by Jillian Hart
Julianna had named the mare because she was so dusty. The two had bonded and as soon as they’d arrived back at the inn, the horse lumbered down the ramp and ran straight to the child. They were inseparable. Fortunately, the chef had sent a picnic lunch out to the stable for everyone working on the new arrivals, so the girl had gotten lunch.
Eloise reined Licorice around. “I don’t know how Adam is going to get Julianna back home to New York.”
“I overheard him saying the same thing.” Sean eased into his saddle, although Hershey wasn’t too sure about a new rider. The big bay gelding danced in place but didn’t discourage the seasoned rider who commanded him with a gentle hand and reassured him in low tones. “I think it was love at first sight.”
“You are definitely right.” She tugged the brim of her hat lower to cut the sun’s glare. “That is the most dangerous kind of horse love. I don’t recommend it as I’m still in the midst of it.”
“Me, too. It’s one love that has no end.” He felt the gelding’s hesitancy. The animal kept looking around, searching for someone long gone. He laid his hand on the gelding’s neck, so the horse could feel the comfort of his touch. “You did nothing wrong, buddy. Are you going to be all right?”
The horse’s sigh was answer enough. He plodded along but his feelings didn’t seem to be into it. Poor fellow. Larks twittered on branches and jays squawked from the fence line as he guided the horse down the sidewalk, trailing Eloise. She sat straight and tall in her saddle, graceful as always and her long hair trailed in the wind.
“Where should we go?” she asked over her shoulder.
He pressed his heels lightly to bring Hershey alongside the other horse. “Do you know what sounds good after that lunch we had?”
“An ice-cream cone?”
“How did you know?”
“A wild guess.”
“Proof great minds think alike.” Of all the ways he’d seen Eloise, and he’d liked every one, this had to be his favorite view of her. Astride a horse, she was carefree and relaxed, girl-next-door wholesome and unguarded. On the back of the horse, she seemed less restrained, less careful. Maybe it was because she didn’t need her cane to move through the world. She dazzled in a modest, genuine way he could not describe with words but could feel with his soul.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, Sean, but a great mind? You? I don’t think so.” Humor crinkled attractively in the corners of her eyes.
“Ouch. That’s hard on a man’s ego.”
“I would think your ego would be used to it by now.” Dimples bracketed the demure curve of her mouth. “If it’s any consolation, my mind isn’t great either. Just so-so.”
“I’m mostly so-so,” he quipped. “Just ask my brother. He’s a decorated Army Ranger and I’m the never-do-well in the family.”
“The black sheep?”
“Baaah.” So, he liked to make her laugh. Nothing else felt important right now, just that she was happy. The geldings pranced quickly down the lane and onto the shoulder of the county road. No traffic buzzed by, but when a vehicle did it would be a good way to judge how steady the horses were. “How about you? Let me guess, you are the perfect daughter.”
“Me? No way. That’s my older sister. Gabby is perfect. She was the A student, I was the B student. She has her own design business in Jackson—she was hired to do the inn, that’s how I met Cady. I’m the slacker living with my parents.”
“You still live at home?”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Honestly? I did, too. I came back after college. Now I live with Uncle Frank and my cousins. Although it will be one less cousin in a few weeks. Autumn is moving out after the wedding.” He pressed Hershey into a trot. “We have a lot in common, Eloise.”
“I know, it’s scary.” She urged her mount to keep up with him. “Very scary.”
“I have a question for you.” He nudged Hershey into a smooth canter. Steel shoes rang on the pavement in harmony as they ran along. “You haven’t heard from that blind-date guy again, have you?”
“Me? Oh, no. George was never interested in me.” She glanced over her shoulder. “We’re in luck. A hay truck is coming up on us.”
He hadn’t noticed the rumble of the diesel engine closing in. All he could see was Eloise lighting up the world around him. He shook his head, bringing the landscape into focus. The blue sky, green grass fields and the first glimpse of town up ahead seemed distantly dull next to her. The semi’s engine whined as it downshifted. “I guess we’ll see how the horses take a little distraction.”
“My guess is nice and steady. Licorice handles like a dream.” Affection and pride for the horse softened her and she’d never looked more awe-inspiring than when she leaned forward to pat the gelding’s neck. “Isn’t that right, boy?”
The truck rolled by and Sean didn’t notice the hit of the back draft or the tiny bits of hay raining down from the load. All he could see was Eloise’s tender compassion as she spoke to the horse and her caring spirit as she urged Licorice into a gallop, leaving him and Hershey behind in their dust.
Chapter Seven
“Licorice is really fast.” Eloise turned in her saddle. “I wanted to push him and see what he had. Wow.”
“Impressive.” Sean pulled a winded Hershey into a slow walk. “Like he’s part Thoroughbred.”
“He’s a great horse.” She watched the gelding’s ears flicker, taking in every word. His neck arched with a touch of pride and his luxurious black mane rippled in the warm breeze. “My guess is he was ridden often. Someone spent a lot of time with him.”
“That would explain a lot.” He rocked along with the horse’s gait. He appeared powerful in the saddle, utterly Western and heroic as if he could right wrongs and fight outlaws into submission.
Eloise shook her head to scatter her thoughts. Highly inappropriate. He was a friend, nothing more. A very handsome friend. Muscles shaped the cut of his T-shirt. He was in incredible shape, but his power was more than physical, it went deeper as if straight to the soul.
“Hershey keeps glancing back like he’s expecting someone to materialize and his life can go back to the way it was.” Sympathy etched into the hard rugged lines of Sean’s face. “He wants to go back in time, and I can’t do that for him.”
The man was way too gorgeous for his good and for hers. She drew in a deep breath. Time to stop noticing these things. She looked up to realize they were at the drive-in. How did they get there? She had no idea because she’d been watching Sean and not the scenery.
She guided Licorice into the driveway and straight toward the drive-thru lane.
“I can empathize.” She drew her horse to a stop in the shade of the building and studied the lighted display. “I remember lying in the hospital staring up at the ceiling tiles and asking God to take me back in time so I could change the events of that evening. I wanted back what I’d lost.”
“You knew you couldn’t skate again that soon?” Sean sidled up beside her, forehead furrowed with concern, sitting tall and straight. If a girl were to lay her cheek against his wide shoulder, she would feel safe and incredibly protected.
Not that she was that girl. She steeled her spine. “Oh, yes. As soon as they looked at the X-rays, they told me I’d never return to the ice.”
Sean opened his mouth to say something, probably to ask the obvious question but thankfully the speaker squawked to life. Licorice stood calmly at the noise. Hershey danced a few nervous steps and then settled.
“Welcome to the Steer In.” A cheerful teenage girl’s voice popped and cracked over the ancient system. “Is that you, Eloise?”
“Hi, Chloe. How are you doing today?”
“It’s a quiet afternoon, so good. What can I get you?”
“A soft chocolate ice-cream cone.” She shivered when Sean leaned close.
“A strawberry for me,” he rumbled in low, smoky tones.
“Oh, is this like a date?” Chloe blurted over the speaker loud enough to car
ry to the nearby car parked beneath the awning. Two gray-haired ladies glanced their way, familiar smiles flashing as they turned to watch the proceedings. They were, as luck would have it, friends of Gran’s.
It was too much to hope she wouldn’t be recognized. Impossible, really, since the women in the car had known her since birth.
“Not a date.” She was quick to correct loud enough for her voice to carry. “Don’t say things like that, Chloe. You’re going to ruin any chance I have of my grandmother abandoning her plans to marry me off.”
“Sorry,” Chloe laughed.
“You wouldn’t happen to know those ladies over there?” Sean leaned in and splayed his palm on the saddle’s pommel. “They’re waving.”
“I know them.” All too well. Mrs. Parnell was Gran’s oldest friend. Mrs. Plum was Gran’s second-oldest friend. They lunched together at least once a week after their church meeting.
No way was she going to keep this private. Her grandmother was sure to find out. As she touched her heels to Licorice’s sides and he obligingly stepped forward, she fought off a wave of panic. All Gran had to do was to talk to Frank Granger, and how hard would it be for the two of them to make Sean feel obligated to take her to dinner? Putting him in that uncomfortable position was the last thing she wanted.
“It’s my treat.” He leaned across her to hand money to Chloe at the window. “Keep the change.”
It was too late to protest. Chloe darted away before Eloise could dig out the fold of dollar bills she’d hidden in her jeans pocket.
“The horses are handling all of this just fine, don’t you think?” Sean knuckled back his hat, revealing more of his face. His blue eyes resonated the manly kindness she’d come to expect. A girl could lose herself dreaming about him.
But not her. She was thankful for that. She cleared her throat, surprised her voice sounded thin and scratchy when she answered. “Yes, I do. Hershey will be calmer once he gets used to all the changes he’s facing.”
“He needs time. That’s all.” Sitting in the saddle, backlit by the brilliant blue sky and the sun-kissed greenery of grass and trees, he was a compelling sight.
Not that she was compelled.
“He might require a bit of work. I’ll volunteer to train him, if there’s a need.”
“Thanks.” Her voice sounded squeaky. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Chloe popped into view through the take-out window and produced two cones. Eloise handed one over to Sean along with a few paper napkins Chloe also dispensed.
“Have fun!” The teenager called out. Clearly she had high hopes for their “date.”
The horses plodded forward lazily. It was a perfect summer afternoon. Not too hot, but hot enough to make the ice cream taste like an icy luxury. Not too windy, just a light puff of air stirring up the scents of earth and grass and horse. The noise from the main street increased as they circled the lot to the exit lane. Colorful booths and awnings stretched as far as the eye could see up the street. A red banner strung from light poles read, “Welcome to Wild Horse, Wyoming’s Pioneer Days Festival.”
“When do you have to be back to work?” he asked.
“Cady said not to hurry.” She leaned back in her saddle, tilting her face toward his. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That’s an affirmative.” He gave his ice-cream cone a taste and let the strawberry sweetness melt on his tongue. “Nothing like hitting the festival on the first day. We’ll get the best view of stuff and it’s not crowded.”
“Yes. Wait until tonight.” She gave her cone a twirl, neatly catching all the drips. “I hadn’t realized how much I’ve missed all this. I got caught up chasing after things that didn’t last, at least not for me. Now that I’m home, I’ve forgotten how special this all is.”
“Small-town festivals?”
“Yes, and small-town life.” She sighed as the horses plodded leisurely down the empty section of the street. “Before I was always so busy and focused. When I was on the ice, I had to shut out everything else. There was only practice.”
“And the falls? That ice looks like a hard place to land.” He had to quip; it was who he was. It was easier to joke than ask harder questions.
“I don’t miss the falls.” She had a wonderful laugh, reserved and whimsical. “But I miss the skating. I trained and I trained. It took me an extra two years to squeak in college courses so I could get a degree. Between skating and school, I didn’t do a whole lot of living. I put off everything. Fun weekends, vacations, seeing movies and even the idea of marriage and a family.”
“Are you second-guessing the choices you made?” He knew how that could be.
“No. I can’t imagine following any other dream. It simply hurt when it ended.” She looked wistful and not bitter, retrospective and not sad. “If the accident hadn’t happened, I would still be skating.”
“What was your favorite part?” He took a big bite of ice cream and let it melt in his mouth, watching as she licked a dab of chocolate ice cream off her bottom lip. She was as sweet as could be, trying to eat her cone before it dripped all over her.
His chest warmed with new emotions, which had to be admiration and respect—certainly nothing romantic. He was a lone wolf. Lone wolves didn’t do romance.
“The competitions were way too stressful to be my favorite part. The travel was tough because we were focused on our training and our performances.” She frowned in concentration and gave her melting cone another lick. “It was the day-to-day skating I loved. Being on the ice when it was just me soaring. I felt like I did when I was little skating on Gran’s winter pond. It’s all I ever wanted to do.”
“You didn’t only lose a vocation, but a calling. Something you loved.”
“Yes.” She turned those incredible, honest eyes at him. “But there are worse things to lose in life. How about you? What have you lost?”
“My older brother a few years back.” He bit into the sugary cone, crunching as he gathered the courage to let down his guard. “Tim was an Army Ranger killed in action.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too. It was a hard blow for everyone in my family.”
“How did you handle it?”
“Mostly, I felt lost. Drifting. As if everything I’d thought about myself and about life changed.”
“Trauma will do that to you.” Empathy layered her words.
“The earth had been knocked out from beneath me and I no longer wanted the same things I once did.” The first vendor’s booth was close, so he eased Hershey to a stop. “One loss made everything shift. I couldn’t see life the same way. My brother wasn’t in it. I knew the phone would never ring with him on the other end of the line. I no longer believed only good things happened.”
“Life can change in an instant. I learned that lesson, too.” She daintily bit into the rim of her cone. “It makes you appreciate each day more, I think. Here and right now it is such a beautiful afternoon. I want to soak it in, every detail, and remember it always.”
“Even me?” He finished off his cone.
“Especially you.” She blushed a little, but when he nodded in understanding, she relaxed. They were on the same wavelength, they didn’t even need the words. She’d never experienced it with anyone else before. “We can tether the horses here in the shade.”
“And bring them some water from the hot-dog vendor.” He gestured with a nod at the nearby booth before dismounting in a single powerful movement. His boots hit the ground with a muffled thud.
“Good idea.” She managed not to spill her cone as she swung her leg over and eased to the pavement. “We’ll keep an eye on them for a bit. Make sure they don’t start worrying about being left again.”
“Hershey’s already looking nervous. It’s okay, boy.” He stroked the gelding’s nose in slow, gentle glides that made the horse calm.
The moment she let go of the saddle horn she realized her mistake. Too late to get back on the horse without having to explai
n to Sean. She kept her weight on her good leg and leaned lightly on Licorice for support. For a little while, she’d forgotten about what the doctors had labeled a disability. She had been free from her partial paralysis and the cane she relied on.
“Did you forget something?” Sean ambled closer and tugged her hat brim up a few inches so he could study her face.
“I didn’t forget it. I just didn’t bring it.” Her cane was leaning against the stable wall, right where she’d left it. Self-conscious, she wanted nothing more than to get back on that horse where she didn’t have to be less than. On the back of a horse, she could be like any other young woman. That’s the way she wanted Sean to see her.
“No problem.” He held out his arm. “You can lean on me.”
“No, I would be embarrassed.” Every step she would take would remind her of how different she was. It would remind her even more strongly of the woman she no longer was.
“What’s to be embarrassed about?” He appeared genuinely confused, as if he couldn’t begin to see any problems. Proof of the kind of man he was. He caught her arm in his, sun-warmed and substantial. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.”
“I didn’t think you would.” She took a step with her weak leg, hating the weight she transferred onto Sean’s forearm. “I weigh too much.”
“You weigh the perfect amount. You don’t have to worry, Eloise.” He took a step forward to show her he was better than any cane she’d ever used. “I don’t notice your limp. When I look, I see you.”
“You must need glasses.” She had to tease so he couldn’t guess what his words meant to her. She would never forget the look on Gerald’s face when he saw her sitting in a wheelchair for the first time. It was a blend of horror and pity that was burned on her brain, although he had quickly covered it up well enough. “I could recommend a good eye doctor.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my vision.”
Before she could argue teasingly, the rest of her ice cream was plucked out of her hand. She turned, surprised to see Licorice crunching away on the last of the sugar cone.
