“Tell me what you want me to do. And, just for the record, there aren’t any bears on the Ridge. And why are you so damn crabby this early in the morning?”
“Maybe because I’ve been up all night making Mama’s yeast brew and I bet I could find a bear if I really tried. We need you to fly the preparation to the farms and to go to Danville to pick up new supplies. There isn’t time to drive to all those places. So it’s up to you.”
He could see the fire in her eyes, but it didn’t crowd out the fatigue or the hurt. He knew there’d be hurt when he’d given her that “damn great sex” line last night after they’d made love.
But what else could he do? Tell her how much he cared for her and one week later fly off into the sunset? “Damn great sex” seemed a much cleaner break. Fast, immediate, no complications. No need for a lot of explanations. When two people weren’t meant to be together, there wasn’t anything else to consider.
Then he took in her soft pink lips and wild hair and knew he lied. He folded his hands over the sheet to hide his immediate and soon-to-be obvious reaction to her. “I’ll meet you at your place in an hour. I have to gas up the plane. Get what you need me to deliver to your south pasture, and I’ll land there. Write out some directions with landmarks I can spot from the air. Tell me what you need at Danville. Better yet, call in the order and have it waiting at the airport. That’ll save us time. I’ll see if a few of Nate’s hands can’t come over to help you.”
She peered down at him, hands on her hips. “Why are you so darn agreeable? Thought for sure I’d have to harangue you a lot more to get you to cooperate.” She pulled a paper from her pocket and held it up. “I made a haranguing list. Why are you doing this of your own free will? You don’t even like horses all that much, and people around here never meant that much to you. You said so yourself.”
He thought, Because I want to help make things easier for you. Just once take some of the worry and work off your shoulders. But if he told her then she’d know he cared about her and that’s the very thing he didn’t want. What kind of caring person lasted a week, then left? Instead he said, “It’ll give me something to do. A little action.”
“Besides breaking up Savannah and Nathan?” She stood in front of him, not moving, looking more lovely than ever. “Didn’t expect you to come around so easily.” She raised her left brow. “I was kind of looking forward to the bear thing.”
“I could tell.”
As much as he wanted to, they couldn’t make love again. If they did he’d never get her out of his mind and the cold nights in Alaska would be longer, lonelier than ever.
Chapter Eight
Tanner flew the Cessna over the mountains as he thought about those damn long Alaskan nights waiting for him. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t keep his mind off Charity, all warm and soft and giving under him the previous night, making love to him. He thought of her dreams and the dog-with-a-bone perseverance she used to achieve them. He’d miss her back in Alaska. Miss her like hell…and not just between his sheets.
But she sure wasn’t coming with him to the land of ice and snow—what would she do, raise polar bears? And he sure wasn’t staying. What would he do, knit horse blankets?
He banked away from the afternoon sun hovering at the crest of the hills and headed for MacKay Farms for the third time that day. He’d delivered the yeast from Danville and come back two more times to pick up more orders for Mama’s mixture, then delivered those. Charity and Patience and Savannah had worked flat-out to get the deliveries ready. Savannah up to her elbows in grain and yeast? Now there was a surprising picture.
Sunlight hit the hillside perfectly, accenting the fresh green foliage and the spots of silver sprinkled through the trees. One of the joys of flying, it showed the whole picture.
He yawned and adjusted the flaps, then brought the Cessna down with a gentle bounce, landing in the south pasture. He taxied the plane to the side, got out and headed for the house. Coffee, he needed some of the high-octane stuff before he made another run.
He spied Charity as he passed the second barn. She sat on the bales of hay they’d made love on yesterday, staring into a mug of something steamy. He thought of the steam they had created there, which was a lot more potent than the single curl of vapor rising from the mug now. But there’d be no more steam, not even a little simmer. It was finished. Better that than getting them both into something that had impossible written all over it.
He started for the main house until she stopped him with, “You made that last run fast enough. Aren’t you worried about the skyway patrol giving you a ticket?”
Her hair was pulled back into a sagging ponytail; she was slack-shouldered, dog-tired. He sat beside her, took the mug from her fingers, lingering just a second to enjoy the warmth of her touch. Then he drank long and deep, keeping his mind on the brew instead of Charity. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “Dang. That’s got to be the worst coffee I ever had.”
“It’s tea. Savannah made it. She signed up for cooking lessons at the adult ed center yesterday. Our prayers have been answered. I hope.”
He leaned against the side of the barn, the coolness of the wood pressing into his shoulders. It relieved the strain from hours in the cockpit and the heat that started to build inside him whenever he was around Charity.
Escaped tendrils of hair kissed the back of her neck and he’d give anything to do the same. “What do you want me to deliver next?”
“How about some good news. Seems like it’s been a long time since I heard any. More horses getting sick and no one knowing why.”
She nodded toward the back of the barn. “Black Button didn’t eat much today. His eyes aren’t as bright as usual. And one more of Nathan’s is sick.”
“That’s pretty much the story wherever I went.” He wanted to feel her in his arms, offer some support, be there when she needed someone. But then what? Whoops, sorry, baby, I’m heading home to Alaska.
She looked at him. “I have your money.”
“For…?”
“The yeast. When I called Danville to get the bill, they said you took care of it.”
He waved his hand in the air. “Forget it.” He stared at the mug, trying to ignore his desire for her. Maybe if he thought about something else. “This sure tastes like coffee. Maybe Savannah’s on to something. She could call it tea-offie.”
“I think that’s toffee. The name’s already taken, and you’re a little loopy.” She stood and looked down at him. “Go home and get some sleep, and I’m not forgetting about the money. I’ll write you a check.”
“I’ll tear it up.” He lay down on the bails, balancing the mug on his chest, studying the ceiling in the fading light. “You have a bird nest in the rafters. Wren, I think. I’m going to rest here for a little while. Wake me in time for Christmas dinner, okay? Any time before that is way too soon.”
He closed his eyes, feeling his fatigue drain away. He wanted to be here, on the hay where they’d made love this time last night. He could almost feel her body next to his, her legs around him, him buried inside her. “Can I have these bales? A souvenir of…Kentucky…to take back to Alaska. I can load them into the Cessna and—”
“Go to sleep, Tanner.”
He felt her lift the mug from his chest and drop a blanket over him, the same one they’d made love on. He could smell Charity’s freshness trapped in the folds, and he wanted to make love to her all over again. “Can I have the blanket, too?”
She stroked his cheek, he’d recognize her touch anywhere. Her voice was soft and low as she said, “I get the blanket.”
All the tea or coffee in the world, no matter how rotten it tasted, wouldn’t make him forget Charity and how much he wanted her and couldn’t have her. He’d think about something else, dream about something else. Flying. He could always dream of flying. And he had to do that or he’d wake up more frustrated than a frog in a dry pond.
CHARITY WATCHED the steady rise and fall of Tanner’s ches
t slow into the deep rhythm of sleep. He’d worked so hard, dropping off supplies, delivering the mixture to the horse farmers. And it cost him, not just for the supplies he’d picked up, but for the gas. A plane didn’t just flap its wings and take off. He stirred under the blanket and she thought of last night. Great sex? To her it had been much more.
He was loyal, dependable, hardworking. A little lacking in the sincerity department, but he’d taken on responsibilities that day with no hesitation and it probably didn’t have much to do with her threat of feeding him to the bears. Maybe it was best he thought of their lovemaking as just sex, because if it meant something more to him—as much as it meant to her—then his leaving would be beyond awful.
She headed for the house as dusk settled in, the kitchen lights beckoning. “What’s cooking?” she asked Savannah as she pulled up next to the countertop. She held her breath and prayed for peanut butter and jelly. Even Savannah couldn’t botch that.
Savannah’s apron was neat, her blond hair and makeup perfect. The twenty-first century June Cleaver, except for the cooking part. “Smells…different.” So much for P.B. and J.
Savannah beamed. “Lasagna. Pork chop lasagna. We didn’t have any ground beef or cheese, but we did have those wide noodle things and tomato soup. So I substituted. Where’s Tanner? Thought I heard his plane land.”
“Sleeping out in the barn. I think he’s comatose.”
Savannah nodded. “Well, it’s no wonder, since he made all those deliveries and brought that little foal into the vet in Louisville. Oh, and he got Mrs. Chandler the diabetes medicine her son forgot to pick up because he’s got all those sick horses and—”
“When did all this happen and how’d you know about it?”
Savannah broke lettuce into a colander. “Patience told me before she went into town to do some research at the library on gymnosperms?”
She narrowed her eyes and put down the lettuce. “Sounds kind of…sexy. Think it has anything to do with athletic sperm? Guess it’s too much to hope Patience is studying something besides roots and leaves and—”
“I think it has something to do with trees. Now what about Tanner?”
Savannah picked up the lettuce and sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of. You’d think as a biology major she’d have a little more interest in human biology, especially the man part. And—”
“What about Tanner?”
“Well, you know Patience manned the phones all day and talked to everyone. So she got the scoop on what’s going on.”
Savannah grinned at Charity. “Tanner was a hero around here today. Talk of the town. Isn’t he wonderful.”
Charity sat on the nearest bar stool and stared at Savannah. Yeah, Tanner was a hero and Savannah appreciated him, admired him, and was so very much like him—except she had a much better wardrobe. She loved adventure, would go anywhere—could go anywhere. She wasn’t afraid to tackle anything. Pork chop lasagna proved that much. And she was beautiful and witty. “What do you think of Alaska?”
She laughed and hugged her hands to her chest. “Wouldn’t you just love to see it? All the bears, glaciers, eagles and—”
“You should marry Tanner.”
Savannah dropped the whole head of lettuce into the colander. Bug-eyed, she sat on the stool beside Charity. Her mouth opened and shut, then opened again, but nothing came out. Her lipstick smudged. Nothing on Savannah ever smudged. Wouldn’t dare. Finally she said, “What did you say?”
Charity pulled in a deep breath. “I’ve got to tell you something, something important. I’ve been a terrible sister. Horrible, actually. If you want to yell and scream at me, I understand, and I can even suggest some appropriate adjectives. You can start with conniving and sneaky and—”
“Charity, you are the best sister anyone could ever have.”
Charity rolled her eyes. “I’m trying to confess here, Savannah. Enjoy the moment. You’ll have something to lord over me for the rest of our lives. Think of the advantages. Forever you’ll be able to say, ‘Remember that time you—”’
“What in the world are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.”
“Yeah, well it’s going to make sense, and it ain’t going to be pretty.” She took Savannah’s hand. “I’ve been keeping you and Tanner apart because I was afraid he’d be a temptation to you with his Tales of the Last Frontier and you’d get all excited and instead of marrying Nathan you’d go off on some adventure of your own somewhere.”
“You thought I’d go off with Tanner?” Her brows arched to her hairline.
“When he first got here, I didn’t think so. I just thought you’d go off. You know, like you did to L.A. and New York. But now…” She stood and paced. She studied the cracks in the linoleum and continued. “Now that I think about it, you’re perfect for Tanner. And he’s perfect for you. He’s wonderful, he really is. He’ll take care of you. You’ll have fun and life will never be boring and you’ll laugh and he’ll tell you things you never knew about. You’ll have kids and dogs that pull sleds and you’ll love it and…”
She looked back at Savannah. She grinned like a cat dropped in a pitcher of cream. “You’re in love with Tanner Davenport.”
This time Charity’s brows shot up to her hairline. “No, no, no. That’s not what I said at all. It’s you and Tanner who belong together. Nathan will get over it in time. He’ll understand it’s for the best. This has absolutely nothing to do with me. Can you think of two more opposite people than me and Tanner Davenport?”
Savannah laughed as she bobbed her head. “Of course, I can. Me and Nathan. And I love Nathan with all my heart and soul, and he would never, ever, understand me running off with his brother because Nathan and I are head over heels in love with each other, and we both know it.”
Charity heaved a sigh and reclaimed the stool next to Savannah. “Guess this means you and Tanner aren’t getting hitched anytime soon, huh?”
Savannah grinned. “I already have my man.” She held up her hand, the diamond sparkling in the overhead light. “Now it’s your turn. You’re beautiful and desirable and you need to start feeling that way.”
“Me?”
“Of course, you. If you could see the way Tanner looks at you when you’re not looking at him you’d realize just how much he wants you.”
“Thought I had this all figured out. You and Tanner, I mean.”
“For once, dear sister, you don’t. You missed by a mile.”
Charity propped her elbow on the counter and rested her head in her palm. “Well, nothing’s going on between me and Tanner. I’m sure of that. The Ridge is his least favorite place on earth and he doesn’t care for me at all—not the way two people care about each other if something’s ever going to happen between them.” She wrinkled her nose. “That much I got straight from the horse’s mouth.”
“Sometimes the horse doesn’t know what he wants. Don’t throw this away, Charity. You deserve happiness. We all do. Being married to that creep Billy Ray made me realize that and appreciate Nathan even more. Tanner can make you happy just as Nathan makes me deliriously happy. Tanner cares for you, I can tell. I know these Davenport men. They’re a breed all their own. Tough, hardheaded, single-minded and honorable. Always honorable.”
Savannah smiled. “There’s room for a double wedding. Two sisters, two brothers. Could be fun. You should think about it.”
This was how the MacKay women had gotten through some pretty tough times over the years. They loved each other and gave selflessly. Charity kissed her sister on the cheek. “One week from today is your wedding day and for you to even offer to share it is the most wonderful gift you could give me.”
“I wish I could give you a barn full of healthy horses.”
Charity pulled in a deep breath. “Me, too. And that you could do the same for Nathan and the rest of the farms on the Ridge. Of all the horse towns in Kentucky, the Ridge seems to be the hardest hit. Think because we’re up here problems would circle around us and let us a
lone. It’s only a matter of time before we start losing horses. The yeast mixture is just buying us time. It works for a short while, then the horses stop eating altogether. I don’t know what we’re going to do, Savannah. I really don’t.”
Savannah wiped away a tear from Charity’s face. She hadn’t realized she’d been crying. Savannah took her hand, tears welling in her own eyes.
Charity said, “This is not the way I wanted your pre-wedding week to go. I’m so sorry.”
“Nathan and I will get married. All we need is five minutes in front of the preacher. I wouldn’t dream of making Nathan take part in a big extravagant wedding with everything he has on his mind now. All I want is Nathan in my life.”
Another tear slid down Charity’s face; this one she felt and couldn’t have stopped it if she’d wanted to. “You’re a good girl, Savannah MacKay.”
Savannah grinned, showing her perfect white teeth. “I know.”
The back screen door slammed and the sound of boots tramping through the screened-in-porch and across hardwood came their way. Tanner stood in the doorway between the hall and kitchen, bleary-eyed, hair like a Chia Pet, shirttail half in and half out, handsome as all get-out. Charity’s heart went to two hundred beats per minute just looking at him. Darn.
“Got a flashlight?” he asked.
Charity pointed to the overhead fixture. “Electricity. Even got it in the barn. Just flip the switch and you’re in business.”
He shook his head as if waking up. “I need to take a ride into the pasture with a flashlight.”
Charity quickly wiped her cheeks in case any tears remained.
“Are…are you crying?” Tanner’s eyes widened, nearly covering his face.
“Of course not. I don’t cry. Doesn’t solve a thing.” She went to Tanner and took his strong hand in hers and tugged him into the kitchen. She nudged him onto a stool, not wanting to let go of him but knowing it was for the best. “You need to go home, to the cottage, get some real sleep in a real bed. You’re losing it, flyboy.”
The Wedding Rescue Page 12
