Honeymoon With the Rancher

No, tonight would be goodbye, and that would be the end of it.

CHAPTER NINE

THE evening was waning as they ambled down the lane, Tomas’s stride slow and relaxed while Sophia felt like a bundle of charged nerves beside him. The air held a late summer chill. For several minutes they walked silently, with the sounds of twilight filling the gap of conversation until Sophia understood where they were headed—the gigantic gnarled and twisted tree in the middle of the field.

It stood, a lone sentinel on the pampas, and Sophia reached out and touched the bark, running her fingers over the odd texture. The leaves made a canopy above their heads, cocooning them in semi-privacy. Tomas stood like a shadow behind her, his steady presence making her stomach tumble over itself.

She had wanted privacy to talk to him, but not like this. Not with the whisper of the leaves shushing around them, the single ombu tree a life raft in the grassy sea of the pampas. She had to be strong. Definitive.

“The ombu tree.” She looked up at him, wondering why here, and why now. Did he realize he was making it more difficult for her?

“You said you wanted to see it,” he said quietly, his hands on the trunk beside hers. “Did you know, some call it the lighthouse of the pampas.”

“Lighthouse? To guide lost travelers?” Sophia laughed a little at the description, but her attempt at lightness seemed false to her ears. “I guess that works. It was the first thing I noticed when I drove up in the taxi. Big and strong but very solitary.”

“Like you, Sophia?”

She nodded, watching her fingers make patterns on the rough surface. She wasn’t that strong, but she was getting better. “I suppose, maybe a little. But I think perhaps more like you.”

Tomas paused, and Sophia waited for him to say something—anything—significant.

But he said nothing. Nothing about the picture in the house—he could have pointed it out a dozen times. Or he could have told her that he wasn’t just involved with the estancia but was a full fledged partner. Why hadn’t he wanted her to know?

“And what about you? Is the ombu a lighthouse for you, too?” She thought about all that Maria had told her today, even if Tomas was infuriatingly closed-mouthed. Was the estancia the beacon in his life, signifying home? Safety? Was it better for him than what had waited for him in the family business?

“They have shade for when it gets hot.” He deliberately put the focus off himself and back on the tree. “And the trunks are full of water, kind of spongy, see? So they will not burn in a wildfire.”

Sophia looked up above her at the veil of leaves. “An angel, then, in the middle of the plains?”

“An angel with bite. The sap is poisonous.”

Sophia drew her hand away abruptly and Tomas laughed. “Not that poisonous.” He came over and rested against part of the trunk, his feet braced on the gnarled roots as he looked into her face. “Like most things in life, Sophia, the ombu has two sides. The pampas is beautiful, but it is also harsh and unforgiving. It is important to learn to respect both sides.”

Like Tomas? Perhaps she could, if he’d bothered to reveal his other side. Why hadn’t he trusted her? Surely nothing could be worse than Rosa’s death. But then, perhaps he wouldn’t have said anything if she hadn’t put him on the spot.

She looked over at him, his dark form silhouetted in the darkness, and softened. Maybe she was being too hard on him. He’d known Sophia mere days. Was she expecting too much, wishing he’d confided in her the way she had in him?

“The mate has made you especially wise this evening,” she noted, genuinely wanting to lighten the mood and not argue anymore. She simply wanted to understand. But the sight of him, shadowed by the tree, his dark eyes gleaming nearly black in the growing night, did funny things to her insides. Things she thought maybe she had never felt before, or even imagined. More than chemistry. When she left Argentina, she would be leaving a piece of herself behind.

“You enjoyed the asado.”

“I have enjoyed everything about being here.” She smiled and took a step closer to him, knowing this was the perfect lead-in. “Maria and Carlos welcomed me. Do you know we spent the whole day together and we never once thought to get to the bottom of my reservation?”

“About that…”

“You were right, Tomas, and I was wrong. I’ll fix it in the morning, don’t worry.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something and then shut it again, his brows pulling together. Sophia bit down on her lip, wondering if he’d had the words I told you so on his tongue but had held back.

When she’d first arrived she’d despaired of using her savings for the trip. Now she considered it money well spent. She was going back a different woman. A stronger woman. She couldn’t put a price on that.

Sophia inhaled, suddenly nervous but needing to say what was on her mind. “Maria and I talked about things, Tomas. A lot of things.”

Ah, there it was. Even in the shadows she could see the flare of recognition in his eyes. But only for a moment. His face cleared and he smiled politely. “She wanted to make you feel at home. It is her way.”

Bullheaded man! He knew what she was getting at, and he still deflected. She lifted her chin. “At home in a way you aren’t with your real family?”

Sophia knew she was taking a chance. But hadn’t he considered she might hear the details from Maria? When he didn’t answer, she took a step forward. “Why couldn’t you have told me, Tomas?”