“You’re it, Miss Harris,” Sabrina managed to say as she gasped for air.
“Yeah, you’re it, Miss Harris,” Petula parroted. Rachel touched their cheeks with her fingertips, first Petula, then Sabrina.
“I guess so,” she responded breathlessly, smiling all the while. Her face was flushed with color. Her tousled hair was filled with dried grass. There was a smudge of dirt on the tip of her chin, and her grosgrain cravat was all askew.
“Where is he?” she asked, her smile suddenly fading. She glanced up at Gavin, and he thought for a moment she was angry with him. Then she swung her head around.
“Ah! So there you are.” Joker lay on the ground a few feet away. His chin was buried in the grass, and his dark eyes watched her apologetically as his tail slapped the ground in a slow rhythm.
“Benedict Arnold.” Joker whined and inched his way forward.
“Don’t think you’ll win my forgiveness so easily.” Rachel turned her head away, her pert nose pointed into the air. Joker slinked across the remaining distance, then laid his chin on Rachel’s thigh, his ears flat against his head, his eyes pleading for absolution. Gavin found himself waiting with the same rapt attention as the girls. Rachel glanced down at the young wolfhound, one eyebrow cocked, her head tilted to one side.
“This time, you mangy hound,” she said softly as her hand smoothed the wiry hair on top of his head.
“But don’t you turn traitor on me again.” Joker’s tail smacked the ground in double time. Children’s laughter filled the air again as Petula fell on Joker, joined quickly by Sabrina. The oversized pup was on his feet in a flash, jumping away before flinging himself back into their midst. Then he was up and running, the two girls hard on his heels. Rachel clapped her hands together, laughing gaily, her sky-blue eyes sparkling with mischief and pleasure.
It hit Gavin then. Perhaps she wasn’t at all what he’d suspected.
Perhaps she wasn’t spoiled or vain or selfish. She was definitely lovely and vibrant and fun. Maybe Dru was right. There was plenty about this young woman to like. Possibly too much. He held out his hand to her.
“Let me help you, Miss Harris.” She glanced up at him, laughter still lighting her eyes.
“Thank you.” She took hold of his hand, and he pulled her effortlessly to her feet.
“I promise to have a long talk with Joker when we get back to the house.” He leaned closer, his voice falling to a confidential whisper.
“I thought that boy had better manners than to trip a lady.” Rachel’s eyes widened a fraction, her smile faded slightly.
“Yes,” she replied, sounding breathless once again.
“You should do that, Mr.–”
“Gavin. Call me Gavin.” Whatever she might have said was interrupted by the return of barking dog and laughing children. Rachel felt as if she might suddenly explode. Her nerve endings were screaming. It was hard to breathe, and her pulse was racing madly. Her eyes fell on Gavin’s back as he led the way down the mountainside. He rode his horse with an easy grace, his body moving in time with the animal. She could sense his strength even from this distance, felt his alertness as his head turned occasionally from side to side. Call me Gavin. Her heartbeat did a little somersault as she recalled the warm resonance of his voice. It couldn’t be, of course. She couldn’t be feeling this way about Gavin Blake. He turned in the saddle. Their eyes met over the top of the children’s heads. Her heart did another little hiccup. Lord help her! It couldn’t be this. It couldn’t be now. But it was. As clearly as she’d always known she was waiting for something special to happen to her, she knew that this was it. She’d been waiting for this fantastically wretched feeling. She’d been waiting to fall in love. But she was feeling it for the wrong man. She glanced away from him, afraid of what he might see if she continued looking into those steely gray depths. She stared at the slick carpet of pine needles beneath the palomino’s hooves, but her thoughts couldn’t be controlled so easily. She kept remembering the sound of Gavin’s voice, the warmth of his breath on her face as he’d leaned closer, the jaunty look of his black hair as it brushed his shirt collar, the shadow of a beard beneath his tanned skin. What was she to do? Suddenly, the magnificent mountains surrounding the valley had become menacing barriers, allowing no escape from the emotions that threatened to consume her. Maggie, what do I do? She closed her eyes, imagining herself back in the safety of her room at the Branigan ranch.
Her sister would know what to tell her. She’d always been able to count on Maggie. Her sister had raised her, shielded her from their abusive uncle, brought her West across the Oregon Trail and into the safe, loving arms of the Branigan clan. Maggie would be able to tell her what to do, if only she could get to her. Why hadn’t she listened to Maggie when she advised Rachel against coming? Why had she been so blasted stubborn, so determined to come to this wilderness with these strangers? Her fingers tightened around the reins. love might be that special something she’d been expecting, but her destiny couldn’t be with another woman’s husband. She wouldn’t allow herself to feel this way. She would simply have to take control of the emotion. Call me Gavin. It was like the ground dropping out from under her, this feeling he caused within her. She was suddenly afraid she couldn’t control the way she felt. She wasn’t prepared for this. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with a man who could never be hers. It was wrong. She had no right to feel this way. She would have to leave. Despite her promise to Dru that she would stay through spring, she would have to return to Boise. Because if she didn’t, something terrible was going to happen. Already she could feel her heart breaking.
Chapter Ten
The temperature dropped sharply before the sun reached the horizon. By nightfall, the sky was hidden behind thick black clouds. A stillness blanketed the basin, making every sound inside the log house seem out of place, an intrusion upon nature. Rachel pulled the warm quilt up from the foot of the bed.
“Snuggle close. It’s going to be cold tonight,” she told the two girls, then leaned forward to kiss their foreheads beneath their white nightcaps. She felt a sting in the region of her heart. She was going to miss them. She’d grown to love them in the short time they’d been together. Was it really just over a week since she’d arrived in the basin? Not even ten days, yet she felt as if they’d been together ever so much longer than that.
“Good night,” she whispered as she straightened.
“Miss Harris?”
“What is it, Pet?”
“I’m glad you wasn’t scared about the bear. You’re sure lots of fun.” She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Thanks, Pet. Good night, Brina. See you in the morning.”
“Night, Miss Harris,” came the two voices in unison. Holding her skirt out of the way, she turned and eased herself onto the ladder leading down from the loft. When her feet touched the wood floor, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief and turned around just as the front door blew open, allowing Gavin entry. His hat and shoulders were dusted with crystals of snow. Gavin closed the door quickly, then removed his hat and slapped it against his leg.
“Good thing we got the herd out when we did. That’s quite the storm blowing in.” His nose and cheeks were red with cold. His shaggy black hair, damp from snow and tousled from his hat, curled against the back of his neck and fell across his forehead. He desperately needed a shave. And he was the most devastatingly handsome man she’d ever seen. Rachel looked toward the fire.