Page 62 of Catching a Cowgirl

Eloise sighed. She wasn’t going to let this pain she held ruin their evening. She had been so excited to show him her favorite place, and she’d be darned if she didn’t follow through with it and share a part of herself with him that she hadn’t shared with anyone.

They came to a fork in the trail, and she tugged on her reins to turn her horse to the left. Shane stopped behind her. “You’re kidding, right?”

She glanced over her shoulder toward him. “What?”

“That trail can’t fit a horse.”

She let out a soft laugh. “I know it looks like that, but it’s not what it appears. I assure you, I’ve been down this path many times. It’s tight for maybe a quarter of a mile, then it opens up.”

He gave her a disbelieving look, and she laughed again.

“Just trust me, okay?” Eloise grimaced. “Okay, so I know our trust is a bit on the rocky side right now. But you can trust me on this.” She arced her arm around and gestured for him to follow her.

She only watched him for a second to make sure he was behind her, then she urged her horse forward. Just as she promised, the trail opened up after about a quarter of a mile. It led them straight for a pond that was surrounded by several trees so tall they shaded the whole area. The few areas of sunlight that burst through the latticework of branches made the whole place look like a fairytale.

Eloise pulled her horse to a stop and chanced a glance over at her guest. Her sisters knew about this place when they were all younger, but she wasn’t sure if any of them had visited since they were little girls. She’d managed to remember only because she made it a point to come after the final frost of spring. That was when all of the flowers were budding and the pond was its clearest.

Shane stared at the scene without blinking. His eyes seemed to drink in everything all at once, and when he finally turned toward her, his expression softened. “This place is amazing.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

“No. Likereallyamazing. I didn’t even know there were places like this in Copper Creek.”

“I don’t think there are many of them. We’re just fortunate to have the forest back up against our property, so it’s a bit more wild than other places.”

He climbed down from his horse and took the reins in his hand as he led his horse toward the edge of the water. “It’s like a scene that painter guy always did on that TV show.”

Eloise threw back her head and laughed. “Yeah, I guess it is.” She climbed down out of her saddle and then moved closer to her horse’s head. Her fingers ran down her steed’s neck, and he nuzzled her in show of affection. “This is my most favorite place of all time. When I’m sad or need to feel better, I come here. When I need an escape or when I want a place to just breathe, this is it. Sometimes I even come out here when I’m excited or happy.”

“So, you basically live out here.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much.” Eloise nuzzled her horse and her voice softened. “This place is my sanctuary. It’s where I feel the most… whole.” When she looked over at him again, she found him staring at her with an expression she couldn’t read. She flushed and looked away. “There are always going to be parts of ourselves that we want to keep hidden. But eventually, I think we will share those parts with the person we feel we can trust the most.”

There was no way she could bring herself to look at him again. Not when she probably just said the cheesiest thing she could come up with.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Marc. I would never intentionally hurt you.”

She heard him before he came into view. Shane reached out and took one of her hands in his. “I hope you know that I feel the exact same way. I never want to hurt you. The way I feel about you—I think I’d rather jump off a cliff than see you in pain.”

Eloise laughed again, though this one was a little more strained. “Please don’t do that.”

He made a face. “Okay. I won’t do that. Just promise me one thing.”

“Of course.”

“Never forget the way it feels to be with me right here in this moment.”

She tilted her head as she studied him. That was a strange thing to say. It was almost like he knew something she didn’t. What was she thinking? Of course he knew something she didn’t.

Something strange had happened just before Shane had shown up. Marc was talking, and then he cut himself off and looked away before he changed the subject.

Come to think of it, that behavior was very similar to the way Shane reacted when they got into some of their more strained conversations. Perhaps this was a family issue and she’d just have to accept that this was the way the men in her life would behave.

Though something told her it wasn’t as clear-cut as she wanted to believe. They were both hiding something. By the way they had reacted to one another from day one, she could tell.

A new feeling squeezed her chest and surprised her so much that she gasped. Shane stepped toward her, concern twisting his features. “Is everything okay?”

Eloise placed a hand to her chest and rubbed at the area above her heart. “Yeah, I think so. That was… weird.”

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