by Erin Wright
Jasmine gave her a quick swipe across the lips with her roughened pink tongue, which Abby promptly decided to assign absolutely no meaning to at all.
Chapter 23
Wyatt
He pulled up in front of the old Brightbart’s place – Abby’s place; he’d need to start calling it that, no matter what habit dictated – and sat for just a moment in his truck, staring out through his windshield. He hadn’t slept well the night before, so nervous about this whole date – was it a date? – that he’d just tossed and turned the whole night through. He’d spent the morning trying to keep himself busy so he wouldn’t totally make himself crazy as he waited for three o’clock to arrive, but he’d be the first one to admit that he was failing.
He left his truck rumbling – it was hard on diesels to be turned off and on in the cold – and headed up to the front door. Now wasn’t the time for nerves. He was just picking Abby up and they were going to head over and hang out with a bunch of kids who loved horses and he wasn’t going to kiss Abby and everything was going to be fine.
Just fine.
He raised his hand to knock on the door but it swung open from underneath his knuckles to reveal Abby, smiling and heading out the door. “Ready?” she said as she went past him.
He spun around and stared at her as she hurried up her walk towards his truck. Why had she been lying in wait like that? And why was she in such a hurry?
He went after her, held her door open for her, and then went around to the driver’s side and swung in. Pulling out and heading out into the countryside towards Adam’s place, he cast about for something to ask, finally barking out, “How’d you sleep?”
Except he winced as the words came out because they seemed rather…aggressive. He sounded like he was demanding, not asking. She smelled so good – the lemon scent wafting off her – and looked so good in a pair of form-fitting Wranglers and pearl-snap shirt, that he was lucky he was keeping his truck on the road. He was having a real hard time facing forward, to be honest. He was all mixed up inside, and nervous as hell.
He gripped the steering wheel harder, trying to convince himself that breathing was a good idea.
“I slept fine,” she said, sending him a sideways glance. He was aware of every move she made, like it was being telegraphed directly to his brain and when her tongue flicked out and wet her lips, he felt it real strongly…somewhere else.
He shifted in his seat.
“Good,” he grunted.
“How’s your week out there been going so far?” Abby asked.
“Fine, fine,” he said. “The kids in this program are…good.”
He stumbled for a moment. That wasn’t strictly true in the well-behaved sense. They often tested boundaries and he had to keep a close eye on them. But they were sure awesome to be around. He’d found himself falling in love with a couple of them, especially Juan. He was a foster kid, only nine and wanting nothing more than to be loved…and being so scared no one would.
He saw a lot of himself in Juan.
He cleared his throat again and grumped out, “You’ll like the kids. And the horses.”
Why was he being like this? The other night at her house, he hadn’t acted this way.
Maybe because he hadn’t spent the twenty-four hours previous to that night staring at the ceiling, working himself up into knots. Maybe he shouldn’t ever see Abby except as a surprise. He could only accidentally run her down with his cart at the Shop ‘N Go before being allowed to spend time with her. Then he wouldn’t have time to work himself up into a lather beforehand.
Seemed like a good enough plan, minus the randomness of it all. He wanted to see Abby a lot, not just occasionally.
He swallowed hard. It was thoughts like that that had him wrapped up in knots.
“I appreciate the invitation,” she said with a gentle smile, turning in her seat to look at him. “I have a couple friends who have horses and let me come over and ride them sometimes, but I sure do miss it.”
“Why don’t you have horses out at the Brightbart’s place? They have that barn – I’m sure you could house a horse in there and put it out to pasture during the summer.”
She shrugged. “I’m sure you know this, but horses are…expensive, and then the Brightbart kids – they want to be able to rent out the pasture as another source of income. So if I want a horse, I have to pay extra for that pasture, on top of vet care, hay, and everything else that a horse needs. Plus, no horse should be alone, so I really ought to have two, which just about doubles all the costs…” She heaved a sigh. “It’s a lot for a deputy’s salary, you know?”
He did know. Money was always tight – that’s just the way the world was. If he spent a little more on one thing, that meant cutting back elsewhere. Truth was, being locked up in jail at the tail-end of harvest this past year could’ve ruined him financially, and he knew it, and the judge knew it. He was damn lucky that he had Declan in his corner, or the bank could’ve ended up with his place back on the auction block for someone else to take a chance on.
They pulled into Adam’s place, which was actually his mom’s place. Ruby had arthritis and wasn’t able to live by herself anymore. He’d moved back in with her to help take care of her years ago.
Adam was good people.
Wyatt shot Abby a smile. “Ready?” he asked, a little less gruffly than before. He felt a tiny bit more at ease than previously, and he realized it was because she’d opened up to him about finances. That wasn’t the kind of topic you talked about with just anyone, and yet, she’d trusted him enough to tell him the truth.
That meant a lot.
She grinned back at him. “Ready!”
They hopped out of the truck and towards the barn. It was horse time, and Wyatt couldn’t wait.
Chapter 24
Abby
When she’d riled herself up last night about going out with Wyatt on their non-date date, she’d imagined a lot of scenarios playing out in her head, anywhere from just hanging out as friends to him sweeping her off her feet and finding a hayloft to make love to her in. Granted, that was a far-fetched one but it was her daydreams, dammit, and thus in them, she could make love to Wyatt without her father going into nuclear meltdown over it.
The one scenario she hadn’t imagined? A morose Wyatt barking at her.
At first, she couldn’t fathom what was going on. He’d been so totally different the night they ate dinner together, and that had just been a week ago. He’d obviously wanted to be around her, because he asked her to come with him today. So why was he snapping at her like a wounded animal?
But the more they talked in the truck, the more she noticed small things about him – the light sheen of sweat on his forehead, despite the freezing temperatures outside. The way his hands were gripping the steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping him from going completely insane.
And then she had an epiphany – Wyatt was nervous. Wyatt Miller, the King of Swagger. The no-bullshit-from-anyone man. He was nervous to talk to her.
It was that adorable nervousness wrapped up in a shield of pride that made her open up to him about finances. She didn’t go around blabbing about money to just anyone; she wasn’t even sure she talked much about it with Chloe. But she had a feeling that if she just opened herself up a little, if she just made herself vulnerable to Wyatt in a small way, that he’d lower his defenses, too.
She didn’t say that she totally understood him yet, but when they arrived at Adam’s place and hopped out, the smile he sent her was friendly…and heart-stopping.
Of course, just being around Wyatt was bad for the heart. She wouldn’t be surprised if the doctor put her on arrhythmia medication at the rate she was going.
Adam came hurrying over, a big smile splitting his face. “Wyatt, you old dog, you! You didn’t tell me you were going to be bringing a good lookin’ helper with you today. How did you manage to con someone like Abby to come here with you?” Adam and Wyatt shook hands and then Adam gave her a hug an
d peck on the cheek.
“She started looking sickly and I realized that she hadn’t spent much time around horses lately. I figured we’d better inoculate her with some horse time real soon or she was bound to keel over on us.”
Abby stuck her tongue out at him playfully, but inside, she was surprised to hear him joke around like this. Was this what he was like around his friends? The only other person she’d ever seen him truly relax around was Declan.
Which, come to think of it, Adam and Declan were his two closest friends, so that stood to reason.
She filed that tidbit of info away for future reference.
“Well, c’mon then!” Adam said, turning and heading towards the indoor riding arena. “The kids just got here and are probably scaling the walls without me there to watch ‘em.”
They headed towards the arena, the open door letting a stream of pale light out onto the ground in the weak wintry afternoon. The sun was lost behind an overcast sky, and Abby wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t make an appearance for another week, or even month. Long Valley wasn’t the place for people with Seasonal Affective Disorder, that was for sure.
As they walked into the arena, Abby watched Adam’s hips move in that loose-limbed way that every cowboy seemed to have. How was it that she wasn’t attracted to Adam? He was handsome, established, and a real sweetie. She should be madly in love with him.
Of course, he was madly in love with Chloe, even if Chloe couldn’t see it, and that definitely put a damper on things. But since when had her heart only done the logical thing?
No, if it was going to make logical choices, Wyatt wouldn’t be anywhere on the list.
And yet…
“Hey everyone, come gather ‘round!” Adam called out. The kids, who had been climbing on every horizontal and vertical surface in the building, came tumbling over. There were only about ten of them – maybe fifteen? She couldn’t tell because they seemed to be vibrating with energy, making it hard to keep track of them – but as a whole…they were quite the group. She could see why Adam would appreciate some extra hands on board.
Once everyone was quieted and mostly looking their direction, Adam said, “Ms. Connelly—”
“Abby,” she said, interrupting him. She got called Deputy Connelly enough at work. She didn’t need to add formality here too.
“Abby is going to be helping us out today. Can you say, ‘Hi, Abby’?”
“Hi, Abby!” the chorus of voices rang out.
“Awesome. Now, remember what we talked about yesterday when it comes to brushing a horse. Do you brush from its head to its tail, or from its tail to its head?” He demonstrated the question over a fine-looking roan who was standing nearby. She noticed that when he went backwards, he didn’t actually touch the horse but instead brushed the air just above. Thoughtful to the very last.
“Head to tail!” The group was nothing if not enthusiastic.
“Good job. All right, go find your brushes or curries. Always let the horse smell you before you start brushing them, and only one child per horse!”
The kids scattered, grabbing brushes and curries before hurrying to their favorite horses. Abby decided to just wander around and keep her eye on the kids to see if anyone needed some guidance.
After settling a squabble between two kids who wanted the same horse, she found herself drawn to an adorable little girl with hair in long brown braids. She squinted up at Abby through her coke-bottle glasses and then broke out into a grin that revealed a mouth full of metal. They were obviously in the middle of fixing her teeth. She had Down Syndrome, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Abby could tell she wasn’t letting that hold her back.
“Hi Abby, I’m Genny. With a G. This is Sonny. Want to help brush him?”
“Sure,” Abby said, accepting the soft brush thrust into her hands. She stood off to the side of Sonny so he could get a good look at her, and then put her hand out for him to sniff. He snuffled against the palm of her hand, obviously hoping for a treat. She laughed and ran her hand down his neck. “I don’t have anything for you right now, you big beggar,” she said. “Maybe later.”
She turned to Genny with a G. “Remind me how to brush Sonny again?”
She wanted to see Genny’s technique, but the question worked just how she’d wanted it to. Genny’s face lit up at the importance of showing a grown-up how to do something.
“You have to start here,” she said, snagging the brush from Abby and positioning it over Sonny’s neck, “and brush him down to here.” She drug her arm all the way across Sonny’s body until she got to the hindquarters.
“You’re pretty good at this,” Abby said to her with a smile. “What happens if you try to brush here?” she asked, indicating the belly of the horse.
“It tickles them!” Genny said, nodding to emphasize. Just then, Wyatt came around the corner with a small bucket of oats.
“Oh, and we get to feed them oats every day!” Genny said, squealing and grabbing the bucket from Wyatt.
“What do you say to Wyatt?” Abby asked.
“Thank you, Wyatt,” Genny said sincerely, then spun back towards Sonny. She dipped her hand into the bucket and pulled out a huge handful of oats, letting Sonny snuffle and suck the oats right out of her hand like a vacuum cleaner on high. Abby hid her grin behind her hand. There was nothing more fun than feeding a horse some oats, except maybe watching the cutest little girl she ever did see feed a horse some oats.
Wyatt was still standing next to her, and she turned and grinned up at him. He grinned back and her damn heart did that irregular rhythm thing again. She gulped hard. If she was going to guard her heart against Wyatt Miller, she needed to start by not wanting to be around him.
She wasn’t entirely sure that was possible.
After another couple of hours of working with the kids on how to bridle a horse and lead them around the arena, eventually the parents and foster parents began arriving to pick up their kids. Genny threw her arms around Abby when her mother came walking up. “Are you going to come back again, Abby? Please oh please oh please?”
Her mother, an older woman with a permanently tired look on her face, reached out for Genny’s arm. “Now don’t go bothering this nice lady—”
“It’s okay,” Abby said, breaking in gently. She knelt down in front of Genny so they could give each other a proper hug. “I will definitely be back,” she whispered into Genny’s ear. “Thanks for showing me how to brush a horse.”
Genny smacked a kiss loudly on her cheek. “I’m the best at brushing,” she announced, and then, grabbing her mom’s hand, they walked towards the front door. Her mom was busy trying to get Genny into her winter coat, while Genny was just as busy telling her mom about every horse in the arena, punctuating the comments with hand gestures. It looked a bit like the mom was trying to wrestle a calf into submission, which probably accounted for the permanently tired look on her face.
Abby shot Wyatt a grin and he smiled back. “You sure are good with kids,” he said, as they made their way towards the arena doors.
Abby shrugged. “They’re easy to get to know. They all want to be your friend, and they all think you’re cool because you’re an adult. It isn’t until they hit their teenage years that they become impossible.”
Wyatt threw his head back and laughed. “That’s about the long and short of it,” he agreed dryly.
After saying goodbye to Adam, they climbed into Wyatt’s truck to head back home. She stared out the passenger side window, a stab of pain running through her.
Yeah, she loved kids, a whole lot. But unfortunately, that didn’t mean a damn thing.
Just like loving Wyatt would never go anywhere.
Chapter 25
Wyatt
They arrived at Abby’s house. Always the gentleman, Wyatt hurried around to open the truck door for her. She slipped out past him smelling of lemon, but also of horses and oats and the great outdoors. He’d thought she’d smelled good before, but now…
�
�Are you wanting to come back with me tomorrow?” he asked as they made their way up the frozen path towards her house.
“I would, but I don’t get off until four tomorrow. Is that too late, you think?” She looked up at him questioningly, biting her lower lip.
She’d unlocked her front door but hadn’t opened it yet. He couldn’t quite make out the expression on her face because their breaths were making clouds in the frosty air, blocking his view.
That’s the reason that he gave for leaning forward towards her. Just so he could see her face a little better. Nothing more.
“If we only get you for an hour or two, it’s totally worth it,” he said softly. “I think Adam will be happy to have you for however long you can be there.”
Which was probably true, but they both knew that Adam wasn’t who he was thinking about just then. He wanted nothing more than to lean forward and nibble on that lower lip that she currently had snagged between her teeth. He wanted to bury his hands in her hair and kiss her until she couldn’t speak.
He wanted…her.
“Okay,” she whispered softly. He was just inches from her. She gulped hard and then felt for the doorknob behind her back. “I must go now. Goodbye,” and then she was twisting the knob and practically falling into the house, shutting the door behind her with a whispered “click” that sounded like a cannon in the cold winter air.
Wyatt jerked back and stared at the door. He had to get himself under control. It was ridiculous for him to crave someone like he craved Abby, if she didn’t feel the same way about him.
The thing was, he couldn’t quite convince himself that she didn’t feel that same way about him. She was a mess of contradictions, and was confusing the ever-livin’ hell outta him.
He headed back to his truck and threw it into gear. He needed to go for a long, punishing ride on Elvis. Get his head screwed on straight. Get a deep breath back into his lungs.
