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Chapter 9

Wakingup next to Lea that morning was different from all the other mornings she had done it. Lea’s eyes were still closed as her even breathing created a rhythm of restfulness. Jewel tried not to shift too much on the bed, not wanting to wake her. She raked her gaze over Lea’s face, the lines that seemed to vanish when she was fully relaxed, the softness of her hair as it curled around her shoulder.

Jewel bit her tongue and fisted her hand into the pillow by her face. What the hell was she doing? Nothing had made her interest in Lea waver. No thought, no action, no space that she had forced between them, although she could probably have separated herself a bit more than she had. The week of silence had been hard enough as it was, and she wasn’t sure it was something she wanted to relive.

Lea didn’t even rustle. But then, she had been up late talking with Eli. Jewel wondered exactly what that relationship was made of. In the five years she’d known Lea, she’d never seen her walls vanish around a former student, or really anyone except Jewel herself and the two people from Lea’s family that she had managed to meet.

The sun wasn’t even up yet. The curse of being so used to waking before the crack of dawn for school. Maybe by the end of the week she would be able to sleep in past eight in the morning, but she doubted it. Lea never would. The only reason she was asleep now was because of how late she’d stayed up. But really, midnight wasn’t that bad.

Jewel sighed, flexing her fingers as she debated what to do. Normally she was the socialite of the two of them, but the thought of going downstairs to get coffee and potentially running into someone else, even Eli, was jarring.

She stayed in bed another five minutes before she was bored enough to force herself up. She moved slowly, trying as much as humanly possible not to jostle the bed. Not daring to rustle in her suitcase for clothes or a bra, Jewel grabbed her glasses, slipped out the door, and tiptoed downstairs. Without the sun to help her and no lights on in the house, she had to use her hands against the wall and the railing to guide her downstairs.

Luckily, the lights above the sink and stove were on, and she smelled the glorious scent of coffee. “Oh, thank Jesus.”

The chuckle startled her. “I wouldn’t call me Jesus, but if you want to, I’ll take it.”

“I didn’t see you.” Jewel narrowed her gaze. “Why are you up so early?”

“Morning rounds,” Eli answered.

“You don’t have any ranch hands to help with that?”

Eli shrugged. “I do, but it’s my shift.”

“God, you must be exhausted.”

Eli only answered by raising an eyebrow. Jewel stepped closer and pulled a coffee mug off the mug tree near the sink. She stepped next to the coffee pot and poured the cup to the brim. She was going to need it that day. Lea was going to need it, too.

“So are you coming or going?” Jewel asked.

“Coming.” Eli stared at her, that look so unnerving, as if Eli was judging everything she said and did, but not in a judgmental way, more in a weighing-the-options kind of way. “Can’t sleep in?”

Jewel shook her head. “Too used to being up, I guess. Lea will likely sleep, though. She was up late.”

Eli’s eyes widened. “You call her Lea?”

“Yes?” Jewel gave Eli a hard stare before sipping her steaming coffee. “Don’t you?”

“No. She doesn’t let anyone call her Lea.”

Jewel shrugged. “I’ve always called her that.”

“Must be someone special to her then. Anytime I’ve heard someone call her Lea, she’s immediately corrected them.”

“Odd, I’ve never heard that.”

Eli had a knowing smile on her lips. “You should ask her why.”

“Not really a question I’m interested in finding the answer to.” Jewel had no idea why she was pushing Eli so hard, but she was. She wanted to see what this woman was made of. “She’s never mentioned you before.”

Eli smirked. “Does that bother you?”

What was with this woman? Jewel took a slow sip of her coffee to bide her time. Eventually, she shook her head. “No. It’s her prerogative.”

“Hmm.” Eli’s lips twitched like she was playing with her food. “You were dating Brady, right?”

“How did you—”