His Texas Wildflower Read Online Free PDF Page B

the fact that her mother could possibly be right and that years down the road, after Rebecca had grown to womanhood, she’d eventually see that her wish to be a veterinarian was ridiculous.
    In the end, she’d caved in to Gwyn’s wishes and put aside her own dreams. But now, after all these years, Rebecca often wondered if her childhood pursuit would have suited her, would have given her more fulfillment than the materialistic job she had now.
    â€œWell, looks like now is your chance to change that,” Jake remarked. “There are plenty of animals here for the taking.”
    Lifting her head, she smiled wanly. He made everything sound so easy and uncomplicated. How would it feel to live that way? To not be hurrying and scurrying, constantly flying from one city to the next, continually worrying about maintaining her looks and asking herself if any of it really mattered, did she really matter in the scheme of things?
    â€œPerhaps,” she murmured, then said, “If you’re ready, I need to be shutting the house and driving to Ruidoso. I’d like to get back to my hotel room before dark and from here the trip is at least thirty minutes.”
    â€œSure. I’ll help you.”
    It didn’t take the two of them long to shut the windows and lock the doors. Once they made their way back out to their vehicles, Rebecca paused at the driver’s door of the sedan and extended her hand to him. When his warm fingers wrapped around hers, she was once again flung back to those moments she’d been wrapped in his arms. Somehow she knew she would never forget how it had made her feel to be that close to him, to have his voice in her ear, his hand in her hair.
    â€œThank you, Jake, for taking time out of your day to attend my aunt’s services. It means very much to me. More than you can imagine.”
    â€œI was glad to do it.”
    Instead of dropping her hand, he continued to hold it tightly, his thumb moving ever so slightly against its back. Rebecca suddenly had to remind herself to breathe.
    â€œWell, perhaps we’ll see each other again—before I leave to go back to Texas,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice light and natural, even while she was feeling the quiver of her words as they left her tongue.
    â€œI’d like that, Rebecca. Very much.”
    She waited for him to drop his hold on her hand. When he didn’t, she forced herself to extricate her fingers from his and turn toward the car.
    Before she could reach to open the door, he did it for her and without looking his way she quickly slid beneath the wheel and started the engine.
    When he shut the door between them, she dared to glance at him through the open window.
    â€œGoodbye, Jake.”
    He lifted a hand in farewell, then stepped back and out of the way. As she turned the car around and headeddown the short drive, she looked in the rearview mirror to see him walking over to his truck. As he went, he lifted his hat from his head and raked a hand through his hair as though he was either puzzled or weary, or simply gathering himself after the stress of dealing with an emotional woman.
    Dear God, what had made her fall into his arms like that and weep against his chest? She wasn’t that sort of woman. What could he be thinking of her?
    It doesn’t matter, Rebecca. You’ll probably never see the man again.
    The idea left her very, very empty.
    Â 
    Rafter R Ranch, the place Jake called home, was located only a few miles from Fort Stanton, a military facility that had once played an important part in New Mexico’s early growth as a state, but was now only a preserved part of its history, where tourists could view the past. If Jake needed to drive to town for any sort of supplies, he had to head northwest to Capitan. The trip took more than twenty minutes and the town was actually only a village of about fifteen hundred people or so, but Jake didn’t mind the isolation. In