Her heart swelled at the thought of seeing him a couple of years from now. The sweetness of it. The anticipation. But it hurt, too. She didn’t know why. It hurt to think of those years passing.
Frowning, she turned her head away from Eve and watched the golden meadows slide by her window. She wanted to see the elk, she thought, when they came down in the winter. She wanted to know what that looked like.
But not this year. Some other time, far from now, when everything was better.
* * *
SHE’D RUN AWAY AGAIN. But that was fine. If that was what she needed to feel safe, Cole could live with that. It would only make it that much better when she finally woke up and turned toward him instead of trying to escape. And she would. Soon. He was sure of it.
Still, he kept an eye out for Eve’s car all morning. Last night, Grace had pulled away from him, throwing insults when he hurt her feelings. But when he’d revealed his uncertainty about his leg, she’d reached out. Sure, she’d say it was just sex, but it had been comfort. Hard as she was, she didn’t like to see other people hurt.
What had she said about Rayleen and Easy? I think it’s sweet. Sweet to watch two lonely people together, when she couldn’t even admit to being lonely herself.
God, he wanted to take care of her.
Then again, he shouldn’t think like that. At this point, he couldn’t even take care of himself. Or the ranch. Or any of his responsibilities.
A young hand who’d been sent to the corral to retrieve Madeline’s horse returned, and Cole saddled it. She wanted another ride to try to find the perfect place for a nighttime-sky shot. One of the monsters could fly, apparently. “She’s a good rider,” he explained to Jeremy, “but try to keep her under control. She tends to take more risks than she should.”
“Got it,” Jeremy replied, dusting off his jeans and tucking in his shirttail. This boy was her new cowboy toy, maybe. He was young. Nineteen or twenty. Agreeable and enthusiastic. She liked that.
Cole didn’t feel any twinge of jealousy, but he felt a little bitter, remembering when he’d been young like that. Stupid and carefree. Invincible.
He caught sight of a vehicle coming down the drive and turned over the reins of the pinto to Jeremy. But it wasn’t Eve’s car. It was a big silver pickup with a logo painted on the side. The Idaho animal handler they’d been waiting for since yesterday. He’d bring in horses for the actual film shoot. Trained ponies who’d do exactly what Madeline wanted.
Cole smiled without any amusement as he walked over to meet the handler. It was his job to show the guy around and work with what he might need for the shoot.
Two hours later, he’d dealt with the handler, approved locations for fake fencing to be put up that wouldn’t interfere with the day-to-day operations of the ranch, and rescued a production assistant from an angry rooster.
He would’ve lost his mind if he hadn’t walked into the yard and spotted Grace. He smiled before he could stop himself. The purple strands of her hair glinted in the sunlight, completely at odds with the pastoral scene behind her—the mountains still striped with snow at the highest peaks, even in July. The wild grass, golden and rippling like waves in the distance. And just behind her, the spring house lurked, its dark wood frame leaning precariously to the south, just as it had for the past twenty years. And in the foreground of it all was Grace, wearing her tight black jeans and some sort of tunic with a flirtatious nude girl painted on the side. Grace frowned, of course, unhappy about something, but her black eyelashes curled up in cheerful sexiness against pink eye shadow. Her lips were lush and rosy against her white skin.
She was so out of place. And exactly where she should be.
“Mr. Rawlins?” a young man asked. He was carrying a clipboard and looked about seventeen.
“Just a second,” Cole said absentmindedly. “I’ll be right back.” He headed across the yard, straight toward Grace. She was talking to Eve now, nodding, still serious.
“Are you sure?” Grace was asking.
“Absolutely. I would have mentioned it sooner, but I forgot that Michael had moved to Vancouver. I’ll call him tonight when I get back to the office if you think you’d be interested.”
“Of course I would be. Thank you so much.”
“When do you plan on going?”
Cole stopped short a few feet away.
Grace was turned half away from him, but he could hear her clearly. He could see her mouth forming the words. “If I can get a job lined up, I’ll move on in a week or two. But not if you still need me. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“No, once preproduction is done, I’ll be…” Eve’s words died as she met Cole’s eyes. “Is everything okay?”
No. No, everything was not okay. His ears were filled with a rushing sound that seemed to have nothing to do with the breeze lifting Grace’s hair off her shoulders.
“Hey, Cole,” she said casually.
What had she been saying? She was leaving? But not if you need me. Her? Eve? “What the hell’s going on, Grace?”
“Uh,” Eve said. “I’ll leave you two alone. If that’s what you want, Grace.”