The man had a lot of grit, she’d give him that. Not many would have managed to come through that ambush and lived to tell the tale.
She’d been well aware of his efforts to spare her during their walk across the clearing, and again when he’d mounted up.
Even now, with his hand around her waist, she could feel his effort not to lean against her. If she’d had reason to question whether he was an honorable man before, she could set her mind at ease now.
Probably be best to keep him talking so she could gauge how alert he was. Besides, she liked the sound of his voice. “Tell me about that family of yours back on the ranch.”
“I have a brother and a sister, Griff and Sadie.” His voice had slowed and deepened, his Texas drawl coming out. And she could feel the warmth of his breath stir the hair at her nape.
She told herself the shiver that fluttered her shoulders was due to the dropping temperature. “I said tell me about them, not name them.”
“What do you want to know?”
“The usual stuff. Are they older or younger than you? Are they married? What are they like?”
“Both younger—Griff by two years, Sadie by five. Neither is married.”
He paused and she wondered if he would give her any more information.
“Griff takes after Pa—a rancher through and through. Hawk’s Creek is in his blood and you couldn’t pry him away with a crowbar.”
So, was he implying that he himself wasn’t so tied to the land? She could sure relate to that. God had made this world way too big to limit yourself to one little patch of it.
“Sadie’s what you’d call impetuous. She’s a bit on the clumsy side, but she doesn’t let that stop her. She’s as comfortable at a barn raising as she is at a ladies auxiliary tea.”
Sounded like someone she’d get along fine with. “How often do you see them?”
“Two, three times a year.”
It was like wresting a bone from a dog to get any information out of him. Did he hurt too bad to talk? Or did he just not like the questions she was asking? “Tell me about the ranch.”
“Hawk’s Creek? It’s just north of Tyler. Covers about six hundred acres all told. My family raises some of the finest Hereford stock around. Not to mention cutting horses.”
There was an unmistakable touch of pride in his voice. Sounded like he still had a fondness for the place. “So how did you end up going to law school?”
“Long story.”
His voice was getting deeper, his words dragging. She had to keep him alert. “Seems we’ve got nothing but time. Talk to me.”
“My grandfather’s a lawyer and prominent member of Philadelphia society. Mother was his only child.”
He paused and she leaned against him briefly. She could almost see him pull himself back together.
“She was the apple of his eye,” he continued. “He didn’t like it much when she up and married my pa and moved to Texas. Took it even harder when she died without ever moving back.”
“And?” she prodded, placing her hand on top of his at her waist.
“Grandfather always wanted a son to follow in his footsteps. The year I turned sixteen, he asked my father to send one of us boys up to Philadelphia to spend a few months with him. Truth be told, I think Pa felt guilty over having deprived Grandfather of his daughter. Whatever the reason, he agreed.”
“And you volunteered.”
“It was only supposed to be for the summer.”
That sounded almost defensive.
He shifted but his hand never moved from her waist. “When summer was over, Grandfather wanted me to accompany him on a trip to Boston. When we returned he needed help researching a major case. Then he wanted to show me his lodge up in the Adirondacks. The entire fall stretched out that way, one ‘one more thing’ after another, and it was Christmas before I made it home.”
The offhand, almost resentful way he cataloged his travels, as if he’d just taken a not-too-enjoyable walk around the block, flabbergasted her. She’d give her eyeteeth to have such an experience. “Sounds like he went all out to give you a taste of what your mother’s world had been like.”
“I never thought of it that way.” He seemed to ponder on that a moment before he went on. “Anyway, before I left Philadelphia, he asked me to consider returning to attend the university and perhaps enter law school. It was hard to leave because I knew he was lonely and that in a way I was a tie to his daughter.”
“Is that the only reason you went back?” Surely life in a big city like Philadelphia would have spoiled him for something as simple as life on a ranch.
“Things had changed while I was away. Pa relied more on Griff to help run the ranch. Sadie was growing into the lady of the house. Pa spent more time with his work than with the family. Everything appeared to be running smoothly without me.” He shifted slightly. “I just seemed like more of an outsider there than I had at Grandfather’s.”
Much as Jo wanted to get away from Knotty Pine and see the world, there was something sad about his story. Family was so important. No wonder he hadn’t answered when she asked which place he called home.
“Don’t know why I just told you all that,” he said gruffly. “Must be woozier than I thought.”
“Is your pa still around?”
“No. He died two years ago. Griff runs the ranch now.”
Did he resent his younger brother for stepping in to the oldest son’s role? Or was he relieved not to have that burden?
They rode in silence for a while. Jo figured as long as his grip on her waist was firm enough he wasn’t in any danger of drifting off.
And it definitely was firm, though not uncomfortably so. At least not in the usual sense. His hold wasn’t the least bit inappropriate. He merely used her to steady himself. He’d have held onto a sack of flour the same way. Even so, something about the near-embrace made her feel safe, secure, protected in an almost intimate kind of way. She’d never experienced such feelings before.
She’d always done her best to discourage any thoughts the men in Knotty Pine might have of walking out with her. After all, she had big plans to travel some day, and marriage would only get in the way. She needed wings, not roots.
Not that the menfolk had lined up to come courting. She wasn’t exactly the kind of woman men looked for in a wife. Too outspoken and independent, she supposed.
Funny, though, how that didn’t seem to bother Mr. Lassiter…
She gave her head a shake, not comfortable with where that line of thought might lead. Time for more talk and less thinking. “So nowadays you spend most of your time in Philadelphia? Do you get to travel to other places?”
“Sometimes.”
“Like where?”
“There’s that hunting lodge in the Adirondacks my grandfather owns—we spend several weeks a year there. And I’ve been to most parts of New England at one time or another.”
“Ever been to another country?”
“Once.”
His one word answers were less than informative. “Where to?”
“Greece.” He seemed to be speaking with an effort. “A client hired me to check on some legal aspects of an estate he’d inherited there.”
Greece! She had a world map in her room, one of her dearest treasures. On it were pins marking all the interesting-sounding places various travelers had told