Love Inspired January 2016, Box Set 1 of 2

by Carolyne Aarsen

  She turned on the mixer to knead the dough just as Grady came into the kitchen.

  Chloe felt her heart skip a beat when she saw him cleaned up, his hair still damp from his shower, cheeks shining from his shave. And when his dark eyes found hers, locking on to her gaze, she felt a sense of homecoming.

  This is right, she thought. This fits. This is where I belong. Everything else will come together.

  It had to.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The next morning, Grady got up, stretched and then groaned as he felt muscles he had forgotten were part of his anatomy. He was even more stiff and sore than yesterday. But it was a good sore. The kind he used to feel after a hard workout.

  He rolled his neck and beyond the door of his bedroom he could hear Cody banging his spoon on the high chair and Chloe talking to him in lilting tones. He felt a surge of happiness he hadn’t felt in years.

  He was home, and the woman he cared about more with each passing minute was under the same roof. These past few days had given them a time out of time. An opportunity to simply be together without all the complications of the outside world.

  Then he heard it.

  Silence. He walked to the window and pushed aside the curtain, lifted the blinds. Gray clouds still blanketed the sky, but the storm had passed. No wind blew; no snow slanted sideways over the yard. All was calm.

  Which meant that soon life would return to normal.

  He felt a touch of concern at the thought. What would happen to him and Chloe then?

  Then he laughed that foolish idea off. As if their changing feelings could only thrive in this little bit of space and time they had been granted. He’d cared for her before, and he knew she had cared for him, as well. He felt in his heart that what he and Chloe had would only grow.

  To where?

  The question hovered, creating both concern and anticipation. He knew he wanted more than simply to date Chloe. Though what was happening between them had come up quickly, he also knew she wasn’t a casual dater, either.

  He looked out over the yard at the ranch he and his brother had inherited. A legacy going back many generations. Though he had given so much of his life to the military, he’d never realized how important this place was to him until now.

  And to the life he could give any future family.

  He got dressed quickly, finding his crutch, praying that someday he wouldn’t need it anymore, then made his way to the kitchen and Chloe.

  Warmth braided with delicious smells greeted him as he stepped into the kitchen.

  His grandmother sat on the other side of the table drinking a mug of tea, paging through a magazine. A batch of cinnamon buns, the reason for the home smells, lay cooling on the counter. Chloe was trying to coax breakfast into Cody’s cereal-encrusted mouth. The little guy was banging a spoon on the tray of the high chair, babbling his pleasure. His hair stuck up, and when Chloe held a spoon of food in front of him he batted it away, netting a smile from Chloe instead of a reprimand.

  She was so incredibly patient, he thought, watching as she wiped the cereal from the high chair and from her arm with a cloth.

  “Are you done, munchkin?” she asked, wiping his mouth, as well. “I hope so because I’m ready to eat, too.”

  “I’m hoping those cinnamon buns are for breakfast,” he said, popping a new pod in the coffeemaker.

  Chloe spun around, and when she saw him her bright smile warmed his heart.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  “Chloe made them,” his grandmother piped up.

  “You must have been up before dawn,” Grady said, grabbing a mug out of the cupboard and flashing her a warm smile.

  “They’re overnight cinnamon buns,” she said. “I haven’t made them for years. But I’m sure they’re fine.”

  “I’m sure they are, too,” Grady said. The coffeemaker burbled, pouring a stream of brown liquid into his mug. “Looks as if the storm has cleared. Things should be getting back to normal soon.”

  “That’s good, I suppose,” his grandmother said. “I imagine you’ll be back to work once the roads clear.”

  “I’ll have to. After breakfast I’d like to check on the horses again.” Then, just to see what his grandmother would do, he stopped by Chloe and pressed a kiss to her soft, warm neck. “Good morning,” he whispered.

  She ducked her head, but he caught the edge of her smile then looked over at his grandmother, who grinned like the Cheshire cat.

  Breakfast was a quiet affair. Cody sat on Chloe’s lap as she ate, watching Grady as if trying to figure out what he should think of him. Mamie made small talk. Chloe gave Grady a shy look from time to time.

  When breakfast was over, Chloe sat Cody in his chair and started clearing the table. But Mamie stopped her. “You just go and change Cody. I’ll clean up and then watch him. You should go help Grady in the barn.”

  “He’s been managing the past few days without me—”

  “I wouldn’t mind the extra help,” Grady interrupted before Chloe could formulate a reason not to come. He guessed she was trying to be all noble and responsible, but if Grandma wanted to give them a few moments alone, he was taking them. Once the roads were cleared, the ranch hands would be back, then Maddy Coles and the other girls would return and there would be precious few quiet moments for them. “I’d like to check on the other horses outside as well, and I’d like your help for that.”

  “In that case, I’ll take care of Cody and be ready in fifteen minutes.”

  It was actually five, which made Grady smile. It seemed Chloe was as eager as he was to spend time together.

  The air still held a hint of moisture as they walked across the icy yard. Grady took his time, his steps deliberate. There was no way he was falling down in front of Chloe. When he went out on his own to feed the horses, he didn’t care as much about finesse. He had slipped and slid, but that hadn’t mattered. He hadn’t had an audience then.

  Now, he knew he was being proud, and Chloe had seen him at his weakest, but he still felt the need to show her that he was capable.

  The barn was silent when they stepped inside, then Sweetpea whinnied at them followed by Babe and Shiloh.

  “They’re probably hungry,” Grady said, his halting steps echoing in the cavernous barn.

  “Do you want me to help feed them?”

  “Nah. I’ll be okay.” He had things down to a system and though it took time, he wasn’t as ungainly as he had been the first time he’d done it.

  Sweetpea, Babe and Shiloh hung their heads over the gates of their pens, watching patiently as he approached them. “Hey, girls,” he said. “How are you doing?”

  They whinnied back, their replies echoing through the barn.

  “You care to translate?” Chloe teased.

  Grady pushed open the door of the stall holding the hay with his crutch and shot her a grin over his shoulder. “Sweetpea is asking me why I had to bring that gorgeous girl in here, and Babe is asking me where her breakfast is. Very selfish, that one. Shiloh is just curious.”

  Chloe laughed at his lame comments, making him feel as if he might actually own a sense of humor.

  She walked over to Babe, stroked the horse’s head. “Your meal will come in good time,” she said.

  Grady tried not to rush. His pride made him want to look competent in front of Chloe, but his more practical nature reminded him to take his time. If he fell down again, he’d look even more foolish.

  Then, without saying anything, Chloe walked into the pen where the hay was, grabbed another fork and stabbed it into the bale. She brought it over to Babe and dumped it into the stall. Then went back for another. Grady bit back his protest, knowing on one level he should be happy for the help. The less time he spent awkwardly making his way back and forth with the hay, the l
ess chance he had of falling or embarrassing himself. And Chloe knew what she was doing.

  A few minutes later they were done, the horses munching loudly.

  “Amazing how they can make that dry old hay seem so tasty,” Chloe said, hanging over Babe’s stall, watching her eat.

  Grady set aside the fork and while she was looking at Babe, stretched out a kink in his leg, grimacing at the sudden and unexpected stab of pain. He tried not to feel disheartened, knowing it would take months before the pain would ease off. Chloe hadn’t promised him any sudden recuperation, and he knew better than to expect that, but it was still frustrating to be so hampered in what he could do when he wanted to show how capable he was.

  “When are they supposed to foal?” Chloe asked, joining him on the bench by the stalls.

  “Sweetpea is due in April, Babe and Shiloh in May.”

  “I remember we had one mare who had a foal. I named and raised her. Saul helped me train her. He also tried to talk me out of calling her Shayalama. Said it would take me too long to train her because it would take me too long to say her name every time I wanted her to do something.”

  Grady smiled, though he heard the hint of sorrow in her voice. “What happened to this Shayalama?”

  “She was sold when things went bad for my father.” She rested her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands, her eyes seeming to be looking to another place.

  Grady stroked her shoulder in commiseration. “That must have been a hard time for you.”

  “I was gone for the worst of the decline. Which brings its own load of guilt. The last few years, when things got really bad, I was...” Her voice drifted off and she pressed her lips together.

  “You were married to Jeremy.”

  She nodded, giving him a rueful smile. “I should have paid more attention to what was happening. I should have helped my father more. His life was so scattered.”

  “I know how you feel,” Grady said. “I had the same difficulty with Ben. Being away, yet knowing what kind of life he was living. I guess I shouldn’t have been as angry as I was with him.”

  “It’s hard to watch someone make bad choices.”

  “I didn’t need to be as hard on him as I was.”

  “You did it because he matters to you,” Chloe said, turning back to him, taking his hand in hers. “In our studies we talked about the special bond that twins share. I think you become more invested in each other’s lives. And as a result, you probably care more. You told him what you did because you love him, not because you wanted to be some kind of policeman.”

  Grady squeezed her hand in response, chuckling in spite of his regrets. “You are so perceptive. That’s exactly what Ben had accused me of doing. In fact, he informed me that I was a solider, not a cop.”

  “I guess we’re on the same wavelength, too,” she joked.

  He curled his hand around her neck, pulling her in for another kiss. “I’d like to think so.”

  She lay against him with a gentle sigh, her hand resting on his chest, her other around his waist. “I like this place.”

  “This barn?” he said, deliberately misunderstanding her.

  “Being in your arms in this barn,” she said with a chuckle. “I like being here on the ranch.”

  “Do you miss your work?”

  “It was what I trained for. I hope that someday I will be able to do it full-time again.”

  Her comment reminded him that her stay here was temporary. Did he dare assume she would want to make it permanent?

  The thought jolted him. Was he ready to make that commitment?

  Was she?

  * * *

  The stillness of the barn, broken only by the munching of the horses, made Chloe feel a gentle push-pull of emotions. Grady’s appeal; the reality of the baby she carried. The honesty they had just shared; the secret she held close.

  She had to tell him before she moved so far down this path she couldn’t find her way back.

  Her heart stepped up its tempo as she scrambled for the right words to convey the information, the right time.

  Now, her mind told her.

  Later, said her heart.

  “I guess we should get back to the house,” Grady said, breaking the soft silence with his comment. “Don’t want Grandma to worry about us.”

  “I doubt she’s worried,” Chloe said, feeling the relief of the momentary reprieve.

  “You’re probably right. In fact, I think that Mamie’s illness was either contrived or exaggerated.”

  “And why would she do that?” Chloe asked.

  Grady gave her a conspiratorial smile. “So that we could do this.” He gave her another kiss.

  Was this really her? Chloe thought as she drew back from him, her hand on his shoulder, her eyes locked with his. Was this really Chloe Miner kissing Grady Stillwater for real instead of those endless fantasies she had spun up in her room, hugging her pillow, pretending it was him?

  “I like doing this,” she said. Then she kissed him back. For real.

  “I do, too, but I should get hold of Josh, Emilio or Lucas and see which of them can come in. The cows will need to be fed either today or tomorrow.”

  So soon, Chloe thought. So soon the outside world would descend into their lives with obligations and ordinariness.

  But who know what would come with it?

  Grady grabbed his crutch and stood, his movements awkward. Chloe suspected most of his stiffness resulted from the workouts she had done with him. Had she pushed him too hard?

  “I should go visit Ben as soon as possible,” Grady said as he set his crutch under his arm. “I hope he doesn’t feel as if we’ve abandoned him.”

  “Just tell him what happened. He’ll understand.”

  “I love how you talk about Ben as though he knows exactly what is going on.”

  “Like I said, it’s subliminal. He might not remember, but I believe it enters his subconscious and takes root there.”

  “I guess sooner or later we’ll have to tell him about Cody,” Grady said as they made their way to the door.

  “I wish I could tell you when the right time to do that is.”

  “I know. I don’t want him to feel as shocked as I did when I heard that Vanessa was parading Cody around town telling everyone I was the father.” He pulled open the large sliding door, the outside light a sharp brightness compared to the gloom of the barn. “I tell you, much as I love that little guy, I am thankful he’s Ben’s child.” He gave her a warm smile, touching her cheek. “Starting a relationship with the responsibility of a child is a heavy, difficult thing to deal with.”

  Chloe blinked in the bright sunlight, cold blooming in her chest, spreading to her hands, her head, her feet.

  Her first response was flight. Run. Get away from the words that chilled her soul.

  The responsibility of a child. Heavy, difficult thing to deal with.

  His words wound around her heart like an icy fist.

  Good thing you didn’t tell him about the baby.

  She hurried ahead on the ice, her feet slipping in her rush, but thankfully she didn’t fall.

  “Chloe? What’s wrong?” Grady called out behind her.

  But she kept going, the house ahead of her. Sanctuary.

  “Chloe,” Grady called again.

  Then she heard a clatter as his crutch fell, a muffled thump and Grady’s cry of pain.

  She spun around in time to see Grady sprawled out on the ground, his one leg at an awkward angle.

  “No, oh, no,” she cried, hurrying to his side, hoping, praying that he hadn’t done more damage to his injured leg.

  She dropped to her knees beside him as Grady scrambled, trying to regain his footing.

  “Here. Let me help,” she said, fitti
ng her shoulder under his armpit as she had been taught.

  Grady groaned and Chloe felt another flicker of regret. But even as she helped him to his feet, she knew that as soon as she could, she would retreat to her room. For now, however, she was Grady’s physical therapist and she had to help him get back up.

  “You okay to stand?” she asked as they managed to get up.

  He simply nodded and she got his crutch and handed it to him. He didn’t look at her as he stumbled toward the house. He was probably in pain, but she also knew Grady well enough that he would never admit it. Especially not to her.

  However, she was in pain as well, and every moment walking alongside him created her own agony.

  With each hesitant step his words reverberated through her mind. Heavy thing. Heavy thing.

  Too heavy for him, it seemed.

  They got to the house, and as soon as they were inside Chloe made her escape, mumbling some excuse to find Cody, even though Mamie told them he was sleeping.

  Chloe said no to coffee, the thought of sitting down with Grady and Mamie and acting as if all was well unbearable. She hurried upstairs, her feet unable to move fast enough.

  Difficult thing to deal with...responsibility of a child...heavy...difficult. At least she had kept her secret to herself.

  She dropped into the rocking chair in the nursery and lay her head back, ignoring the moisture trickling down her cheeks. Now what was she supposed to do? If Grady had a hard enough time thinking about taking on Cody, whom, for a moment, everyone thought was his, how could she expect him to take on another man’s child?

  A man who was less than honorable. A man who had easily renounced any claim to his own biological child, then disappeared.