by Donna Alward
“Maybe,” he agreed, but his heart didn’t sound in it. “For right now I could use one of those pain pills.”
She retrieved the bottle, noticed that they were just over-the-counter strength. “No prescription?”
“I don’t like taking that stuff. Makes me dopey. Give me two of those, though. It should take the edge off.”
She shook a couple into her hand, gave them to him along with a glass of water. “Dinner shouldn’t be long.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“I started a load of laundry for you, too. Figured you’ve been gone a while and could use some clean clothes.”
“You don’t have to look after me, Kailey. I’ll be fine. Really.” He popped the pills into his mouth and chased them with a big swallow of water.
“It’s nothing I wouldn’t do for any other neighbor,” she protested. “Seriously.”
But the intensity of his gaze said something different. They both knew he wasn’t just another neighbor. If he had been, her fingers wouldn’t have hesitated over his buttons. She wouldn’t still be thinking about kissing him, or about his long legs folded into the steaming bathwater, or wondering how he was going to manage later tonight.
As she served the meal, she told herself she couldn’t let it be her problem.
Chapter Eight
Rylan tried to roll over and nearly cried out from the pain.
The bed was comfortable enough, or would have been if he didn’t ache all over.
The night after the accident, the hospital had kept him doped up on some primo narcotics. Tonight, the acetaminophen wasn’t cutting it. He couldn’t get comfortable. Moving positions meant engaging core muscles and shifting ribs. He tried lying on his left side but even then, his right hip pained as gravity pulled it down toward the mattress.
He managed to doze off and on, but by the time the sun came up he was sore, exhausted and honestly felt as though he’d been hit by a truck.
Which, of course, he had.
There was no sense in staying in bed. He got up, tried a warm shower to loosen his muscles, searched for coffee and found none. Kailey had called her dad for a ride back to the ranch after dinner so she could get her own truck. Technically, it was her place, but she’d lent it to Rylan rather than staying here herself. She was still determined to keep space between them. Not that he’d be any threat to her anyway.
He checked his watch. Lacey would be up by now, getting breakfast for Quinn, doing all those housewifely things she did nowadays in addition to her accounting business. Heck, she’d even put in that vegetable garden. He’d never pictured her as a farm wife, but he supposed it wasn’t that far a stretch. She’d always been a nurturer, wanting children and a home.
She’d definitely have something to eat. Besides, he hadn’t called her back as he’d told Kailey he would. Yesterday the idea of hiding away to lick his wounds had been perfect. Today, though, he knew he should face his family. At some point he had to stop being a coward and start having difficult conversations.
He popped a few more pills, but wasn’t too hopeful they’d help. He felt every bump and pothole on the drive to the ranch, relieved when he finally crawled his way up the driveway.
He didn’t expect to see Kailey’s truck in the yard.
Gingerly he climbed out of the truck and made his way to the house.
Lacey met him at the door, a dusting of flour on her cheek and an apron covering her front. “Rylan! You’re home! Carrie has a boy!”
He grinned at his sister’s enthusiasm. “I know. Have you spoken to Kailey?”
“Not this morning. Did you drive all night?”
“Actually...I stayed at Quinn’s—I mean Kailey’s—last night.”
He took off his hat, and then she noticed his bruised eye.
“Oh dear.” Her face fell with dismay. “That’s not from a bar brawl, is it? Oh, Rylan.”
It irritated briefly that his family was so quick to assume the worst about him. In February, she’d been suspicious of where he’d gotten the money to bid on the saddle at Quinn’s benefit. Duke didn’t trust his judgment. Of course, he hadn’t really given them reason to in recent years.
Yet the one person who really had a reason to distrust him was the one person who truly seemed in his corner.
Kailey.
“I haven’t been in a bar fight in...” He did a mental check. “Years.” He smiled at her, trying his charm. “I was, however, taking a cab last Saturday night and we got broadsided.”
“What? Are you okay?”
He sighed. “Yes, and I’m dying for a cup of coffee. Can I come in and fill you in on what happened?”
“Of course.” She stood back and let him in, and he hesitated before deciding to take off his boots. It wouldn’t do to wear them in the house, but damn, it hurt taking them on and off.
He sat on the stairs and by the time the boots were off his feet he’d broken into a cold sweat.
When he finally made his way to the kitchen, Lacey’s eyes were dark with worry. She had a fresh cup of coffee waiting for him and was putting a plate in the microwave to reheat. He eased himself into a chair at the table, picked up the cup and took a first, fortifying sip.
Delicious.
“I thought about hiding out at Quinn’s for a few days. Kailey told me yesterday that she was going to be renting it, and I wasn’t ready to face you and Duke and answer a lot of questions. Or be fussed about.”
“What changed?”
He grinned. “No coffee in the house. And realizing that I can’t just run away from awkward situations all the time.”
She simply waited for him to explain. Which he did, making sure he added the part about Kailey going home last night. “I asked her to keep it a secret. I was kind of licking my wounds, literally and figuratively.”
“This means the end of your championship hopes, doesn’t it.” Her face was sympathetic.
“Yeah, it does.” He watched as Lacey went to the microwave and took out the plate she’d put in. When she brought it back the scent of apple pancakes and fried ham hit his nose, and he was glad he’d decided to visit this morning.
She put syrup down beside him and he poured on a generous helping before picking up his fork. “You spoil me,” he admitted.
“Maybe it’s time you got some spoiling,” she observed, taking a seat at the table.
He thought about Kailey last night and her simple but lovely dinner, and how he’d enjoyed talking with her. Normally a scene such as that would have sent him running for the hills. So why wasn’t he?
The obvious reason was that he couldn’t, not in the shape he was in. But that would be a big fat lie.
“Lacey, when you came back here, you had no intention of staying. What changed your mind? Quinn?”
“Hmm.” He chewed and swallowed a mammoth bite of pancake while she considered. “Part of it was Quinn, and part of it was Amber. But there was a time when I was sure we weren’t going to work out and I knew I was going to stay in Gibson anyway.”
“Why?”
He kept feeding his stomach, hoping to dislodge the weight that seemed to settle right in the pit. He had a feeling he knew what she was going to say.
“I suppose it’s because this place has a way of getting into a person’s blood. No one could have been more surprised than me, Ry. But there’s something about this town, this ranch, that just grounds a person. At first I couldn’t imagine staying, and then I couldn’t imagine leaving it behind.”
Just as he’d thought.
Then again, it was no surprise. He’d had the same feeling when he was five years old. Like this was the best place on earth. And leaving it had left him feeling...
Bereft.
He looked at Lacey and finally grasped what he’d always known in his heart but hadn’t been able to quite describe. He’d grieved the loss of his dad. But he’d also grieved the loss of Crooked Valley as much, if not more. It had been perfect. He’d belonged here. He’d felt safe and l
oved and understood. And then it had been gone.
And by staying away all these years, he’d never had to truly deal with that grief. Until now.
“Ry? Are you okay?”
He swallowed, his throat thick. “Not really. I’m just tired, I guess. I didn’t sleep much last night.”
“Do you want to stay here?”
He shook his head. “You’re newlyweds and a new family. You deserve your honeymoon period.”
She grinned and patted his hand. “Well, that’s quite a romantic notion, for a rodeo bum.”
He smiled back. “I have my moments. Anyway, seriously, a few days at Kailey’s and I’ll be right as rain and back in my camper.”
“Kailey, huh?” Lacey’s gaze was sharp.
“It’s not like that. Believe me. She made sure to stay at her mom and dad’s last night rather than move her stuff in. Kailey’s not interested in me that way.”
Lacey burst out laughing. “Right. Okay. Whatever.” Her tone said that she didn’t believe him in the least.
“Hard as it may be to believe, she’s pretty determined not to give me another shot. We’re just friends.” He didn’t quite believe that, but there was no other way to describe their relationship when they both felt the pull of attraction and were nothing about it. He raised an eyebrow. “After what happened in February, that in itself is a miracle.”
“She must believe in you on some level. She took your side with the Rattler issue.”
“Horses are a different matter.” Very different from gambling with hearts. “That’s business.”
Right on cue, the front door slammed and he heard Kailey’s voice call out. “Halloo, is the coffee on?”
Lacey grinned and called back, “Of course. And I have cake.”
Rylan frowned. “You never said anything about cake.”
“You needed a good breakfast.”
Kailey stomped into the kitchen in her stocking feet and stopped short when she saw Rylan. “Oh. Hi.”
“Hi, yourself. I was filling Lacey in on what happened.”
Recovered, Kailey went to the cupboard for a coffee cup. “I came over to get the goss on the new baby.” She smiled at Lacey. “When are mama and baby headed home? Maybe I’ll make a run in later today to visit.”
“Tomorrow, if all goes well. We’re going to have a family dinner here, quiet-like. You should come.”
Kailey shrugged. “I’m not family.”
“The hell you aren’t.” Lacey sent her a firm look. “I know for a fact you and Carrie are like sisters. She’d be hurt if you weren’t here, Kailey.”
“I’ll try. Things are pretty busy.”
“It’s showery today and it’s calling for rain all day tomorrow. You won’t be haying. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be here,” Rylan added. It would be better if things weren’t weird between them, wouldn’t it? After all, they’d been much better yesterday once they’d sat down to dinner. Platonic. Polite. And then she’d said “see you later” and left him to his own devices.
The phone rang, and Lacey disappeared to answer it. Rylan looked up at Kailey. “In the end, I figured telling her was probably better than hiding out or having her hear from somewhere else.” He sent her a winning smile. “Plus there was no coffee at your house.”
“Did she freak out?” Kailey took a sip of her brew and watched him over the rim of her cup.
“Not as much as I expected. But the offer to stay was made right away. Do you mind if I stay at yours for another few nights? She and Quinn are newlyweds. It’s awkward. Even staying in the camper is pushing it, because I’m in their hair all the time, you know? But at least there’s a little privacy.”
“Afraid you might get some of that love stuff on you?” She chuckled, then shook her head. “I don’t mind. It’s so busy right now that I was thinking I’d just take a few things over each time I go by. I won’t be ready to really move in until, well, probably the weekend.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. By then I should be fine to move back into the camper again.”
She went to the cookie jar and lifted the lid, searching for a treat. Rewarded, she took out a chocolate chip cookie and started to munch. “I see you managed to get dressed all by yourself this morning,” she observed, her eyes glinting with mischief as she chewed the cookie.
“It was not a quick job,” he admitted. Indeed, he’d struggled most with the button of his jeans. He’d made a quick movement without thinking, and his shoulder had seized and his eyes had watered from the pain. The shirt, though, that had been easier. Time consuming, but easier.
He wiggled the fingers of his left hand, gesturing for a cookie, and she retrieved him one from the jar. “So, are you really thinking of heading to the hospital later?” he asked.
“How would it look if I didn’t visit my best friend when she had a baby?” Kailey asked. “I didn’t go last night because I thought it was too soon. But if she’s in another day... I should take her flowers or something.”
He shoved the cookie in his mouth, washed it down with a gulp of cooling coffee. “Duke’s my only brother. I should probably put in an appearance, too. Want to drive together?”
Lacey’s muffled voice coming from the office was the only sound in the relative silence.
“For Pete’s sake. I’m staying at the place you’re supposed to be renting. We run into each other all the time, and you have a vested interest in my new horse.” He looked into her eyes. “There is nothing weird about an uncle and honorary aunt visiting the hospital together. Unless you make it weird, in which case I’m going to start thinking this isn’t as platonic as you let on.”
Boom! It was a good shot, but it didn’t have the oomph he thought it might. Maybe because he wasn’t thinking platonically about her at all either.
“Fine. We’ll save the gas and drive in together. Happy?”
“Immensely. How about I pick you up at four? That way we don’t lose the whole workday.”
“You’re working? Like that?” She nodded toward his sling.
“I want to stop by the barn. Talk to the guys. Check on Rattler. I’ve been gone awhile. I need to get caught up.”
“I guess that’ll be okay then.”
“We can visit and then stop for a burger on the way back.”
“But this isn’t a date,” she confirmed.
“A man’s gotta eat.”
She checked her watch. “I gotta run. I came for the update but really I wanted to drop off the first month’s rent to Quinn. I didn’t expect him to give me the key yesterday, and I don’t want to take advantage.”
“You might possibly be the most responsible person I’ve ever known,” he said, grinning. “Wait, scratch that. Duke is. But you’re a close second.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She gave his good shoulder a jostle on her way by. “Catch you later.”
“Four o’clock. Sharp.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she called back, and a few seconds later he heard her go out the door.
Lacey was still on the phone, and Rylan took a few moments to think about what was happening. More than that, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about it. He’d come back to Crooked Valley with the intent of simply using it as a place to park. His goal always had been a run at the championship. In the absence of that goal what was he supposed to do? Part of him wanted to run away. Not let himself get attached again.
The other part told him to stay and see this through. That he couldn’t go on running forever. At some point he had to deal with stuff. At some point he had to...
Grow up.
Deep down he knew what he really wanted, and it scared him to death. But he’d known it from the moment he’d loaded Rattler in the trailer and had headed for home.
Home.
Hell of a thing.
Lacey and Duke had been right after all. He’d sworn up and down that coming back wouldn’t mean they could count on him to stay. But that was exactly what he was going to do.
; Stay.
Chapter Nine
Kailey knew it was just a trip to the hospital, but she didn’t want to show up in jeans and a T-shirt. At three she called it quits and left the barn in favor of a shower. Now, wearing a sundress and sandals, she put the last twists on the single French braid and wrapped the elastic around the end. For some reason her hair braided easier when it was damp, and she checked the mirror briefly, satisfied with the neat plait. Her freckles were starting to stand out thanks to days in the sun, and a swish of mascara made her eyes seem bigger and a swipe of lipstick highlighted her lips. She hoped it looked like she was trying—but not trying too hard.
Her mom had made cheese biscuits and had packed a half dozen in a zipped plastic bag in case Carrie was getting nasty hospital food. Kailey wasn’t the crochet type, so the blue gift bag in her hand held store-bought clothes. Her favorite was the Onesie that said Handsome Cowboy across the front with the picture of a mustache beneath it. She knew Duke would get a kick out of it. There was also a pair of the tiniest jeans she’d ever seen, paired with a soft red-and-blue plaid shirt.
This little guy was going to be a rancher all the way.
“Rylan’s here!” her mother called.
“Thanks, Mom.” Kailey made her way toward the front room. She rather hoped to get out before her mom had the opportunity to say anything, but no such luck. Her mother met her in the entry, holding out Kailey’s purse.
“Don’t forget this. And have fun.”
“I’m visiting a hospital, Mom.”
“With Rylan Duggan. He’s very handsome, you know.”
“Yes, I know.” She took the purse.
“And you look very pretty, honey.”
Kailey smoothed her hand over the skirt of the dress. “Is it too much? I didn’t want to look like I’d gone right from the barn or smell up the hospital.”
“No, it’s not too much. Give Carrie and Duke our love. And take a few pictures with that phone of yours.”
“I will.” On impulse she leaned over and kissed her mother’s cheek before opening the door and stepping out onto the porch.
Rylan had shut off the truck and was walking across the yard, but he stopped when he saw her. A low whistle sounded from his lips. “Shee-oot,” he said, grinning at her. “You dressed up and everything.”
