Only 03 - Only You

time in his life, the thought bothered him.
    T HE kitchen smelled of Willow’s biscuits, beef stew, and the dried apple pie that Eve had insisted on making for dinner. Willow hadn’t put up much of a fight, readily accepting that Eve preferred to be treated as a neighbor or a friend rather than as a guest.
    Reno hadn’t been pleased to find Eve in the kitchen when he came in from choosing horses and readying the pack saddles for an early start tomorrow, but it was too late to object. Eve and Willow were sharing the kitchen and talking together like old friends.
    Eve had bathed and changed into the old dress Reno had found in her saddlebag while searching for much more valuable things. The dress was wrinkled, all but worn-out, painfully clean, and obviously had been made from flour bags. The cloth had been washed in harsh soap and dried in the sun so many times that the makers’ names had faded to an illegible wash of pink and pale blue. Either the material had shrunk over time, or the dress was a hand-me-down, for it fit too snugly across Eve’s breasts and hinted too much at the flare of her hips.
    It made a man want to measure the slender waistwith his hands, and then peel off the coarse cloth to get at the silky woman beneath.
    But it was better than the crimson silk saloon dress Reno had first seen on Eve. He had been afraid she would wear it in Willow’s house as a way of getting back at him for saying he wouldn’t take a fancy lady into his sister’s house.
    He hadn’t meant the remark as a insult; it was simply a fact. He had too much respect and love for his sister to parade fallen women through her home.
    “Oh, blast,” Willow said. “I forgot Ethan’s diaper.”
    “I’ll get it,” Eve said.
    “Thanks. It’s in the bedroom next to yours.”
    Eve turned and saw Reno’s disapproving eyes. She straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, and walked past him without a word.
    His cold glance followed the unconscious swaying of her hips until he could see them no longer. Only then did he turn back to his sister and his nephew, who was at present being bathed near the warmth of the kitchen stove.
    The baby’s whiskey-colored eyes were an exact match for Caleb’s. Though not yet six months old, Ethan Black was already bigger than most children at ten months. He made an armful for his mother as he splashed and paddled enthusiastically in a basin of warm water.
    “Here,” Reno said. “Let me take care of him. You make biscuits.”
    “I’ve already made a triple batch,” Willow said. “The last of them are baking right now.”
    “Those are for tonight. I was talking about biscuits for the trail tomorrow.”
    Laughing, Willow stepped aside.
    Reno picked up the soft washrag, rubbed soapinto it, and began washing his nephew. The baby made a happy sound and reached for Reno’s mustache with chubby little fingers. Reno drew back, but not quite enough. Ethan grabbed hair and pulled.
    Wincing, Reno moved to disentangle the small fingers. Despite the baby’s happy yanking, Reno was careful not to truly discourage his nephew. He eased the fingers from his mustache, gave them a smacking, tickling kiss, and laughed when Ethan’s eyes widened with surprise and delight.
    The baby crowed and made another grab for Reno’s mustache. This time Reno had the baby’s range and ducked successfully.
    “If you don’t beat all,” Reno said as he washed his squirming, energetic nephew. “I’m gone less than a month, and your arms grow half an inch.”
    Ethan’s arms windmilled, sending water every-where. Willow looked up from the flour she was sifting, saw her child’s delight, and shook her head.
    “You spoil him,” she said, but there was no censure in her voice.
    “One of the pleasures of my life,” Reno agreed. “That, and your biscuits.”
    With a glad shriek, Ethan launched himself at Reno’s chest.
    “Easy there, little man.”
    Gently he restrained the baby so that Willow’s kitchen wouldn’t end up as wet and slippery as a bathhouse floor.
    Ethan tried to wriggle free, but couldn’t. Just when he was clouding up for a good cry, Reno distracted him by picking up one of his little hands, pressing his mouth against the palm, and blowing hard. The fruity noises that followed delighted the baby.
    No one noticed Eve standing in the doorway to the kitchen, watching Reno with both disbelief and yearning in her eyes. She had never imagined that much gentleness lay beneath Reno’s hard body