Only 04 - Only Love

Reno’s.
    “Something wrong?” Reno asked.
    “There are parts of this world where you would be insulting your host and hostess by wearing your boots across the threshold of their home,” Whip said. “Especially boots like these and a new home like yours.”
    “Eve must have been to those same places,” Reno admitted. “She leaves a pair of moccasins next to the door for me to swap for my boots.”
    Reno’s smile was wry and amused at the same time. Eve’s pleasure in having a home of her own had been a keen satisfaction to him.
    “What about my boots?” Whip asked. “Will she settle for stocking feet?”
    “She’ll think of something. She protects this house like a tigress with only one cub.”
    “Can you blame her? An orphanage like she was raised in would make a body crave a home of their own.”
    Reno and Whip washed up at a small bench Reno had built at the back of the house. The water waiting for them was warm and scented with lilac.
    As cheerful as the scent was, Whip couldn’t help remembering the spearmint freshness that he associated with Shannon, and the small ritual of handing him a towel and inspecting his face so carefully for any speck of lather.
    Stop thinking about those beautiful blue eyes and thatsweet mouth smiling up at you, Whip advised himself grimly. It isn’t fair to either one of us.
    Do what you have to do.
    Get Reno. Get gold.
    Get out.
    The thought didn’t have as much appeal as it should have.
    “Well, don’t take all day,” Eve said, smiling at the men from the back doorway. “If I wait any longer to give you a hug, the biscuits will burn.”
    Grinning, Reno wiped his hands on a clean rag and held out his arms. Eve stepped into them and held on hard.
    “Is everything all right?” she whispered very softly against Reno’s ear.
    “Nothing for us to worry about, sugar,” Reno answered with equal softness.
    He felt as much as heard his wife’s sigh of relief.
    “I smell burning biscuits,” Whip said blandly.
    Reno released Eve, who turned immediately to Whip and held out her arms.
    “They’ll be all right,” she said, “but I’m pining for a hug from my second-favorite man in the whole world.”
    Whip bent slightly, gathered Eve in a big hug, and held her close.
    Reno watched with an indulgent smile and no jealousy at all. He knew that his wife and brother had forged a special bond between them when both had risked their lives to dig Reno out from deep inside an ancient, dangerous mine.
    With a final squeeze, Whip set Eve back on her feet.
    “Come in and eat,” Eve said, smiling widely. “I can hear your stomach growling all the way from here. I’ll set your place while you change shoes. Ifyou like, you can hang your bullwhip on one of the jacket pegs. Or you can wear it at the table. Suit yourself, so long as the hat stays here with the boots.”
    Reno and Whip exchanged a silent glance of amusement when they saw the pair of large, clean socks laid out beside Reno’s moccasins. But neither man had the heart to tease Eve about her attempt to civilize one small part of the West. In truth, the men welcomed the gentle rituals and generous feminine warmth that made a home from a simple house.
    While Whip ate, he told Reno and Eve about what he had been doing since they had seen him months ago. When he got around to talking about Echo Basin and Holler Creek, he passed lightly over the Culpeppers.
    Even without explanations or embroidery, Eve understood what had happened in Murphy’s mercantile. She had lived in some rough places before she met Reno. She knew exactly what stripe of male animal the Culpepper bunch was.
    What she didn’t know was why Silent John’s widow was at the Black ranch rather than with Whip.
    “Why didn’t you bring Mrs. Smith with you?” Eve asked Whip.
    “Mrs. Smith?”
    Eve saw the blank lack of comprehension in Whip’s eyes and made an exasperated sound.
    “The woman you brought from Echo Basin to the Black ranch,” Eve said, speaking slowly, as though to a backward child. “The woman who was insulted by the Culpeppers. The woman whose modesty you defended with that lethal bullwhip of yours.”
    “Oh. You mean Shannon.”
    “Lord above, of course I do,” Eve said, laughing. “Is your mind off woolgathering around the world again?”
    Surprisingly, red stained Whip’s cheekbones.
    “I don’t think of Shannon as Mrs. Smith,” Whip said tersely.
    Eve blinked, sweeping long lashes over her eyes, concealing the