Page 39 of Nashville Cowboy
The sound he made, the pounding of his hooves against the red dirt, forever changed Jackson.
“I’m done being left behind. From now on, I’m the one who leaves. You hear that?”
Until today, the first and last time he’d talked to a horse.
On the long walk back to the ranch, Jackson made his decision. He would go to Nashville and forget Eve. This could be the only chance he’d have to change the trajectory of his life to this point, and he’d take it. He’d forget the stupid town of Stone Ridge and shake the dust off his boots. Make a name for himself so that someday Eve would come to regret her decision in a stellar way. Years from now she’d sit next to her bald and fat husband and say, “I was once engaged to that guy.” And she’d regret leaving him, same as his mother would if she ever happened to hear his name announced over the radio and recognize him as a full-grown man.
Now, Jackson rode across the plains searching for Eve and Thimble, much calmer and centered. He was no longer the boy abandoned by his mother or the young man left at the altar. He was beginning to see that it wasn’t always about him. No one made a decision in a vacuum. They made them from life experiences and beliefs which weren’t always true but were always true to them.
He tried talking to Taco once more, just in case the emotions Taco could sense flowing out of Jackson were clouding their communication. This time not anger and grief, but remorse.
“Easy, boy. I just need to talk to her.”
She and Thimble were headed back when he caught sight of them. Eve did, too, slowing Thimble, and turning toward him.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, once they were within a few feet of each other.
“Wanted to ride Taco.”
As good of an excuse as any other, though he’d really wanted to talk with Eve. Ask her how he could make her life better. Easier. Whether maybe he could pay for the hearing aid. Maybe some of her student loans. He wasn’t wealthy, but he did all right for himself with song royalties. He’d have to tiptoe around that suggestion, because she might believe this was based on pity for her.
He didn’t pity Eve but felt only admiration for her. And a brand-new understanding. He needed her to realize that he didn’t see her any differently, and that no one should.
Jackson hopped off Taco, and holding the reins, walked a few feet to face east and the slowly rising sun. Eve did the same, but she kept a healthy distance between them.
Damn, how he wanted to hold her. He took a tentative step closer and simply reached out to squeeze her shoulder. “Look at that sunrise, Eve.”
She didn’t flinch or move away. “Nothing like a Texas sunrise.”
“You get to see one every mornin’?”
“If I’m lucky and don’t oversleep.”
Guilt coursed through him. She was in his family home, pretty much a servant. Just like her mother, Brenda, over at the Truehart horse ranch. He’d once promised Eve she’d have a different kind of life than her parents. She’d kissed him, and then assured him this would be true, but she would be the one to take care of that.
Eve. Always independent. Always confident. Fearless. And even though he told himself that cooking in Mima’s kitchen was temporary, he didn’t like her slaving away for the cowboys. For him.
“Why are you here?” she asked quietly. “This early, I mean.”
He cleared his throat. “I wanted to see the sunrise.”
And you. I wanted to catch you before you were off on whatever wedding errand you’re running for Sadie today. Maybe steal another kiss if I’m lucky.
“There’s one every day,” she teased, and he glanced over to see that she was smiling at him. “Just get up early enough.”
He grinned back at her. “Is that an invitation?”
“To the sunrise?” She gaped at him, then threw her head back in a laugh. “It’s available to everyone.”
“Not this view,” he said, and this time he made a slow appraisal of her body.
She bit her lower lip, then looked away shyly. That also wasn’t Eve. She was proud of her body. Proud he’d wanted her every day and couldn’t get enough.
He stepped closer to reach for her hand this time. “Forgive me for being an idiot. For trying to fire you.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I understand what you must have thought, walking in and finding me here in the family home. I wanted them to warn you but Mima and Linc said it would be okay. That I shouldn’t worry. But Iwasworried.”
“You know me best.” He squeezed her hand. “Guess I forgot I’ve been taught to put other’s needs first. I think I’ve been gone too long.”
