Page 90

“I’d understand if you didn’t come back.”

“I did come back.”

“I see that.” He hesitated. “Doesn’t mean you’ve forgiven me.”

“I believe I can forgive you. I won’t pretend the proposal never happened.”

“I don’t want you to.”

She drew the chair away from the window and sat beside him.

Jesse followed her movement. “You’re staying awhile?”

“A little while. There are things I must decide, and I haven’t heard from home.”

“I won’t ask you to choose before you’re ready.”

“Good. If I stay, I intend to do things besides sit in this clinic.”

“I’d hope so.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Would you?”

“I’ve been wanting to show you the ranch since you got here. That’s a poor plan for a man who can’t leave his bed, but it’s better than the one I offered earlier.”

Eden couldn’t help smiling. “Much better.”

“Did Buck behave himself when you met him?”

“Well enough, though I believe he was more interested in my pockets than my company.”

“Sounds like Buck.”

“You did promise to teach me to ride.”

“I did.”

“Then I intend to hold you to it.”

“Good,” he said. “Gives me something worth getting out of this bed for.” His attention rested on her for a moment. “There’s something else.”

“Yes?”

“I like having you here. Even when you aren’t doing a thing for me.”

Eden’s fingers tightened around the hymnal. That, more than his apology, reached the hurt beneath her anger.

“I like being here with you,” she said.

Jesse lowered his gaze. His left hand lay open on the blanket between them. He shifted it closer to the edge of the bed, then stopped.

Eden put the book aside. “May I?”

He offered his hand.

His fingers were warm and rough against hers. She’d steadied his cup and handed him medicine under Carolina’s direction, but this touch had nothing to do with his injuries. Jesse held her hand with surprising care.

“I ought to have asked to court you,” he said, “instead of asking you to marry me.”