He’d help her out and keep an eye on the situation with Jane because he’d promised and because it was the right thing to do. But he’d do so with as minimal contact with Hope as possible because for some reason he couldn’t keep his thoughts from straying straight to her.
Last night when he’d finally nestled into the hayloft to sleep he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the way Hope had saved that barn kitten from sure death, the way she’d kept her calm, the way she’d said, “Excuse me,” to the cattle as she made her way through their midst and the way she’d met Aaron’s concern with such innocence and determination in her gaze.
“Well, where is she?” Katie, his brother Joseph’s wife, asked, intruding on Aaron’s thoughts. Thankfully.
“Who?” He hadn’t even heard Katie and Joseph enter the house.
“Hope. That’s who. I met her at the funeral. She’s a dear.” Katie peered at him as though he’d spoken some foreign language. “Is she all right?”
Concern for her rose within him just as fast as a rainstorm in the mountains. “What do you—”
“There you are.” Katie crossed to meet Hope as she entered the room and set a stack of dishes down on the table. “How are you doing after everything?”
“I’m fine.” The faint smile on Hope’s face was far from convincing and strummed another unexpected chord of compassion in Aaron’s heart. “I was just freshening up.” He gave her a quick once-over. She hadn’t looked disheveled when they’d arrived home. In fact, she still looked picture perfect.
It was the exact opposite of the windblown, no-fuss, natural way Ellie had always been.
“I thought that perhaps we could use some of the dishes I brought from home for the gathering today,” she said as she glanced back at the fine china. “I just unpacked them.”
Was Hope putting on airs? Was she intent on impressing the lot of folks here with her obvious trappings of wealth? Folks here weren’t so easily awed. Oh, maybe some of the ladies would fawn over the flourish of it all, but most folks put more stock in hard work, endurance and good living.
Katie strode right past surface pleasantries and encircled Hope in a hug. The rigid way Hope had held her shoulders back and head high all day seemed to lessen some, and for that Aaron was thankful. “I think the dishes will be a lovely touch to the gathering, Hope. Thank you for offering them.”
As much as he was uncomfortable with this whole situation, he couldn’t bear seeing her try so hard to be strong. He was worn out just watching her and was intent on making sure she rested throughout the gathering.
“Hope, I want you to meet my husband, Joseph.” Katie glanced over her shoulder at Joseph.
“I’m sorry about your loss, ma’am. Please accept my condolences.” He stepped closer and held his hand out to Hope. “Paul was a good man. He’ll be missed.”
Hope hesitated for a moment then took his hand as though suddenly aware that Joseph was unable to see. “Thank you. It does come as quite a shock.”
Joseph had been without his sight for almost a year now. Aaron had encouraged him that he’d done a remarkable job adapting, but Joseph would funnel all of the credit to his wife, who’d initially come to Boulder as his teacher.
“I want to assure you that I’ll do without that brother of mine as much as I can so that he can be here with you.” Joseph gently draped his arm over his wife’s shoulders, the clear look of self-satisfaction pricking Aaron’s ire.
Be here with her?
Why would he say that? Sure as shootin’, he could’ve come up with something else to say. Aaron could only hope that Joseph felt the annoyance he was aiming in his direction.
“Oh, it won’t be necessary for him to miss work.” Hope’s brow furrowed slightly. “I’m sure I’ll be able to manage. I already informed Aaron as much.”
Katie sidled up next to Hope. “Don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth, my dear.”
“That’s a gift horse.” Joseph chuckled.
“The horse could be gifted, too, I suppose,” Aaron added watching as Joseph pulled his wife close and gave her a hug.
“You two…” Katie melted into her husband’s embrace. “You knew what I meant.”
Aaron was glad for Joseph’s happiness, but whenever he witnessed the love that Joseph and Katie shared, his own loss seemed to grow deeper and stronger, like a stubborn root. Time hadn’t healed his heart, as some well-meaning folks had assured him. Instead it had exaggerated the pain. Someday, maybe, he wouldn’t be plagued with the familiar ache, but never again would he love.
The idea that he’d almost entered into marriage yesterday made his heart lurch to a grinding halt. What had he been thinking?
He’d been thinking like a Drake, that’s what. Honor your word. Let loyalty and right-living be your trademark.
He could be grateful until his dying day that Hope had been good enough to turn him down.
“As I was saying,” Katie began again, “Aaron will be a great help. Besides, Joseph has been talking about hiring on another craftsman.”
“What kind of gossip am I missing out on?” Zach edged into the gathering, standing beside Aaron as he slid Katie a playful wink.
“Don’t you go winking at my wife, Zach,” Joseph warned. “Do you hear?”
Zach waggled his eyebrows at the lot of them. “And how would you know I did that?”
“Because that’s what you always do. You’re predictable,” Joseph added with a grin.
Zach grabbed at his chest, winking at Hope this time. “You wound me, Joseph. Predictable? No man wants to be thought of as predictable.”
“We know you up one side and down another.” Joseph chuckled. “Face it. You’ve got the cowboy nod and wink down to a science. You could teach a class on it at Boulder College—that is, if they offered such things.”
“Ben, Joseph and Aaron like to accuse Zach of being the quintessential ladies’ man,” Katie explained to Hope.
She turned an amused expression on Zach and studied him for a long moment. “Perhaps they underestimate you?” The warmth of her smile made the air suddenly seem unbearably stuffy.
Aaron pulled at his collar. If there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was give his brothers any kind of weakness to pounce on. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but with the way they’d acted yesterday about Hope, he couldn’t help but feel like they were pushing for something that could never be—plain and simple.
“Now there’s a smart woman,” Zach proclaimed, sweeping his Stetson from his head and making a grand bow toward Hope. “I’m barely acquainted with her and already she knows me better than my own flesh and blood.”
On a sigh, Aaron gave his head a shake. “My family. I can always count on them to be welcoming to strangers and to make awkward situations more comfortable.”
Like now. Hope had to be overwhelmed by everything she’d gone through the past day. He doubted she was eager to have a houseful of strangers, but at least his family would be here to buffer the discomfort of it all.
And there was Jane to consider. She would need support.
Besides, he and his brothers had all agreed that, though they’d like to put it off for another time, they’d have to talk with Hope at some point today about the farm—how she wanted to handle things, what kind of chore schedule they could work out and if she was considering hiring a farmhand.
If that was the case then