The Horse Trainer's Secret

by ALLISON LEIGH,

  “Hi, there, sweetie.” Dori reached over the counter for the coffee carafe and refilled her cup. “You’re looking peaky. Heard you had an ulcer. Is it kicking up?”

  Once a liar...

  “I don’t have an ulcer,” Megan said sharply. Then, taking note of Dori’s expression, she managed a smile. “Not—not anymore,” she added in a much nicer tone.

  Dori’s stricken look immediately lifted, and she patted Megan’s arm in a comforting manner. “That’s a good thing. I had a cousin once who had stomach troubles all her life. Took an autopsy for the doctors to realize that’s what did her in.” She poured an outrageous amount of sugar into her coffee. “Foolish girl never would trust a doctor while she was alive.”

  Tina set a tall glass of lemonade in front of Megan. “The usual for you, Megan?”

  “BLT.”

  “Changing it up from the Reuben, eh?” She winked and tore the little page off her order pad to stick it on the revolving ticket holder in the kitchen pass-through.

  “Variety is the spice of life,” Megan told her.

  “That’s what I keep telling Howard,” Dori said, “every time he proposes and I tell him no. Variety is the spice of life.”

  Tina laughed as she added crackers to a tray of soup bowls. “How much variety are you actually having, Dori?”

  “Just never you mind,” Dori said, bobbing her head.

  Megan hid her smile behind her glass of lemonade.

  “Well, the only variety I care about right now are the new clothes they’ve gotten in at Classic Charms,” Tina said. She propped her hand on her hip. “I’ve got a date Friday night.”

  “With?”

  “Eli Scalise.”

  Dori pointed at Tina with her coffee mug. “If you think dating the sheriff’s son is going to get you out of those parking tickets, you’re bound for disappointment.”

  Megan set down her lemonade. “Where’s he taking you, Tina?”

  “Pizza Bella. It’s across town.”

  Naturally, she couldn’t get through a simple lunch without another reminder of Nick.

  “I’ve had their pizza,” she said and slipped off the stool. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Your seat is safe with me,” Dori promised.

  Only it wasn’t. Not really. Because when Megan came out of the ladies’ room, Nick was sitting there in her spot, his back to the counter.

  He was nodding at something Dori was saying, but it was obvious that he was waiting for Megan.

  Considering her absolute lack of control during their encounter the day before, it was probably just as well they were surrounded by Weaver’s finest diner afficionados and gossips to keep her on her best behavior.

  She suppressed the urge to cut and run, and went back to the counter. “How’d you know I was here?”

  “Saw your truck parked out front.”

  Megan started to cross her arms but pushed her hands into her pockets instead. “The foundations are going in for the stables.” Though he probably knew that as well as she did. “How long before they can start framing?”

  “By Monday.”

  She chewed the inside of her cheek. Once the building began in earnest, her remaining days in Weaver would be numbered. She ought to be glad of that. Glad to be going home where she belonged.

  “BLT’s up, Megan.” Tina set the basket on the counter behind Nick.

  “Can you pack it to go?”

  “Sure.” Tina swept away the basket again without batting an eye.

  “Have plans this afternoon?”

  “Beyond my BLT?” And having to pee every time she turned around? Not that she intended to tell him that. “There are a couple horses Axel told me about that I want to see. Owned by Evan Taggart.”

  “He’s the vet.”

  “So I’ve heard.”

  “You can see Evan’s horses anytime.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to see Evan’s horses anytime,” she said mildly. “I’ve already put in the prefab order. Is there something else you need me to do?”

  The smile that started in his eyes made her feel hot inside. She took the white paper sack that Tina held out over Nick’s shoulder, trying not to touch him, but it was pretty futile considering how crowded the diner was and how closely situated the counter stools were.

  She felt his fingers brush her hip and she quickly moved away to the end of the counter, where the cash register was located. She gave enough cash to cover the bill and a tip before sidling her way through the line of people waiting for a seat.

  Nick was on her heels.

  “This place is always busy for lunch, but this is really bad,” he said.

  “Blame the people wanting to visit Lambert State Park.” Megan crossed the sidewalk toward her truck.

  He made a sound and caught her arm. “What’s the rush?”

  She looked pointedly at his hand.

  His lips tightened slightly. “Don’t tell me that we’re going back to square one, Megan.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to be the next lunchtime topic for that group in there.” She jerked her head at the restaurant behind them and continued toward her truck.

  He snorted softly. “It wouldn’t matter if we stood ten feet apart and never made eye contact when it comes to town gossip. If they think it’ll make a good story, they’ll still have us getting nekkid—which is a helluva lot more scandalous than just plain old naked—and then they’ll toss in a few wild monkeys and a jealous ex for good measure.”

  “Well, shoot. I’ve always preferred keeping my wild monkeys under wraps.” She yanked open the truck door and tossed her sandwich inside on the seat. “As for the jealous ex, that’d be your domain.”

  “I don’t have a jealous ex.”

  She felt certain he had a jealous Delia waiting in the wings, though.

  But she didn’t say that. “Don’t you have work to do this afternoon? Architect stuff or carpenter stuff or—or something?”

  “I cleared my schedule, actually.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s a sunny June day.” He lifted his arms. “And I thought maybe you’d like to take a ride out to Lambert Lake.”

  “Nick—”

  “Come on, sweetheart. You know you want to.”

  That was the problem. She did.

  “I’m not going swimming,” she said flatly. “I don’t even have a swimsuit.”

  “As appealing as skinny-dipping with you would be, there are more private swimming holes than Lambert Lake for that.” His eyes twinkled. “We can borrow a horse trailer from Crossing West. And god knows J.D. has plenty of horses to ride.”

  She could feel herself weakening and knew that he could see it, too.

  “Go back to your motel and change,” he said. “I’ll meet you there.”

  Before she could summon an argument—any argument—he was already gone, striding confidently along the sidewalk toward his SUV parked down the block.

  She was pretty sure he was actually whistling, too.

  She realized she was smiling, and she huffed out a breath and got behind the wheel.

  “What kind of a guy whistles when he walks?”

  One who is too good to be true?

  She met her eyes in the rearview mirror as she waited to back out into the midway traffic.

  Or one who actually is that good?

  Either way, she couldn’t see how things between them could possibly end well.

  But end, they would.

  For Forrester women, they always did.

  Chapter Thirteen

  But they didn’t end just yet.

  Because June slid into July, passing in an almost frenzied haze of activity. Megan was often on the mountain watching over the construction of the stables, or she was at Crossing West with the rescue ho
rses. And she also spent time tramping through another patch of Lambert State Park with Nick, while she put horses she was selecting for the guest ranch through their paces.

  Mostly, it seemed, she was with Nick.

  And the longer that went on, the harder it got pretending she hadn’t waded way into the deep end without a life preserver. The longer she went without telling him her secret, the harder it got to break her silence. She was even avoiding Rory’s phone messages now. Talking to Rory would be like opening up a door to Megan’s conscience.

  And Megan’s conscience had enough on its hands.

  Particularly now that she really did have two beds in room number 22 that she couldn’t sleep on without remembering their lovemaking.

  She probably should have just succumbed to his frequent suggestions to stay at his place. But on that one point, at least, she’d managed to hold firm.

  Because it was a very solid reminder that her stay in Weaver was only supposed to be temporary.

  And by the time July rolled around and the Independence Day bunting started showing up on every storefront in town, Megan’s stay was supposed to be coming to an end.

  Just in time, too, she realized, when she got up the day before Nick’s library was set to open and her jeans flat-out wouldn’t button.

  In fact, she couldn’t even get the zipper up past the halfway mark.

  She dragged off her jeans and went to stand in front of the bathroom mirror. When she looked at her reflection straight on, nothing about her figure seemed the least bit different.

  But when she turned sideways...

  “Holy—” Her jaw dropped and her hands moved down over the perfectly obvious swell. “You’ve sure picked your moment to make an appearance.” Megan was supposed to be meeting Nick at the library to help set up for the grand opening the next day. Which meant she needed to be wearing something other than a nightshirt!

  She went through every piece of clothing she’d brought with her from Angel River, trying to find something that would fasten. Which was a monumental failure. She was feeling a little desperate when she finally settled on layering two of her longest shirts—one buttoned and one not—over her half-zipped jeans.

  When she walked into Classic Charms a half hour later—having had to wait for the place to even open for the day—she felt like every eye she passed could see her for what she was.

  Pregnant lady walking.

  When the clerk opened the door, Megan aimed straight past the eclectic selection of antiques and bric-a-brac they sold for the clothing in the back. Ninety-nine percent of what Megan wore were clothes fit for dealing with horses. She wore jeans, jeans and more jeans. She wore Western-cut shirts because that’s what she’d always worn. The only time she ever dressed up was when some event at Angel River—like a wedding—required it.

  All of which meant that she couldn’t just flip through a few hangers to find what she knew and felt comfortable in.

  She finally just grabbed a pair of jeans an entire size up from her usual, and the only two blouses she could find that didn’t cling or possess freaking ruffles.

  She left the store wearing the jeans and the least colorful of the two blouses and drove straight to the library.

  Nick was already there, as were Lucy and Beck and several others. Fortunately, none of them seemed to notice anything was different about her at all.

  She helped arrange the tables for the breakfast that would be provided the following morning and lined up dozens of pretty white chairs that reminded her of the ones they used at Angel River for weddings.

  And she tried not to look as annoyed as she felt when Delia Templeton showed up in her short shorts and her skintight red, white and blue top and her little clipboard with the daisy stickers on the back.

  Megan knew the other woman was deeply involved in the grand opening, but seriously. Did that mean she had to stand so close to Nick while they reviewed whatever important notes were on her daisy clipboard?

  “A gnat couldn’t get between them,” she muttered as she repositioned a chair for about the tenth time.

  “What’s that?” Gloria Clay was tying blue bows onto the back of every other chair.

  “Nothing.” Megan quickly scooted the chair where it belonged.

  But it was as if the older woman knew exactly what was bothering her, because Gloria looked at where Nick and Delia were standing near the sliding doors of the library entrance and then back to Megan again.

  “Nicky’s a good boy,” she said.

  Megan wanted to choke. There was nothing at all boyish about Nick. He’d proven that to her time and time again. She made some sound that she hoped the woman took for agreement. “I can help with some of those bows.”

  Gloria handed her the plastic bin containing the bows. “That’s a very becoming blouse,” she said. “Like a Monet painting. Makes your skin sort of...glow.”

  Megan flushed self-consciously. “That’s sweat,” she said, bluffing. “It’s already getting hot out here.”

  “Yes.” Gloria smiled slightly, but there was still concern in her eyes. “And likely to get hotter.” Then she squeezed Megan’s arm and left her to the bows as she waved to Stan and Susan Ventura, who’d just arrived.

  Megan swiped her forehead and blindly continued tying on the bows. After the blue ones came the red ones, which took nearly another hour, but at least by then Delia had finally sashayed her flat-tummied self past the chairs to her grandmother’s expensive Rolls-Royce, which had no business being on the streets of a town like Weaver.

  Everyone who’d helped set up at the library convened afterward for lunch at Ruby’s Diner, where three long tables had been reserved.

  “Who’d have thought the day would come when you need a reservation at Ruby’s?” Axel Clay said from the end of his table. “And look at the traffic out on Main.” He gestured at the windows that overlooked the street. “Ever since Memorial Day it takes twice as long to get anywhere.”

  “Blame the new park,” Tina said, leaning past him to set an enormous pepperoni pizza on the table. “We’re looking for two more waitresses to bring on just to handle the load.”

  “I keep hearing this word, blame,” Gloria said. “As if the park is becoming a bad thing. It was only a month ago that it was dedicated!”

  “Gloria’s right,” Nick said. He was sitting next to Megan and she had to keep grabbing his wandering hand beneath the table. “Otis Lambert donated that land. He did the right thing finally sharing it with the public. Megan and I have done a lot of exploring out there.” His laughing eyes caught hers just as she caught his hand again. “And it’s pretty spectacular.”

  “Something else that’s spectacular are the stables,” J.D. commented as she surveyed the pizza. “Jake and I took a drive up there the other day to see how it all was looking. The lodge is obviously going to be gorgeous, but I didn’t expect the stables to be nearly finished already.”

  “Only waiting on an order for the stall gates and accessories,” Megan said.

  “Then it’s just a matter of moving the new residents into those stalls,” Axel said.

  “Have you actually found as many horses as you were hoping to?” Tina set another pizza on the table.

  Megan nodded. “Nearly. Have another half dozen to go.”

  “Bet you can find them at Clay Farms’ sale next month.”

  Megan didn’t answer. She would no longer be in Weaver by then. She’d been hoping to have all the selections made before she had to go home. So she could see for herself that they were all settled and happy before turning over the reins to Jed and whomever they hired to take care of the horses after that.

  J.D. finally selected a slice of pizza. “When did Bubba put pizza on the menu, anyway?”

  “Probably when he found out how much business Pizza Bella was getting,” Stan said.

  J.D. glanced ar
ound their table, ducking her head slightly. “This ain’t no Pizza Bella pizza,” she said, barely moving her lips.

  Bubba’s head shot through the pass-through, proving that he had the hearing of a bat. Which was probably why he never missed a nugget of gossip. “What’s that you’re saying about my pizza?”

  “Nothing,” J.D. brightly assured him. She held up the droopy slice. “It’s great, Bubba.”

  His head disappeared again, but his voice didn’t. “It’s crap,” he yelled. “And it’ll stay crap until I get a decent pizza oven back here.”

  “Talk to your boss,” Axel yelled.

  “She’s your cousin.”

  Axel considered that for a moment, then nodded. “Makes sense. We want better pizza, we make sure Tabby gets her cook a better pizza oven.”

  “Doesn’t seem to be stopping anyone,” Megan pointed out as Nick nabbed the last two slices with his free hand and dropped one on her plate.

  “Amen to that.” He grinned and she had to catch his wandering hand yet again.

  She angled her head toward him and widened her eyes in a would-you-stop? sort of way. If she weren’t afraid his hand would wander up her belly, she would have been squirming for a whole ’nother reason.

  Naturally, he didn’t stop.

  Until she deliberately let her hand do some wandering of its own, which made him blink twice and nearly choke on his bite of pizza when she dragged her fingertip down his fly.

  Satisfied that she’d made her point, she left the table to visit the ladies’ room. When she returned, she tore off the sagging cheesy portion of her pizza slice to concentrate on the crust, which was her favorite part, anyway.

  Nick polished off the piece she’d removed, and then handed her the crust from his slice.

  “Oh, my god,” J.D. said with a laugh, obviously noticing. “It is love for sure when Nick Ventura voluntarily gives up his pizza crusts.”

  Megan froze, the crust halfway to her mouth.

  “Jeez, J.D.” Axel shook his head. “Tactful much?”

  Megan glared at Nick. “I thought you never ate them because you didn’t like them!”