Constance fell into step beside him. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced at him. “What comes next?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do I start shadowing you now? Or do I need to take some classes first?”
He peeked at her. Constance had this glow about her that he had started noticing more and more frequently. It was like a manifestation of her inner beauty. She was meek and kind, but he’d seen small fractures of moments where she could be bold.
Once again, James found himself shaking off these strange thoughts. “What did you ask?”
Her lips quirked into a small smile. “What do we do next?”
“Right. Well, I think it would be wise to have you shadowing me now. I don’t know about you, but I learn best when I can observe things firsthand.”
Constance nodded. “I’m the same.”
“Great.”
She hurried ahead of him and pulled open the door for him to enter. His arm brushed against hers and an unexpected shock traveled between them. Their eyes met and she smiled as she rubbed her arm. “Sorry.”
James hovered in the entryway. “Where—”
“Oh! Can you take them up to my room?”
He hesitated. If her father saw him wandering through the house, he might not like it very much. And that wasn’t even being in her room. James swallowed and nodded. “Of course. Lead the way.”
She scurried past him, careful not to touch him—or at least that was how it seemed. This was the first time he’d been in the Callahan’s house. Nothing was unexpected. It was a typical house where a cowboy raised his daughters. The décor was more rustic. A lot of brown tones and wooden furniture in every room. They made it to the end of the hall where there was a wall full of pictures. Images of the girls and their mother when they were younger. There were pictures of Zeke on his wedding day. Most of the frames contained memories from a long time ago. He couldn’t find even one picture where the girls resembled how they looked right now.
Constance slowed, having noticed that he wasn’t with her. She took a few steps back to stand beside him and study the familiar pictures. Her hands were behind her back as she stared at the one where her mother was surrounded by most, if not all, of her daughters.
“You must miss her.”
“Every day,” she murmured. “But we each have mentioned how at one time or another, we’ve felt her with us.”
Chills crawled up his spine and his blood seemed to chill. He glanced at her once more. It must have been really hard to have grown up without her mother. James couldn’t even imagine. His own parents were still very much alive, though he tried to keep them out of his personal life. Daphne Pratt was one of the more notorious gossips in town. Keeping his relationship with Brielle from her back in the day had been a feat all its own. She had a tendency to come to conclusions on her own that weren’t right and then spread that information to whoever would care to listen.
He hadn’t even told her his plan to train Constance. He could imagine what she would do with that information.
James’s chest tightened. He’d kept his relationship with Brielle a secret much like she had. But he’d done it to make her happy. She’d done it because she feared what her father would do. There was a difference.
Facing Constance, James offered her an empathetic smile. “I’m a firm believer that the love of people who have passed stays with us. Perhaps it’s her way of keeping you safe from everything you have to deal with while she’s gone.”
Constance worked her jaw, keeping her eyes trained on the pictures. If he had to guess, he would have assumed she was having a hard time keeping her emotions contained. “My mom’s favorite part of the ranch was taking care of the animals.”
“Oh?”
She nodded, still not meeting his gaze. “I think if it were up to her, she would have gotten a degree to be a vet, too.” Finally, she lifted her focus to his face. “I think she would have been really proud of me. I think she would have wanted me to follow this dream.”
As much as James wanted to say something intelligent, he couldn’t come up with anything. He didn’t have any experience with this sort of thing. She was following a path that was going to make her happy, but she was also doing it in remembrance of her mother. There was nothing more admirable than that.
Constance let out a heavy sigh. “Come on. My room is upstairs.”
He followed her up a curved stairway and down a hall with a few doors. She pushed open the last one on the left and disappeared inside.
James came to the doorway and froze. His eyes landed on her sister who sat on a bed on one side of the room. Constance pointed to a desk by a window. “You can put it here.”
Dianna glanced at him, her eyes full of curiosity.
He didn’t move immediately, locked in place by her gaze. Clearing his throat, James adjusted the box. “How are the—erm—goats?”