Before too long, she realized that she had once again been thinking of him...she didn't even know who this lonesome stranger was, but the sight of his broad, rippling shoulders as he worked on a fence near the edge of her father's ranch wouldn't leave her mind.

The new farmhand had only been working there for a few days, and had kept to himself for most of it. She recalled his name being Zeke, and she whispered it softly to herself as she pictured him again.

The image rose unbidden to her mind, the way he looked when he first rode up to the grand white house she called home; dusty from the trails, he had cantered to an easy stop, the horse seemingly his calm and willing servant as he left it standing. He removed his wide-brim hat as he dismounted, and shook some of the day's dust from his tousled, sandy-blond hair. She had been relaxing on a swing in the shade of the porch, reading a well-worn book, when the soft thump thump of his footfalls caused her to look up.

"Beggin your pardon, miss, but I heard in town there was room for a hand on this ranch?" He spoke softly, gazing into her eyes as he did so.

"Y-yes, my father was looking for some help...shall I fetch him for you?" she replied, stunned by the rugged handsomeness of this apparent wanderer. The book she had been so engrossed in was of no help to her situation, either; the heroine had only just professed her love, in a most graphic manner, to a man who fit this dusty stranger's description to a T.

"Well, that'd be plum lovely of you, ma'am, if you could. I've been riding in the sun most of the day, and I'd like to just rest my eyes for a moment."

She found it hard to believe, but he seemed to be interested in her as much as she was him. Shakily rising to her feet, she quickly went into the house, more to hide her blush than to find her father. Realizing that she didn't know his name, she ran back to the porch door, and saw the cowboy leafing through her novel.

Two thoughts floated across her mind. He can read! she thought to herself, I never would have thought it from him...

The second thought was the rememberance of where her bookmark lay.

Snatching the book from his hands, and blushing crimson, she stammerred, "I forgot to get your name before. Who do I say is visiting us today?"

"Well, folks call me Zeke, ma'am. I can wait out here for your father, if that'd be alright with you. And I won't tell him about your book, if'n you'd rather I didn't."

She turned a deeper shade of red, but couldn't help smiling at the twinkle in Zeke's eye. "I'll go and find my father for you, Zeke, it shouldn't take long."