Silver Creek - G.L. Snodgrass Page 0,44

was hungry, he didn’t care if a wisp of her hair had broken free.

When she stepped inside, she sighed with relief to see him coming from around his desk. She smiled to herself. It seemed that no matter the danger, her stomach still fluttered every time she saw him.

“This is Felton’s medium steak,” she said as she indicated the plate in her right hand for the prisoner in the back. “Helen said that any man who wanted his steak cooked that way couldn’t be trusted.”

Luke nodded as he relieved her of both plates and turned to take one back to Felton in his cell. When he returned, he stopped for a moment as he studied her with the eyes of a wolf, lustful and full of need.

She felt her body flush with excited embarrassment. The two of them stood there, both of them silently sending a dozen messages back and forth.

There was so much she wanted to talk to him about. Their future? What he thought of her? How many children did he want?

Her tongue however refused to work. It was as if she was terrified of opening a subject that might push him away. Or worse, it might be tempting fate to talk about something that could be taken from them.

“Becky,” he whispered as he stepped towards her.

“Luke,” she answered as she found herself melting in his arms. This was where she belonged. Here, with this man. Nothing else mattered in this world as long as she had him.

She looked up into his eyes, desperate to know if he felt the same way about her. He smiled softly then leaned down and took her lips with his.

Rebecca felt a heat build inside of her. A fire that would never be extinguished. Her hands reached up around his neck to hold him in place when the door opened behind them. She gasped with embarrassment as she broke away and spun around.

The doorway framed a tall cowboy in a black hat with two guns, one on each hip.

“You have to be the stupidest man I have ever known,” the cowboy said as he stepped into the room and slammed the door behind him.

Luke froze, his hand hovering over his gun. “If you think I’m an idiot, you should meet my brother. He’s worse.”

The cowboy frowned. Luke scowled at him then smiled slightly. The cowboy laughed, marched across the room, and threw his arms around Luke to pound him on the back.

Rebecca’s stomach fell. Who? What?

“God, Jacob,” Luke said. “You’ve grown two feet and put on some beef.”

The tall cowboy laughed. “You ain’t changed, still an ugly cuss.”

Jacob? Luke’s brother? Rebecca scrambled to understand. He was here, now. Yes, it was the boy from the trail. The boy who had grown into a man.

“Becky,” the tall cowboy said as he turned to her with a huge smile. “You do realize you was kissing the wrong brother, right?”

“Jacob?” she asked with disbelief then reached out to give him a tight hug. All these years and both of the Parker boys were here. The two people she trusted more than anyone in this world. The boys who had shared her greatest adventures.

“Jake, now,” he said to her. “Hanna’s oldest had problems saying Jacob, so it got changed to Jake.”

“How are they,” Luke asked his brother. “How is Hanna?”

Rebecca could see the worry in his eyes. Once again, her heart went out to him. He had sacrificed returning home to come help her. Sacrificing his own happiness for hers.

“Good, good,” Jake said. “Zion is getting long in the tooth. But don’t you dare tell him I said that or he’ll skin me alive. Hanna just had another boy. That makes five to the two girls.” Here Jake smiled at Luke. “They named the tike Lucas. He’s just as ugly as his oldest uncle.”

Rebecca watched as Luke’s eyes grew big with surprise. Then, slowly a smile spread across his face, showing that he was obviously pleased.

“What are you doing here? I didn’t send for you.”

Jake laughed then smiled at Rebecca, “He ain’t changed, always thinking he’s in charge of me.”

“Jacob,” Luke growled. “You’ve walked into a snake pit. I swear boy, you …”

“I got an idea what’s going on,” Jake said. “Stopped by the Bull’s Head Saloon. Would have stopped at the Red House, but it seemed some idiot sheriff closed her down for two days. Anyway, you could of knocked me over with a feather when I heard you was the new sheriff. I tell