When All My Dreams Come True (40 page)

J
ace greeted Cade Ramsey with a grin. With his friend here, maybe Annie would quit hovering. She’d been nursing him for the last three days, and he figured they both could use a break. Jace gestured toward the chair.

“Have a seat. I need the male companionship.” He said the last as a jab at Annie as she entered the room.

She made a face. “I just came in to say hello to Cade.” Her gaze swung away from Jace and pierced Cade. “You make sure he doesn’t overdo.”

Cade grinned at her. “Yes, ma’am.”

Annie left the room, and Jace scooted up in bed, pulling the covers up over his bandage. “So what’s been happening?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you.” Cade’s smile never faded as he tossed his hat on the foot of the bed. His eyes gleamed with mischief. Jace had seen that look many times while they were growing up. He never knew what to expect when Cade wore that expression.

“What?” Jace said.

“Has she confessed her love for you yet?”

Jace laughed. “What makes you think she’s in love with me?”

“We’ve both seen the way she looks at you.” He paused, leaned back in his chair, and propped his feet on the bed. “What do you think she’s waiting for?”

“Maybe she doesn’t realize it yet.”

Cade looked skeptical. “So what are you planning to do about that?”

“I’m not sure yet. But if Bobbie loves me, I’ll wrangle it out of her some way or another.”

Cade sat quiet and thoughtful for a moment, his eyes focused on some distant spot. “Do you remember back when we were both wondering if and when God would bring someone special into our lives? We said that we’d help each other be patient and wait on the timing of Lord. Now, all these years later, the woman God has for you comes riding in on a horse and changes your life.”

Jace smiled at the vision.

“I wonder how my future bride will appear,” Cade said.

“Probably soaking wet, looking like a drowned rat, and needing to be rescued by a big, dark-haired man with a soft heart.”

Cade shook his head. “I’m not all that soft-hearted.”

“Ha! You’re one of the kindest and most big-hearted men I know. You see some damsel in distress and you’re off at a run before anyone else has even given a thought to helping.” Jace watched Cade’s face show signs of surprise and consternation. “What about Kim? Did that not work out? I know she wondered if you had any interest in her.”

“Interest? She’s pretty enough to grab my attention, but she’s changed some since she lived here. We’ll have to get reacquainted.”

“So, she plans to stick around for a while?”

“That’s the plan. She says she has a few months before she has to make any decisions.”

“Decisions about what?”

Cade shrugged. “That will be part of getting reacquainted.”

The men talked a little longer before Cade said it was time to head home. He plucked his hat off the blankets and jammed it onto his head.

“The next time you see Bobbie, tell her I’m ready for one of her
home-cooked meals again. I want to make sure she stays in practice. Can’t have her starving you to death.”

A gentle breeze stirred the curtains the next morning. A horse’s whinny carried from the corral to mingle with the robins chirping outside Jace’s window.

“Annie, you’ve made me lay here for four days. I need out. I need some fresh air.”

His sister stood over him with her hands on her hips. Then she stepped over to the window, threw open the curtains, and turned back to him.

“There’s your fresh air. As for getting out of bed, not until Doc says it’s all right. Is that clear?” She moved back to the bed and fussed with the covers. “Besides, I think the men enjoy the freedom from having you ordering them around.”

Jace saw her lips twitch and could tell she wasn’t all that mad at him. He tugged her apron. “I’m sorry I’m such a bear.” He lifted the apron and looked at her stomach.

“Jace!” She pulled the apron from his grasp and smoothed it back in place.

“How are you, Annie? You feeling all right?”

“I’m fine. I just have a bigger baby to take care of than I thought I would.”

“What!” He reached for her, but she jumped out of his reach. He flung a small pillow at her. She caught it.

“Well,” Doctor Barnes said with a grin as he entered the room, “if you can throw a pillow like that, maybe it’s time to let you out of bed.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her,” Jace said.

“You’re just lucky that cut wasn’t any deeper or you’d be in here for a week or more.”

After the examination, Doc followed Jace out to the sofa. “Spend a couple days taking it easy, Jace. After that, I don’t see why you
can’t get back to work, as long as it’s light. No heavy lifting, breaking horses, or branding cattle.”

“Thanks, Doc. Make sure my sister knows that.”

“I heard,” Annie said behind them. “There goes all my fun of bossing you around.”

“Does this mean I get my bed back?”

Bobbie’s sweet voice drifted in off the porch. She looked beautiful standing there with the sun resting on her shoulders. She had popped in for a few minutes from time to time to check on him. Minutes weren’t nearly enough as far as he was concerned. He wanted hours...a lifetime with her.

“Nope,” Jace said. “Not yet, but soon.” He held his hand out to her. She came and took it. He felt he could crush her in his arms and never let go, so great was his desire to hold her.

Annie and Doc slipped out of the room and left them staring at each other. Jace motioned for Bobbie to sit. He kept hold of her hand so she had to sit next to him on the sofa.

“Can you stay for a few minutes?”

Bobbie smiled at him. “You’re the boss.”

“Since when did that stop you from arguing?”

“I haven’t been that bad.” She looked at his stomach. “I guess you’re feeling better?”

“Yep. Doc says I can get up and about again in a couple days. That brings me to a question. I’m riding up to the north pasture day after tomorrow. Will you go with me?”

Bobbie’s gaze dropped back to his stomach, concern on her face.

Jace laughed. “In a buggy, of course.”

“Oh.” Bobbie looked at him and smiled. Then she looked down and tugged her hand free. “Actually, I wanted to ask you for a few days off. The paper has a listing for a nice little ranch. I wanted to ride up and look it over.”

Her words hurt more than a hundred stab wounds. “Can it wait? At least for a while longer? Ride with me, Bobbie. We’ll pack food
and have a picnic. If you still want a few days off after that, I won’t stop you.”
Please, God, make her say yes
.

Bobbie’s smile reappeared. “All right. That sounds nice.”

“Jace?”

He looked up to find Sheriff Thomas in the doorway.

“Ya got a minute?”

“Sure, Morgan. Have a seat.”

Morgan glanced from Jace to Bobbie and back again. “My deputy and I have looked all over that mountain. We can’t find Grant. At first, we followed the drops of blood, but they disappeared. So did his footsteps. Once there was no trail, we didn’t know which way to go. Either he died out there somewhere or he’s hiding out again.”

“Did you burn down that shack for me?”

“Yes. He can’t hide there again.”

Jace reclaimed possession of Bobbie’s hand. “He won’t get you again, Bobbie. We’ll make sure of that.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“It’s my guess he’s dead.” Morgan turned to Bobbie. “With all the blood you said you saw and with all the drops we followed, I’m thinking he passed out in some hole and never woke up.”

“We can only hope.” Jace squeezed Bobbie’s hand. “You still up for that ride, knowing this?”

She gave him a slow smile. “Sure. I’ll protect you.”

Jace would have tried to kiss her if Morgan hadn’t been peering at them from under the rim of his dusty Stetson.

Bobbie awoke and smiled.
One more day until my ride with Jace
. She dressed, skipped down the stairs, and joined Annie in the kitchen. “Can I help with something?”

“Sure. Watch these eggs while I finish these hotcakes.”

The two women worked in silence until Annie bumped Bobbie with her hip. “It’s about time, you know.”

Since Annie whispered, Bobbie assumed she didn’t want to awaken Jace. “About time for what?”

“That you fell in love with my brother.”

Bobbie’s face felt hotter than the flame under her pan. She cleared her throat. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, let’s see.” Annie put her hand on her hip as she smiled up at her. “Maybe it’s the way you look at him. Or maybe it’s the way your face seems to glow when he’s looking at you. Or—”

“All right. That’s enough.”

Annie chuckled and turned back to her hotcakes. “So you admit it?”

Bobbie sighed. “Yes.”

“Have you told him?”

“No.”

Annie looked at her again. “So?”

“So what?”

“Do you plan to tell him?”

Bobbie shrugged.

“I swear you two have harder heads than those horses out there.”

Bobbie laughed. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.”

“Oh, it’s meant to be all right. You two are perfect for each other.”

The conversation ended when Pete and the kids joined them. Jace wandered out from his temporary room minutes later. Bobbie and Annie exchanged several glances as they ate. Bobbie wanted to kick Annie when she saw her staring and grinning at Jace. She would have if she could have reached her.

Jace set down his fork. “What, Annie? Is something stuck to my face?” He wiped his hand across his mouth.

“Nope. You’re fine.” Annie switched her glance between Bobbie and Jace. She grinned and looked down.

Bobbie avoided his gaze.

“Ben?” Jace turned to his nephew. “Do you know what they’re up to?” The boy shook his head. “Well, do me a favor. Keep an eye
on them for me. The last time they acted like this, I ended up with a haircut.”

Bobbie choked on her hotcake. Annie grabbed a napkin and held it over her mouth. Jace stood and looked at both of them.

“I’ll be at my house doing some book work. I can’t stay here. You two have me scared half to death.”

He walked out of the room. Bobbie and Annie exchanged a look that sent them into gales of laughter.

Bobbie sat in the buggy the next morning tapping her foot on the step. The toe of her scuffed leather boots stuck out from the hem of her new denims. She had contemplated wearing a dress but thought that would be too obvious and settled for her new jeans and shirt instead. She rolled her eyes and groaned as she put her head back. She had looked forward to this ride for two days. Now she couldn’t seem to stop her fidgeting.

Mack trotted over to the edge of the corral and looked at her. She felt guilty leaving him behind. As a way of making amends, she put him in the corral rather than leave him in his stall.

Annie stepped out and dumped some dirty water onto the grass. The two women’s gazes met.

“Your hair sure looks pretty like that, Bobbie. We need to fix it like that more often.”

“Thank you.”

She’d asked Annie to help her fix it in something other than the usual braid but still wear her hat. The result was a loose bun at the nape of her neck with soft tendrils outlining her face.

“You two have fun.”

“Thank you, Annie, and thanks for fixing our lunch.”

Annie waved away the comment. “Enjoy.”

She disappeared inside as Jace headed toward the buggy. He’d
been walking around the ranch site with Dew. He looked tired. She was about to ask him about it when he held up his hand.

“Don’t say it. I’m fine, and there’s no way you can stop me from going on this ride.”

Bobbie grinned. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” She handed him the reins. He shook his head.

“You drive.”

“Where to?”

He smiled. “I think you know.”

She returned his smile and flicked the reins.

They made small talk all the way to her favorite spot overlooking the river. She could feel a certain energy coming from Jace. He placed his arm along the back of the seat and gave her little hugs from time to time. They shared so many funny tales of their youth that Bobbie’s sides hurt from all the laughter.

As she told another story from her childhood, he ran his finger from her ear down her jawline and along her bottom lip. Her pulse raced as her mouth went dry. She lost her concentration and almost couldn’t finish the story.

Bobbie reined in the horses. “Here we are.” Did he notice how squeaky her voice sounded? Heat rose to her cheeks.

When they reached the spot, he helped her carry the picnic basket and blanket. After climbing on top of the boulder, he laid out the blanket and took the basket from her. Then he held his hand out and helped her up. She looked out at the view.