“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Anyway, I hope you’re still okay with having me as a roommate because in sixty days, I’ve got nowhere else to go.”
He put on a mock-serious face. “I don’t know. We might have to revisit the terms of your lease. A no-escape option might just mean more regular shower sex.”
“Oh, well, if I must, I must.” Smiling, she fell into his kiss, enjoying the pleasant bump of her pulse as his mouth played over hers. When he shifted, tipping her back on the cushions, she went willingly. Already anticipating getting naked, she was left frowning as he pulled back and stood up. “Excuse me, that is not how that conversation is supposed to end.”
Laughing, he held out a hand. “C’mon. Get your boots on.”
“Boots? Clearly your brain and my brain are on vastly different paths right now.”
“They’ll converge again later.” To speed her along, he grabbed the cowboy boots she’d kicked off the other day and set them by the sofa. “We’ve got somewhere to be.”
“We do? Where?”
“I’ve gotta see a man about a horse.”
“A horse? Are you serious?”
Ethan grabbed his Stetson off the wall rack and settled it on his head. “Completely.”
God she loved him in full cowboy mode, which made it even more frustrating that she couldn’t redirect him to the bedroom. He refused to say anything else, just grabbed the Stetson he’d bought her a few months back and plopped it on her head, before hustling her into the truck. Well knowing that her man wouldn’t say a peep until he was good and ready, Miranda settled back and enjoyed the drive with the windows down, October breeze blowing in her hair.
He drove up into the hills outside town. She’d always loved this part of the county. Close enough to town for convenience but far enough out you didn’t feel like your neighbors were on top of you.
When he turned onto a long, tree-lined drive, a big black horse wheeled and began to run, pacing the truck. Ethan grinned like a kid in a candy shop. “Isn’t he a beauty?”
“He’s big.”
“That’s Houdini.”
“Houdini? Like Chester Harkin’s Houdini?”
“The very same.”
Ethan parked beside the barn, lifting a hand in an answering wave to Chester, who stood grooming a chestnut mare. “He’s down to the two. Sold the others a couple months back.”
They slid out of the truck and wandered over to Chester.
“How you doing, Doc?”
“I’m well, and you, Chester?”
“Can’t complain.”
They both watched as Ethan met Houdini at the fence, offering a carrot on his palm. When had he grabbed that? He looked so in his element—a man and his horse. Or maybe that was just because of the Stetson, boots, and extremely well-fitting Wranglers. The gelding followed him back along the fence as he came over to look over the mare.
Miranda stood back, amused, not really understanding half of what the men discussed. Ethan ran his hands all over the mare, checking for who knew what that indicated soundness in a horse. Then he climbed through the fence and did the same to Houdini, who tolerated the handling with a demand for another carrot. Because she seemed to resent the loss of attention, Miranda edged up to the mare and stroked her warm, glossy neck.
“Well, you’re just gorgeous, aren’t you?”
The mare bobbed her head and practically batted those long lashes. Miranda laughed.
“Do you like her?” Ethan asked.
“I don’t know squat about conformation or whatever, but she’s got sass.”
“As all good women should,” Chester agreed.
Ethan nodded. “I’ll take them. I think Miss Kitty will do nicely for Miranda.”
Miranda gaped as the two men shook on it. “Wait, seriously? You’re buying me a horse?”
“And me. That way we can ride together.” He said it easily, as if that made all the sense in the world.
“But you...I...horses? Really?”
Chester chuckled. “I’ll just let you two hash things out.” The old man took himself off to the barn.
“Ethan, you just bought horses.”
Grinning, he stepped up on the fence rail and rubbed Houdini’s nose. “Yes, I did. I’ve missed having them since I moved off the ranch all those years ago. I feel like I can finally settle and be in one place long enough to have them.”
In the face of his obvious delight, Miranda hated to be the practical one. “So...where are you going to put them? Are you gonna be looking around for somewhere to board them?”
Instead of answering, he stepped down and leaned back against the paddock. “What do you think about the house?”
“The house?” What was he on about? Miranda looked over at the farmhouse. It was a little worn around the edges but work had obviously been done to spruce it up. “Looks like it’s had a fresh coat of paint on the porch and trim.”
“Yeah. Johnny’s work. He did a good job on those and the window boxes over the summer. I think shutters are next up on the list.”
“He’s still doing community service out here?”
“He’s done with his hours. Now he’s actually working for pay, so Chester’s been having him fix things up.”
She’d seen the state of Chester’s arthritis. Having a pair of younger hands had to be a huge blessing. “Well, the work’s paying off. It’s lovely. Comfortable.” It was the kind of house that had obviously been a home.
“Chester and his Jeannie spent a lot of years here. It’s not easy for him to leave it.”
“Leave it?” Had Chester’s health declined that much?
“Yeah, with his arthritis, it’s gotten too hard for him to keep the place up the way he needs to, so when Maudie Belle asked him to move in, he decided to take her up on it.”
Miranda held up a hand. “Wait, I’m sorry. Did you just tell me that Maudie Bell Ramsey has asked Chester to move in with her?”
“Sure did. They’ve become quite the item.”
She looked back toward the barn, where Chester had disappeared. “I’m not sure I want to wrap my brain around that.”
Ethan laughed. “Yeah, well, the only way he felt okay doing it is if the place passed on to somebody who’d love it like he did.”
“You want to buy it,” she realized.
“Yeah. See, the horses are just a part of that whole settling down, thing. I wanted land and a house of my own. Stuff Matt Dillon never really had.”
“Stepping away from your Marshal roots?”
“Well, I reckon I’m smarter than Matt Dillon.”
“Yeah? How’s that?”
“If he’d had an ounce of good sense, he’d have asked Miss Kitty to marry him and settle down. I’ve got more than an ounce of good sense.” He dropped to one knee, right there in the barnyard, a ring in his hand. “I want land, a house—this land, this house—with you. I want to marry you, Miranda, and build a life together. I’m hoping you want all that, too.”
Her heart threatened to beat straight out of her chest. A new life and a new home with the man she loved, the man who’d risked his life to save hers. There was only one possible answer.