by Jill Sanders
Chase pulled the old mare's mouth open and looked at her teeth. He shook his head and then scratched between the horse’s ears, causing her to push her head farther into his hands. He laughed and continued rubbing the mare's coarse hair. When he walked out of the barn, he strolled across the yard towards Edward.
“Well?”
“I don't like the look of Betty's teeth. She's got an abnormal wear pattern. I'd like to come back and bring my dentistry kit.”
“Is that why she's bleeding from the mouth?” Edward asked, eager for the answer.
“Looks like. One of her teeth is scraping the side of her cheek every time she bites down. I can fix it tomorrow around eight, if that's alright with you?”
“Yeah, sure. She's been a good old girl. I sure hate to see her in pain.” Edward looked off towards the barn. “I know I've only got about another year with her, but she deserves to grow old without the hassle of losing all her teeth, unlike me.” The old man smiled, showing a huge gap. Chase laughed.
As he drove away from Edward's ranch, he figured he was so close to Saddleback Ranch that he'd stop by. He hadn't expected to see Lauren out in the field, putting up a barbed wire fence. He parked his truck at the edge of the drive and started walking up the grassy hill toward her. Her horse, a beautiful sand-colored gelding, stood in the shade of an old oak a few yards away. Lauren's hat shielded her from the sun, but he could see that her shirt had soaked through with sweat, letting him know she'd been out there working for a while.
He saw a black and brown dog lying by her feet and when he approached, the dog looked up at him, then laid her head back down, closing her eyes. Lauren was talking to the dog, like it was a human.
“Can you believe she said that? Like I'd care if she had anything to do with the man. For all I care, Alex can take Chase Graham and...” His shadow fell over her and she spun around quickly. The wire stretcher in her hands swung out towards him, and then she fell backwards into the fence, screaming. He grabbed for her, but was still too far away to save her from falling right into the fence.
“Don't move!” he demanded as he rushed over and tried to hold the wire so it wouldn't wrap around her legs. She was already trying to stand, pushing at the wire with her gloved hands. “I said stop it. You're only going to get yourself caught up in it more.” Her hat had fallen off and now the dog was barking and chasing it like it was all a big game.
“Leave me alone. I can pull myself out of here all by myself,” she hissed as he put his boot on one of the wires and held it away from her. He could see a large rip in the back of her jeans. He stopped for just a flash to admire the soft skin before stepping on the other wire, putting his hands under her arms, and pulling her up with one quick motion. She let out a gasp as her feet flew off the ground, then he set her down and pulled them a few steps away from the fence.
She stood there, leaning into him, her breathing ragged as she looked up into his eyes. For a second her green eyes dropped and focused on his lips, then they moved up to his eyes again. He could see the moment she regained her wits, after blinking a few times.
“What are you doing walking up and scaring me like that?” She pushed away from him and tried to look at her backside, almost walking in circles to see the tear in her jeans.
He almost laughed at the image she made, but then he saw the gash on the back of her thigh. He dropped down on his knees in front of her and took her hips in his hands to stop her movement. Then he turned her around. “Here, let me look at that.” He pulled her back a step so she was closer and then opened the rip in her jeans a little more with his fingertips. There was a nasty cut that crossed the back of her left thigh, causing her pale skin to pucker and turn a nasty color of red.
“What do you...” She started to pull away, but he held her hips in place and moved her back another step, towards him and the light.
“Shhh.” He leaned closer and opened the rip in her jeans even a little farther, trying to get a better look at the gash. He let out a breath of air when he realized she wouldn't need stitches. Looking over, he made sure that her right leg had gone unscathed. Her jeans were uncut and as far as he could tell, the damage had been limited to just the one leg. “If you think you can walk to my truck, I'll take care of this. Clean it up.” He stood and looked at her as she glanced over her shoulder at him. He nodded to where he'd parked his truck along the driveway.
She pulled out of his grip and walked a few steps. He could see that it pained her to do so, but she held her head up high and looked down at him. “I certainly don't need your help. I can take care of myself.”
He slowly crossed his arms over his chest. She was being ridiculous. “Really? I suppose you're going to ride back to the house like that, and tend to that cut all by yourself.” He smiled and waited as she looked off towards her horse, then off to the house in the distance.
“I'll walk.” Her chin came up and she crossed her arms over her chest, mimicking his stance.
“So it's come to this? You won’t even take help from me? Even when I'm partially at fault?”
“Partially?” She uncrossed her arms and took a step towards him and her eyes narrowed.
“Well, if you'd been listening, instead of talking to the dog about my love life, you would have heard my truck and known that I was coming up behind you. It took me at least a full minute to climb the hill there.” He pointed behind him.
Her chin dropped. “I wasn't...I didn't...” She stood there and glared at him. “I wasn't talking about your love life.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Really? I seem to remember you saying, and I quote, “For all I care, Alex can take Chase Graham.” I'd like to know exactly what you intend for me to do with your little sister?” He smiled at her, knowing he'd hit a sore spot. Her chin came up and she glared back at him.
“For all I care, you can go to hell and back with her.” She started marching towards her horse, and the flap in her jeans showed her exposed skin and the nasty cut.
Guilt hit him. “Lauren!” he called out, chasing after her. “Wait. I'm sorry. Really, let me fix you up. It's the least I can do.” He pulled her to a stop under the shade of the oak.
“Because you're partially to blame?” She crossed her arms again and tried to pull out of his light grip.
“Yes.” His smile was quick. He wanted to tell her that he just wanted another look at the milky white skin on the back of her thigh, but knew better than to push his luck.
She chewed her bottom lip and he watched the motion as if hypnotized.
“Fine,” she finally said and started walking more slowly towards his truck. He could see that the adrenalin had finally worn off and she was fully experiencing the pain.
He helped her walk to his truck, took out his medical bag, and then pulled down the tailgate. “You'd be better just leaning over.” He motioned for her. She looked at him, then looked up and down the dirt road, making sure the coast was clear.
“Fine, but make it quick.” She chewed her lip as she leaned over a little.
“You're going to have to bend over a lot more. Come on, Lauren, stick that beautiful bottom in the air.” He chuckled when she glared over her shoulder at him. “I'll behave.” He held back a laugh.
She closed her eyes, turned her head, then ducked down. He pulled out a cotton swab from his bag and started cleaning the cut.
“You're lucky. It doesn't look like you'll need stitches.” She hissed when the antiseptic touched the open skin. He quickly bent closer and blew on the cut, trying to ease the pain. She froze. He froze.
Then he said, “Sorry,” under his breath. It was like someone had kicked him in the chest, being this close to her, seeing the perfect skin that he'd exposed through the hole in her jeans.
Just then, a car horn honked, causing them both to jump. He'd been so busy, he hadn't heard someone drive up behind them. Lauren quickly straightened and turned around, putting her hands behind her back. Her face was bright red. Her hair was in a tangled mess, and wisp
s of dark curls were pulled out of her long braid, falling around her face. She looked as if she'd just been caught with her pants down. He chuckled. In a way, he supposed, she had.
He turned and watched Alexis step out of a small red sedan. “Well, well.” She closed her door with a flurry and started slowly walking towards them. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
Lauren's younger sister was nothing like her; in fact, they were complete opposites. Alex's bright blonde hair twinkled in the daylight, but he preferred seeing the darker highlights in Lauren's hair as the sun hit it. Alex was also the only sister with dark brown eyes and a much smaller stature. Not that Lauren and Haley were big, just better built in his opinion. Lauren had more of the curves that he admired most.
Alex was wearing her uniform from the diner. The blouse was opened dangerously low, and the skirt was a few inches higher than the one Lauren had worn the other day. Alex also wore heeled boots instead of black tennis shoes.
“Afternoon.” He nodded, then looked back at Lauren. He watched as her eyes darted around, avoiding his.
“Chase was just fixing me up. I fell into the fence.” She turned and showed her sister the rip in her jeans.
“Oh!” Alex rushed forward, showing true sisterly concern. “Are you hurt bad?”
“No, she'll live,” he jumped in, thankful that Lauren hadn't mentioned that he'd been to blame.
“That's good.” Alex relaxed a little.
Just then the dog came running up to Lauren, her hat in its mouth, and its tail wagging a million miles an hour.
“Thank you, Dingo. That was very kind of you.” He found it funny that she talked to the dog like a human. He watched her wince with pain as she bent over and took her hat from the dog’s mouth. Then the dog walked over and sat at Chase’s feet. He bent down and pet her. “Well, hello, Dingo. It's very nice to meet such a wonderful helper.” The dog rolled over and he started rubbing her belly.
“She's not that big of a helper since she didn't bark when you were sneaking up on me,” Lauren said.
“I didn't sneak.” He stood back up and crossed his arms over his chest, smiling at her.
“You most certainly did.” Lauren put her hands on her hips.
“Well.” Alex backed up a little. “I can see you two have everything under control here. I'll see you back at the house.” Alex walked back to her car quickly and drove away.
Chase didn't spare her another glance, but walked right up to Lauren. “Do you know that you are absolutely beautiful when you're mad?” He brushed a strand of her hair away from her face. He'd meant to throw her off balance, but hadn't counted on the desire that had bubbled up inside him.