She took his hand.
“Thank you.”
They remained that way for a long moment.
And although neither spoke of love, several guests quietly noticed that the cowboy had not looked away from the woman once during the dance.
The following morning, the housekeeper found him standing beside the kitchen window, smiling to himself.
She folded her arms.
“You're in trouble.”
He turned.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
He frowned.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
The housekeeper laughed.
“I've known you since you were a boy. You think I can't recognize a man falling in love?”
The cowboy looked toward the floor.
The housekeeper's expression softened.
“She cares for you.”
He sighed.
“I know.”
“Then what's stopping you?”
He hesitated.
“She came here because another man hurt her.”
“Yes.”
“She had nowhere to go.”
“Yes.”
“I don't want her to think she's obligated to love me because I helped her.”
The housekeeper watched him carefully.
Then she nodded.
“That's a good concern.”
He looked surprised.
She continued.
“But don't confuse giving a woman freedom with refusing to tell her the truth.”
The cowboy remained silent.
The housekeeper picked up a clean dish towel.
“She can't decide what she wants if you never let her know what's in your heart.”
He looked toward the hallway.
“She deserves better than a man who makes her feel indebted.”
The housekeeper smiled gently.
“Then be a man who gives her a choice.”
He considered her words.
For the rest of the morning, he worked in the barn with unusual intensity.
He repaired a broken latch.
He checked the roof.
He reorganized the tack room.
By afternoon, the older ranch hand asked whether something was troubling him.
The cowboy shook his head.
“Just thinking.”
The ranch hand grinned.
“That explains the noise.”
The cowboy threw a rolled cloth toward him.
The ranch hand laughed.
But the cowboy's thoughts remained fixed on the woman.
He knew he was approaching a decision.
He could continue hiding his feelings behind kindness.
Or he could risk telling her the truth.
He did not yet realize that events beyond the ranch would soon make that...