“Thank you for the lovely picnic,” she said as he shook the reins and guided the horses back down the hill.
The afternoon had been lovely, the weather perfect, and she once again marveled at how she’d expected the terrain to be much different than it had turned out to be. The cactuses and snakes that Finn had worried about weren’t as abundant as she thought they’d be. And for all the stories, she certainly hadn’t expected a rushing stream.
He glanced at her, a smile crinkling his eyes. As she tore her gaze from the landscape, their eyes met—and she felt an unmistakable flutter overtake her. She remembered the first time she’d seen him—the flutter was there then, too. But this felt a little different.
Although he was far from sharing his innermost feelings with her, something that she realized she wanted, this particular flutter was a little bigger, a little deeper, and she wondered again if there would ever be anything between them but an “arrangement”.
He quickly looked away, and as they rounded a bend, she saw him nod toward the horizon. As she turned to see what he was nodding at, she gasped, the Arizona sunset taking her by surprise. Since she’d been there, she’d been inside the restaurant or Suzanne’s house at sundown, and hadn’t seen a sunset here before. And what she saw took her breath away.
“Nothing quite like an Arizona sunset, is there?” he asked, smiling. He stopped the buggy and tipped his hat up, looking up at the clouds as the sun had just departed. “I really missed this when I was in New York. It was my favorite part of being on the trail.”
She couldn’t think of words to describe the incredible colors…orange, yellow, pink and blue, the clouds streaking across the sky. She watched in amazement as the colors turned even deeper as they sat.
“It really is best about ten minutes after the sun sets,” Tripp said as he flicked the reins to start the horses again. “It’ll be a nice ride home. Not too far from Suzanne’s.”
She continued to watch as the colors changed and the first star dotted the sky. They’d stayed much longer than she’d expected, and she felt relaxed with him at the helm—safe and comfortable. She rested her hand on his arm as they turned away from the sunset and headed into town.
“Thank you, Tripp. It was a lovely afternoon. I appreciate you sharing this with me.”
He took the reins in one hand and patted hers with the other. Again, their eyes met, and he cleared his throat and turned back to the road.
“You’re welcome. I thought you might appreciate it, and it seems I was right.”
“I appreciated lots of things about today,” she said as her heart fluttered at the memory of earlier.
As he pulled the buggy up to Suzanne’s house, she remembered how embarrassed he’d been when he saw her at the creek with her stockings off. As she waited for him to come around to help her down, she smiled and had an idea.
She turned sideways as he stepped around and pulled her skirts up to her knee, extending her hand to him. He smiled as he reached for her hand, and then stopped short when he saw her skirts—or more accurately her exposed ankles resting daintily on the sideboard.
He kept her hand in his, but stared for a moment, shaking his head.
“Is everything all right, Tripp?” she said in the sweetest voice she could muster.
He might think this was a business arrangement, but she intended to do anything she could to get him to see her as his wife. If she was going to be married, it might as well be a real one.
He let go of her hand and gently pulled her skirts down over her ankles, looking from side to side down the empty street. Grabbing her waist and lifting her off the buggy, he set her down in front of him and lifted her chin, his green eyes on hers.
“Yes, definitely. Everything is all right. Better than all right. And I appreciated much about today also,” he said, his cheeks a little flushed.
She closed her eyes, hoping that he might kiss her, but they flew open again as he grabbed her hand and headed toward the house.
“It’s getting dark and we’d better get inside. We have lots to do tomorrow at the restaurant,” he said, and the flutter that she’d been getting accustomed to, and in fact been looking forward to, faded.
They had coffee at Suzanne’s and discussed the plans for the next day. The twins ran in and out of the dining room, laughing and seeming to answer each other without a question being asked.
Sadie remembered that it had been the same way with her and Suzanne when they were little. It seemed they’d almost been able to read each other’s minds, and they’d been told that it was common with twins. And it seemed that Lily and Lucy had the same close connection.
So it hadn’t surprised her when Suzanne had asked her back into the kitchen to help her put away the dishes after they’d finished their coffee.
“You might as well say it out loud. You’re falling for him, aren’t you?”
Sadie’s eyes jerked up from the coffee cup she’d been drying and she turned to look at her sister. She was surprised that she’d noticed, actually, and she let out a laugh.
“That obvious?” she said, setting the cup on the counter next to the stack of saucers she’d already dried.
With a sigh, she turned around and leaned back against the counter, wringing the towel in her hands. “I think…I don’t know. We haven’t really gotten to spend much time together talking. We’ve been too busy with the restaurant. And he’s…well, he’s…”
Suzanne walked over and took the towel out of her sister’s hands, folded it and set it on the counter. “He’s lots of things. I’ve known him for quite a while, and he’s a little complex.”
Sadie emptied the remainder of the coffee into the sink and paused, looking out the window at the stars.
“Yes, complex is a good word. He’s definitely confident about his cooking skills,” she said as she turned around.
“That’s an understatement,” Suzanne said, putting the rest of the clean plates in the cupboard. “But I think most of it comes from passion rather than arrogance. And he just wants to make people happy with food. That’s what it boils down to.”
A sigh escaped Sadie’s lips as she rubbed her forehead. “I know. And I admire him for it. But he’s so wrapped up in this restaurant that it’s almost impossible to get his attention unless there’s a knife in my hand.”
“Uh-oh,” Suzanne said with a smile. “It’s that serious?”
“What?” Sadie said, looking up. “Oh, no, for chopping, I mean.” She laughed at her sister’s joke. “I’m not that desperate.”
“I know.” Suzanne put the rest of the pie in the icebox and sat down on one of the kitchen stools, placing her hand over Sadie’s. “And I also know that you care for him. I can see it in the way you look at him.”
“Do you think there’s any hope for us, Suzanne? I can’t help the way I feel when he’s around. He’s…”
“Interesting, passionate, kind, gifted and…handsome?”
Sadie’s eyebrows rose as she realized Suzanne had said out loud exactly what she’d been thinking. “How did you know?”
“I know you, that’s how. And I know him. He is all that and more, Sadie. Like I said from the very beginning, I have high hopes for this…arrangement. Give it time.”
Suzanne pulled Sadie into a hug, and she reached up to push a stray piece of Sadie’s blonde hair that matched her own behind her sister’s ear.
“You know, it wouldn’t hurt for you to wear your hair down once in a while. I haven’t seen it down since you’ve been here,” she said as she patted her sister’s cheek.
Sadie’s hand flew to her bun and her brows furrowed. “I…I don’t wear it down. Not since I’ve been running the bakery. I can’t risk stray hair in any of the food. One time…”
Sadie stopped mid-sentence as Lily and Lucy tore through the kitchen, in one door and out the other, and laughed.
“Were we like that?” she asked.
“Don’t you remember?” Suzanne said, laughing. “That’s why they took us to the bakery when we were so little. So they could keep us busy and out of trouble.”
Out of trouble, Sadie thought. That’s probably what I should do. Leave it alone and stay out of trouble.
“Thanks, Suzanne,” she said, squeezing her hand and wondering if it was even possible for her to…stay out of trouble.