Then he merely tipped his hat.
“Goodnight, darling.”
She smiled.
“Goodnight.”
He rode away.
Halfway back to his ranch, he cursed himself for being a coward.
He could drive cattle through a thunderstorm.
He could face a charging bull.
He could cross a frozen mountain pass without trembling.
Yet whenever he stood near that woman, his heart behaved like it belonged to a nervous schoolboy.
He knew why.
Love meant risk.
He had already suffered one broken engagement, and he remembered the humiliation of discovering that the woman he'd expected to marry had never wanted the life he could offer.
She had loved the idea of a strong rancher.
She had admired his independence.
But she wanted wealth, society, and a comfortable home in a growing city.
He wanted the mountains.
Neither was wrong to want a different life.
But by the time they admitted it, both had begun resenting the other.
He had promised himself he would never again invite someone into a future they didn't truly want.
The woman at the smokehouse was different.
She loved the mountains.
She understood difficult work.
She respected the land.
And she possessed a kind of quiet strength that impressed him more each time they met.
But she had reasons to distrust men.
He knew that too.
He had seen the way townspeople looked at her.
He had heard the comments.
And he knew that a sudden declaration of love might sound like another man offering to solve her problems in exchange for control over her life.
He wanted her to believe him.
More importantly, he wanted to deserve that belief.
So he kept returning.
Not with extravagant gifts.
Not with promises he hadn't thought through.
But with the simple consistency of a man whose actions were becoming more honest than his words.
When autumn came, the smokehouse became busier.
Farmers brought meat for preservation before winter.
The woman worked long hours managing the curing schedule, checking supplies, preparing records, and directing the safe handling of each delivery.
The rancher helped with heavy tasks when she asked.
He built a stronger loading platform.
He repaired a worn pulley.
And he helped organize the wood storage so she could supervise the operation without making unnecessary trips between buildings.
But the woman remained in charge.
She determined which jobs the smokehouse could accept.
She refused meat that had not been handled properly.
She decided when each batch was ready.