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this, Jake.”
    “You’ve got enough on your plate without having to worry about the fire going out.” Jake walked down the hall and into the parlor and dropped his load on the already overflowing wood box. “By the way, I found a rattler curled up in your stack.” He looked over his shoulder at her while he returned a few stray pieces. “He’s not feeling the cold anymore.”
    Leah suppressed a shiver. She hated snakes with a passion. And once more she was indebted to Jake. The side of beef in her cellar was courtesy of him. She was shameless where Banks was concerned and Jake well knew her weakness.
    “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay here?” he asked.
    “I’ll—We’ll be fine,” she assured him. “You’ve got a ranch to take care of.”
    “There won’t be much ranching going on while this snow keeps up.” Jake stood, brushed off his hands and looked at her, his clear gray eyes, as always, looking for some sign from her.
    Leah gathered her shawl around her shoulders.
    “Yeah…well…I guess I’ll be going.” He pulled on his heavy coat, hanging over the back of a chair. “I’ll be at Ward’s if you need anything.”
    “Thanks, Jake.” Leah quickly looked away. The constant disappointment that showed in his eyes was more than she could stand at the moment. She leaned her forehead against the door when it closed behind him. No matter how much Jake wanted it, she couldn’t bring herself to love him. She respected him, liked him, enjoyed his company, but the only thing she felt for him was friendship. Was it wrong of her to think he deserved more in a wife? He was a wonderful man, strong, generous and handsome. He should have a woman who was madly in love with him.
    I’m just being selfish.
Was it greedy of her to want the same love she’d had with Nate twice in one lifetime? Or had she lost her one chance of a happily-ever-after ending to an outlaw with a gun?
    He’d be such a great father for Banks…
    “NO!”
    Leah ran to Pastor Key’s bedside. He struggled beneath the weight of the sheets and blankets. He pushed them down below his waist and his arms flailed at his hips, searching for something seen only in his feverish state.
    “Shhh,” Leah said. She smoothed his damp, dark hair back from his broad forehead. He responded to her touch, turning his face into her hand. He inhaled against her palm as if he were Dodger, tracing a strange scent. He murmured something in an unrecognizable language and fumbled with the blankets.
    Leah rinsed out a cloth from the bowl of melted snow on the bedside table and placed it on his forehead. It quieted him somewhat, so she moved the chair closer and sat down to study her patient in peace.
    The lamplight cast a small circle of light over his headand chest. His hair was a rich dark brown, and long, as if he’d missed a few haircuts. It curled in more directions than she could count, wild from his snowy ride and fever. His forehead was broad, his eyes deep set beneath thick dark brows.
    I wonder what color his eyes are…Brown?
    His nose was long and straight, perfectly proportioned to the shape of his face. She took it all in as she wrung out the cloth once more; his fever was so hot that the cloth dried almost as soon as she put it on his forehead.
    “No,” he said again.
    Leah stared at his mouth. The flash of teeth when he spoke showed them to be perfectly aligned and surprisingly white. His lower lip was thicker than the top and his mouth mobile, moving in interesting ways as he drifted into his conversation with whatever demons haunted his dreams.
    I wonder what he looks like when he smiles…
    Leah wrung out the cloth again. His chest was covered with sweat so she wiped across it, amazed at the breadth of it, and the smoothness. Nate’s chest had been sprinkled with crisp blond curls so the absence fascinated her. He was dark too, his chest, back and arms tanned olive, contrasting greatly with the white bandage she’d wrapped around his