Oh yeah, it’s working. Big time.Emily bit back a smile. “Maybe, a little.”
“I’ll remember that. Today, I was aiming for distraction.”
She laughed. “It’s working in that regard too.” Everything about Jake impressed and attracted her, and he wasn’t even trying.
Was he?
She closed her eyes and tipped her head back letting the sun warm her face. Any woman, in the past two centuries would have envied her—riding in a carriage beside this handsome man. She should feel special, privileged. Unfortunately, she felt sad. She couldn’t forget the reason she needed a distraction.
“Would you like me to put the top up. It provides a little shade.” Jake’s deep voice pulled her from her heavy thoughts.
“No, I love the sun.”
They rode in silence for a time. She felt Jake’s eyes on her, no doubt concerned about her.
He finally broke the silence. “Have you regained your full memory?”
“I think so.”
“Did you find some happy memories?”
She didn’t miss the hopeful tone in Jake’s voice. She closed her eyes again and thought of picnics and family vacations, time spent with grandparents.
“Yes, there are a lot of happy memories.”
“Will you tell me about some of them?”
There were so many, she didn’t know where to start. Gratitude for this incredible man struck her, and without warning, her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.” Jake’s voice was full of remorse. “You don’t have to tell me, if it’s too painful.”
Emily smiled and put her hand on his arm. “These are happy tears. Thank you for making me remember the happy things. I’d love to share some of them with you.”
For the next half hour, while Jake drove the carriage across his ranch, she shared stories with him of her family.
“My mom’s parents were both teachers, who couldn’t have children of their own. They were close to forty when they adopted my mom. By the time Cameron and I came along they were advanced in years. We lived close to them, so I saw them often. I remember them always reading to me. I attribute my love of learning to them. They both passed away when I was in my early twenties.”
“What about your dad’s parents? Did you spend much time with them?”
She twisted a lock of hair round her fingers as she continued to talk. “Yes, but they lived in Montana, so we didn’t see them as often, but that’s where my happiest memories are from. My Grandpa Anderson had a small ranch. Nothing like the Double Diamond.”
Jake brought the carriage to a stop at the top of a hill that afforded them a view of much of the ranch. Amid the rolling hills lay fertile, irrigated farmland interspersed with wooded areas and desert grazing lands sprinkled with black, grazing cattle.
Emily smiled as she recalled swinging on fence gates, fishing, and catching tadpoles. Then she remembered helping brand and vaccinate the three or four dozen new calves each spring and riding horses.
“Grandpa gave me a horse when I turned eight. She was a sorrel, and she had the most beautiful red coat that glistened in the sun. I wanted to call her Ruby, but Cameron thought that was a stupid name for a horse.” The memory of her argument with her brother brought a smile to her face and a pain in her chest.
She and Cameron had always had plenty of arguments throughout their lives, but they had always been close. They would have done anything for each other. The realization she’d never have another disagreement with her brother hit her hard, and Emily couldn’t breathe.
Jake clasped her hand and squeezed. She hung on to him for the lifeline he’d become. She shouldn’t let him comfort her like this. The man filled a very large hole in her heart. The last time she let a man do that while she grieved turned out disastrous.
She couldn’t let herself think about that right now. Sucking in a deep breath, she gave Jake a weak smile and pulled her hand from his. “I named her Jewel. It was so hard to leave her every time we came back to Washington.”
“Do you still have family in Montana?”
“No. About eight years ago, my grandma convinced my Grandpa to retire and move to Florida. Said she was tired of Montana winters.” Emily played with her hair as she continued to talk. “Dad, Cameron, and I traded in our family vacations to Montana for trips to Florida. I had to say good-bye to Jewel. She was sold with the ranch to a neighboring rancher. She was getting on in years, and I figured she’d be happier on the ranch where she’d spent most of her life. Besides, I was in college and had no place to keep her.”
“Do your grandparents still live in Florida?”
