by Liz Isaacson
“Ooh, tell me about that,” she said.
He didn’t like being in the back while she was in the front seat. He couldn’t hold her hand, and she had to turn almost all the way around to look at him. With the winding canyon roads, she kept her eyes forward as she should, and Todd found himself staring at the side of her head more than he should.
“My dad rode in the rodeo,” he said. “But it was short-lived. See, he got injured in his third year and never won a title.”
“Wow, that must’ve been hard on him.”
“It was.” Todd sighed, remembering how hard his father worked him, waking him at four o’clock in the morning so Todd could lift weights and train with horses, so he could get in at least a dozen practice rides on the mechanical bull in the barn.
“My mother left for a while,” he said, his voice barely reaching the window a few inches form his face. “About six months, I think. Then she came back.”
“How old were you?” Vi asked, her voice likewise a bit more reverent.
“Oh, let’s see.” He blew out a breath. “They got married a few months before he got injured. I came along the next year. Then Taylor. He’s five years younger than me. He was still little, and they didn’t have Lizzie yet.” He tried to do the math in his head, but it wasn’t coming together.
“She’s nine years younger than me, so I must’ve been seven or eight,” he finally said. The trees whizzed by, matching Todd’s thoughts. “I can remember my mom being gone like it was yesterday.”
“Bad or good?” Vi asked.
“Bad,” Todd said. “My dad was relentless in his training, and my mom softened that a bit. So I was glad when she came back. Plus, then we had someone who cared enough about us to wash our clothes and make pancakes before church.”
His dad never took him to church, and that had been the first time in Todd’s life that he’d realized how much he liked going. He needed the peace and comfort of the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life, and while his dad had fought him on it for a while—Sunday was the perfect day to spend training—Todd hadn’t relented in his determination to go.
“Will you take me to church this weekend?” he asked.
“Church?” Vi turned and looked at him then, and Todd met her eye.
“Yeah, it’s usually only an hour. I can ask Graham to bring me back to the lodge. I’m sure he goes. The Whittakers always were religious.”
“I go to church,” she said, focusing on the road again. “I’ll drive you both ways and sit with you.” She lifted her close shoulder in a shrug. “I mean, if you want. If you’d rather sit alone, I understand that too.”
A wave of affection for this gentle, beautiful, caring woman rolled over him. “No, it’s okay,” he said. “I’d like to sit with you.”
He stopped telling his sad stories and directed her left and right along the town roads until they came to a two-story house that had light yellow paint in need of repair. “This is it.” The land spread out around the house, and the grass would get green with all the rain once the sun started shining.
“There’s a barn in the back,” he said, straining to see it. “My dad made me and Taylor paint it red one year.” It didn’t look red now, and Todd wondered if anyone lived in the house.
Vi got out of the van and started setting up his wheelchair. When she opened his door, he looked at her. “We’re going in?”
“Just around,” she said. “Maybe you’d like to go for a walk?” She raised her eyebrows on the last word, and Todd nodded.
She locked the chair in place and helped him ease his legs out of the van first. The left one still protested at being moved, but at least he wouldn’t bang it around this time. Once he’d lowered himself into the chair and gotten positioned, she started down the lane toward the house.
There were no cars in the long driveway, and the whole place had an abandoned feel to it. Todd wondered if he should buy this house and make it into a place with happier memories than the ones he currently had.
He mentally shook the thought away. He did not want to live here again. Wasn’t that why he left the day he turned eighteen?
“I left here only two days after graduating from high school,” he said, his voice as haunted as this house felt. “I haven’t been back since.”
“When did your parents move?”
“Dad came with me,” he said. “Mom stayed here with Taylor and Lizzie until Lizzie finished school and went to college in Grand Junction.” Where she’d stayed. “Taylor came on the circuit with us, and Mom joined too after Lizzie left.”
One big happy family.
Todd couldn’t help the bitterness in the thought. He twisted to look at Vi. “I don’t want to be here.” He couldn’t help the sharp edges in his voice, but he managed to phrase his next demand as a question. “Can we just walk down the road a ways?”
She turned around immediately and said, “Of course.”
His pulse returned to normal with every step she took away from the house, that barn, the garden patch his dad used to make him and Taylor plant, and keep, and harvest. Lizzie never had to do anything like that. Never mowed a lawn. Never fed the chickens. Never lifted a finger, as far as Todd could tell.
But she was only nine when he’d left.
“There’s a river down here,” he said, searching for some memory that wasn’t filled with fear and anger and disappointment. “I’d used to come here with the Whittakers, and we’d go fishing.”
Those were good days. Fun hours. Lazy times, where Todd didn’t feel the pressure of staying in the saddle for another second.
The tension in his chest lessened and lessened until it was gone. Vi positioned him next to the river and sat beside him in a camp chair before sliding her fingers through his. He sighed, finally relaxed.
“Thank you for getting me out of the lodge,” he said.
“Sorry to dredge up bad memories.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead before resting her head on his shoulder. And Todd suddenly didn’t mind the brief excursion down a painful part of his past. He could only hope that he could make a future—maybe with Vi—that would continue to blur the bad times he’d endured.
Chapter Ten
Vi hummed as she filled troughs, Todd several feet away, balancing on his right leg now that the doctor had cleared him to put some weight on it. His left leg hung straight down, and he rested his toe on the ground as he leaned against the fence.
She turned away from him so he wouldn’t catch her staring at him. He’d been so much kinder since their small argument a few weeks ago. And she’d learned a lot about him on the simple drive to his childhood home.
I don’t want to be here.
She’d heard so much in those words—fear and pain and vulnerability. He’d shut those things behind a door by the time they’d arrived at the river, and Vi didn’t press him for more details about his family.
She’d brought him out to the stables every morning and every evening while she took care of the horses. He taught her what kind they were, and he spoke about his time in the rodeo. She told him about her country music career, which loomed so near on the horizon. She’d been in Coral Canyon for a month now, and she had to constantly remind herself she wasn’t a permanent resident.
Todd’s phone sounded, and he glanced down at it. “Collin’s on his way up.”
His cousin. The realtor. “Do you still want me to come?” she asked. She wasn’t sure why going with him to look at houses felt so personal. But it wasn’t like she had a say in what he bought. They weren’t engaged. Or married. Heck, she hadn’t kissed him since the first night she’d helped him into that too-tall bed on the main floor.
Sure, they held hands and she might touch her lips to his forehead or he’d sweep his lips along her temple. Things between them hadn’t necessarily cooled off, but Vi thought maybe she’d kissed him a tad prematurely in the hospital all those weeks ago. Maybe he was waiting to kiss her again for some reason Vi didn’t know.
“Yeah,�
� he said, hobbling over to where he’d left his crutches. “If you don’t mind. I’m not great with stairs, and you can go up and walk me through it with video.”
“Ah, yes. The video.” She moved the hose to the next trough. “How long do we have?”
“Half an hour.” His hand brushed hers, and she turned toward him. That blazing desire rode in his expression, and Vi felt the zing of it way down in her toes.
“Maybe we should practice,” she said.
“Practice?” His eyes dropped to her mouth.
“With the video.” She stepped away, suddenly nervous to be so close to him with him looking at her like he was. “So you chat me, okay?” She walked away in her rubber boots, her phone ready.
It buzzed and beeped, and she opened the video call as she stepped into the stable. “Okay,” she said with a smile. “Here we have Goldie’s stall right inside the door.” She aimed the camera at the horse’s nameplate. “Can you see it?”
“Just fine,” he said with a laugh.
She turned the camera back to her. “So this will work great.”
He grinned at her, the sun glinting off those light gray eyes. “You’re beautiful,” he said.
Vi had been called beautiful before, but not by Todd Christopherson, and there was something special riding in the words. She smiled and ducked her head, wishing she had her long hair back to hide behind. “Thank you.”
“Let’s go to dinner tonight,” he said. “You and me. Do you think Celia will feel bad?”
Vi shook her head. “Bree’s coming home this afternoon, remember?”
“Oh, right. Bree.” He looked away, but Vi caught the nervousness in his expression.
“She’s really great, Todd,” she said.
“I’m sure she is.” He faced her again. “I’d still like to take you to dinner. We spend a lot of time together, but I feel…disconnected.”
Vi grinned at him on the device and stepped out of the barn. “That’s because you talk more to the horses than you do to me.”
He lowered his phone and looked at her. “That’s not true.”
“I see you over there, whispering to them.” She approached him, hoping he could hear the teasing quality in her voice.
“Well, they’re really great at keeping secrets.”
Vi pocketed her phone and closed the distance between them. “What secrets do they need to keep for you?”
“Oh, you know.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Stuff about this pretty blonde woman I like.” He ducked his head, the brim of his cowboy hat touching her forehead.
“Is that why you haven’t kissed me in weeks?” she asked, tiptoeing her fingers up his chest. “Because you like me so much?”
“Let me go ask Wolfgang.” He started to move as if he’d really go ask the horse, then chuckled and stayed right where he was, steadying himself with one arm around Vi’s waist and the other balanced on his crutch.
Vi breathed in the scent of him, which was earthy, and warm, and full of things that made Vi’s blood hum with an energy she hadn’t felt in a while. Maybe ever.
“So, dinner?” he asked, his mouth nowhere near close enough to hers.
“Well, I do have to eat later, so I suppose that would be fine.” She smiled at him, realizing he was not going to kiss her. She’d initiated both of their kisses, and she told herself not to do it again. So she stepped back one slow foot at a time until her hand dropped to his and their fingers twined.
They started the slow journey back to the lodge, where she barely had time to change her shoes before Collin arrived with a, “Who’s ready to buy himself a house today?”
Todd made the introductions, and Vi snatched her portable battery charger from the kitchen counter before following Todd and Collin out to an SUV with CC Realty on the side of it. She put the folded wheelchair in the back and told Collin to lay down the front seat for Todd. With him in the car and ready, she slid onto the back seat with him, her nerves firing for some reason.
She was just the videographer. Someone who could climb a lot of steps and show him the rooms he couldn’t get to.
“Let’s start with the property on Prospect Bay again,” Collin said, putting the car in gear.
“Again?” Vi asked, looking at Todd.
“I’ve seen that one,” Todd said. “And I liked it. Should we go somewhere else first?”
“It’s closest to us here,” Collin said. “And I just want you to see it again now that the trees are leafed out. It’s a totally different place.”
The bay sat off a road almost at the bottom of the canyon, and Collin turned that way. “There are eight houses down here,” he said. “Lots of privacy though. Not nearly as treacherous to get to as the lodge, obviously. Gorgeous in the summer. Look at the trees.”
“It does look different,” Todd said, glancing out his window. His fingers on Vi’s tightened, and they passed a handful of houses before Collin pulled into a driveway that ran for a bit before the house came into view.
Vi got out and started getting all the gear together. She’d done quite a good job of taking care of him over the weeks, if she did say so herself. After all, he was still alive and recovering well, even if Celia was the one to feed him. Feed them both.
“Todd, this is beautiful,” Vi said, looking around as she waited for him to get out of the car. The trees towered above the house, which sprawled across the land like it absolutely belonged there. The stone looked new and rustic at the same time, and the pillars flanking the front door said it would be an upscale kind of cabin in the woods.
Vi loved the house and she hadn’t even been inside yet. Collin took them through it, let them look, allowed Vi to go upstairs and do her video call to remind Todd what the living room loft was like, as well as the three bedrooms.
The house had a partial basement that was really just for entertainment, what with the huge theater room and the pool table. Huge windows and a pair of double doors led out onto the back patio, and only steps from that was the lake.
Vi stood there for quite a few minutes, soaking in the beauty and serenity of this place. She lifted the phone again and said, “Todd, you should buy this place.”
“We haven’t even seen any of the others.” He chuckled, and she heard Collin ask if they wanted to see the other places. Todd assured him they did, but Vi couldn’t imagine anywhere nicer than this.
Sure enough, she was right. The other three places Collin took them to were nice. One was more of a farmhouse, with a big apron sink and red checkered curtains in all the kitchen windows. She could tell Todd liked it, and she asked, “Do you want more of a farm? You could have your horses here. Dogs. Goats.”
“Goats?” He laughed. “Now you’re going crazy.” He shook his head, still gazing out over the deck railing toward the empty pasture as if he could see if filled with livestock. “But I do like this place.”
“It’s different than the cabin in the woods.”
“Yes, it is.” He finally turned and limped back into the house. “Is that all?” he asked Collin.
“I can find more places if you don’t like any of these.” Collin tucked the folders he carried under his arm.
“I’ve narrowed it down to two.” Todd flicked a look at Vi. “I like this one and I like the one on the lake.”
“They’re two totally different properties,” Collin said. “But there’s still a yard for dogs up in the mountains.”
“Can I have horses there?”
“I don’t see why not. It’s five acres. You can build a stable and a paddock.” Collin glanced at Vi too, but it wasn’t her decision. She didn’t even want to influence the decision, and she feared she already had.
Todd looked at her, his eyebrows raised. She lifted her hands in surrender. “I’m not telling you which house to buy.” She found it surprising that he’d want a farm like the one where they stood. It seemed much too close to where he’d grown up, and while he hadn’t told her every single story, she knew there were very few good o
nes.
“I need to think about it, then,” Todd said. “Do you think I have a couple of days?”
“The place on the bay has been up for sale for months,” Collin said. “This place just went up last week, and I’ve heard it’s had a lot of activity. But I’ll let Leslie know you’re interested and to call me if another offer comes in.” He pulled out his phone and started sending a message.
Todd nodded like that concluded their business, and Collin drove them back to the lodge. Once they were alone again, Todd said, “I’m exhausted. I’m going to take a quick nap before we head down for dinner, okay?”
“Sure, yeah.” Vi watched him walk down the hall in that adorable stutter-step he had, the crutches squealing a bit as he went. She’d heated milk in the microwave for hot chocolate before the front door opened again.
Instead of wielding a spoon as a weapon, she went into the living room to see who it was. “Bree,” she said, finding the dark-haired woman struggling with her luggage. “Let me help you.” She rushed forward and grabbed one of the bags.
Bree finally made it inside, and she heaved a huge sigh. “It’s so good to be back.”
Vi grinned at her and said, “I was just making hot chocolate. Want some?”
“So much yes.” Bree smiled at her. “How’s the lodge been? You’ve found your way around?”
“Of course, yeah.” Vi started through the living room with Bree’s bigger suitcase in tow. “Has Graham told you about Todd?”
“No.” Bree paused in the mouth of the hall, to her left the bedrooms and to the right the garage and steps to the basement. Straight ahead sat the kitchen. “Who’s Todd?”
“He’s been staying here,” Vi said, surprised Graham hadn’t told her. “He had an accident on the second day here, and he’s staying in the room next to yours.”
Bree met Vi’s eyes. “Using my bathroom?”
“I cleaned it for you this morning.” Vi gave her a smile. “He’s a nice guy.” She stepped into the kitchen and got down another mug.