Jacob thought it would be wise to take a walk rather than watch George paw at Rosa. That man thought he was terribly desirable with women, but he had yet to secure a wife. Rumor had it that he'd written an advertisement to find one, but Jacob suspected there weren't too many women eager to leave their homes and marry a ranch hand.

He would have chided himself for his snobbery, remembering that he'd just risen in position not very long ago, but his feelings for the man superseded common sense. Of course, he'd never had much of a problem with George before tonight, but now he had a reason.

“What are you doing out here?” a voice asked.

He turned to see Alex and Christina emerging from the barn.

“Getting some air,” he answered. “Same as you, I suspect.”

Christina smiled at him, her eyes lighting up. “I never would have guessed you could dance like that. Jacob Bowman, you are a surprise.”

Since he liked the woman, he decided not to take any offense. “It depends on the partner,” he replied cheekily.

The two of them laughed at that. “Well, Rosa is beautiful,” Christina acknowledged generously. “I think more than one man realized that tonight.”

His gut clenched at the comment, but he kept a smile on his face. “It's not hard to see,” he admitted. “But to most men out here, nearly any woman would be considered pretty.”

The dearth of women in the West rendered every female attractive on some level. Not too many women who came to their area single stayed that way for very long.

“Well, she'll have her pick, I'm sure,” Alex commented. “John will have to beat them off with a very big stick now that they've met her.”

“Who's to say she'll want any of them?” Christina returned spiritedly. “She may choose to remain single.”

“She'll have a hard time of it,” Alex retorted. “It'll take more than a polite refusal to convince most men she's happy alone.”

Jacob didn't really want to be part of this conversation. It was depressing him more than he already was.

“Well, have a good walk,” he said to them. “I'm going back inside.”

He didn't tell them, but his only reason for going back inside was to tell either Carl or Amanda that he was going to leave. He'd done his due diligence in showing up. There was no need for him to stay longer. Although he had a competitive side, he wasn't about to do battle with twenty other men.

The music greeted him as he reentered the room, but it was no longer the pleasant distraction it had been. Now, he found it grating.

In the darkened room, it was hard to see who was who, especially since a few of the lanterns had gone out.

“Help me,” a soft voice appealed to him as he walked around. When he looked down, the beautiful eyes of Rosa pleaded him to stop.

“Are you okay?” he asked, leaning over her with concern.

“No, I am not. My sister insists I dance with every man in the room, but I cannot. Most of them are not dancers, and some of them are too... How can I say? Familiar?”

His blood turned hot when he understood her meaning. “Of course I’ll help you,” he murmured. His large frame easily blocked hers from the view of others. Jacob could see that various men were scanning the room, probably looking for Rosa, so he increased his pace. “Let's walk towards the door.”

One step at a time, they made their way out of the barn. Once outside, he expected her to thank him, but she frowned instead.

“Why did you leave me with that man? You tell me that you are getting a drink and then he gives it to me!”

He didn't expect her anger and stepped back, holding up his hands in front of himself defensively.

“Sorry. I was getting the drinks when he grabbed them from me. I didn't want to punch him in the face to get them back, so I let him go.”

She didn't accept his excuse. “There are other ways to stop a man. You did not try.”

Part of him wanted to laugh, but he knew that wouldn't be wise. Instead, he opted for the better way out.

“You're right. I should have thought of something, but I'm not that smart.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and some of the fire went out of her eyes.

“Well, you should learn.”

He nodded and grinned. “Okay. I will.”

Seemingly satisfied, Rosa emitted a long sigh and turned her face up to the night sky. “What am I doing here?” she asked, but he thought it might be a rhetorical question and so kept silent. “I come to help my sister, but now she needs me no longer. I thank God she is well, but what should I do now?”

Jacob swallowed hard. “I guess you miss Italy,” he said quietly. “I heard it's beautiful.”

“Oh! You cannot imagine!” she exclaimed, her eyes shining. “Even the streets are art. The cathedrals alone make a man cry. You must see the city of Milan to believe it. It is like a dream.”

His heart constricted as she spoke. “I've seen sketches,” he told her. “Back in my hometown, I had a neighbor who was from Italy, an artist.”

Now she turned to face him. “Many Italians are artists. We build many beautiful things. Of course, nothing is as beautiful as what God creates, but I miss my country.”

An idea took hold of him. “Have you had a chance to explore the area? I know you've seen Falls Creeks, but there are a lot of pretty places.” He didn't want to offer to show them to her directly. That would seem too forward. “I sometimes take my nieces and nephews to the edge of the mountain near Falls Creek for a picnic. I just bought some land over there with Alex and Cole. If you want, I could show you. Maybe Elise's kids would like to come, and we can make a day of it.” The way he presented the idea, it sounded more like babysitting than a date. He thought that was very clever.

A pensive look came over her face. At first, he thought she was going to decline, but then she smiled. “That sounds very nice. I will ask her. Maybe next Sunday?”

That was two days after the horses arrived. He’d be busy, but not too busy to take a couple horses off. So, nodding, he tried not to look too excited, but he suspected that he failed. “Sounds good. I'll, uh, stop by sometime this week to make sure Elise agrees.”

Rosa glanced over his shoulder toward the barn door and quickly took a step closer to him. Her head was just inches away from his chest.

“I see that man again, George. I already did one dance with him. I hope he is not looking to ask me for another one.”

Although he tried hard not to grin, Jacob had to bite the insides of his cheeks to succeed. He turned himself just a little to prevent anyone exiting the barn from seeing Rosa clearly. The man retreated, but Jacob enjoyed Rosa's nearness for a moment longer.

“I think he's gone now,” he murmured, catching the subtle scent of lilac from her hair. “Hmm. That's surprising.”

She stepped back and gave him a look. “What is the surprise?”

“Oh, uh, nothing.” He'd nearly said that he was expecting her to smell of roses, given her name, but then he changed his mind at the last minute. “Um, do you want to rejoin your sister?”

Rosa shook her head. “Can we walk? You are an honorable man, yes?”

“Yes,” he answered quickly. And he knew that with her, he always would be.

It was a bold move, asking Jacob to go for a walk with her. If she'd done such a thing in Italy, her parents would have her married within the week. But in America, people were more open-minded, more free. Although Jacob had seemed a little surprised by her request, he quickly agreed. She only hoped he wouldn't think her too forward.

“The night is so clear,” she said softly. “The stars, they shine so bright.”

Jacob made a small noise in his throat, one of agreement. “It's the same sky in Italy,” he commented. “Does it look different here?”

His talk of Italy was both comforting and painful. “Yes and no. I feel the air is different here. In Milan, there are so many streets and people, but here, the houses are far apart.”

“Yes, well, that's country living for you. I guess your family lived in the city?”

She nodded. “Is very different.”

“My family is in the city too. I tried to convince them to come here, but my father...” He sighed, aware of the trickle of anger that niggled at him. “Well, they didn't want to.”

“Moving away is hard,” she acknowledged. “You can only do so for fear or for love.”

It struck him that both he and Carl had moved for the same reason, but different from what Rosa believed. “Or because you have no choice. My father basically kicked my brother and me out of the house when we turned eighteen. There were too many mouths to feed.”

She stopped walking and tilted her head up to look in his face. “You still are angry with your father. How long ago?”

Jacob forced himself to breathe evenly and unclench his jaw. “More than ten years.”

“Ten years is so long for such feelings.” She paused. “Forgive him.”

The force of her words, the passion behind them, nearly caused him to stumble. “You don't know...” he began.

“I know,” she interrupted. “I do not know your father, but I know anger and, uh, what is this word...disappointment. I have it many times in my life. But I forgive, and my heart is happy.”

Just hearing her talk softened his heart a little, and he wanted to know more. “Who did you forgive?”

“My family, brothers and sisters. They ask me to take care of my parents, I say yes, and so I do not marry. I do not have a family because my parents were sick. I was angry for some years, but then God showed me that I will be unhappy forever if I do not forgive.”

Her answer created more questions, but Jacob couldn't pry. He accepted what she said and pondered it.

“I feel like my father could have kept his job and we could have stayed with our family. That's hard to forgive.” That was only part of it, but he wasn't going to burden her with the entire story.

“You do not like Montana? You wish to go home to the city?”

The question surprised him. “I—I don't want to go home now, but it was hard in the beginning. I missed my family so much.”

“Yes, it is hard to leave a family. I know. But sometimes, there is something more for you when you listen to God.”

Jake didn't want to contradict her, nor did he want to reveal how shallow his own faith was, so he merely nodded. She seemed to take this as encouragement and continued.

“I loved my parents, but it was hard to take care of them and watch my brothers and sisters have families. But now, I have a family. My sister's family is mine now.”

His heart squeezed and he wanted to encourage her, tell her that it wasn't too late. She was still a young woman, and there was more than one man in the area who would be happy to marry her, himself included. He may not know her deeply, but his heart was already telling him that she was the one. All he had to do now was convince her.

“You may have your own family one day,” he said softly. “Don't you think so?”

Rosa shrugged a little and smiled. “If it is God's will.”

Her confidence astounded him. He had not suffered more than she had, but his own faith had been lost along the way. Hers had been strengthened and seemed to sustain her. Although he had endured many trials, they hadn't strengthened his faith, but rather had it made it practically disappear.

Perhaps it hadn't been that strong to begin with.