Love Unspoken by Delilah Hunt

here with him was another sobering lesson on all
the things she had taken for granted that her parents had provided.
    Horseback riding. Lessons she rebelled against because yet again
it was seen as them trying to mold her into someone she wasn’t, someone they
wanted to brag about like they did with her younger sister. It all seemed so
ridiculous now that she had removed the blinders of youth.
    They had been doing what any normal parents would do, trying to
give their children the best of life. A tinge of sadness gripped her. At least
back then, they wanted the best for her, unlike now, when they assumed she
still required saving from herself.
    But… all that was in the past. It couldn’t be changed. From now
on she had Cole, although the damn cowboy seemed hell bent on showing her she
was no match for him on horseback.
    Noelle dug her heels into the horse, riding close on Firebrand’s
thick shiny tail. Not in a million years would she have imagined herself awake
at four in the morning with the wind zipping by her face and galloping on a
mare named Agnes to check on her neighbor’s cattle. Oh, and doing so with Cole
McKinney, the silent ranch hand.
    She threw hear head back and laughed. The very act she would have
scoffed at was actually bringing her joy. She was out here in the refreshing
summer’s morning with nary a soul around but her and Cole. It felt amazing. As
wonderful as it felt to wake up in his arms, knowing that he’d welcomed her
into his bed without putting on the pressure to have sex.
    By the time they came to a stop on the flatland, the sunrise was
still low on the horizon.
    “You do this every morning, so early?”
    He shook his head and looked toward the herd of Hereford bulls.
After a minute he turned to her. “Earlier. I don’t mind it.”
    Her eyes opened. Was he serious? When she’d awoken, she assumed
he was going to stay in her arms and cuddle some more. She was shocked when he
climbed out of bed and shrugged into a flannel shirt, insisting she go back to
sleep. No way. She’d made it clear that she wanted to spend every free moment
she had with him. Noelle recognized the moment he accepted it as the truth,
slowly nodding when she asked him to tag along. She was pleased he agreed to
her company.
    “Do you like it out here?” Cole asked, minutes later after
he had deemed everything in order with the cattle. No signs of theft or
injuries to the animals.
    Noelle hesitated. She liked being with him. What she didn’t like
was the feeling they were sneaking around. Meeting in the shroud of twilight
and now the only way to spend a morning together in the opening, was hours
before the crack of dawn to which she’d have to hurry back to the house before
her parents assumed she had been out gallivanting and losing control again.
They didn’t trust her and it was wearing thin.
    Noelle looked over at Cole, noting the way he studied her in
seriousness. She felt guilty. He must have thought she’d snubbed his question
out of a genuine dislike for this lifestyle.
    Lifting his hand, he stopped in mid action of signing to her.
Cole reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his wallet, handing a
photograph to her.
    Noelle took the picture, registering the faces that already
seemed familiar. A woman with the same dark eyes, an older man, looked to be in
his late fifties and a younger boy close in resemblance to Cole but without the
height and build, stood in front of a house.
    “These are your parents and brother?”
    He nodded. Noelle studied the picture. “Do you guys have a farm
or something?”
    Cole smiled ruefully and Noelle opened her mouth in surprise.
There was so much she didn’t know about him. If Cole’s family owned a ranch,
why would he work those backbreaking hours on someone else’s ranch?
    “Why aren’t you there? I thought most ranches were run by
families.”
    “Our ranch isn’t big. Not even half the size of this place.”
    Okay, but that confused her even more.