So, did I hear right?” Charlie led one of their horses out of the barn and over to the forge where Trevor grabbed a new shoe. “You’ve gone and found yourself a girl already and have started courting her?”
“Yes,” Trevor replied. “But it’s not what you think.” At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.
Charlie grinned big. “You don’t waste any time, do you?” He clapped Trevor on the back. “Just like back in New York.”
“Thanks to you, I didn’t have much of a choice, did I?” Trevor parried.
“Yeah, good point.” Charlie looked at him across the back of the horse, speaking low and settling the mare to prepare for shoeing. “But, hey, I did apologize, and from the sound of things, it hasn’t turned out to be all that bad.”
Trevor moved the stool and positioned himself to the side of the mare before reaching for her rear leg. He’d learned the hard way right after arriving on the ranch why it wasn’t wise to stand behind a horse. Wouldn’t be making that mistake again…ever.
“So, what exactly did you hear?”
Charlie moved to stand at the mare’s head, holding tight to the lead rope to keep her still. “Not much, to be honest. Just that you were seen keeping company with the proprietress of the Ute Indian goods and jewelry shop.” He handed Trevor a farrier’s knife. “My aunt is friends with the owners of the tailor shop two doors down. She said the Bernats’ daughter saw you talking with the young woman, and there were indications it was more than mere pleasantries being exchanged.”
Trevor jerked his head and stared at Charlie, who stood there with a knowing grin on his face. He held up his hands in mock surrender when Trevor narrowed his eyes.
“Hey! I’m just reporting what I heard,” Charlie protested. “Don’t look at me like I had anything else to do with this.”
Great. So not only had he become the talk of the town because of the article, but the quick choice he’d made trying to deter all those young ladies had only stirred up more gossip. At least it was somewhat accurate, though.
“I know.” Trevor sighed as he changed tools and grabbed the horseshoe pullers. “I only wish I hadn’t been forced to make such a rash decision.” He placed the pullers under the shoe and rocked the tool back and forth to loosen it. “Miss Clairmont was merely a convenience,” he said, grunting a bit with the exertion. “And she happened to be in the right place…” He took a breath and worked the tool. “…at the right time,” he finished, popping off the shoe.
“Well, maybe this won’t be such a bad thing,” Charlie stated. “You having a young lady to hold your attention for a bit.”
Trevor glanced at his friend and grinned. “Are you saying the work on this ranch isn’t enough for me?”
“Come on, Trev. You know as well as I do that ranching isn’t your thing.” Charlie handed Trevor a brand-new horseshoe. “I mean, you’ve picked up on things faster than I thought you would, but you’re far more at home in a suit and tie, negotiating deals and brokering financial affairs, than you are interacting with a bunch of horses and cattle and cleaning up their messes.”
Trevor set the shoe on the mare’s hoof and grabbed the nailing hammer. “You’re right about that.” Working on a ranch had taken him far out of his element and challenged him in a way nothing else had. The physical labor alone had nearly done him in those first couple of weeks.
“Not that I and my aunt and uncle don’t appreciate how you’ve jumped right in without complaint and done any task we asked of you.” Charlie passed over a box of nails. “Better than some of the other cowhands we have around here.”
“You know I hate being idle,” Trevor said as he began hammering the nails to secure the shoe to the hoof.
“Exactly,” Charlie agreed. “Which is why I said this courting thing with…Miss Clairmont, was it?” At Trevor’s nod, he continued. “It’s why I said this might not be a bad thing after all.”
“I’ll be meeting her again on Saturday, so we’ll see if it’ll work out like I hope.”
“Saturday, huh?” Charlie grinned. “So, tell me a little more about this young lady. Did you choose her because she was the first one you saw, or was there something about her that caught your eye?”
Trevor grabbed the clincher and folded over the nails like Charlie’s uncle had shown him. Then he reached for the rasp to trim up the hoof and round the edges for a smooth fit.
“Miss Clairmont isn’t like any of the ladies back in New York. There’s something about her that’s refreshing and pure.” He worked his way around the hoof, testing each side. “She put me instantly at ease, and we settled into a comfortable rapport I don’t ever remember having with anyone else in the circles we used to travel.”
“What does she look like?”
Trevor grinned. He wondered when Charlie would get around to asking that. With all the ladies they met and invited on outings, Charlie always pointed out their looks first. Trevor noticed appearances, too, but he also looked for someone who could carry on a conversation with him and who asked intelligent questions. He didn’t merely want someone to hang on his arm and look pretty. Unfortunately, far too many of the ladies he’d met in the past had been just that. They only expressed interest in him for the status he could offer through his position in the Fox company.
“Well?” Charlie interrupted his musings. “Are you gonna tell me or not?”
Trevor moved the stool around the mare to the other side and prepared to repeat the shoeing process. “I will tell you she would stand out a great deal back in New York. And not just because of her clothing.” He didn’t have to try hard to conjure up an image of Anna in his mind’s eye. “She has this long braid of brown hair that hangs down her back or falls over her shoulder.”
“So she hasn’t given in and gotten one of those short bobs we’ve seen almost everywhere.”
“No,” Trevor replied. “And I kind of like it.”
“Ah, more traditional, then,” Charlie quipped.
“Yes, and not only that, but there’s intelligence in her eyes. She knows a lot about the area and can initiate a conversation without being prompted.”
“Color?”
“What?”
“The color of her eyes,” Charlie amended.
“Oh.” Trevor looked upward. “As blue as the Colorado sky.”
A low whistle sounded from the other side of the mare. Trevor leaned over and peered around the horse’s chest at his friend. His gaze met a bemused expression on Charlie’s face.
“What?”
“She’s definitely caught your eye.” He snorted. “And maybe more, too!”
“But I know hardly anything about her.” Even his own protest sounded weak to his ears. “We just met.”
“That’s why they call it attraction, my friend.” Charlie waggled his eyebrows. “You don’t need to know anything about her. You only need to want to.”
Well, he certainly had that. In abundance, in fact. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about her made him want to find out more about her. What a change from how he usually regarded the ladies who spent time by his side. There wasn’t much difference between them. He might be considered a Don Juan or a Romeo to some, but they didn’t understand his situation or his circumstances. They didn’t know he paraded through all those ladies because he searched for a relationship with meaning, one that inspired and excited him. So far, he had yet to find that.
Trevor checked the other two hooves. They didn’t need any repair or cleaning. He stood and nodded at Charlie. “Go ahead and take this girl back inside.”
Charlie gave the lead rope a tug, and Dusty Sunrise swung around to walk toward the barn. Just as they reached the edge of the shoeing area, Charlie paused.
“The real question is our little unassuming shop owner.” He looped the rope around his wrist. “I wonder what she’s thinking about you right now.”
“If she’s thinking about me,” Trevor corrected. “I don’t know that she’s even giving me a second thought right now.”
“Aw, come on. Handsome and charming guy like you? Most eligible bachelor in Breckenridge,” he added with a wink. “Asking to court whom I can only guess from your description is an attractive young lady?” Charlie nodded. “She’s most definitely thinking about you.”
Trevor grinned. He could certainly hope.
“Miss Anna? Did you hear my question?”
A tap on her arm startled Anna from her thoughts and she looked up to see Morning Fawn staring at her, a concerned expression on her light brown face.
“I’m sorry, Morning Fawn. I must have been daydreaming.” She offered a soft smile. “Please forgive me. What question did you ask?”
“I wish to know if you will put the new jewelry in the case with the others, or if you want me to put it with the clips and ties for the hair on the table over there.”
Anna looked at the items her friend held. They might fit well with the hair clips and ribbons, but with the embellishments and added mineral elements, they needed to be kept close at hand. She reached for the tray. “I believe these are far too delicate and beautiful to simply sit on a side table. They deserve to be featured and allowed to shine.”
“You are too kind, Miss Anna,” Morning Fawn said with a smile. “I am happy it is you who I met on the road one year ago. What my people make is being seen and bought by so many different people, and we have a new purpose in what we create. We owe you a great deal of thanks.”
Who would have thought she could make such a difference in the lives of so many simply by suggesting an idea that popped into her mind? Anna couldn’t have been more surprised herself by the turn of events that brought her to Breckenridge and led her to not only being on her own at twenty-four but being the owner of a shop unlike any other in the vicinity.
“I, too, am glad we met,” Anna replied. “You saved my life in more ways than one that day.”
Morning Fawn gave her a puzzled look. “I do not understand. You were in no danger.”
Anna chuckled as she set some of the newest items inside the glass case and arranged them in an eye-catching array. “No, that’s not what I meant. Saving my life can also be a way of saying you helped me figure out a solution for a problem I was having.”
“Oh, yes.” Morning Fawn nodded. “You speak of the life you ran away from and the new life you have found here.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“But your old life is still very much alive, and you will have to find a way to make peace with it before you will ever be able to move forward with your new life.”
During conversations like this, the wisdom of Morning Fawn’s years spoke out loud and clear. At other times, Anna forgot Morning Fawn was old enough to be her mother. The wise woman did have a daughter around Anna’s age, about to be joined that summer to a noted brave from her tribe. He had already presented his horses and other bartered treasures to Morning Fawn’s husband in what Anna’s circle of friends would call a dowry…even if it was being given instead of received by the soon-to-be husband. Why couldn’t things be that simple for her and her friends? Why did they have to endure all the emotional upheaval and the Ferris wheel of interest from gentlemen in their lives? Around and around they went sometimes, neither one saying what they were feeling.
“Miss Anna? You are doing it again,” came Morning Fawn’s gentle chiding.
Anna blinked several times and shook her head. “I do apologize. I don’t know where my head is today.”
Morning Fawn extended her hand and reached for Anna’s, leading her over to a velvet-cushioned settee by the front window. They both sat, and Morning Fawn turned toward her.
“I have seen that look on the face of my daughter many times. She lived many moons with her head in the clouds after Avanaco—Lean Bear—asked to marry her.” The older woman touched Anna’s cheek. “Now, tell me about the young man who has put the stars in your eyes.”
Anna hesitated. How much should she share with her friend? It wasn’t as if Trevor would have cause to meet any of the tribal members or speak to Morning Fawn. So, whatever she said she was certain would be held in the strictest of confidence.
“I didn’t expect to ever see him again,” Anna began. “All of a sudden, he is here, and he is asking if he can court me so he can avoid the attentions of the other young ladies in town.”
Before she could stop it, the entire story poured out. Everything from when she first met Trevor back in New York all the way to the moment she’d agreed to let him call on her. Morning Fawn listened, never interrupting, and never making any sounds at all. She only nodded and allowed Anna to let it all out.
When she was done, Anna took a deep breath. She hadn’t shared that much with anyone since before she left New York. Morning Fawn touched a finger to Anna’s cheek and caught a tear about to fall. “Your heart and your mind are very tormented, little one.”
Anna scrubbed at her eyes. She hadn’t even felt the tears form as she poured out her story, but her friend had seen them.
“This Trevor Fox, he is a part of your past life?” Morning Fawn asked.
“Yes.” Anna sniffed and reached into her pocket for a lace handkerchief. “We knew each other when we both lived in New York.”
“And now he has come to be part of your new life, too?”
Well, Anna didn’t know if she’d put it that way, but he had definitely walked into the life she had begun to lead separate from the one she’d led in New York. Whether he would remain a part of it remained to be seen.
“He is here now, yes,” Anna replied. “And it appears we will be spending some time together in the coming weeks.”
Morning Fawn clasped Anna’s hands in her own. “Does this make your heart happy?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Anna said. She took a deep breath and released it. “A part of me is excited at the possibilities now that we are both away from the life that kept us apart, but another part of me wonders if I should risk my heart getting broken again by believing Trevor might choose me.”
Morning Fawn placed her hand on Anna’s chest. “It is only a heart open to love that can truly blossom. You cannot allow fear to be your guide.” She smiled. “I know you talk to the Great Spirit. Be still and listen for the direction He will give you.”
“But how can I be sure?”
“Trust your heart, little one,” Morning Fawn replied. “When the time is right, you will know. But you will still need to make peace with the worries of your old life. If you do not, the new life you try to live will forever have a dark cloud following it.” She patted Anna’s hands. “Awendela wants sunshine and healing rain for Miss Anna, not storms.”
Anna clasped her friend’s hands and gave them a squeeze. “Thank you.” She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the woman’s weathered cheek. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You would find a dog or a cat or a horse or maybe a cow.” The older woman laughed. “You would tell all your secrets to it and wait forever for a reply.”
Anna laughed, too, and stood. She couldn’t keep Morning Fawn away from her people and her responsibilities any longer. And they still had a bit of work to do. The wisdom she’d received today, though, would last long after her friend left. Anna only hoped she’d know when the time was right to put it to use.