Page 19 of A Cowboy's Trust
Jake pulled all of the cards and envelopes from the back of his journals. He still couldn’t toss them, but he could at least put them out of sight and hopefully out of mind. He assembled them in one big stack, bundled them up with an elastic band, then looked around for a good place to stash them.
Somewhere he wouldn’t spot too often. Wouldn’t accidentally fall back into thinking about the woman who didn’t really want him but didn’t seem to want to let him go either.
In the end, he shoved the pile to the back of his closet, tucked against the wall behind a pair of dress shoes that he only ever wore to funerals or job interviews. Neither of which he hoped to be doing anytime soon.
Satisfied, he headed to bed, savouring what had been an amazing evening and a spectacular kiss if he did say so himself.
The idea of being able to fluster Tansy made him more than a little pleased.
The entire evening had made him happy, and he couldn’t deny the whys of that. The Fields family had something special. Not only the connection between the siblings, but there was a real kindness to them at heart. He’d noticed the glances tossed between him and Tansy, but it hadn’t been judgmental. More in the lines ofif you’re interested in our Tansy, are you going to treat her right?
On one level it made him slightly uncomfortable to admit exactly how attractive he found Tansy. But there was no reason for the discomfort. She was a beautiful woman with a good head on her shoulders, and even if she’d didn’t do everything the way that he would, she wasn’t wrong.
He’d been fighting his attraction and his desires, and while Kevin would have a heyday if he knew everything, Jake was self-aware enough to be able to self-diagnose part of it.
Melissa had done a number on him. While they’d been young and gotten out of the marriage nearly as quickly as they got into it, Jake hadn’t really trusted another woman since then.
Trust. Such a little word for such a huge, gigantic, world-altering emotion.
Jake rolled over, the lethargy in his limbs as sleep beckoned closer tangling his thoughts, and yet nearly asleep, his understanding of the big picture seemed clearer. Melissa wasn’t the only one who’d broken his trust. His partner on the police force, Sean, had turned out equally deceptive in an entirely different way. Jake had left the RCMP when it was discovered Sean was accepting bribes on the side.
Sean had tried to put the blame on Jake but hadn’t succeeded. Still, it was the sort of thing that left a terrible taste in a man’s mouth and a chip on his shoulder.
Yet none of those details mattered because both of them were out of his life. Now that the letters were tucked away, hopefully neither Melissa nor Sean could influence Jake’s thoughts and he could focus on the here and now.
Focus on what it was he wanted in his world, which meant he needed to make a new list in the morning.
He wouldn’t apologize for using his planning skills to try and make good things happen. Like convincing Tansy that while they were oil and water in some ways…
No, oil andvinegar. The vinegar was him—a little too sharp, a little too astringent and determined. But combined together the two of them could be delicious on many levels.
He fell asleep amused at trying to woo the woman with food metaphors.
A brisk pounding on his door woke him half an hour before his alarm was supposed to go off at five A.M.. He leapt out of bed, grabbing jeans off the hook on the wall even as he stomped to the door.
When he unlocked it, Declan poked his head in. “We’ve got a ranch hand arriving sometime in the next half hour. You good to help me get him settled?”
“Hell, yeah. Where are we meeting?”
“Main house. I figured chances are he’ll be hungry, and Tansy’s already awake, getting set up for this evening.”
A momentary flash of concern struck. Jake was glad their first official ranch hand had arrived, but this weekend wasn’t the easiest time to slip in someone without being noticed. “You ready to make a judgment call on whether he’s out and about this weekend or staying low?”
“I’ve got it,” Declan confirmed with a nod. “I’m headed to the house.”
It took under ten minutes before Jake was scrubbed up, teeth brushed, and dressed in his ranching best. Worn blue jeans, an old soft flannel pulled over a plain blue T-shirt, finished with his favourite pair of boots, ones that he’d had for so long his feet slipped into them like a handshake with old friends.
Which meant when he made it to the house he was physically as comfortable as possible. It was all on the mental side that he felt shaky.
But inside the ranch house was warm and homey. Tansy spoke quietly with Declan, never stopping her work as she held an enormous bowl braced on her hip with her left hand and beat batter with the spoon in her right.
Declan offered a chin lift as Jake strode forward. “He’s the one who can answer that question,” he informed Tansy.
She glanced at him, the faintest hint of pink on her cheeks as she offered a smile. “Morning, Sunshine. I wanted to know which room you’re putting the new ranch hand in. I put together a box of snacks for him so he doesn’t feel as if he has to come into the house or the common room right away.”
“That’s a nice idea,” Jake said, nodding his head. “I put him in room two. With Kevin in number four, it spaces them out a bit until we have other arrivals.”
“Sounds good. I have a couple more things I want to tuck in the box, and I can do that as soon as I’ve got these cupcakes in the oven.”
