Page 42 of Mail-Order Bride Runaway
They stopped for a noon break, mostly for the sake of the horses. He needed to press on if he hoped to reach the ranch tonight and yet he longed to linger. They were at a pretty little circle of trees by a calm pond of water. The rest of the world—its worries and concerns, its hopes and dreams—seemed far removed leaving him only thoughts of the present.
They’d been sitting for hours so as soon as they had eaten their meager lunch of a can of peaches from their dwindling supplies—another reason he must press on toward home—he suggested they walk. She readily agreed. They left the shelter of the trees and followed the narrow stream. Rocks in the water offered a pathway to the other side.
“Can we go across?” she asked.
He grinned. “You’re anxious to see what’s over there, aren’t you?”
She faced him, her hands on her hips and her voice scolding. “You don’t fool me. You’re every bit as curious.”
“I surely am.” He led the way across and held out a hand to assist her, but she skipped from rock to rock without a problem. Nevertheless, he took her hand as soon as she reached the other side. To keep her safe, he told himself. Not merely to enjoy holding her close and having her bump into him when they navigated across the uneven ground. They rounded a grass-covered hillock.
Della gasped and jerked Andy to a halt. “Have you ever before seen anything like that?”
He could have said he’d seen many beautiful sights in his riding around the ranch, but none compared to the glow in her face and the brightness of her eyes.
Her attention didn’t shift from the view so he could watch her freely.
“Andy, it takes my breath away. The blaze of colors. Red flowers, golden flowers, yellowed grass all against the backdrop of dark green pines, the mountains that go from dark blue to layered shades lighter and snow on the highest peaks.” She pulled their clasped hands to her chest. “Oh Andy, it’s beyond description.”
His thoughts, his lungs, and his heart were trapped, held in the intensity of her gaze. The seconds stretched out, broken only by the soft in and out of their matched breathing. It was the kind of silence that didn’t require words.
He couldn’t say which one was the first to end the moment. Or did they do it simultaneously? All he could say for certain was she released his hand, allowing it to drop to his side. She turned back to the scene and smiled.
Andy took a moment to recover his senses.
Behind them, one of the horses snorted reminding him of the need to travel onward. “It’s time to go,” he murmured, surprised at how hoarse he sounded.
With a lingering look over her shoulder, she accompanied him back to the stream, followed him across, and took his offered hand to help her to the wagon seat. They were on their way when she finally released a long gusty breath.
A smile to rival the sky in blue brightness filled her face as she turned to him. “Thank you.”
A protest came to his mind. He wasn’t responsible for the beauty around them. But the words refused to come. All he could do was smile and nod. And hope she mistook it for awe at the scene they’d seen.
“Are there flowers like that everywhere? All the time?”
“Seems there are. Pale purple crocuses first thing in the spring even before the snow goes.” He spent the next hour telling her about the wildflowers. “Olivia is an artist and has painted many of them.” He chuckled. “It gives her and Riley an excuse to wander about the country by themselves.”
Wild roses bloomed in her cheeks as she understood it was romance—not interest in nature—that compelled Riley and Olivia.
The trail had been climbing much of the afternoon. They reached a crossroad, the tracks overgrown with dry grass, and he turned to the south. “Look off to your right and you’ll see dark spots. Those are some of our cattle.” Part of the herd had been moved down from the upper pastures in anticipation of winter and deep snow that fell in higher elevations.
She shaded her eyes and looked. “Are we on ranch land now?”
“Our lease begins about here.”
She sat back and folded her hands in her lap. “We’ll be there soon then?”
The sun already hastened toward the mountain peaks. “Almost home.”
“Home for you.”
He nudged her shoulder. “It will be a protected place for you until I can get you safely on your way back to your mother.”
She gave a quick nod. “What will you tell your family about me? About us?”
The question jolted through him. “I’ll have to tell the truth, of course.” His family would certainly have opinions and would no doubt voice them.
“What will they say?”
