“Pete’s a sneaky guy. He bought her a one-of-a-kind outfit in Jackson that he knew for sure was too big. When she had to have it altered, he got all the specs from the seamstress.”
“Goodness.” Josie shook her head. “FYI, if you ever decide to give me a beautiful saddle like this, just ask me for my measurements instead of going through all that rigmarole. I’ll be happy to give them to you.”
Jack tipped his hat back with his thumb. “No need. I know your measurements.”
“You most certainly do not! I’d bet there’s no husband on the planet who knows his wife’s measurements exactly.”
“Test me sometime.” Jack grinned at her.
“I will, and you’ll be way off. Anyway, I love this saddle, Ben.”
“I’m glad.”
“Sarah will, too,” Josie continued. “Don’t you think so, Molly?”
“I do. Ben’s done a wonderful job.”
“Thanks, Molly.” He knew she would have said that no matter what, and she’d told him last night the work was good, but hearing her say it again warmed him. He had come to value her opinion quite a bit.
He was in the awkward position of wanting her to think well of him, yet knowing in his heart he didn’t deserve her good opinion. She trusted him when he didn’t even trust himself. For the short time they’d be together, he could keep his flaws hidden, though. That was the advantage of knowing she’d leave on Monday. He wouldn’t think about the sunshine that would leave with her.
“I texted Pete before we left Spirits and Spurs,” Jack said. “He seems to think we can risk moving the saddle up to the side of the house so it won’t take so long to bring in after the party starts. I told him Josie and I would do that, but since you’re here, Ben, you and I can carry it.”
“Sure.” Now that the unveiling was less than two hours away, Ben’s chest tightened with anxiety. Everyone had praised the saddle, but Sarah was the one who had to be pleased. He’d know the minute she saw it whether she was or not.
“I think you should text him again and make sure Sarah’s otherwise occupied,” Josie said. “After all this, we don’t want her to glance out the window and see you and Ben carrying something from the tractor barn. I don’t care if it is covered with a blanket. She’ll know what it is.”
“Yeah, I’d better do that.” Jack nudged back his hat and pulled out his cell phone. “Never would have believed I’d depend on this silly thing the way I do. I carry it everywhere now. Phone calls are bad enough, but texting is unmanly.”
Josie held out her hand. “Want me to text Pete and protect your manhood, cowboy?”
“No.” Jack scowled and moved his thumbs over the keyboard. “I’m just sayin’.”
“Personally, I love that you carry your phone everywhere.” Josie stuck her hands in her pockets. “Then you can’t perform your manly disappearing act when there’s an unpleasant chore to be done.”
“My point, exactly.” Jack glanced up from the phone. “Go ahead and cover the saddle, Ben. I’m sure we’ll be hauling it out of here in a couple of minutes.” His phone chimed and he read the text. “Yep. Mom’s taking a shower, so we’re good to go.”
Ben settled the blanket back over the saddle. The next time it was pulled off, he wouldn’t be the one doing it. Something he’d labored over every day for two months was about to leave his care. That always felt strange. He had a picture of it on his phone, but he might never touch it again. He always felt a little sad when he had to part with one of his creations, and he’d put more of himself into this one than any other.
Jack tucked his phone into his jacket pocket. “Ladies, if you’ll hold the doors for us, the manly men will carry this precious cargo out of here and over to the house.”
Ben got on the front and Jack took the back, which was the same way they’d carried the saddle and stand into the barn. So much had happened since then.
“I’ll back down the path,” Jack said. “I know it better than you do.”
“Okay.” Maneuvering carefully, he guided the saddle through the door and let Jack set the pace. Molly and Josie followed. Judging from the bits of conversation Ben caught, they were talking about Molly’s genealogy project.
“What’s between you and Molly?” Jack’s quiet question was abrupt, but not unexpected.
Ben met his gaze. “We like each other.”
“Thought so. And I just realized I know almost nothing about you.” Jack’s breath fogged the air between them. “Careless of me.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Are you unattached?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s your family?”
“Colorado.”
“Visit them much?”
“No.”
Jack frowned as if not happy with that answer. “Why not?”
“We...don’t see eye to eye.”
“Does Molly know about that?”
Ben hesitated. “I’ve mentioned it.”
“Did you give her the details?”
“No.”
“Then I suggest you do that.” Jack’s dark gaze hardened. “I suggest it very strongly. It’s important information for a woman like Molly.”
“You’re right.” Ben’s gut clenched. He’d told himself Molly was better off not knowing the gritty details of his past. But she was an open book, so the scales weren’t balanced when it came to their relationship. And they had one. He could no longer pretend otherwise. She might be coming back to Wyoming this summer. What then?
Yeah, it was time to give her the whole story. She deserved to know that she was dealing with a man terrified of losing his temper, afraid of who he’d become.
“And Ben?”
“Yeah?”
“If you don’t treat her like the extremely valuable person she is, you’ll answer to me. And it won’t be pretty.”
“Understood.”
“You’re one hell of a saddlemaker and I love what you’ve made for my mother, but hurt one of my own, and you’ll wish we’d never met.”
“I won’t hurt her. You have my word.”
Jack’s smile was colder than the breeze sweeping down from the snow-covered mountains. “Break your word, Radcliffe, and I’ll have your ass.”
MOLLY HEARD JACK and Ben talking about something, but they spoke in low tones, as if they didn’t want her or Josie to hear them. A couple of times Jack glanced in her direction. She couldn’t shake the feeling they were discussing her. If so, then Jack suspected something.
Josie might, too, but Molly hadn’t spent as much time with her as she had with Jack. Josie might not feel comfortable asking about Ben. Jack, on the other hand, allowed nothing to stand in the way of protecting those in his care. Sarah had told her that the other day, and now she’d seen it in action. When Jack had stepped into the tractor barn and spied her there with Ben, his whole manner had changed.
Sure, he continued to joke with his wife, but underneath that banter something in his tone made her think he was mentally arming himself to confront a potential threat. She appreciated