Chapter Seven

~ Jos ~

Morning came way too early, especially since I hadn't fallen asleep for several hours after I went to bed last night. I couldn't seem to get the saddened look in Miko's eyes when I told him we wouldn't be sharing a room out of my mind.

I hadn't expected that. I had been sure that Miko would be ecstatic that I wasn't forcing him into a relationship he might not want. We needed to get to know each other before he could decide where our marriage would go.

I wanted the choice to be his.

I cracked my eyes open and stared out the window. The sun was just coming up. I could see glimmers of light over the mountains in the distance and the night sky was lightening up.

I laid there for a few minutes, just listening to the silence. It was mid-summer at this point and I knew winter would be here soon. Probably sooner than any of us were ready for. There was still a lot to do to get the ranch ready for the colder weather.

Knowing my list of things to do were growing by the second, I rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. I took a quick shower and then dressed for the day.

After leaving the guestroom, I stepped over to the room next door and softly knocked. When I didn't receive an answer, I opened the door and looked inside.

The room was empty.

Maybe Miko had already gone downstairs. He did say he was used to waking up early. It wasn't even six o'clock yet, so that was early.

I could hear the low murmur of voices as I went down the stairs and figured some of the ranch hands had already come in. I paused at the bottom of the stairs when I saw pretty much every ranch hand on the ranch standing in front of the large windows overlooking the front yard.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Trying to figure out what this guy is doing," one of the ranch hands replied without looking away from the window.

Huh?

I walked across the room and pushed my way through the small crowd of ranch hands and then stood there, my head half tilted. "What is he doing?"

Miko stood in the middle of the yard slowly moving his arms and legs around in some moves that looked almost choreographed.

It was astonishingly beautiful.

I was mesmerized.

"It's called Tai Chi , a Chinese martial art that was initially developed for combat and self-defense , but later turned into a form of exercise and balancing of the qi in one's body," Wade stated. "It's often referred to meditation in motion."

Every man standing there turned to look at Wade, who just shrugged and said, "I read it somewhere."

Like I believed that.

I walked over to the door and pushed it open, stepping out onto the porch. I took a couple of steps, crossed my arms, and leaned against the porch post.

Watching Miko move really was like watching a living piece of art. His movements were fluid, but exact. Each stretch of his arm, each bend of his leg, all of it was motion, but beautiful in its simplicity.

My brow flickered when Miko stopped, faced east, and then pressed his hands together, and bowed his head. He murmured something, but I was too far away to hear what it was.

When he turned around, he took a step as he glanced up, and then froze when he spotted me. He stared for a moment with hooded eyes before lowering them and continuing toward the house.

When he climbed the steps and started past me without a word, I asked, "Aren't you going to say good morning to me, Miko?"

I didn't like feeling as if I was being ignored.

"Apologies." Miko turned to face me, his eyes still lowered, and gave another bow. "Good morning."

Yeah, that wasn't much better.

When I sighed, Miko took a hasty step back and angled his body away from me as if he was afraid I was going to hit him. I frowned, not liking this more subdued Miko. He was acting like he had when he first arrived.

Granted, that had been less than twenty-four hours ago, but I had seen snippets of his real personality during that time. Now, they all seem to be hidden behind this timid facade.

"Breakfast is going to be served soon," I stated. "You should go get cleaned up."

"Yes, thank you."

I had no idea what he was thanking me for.

I followed him back into the house and then watched as he hurried up the stairs and disappeared from sight.

"Who is he, Boss?" Declan asked.

"That's Miko, my husband." I wanted that made very clear in case any of these hound dogs had any ideas.

"You got married?"

I nodded, still not taking my eyes off the staircase. "Miko is also Monty's kid, so be nice to him. He knows nothing about the ranch. It's up to us to teach him."

"Sure thing, Boss," Axel said.

"Above all else, you must be respectful of him. His life back in Japan wasn't very good." I didn't want to give too much away because it wasn't my place, but I could share a little. "It was very regimented and controlled by others. He's never had the chance to experience life and find things that he likes."

All the men nodded.

"Axel, I want you to find the gentlest horse we have, one for someone who has never ridden before."

"That'd be Sally, Boss. She's got the softest touch."

"After breakfast, can you get her saddled up? Miko expressed an interest in learning to ride and having a horse of his own, but he's going to need a few lessons first."

"Sure thing, Boss," Axel replied.

I crossed my arms before nodding my head toward the dining room. "Mrs. Gibbons should have breakfast about ready. Go head in to the dining room but make sure you leave the seat between me and Monty for Miko."

The men walked out of the room without saying anything. I knew they had a lot of questions, but it wasn't my place to answer them. Miko would let them know what he felt they should know.

I glanced up when I heard footsteps on the hardwood floors on the second floor. When Miko appeared, I frowned. He had changed out of the black pajama looking things he'd been wearing before, but this outfit didn't look much different.

It was all black except for a sliver of white I could see around the collar. The pants flowed a little with each step he took and the shirt had a high collar that was closed with a button on one side and fell down past his hips.

It was a very conservative looking outfit. It made me wonder what he was hiding underneath all that black fabric. Not sure if that had been the intention, but that's where my thoughts immediately took me.

"Breakfast is about ready," I said when he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Are you hungry?"

Miko stood in front of me, his hands clasped together in front of him, his body as stiff as a board. "Yes, thank you."

He still wouldn't look me in the eyes and it was driving me insane. He had the prettiest caramel colored brown eyes in a beautiful almond shape. I especially liked it when they shimmered with excitement or joy.

That was not what I was seeing right now.

I held out my arm, waiting for him to take it. Miko stared at my arm for a moment before raising his gaze to my face. I wiggled my elbow up and down a couple of times and then waited again.

Miko's movements were slow as he reached out to lay his hand on my arm. I tried to send him a reassuring smile as I grabbed his hand and then looped his arm through mine.

"The ranch hands will be here for breakfast so you can meet them. Not all of them are here, but you can meet most of them. The others are out on the range watching over the stock."

Miko glanced up with the first bit of interest I'd seen in his eyes since yesterday. "Stock?"

"Mostly cattle, but we also have some horses."

Miko nodded. "Ah."

"Your father wanted to invest in some sheep for wool, but it wasn't feasible so he got a goat."

Miko blinked up at me. "A goat?"

I let out a little snort of disgust. "Damn fool thing head-butts me every time I go into its pen." It was little more than a glorified pet at this point. It had better accommodations than the cows did. "His name is Bambi."

Miko's brow flickered. "Bambi?"

"Don't ask me why your father gave it that name because I don't know. It was the name of an animated deer in a kids' movie. Not a goat."

Miko looked perplexed.

"You've never seen the movie Bambi?" I asked.

"Never seen a movie," Miko replied. "Was not allowed to watch American television. First Uncle does not like the influence the west has on the Japanese culture."

I didn't like the influence First Uncle had on Miko.

"Maybe we can rent it and watch it later, although I do have to warn you, there are some sad parts to it."

Miko gave a brief nod, his eyes dropping away. "Thank you, but it is not necessary."

Now, what the hell was that supposed to mean?

Before I could ask, Monty came out of his study.

Miko removed his arm from mine, pressed his hands together, and gave a respectful bow. "Good morning, Father."

"Miko." Monty smiled at his son, giving him a hardy enough pat on his shoulder that Miko stumbled forward.

I shot him a glare.

"How are you, son? Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Bed not too hard for you, is it?"

A soft flush colored Miko's pale cheeks. "No, sir."

"Good, good," Monty replied. "If you need anything, just ask Jos. He'll get it for you."

Miko didn't say anything, but he did nod his head again.

"Come on." Monty started walking. "Let's go eat. The boys need to get out on the range."

Miko started walking with Monty leaving me standing there by myself.

It was not a good feeling.

I wasn't sure what was going on with Miko, but something had changed since last night. At least, if felt as if something had changed, but what did I know? This could be his normal personality.

I sincerely hoped it was not.

I preferred the happy young man that had been so excited at the prospect of having a horse to this quiet, timid, and distance person.

I followed after Miko and Monty. When we reached the dining room, I pulled out the chair between my seat and Monty's. Miko shot me an undecipherable look and then sat down.

I carefully scooted his chair in for him before taking my seat. "Miko?"

At least he glanced at me.

"I'd like to introduce you to some of the ranch hands. Not all of them are here right now, but you can meet the others later."

Miko nodded so I carefully went around the table and introduced him to all the ranch hands that were currently there. By the time I was done, Mrs. Gibbons had put all of the food on the table and joined us.

"Do you know what you want?" I asked. "If you have any questions about any of the food, just let me know."

Miko nodded again. "Thank you."

I hated that polite tone.

"May I have some eggs?" he asked.

I saw the frown Monty gave Miko out of the corner of my eye as I grabbed the platter of eggs and served some up for Miko. I knew he had heard it to. Miko was once again asking permission for things.

I hated it.

He was also picking at his food, pushing it around on his plate and barely taking more than a few bites. He wasn't getting enough nutrients to feed a bird.

I speared a couple of sausage links with my fork and transferred them to Miko's plate. He paused for a moment, his fork hanging in midair, and then continued eating. He carefully cut the sausage links into bite sized pieces, ate them all in quick succession, and then went back to his eggs.

I still had the feeling that something was wrong, but damned if I could figure it out.