Page 69 of Jocelyn
Miriam traced the bottom of the wedding dress with her finger. “And Esther responded.”
“She did.” Gran looked up at me. “They were married a few weeks after her arrival. A love match, if a bit of a whirlwind.” She patted my cheek. “All this talk of weddings and thinking you meant Jocelyn, well, it brought Clement and Esther’s story back to my mind. I thank you for that.”
I studied the faces of my ancestors. “So you’re saying lasting love is a part of the Thomas legacy as well.”
“As much as hard work and dedication.”
I looked up and caught my family staring at me with silly grins on their faces. “I feel like I’m repeating myself, but why are you all looking at me like that? Especially since, when you thought I’d proposed to Jocelyn, you called me crazy.”
“That was before we heard the story of Clement and Esther.” Miriam clasped her hands together.
I folded my arms. “I’m still not racing to the finish line.”
Nate prodded me with his elbow. “No, but maybe you could bump your speed up to a trot instead of a plodding walk.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think he’s implying that you’re still dragging your feet and letting your insecurities get in your way.” Miriam grabbed the rest of the dishes on the table to clear away.
“We’ve been talking every day, so I can’t see as how anyone could accuse me of that.”
“You haven’tseenher in two weeks.” Nate’s tone implied his opinion on the matter.
“I’ve been a little busy with the calving and running the ranch, thank you very much.”
Nate’s fake cough didn’t hide his accusation of “excuses.”
“She’s only a few hours away, not on the other side of the country.” Miriam ran hot water over the dirty plates.
“You could surprise her,” Gran suggested with a hint of a smile on her lips.
“What if she doesn’t like surprises?” They weren’t suggesting anything I hadn’t thought of before. My desire to see Jocelyn again had been outweighing my trepidation that somehow being together in the same space would ruin the closeness we’d cultivated over the distance. But there was still that niggle of doubt that I’d somehow say something that would wreck the whole thing.
“Then you’ll have learned another thing about her.” Gran gently shut the old family album. “You can’t win if you don’t try.”
“And Miriam, Gran, and I are completely capable of keeping the ranch running while you’re gone,” Nate assured.
“I…” Already nerves were working to thicken my tongue and cause my words to stumble like a newborn calf finding its legs for the first time.
Gran placed her palms on my cheeks and forced my eyes to meet hers. “Don’t overthink it.” She patted my chest. “Let yourself feel the moment in here. The heart can say so much more than the lips can.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Okay, Gran.”
No practiced speeches. No mental lists. I’d see Jocelyn again and let my heart communicate in any way that it could.
25
Jocelyn
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Bill,” I called as I punched the down arrow on the wall outside the elevator.
Bill waved distractedly from his office as the stainless-steel doors slid open with adingand I stepped in. I pushed the button for the bottom level and waited as the doors closed and the elevator started its downward trajectory, making my stomach dip like always. A few seconds later the doors opened again, and I walked out. It had been a long day, and I couldn’t wait to get home. I wanted to make some tweaks on the design for Molly’s wedding gown, and I found my fingers itching to pick up a freshly sharpened sketching pencil.
I glanced up, and my gaze collided with a pair of onyx eyes I’d know anywhere. Like a herd of stampeding wild horses, my heart galloped in my chest. What was Malachi doing here?
He stood from a chair by the entrance, his tall frame overshadowing the men in power suits entering and exiting the building. I tracked the span of his brow, devoid of his black Stetson, and slid my gaze along the strong line of his jaw. My memory of this man had not been honest with me. He was even more attractive than I had recalled, though maybe that had something to do with knowing him better now.
He studied me as I walked toward him, drinking me in like he’d been dying of thirst, left too long in the Mojave Desert on a summer’s day. It wasn’t possible to feel a look, but that didn’t stop a wave of awareness from passing over me. The directness of his eyes on me made my skin flush with a pleasant heat that settled in my belly.
