Her grin was as bright as a spotlight. She all but jumped out of the car, hand raised in victory. “You did it. Thank you so much.”
“Go ahead and turn it off.”
Some of her joy faded, and he realized he’d sounded terse again. Damn it. He really didn’t mean to rain on her parade. When she’d come back down from the house she’d had the strangest expression on her face. Made him wonder what she’d been talking about with his boss’s wife. But then she’d gone inside, explaining that with Paisley up at the boss’s house she could do her morning chores, and he couldn’t help but admire her work ethic. She could have taken the easy way out and used Paisley as an excuse to sit around all morning. Not Jayden. She’d mucked stalls and ridden a couple of the horses by the time he’d finished with her car late in the afternoon.
“I guess I owe you dinner.” She slipped out of the car, slammed the door and turned back to him with that damn funny look on her face again.
“Don’t worry about it.”
He grabbed a rag off the fender of her car, wiping his hands some more. He was a damn mess.
“No, really. I want to.”
She’d stared up at him, her eyes imploring, hair still pulled back. He didn’t want to go out with her, but not for the reason she thought. He liked her, probably too much.
“I don’t expect anything in return, so don’t worry about it.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coveralls. “I’m going to change. You may as well leave for the day. It’s late.”
She peered at him from beneath lashes that were thick and long. “Look, I really appreciate what you’ve done for me today.”
But...? There was always a “but,” wasn’t there?
“But please don’t brush it off like it’s no big deal. It is a big deal to me.” Determination propped her shoulders up in the next instant. “I’m going to bring you breakfast tomorrow.” Her mouth lifted on one side. “It’s my way of saying thank you for everything. Not just today, but for your patience with me while I learn the ropes around here and for saying nice things about me to Jax and Naomi.”
She knew about that?
“I’ve never had a lot of guy friends, but I’d like to be yours.” And then she said softly, so softly that the words were very nearly carried away on a sage-scented breeze, “I could really use a friend right now, and I have a feeling you could, too.” She shook her head ruefully. “You saw what I’m dealing with. I feel like I’m raising a second child with the way Levi is. I just finished school. I’m working full-time at a new job. My aunt is great, but she’s more like my mom. My brothers are always gone or too busy, plus I really don’t like spending more time at my father’s place than I have to, so that leaves you.”
She smiled brightly up at him. She was like that kid at school, the one you met in the cafeteria, offering friendship when no one else would. And that was probably the weirdest thing he’d thought in a long, long time.
“Why don’t you like to spend time with your dad?”
She shrugged, then looked down, and he realized it was hard for her to talk about. But she was willing to share, and the fact that she felt comfortable enough to talk to him about something that was clearly deeply painful, well, it warmed him up in a way he hadn’t felt in a while.
“My dad and I...we’re not exactly talking right now. I guess you could say we don’t see eye to eye on some things, specifically the fact that I got divorced and how I’m raising my daughter. He thinks I should have stayed with Levi for Paisley’s sake, and he doesn’t think it’s good for me to be away from her so much, which is kind of ironic considering he was never around when I was growing up, something I pointed out to him and... Oh, boy.” She blew a hank of hair out of her face. “That didn’t go over very well. He told me if I’m so determined to work myself into the ground and have my aunt raise my little girl, he wasn’t going to help me by paying for school or rent or any of the other things he used to chip in for. The last two years have been hard—I’m not going to deny it. My aunt tries to help out, but I hate asking her because if my dad finds out it would cause World War III. So I’ve been on my own. And I’m doing okay. But it’s still hard for me to pass my dad’s place without feeling physically ill. Unfortunately, he lives across the road from my aunt.” She smiled wryly. “My aunt Crystal watches Paisley for me, and thank goodness for that because I don’t know what I would do without her.”
If she’d said she was an orphan she couldn’t have shocked him more. And the realization that she pretty much raised Paisley all on her own rocked him back on his heels. Literally.
“So I guess what I’m trying to say is you’re an angel for repairing my car. Really. I couldn’t have afforded to fix it on my own, and if it’d stayed broken that would have meant missing work and then what?” She lifted her chin. “I’d rather be dipped into a vat of hydrochloric acid than ask my dad for anything.”
He understood. Probably more than she could ever know.
“So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” She came forward, reached for his hand. He didn’t want to touch her, but he couldn’t exactly ignore her.
He clasped her hand.
It was like being sopping wet and touching an electric wire. That was how much of a jolt it gave him. She jerked her hand away, and her eyes flickered, her shoulders tensed, all things a less astute man might have missed, but Colby saw it. He studied her closely, took the sum of her parts and judged them as a whole—the way she couldn’t look him in the eye now. How she kept fussing with the gravel by dragging her toe through it. The way she played with her bottom lip as she stared at the ground.
She’d felt something when he’d touched her, too. Some kind of mutual crazy attraction.
Damn.
“You’re nothing like I thought you were,” he said softly, and he had no idea why he’d said the words.
He watched her throat work as she swallowed, Colby stunned by just how badly he wanted to expand on the comment, to try to reassure her how much he actually liked her. He couldn’t, though. Wouldn’t.
“And you’re nothing like I thought you were, either.” She took a step back. “I should go pick up Paisley. Naomi has watched her all day. I have to figure out who’s going to take care of her tomorrow since I doubt my aunt will be feeling any better. I’ve already been a big enough pain. I won’t let that happen again.”
She turned and all but ran back to her car. Colby let her go. That was what he always did—what was best for everyone. Let them go. Too many scars. Too many nightmares. Too many bad memories. It was why he left Texas. He was better off alone. He didn’t hurt people that way. Didn’t close them out. Didn’t drive them away...into someone else’s arms.
She deserved someone better than him.
* * *
Dear God in heaven.
Jayden gunned the engine, her tires kicking up gravel, she backed up so fast. She took her foot off the gas at the same time her gaze hooked on Colby again. He hadn’t moved. She turned the wheel, aiming for the road that led to her boss’s house and away from him.
You’re nothing like I thought you were.
She shook her head. And what was with the sadness she’d seen in his eyes? What was in his past that he didn’t want to talk about? Why did she care?
She wished her mom were here.
For a moment she couldn’t breathe. It’d been years, and yet it still happened from time to time, that terrible knot in her stomach, the ache that made her physically ill. Abigail Gillian had been her best friend in the world. She would have taken her side when it came to dealing with Dad. And she would have sat down and listened to her thoughts about Colby. Been the voice of reason. Because right now her mind was jumbled and she couldn’t deny that when he’d touched her, she’d felt something.
She had to take a moment to gather the reins of control when she pulled to a stop in front of the Stone residenc
e. Her fingers ached from clutching the steering wheel too hard, but the cool air felt good on her face when she got out of the car.
“Mommy!”
Paisley’s cry of delight when Naomi brought her to the door was a balm to her soul. She needed to be sure she was always thinking with her head, not her heart, because that was exactly what her dad always said she did.
“I see he got your car fixed.”
“He did.” She opened her arms, taking Paisley from Naomi. “And I offered to take him to dinner as a way of thanking him, but he said no. So I’m going to bring him breakfast. Can I drop off some bagels or something in the morning, too? I can’t thank you enough for helping me out today. I promise to work extra hours tomorrow to make up for the time I lost today.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Naomi’s face reflected the friendliness in her eyes. “You don’t need to bring me anything. I’m just glad Colby was able to help you out.”
And that was the moment she realized how lucky she was to have landed a job at Dark Horse Ranch. A job she would do everything in her power to keep, and that meant ignoring the spark of attraction she’d felt for Colby.
She drove home thinking about the best way to deal with Colby in the future. It helped that they’d be busy in the coming days. They had another guest arriving this week. They’d introduce Bryan to horses tomorrow, too. That would mean working with Colby at some point, but she’d be sure to keep things professional between them.
But the next morning saw her so nervous it made her physically ill. At least her uncle had agreed to watch Paisley while her aunt convalesced. She had the whole week covered, no thanks to Levi. She hadn’t heard a word from her ex since he’d dumped Paisley on her the day before.
“You hungry?” she asked Colby, holding up a bag of breakfast burritos.
Colby stood in front of the barn holding the reins of two saddled horses, waiting.
“Bring them with.” He motioned toward a saddlebag on the back of the horse he rode.
“We both riding this morning?”
It was chilly, a coastal fog having worked its way inland. She grabbed her black jacket with the sheepskin-lined hood out of the back of her car. He dressed in black, too, even his cowboy hat. She hoped that wasn’t a reflection of his mood.
“We are. You can eat on the way if you get hungry. I don’t have much of an appetite this morning.”
Uh-oh. That boded ill for the day.
“Thanks again for fixing my car for me,” she said, stuffing the bag in the saddlebag, all the while feeling so self-conscious she could barely look him in the eye.
“How’s it running?” He glanced at her car, his eyes partially shielded by the brim of his hat.
“Perfect.” She snuggled into her jacket. She should have gotten a latte or something at the coffee shop where she’d bought the breakfast burritos. “I take it I’m riding Bentley.”
“You are.” Not by word or deed did he reveal any recollection of their conversation yesterday. Back to the same old Colby.
“What time do we start working with Bryan?”
“Not until ten. We’ll ride for a bit, come back and start the ground work with Bryan.”
She told herself to look him straight in the eye as she took the reins from him, the leather still warm from his hands. She couldn’t do it, though, had to shift her gaze to the ground or the horse or anywhere else but Colby. When she climbed aboard she headed straight for the arena.
Things might be back to normal for him, but not for her.
“No, not that way.”
Her horse threw his head up, a reaction to the way she jerked on the reins. She instantly loosened them, chastising herself for being so distracted. “No?”
“Figured it’s time I showed you the trails we use when we take veterans out to ride.” He turned his horse away before she could frame a response, forcing her to kick her horse into a trot to catch up to him.
He went back to pretending as if she didn’t exist, as he did the first couple of days they’d worked together. Last time they’d ridden together he’d given her tips on the horses she rode, or pointed out something she wasn’t doing right. Now he was as quiet as a priest in a confessional box. Awkward. That was how things between them felt. Awkward and loaded with tension, at least on her part. She doubted he gave her any more thought than he gave the horsefly that buzzed around his head.
Fog poked hazy fingers over the tops of the hills. A light mist fell, the kind that seemed like it was snow, and clung to her hair and would’ve turned it into a frizzy mess if she hadn’t pulled it back. She’d always loved early-morning rides when the smell of wet earth hung heavy in the air. Before her mother had died, they would frequently get up early and head out before morning chores. Her mom would have loved the weather this morning.
Colby stared at her.
She started, realizing that they’d stopped in front of a wooden gate, one that matched the white fencing that stretched off to the right and left.
“I’ll get it,” she said.
He rode up and unlatched it before she could do a thing, making her wonder what he’d been waiting for when he’d been sitting there staring at her. “Thanks.”
They’d only followed the trail for a few hundred feet when he said, “You looked sad back there.”
So he wasn’t ignoring her.
She contemplated shrugging him off with an “It’s nothing,” but something, maybe her need for brutal honesty in the wake of her offer of friendship yesterday, had her saying, “I was thinking about my mom.”
They rode on in silence for a moment, with only the sound of their horses’ hooves scraping the ground. They headed toward some low-lying foothills, Jayden trying to focus on her surroundings instead of the man who rode next to her. Impossible to do.
“Sometimes,” he said softly, “I find myself wanting to tell my mom something, but then I remember she’s not around anymore, and even after all these years it still hurts.”
That was so close to what had happened to her yesterday that her throat constricted and her hands clenched. She wondered if the pain of her past had stamped permanent lines on her face, ones that his own grief allowed him to recognize.
“I was thinking she would have loved this.”
“Yeah.” He looked around at the landscape and nodded. “My mom would have liked this, too.”
“Hard to believe we get paid to ride out like this.”
“One of the perks of the job.”
She took a deep breath. “Naomi told me you came from Texas.”
This was better. Conversation. The great equalizer.
“Once upon a time.”
“Do you miss it?”
“The humidity, no, but I miss the dramatic weather. Real weather. Thunderstorms. Torrential downpours. Snow. Not the tornadoes, though,” he drawled. “Those I could do without. Some days I feel like this part of California is one big broken record. Same song playing over and over again.”
She guided her horse around a puddle in the middle of the path. “I wouldn’t know.” She shot him a sheepish smile. “I’ve never been anywhere.”
He glanced at her sideways. “I would think the daughter of a world champion cowboy would have been all over the place.”
Her ponytail brushed her cheeks, she shook her head so violently. “We stayed at home with my mom. She was devoted to us. The best mom a girl could ask for.”
Man. What was wrong with her today? She hadn’t missed her mom so much since the early days of her loss.
“My mom was the same way.”
“Then we were both lucky.”
They had slowly climbed a slight rise, something Jayden hadn’t noticed until she turned and looked back. The ranch sat below them, the arena still looking huge even though it was off in the distance. And from where they were, you could see the ent
ire place, even the main house, with the soggy skies darkening the earth to an army drab all around.
“I don’t want to mess up this job, Colby.”
His horse had stopped even though she hadn’t seen him pull back on the reins. “I don’t expect you will.”
His vote of confidence filled her with humility. She had a feeling he didn’t hand out praise all that often.
“You’ve done great since you’ve started.” It was hard to read what was in his eyes, but she thought she saw approval there. “I’ll be honest—I expected you’d be a pain in my rear, but you’re not.”
A crow called to another crow in the distance. She turned her head to try to spot it, her thoughts swirling, suddenly nervous and on edge.
“Thank you.”
He nodded, staring at her. She couldn’t take it, had to look away.
“Race you to the top.”
She didn’t give him time to respond. Her horse needed no urging, her hooves kicking up clods of earth, Jayden’s anxiety fading away as she held on for dear life, her cheeks catching wind-generated tears, Colby’s horse gaining on her with each stride. And it felt good. Oh, how she had missed this, the utter freedom of galloping headlong on the back of a horse.
She beat him. Her horse didn’t want to stop, and Jayden laughed when she managed to turn the mare in a circle, the frisky little thing crow-hopping a bit as she wound down.
“I won.”
“You had a head start.”
“Well, yeah. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”
“Cheater.”
The wind had dried her mouth, but she had no problem saying, “You’re just jealous because I’m a better rider.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
But he was smiling. Lord have mercy on her soul. A real smile. His face was in profile, his chin more pronounced when viewed from the side. Smiling. It’d been a battle worth fighting for, because she hadn’t liked what she’d seen in his eyes when they’d been talking about her mother.
Sadness.
It clung to him like it probably did her. She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed it before. He’d hidden his sorrow behind a mask of indifference, she supposed. She saw it now in the way his smile slowly faded, the lines of his grief pressing down on his heart. Was that what she felt strumming between them? Some kind of subliminal understanding of heartache and loss?
Home on the Ranch: Her Cowboy Hero Page 7
