Page 38 of Nashville Cowboy
Sadie blew out an exasperated breath. Lincoln asked so many questions. He believed that Jackson had long ago moved on, but he hadn’t seen the look in Jackson’s eyes. He couldn’t take them off Eve. She recognized that look because she saw it in Lincoln’s eyes every day. Longing. Desire. Jackson just didn’t know how to forgive Eve, but he wanted to.
“Because…she doesn’tknowshe needs it.”
Lincoln tipped his hat and scratched his temple. “I used to be smarter than this. Why doesn’t she know she needs it?”
“It’s going to remind her. Eve’s quilt. She kept it, all these years.” Sadie’s voice broke and she covered her face. “She still loves him. Don’t you see it?”
“Hey, hey.” He pulled her into his arms. “Baby, don’t cry. You sure cry easy these days. I believe you. But I’m just not sure he feels the same way. I mean, he’s pretty angry. Rightfully so. We should just leave well enough alone.”
She buried her face in his warm neck. “Remember when you thought I could do better than you? When you broke up with me?”
“Now, I came around, didn’t I? I know you couldn’t possibly do any better than this cowboy.”
“And I know Eve won’t ever do better than Jackson.”
“Not if she doesn’t try.”
“That’s just the thing. She’s never even going to try.” The thought made Sadie ache for Eve. “I don’t want her to wind up alone for the rest of her life.”
“She won’t, baby.”
“How can you be so sure?” A single tear rolled down her cheek. All the books were sure right about all this hormone stuff.
She wished she could already be on her honeymoon where she’d find the perfect time to tell Lincoln about their baby. When they were relaxed and alone. Not when they were so stressed over the wedding, Jackson, and Eve.
Lincoln wiped the tear away with his thumb. “Okay. I’ll help. I don’t know how I can, but I’ll sure try.”
The next morning,Jackson woke before dawn for the first time in weeks, got dressed, and pulled on his boots. Winston, who’d been bunking with him every night, hovered at his feet, desperate for rubs and pats.
“Hey, old boy.” He scratched Winston’s ears until he made a happy moaning sound. “Let’s go.”
He’d slept little, not assisted by memories of Eve, the girl he’d known and loved. She’d always helped both animals and people, and sobbed when she saw an animal injured. He’d once asked her how she’d planned to be a veterinarian if she didn’t toughen up, and she’d removed her boot and thrown it at him. By then he’d become great at ducking. Eve had a fiery furnace of a temper just as warm and deep as her heart.
“Just because I cry a little doesn’t mean I’m not strong, Jackson Carver! And I’ll do it, you just watch.”
He smiled now at the memory and wanted that girl back. He wanted to see the same light in her eyes return. The fierceness. She’d obviously had it when going through school, until her illness took it out of her. As a musician, he couldn’t imagine being deaf in one ear, so maybe it hit him harder than it would others. But he ached for Eve, because she’d always worked so hard.
He walked out to the stables where he’d probably find her. Her normal routine, he’d determined, was to take Thimble for a ride before making breakfast for everyone. That girl loved horses, even if she’d never owned one. Still, Thimble thought of herself as Eve’s, and the feeling seemed mutual. Not surprisingly, Thimble was missing from her stall. Taco whinnied.
“Want to go find those two?” Jackson reached to rub his mane. “Yeah. Me too.”
Nowhewas talking to horses. That was usually Eve territory. Had been ever since at the age of eighteen his father discovered that horses loved the sound of Eve’s voice. She soothed them. Once, the sound of her voice calmed Taco, too. But Jackson knew the moment all that changed. He saddled Taco and hooked the lead to him, helping him out of the stable.
As he rode, he remembered the day he’d taken Taco for a devil of a ride after Eve stood him up. He’d ridden across the hills fast and hard. Stopped once, only to give Taco a break. Anger, pain, and loss fought for top billing in the chaos of emotions that rolled through Jackson on that day. Eve abandoned him, plain and simple. Same way his mother abandoned her family when Lincoln was ten and Jackson eight. Little Daisy only three.
For hours he’d wrestled with his demons. In his mind, abandonment was unforgiveable. If he hadn’t forgiven his mother, whom he’d adored, hecouldn’tforgive Eve. The day before the wedding, she’d texted him a simple message:
I can’t wait to be your wife. xoxo
Then, with no explanation, she didn’t show.
He’d ridden Taco to the fence line dividing their property from the rear of the Truehart ranch, on which sat the small cottage where Eve’s mother Brenda still lived. He watched long enough to see her arrive at her home, run inside, then right back out again. No sign of Eve.
Disgusted, he’d pushed Taco to a trot, the sound of his pain turning into a loud guttural yell. He’d yelled at Eve. At Hank, who didn’t think he’d ever be a good enough cowboy until he put away that “sissy” guitar. And he’d yelled at his mother, who’d left after telling him how much she loved him.
“Good riddance, all of you!”
Taco bucked, then threw Jackson off. Skilled at falling through years of practice, Jackson rolled and avoided serious injury just feet away from a sharp rock. He’d brushed himself off and stared in confusion at Taco, who’d locked eyes with him for one interminable moment. Whoever said horses couldn’t talk never looked into the eyes of a frightened one. Taco turned and galloped off in the direction of the Carver ranch…without Jackson.
