“No.” She shook her head, and paused to pet the broad blaze of white running down the mare’s face. “This is Domatrix. One of my boarders.”
“Doma—isn’t this Esmeralda’s horse?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.” She leaned against the stall door, slanting a glance at him, surprised that Esmeralda had apparently described Domatrix in detail to a man new in town. No wonder Aaron Estes hadn’t flinched at the name, even shortened as it seemed to be. Then again…she thought of the tall, regal redhead and the dearth of men in Rose Creek. A man with a daughter likely meant a married man. That would lessen Esmeralda’s interest. Wouldn’t it? She pushed away from the mare’s stall, and he followed the remaining few feet to the office. She waved a hand at the chairs and took her own place behind the small, bare desk.
“So tell me how I can help,” she invited.
He looked down for a minute at his hands before looking at her. When he did finally lift his eyes, she could see why Esmeralda had pounced. The man’s perfect features and startling green eyes would stop traffic in lots of places, let alone this one-horse, one-eligible-man town.
“My little girl—Chloe—needs a hobby. Something she’ll like that’s safe.”
Luz studied him, perplexed. Somehow the pieces of the big, attractive man across the desk didn’t add up. She supposed she was using stereotypes, but he seemed too hesitant and unsure for his own body. Not as if he was uncomfortable in his own skin, maybe, but almost as if he were fearful of something.
She puzzled over the discomfort he seemed to feel, trying to figure out his connection to Esme. He wasn’t family; the Rose Creek gossips knew everyone and every relative, no matter how far flung. The counselor had aging parents and a half-brother down in Laredo. A friend? She discarded that. Esmeralda didn’t work weekends, and if he were a friend, she would be here. So the relationship had to be professional. Maybe the daughter he’d mentioned was Esmeralda’s client?
“‘Safe as opposed to bike riding or playing with dolls? Or safe, fun, and a perfect springtime activity—I’m not sure I know what you mean by safe,” Luz admitted. “Riding has risks—the same as pretty much everything.”
Aaron Estes growled something that sounded profane and hunched forward over the desk, his face tight. “Don’t you think I know that?” After a moment, his face muscles eased into smoother lines. His lips twitched, as if they’d known how to smile, but forgotten. “I’m not as weird as I seem. Just a tad nervous and overprotective.”
“But you’re not in denial,” she observed. “That’s got to be good.” She smiled. “So, tell me about your Chloe.”
Pure, absolute love washed across his face. His lips remembered how to smile and he straightened in his chair. “Chloe’s my life,” he said simply.
Luz returned the smile, but prodded gently for more insight. “How old is she? Does she like horses? Has she ridden before?”
“Six, yes, and no.”
Luz blinked, trying to understand the simple, one-word answers. Saw the dimples appear, and then deepen in Aaron Estes’ cheeks. She’d always had a weakness for dimples, dammit! Was he one-upping her? “So, is this payback, or do you always keep things so short and simple?”
He actually chuckled. It was a short little rumble of laughter, but a chuckle.
“Payback, definitely. I was nervous enough about calling and you were anything but friendly.”
She thought back on her hesitation to answer the phone, how she’d focused on the pinto rather than concentrating on encouraging conversation. He had her pegged, but she didn’t care. Wouldn’t. She needed customers, but wasn’t in the market for relationships of any kind. And professional? She allowed herself a quick mental shrug. She no longer had a profession. She’d been a teacher, and a good one. She’d surrounded herself with kids and poured energy and love into their lives. Then she’d lost it all, including her daughter Lily. Not her daughter, she reminded herself: Brian’s daughter, given to her as one more false promise. Now she rescued discarded animals when she could, and was going broke doing it.
So she pounced on something he said. “You were nervous? About asking if we had ponies?” Slight derision might have crept into her words, because he flinched and drew away again.
“Not about ponies.” He paused, looking for the right words. “We don’t know each other. Esmeralda recommended riding as a form of therapy.” He shrugged. “Telling a stranger your kid has problems is hard.”
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. “I owe you an apology—of course it is.” She stood up abruptly, annoyed with herself. “Guess it’s attack a stranger day—I’m just not sure why. Would you like to look at Rumbles? She would be the pony Chloe would work with first.”
“Sure.” He got up too, ignoring her apology, and stretched. Outside the office, one of the horses whinnied, and another kicked at the stall. The pungent scents of the stable reminded her it was time to muck stalls—again. Already. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw his nose wrinkle.
“Do you even like horses?” she asked, curious.
He slanted a glance down at her and shrugged. “Don’t know. Haven’t been around them. Not really an animal person.”
Before Luz could murmur a response, he stopped, turning towards her and holding his hands out in apology. “Not that I don’t like them, exactly. I used to travel, and before that—well, I just wasn’t raised around them.”
“Okay.” Luz gave him her own shrug. “So I guess Chloe’s mom will be the main go-between here?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched, and the nervous tension he’d shown in the beginning visibly tightened his body. “Chloe’s mom,” he said through clenched teeth, “is dead.”
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His Temporary Wife Page 23
