The Stranger I Married

Chapter 18: The Beginning

It was Eve who noticed the group of handlers moving cattle in the distance. She grinned.

"Ready for round two?"

Alex followed her gaze. "What happened to a quiet morning ride?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

He laughed—a surprised, delighted sound. "You're impossible."

"I know." She was already turning her horse toward the handlers. "That's what makes me interesting."

The cattle herding was chaotic and hilarious. Alex, who had managed to look competent on Sunday, found himself chasing a stray calf across the pasture while Eve called out instructions from behind him.

"Left! No, your other left!"

"I don't have another left!"

"Then maybe you should have been paying attention!"

The handlers were watching with grins on their faces. One of them, an older man with a weathered face and a slow drawl, called out: "City boy's getting better, Miss Eve. He'll be a rancher yet."

Eve laughed. "He'll have to be faster than that."

Alex, finally managing to turn the calf, shot her a look. "I heard that."

"You were meant to."

By the time they returned to the stables, the morning had disappeared. They unsaddled the horses and walked toward the main house.

Eve glanced at Alex—at the dust on his clothes, the smile on his face, the way he moved with an ease he hadn't had when they first met.

"You look like you belong here," she said.

He looked at her. "I feel like I belong here."

Something warm moved through her chest.

After lunch, they found themselves near the woodpile. Several of the handlers had gathered, and one of them noticed Alex watching.

"City boy ever split wood before?"

Alex looked at the axe, then at the man. "I've done my share."

The handler grinned and handed him the axe. "Then let's see it."

Eve moved to the fence, settling her arms on the top rail as she watched. The handlers were all grinning, clearly enjoying the prospect of watching the city boy make a fool of himself.

Alex took the axe, testing its weight in his hands. He positioned the block of wood with the kind of quiet confidence that made Eve's heart do something complicated.

One swing. The wood split cleanly.

The men shouted approval. Eve smiled, watching him glance toward her—checking to see if she'd seen.

She had.

"Best two out of three?" another handler called out.

The competition began. Alex won the first round, lost the second, and was narrowly defeated in the third. He handed the axe back to the handler with a rueful smile.

"Defective block," he said.

Eve laughed from the fence. "Of course it was."

Alex walked over to her, dusting off his hands. "You enjoyed that."

"I did." She tilted her head, a teasing glint in her eyes. "You were very impressive."

"Just very?"

"Extremely." She reached out and brushed a piece of wood dust from his shoulder. "Is that better?"

He caught her hand before she could pull it away, pressing a kiss to her fingers. "Much better."

One of the handlers wolf-whistled. Eve laughed, pulling her hand free, but the smile stayed on her face.

They settled down with their computers after lunch.

Alex opened his laptop and sighed.

"What?" Eve looked over at him.

"My work is looking for me." He scrolled through a series of emails. "Urgent documents. Contracts that need my approval. Questions from the team."

She smiled. "I suppose they are entitled to have their businessman back eventually."

"Apparently."

He opened several emails, scanning their contents. Eve watched him for a moment—the way his brow furrowed as he read, the way his fingers moved across the keyboard.

She opened her own laptop. "I have correspondence to catch up on as well. My grandmother's assistant has been sending reminders about Thursday's board meeting. And my father's office called twice."

Alex looked up. "Are you going to call them back?"

"Eventually." She paused. "They know I come here when I need to get away. They won't be surprised I'm at the ranch."

"But they don't know about me."

"No." She met his eyes. "I want to tell them in person. When we get to Westbridge."

"Your grandmother?"

"And my father." She hesitated. "Saturday. I thought we could go together. To see my grandmother."

He was quiet for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She smiled—a soft, steady smile. "I want her to meet you. I want to see her face when I tell her I married the most unexpected man I've ever met."

He laughed—a surprised, warm sound. "Unexpected?"

"Completely unexpected." She tilted her head, teasing. "You walked into that bar looking like a man who'd lost his way. I didn't expect you to find it."

He reached across the table and took her hand. "I found it. I found you."

She squeezed his fingers. "Good."

They worked quietly for most of the afternoon.

Every now and then, one of them would glance across at the other. Neither seemed bothered by the silence. It was comfortable—the kind of silence that comes from being at ease with someone, not from having nothing to say.

Eve found herself looking up more often than she should. There was something about watching him work—the concentration on his face, the way he tapped his fingers on the desk when he was thinking, the occasional small smile when he read something that pleased him.

She caught herself and looked away.

You're staring, she thought. Stop staring.

She didn't stop.

At one point, Alex looked up and caught her watching him. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing." She smiled, then returned to her screen. "Just getting used to the view."

He laughed—a surprised, warm sound. "That's a dangerous thing to say."

"Why?"

"Because I might start expecting it."

She looked up at him, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Then I'll have to keep you on your toes."

He shook his head, still smiling, and returned to his work. But she noticed the way he glanced at her a few moments later—just a brief, private look.

She smiled to herself and turned back to her screen.

By late afternoon, they had both finished most of what needed to be done.

Alex closed his laptop with a final click. "Done."

Eve shut hers a few minutes later. "Me too."

She stretched, rolling her shoulders. "I forgot how much I hated emails."

"I love emails."

She stared at him. "You love emails?"

"I love the ones that mean I don't have to call someone." He grinned. "Emails are efficient. They're civilized. They let me think before I respond."

"Alex Whitmore, email enthusiast."

"I have many hidden depths."

She laughed and stood, crossing to him. "Do you?"

He caught her hand, pulling her down onto his lap. "Many." He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "You're just going to have to discover them."

She settled against him, her head resting on his shoulder. "I'm looking forward to it."

He kissed her hair. "Good."

They sat there for a moment, the afternoon light slanting through the window. Eve could feel his heartbeat beneath her cheek, steady and warm.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"About Saturday." She paused. "About seeing my grandmother."

"You're nervous."

She nodded against his shoulder. "I don't know how she's going to react. She's always been the one I turn to, the one who understands. But this is different. This is..." She searched for the words. "This is the most impulsive thing I've ever done."

"And she's never seen you be impulsive?"

"Never like this." She looked up at him. "I've always been the responsible one. The one who does what's expected. This is the first time I've done something just for me."

He was quiet for a moment. "Then she'll be proud of you."

She blinked. "What?"

"The women who built the Harrington Corporation? The one who taught you to be strong?" He smiled. "I think she'll be proud that you finally chose yourself."

Eve felt something warm move through her chest.

"You think so?"

"I know so." He kissed her lightly on the lips. "Anyone who raised you to be this brave—she's going to understand."

She was quiet for a long moment. Then she smiled.

"I think I'd like that."

After dinner, Eve poured them each a glass of wine. She walked over to Alex and handed him his glass.

"Thank you."

He accepted it, then reached for her hand. "Come on."

He led her toward the porch, a smile on his face. "Let's watch the sunset. One last time."

They stepped outside.

The sun was beginning to sink over the fields, painting the sky in shades of gold and amber. Eve looked across the familiar landscape—the pastures, the barns, the distant hills she'd known since childhood.

"This is where it all started," she said quietly.

Alex looked at her. "What?"

"This place. The ranch. The bar in Bellhaven. All of it." She turned to him. "I came here because I needed to escape. I never expected to find you."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he reached for her hand, pulling her closer.

"I came here because I had nowhere else to go," he said. "And then I found everything."

She felt the words land somewhere deep in her chest.

They sat down together, the porch swing creaking softly beneath them. Eve rested her head against his shoulder, watching the colours deepen across the sky.

"I never thought I'd say this," she said, "but I'm grateful Victoria left you."

He looked at her. "What?"

"Because if she hadn't, you never would have walked into that bar." She looked up at him. "I would have spent the rest of my life not knowing you existed."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"I'm grateful too. But not because of her." His arm tightened around her. "Because I found you. Because you looked at me like I was just a person. Because you gave me a reason to stay."

She felt warmth spread through her chest. "A reason to stay?"

"A reason to stop running." He looked out across the fields. "I spent a long time convincing myself I was happy. That I had everything I wanted. And then I walked into that bar, and you asked me if I trusted a stranger's judgment." He smiled. "I didn't know then that I was trusting you with my entire life."

She laughed softly. "That's a lot of pressure."

"I'm not putting pressure on you." His voice dropped. "I'm telling you the truth."

She turned her face toward him. "What's the truth?"

He met her eyes. "That I'm grateful for every second that led me here. Even the bad ones. Because they brought me to you."

The words settled around her like the dusk—soft, warm, full of promise.

They sat there for a long time, watching the colours fade and the stars begin to appear.

"I'll bring you back here," Alex said quietly. "Whenever you want. We'll come back for the sunsets and the mornings and everything in between. Silver Creek is part of our story now. Not the end. The beginning."

Eve felt something shift in her chest—a lightness, a freedom.

"The beginning," she repeated.

He squeezed her hand. "Of everything. Of us."

She looked out across the fields, at the last traces of light disappearing beyond the hills.

"I like the sound of that," she said softly. "Us."

He kissed her hair. "So do I."

They remained there until the last light disappeared, the stars emerging one by one across the darkening sky.

Eventually, Eve stood. "I need to pack."

Alex rose with her. "I'll help."

She looked at him. "You don't have to."

"I know." He took her hand. "But I'm helping anyway."

She smiled. "All right."

They walked back inside. The packing took surprisingly little time. Neither had brought much with them.

Eve folded the last of her clothes and placed them into her bag. Alex picked it up.

"I've got it."

She smiled. "You really are enjoying being a husband."

"I'm getting practice."

She laughed—a soft, happy sound that seemed to fill the room.