Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

E vie entered the house to the sound of laughter. Hilde, Antonio, Uncle Charley, and Aunt Felicity were sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying glasses of lemonade with a man she'd never seen before. A handsome man—almost as handsome as Jake. Strands of silver were woven into his thick sheaf of wheat-colored hair, concentrating mostly at his temples, and fine lines radiated from the corners of his startling cobalt-blue eyes.

"Ah, here she is." Uncle Charley rose from his seat and took the basket of blackberries from her. "Miss Everleigh Miller, please meet Mr. Ryland Parrish." He performed the introduction, then placed the basket on the kitchen counter near the sink.

Her guest rose from his seat as well and offered his hand. His grip was warm and firm, but not overly so. "Please pardon my unexpected visit. Your charming niece suggested we meet."

Evie smiled. "Knowing Lucy, it was more than a suggestion."

"That is true. She has a forceful way about her, but she seems like a delightful young woman. Strong-willed and determined. Qualities I admire." He smiled and it was a lovely smile, but it didn't make her stomach do flips. He laughed. "And might I add, rather persistent."

"She is all those things and more." She glanced at her loved ones around the table, all watching her with anticipation. Hilde cocked an eyebrow, her expression full of hope as if to say he might be the one . "Would you like to sit outside on the patio? It's a lovely afternoon."

"I would." He grabbed his hat and glass from the table then gave a slight bow to Hilde and Aunt Felicity. "Ladies, it's been a pleasure." He then turned to Uncle Charley and Antonio, who had resumed their seats. "Gentlemen, if you will excuse us." He looked at her, and flashed a smile, then held out his hand. "Lead the way."

Evie held open the kitchen door for him to pass through, but in fine gentlemanly fashion he insisted she go first, which she did, but not before giving Hilde, Aunt Felicity, Antonio, and Uncle Charley a warning look. She knew they'd be at the window in no time at all, watching and listening.

As they stepped outside, Mr. Parrish paused. "What a lovely garden."

"Thank you. It's my pride and joy."

"I see you like roses. My late wife, Fanny, loved roses as well, particularly the yellow ones. It's a shame, in a way, we never stayed in one place long enough for her to grow her own."

He made the statement matter-of-factly, though there was no hiding the deep regret she heard in his voice. She'd known loss, knew the hold it could keep in one's mind. Saying ‘I'm sorry' just seemed so inadequate, but she murmured the words anyway, then she gestured to one of the chairs in the shade of the awning. "Lucy told me you're renovating the old Serenity Hotel."

"Yes, ma'am, I am." He put his glass on the table, followed by his hat, but didn't sit until she did. "It's a lot of work, but I'm enjoying it immensely."

"Is this the first hotel you've renovated?"

"Oh no," he laughed as he made himself comfortable. "I can't even remember what number this one is. Fanny and I renovated many over the years. In fact, we have been to nearly every state and territory in the country, except for Alaska, fixing up old hotels and inns. There were a few taverns and a saloon or two as well, but Fanny didn't like renovating those as much. It's what we enjoyed doing, and as our reputation grew, the more opportunities seemed to come our way. Fanny had such an eye for decorating—subtle, understated. And she was always up for a new adventure."

"You didn't have children?"

"We were not blessed in that way. Besides, it would have been difficult uprooting any children we might have had, traveling all around the country the way we did."

She wouldn't be able to do that. Just the thought of ever leaving Monta?a del Trueno made her heart hurt.

"But we were happy, me and Fanny."

It was quite clear that he missed his late wife. How long ago she had passed? She wouldn't ask. If he volunteered the information, that would be a different story. Instead, she asked, "How long were you married?"

He smiled and the love he had for his Fanny reflected in his eyes. "Twenty-five of the best years of my life." He let out a sigh then said, "Lucy tells me you never married."

"No, I never did, but I was engaged to be."

"What happened? Why didn't you?"

Evie glanced at him, then down at the table. "He died. He was a Marshal here in town."

"I'm sorry."

"I am, too. He was a good man."

"And now? Lucy mentioned something about looking for a husband. Are you?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, I'm not. The truth is, Lucy is searching for a husband for me, even though I never asked her to."

"Good." His smile widened. "Then you and I can be friends."

"Perfect."

Hilde came out of the house carrying a pitcher of lemonade and a glass on a tray, a big, conspiratorial smile on her face. She said nothing as she poured, but she did wink before she went back into the house, leaving the tray on the table.

"Are you staying at the hotel while you renovate?"

"I am. It's quite comfortable, if one doesn't mind sawdust and the sound of hammering, not to mention the number of people traipsing in and out. Fortunately, I love all that. Fanny did as well."

Evie didn't miss the sound of longing in his voice, nor did she miss the expression on his face. It was quite clear to her that Ryland Parrish was still very much in love with his late wife. "Fanny sounds like a lovely woman. You must miss her a great deal."

Sadness reflected in his bright blue eyes, but only for a moment or two. "She was, and I do. She would have loved this hotel. She?—"

A noise from the barn had her glancing that way, just in time to see Jake coming out of the building, carrying several lead ropes as he strode toward one of the smaller paddocks, where a young horse, a beautiful sorrel, waited, a supple leather halter around her face. Teddy leaned against the paddock fence, his foot resting on the lower plank.

Ah, this was the filly Teddy had pointed out to her not too long ago, chosen from the herd for her beauty, stamina, and temperament. He always selected wisely, and now, he was going to teach Jake how to build a bond, the first step in training. She considered it a compliment toward Jake. This was a task that Teddy didn't relinquish to anyone aside from herself and Antonio, and it lightened her heart.

She blinked and brought her attention back to Mr. Parrish, but it was hard. In less than a minute, her gaze wandered again, alighting on Jake as he let himself into the paddock and slowly approached the horse.

"Is this a bad time, Miss Miller?"

"What?" Startled, Evie swiveled her head to look at her guest, embarrassed she should be so rude. Her cheeks heated. Indeed, her entire body felt flushed. "I'm sorry."

"You seem to be…a little distracted?" His eyes, filled with curiosity, crinkled at the corners when he smiled.

"My apologies." She nodded at the paddock. "I'm usually involved in training a new horse. And please call me Evie. You were telling me about your plans for the hotel."

He gave her an understanding smile. "I'll save that for another time." He rose from his seat and grabbed his hat. "I should be heading back. I'm expecting a shipment of lumber and I don't want to miss it. My foreman is a good man and knows what to do, but..." He glanced at the corral. "I think you understand."

Evie smiled at him, relieved that he accepted her excuse. She walked him to the gate that separated the garden from the front of the house.

He turned toward her. "Would you care to take a ride with me? Perhaps on Saturday? I've only been in Serenity for a short time and haven't quite found my way around. I thought perhaps you could show me the sights. I'm told there's a spectacular lake not too far from here."

"There is. Do you fish?"

"When I have the time, I do enjoy it." He gave her a questioning look, his brows rising just a bit. "What do you say? Should I stop by around eleven? I could show you what I've done with the hotel so far, and then, perhaps we could have a picnic by the lake."

Why not? He seemed like a nice man and he already said they should be friends. She'd like that. "Yes, of course. Saturday morning. That would be lovely."

"Excellent! Until Saturday then." He gave her a slight bow, put on his hat, and walked to where a nice buggy waited in the drive—high-end, and brand-new, by the looks of it. The horse pulling the buggy was also superior quality horseflesh. He climbed in, tipped his hat in her direction and left.

Evie strode across the grass, her attention once more on Jake in the corral with the young horse. She stopped and just stood there, watching. Despite his lack of knowledge, the horse seemed to be responding well to him. Perhaps, like Teddy, Antonio, and herself, he had a natural ability.

Forcing her attention away from him, she retrieved the glasses and the pitcher of lemonade from the patio table and headed for the kitchen.

"Well?" Hilde demanded as she looked up from the blackberries she was rinsing.

"Well what?" Evie placed the glasses and pitcher on the counter beside the sink.

Aunt Felicity stopped peeling potatoes to gesture with the paring knife. "I thought he was rather charming."

Hilde glanced at Felicity and winked. "Handsome."

"I agree." Felicity said. "Such a gentleman."

"Would you two just stop ?" Evie rolled her eyes. "Yes, he is handsome and charming, and I enjoyed his visit very much."

"I sense a ‘but', liebchen ."

"I am not interested in finding a husband, as I've told you before. And I don't think he's interested in getting married again. From the way he talked about his late wife, he's still in love with her." She tucked her hair behind her ear, her movements jerky from frustration. "I wish Lucy had never started this…this...I don't even know what to call it." She turned on her heel and left the room.

"You still need to make the pie crust," Hilde called out.

Evie stopped and turned around, then pushed through the door. "I'll make the pie crust, but I don't want to hear one more word about Mr. Parrish."

Hilde laughed. "That's fine. We can always talk about Mr. Hannigan."

"Or Mr. Pe?a," Felicity chimed in, as she scraped the paring knife over a potato, though why she should mention Mr. Pe?a remained a mystery. They hadn't so much as spoken two words aside from ‘good morning' or ‘good evening' since she hired him.

"We're not talking about them, either." But even as she said the words, she glanced out the window and saw Jake gently smooth his hands over the horse's withers, and an involuntary sigh escaped her. What would it be like to have his hands caress her that way?

She shook her head, then forced her attention away from the window and concentrated on gathering the ingredients to make the pie dough, but her mind just wasn't on her task, and she almost dropped the canister of flour. Setting the canister on the table, she began measuring out the flour, but try as she might, her attention kept going to the sight beyond the window. Jake was in deep conversation with the sorrel—the filly kept looking at him as he smoothed his hand over her flanks. She imagined she could hear his voice and another involuntary sigh escaped her.

Suddenly aware she was being watched, Evie turned back to the women in the room with her. "What?"

Hilde hid a smile. "Nothing, except how many pies do you think we'll be making?" She nodded toward the bowl on the table.

Evie looked down and stifled a groan. It was a valid question. The bowl was overflowing, and flour spilled over the sides to sprinkle on the table. "Sorry. I guess my mind wasn't on my task."

"Hmmm, I never would have known." Hilde laughed in that deep, guttural way she had, and nudged her out of the way. "I'll finish this. Why don't you go out and talk to Jake? It's what you want to do anyway. And don't bother trying to deny it, neither."

"You're right. I would." She handed her the measuring cup, removed her apron, slung it over the back of a chair, and made a quick exit out of the kitchen. As soon as the door closed, she heard Felicity's giggle. "She's got it bad."

"That she does!"

Evie stepped off the patio, her feet sinking into the thick grass, and headed toward Jake. He just stood in the barnyard, hands on his hips, his gaze not on her, but on the horizon. After a moment, he tilted his hat back then turned in her direction, as if he'd felt her watching him, and he smiled.

Evie stopped in her tracks. Oh, what that smile did to her! Her stomach quivered and her mouth went dry, as excitement, and something else she couldn't—wouldn't—define rippled through her. Even her knees were a little weak, like butter on a sweltering day.

A moment later, she heard the sound of horses, their hooves pounding the earth, and her vaqueros came in from the summer pasture.

So much for a moment alone with him.

The riders dismounted, laughing, and carrying on as they were wont to do, and started handing the reins to him. Evie threw up her hands in disappointment and disgust.

There are too many people here!

She turned on her heel and headed back into the house, closing the door a little more forcefully than she should have. Hilde looked up from the now half-empty bowl of flour, full measuring cup in hand. "I thought you were going to talk to Jake."

Evie glared at her, just a little beyond frustrated. "I don't always listen to what you tell me, Hilde. I'm a grown woman!"

She stalked through the kitchen and pushed through the swinging door, a flush heating her face as she heard both Hilde and Felicity burst into startled laughter. She continued up to her room, looking for a little peace and quiet, hoping she wouldn't run into anyone on the way.

Who would have thought he'd love this?

Or ever be given the opportunity to train a horse, especially coming from Teodoro Silva. Honestly, he thought Teddy just didn't like him. Obviously, he'd been wrong. He'd thought, after catching him kissing his aunt, the man wouldn't have been so…gracious, but here they were, for the fifth day in a row—he in the corral, and Teddy giving orders and encouragement from the fence where he sat.

"You're a natural, Jake. I've seen you with the other horses and how they respond to you." He laughed, as Jake led the filly past him. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"Never." He was pleased with the compliment, even more so that it came from Teddy.

For the first few days, he'd gotten the sorrel filly used to being touched, bathed, and groomed. Today, he was walking Cinnamon, as she'd been named, around the corral with a lead rope. According to Teddy, all this was required to earn the horse's trust, and while he was enjoying this, he found his thoughts wandering.

Because of Evie. She'd come outside with a basket, and now hung clean sheets on the clothesline to dry, while Savannah and Miguel played around her feet, their school lessons, taught by Jenny, finished for the day. He couldn't help watching her or smiling when he heard her laughter in response to something one of the children had said.

"Jake?"

Startled, he brought his attention back to Teddy. "What?"

"Something on your mind?"

There was humor in Teddy's voice, which he didn't quite expect, and his face warmed. Did he know he'd been watching Evie instead of paying attention to what he was doing? He shook his head as he led the horse once more around the corral.

"You need to keep your mind on what you're doing. Building trust is important to training…much more so than other things."

"Yes, sir."

Despite his best intentions, Jake couldn't help himself. He glanced in Evie's direction on the next circuit he and Cinnamon took around the ring. She pulled a pillowcase out of the basket and shook it then pinned it to the clothesline. On his next trip around, his interest was piqued as he saw Antonio step into view and stop to talk to her. The big man had his hands on his hips and kept nodding toward the corral. Evie turned in his direction then returned her attention back to Antonio. She nodded to whatever it was he said, then glanced in his direction again.

After a moment, Antonio walked over to the corral and rested his forearms on the fence. "How's he doing?" he asked, loud enough to be heard, probably all the way to San Francisco. The man did have a booming voice.

"Excellent," Teddy said, and gave Jake a confident nod as he passed by, leading Cinnamon by the lead rope. "Did you know he was this good?"

"It's a complete surprise to me. Thought he didn't know anything about horses. He admitted that when he first arrived."

Jake continued around the corral, no longer able to hear what was said; however, what he'd heard was enough. Pride made him stand a bit taller. No one had ever complimented him on a job well done before. He didn't quite know how to react, although that didn't stop his grin from widening on his face and making his cheeks hurt. After a few more moments of conversation he couldn't hear, Antonio walked away in his bow-legged strut, leaving Teddy alone at the fence.

"I think that's enough for today, Jake." Teddy said, as he passed by him. "Tomorrow, Tia Evie will be in the ring with you. I need to head back out to the summer pasture, so Tia Evie will continue with the training."

Anxiety and excitement rushed through him with those simple words. He watched Evie pick up the empty basket and head into the house. She was more than a distraction, but he had to admit, seeing Evie at the fence would be a much better sight than seeing Teddy, and his heart beat a little faster.