Page 83 of The Banker and the Blue Collar Man

“And I love you, Jake Colter,” he said, his breath warm across my neck, my skin absorbing the words the second he said them. “Never thought I’d marry a cowboy, but here we are.”

“I’m a ranch hand, not a cowboy,” I said with mock sternness, though I could feel the beginnings of a laugh in my throat. “But I’ll be either, right this minute, if what you want is to ride off into the sunset.”

Dalton did laugh as he pulled back and looked up at me. “I really do need to learn how to ride now, don’t I.”

“You do,” I said. “Because there are so many little places we can ride away to, that you can’t reach by car or on foot.”

“I want to learn it all,” he said. “I hate accounting like you would not believe.”

“I’ll teach you.” I tipped up his chin so that I could kiss him. So he could kiss me back.

“I need a cowboy hat.”

“I’ll buy you one,” I told him.

We were making plans together, he and I. Not just for two weeks but for forever.

I would teach him everything I knew.

I would absorb his soul into mine.

I would know, finally, what happiness was. Pure happiness.

I didn’t deserve any of this, but Dalton would fiercely disagree with me if I said my thoughts out loud, so I simply kissed him again and let those thoughts fade away, drawn from me by the breeze, the sound of the creek, and the rustle of cottonwood leaves overhead.

Chapter 25

Jake

Clutching my left hand in a fist so the ring wouldn’t fall off and get lost, I followed Dalton back down the path.

As we stepped in and out of the shade of those cottonwood trees, I knew that nothing, after this moment, would ever be the same again. Not the tall grasses dancing against dark boulders. Not the smell of the river or the sound of those heart-shaped leaves. Not even the blue, blue sky above.

All of it was changed. Forever.

But now I knew that wasn’t a bad thing. Those changes were because of Dalton. The tasseled-shoe-wearing city boy who’d jumped into my heart and refused to leave. Who’d looked into me and decided to stay.

Forthat, for that feeling of being loved, I would withstand all the changes the world could throw at me. As long as Dalton was by my side, I could bear anything.

Dalton, his fair hair dappled dark and light in turn beneath the shadows of cottonwood leaves, led the way down the bit of steep slope and along the path that followed Snow Creek.

He wanted to get married. I had agreed. He didn’t want to go to Nebraska, far from the stars that I loved. He wanted to stay nearby.

Nothing else had to be decided right now. We’d live together in my bunkhouse while we figured everything out. More than that, I could not ask for.

We reached the staff building, where the dining hall was. Good smells of a hot lunch were in the air. The clatter of forks on plates. Friendly, easygoing chatter.

It sounded like everybody was already there. We were a tad late. Never mind. There would be time enough to eat before getting back to work.

As we stepped through the doorway, Dalton first, he reached back for my hand, and I took it.

Some folks were still in the buffet line. Most were already seated.

Lucas was standing in the empty spot between the doorway and the first table. Which was odd, because surely he should already be sitting and eating.

But when he saw us, he threw up his arms and said, “Hey, everybody!”

The place went silent. Everyone was still, looking at Lucas. Then at us.