Nodding, he did the same. “I don’t think the horses will wander off, but just in case, let’s tie them to that tree over there. Give me your reins.”
When she handed them to him, her fingers brushed his, and he felt electricity shoot through him. Unable to stop himself, he looked at her, and it was clear that she must have felt it, too. He instinctively pulled back, knowing that if he didn’t, he might lose control and do something they both might regret.
While he concentrated on tying the reins to the tree, he sensed her moving away. Giving a final tug to make sure the reins were secure, he looked up to find her gone. “Glory?” he called.
“Over here.”
Walking toward the sound of her voice, he suspected she’d found the boat and, considering the disappointment he heard, he guessed it was in bad condition. He almost wished it wasn’t, but from experience, he knew wishing was a waste of time.
* * *
“OH, GOOD GRIEF.” GLORY MUTTERED a few unladylike words under her breath while she pulled on the thick strand of hair that had caught in a bramble bush. It was bad enough that she’d found the boat, only to discover the rotted boards in the bottom of it, and now this.
“Looks like you’ve got a problem.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath, and then opened them to see him standing nearby. Up until now, it had been such a great day, and here she’d gone and managed to get herself tangled up in a bush. “I don’t know how I managed to do this.”
“I should have warned you. Erin always said these bushes had a thing for hair. Luke and I never had that problem.”
Unable to move and embarrassed for foolishly not watching where she was going, she waited patiently as he walked toward her. “One more reason to get a buzz cut,” she said, laughing.
“You’d start a new fad, for sure.”
“Ha. As if anyone cares what I— Ouch!”
“Damn,” he whispered. “Sorry. Just let me...”
She couldn’t turn her head to see his face and hoped he couldn’t see hers. “Maybe now would be a good time for that buzz cut.”
“I can get it. I never had to cut Erin’s hair, and believe me, she never paid any attention to where she was going.”
“I’ve always admired her. She was such a tomboy and seemed to have so much fun.”
He grunted at the description of his sister. “Tomboy? Well, that’s one way of putting it. Mama used to say she was a hoyden, but until I was older, I didn’t know what that meant.”
“She has a good heart,” Glory said. If it hadn’t been for his sister buying her saddle, she wouldn’t have had the money to pay off the back taxes on her grandmother’s building and start her business. But that was something he didn’t need to know.
“Yeah, she does,” he answered.
“And so do you.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She wished she’d kept quiet.
“Glory—”
Her heart gave a little skip when he said her name. “What?”
There was a pause before he answered. “I think I’ve got it. Yeah, your hair’s loose.”
Relief, tinged with a bit of disappointment, washed through her. “Really?”
“Yeah. Come on, I’ll help you up.”
Before she had a chance to answer, she saw his hand reaching down to her. For a split second, she wondered if it was safe to take it, considering her recent reactions to even the simple touch from him. She was being silly, she told herself. She put her hand in his, only to become breathless at the strength she felt in it. He pulled her to her feet, and before she knew what was happening, she was upright.
“Thanks,” she murmured. He was so close, she could feel his warmth. Looking up, she discovered him watching her. “You were right, you know.”
“About what?” he asked, his voice rough as his gaze seemed to see right into her.
“The b-boat,” she stammered and pointed to the rowboat. “It’s broken.”
For a second, he was silent and still. “Yeah, it is.”
Frozen in the moment, she waited, holding her breath and wishing he’d kiss her again. She knew it would be wrong. No matter what she felt for him, she had to deny it. Understanding that in the past, she’d been eager to please others when she shouldn’t have, she’d sworn off relationships. But even knowing all that, when he moved to touch her cheek, she closed her eyes, memorizing every tiny detail of how it felt. This was what she had missed. No one had ever been this gentle with her, but she’d imagined. She’d dreamed.
She felt the whisper of a breath on her skin before she felt his lips capture hers. Her knees weakened, and she leaned into him, only to feel him gather her into his arms, pulling her even closer. As he slowly deepened the kiss, she wondered if she’d died and gone to heaven.
Wishes do come true. Even when they shouldn’t.
Chapter Nine
Sitting on the blanket he’d spread on the ground, Dylan skimmed a rock on the surface of the pond. He knew he shouldn’t have kissed Glory, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. That had to change. They could be friends, but they couldn’t be— He blocked the word from his mind. They couldn’t be anything more. Even friends was a risk, but he’d take it.
None of that meant he was going to let this chance to spend some time with her slip through his fingers. He’d just have to remember to keep some space between them.
Beside him, but not too close, Glory tossed her own rock, and it sank. She let out a loud sigh, and then laughed. “I guess I wasn’t cut out for rock skimming.”
“You need more practice, that’s all.”
“As if there’s time for that.” A silence fell between them, until she spoke again. “You’ve done wonders with this ranch.”
He tossed another rock. “Thanks, but it wasn’t just me. Luke has always played a big part in the ranch. I couldn’t have done it alone.”
His sister had played a big part, too. She’d kept them afloat for the first few years. She’d kept him sane. If it hadn’t been for her, he might have done something they all would have regretted. He owed Erin, just as much as he owed Luke.
“I envy you your family,” she said. “I always wished for a sister or a brother. My friends had siblings, and I’d see them fight, and I’d wish I had that.”
“We fought a lot, Luke and Erin and me. Still do, sometimes. But I guess that’s just part of it.”
She traced the plaid pattern on the blanket with a finger and nodded. “It probably kept you all together. Fighting involves emotions. You wouldn’t have fought if you hadn’t cared.”
He turned to study her. The more he’d been around her, the more he learned. Her eyes revealed a lot, but not always enough to understand. She’d been the Golden Girl, always happy, always smiling and laughing. But at that moment, her smile was gone, and he felt there was a lot more to Glory than he and maybe everyone else suspected.
“How was North Carolina?” he asked, hoping to learn more about what had brought her back to Desperation and into his life.
She raised her head to stare out toward the water. “Charlotte is beautiful and the people are wonderful.”
“That kind of sounds rehearsed,” he said, without thinking. But it was true.
“In a sense, I guess it is.” She turned her head to look at him. “You want to know why Kyle and I are divorced.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement, and all he could do was nod. “Sure, I’m curious. My guess is that everybody is, at least a little.”
Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I’d be surprised if they weren’t, but it wouldn’t do any good to tell them. Nobody would believe me.”
His curiosity leaped from simple to burning. “Try me.”
There was a flash of pain in her eyes before she turne
d away. “It wasn’t just Charlotte,” she said. “It started a long time before that.”
He didn’t doubt it. “You and Kyle were a couple—”
“Because that’s what we were supposed to be.”
He continued to watch her as she stared at the water again. She didn’t seem to be very willing to explain, but he couldn’t let it go. “What do you mean?”
Shaking her head, she sighed. “That’s the way he wanted it.”
“He? You mean Kyle?”
“No, not Kyle. My father.”
He wasn’t sure he heard her right. “Your father?”
“Forget it.”
When she started to move away, he reached for her, but stopped short of actually touching her. “Wait. Don’t go. You don’t have to tell me anything.”
She looked at him, her beautiful face marred by pain. With a slight nod, she settled on the blanket again.
He didn’t want to push her. He had his own secrets. He understood the need to keep them. But not being much of a conversationalist, he wasn’t sure what else he could say to fill the silence that now existed between them.
“I’m here to listen. Or not,” he said, hoping it would help. When she didn’t respond, he was convinced he’d ruined the day and was about to suggest they mount up and head home.
“I know everybody thinks I’ve led a charmed life, but I haven’t,” she said, surprising him.
He had a problem believing it. She’d always had a smile on her face and a kind word for everyone. She hadn’t been one of those stuck-up girls. Even his sister had had nice things to say about Glory when they were in school, and Erin didn’t always get along with everyone.
She turned to look at him, a strange mixture of sadness and a hard, stubborn glitter in her eyes. “You’re one of them. You think it was all sunshine, with parades and crowns and roses. Well, you’re wrong.”
He knew he needed to say something to keep her talking, so he did. “Okay.”
“Nobody knows the truth.”
“They never do.”
She stared at her hands, folded in her lap. “Gram knows some of it, but not all. Even Kyle doesn’t know a lot of it. But then he wouldn’t have cared if he had.”
That surprised Dylan, but he didn’t say so. She’d already gotten upset once. If he said the wrong thing again, she might never tell him anything. He had a feeling she needed someone to talk to—someone she could trust—and he was determined to be that someone. At least he could do that much.
“It was my dad’s idea that Kyle and I should get together,” she said. “That was after he’d decided that I needed to try out for cheerleading. Grades weren’t all that important to him, just the fact that people liked me and paid attention to me.” She turned to him again. “That way he got attention, too.”
Dylan had known Glen Caldwell, although not well. He hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the parents of the people he’d gone to school with, unless they were friends of his mom or dad. Mr. Caldwell had never struck him as a friend of anyone’s. He didn’t recall his parents ever saying anything about the man, except one time when his dad had called the guy a wheeler-dealer. It hadn’t been said in an especially nice way. Still, that didn’t mean a whole lot.
But Dylan was confused by what she’d said. “You didn’t want to be a cheerleader?”
She shrugged. “Not really. All I wanted to do was draw. When I was very young, I remember my mother dressing me in pretty things and telling me how happy I would make Daddy. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized I was really little more than a tool for him. And if I didn’t meet his standards...” She turned away with a shrug.
An icy chill went through him. “He hurt you?”
She didn’t even glance at him when she said, “Not so much after I realized that all I had to do was be popular.”
He couldn’t wrap his mind around any man doing that to a child. “Didn’t your mother—”
“She didn’t know about the bruises on my arms from being dragged to my room and locked inside. After the one time he hit me with his belt, I gave in and became the daughter he wanted.”
Looking down, he saw that she had clenched her hands into fists, her knuckles white. If he’d had any thoughts that she wasn’t being completely truthful, he didn’t anymore.
“Kyle didn’t know about this?” he asked, thinking the man she married must have had a clue.
“Only that I did what I was told.” Her shoulders slumped with resignation, but she looked at him. “If he knew, he never said anything. He was always too wrapped up in himself.”
Dylan had heard that a battered child was more likely to marry another batterer. “Did Kyle hit you, too?”
She shook her head. “No. He never hit me. He never did anything like that to me. I was his trophy wife. He wouldn’t have put a mark on me. Besides, that would have taken more energy than he would ever expend on me. I was there to make him respectable, so no one would know about the other women.”
Anger shot through him. “He cheated on you?”
“That’s what happens when two young people marry because their parents think it’s the right thing to do.”
Dylan knew that most everyone in Desperation had thought Glory and Kyle were living a fairy-tale life in North Carolina. He’d been in the café several times when Kyle’s grandmother had passed around pictures of their fancy house for everyone to see. He’d never liked Letha Atkins or her grandson, but he wasn’t raised to say so, and he wouldn’t now.
“I didn’t know,” he said instead.
“And you shouldn’t now.” She put her hand on his. “I guess I just needed to unload. You’re a very special man, Dylan. I hope you know that.”
He might have been okay if she hadn’t moved closer and kissed his cheek. When she did that, he couldn’t keep himself from reaching for her. Before he knew what he’d done, he’d leaned back on the blanket and pulled her on top of him, while he kissed her the way he’d been wanting to for weeks. He didn’t know how to stop his growing feelings for her. While he knew it could never work out for them, there was a part of him that didn’t want to let her go.
* * *
GLORY BLOCKED OUT the warnings in her head, telling her she was moving into dangerous territory. It was completely wrong for her to get involved with Dylan in any other way besides professionally. But she couldn’t deny that having his arms around her made her feel more wanted than she ever remembered. His kisses burned right through her, and she secretly wished they would never stop.
Reaching for the top button of his shirt, she easily undid it. Ready to move on to the next and all the others, she didn’t expect to find herself on her back beneath him, while he trailed kisses along her jaw. She finished with the buttons, and her hands explored him as she memorized every muscle and curve.
He moved away just enough so that she could see his face. His eyes were dark with a passion that took her by surprise. She’d never experienced anything like what was happening to her at that moment, but she was ready for it. More than ready.
As if their minds and bodies were in perfect sync, he moved to kick off his boots, while she reached for the bottom of her knit top. Before she could pull it up, he brushed her hands aside and slowly peeled it up and over her head. In what seemed like seconds, they were both lying naked on the blanket, exploring each other with their hands and mouths.
When he slowly entered her, she was more than ready. She welcomed him with a desire she’d never imagined was possible. For a brief moment, she understood what had been missing in her life, and then the thought was gone, swept away by feeling and touching and tasting.
He guided her to sensations she’d never known, and when it was his turn, she could barely breathe.
They didn’t speak or even move to uncouple when their breathing slowed to ne
ar normal. “Glory,” he said, his voice rough.
She pressed her palm to his cheek. “Not now.”
But instead of seeing the smile she’d been wishing for, he eased away, taking his warmth with him. “Maybe we should be heading back,” he said, his face showing no emotion.
Without a word, they sorted through the clothing that lay scattered around them. When they’d finished dressing in silence, he got to his feet and held out his hand to help her up.
She suspected she’d disappointed him, but she couldn’t dwell on that. Right now, she had to focus on other things or she’d never make it through this.
It wasn’t far to the spot where the horses were tethered, and within minutes they were mounted again and on their way back to the barn. She sneaked a quick look at him before they approached the ancient but sturdy barn, and couldn’t help but notice how tight his strong jaw appeared. Was he wishing he’d never invited her to ride? Was he wishing she’d go away and not come back?
“I’ll take care of the horses,” he said as they dismounted and he took her horse’s reins.
Glory winced. “I don’t mind helping with—”
“No, it’s right that I do. I invited you to ride.”
And he was wishing he hadn’t—she was certain of that. “Thank you,” she managed to say, following him into the barn. Unsure of what to say or do next, she decided that leaving would be her best choice. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He put each of the horses into a stall, and then turned to her. “No, not tomorrow.”
She wanted to ask where he was going, but she couldn’t. She sensed it would be wrong, in spite of what had taken place between them at the pond. She nodded, not knowing what she should say.
“It was a mistake.”
For a moment, she didn’t understand, and stood staring at him, unable to speak. “I don’t—” But she couldn’t finish. Shadows danced across his face in the low light of the barn as he stood there, his gaze averted.
White-hot pain shot through her. “I’ll finish up the work while you’re gone and then I’ll—” What? There was nothing else. There never had been. She turned away and walked through the big door and out into the sunshine.
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