She couldn’t let it become something else yet. Russ had whispered sweet things to her, made promises, and he’d been wearing a mask. Even while she felt her trust for Brent grow, she didn’t trust herself to recognize a lie anymore.
“Are you afraid it will?” He broke into her thoughts, touching her arm again.
She was sleepy and didn’t want to talk about this. “There’s no point in trying to predict the future.” Right as she spoke the words, she felt a jolt. The future had been so uncertain for her when she came here. Was it still?
She just wanted to be held, but he wouldn’t do that now. Her own words made her realize that while she wanted to have plans, she was afraid of setting herself up for another crash. She’d come to love life here. When she thought about risking it for a relationship with Brent, her stomach went flipping over in circles.
After a silence, he said, “I think you’re afraid of a lot of things. Sometime, I want to know what those things are.”
That couldn’t happen, she wouldn’t let it. She sat up and said, “I should get going before I fall asleep.”
* * * *
First things first. Brent stood outside the passenger side door of his truck at daybreak. In one hand, he held a lighter. In the other, he held the will Ben had started to put together. Ben hadn’t been the type to think ahead. That had been Brent’s part in this venture, so he never expected Ben to have a will.
It gave Missy only a one-fourth interest in Ben’s share, while the remaining three-fourths went to him.
Last night, Missy had shown him she wasn’t ready to put her roots down here. Why was she unwilling to plan? To talk about their future? He sure as heck wouldn’t give her a reason to take off.
Holding the will at arm’s length, he lit it.
Ocean View Stables had been his dream, one that he’d made into a reality. He still planned on directing it, choosing where they’d go. And Missy would be a part of it.
He dropped the flaming document and watched as it burned down to a crinkling paper before he stomped it out.
Missy wouldn’t be up this early, so he went back to his place for breakfast. He was lost in thought, waiting for his toast to pop up, when someone knocked.
Missy stood outside, looking sleepy still in sweat pants and a big coat.
“You could have stayed here, you know,” he reminded once again, shaking his head at the woman. Why bother taking off during the night if you’re coming right back in the morning?
She yawned and came in.
“Toast?”
A nod.
“Coffee?”
Another nod. She sat on a stool at the counter and laid her head down on her arms. Since she looked asleep, he let her be. Why had she come back instead of sleeping? It didn’t make sense, not after she’d wanted to take off the night before. He dropped more bread in the toaster and started fresh coffee. She hadn’t moved.
That couldn’t be comfortable. If she had drifted off, he intended to move her to his bed, whether or not she liked that when she woke up. “Are you asleep on my counter?”
“No.” She rolled her head and opened her eyes. “You get up this early?”
“Why didn’t you just stay?” He didn’t get it, and that made him mad.
“I don’t do that.”
“You always sleep with guys and take off?” That went over the line. Turning his back to her, he grabbed the fresh toast and buttered it.
“I don’t sleep with guys. So I didn’t know what to think.”
His hands stilled. Her words and tone told him he’d come on too strong, asked too much of her. Now what could he do about it? He didn’t want to back off.
Bringing two plates of toast over, he sat opposite her. “I just made a jerk of myself. I don’t do that kind of thing, either. Haven’t in a long time.”
She looked awake after that comment. They chewed on toast for a minute before he grabbed two mugs and poured coffee. “Sugar? Cream?”
“Please. Lots of both.”
He dumped them in, added just cream to his, and sat again. He wasn’t ready to let go of their conversation. “I could help.”
“With?”
“You’ve asked about plans for the stables, but you won’t talk about our future. You take off after we make love. I think there’s something I should know.”
“No,” she said and looked down at her mug and took a quick, jagged breath. “Unless you want to talk about Ben. About Ben’s horse and why you avoid him.”
Jarred and unprepared, he said. “One topic at a time, sweetheart.”
“Don’t you think they’re related?” She raised her gaze finally, and he saw fire in her eyes. Why did she care about that? It didn’t affect their relationship, not like her secrets did.
He wanted to answer, but didn’t know how to say anything that could end this. They stared each other down as unease settled over them like the fog outside the house. Were they in too deep?
She downed the last of her coffee and stood. “Listen, we’re great in bed together. Why mess it up? Obviously, we’re not ready to share the other parts of our lives.”
Turning, she went to the front door and left. He wished he could run after her. He did want to share everything. The ranch. Their lives. Their secrets.
But he didn’t know how he could tell her about his part in Ben’s death.
Chapter Nine
He’d give Missy her space. They both could use time to think.
He just missed her, and didn’t want to consider his reasons for clamming up.
Because two boarder horses were leaving that day, he couldn’t talk to Missy in the morning. After loading the horses into the trailer, he paused outside the driver side door. He didn’t think anyone had noticed how hard it was on him to drive the truck with a trailer behind it.
It was the one moment when he couldn’t push it away.
After that dark moment passed, he climbed into the truck and started it. What would Missy think if he told her?
He transported the horses back to their owners, who had returned from vacation, then picked up more hay while he was out. He wished, as he looked over at the passenger seat, that she would have come along.
He wanted to slip over and see her for lunch, like they’d done many times now, but he needed to think about what he’d say. So he went back to his own place when he was done working. After heating up leftovers, he chewed without tasting, wondering how he’d gotten so lost.
After lunch, he ventured to Missy’s door. Maybe she wanted to forget about last night. While taking her porch steps, he brushed off any lingering hay, before looking up to find her standing in her open door.
“We sure complicated things before,” he said. Maybe that was why she’d left instead of staying with him.
The soft skin around her eyes wasn’t red from crying, but her face looked gloomy today, and her brown eyes dark. She stepped inside and let him follow her in.
When she stopped and turned to him, they were inches apart, and her eyes grew heavy with need. The change threw him, but only for a second, because he always needed her.
He swept her into an embrace, barely getting the door shut behind them while he hungrily kissed her.
“You look good,” she said, pulling off his coat to see his thick, cotton shirt underneath.
“Work clothes.” He gently pulled the band from her ponytail to set her long hair free.
“You look good when you work.”
He tugged on her shirt, but she made him wait till they were in the bedroom to pull her clothes off. Both were naked in minutes.
They fell onto the bed in a rush. Her body was made for his hands, the curves and dips, the swells. Their tense words were forgotten in their kisses. She seemed to need him as much as the first time. When she arched up against him, it sent him over the edge.
“Sorry,” he gasped against her neck. “You got the better of me.”
She laughed under him, shaking them. He ran his fingers through her hai
r, pulling it to his nose to smell her lavender shampoo.
“Missy.”
“You sure like saying my name in the bedroom.” She said with a smile, gazing into his eyes.
Did he? What else did he say while making love to her?
“Because you like having me in your bedroom so much.” He rolled so they lay stomach to stomach and skimmed his hand over every inch of her. “Do we have time for round two?”
“What else do we have to do today?” She followed his lead and flattened her hand on his chest before running it all over his bare skin. While he’d been nice and touched her sensitive places, she teased and ran around his.
With a sly smile, he said, “The new horse will be here in an hour.”
“Oh!”
“Did you forget?”
“Not until you showed up at my door.” She continued to tease him. “A lot can happen in an hour.”
His body responded to her hands. What if the owner brought the horse early? Didn’t matter, he couldn’t move. “Do I make you forget things?”
“Let’s find out!”
* * * *
Forty minutes later, they were scrambling to make it to the stables in time. Brent would have never guessed he would enjoy watching her dress. She’d yanked on her jeans and a sweater and pulled on a navy coat to protect her from the biting cold outside. A cold front had interrupted their mild weather, but at least it wasn’t below freezing.
As they walked together down to the road, Brent heard a truck rolling toward them on the gravel.
“We made it just in time,” Missy said when the truck pulled up with the horse trailer behind it.
“Mr. Henderson!” He greeted the horse’s owner when the truck door opened. He’d picked up the horse before, but Henderson seemed nervous about leaving him this time.
Stepping out, the older, thin man nodded at them both. “Hello, Brent.”
“This is Missy Nelson. She’s running the place along with me now,” he introduced her, not caring if the way he did it implied they were more than business partners. They were, whether or not she wanted to see it that way.
Henderson flicked a thumb back towards the horse. “He's anxious over this trip. So if he gets too rowdy, please call me. We’ll turn around if this doesn’t work out.”
“We can handle it. I've had tense hoses here before without any problems.” Brent motioned for Missy to help lead the horse out of the trailer.
“Well, Jumper here is a Draft Cross, so I didn’t expect him to . . . well, fit his name the way he does. We love him, but he’s a handful. And the trip over shook him up pretty bad.”
Brent let Jumper smell his hand while he petted its muzzle. “Seems calm enough now. I can put him in a stall, if that’s all right.”
“Well . . . he’s been in the trailer two hours longer than I planned. Our road turned into a mud pit last night, and I had to do some digging on the way over.” Mr. Henderson rubbed Jumper’s neck. “He might like to get out and stretch.”
“Alright. Come on, big boy, time to stretch those legs,” Brent said as he led Jumper out into a partitioned pasture. He expected Henderson to stay and watch the horse at least a few minutes, but he looked at his watch and said his family was already waiting for him.
“That mud threw off our schedule. I’m sure you’re right. He seems right at home,” Henderson said as Brent closed the gate to the pasture.
They waved when Mr. Henderson pulled his truck around the circle and headed out.
“So you think he’ll calm down?” Missy asked as she watched the truck drive down the road.
“Seems to be doing fine now,” Brent answered. “We’ll just keep him away from the other horse. And us, as much as we can help it. Let’s give him room.”
Together, they each hitched a foot on a wood beam of the fence and watched the horse adjust. Brent slid a sideways look at Missy while she focused on the horse. Most folks without previous horse experience would be greenhorns still. Not this lady.
While she still had a lot to learn, she’d proved how easily she could learn it. She might not be able to guess at a horse’s sickness, but she’d feel something was off. That intuition was the best start she could hope for.
Within minutes, Jumper had circled the area and was now running and bucking. Brent got chills up his back, but tried to shake off the unease starting to form over him like wet dew.
“What happened?” she asked him. “He’s acting up again.”
“He got scent of the mares.” He watched the new boarder with unease as he bucked around his section of pasture.
Missy watched Jumper, then threw Brent a worried look. “I’m not sure Jumper and the fences are getting along.”
“The good news is that’s flexi fence on the back half, and it won’t hurt a horse like wood railing would, if they hit.” Brent paused. “But I’m starting to wonder if he can jump them.”
No, he didn’t like this one bit.
“Can you calm him down or should I bring in the mares?” Three mares grazed in their own pasture, but it touched one corner of Jumper’s.
“He’s spooked.” Brent straightened. “Stay back if he gets out of control. I’ll get him into a stall to calm down.”
* * * *
“Don’t get hurt,” she called to Brent before turning away. Not wanting to watch Brent with Jumper, she entered the stables to see if Ivan had mucked out a stall for their new arrival.
Inside, she stopped when she saw Ivan leading Jeffery to a new stall. “What’s going on?” Brent didn’t have anyone else care for his horse.
“I’m almost done with a stall for the new horse. But Jeffery’s upset about something, maybe that new horse out there. I’m moving him further down.”
That seemed like a good idea, but just then Brent came around the corner to lead Jumper inside. She felt uneasy about the situation, especially when she saw Brent’s eyes go cool and calculating. Straight fear shot up into her stomach.
“What’s Jeffery doing out?”
“Ivan’s moving him.” She backed away from Jumper as he pawed the ground. Now closer to Ivan and Brent’s horse, she hoped to help guide him away from Jumper and back into a stall.
“All right, I’m taking Jumper back out for a minute.” Brent turned Jumper to leave just as Jeffery reared up. Missy flattened against the wall, praying no one would get kicked.
“I lost him!” Ivan exclaimed in a panic laced voice. She knew better than to get underfoot as Jeffery charged to the exit.
Something clanged. Jumper bucked, but Brent kept hold of his reins.
Still, the horses faced off with wild eyes and flying hooves. Jeffery gave a startled horse screech and charged past.
“Jeffery!” The horse didn’t slow his pace even as Brent called out. He wrestled Jumper into a stall, slammed the door and took off at a run to find Jeffery.
She knew she couldn't help with Jeffery, so she tried to soothe the agitated animal they'd just penned. She talked to Jumper the way she heard Brent talk to the horses. “That’s right, boy, settle down. Everything’s okay.”
“Is he hurt?” Ivan asked from behind her.
“I don’t think so. Stay with him a minute.”
She rushed outside and spotted Brent. Jeffery hadn’t made it far. He was injured. He stood by the fence, a hind leg lifted, as Brent approached.
“Hey, boy, it’s just me.” Brent took slow steps, coming up to Jeffery at an angle. He held out his hand toward the horse’s nose. “Come on, boy. I need to see your side.”
She stayed still to give them space while Brent settled him down. She could make out the wound on Jeffery’s side, where his stomach and hip met.
Ivan walked up beside her, and they watched Brent from the stable entrance.
“This isn’t good,” she whispered to Ivan. “Jumper kicked Jeffery. See by his hind leg?”
She glanced at Ivan and saw the horror on his face.
“It was just a misunderstanding,” she added. As bad as th
ings were, they could have been much worse. She valued the horses, but not over Brent.
She watched while Brent looked over his horse and called the vet on his cell phone. After squeezing Ivan’s shoulder, she walked halfway to Brent and the horse.
“Can I help?” she offered, but he shook his head - a quick, don’t bother me shake - without turning to look at her. All right, it was his horse. She backed up to the stables, trying not to let her anxiety show.
Ivan looked nervous too, so she suggested they clean up in the stables. A few things had been knocked over, and the horses were making noises.
Dancer snorted when he saw her, his way of calling her over. Ivan turned and saw her pet him.
“You two getting along now?”
“Yeah, we like each other, don’t we?” She’d made the effort and he’d warmed up.
The worry in Ivan’s face added to her own.
“Why don’t you go home to Tina?” she suggested.
Turning, she came face to face with Dancer. “Hey, there, boy. It’s okay.”
He pawed and made noises that she’d come to think were for agreement.
Night fell outside and the temperature dropped. She sighed and watched her breath in the air.
Would Brent be upset with her what happened? She didn't know if anyone was to blame, or maybe they all had needed to work together better.
She laid her face on Dancer's muzzle. She enjoyed their friendship as he made soothing noises to her. Then, at the crunch behind her, she guessed Dancer had chosen to let Brent walk up unannounced behind them.
She glanced up and found Brent's eyes were soft, questioning. He’d already taken his jacket off, and pulled it around her shoulders. His cologne surrounded her, underlain with the smell of his skin. She hugged it close while turning to him.
“Is Dancer calmed down?” That quiet voice of his washed over her.
“He’s doing good, and we’re friends now.” She turned to the horse again, afraid to look at Brent’s eyes because she needed to see something there, and she wasn’t sure she would.
“Missy.” His whisper made her pause, and his arms wrapped around her and pulled her back against him. She could see their breath in the night air. “Come back to my house with me.”
A Cowboy For Christmas Page 10
