Beside Still Waters (3 page)

Elijah reined in the team, and the wagon rolled to a halt. Terrance dismounted, his grin telltale. Jonesy stepped between him and Eva before the young man could embarrass her with his teasing brand of humor.

“So I see you are honorable.” He swept his Stetson from his head and smiled, keeping his voice even.

“Honorable?”

“You brought the Lady back to me safe and sound like you said you would.”

“Oh.” She handed over the reins, her smile tentative. “Yes. Thank you.” Her subdued manner took him aback. Was this the same girl who had snapped at him and verbally sparred with him earlier? He allowed his gaze to sweep over her. Chestnut hair, which earlier had been loose and clinging to her face, now swept upward, every strand demurely in place. She wore a modest gown of light blue and moved with grace. “I … um … appreciate your kindness.”

A loud, obvious throat clearing came from next to the wagon, where his parents stood waiting to be introduced. “Oh, Miss Riley, I’d like you to meet my parents, Elijah and Caroline Jones.”

Eva smiled with warmth and extended her hand first to his mother, then to his father. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’m so glad you’ve made it to our little fellowship.”

His mother, who had been cautiously inspecting Eva, relaxed immediately, and a smile spread across her plump cheeks. “I’ve been longing for Christian fellowship.”

Eva tucked her hand through the older woman’s arm. “Come, let me introduce you to my ma. But I warn you, she’ll recruit you to make clothing for the children in my uncle’s orphanage.”

“Oh, how wonderful. I’d be delighted.”

Eva whisked his mother away as though she’d known her forever. Jonesy stood back and watched, slack-jawed.

“Those two look about as thick as a couple of newborn pups.” Pa clapped him on the shoulder before following the women.

Ma looked over her shoulder. “Coming, son?” By the look in her eye, Jonesy knew she thought she’d found her ticket to keeping him firmly planted in Oregon.

Eva’s mother, Hope Riley, wasn’t one to pass up an opportunity to invite a new family in the area to Sunday dinner. So an hour and a half after her brother Gregory finally dismissed the service, Eva found herself sitting across from the most intriguing yet strangest man she’d met in her whole life.

She glanced up and caught Jonesy’s gaze. He grinned, and her throat constricted as she tried to swallow a bite of venison roast.

The bite lodged, cutting off her air. Still eye to eye with Jonesy, she pointed at her throat. He frowned, then his eyes widened. He pushed his chair back from the table and shot to his feet as Eva fought for air.

“Son, what on earth are you doing?”

Eva’s head began to spin. He pounded her on the back, and she started to cough. Finally she felt the bite begin to move, and her airway cleared.

“Here, drink this,” Jonesy said softly. He handed her a glass of water.

She took it gratefully and let the cool liquid soothe her burning throat. “Thank you,” she croaked.

“Are you okay?” Hope asked.

Eva nodded. “Fine.”

“Thanks to quick thinking from Jonesy here,” Eva’s pa said, approval ringing in his voice.

Now that she knew she wasn’t going to die, Eva couldn’t help the embarrassed warmth that spread across her cheeks. “May I be excused, Ma?” she asked, unable to look anyone in the eye. “I’m not very hungry anymore.”

“Of course.”

Eva rose and came face-to-face with Jonesy, who stood close enough to take her in his arms if he chose to do so. Which, of course, he didn’t. And why would she even think such a thing? “Thank you, Mr. Jones. Excuse me, please.”

She maneuvered around him and fled outside. Once on the steps, that familiar sense of longing, for what she didn’t know, reached into her heart and squeezed until she found herself heading instinctively to the barn. She needed to burn off some energy. And the only way to do that was to saddle up Patches and ride across the open fields. Ma would disapprove of her leaving when they had company. But Pa would understand and would come to her defense.

The pungent odor of hay and horse manure filled her nose as she stepped inside the barn. “All right, Patches, old boy. You don’t deserve this ride after the way you left me to the mercy of a perfect stranger this morning, but I need it, so there’s no choice.” In no time, she saddled the horse and led him through the barn doors.

She stopped short when she came face-to-face with Jonesy.

“Going somewhere?” he asked, raking his gaze over Patches and then back to Eva.

“For a ride.”

“Mind if I come along?”

Eva shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“You never know when you might need rescuing.”

His teasing tone raised her ire. “I never need to be rescued. I can take care of myself.”

Brow lifted, he grinned. “Really? And yet I’ve been forced to come to your aid not once but twice today.”

“Wh–what?” Eva sputtered. She couldn’t even try to deny he’d saved her from choking. But twice? “I was having a perfectly nice ride with Patches this morning before your rude dog scared my horse half out of his wits. So if I needed ‘rescuing,’ as you put it, that was only because your dog can’t mind his manners.”
Much like his master
.

“I see you’ve been thinking about it quite a lot. Dare I hope you’ve been remembering me with affection?” His self-assured grin might have irritated her beyond words, and normally she would have put him in his place with a few well-spoken words and a glare of disdain. However, her traitorous sense of humor bubbled up, and laughter sprang from her like a gusher. “Tell me, Mr. Jones, are you always so sure of yourself?”

“Almost always. Aren’t you?”

Eva mounted Patches, trying to decide how to answer. He squinted against the late-afternoon sun as he stared up at her. Eva returned his gaze evenly. “There are two kinds of people, Mr. Jones. Those who know who they are and act accordingly. And those who
act
as though they know who they are.”

“And which are you, Miss Riley?”

Eva gave a short laugh. “You have to ask?” She left him to draw his own conclusion and nudged Patches forward.

It took all of her inner strength not to turn around to see if Jonesy was following. Patches strained at the bit, wanting to open up into a full gallop, but Eva kept the reins tight.

What if Lady Anne were too much of a lady to catch up to the pony?

In moments, the sound of a horse’s hooves confirmed that Jonesy had indeed saddled the Lady and had every intention of catching up. Eva’s competitive nature rose to the surface, and she gave Patches what he’d been craving. She loosened her grip on the reins, and both horses raced across the field toward the river.

Two horses, two riders. Eva laughed out loud from the pure joy of warm wind in her face and the feel of Patches’s training muscles against her legs. Her hair fell from its modest trappings and whipped out behind her like a flag blowing in the breeze.

Her laughter stopped, however, when Lady Anne drew close, then came alongside, and finally pulled ahead. The sound of Jonesy’s laughter echoed across the field.

Anger burned in Eva, and she urged Patches harder. “Come on, boy. Are you going to let a girl beat you?”

Apparently sensing the challenge, Patches increased his speed. But by the time Patches and Eva reached the river, Lady Anne had already halted and was taking a long drink.

Humiliated, Eva glared at Jonesy’s smug face. “We weren’t ready.”

Laughter exploded from him. “Then I apologize for taking unfair advantage of you and your paint pony.”

Was he insulting Patches? Her beloved pinto had been a gift from Pa’s trapper friend and his Indian wife. “My horse could win against that mongrel of yours anytime.”

“That ‘mongrel’ comes from a thoroughbred mother and a very respectable wild stallion. The two met after Lady Anne’s mother snuck out of her stall one night and ran to meet up with a wild herd.”

Though still smarting from the defeat, Eva couldn’t help but see the quality in the lovely brown mare. “She’s beautiful.” She sent him a half grin. “Sorry for the slight to Her Majesty.”

“Don’t worry about it. She’s not really as arrogant as I made her out to be this morning.”

“Unlike you, huh?”

“Me?” He pressed his Stetson over his heart. “I’m truly hurt by that remark.”

Behind the words, Eva could see the amusement she’d come to expect from him. Was the man ever serious about anything?

Dismounting, she turned loose of Patches’s reins and let him drift into the water for his own drink.

Jonesy led Lady Anne to a nearby bush and wrapped the reins around a branch. He eyed Patches, who had drifted a few yards downstream. “Do you think you’d better go get him?”

Eva followed his gaze. “He’ll be fine. He’s just wading.”

“You’re going to let your horse roam after the way he ran off this morning?”

“Lord Byron scared him half to death, or he never would have left me like that.”

“Are you ever going to forgive my poor beast?”

“Maybe … if you teach him some manners.”

“Then I’m afraid he’s doomed to be forever in your ill favor.”

“There’s no hope for him?” Why was it that she tended to fall into playacting so easily with this man?

Jonesy gave a heavy, dramatic sigh. “He’s a lost cause. I’ve resigned myself to a life of apologizing for him.”

Eva threw back her head and exploded into throaty laugher. “You’re funny, Jonesy Jones.”

A flush of pleasure crawled across his face, and he smiled. “I’m sure I’ll have all my animals in stitches when I start my own herd.”

Instantly sobering at the thought, Eva nodded and turned away. “Patches, come here, boy.” She gave a shrill whistle, and the horse trotted back. She took his reins. “We’d best be getting back, Mr. Jones.”

“Eva, wait.” Jonesy stepped forward and held on to Patches’s bridle. He towered over her, and Eva had to cock her head to meet his gaze. “I just want you to know …”

He swallowed hard, and so did Eva. “You want me to know what?”

He shrugged. “I don’t even know what to say. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

Eva’s heart pounded in her ears. “I’ve never met anyone like you either.”

The depth of his gaze left little doubt in Eva’s mind that he was being sincere. Usually when a man shared his feelings like this, it meant a proposal was forthcoming. But she knew that wasn’t going to be the case with Jonesy. Bracing herself, she nodded her encouragement.

Clearing his throat, he looked away and fingered Patches’s bridle. “The thing is, Eva, I’m not staying in Oregon. I can’t get tangled up with a woman and take a chance you could talk me out of my dream.”

Eva gasped at his assumption that she had any desire to talk him out of leaving. “For your information, Mr. Jones, I have no intention of entangling myself with you. So don’t flatter yourself.”

“Maybe I’m the only one thinking along the lines of what might be between us, then?”

Drawing a long, slow breath, Eva took a chance. “No. You’re not the only one. I just don’t see the point of bringing it up when you’ve made your position so crystal clear.”

“I enjoy your company. I’d like us to be friends.”

“Without any chance of romantic notions, is that right?”

He nodded. “Is that too presumptuous of me?”

“We can be friends.” She squared her shoulders and tamped down the disappointment. After all, she barely knew him. But so far, he was the only man whose company she truly enjoyed.

Perhaps friendship was all she was cut out for. Maybe she would be an old spinster after all. Just as the town gossips predicted. There were worse things in life. Better to enjoy a friendship with a man who made you laugh than to spend your life married to a man who made you cry.

“Friends, then.” He grinned and pressed her shoulder with his palm. He went to retrieve Lady Anne while Eva mounted Patches.

“We’ll race you back.” She grinned down at him, then nudged Patches into a full gallop.

“Hey, that’s cheating,” Jonesy called after her.

Eva laughed into the air and gave the horse his head. This time she was determined not to lose.

The summer flew by in a variety of fun-filled days, and Eva soon wondered how she ever endured life without Jonesy’s friendship. Now that the summer heat had cooled to a lukewarm autumn, she tried to push from her mind the fact that Jonesy would soon be leaving.

Harvest was a busy time, and she’d barely seen him in the past couple of weeks. Desperate for some companionship, Eva jumped at the chance to ride to town for a bag of flour for Pa’s birthday cake. At least she could spend a few minutes catching up on town gossip with her best friend, Lily.

She let Patches have his head, and they raced down the road, throwing up dirt and pebbles from the path.

All at once, Patches stumbled. The ground rose up to meet Eva with alarming speed. She landed hard and lay on the road for a moment, trying to get her bearings. Pain jabbed her left hip. She groaned. The blue sky above her came back into focus, and she sat up slowly. In six years, Patches had never once thrown her.

The horse stood at the side of the road, favoring his right front leg. Ignoring the pain in her hip, Eva struggled to her feet and limped to Patches. She patted his neck and slowly moved around to the leg. After a quick inspection, it was clear why Patches had sent her sailing from his back. He’d thrown a shoe.