Chapter Fourteen #2
Whatever she had expected, it wasn’t that swift turn in their conversation.
She stood and moved to do as she was told.
And she had to allow a small smile to come into play.
Rance wasn’t playing what she had said off lightly.
He had heard and understood every word. She saw it in his eyes.
And he had known the right way to bring the moment from the shadows and into its place in the light.
He got her…more so than anyone had in a very long time…
if ever. That strange warmth moved through her chest as it had begun doing in the last week or more.
She wasn’t ready for more analyzing. She chose two loungers close together with a view of the river and beyond, the hills protecting the valley where one could see the golden orb beginning to slide lower in the sky.
Rance was soon visible with two blue bowls from which emanated the smell of warm apple pie and their dollops of vanilla ice cream. She accepted hers with a smile. “This looks and smells delicious, thank you.”
He took the seat next to hers; their elbows were close enough to touch. His long legs stretched to the end of the blue cloth while hers left a foot or so of the padded lounger open.
“I slaved over this evening’s dinner, as you can tell.” He grinned, taking a spoonful of the dessert from the bowl and then enjoying it.
“I am sure you did. And you also ordered this beautiful sunset for a dinner floor show.”
“I did manage to add that. Hope it meets with your city-girl approval.”
“This city girl has come to realize that some things are indeed better in the country…and this dinner and show rank right up there, if not beyond, the best restaurants I could think of.” They both lapsed into a companionable silence while they ate their dessert and enjoyed the peace of the early evening.
She finished hers and sat the bowl on the small table next to her lounger. Her gaze traveled to the sky above.
“Was that a sigh, I just heard?” Rance asked, his bowl going to the matching table beside him. He assumed much the same pose she had…arms crossed and fingers casually interlaced over his stomach. “Good one, I hope.”
“Still fishing for compliments, Marshal? Your culinary talents are good, but your choice of the evening’s splendid outdoor show is beyond words. You are truly the blessed one to have this as your home.”
“It is something. I find it harder to leave here each time…to go back to city life. I’m either mellowing in my old age, as my brother puts it, or I’m just getting some brains.”
“Your brother is a very smart man. I enjoyed meeting him and Ally, and their daughter Jillie is an amazing young lady.”
Rance laughed. “She is still a pig-tailed, scrawny little kid running around and sounding so grown up even as a first grader in my mind. But she is growing up into a young lady, and I get to kid my brother that thankfully, being the sheriff, he has a lot of guns and deputies to fend off the guys soon.”
“All of your family are great. They have their lives so complete and happy in this beautiful valley. Thank you for letting me in on the well-kept secret. I hope it always stays this way…a microcosm of beauty and civility suspended in time.”
“Wow, Your Honor, that was a weighty statement.” He was teasing her.
“Yes indeed. Guess you can take the girl out of the city, but not the jurist.”
“That’s fair. But I think you can be both…
don’t you? Or is it a better question to ask…
would you be happy being in both worlds?
Could they truly exist?” His gaze was on her—she could feel it.
She should not meet it. Her brain said so.
But to her shock, another part of her…that strange area that she had learned to seal off often, as a jurist, was revolting. Erin met the gaze that riveted hers.
“A month ago, I would have said no. But that would have been wrong. One part of me is a jurist…that is what I have studied and what makes my daily existence. But I now realize that the other part of me is more alive and at peace when the jurist was set aside and allowed the person inside me to come forth. They are equally important I have come to learn. They exist and people can have the best of both inside them. It’s realizing that and then acting upon it that is the key to life. ”
There was a flicker inside those emerald depths locked on hers.
It mesmerized her and warmth spread to bridge the small distance between them.
It felt as if time did indeed suspend itself.
The sunset had given rise to a moon taking its place.
The world took on a silver illumination around them.
The river running over rocks just beyond was a pulsing rhythm, much the same as the beating of her heart.
“I am going to step out on a very tenuous branch here,” he whispered, as he leaned closer, “and say that I hope I had a little something to do with that…not in an egotistical sort of way, but as a guy who dares to hope he did have a little effect on a girl and her feelings. If I might be so bold, Your Honor?”
That bridge was growing shorter as she moved slowly within a mere inch of his lips while their gazes held to something too strong to resist. “Your Honor is off the clock. But Erin is taking charge and bold is called for.”
Lips met. Sizzle sparked. Warmth drew searching.
A country boy’s heart and a city girl’s heart said hello to each other and a strange bond was melded…
its destination still a secret, but it had begun the journey as one.
Seconds became minutes and the silver light grew brighter, anointing the pair.
Slowly, in accord, the separation came. But the distance stayed the same. Whispers were the spirits of the night.
“It’s nice to meet you, Erin Latham, city girl.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Rance Parker, country boy.”
“This could be a problem,” he said, words soft and still tentative.
“I’m an expert at problem solving,” she responded, a slow smile declaring the absoluteness of her statement.