Page 39 of Waiting for the Rancher
He released her and took a rapid step away.
She didn’t move—was frozen to the spot.
He couldn’t look at her, didn’t want to see her reaction to his declaration. What was she thinking? Was she afraid? More confused? Maybe she didn’t return his love and didn’t know how to let him down nicely.
And what would happen when Sterling learned about the declaration of love to Hazel? Because somehow Sterling seemed to find out everything.
Maverick pinched the back of his neck. He was the worst kind of friend. And he was no good for Hazel.
He should’ve waited to say something to her. Instead, he’d pushed ahead like he always did, without thinking through the ramifications of his actions.
He could feel her eyes upon him, watching, waiting for him to explain himself. But what could he say that wouldn’t make the situation worse?
With a frustrated exhale, he stalked off. He had to get away from her for just a few minutes—needed a moment of privacy where he could attempt to think clearly without the sight of her distracting him.
He stumbled on the rocky terrain but quick-like righted himself. A step later, he found his feet slipping. Before he knewwhat was happening, the layer of rocks and soil beneath him crumbled.
The haze in his mind fell away, and he realized too late that he’d wandered to the river’s edge—a steep embankment of rocks with the river rushing twenty-five feet or more at the bottom of the slope.
He tried to scramble backward, his fingers grasping at tree roots, grass, brush—anything he could find. But his boots were already sliding down the slope.
He attempted to sit in order to halt the downward momentum, but the loose stones acted like saddle grease, and he found himself slipping and sliding with no way to stop the descent.
Several large boulders loomed ahead at the river’s edge. If he didn’t slow down or find a way to avoid them, he was gonna slam into them, and the impact—especially to his head—would probably kill him.
Frantically, he scanned the embankment for a way to save himself. His gaze snagged on a scraggly sage brush to one side of the boulders. Could he shift his position so that he ended up there instead?
Twisting as best he could, he threw his body in the direction of the brush. With every second, the speed of the descent increased, until at last he lost his footing altogether. His body flipped end over end, pain shooting through him.
A second later, he made impact and braced himself. Though his boots hit the boulder, his body landed against the sage brush. As his head slammed into the harsh cushion, his last conscious thought was of Hazel and how he hoped she wouldn’t try to come down after him.
15
Where was Maverick? He’d been gone for too long.
Hazel stood from where she’d been kneeling and observing Candy and the foal and searched for a glimpse of him.
An osprey circled nearby, its slender body and narrow wings graceful in the wind current. It was likely fishing in the river, hovering ever lower before it dove down feet first to catch a fish in its talons.
She took in a deep breath of the cool morning air. With April slipping away, it wouldn’t be long now before the days and nights turned warmer. But for now, the air still held the hint of winter, and the lingering piles of snow here and there were the reminders of how quickly the weather could change.
As she surveyed the landscape for the sight of Maverick’s rugged, muscular frame, her heart hummed a new, sweet melody, even if it was skipping a beat with nervousness. All because Maverick had told her he loved her.
The words had been so soft but so clear that she’d known she wasn’t dreaming or misunderstanding him.
He loved her.
At a shiver of anticipation, she wrapped her arms across her middle and hugged herself. She didn’t have to ask him to clarify if he loved her as a friend or a woman. From the way he’d kissed her face, he’d left her with no doubt that he desired her as a woman every bit as much today as he had that night he’d first kissed her.
Even so, she still wasn’t certain what he wanted. He hadn’t necessarily seemed pleased with himself after telling her, almost as if he hadn’t meant to and it had just slipped out.
His hesitancy could mean a number of things. Maybe he’d wanted to talk to her first before telling her of his love. Maybe he wanted to make sure she reciprocated. And though she’d never allowed herself to think of loving Maverick, she knew deep inside that she did.
On the other hand, what if his hesitancy was because he wasn’t ready to be in a relationship? Especially because he was still working through his pa’s death. It was possible he wanted to wait until he had the chance to put some of the pain behind him.
Whatever the case, his soft, sweet words had gone straight to her heart and filled her with the need to be with him. She didn’t want to be away from him, even now. She physically felt as though a part of her was missing.
If she was completely honest, she’d always wanted to be with him, always felt complete, happier, contented when she was with him. Now that she knew he loved her, she longed to be with him even more, as if the words had given her permission to acknowledge everything she’d been trying hard to deny.
