Page 21 of Falling for the Cowgirl
Of course, Jericho’s target practice had drawn a crowd—Judd as well as both Ellie and Ty—giving Hance and her even less privacy because now Ellie was sitting on her lap and clapping and cheering at every can Jericho hit.
Hance hadn’t seemed to mind the noise or the intrusion. Leastways, it hadn’t stopped him from rambling on about himself.
“Yay, Jericho!” Ellie squealed and hopped up. At three and a half, the girl was still petite and hardly weighed more than a June bug.
Jericho rewarded the little girl with a grin—one of his rakish, crooked, heart-stopping grins. One Ivy hadn’t seen yet since his return. And now the sight of it unleashed a popping of powder burning in her stomach. His grin was a killer. It was a good thing he didn’t show it often.
His apologies were killers too. When he’d left Mr. Steele’s house and sat beside her in the church and told her he was sorry for everything, she’d been near to swooning. His apology had been about the sweetest thing she’d ever heard. Too bad he’d had to go and ruin the moment by bringing up his brotherly status in her life.
“We’re like family.”Just the remembrance of his words pestered her worse than a horde of horseflies.
As his gaze flickered over her, she snatched up Hance’s hand, wrapped her fingers securely around his, and settled them on the bench between them.
In the middle of finishing his tale about the mirror, Hance pushed up his spectacles and examined their intertwined hands before smiling and scooting closer.
Jericho’s grin fell away. He took rapid aim at the next can and fired. The tin flew into the air. Ty, standing next to Judd and well behind Jericho, gave a whoop, and Ellie started to cheer. But Jericho was already aiming at the next can and shooting. Within seconds, he sent the last half a dozen flying.
When the cans lay scattered about the yard, he holstered his Colt, then turned and faced Hance. “Time’s up.”
Hance paused midsentence.
Jericho rested his hand on his revolver. Was he trying to scare Hance again?
Ivy stood, hefting Ellie with her, which forced her to release Hance’s hand. “Who appointed you my chaperone today?”
“I appointed myself and was giving you until I finished my target practice.”
“Do it again, Jericho!” Ty shouted, staying close to Judd.
Ellie wiggled her way free and ran over to join Ty. “Do it again, Jericho.”
About everything the girl said was a repeat of her big brother, reminding Ivy of how readily she’d followed after Dylan, how she’d admired him for so many years. If only she’d seen his pain and heartbreak coming, maybe she could have been there for him, been a better listener, helped soften the blow of rejection from Bethina Egleston when she’d turned down his offer of marriage and continued west with her family.
“We’re done for today,” Jericho said firmly. Both children’s shoulders slumped and their smiles disappeared. But with the way Jericho was staring straight at her, his statement had been meant for her, not them.
When his attention dropped to Hance, his brows furrowed in a scowl. Hance burst up from the bench quicker than corn popping in an oiled pot.
“Jericho, you stop being a bully!” Ivy reached for Hance’s hand again. She couldn’t help it. Something inside was driving her to irritate Jericho. Maybe she wanted to believe he was jealous, wanted to make him realize what he was missing. But she’d learned long ago such efforts were in vain. Even if in the short term he acted concerned, that’s as far as his bluster ever went.
“I think Hance was just leaving. Weren’t you, Hance?” Jericho’s question left little room for argument.
Hance opened his mouth to respond, but she beat him to it. “I reckon Hance is welcome to stay at least until Greta calls us in for supper. In fact, been thinking maybe I’ll invite Hance to eat with us.” That was a lie. She hadn’t considered inviting him for supper even once. But with the way Jericho was bossing her around, she relished making him as prickly as a cactus.
“Come on, Hance.” She pulled him toward the path that led behind the house down to the river. “Why don’t we go for a walk? Just the two of us.”
Jericho spread his feet. “The only place Hance is walking is straight to his horse.”
Hance glanced from Jericho to her and back. Then he nodded. “I was planning on heading home soon anyway. Tonight, Otis and I are mapping out our next treasure-hunting route.”
At the mention of treasure hunting, Ty’s face lit. In an instant, he raced over to Hance and peppered him with questions. Ivy moseyed with Hance to his horse, all the whilekeeping their hands interlocked and making sure Jericho saw it.
She only half listened to Hance explain to Ty some of the treasure hunting he and Otis had already done. Because most of the easy gold in the Rockies had been mined over the past ten years since the start of the gold rush, more and more tales abounded about miners, thieves, and gangs who’d hidden their gold in mountain hideouts, only to abandon their loot for one reason or another. There were even stories about early Spanish explorers, as well as natives, who’d buried gold, hoping to come back for it, but never returned.
With every passing year, the interest in such treasures escalated. And men like Hance and Otis made a sport of searching for it.
As Hance reached his horse, he halted and peeked at Jericho. Even with Ellie holding up one of the cans and asking him to shoot it again, Jericho’s attention was fixed on Hance and her like frost on a field.
Jericho didn’t budge, not until Hance was mounted and urging his horse to a trot. Then he picked up the cans, carried them to the barn, and didn’t come back out.
