Page 16 of Home to the Cowboy's Arms

She smiled and allowed her hand to lightly rest around his offered arm. Walking side by side with him, she couldn’t help noting that the hint of cologne he wore was nice…very nice. These were not things she needed to have on her mind when she needed a clear head for important business matters.

“Good evening. Welcome.” The host smiled the greeting as they stepped into the dining room. It was quite a nice atmosphere, given the growing twilight outside the floor-to-ceiling windows where the sun had already slid behind the distant mountain, and clouds were moving in over the valley. The table they were shown was close to the large stone fireplace and with a view also. The crackling fire and the soft glow of the lanterns on the tables gave the room a warm and intimate feeling. Cade held her chair for her and once seated the host handed their menus to them.

“May I get you something from the bar while you look over the menu?”

“Nothing for me except iced tea please,” she said. It would be best to keep her brain focused on the matters at hand.

“I’ll have the same as the lady.” With drink orders in hand, the host left them alone.

“So, what looks good to you tonight?” she asked, trying to fill any silence.

“Besides my companion?”

Her gaze flew to his face. There definitely was a grin on his face. Was he joking? Why would he say such a thing? “Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry, but not really,” he added. “I just thought things felt a bit awkward for some reason and decided I’d try some levity.”

“A joke—good to know.”

The grin faded. “It wasn’t a joke by any stretch of the imagination. I was trying to get you to relax a bit. But you do look lovely tonight and that is a serious statement of fact.”

It was good that the waiter arrived with their drinks and Tori could keep her mind on the print in front of her and not the man seated across the table. They both chose salads, steak and accompanying vegetables. The menus were gone and a few more diners had joined them in the dining room, but conversations were muted, and a soft piano was playing some jazz in the bar area across the room from them.

“So, what do you think of what you’ve seen here?”

“There’s no rush. A nice meal and pleasant conversation are usually much better for the digestive system. Business is after.”

“If that’s what you prefer,” Tori agreed. “What would you consider pleasant conversation?”

“Let’s see,” he responded. “You get to know your travel companion on trips like this, in most cases. I think it’s always good to know more about the person you’re spending time with. Don’t you agree?”

What was he up to? “In most cases that might be true. But sometimes people doing business with each other might not need to know so much about one another.”

“True, but if I’m willing to consider—and note that I saidconsider—changing my opinion on the springs, it might make me more willing to cooperate if I knew more about you.”

“Like what exactly? My life is very simple.”

“I know you have a sibling brother, our good sheriff. You are the owner of the Primrose Inn. And you are the secret pie lady for the café. Was your family from this area? I think I vaguely remember that you came to Destiny’s River several years ago?”

Tori never shied away from her past. She realized a while ago that her life experiences had given her the impetus and basic guts to take what life had dealt and use it to build her inner strength. All of her siblings had done the same. But for some reason, she felt more reticence when it came to this man. It wasn’t that she distrusted him with the information, it was something that was harder to explain. But she wasn’t going to change her inner beliefs and truths for anyone. She had made that vow when she had decided to step forward and run for public office.

“Yes, I’m not one of those founding members of the community. I arrived here on a bus about twelve years ago. I hadn’t planned on this as a destination but the signs were there and my gut told me there would be no other place with such a beautiful sunset, and something told me I had found the home I sought. I haven’t once regretted that decision. And my brother felt the same once I talked him into joining me. My other two siblings, a brother and a sister…well I’m still hoping to change their minds one day.”

“Our sunset and your gut instinct…that’s interesting. There’s no doubt that Destiny’s River is a place it is hard to leave when you find it. You mentioned you weren’t adopted. So, your family…”

“My siblings and I grew up in the foster system for the most part. I never knew my father. Our mother tried as best she could to raise four children. But she wasn’t as strong as she wanted to be. We moved in with our grandmother when I was eight and our mother was hit by a drunk driver when she stepped off a bus on the way home from her night job when I was nine. When our grandmother succumbed to cancer, I was thirteen. She had already been in contact with a lawyer who was a neighbor and, long story short, we all went into the foster system with a family ready to help and keep us together. But it can be hard for anyone with two kids of their own and having four added. The caveat had been that we four would either be adopted together or remain together in foster care.

“I don’t think it would work that way in this day and time. But we four stuck it out, and let’s just say that no one wanted to take us on after meeting us. We had planned that when I aged out, I would look for a place for us. That’s why I was on that bus. I saved the money I earned from two jobs as much as possible and I was able to give each sibling a place to call home until they made their own decisions and found their own wings. Many people have much rougher beginnings than we did. Nothing special about our story. No pity needed. It made us who we are today.”

“No pity given,” he spoke softly. “It’s a strength that not many find to use. It does explain some things about you. And I am guilty of misjudging you in my own mind a bit. I own that and apologize.”

His words shocked her. This wasn’t a man that she could imagine apologizing for much in his life. And yet, he had just made the admission quietly and with sincerity in his steady gaze on her. In that moment, something changed. She didn’t know what, but something had sent a ripple through the universe as her younger brother would say. And he was often correct about momentous events in their lives.

“I’m not aware of any need for apologies. But if you feel that is what you need to do, then thank you.”

“I think it explains why you have such a positive outlook and why you always see the good in people. And want to make things better for others.”

“That would be the bleeding heart some have accused me of having.”

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