Chapter 70

Everyone had by now stopped laughing and James heard a few gasps and comments in the background, but he wasn’t paying attention to them at all. All of his focus was on Eliza.

With the tips of her fingers, she tenderly traced the edges of the silver and turquoise horse and slowly moved along the intricate desert scenery that had been carved into the sides of the box. She bit her lower lip as it started to tremble; she sniffed and blinked swiftly; tears slipped over her lashes and etched a path in her freckle covered cheeks. “Hhow? Wh-where… did you get this?” Eliza asked in barely more than a whisper.

“I drew up a few sketches of what I wanted and sent them to Karen,” James shrugged deprecatingly. “She took them to Old Town

Albuquerque and had it hand made.”

She smiled through the still flowing tears. “It’s…so… beautiful.”

James reached into the tin box and dug around until he found

the key. He handed it to her and said, “This opens it up.”

Eliza nodded absently and slid the iro