then they’d think twice about causing a ruckus in town. But she’d shaken her head each time, said something about her father, and continued making eggs, hotcakes, and whatever else struck her fancy.
“Long night?” Hawk asked as he locked the door that lead to the cells.
Rafe yawned in response before sharing what their mail had contained the night before.
“Let me know if you need my assistance,” Hawk said. He kicked a crate next to the door that Rafe hadn’t noticed before. “This is what was delivered here last night.”
Rafe rubbed the back of his neck, not looking forward to the hours’ worth of correspondence in that crate. Of course Jackson wouldn’t have opened it. The man wasn’t adept at reading, much less writing.
Which meant the work fell to Rafe, Hawk, and Will—if they could get the young man to sit still longenough to help.
“You want first rounds?” Hawk said, eying the stack of mail.
Rafe couldn’t grab his hat fast enough. Hawk made a pained expression before bending over to pick up the crate.
