Paradise Peak (New Americana 5)

“We won’t stay and hold y’all up.” Red gathered up the empty paper bags and bottles, then waved Margaret over. “We know you’ve got a lot left to do before the sun goes down. We’ll leave you to it.”

Margaret called over her shoulder, “I’ll be back in a few hours with a late lunch for you.”

As they left, Hannah stood, brushed the crumbs off her jeans, and returned to the ladder. “I got to thinking, I might need an extra hand loading up the new horse tomorrow morning. I haven’t seen her myself, so I have no idea what condition she’s in.”

Boots crunched over dry grass and she felt Travis’s heavy presence at her back. She pulled in a deep breath and gripped the ladder, ignoring the strange mix of fear and desire clamoring through her.

“You’re welcome to go with me and help load up the mare,” she continued. “We’ll have to drive into town to get her and there’s a clothing store on the way. I’m sure Red would throw in a bonus with your pay for new clothes suitable for ranch work if you helped me tomorrow morning.” She bit her lip and said ruefully, “That is, if you need them?”

He was quiet for a minute and Hannah tensed, wanting to kick herself for being insensitive.

“I do need them, and I’d like to help with the new horse.”

Her shoulders relaxed at his soft words. There was no resentment in his voice, only gratitude and . . . a tinge of eagerness?

Hannah grinned, stepped onto the bottom rung of the ladder, and started climbing. “That’s settled then. Now, let’s get back to work.”

This time, Hannah set aside her pride and worked with more vigilance, stepping carefully, asking for Travis’s input and matching her pace to his. She even hauled ropes to the roof and allowed Travis to rig a tether for her, though the contraption was as aggravating this time around as before.

The rotten beams finally removed and replaced with new ones, she and Travis proceeded to install the sheet metal panels. Travis stood on the ladder and passed each panel to Hannah, who slid it in place, measured twice for accuracy, and drilled it into the beams in several places until it was secure.

Soon the sun, which had shone high in the sky for several hours, drifted slowly over their heads and eased west toward the mountain range. Margaret and Red returned with foil-covered plates of fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and huge slices of chocolate cake, and stood with Hannah and Travis for several minutes, admiring the new stable roof and complimenting

their work.

Hannah laughed. “Margaret must be happy with what we’ve done if she went to the trouble of baking a cake.”

Margaret waved her comment aside. “I am pleased with what you’ve done, but I enjoy baking and couldn’t imagine a better occasion for it. You and Travis should be proud of yourselves.”

Hannah glanced at Travis. He stood beside Red, one big hand kneading his left shoulder and an exhausted half smile on his face.

Her own smile slipped as she recalled how often he’d massaged his left shoulder and arm while they’d worked. He must have strained his muscles hauling her back up to the roof earlier that morning, and no doubt moving load after load of wood and sheet metal had only worsened his injury. A man who was all bad wouldn’t have done something to injure himself to help someone else, would he?

But he had still dodged Margaret’s questions at dinner last night and wasn’t entirely forthcoming with his past and opinions. Travis definitely fit the strong, silent mold—the kind of man Red had always been—so was it possible she’d misjudged him? That instead of hiding something, Travis was simply private? Or shy?

“I don’t know about Travis, but I’m beat,” Hannah said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Hope you don’t mind if I skip coffee at the lodge tonight, Margaret? It’ll be dark soon, so I’m going to settle Ruby and Juno for the night and turn in early.”

“I plan to do the same,” Travis said.

“Oh.” A disappointed expression crossed Margaret’s face.

“Travis has agreed to go with me to pick up the new horse tomorrow,” Hannah said quickly. “We need to leave early if we’re going to be able to load the horse, get back to the ranch, and stable her before the rain hits.”

Margaret’s brows raised, her disappointment vanishing. “You’re going with her, Travis? How wonderful!”

Red smiled at Travis. “Glad to hear it. You’ll get a chance to see more of Paradise Peak. I’ll meet you in front of the stable first thing tomorrow morning and help you hook up the trailer.”

“We’ll leave you to it then,” Margaret said, passing a plate to each of them and heading back to the lodge with Red. “See you both tomorrow morning.”

Hannah set her plate on a fence post and walked toward the pasture, saying over her shoulder to Travis, “If you’ll open the first two stalls, I’ll bring Ruby and Juno in.”

Travis nodded, set his plate on a post beside hers, and walked into the stable. Thirty minutes later, Ruby and Juno were stabled, night had settled in, and Hannah, balancing her plate of food in one hand and holding a camping lantern in the other, walked beside Travis on the dirt path toward her cabin.

An owl’s mournful hoot echoed in the woods, and trees rustled in the cool, late-winter wind. The stars were out, winking softly down at them as wispy clouds drifted past. Water splashed against rocks as it moved downstream to their right. Hannah sneaked glances at Travis as they strolled up the dirt path, and she suspected he did the same to her, but neither of them spoke, and before long, Hannah’s cabin emerged into view.

Hannah slowed her steps, lifted the lantern higher toward Travis, and said quietly, “I want to thank you for your help today. And for . . .” She looked up at him, admiring the way the soft light of the lantern caressed the strong angles of his handsome face, and blurted, “Holding me.”

Oh, wonderful—did she just say that? Out loud? She lowered the lantern to her side and looked away, her mouth opening and closing silently as she searched for a way out of the hole she’d dug.