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jeep. Flinging the door open, she felt her pulse quicken. “Noah, I almost hit you!”
    He slowly turned to look at her. The interior light from the jeep illuminated the sadness that embraced his eyes. “Well, if it isn’t gorgeous Amanda Brookfield.”
    She hoisted herself into the jeep and closed the door, causing the light to vanish. They sat in silence for a few minutes with only the sound of the wind whistling around them. Amanda cleared her throat. “Why are you parked in the middle of the road, Noah?”
    “ Are you worried someone will smash into me just like you almost did? Well, the only travelers on this road are the ones driving to their ranches. And most of them are used to seeing vehicles, tractors, trailers-- you name it--blocking the way.”
    “ Ok, but can you tell me why you are blocking the way?”
    He nodded, pointing through the windshield. “Just take a look.”
    Hesitantly, her eyes left Noah and darted to the windshield. Caught off guard, she jumped a bit at the brilliant view before her. Feathered across the sky was the brightest orange she had ever seen. “Wow, the sunset is amazing.”
    “ That’s what I said when my father brought me up here for the first time,” Noah commented, his voice husky with emotion.
    Amanda tore her eyes from the beautiful color and turned again to Noah. She parted her lips to say something but decided that silence may be the best thing. Noah didn’t need a conversation right now, he needed her to listen. She reached over to him and squeezed his warm hand.
    “ He took me fishing one day...I think I was about six or seven...and then drove me to this hilltop in the road, where we’re parked now, and showed me the sunset. He told me that this was the best view in Sage. I came back with him many times after that....”
    Scooting closer to him, Amanda laid her head on his shoulder, wanting to shed the tears that Noah was holding back. When she felt his finger on her chin, she didn’t resist as he tilted her face upward. Staring into his sorrowful eyes, she felt an immediate urge to comfort him, to assure him he wasn’t alone...and that she cared deeply. Too deeply. She pressed her quivering lips against his cheek, brushed them across his mouth, his eyebrows, then kissed the bridge of his nose. Hearing him sigh, she pulled back to look at him.
    “ What are you doing Amanda?”
    Disoriented, she searched for a reply but found her thoughts were just a whirling mess! If she hadn’t pulled away when she did...would she have continued to kiss him? Had her display of affection been something other than comfort? Maybe it had been a selfish move on her part. What if she had taken advantage of his pain just to be closer to him? But she knew that couldn’t be it! She was hurt, too. Thomas had been like a father to her. So, what was it then?
    “ Amanda....” Noah whispered.
    She shot him a nervous glance, then after an exploding realization, pushed herself to the far end of the passenger side. Could she be...falling for him? How could that be, after she had tried so hard not to?
    “ I really think it’s best if you get into your truck and go home,” he rested his head back against the seat.
    She flashed a mystified gaze at him. “Leave? Why do you want me to--”
    “ Because I don’t need your pity right now,” he interrupted and briskly started the jeep.
    “ I’m not showing you pity!”
    “ Amanda, just a few days ago, I kissed you and you backed away... sputtering about how we were getting caught up in the moment, remember?” He sent her a frigid glare.
    “ So, you’re saying that the tenderness I just showed you...that it wasn’t real? But, Noah, it was!”
    He laughed, tapping his hand against the steering wheel. “You’ve been discouraging my advances ever since you moved to the ranch, and now that my dad’s passed away, you’re suddenly interested? I don’t buy that as being real.”
    “ Noah, let’s talk about this. You’re not thinking