She slipped out of the truck, landing on her good leg in front of him. She darted around his side and took off for the barn.
He turned to Dee. “What was that all about?”
“I don’t know. Everything seemed fine. We picked up the groceries and shopped at one of the stores. Kind of a girls’ day.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Yes. But when we walked back to the truck, something happened.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Blake thought of the day they went shopping in town. “She got spooked, closed up, and went quiet on you.”
“Yes. But there was no reason for her reaction.”
“Killing her father is reason enough. She’s fine most of the time, but when things really get to her, she takes off for the horses.”
They both stared toward the barn doors Gillian disappeared through moments ago.
“Come on. Let’s get this inside. I’ll give her a few minutes to settle down with Boots and take her riding.” Blake remembered the first time he’d gotten her up on a horse. The smile that brightened her face and eyes. She loved it. Every evening before dinner now, she asked him to take her for a ride. A quick study, she got better and better. She rode so well, she didn’t really need his assistance anymore.
“I’ve never seen someone get up on a horse for the first time and make it look so easy.”
“It’s like she was born in a saddle. It’s the only time I see her let everything else go and just be.” He loved those short glimpses of the real Gillian. The girl who loved the outdoors, the horses, the quiet solitude of a ride. Spending time together alone.
Blake found Gillian in Boots’s stall. Not surprising. She worked the brush over Boots’s thickening coat. The horse looked better. So did Gillian. But not by much.
Boots noticed him first and huffed out a breath, alerting Gillian. Her head shot around, and she stared at him, eyes wide. Yep, still spooked.
“Come with me.” He kept his voice soft. Calm. He wanted her to let her guard down, not reinforce her walls even more.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“Blake, I—”
“Need to come with me right now.” She hesitated, so he added, “Please. You’ll like it. I promise.”
One eyebrow shot up, but he didn’t add a teasing innuendo, even though she expected it. He kept things light.
He opened the stall door and let her out. Boots groaned at her, not wanting to let her go. He loved her visits as much as she loved being with him. She stopped and turned back. “I’ll be back soon,” she crooned. Boots nickered, letting her know he couldn’t wait. They’d learned to communicate with each other. A must for working with the large animals. Gillian did it with little coaching from Blake.
“I’ll bring her back,” Blake told Boots.
Boots whinnied. A definite, You better.
“I think he’s jealous,” Gillian said.
“He’ll get over it.” Blake took her hand. She flinched. Not good, but he held on, hoping she’d relax. She did, but it took a minute.
He walked her outside. She stopped, stared at the saddled horses, and sighed.
“Let’s ride, pretty girl.”
“Pretty, huh?”
Blake took a chance and reached up to touch the bird-in-flight clip. He rested his hand against her head and stared down at her. “Beautiful.” He let that sink in for a minute. “I like the birds.”
She reached up to touch the clip, but her hand settled over his. Electricity snapped between them. The moment stretched, but he didn’t make a move to kiss her, despite how desperately he wanted to. Right now, they both needed to feel that pulse and buzz between them. Whatever upset her earlier waned from her eyes. They softened and filled with a longing he hoped one day soon she’d allow herself to act on. Right now, he’d promised her time and space, and taking things slow. One step at a time. Today, they’d ride and spend time alone together. He told himself it was enough. But he wanted more.
“Remember everything I taught you on our last ride?”
“Yes.”
Blake took her by the hips and lifted her into the saddle.
“That’s not how you taught me to mount the horse.”
Blake smiled but didn’t say anything. He handed her the reins and mounted his own horse. No need to coax her; Gillian gave her mount a soft kick and took the path to the right and across the backside of the property. “Relax in the saddle, or your ass will be sore from all that bouncing.”
Gillian caught herself. Tense. On edge. It took her a few minutes to let loose and settle into the ride.
They didn’t speak for a good long time. The ranch buildings disappeared behind them. When they hit a long open space, Gillian kicked her horse into a gallop and took off. His mind took him back to another time he’d chased after a girl on a horse. His stomach tied in knots. Nervous, scared she might hurt herself, he let loose his reins, and his horse took off after hers. She slowed a ways up, and he walked beside her. She smiled and let out a huge sigh.
“That is so much fun.”
Her happiness helped release the tension in his gut. “Yes, it is. I used to love to race my brothers.”
“Is that what made you want to train racehorses?”
“My dad runs a cattle ranch. I hated working with the cattle. They’re slow, unruly beasts. Horses have personality. My dad saw how much I liked the horses, so he put me in charge of them. I spent hours training them.”
“You were born to ride.”
“I love it. The faster the better.”
“What else did you like to do with your brothers?”
“Everything. Fishing, riding, rodeoing, campouts. This one time, we scared the pants off Dane. He must have been about eight. It was his first time coming with us. Just us boys. Our parents stayed home. We pitched a couple of tents in the west pasture in the trees by the river. I’m sure my dad checked up on us, but we thought we were alone. We had a campfire and told ghost stories. Dane went to bed that night shaking in his boots. About an hour after lights out, we started making all kinds of noises. Gabe rattled one of the horse bridles. Caleb moaned and groaned like a ghost. I used a branch to poke at the outside of Dane’s tent to make him think someone was outside.”
“Not nice.”
“He was the youngest, a tag-along. Call it an initiation. He spent every waking moment trying to be like us. It was our way of toughening him up.”
Gillian shook her head with a slight smile on her lips. She got it.
“So we up the freaky noises and rattle his cage even more until he can’t take it. He runs out of his tent screaming for Gabe, hoping big brother will save him. He runs into the three of us and gets us back good.”
“What did he do?”
“Spewed hot dogs, soda, and s’mores all over our feet.”
“Ah, yuck!” Gillian laughed. The sound made his heart melt. “You’re joking.”
“No joke. He fell to his knees, sick and frightened. Gabe picked him up and took him to the river’s edge. We cleaned him up and our shoes. We all slept in Gabe’s tent the rest of the night.”
“You felt bad.”
“We wanted to scare him, not make him sick. Tormenting our little brother is one thing. Hurting him is another. He never tattled on us. When our parents asked if we had a good time, he said he loved it and couldn’t wait to go again.”
“Did you take him with you the next time?”
“Always. We still picked on him. He’s our little brother, but we never tortured him again. The thing is, he toughened up real quick. He gave as good as he got. In fact, he loved getting over on his big brothers.”
“Did your parents ever find out what happened?”
“Dad never said anything, but everyone except
Dane had extra chores that week.”
“He was watching over you guys.”
“Always.”
“Did you guys ever fight?”
“Lots. But nothing that couldn’t be fixed with an ‘I’m sorry.’”
“Not even over a girl?”
“Unspoken rule. One of us liked a girl, she was hands-off for all the others. Not that we ever really liked the same girls. We’re all two years apart, so there was enough separation in age and school grades to keep things easy.”
“Did you play sports in high school?”
“Baseball.”
“I can see that.”
“Why?”
“You’ve got patience. While it’s a physical sport, there’s a lot of waiting for something to happen.”
He had to admit she was right. “I guess so.”
“Have you been in many serious relationships?” The words came out soft, shy.
“One really serious. The others committed but short-lived,” he admitted.
“Why did the serious one end?”
“Not meant to be. We had a lot in common. Maybe too much. The two of us together spelled trouble with a capital T. We brought out our mutual competitiveness. We had to push the boundaries. Too bad neither of us remembered that we aren’t invincible.”
“What happened?”
“Disaster.”
Sensing he didn’t want to talk about what happened, she changed the subject. Kinda. “So, since then you’ve had several short-term relationships.”
“I’m not a serial dater. I find someone I like, and we see how it goes. When it gets too serious, I usually break it off.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want serious. Not with them.” Hint. Hint. Maybe he’d given too much away too soon, but he didn’t want her to think she was like the other women who had come and gone in his life. She was different. Why? He didn’t know. She just was.
They rode in silence back to the ranch. When the buildings drew closer, she asked in her shy way, “Is this something . . . Do you . . .”
“Gillian, you know it is, and I do. Go with your gut. It’s never steered you wrong. What you see in me, whatever it is I make you feel, it’s real.”
Blake dismounted outside the stables, went to Gillian, took her by the waist, and carefully plucked her from the saddle to set her gently on her feet in front of him.
“I had a really good time,” she said to his feet.
He touched his finger under her chin and made her look up at him. “I had a great time with you.”
“You wouldn’t rather—”
“I wouldn’t rather do anything than spend time with you.” He traced his finger along her jaw, up and over her cheek, and tucked a strand of her long hair, more gold today than brown and red, behind her ear.
He kept things easy. “Time to feed the horses. Boots is nickering for you.” He led the saddled horses into the stables, Gillian following behind him. They’d made progress today. Whatever bothered her earlier had been erased from her mind and eyes with the long ride.
He liked making her happy. He liked sharing stories about his family with her. A good day. He wanted more. With her. Seemed whenever he was around her, or thought about her, he always wanted more.
Chapter 18
Gillian stood by Boots’s corral, watching him prance around the small open space. After two weeks of eating regularly, he’d gained some weight and energy. The more time she spent with him, the more relaxed and outgoing he became, and the less he shied away from everyone and everything. Proud of him for coming out of his shell, she smiled and felt lighter. His accomplishment became her own. She’d done better the last few days, not looking over her shoulder every few seconds when she worked in the barn with Boots. She didn’t try to hide from the others working in the barn, or time her entrance and exit for when there were the fewest men in there.
Things with Blake settled into a more normal friendship. She didn’t back away when he approached. She didn’t flinch when he brushed his hand down her long hair, his favorite thing to do any time she was near. The smile he gave her each morning when she came down to breakfast lit up her heart with such warmth that she couldn’t help smiling back.
He kissed her goodnight before he left each night and gave her a look like it pained him to be away from her. The longing in his eyes matched what she felt in her heart. But they’d agreed to take things slow. Make sure the friendship they were building was the foundation for a future and didn’t turn into the destruction of their lives at Three Peaks.
Today, he had some work to do training a couple of quarter horses, so she’d borrowed his MP3 player to pass the time while she waited for Justin’s school bus to arrive. She worked her way through Blake’s eclectic playlist.
Right now she didn’t have anything more important to do than hang out by Boots’s corral, watching him crop grass in the field and rest her aching arms and knee. She’d cut back on her pain meds. Each day she felt stronger.
With Jason Aldean’s “Johnny Cash” blaring in her ears, she didn’t hear anyone come up behind her. A hand settled on her shoulder and pulled her around. She expected Blake, but found herself staring up at a very tall, wide man looming over her. With her back pressed to the fence, she couldn’t step away. He was saying something to her, but with the music blasting in her ears, she didn’t hear him. She pulled one earbud out.
“. . . Pain in My Ass. Have you seen him?”
All Gillian heard was “pain in my ass.” The same thing her father said to her over and over again, day in and day out. The huge man’s face faded and shifted into her father’s. His heavy black coat turned to a white T-shirt. Blood bloomed across his chest. He reached out to her again, but she sank back against the fence, bent at the waist, and fell through the railing, her heart thrashing against her ribs.
He’s back.
He’ll hurt her again.
Fear washed over her and stole her breath. She tried to breathe but couldn’t get any air.
She scrambled back as he leaned through the fence and reached for her again, grabbing her ankle. She screamed. Boots ran forward and reared up, but the horse didn’t hold her attention—the man coming after her did. Boots’s hooves landed inches from her leg. She scrambled backward on her hands, kicking with her feet to push herself back and her father away. Her broken arm hurt like hell, but she didn’t care or stop. Everything inside her screamed, Run!
The man practically dove through the fence, stood tall over her, using one big hand to push Boots away. He took several steps toward her. She flipped over and tried to crawl and stand at the same time to run away, but she wrenched her knee and fell again, rolling over to her back, arms up to ward off the attack she knew was coming. Blake appeared out of nowhere and shoved the man in his chest, stopping him from coming forward. Relieved to see Blake, she stopped trying to get away.
Blake said something to the man, but she couldn’t hear him over the thrashing guitars as the music blared in one ear and her heart pounded in the other. She pulled the earbud out and tried to take a breath, but still couldn’t fill her lungs with the fear engulfing her. Everything in her wanted to jump up, flee, run as fast as she could, but she hurt so bad.
Blake stood with the man, his back to her. The guy explained, “I told her I was here to pick up my horse. I asked if she’d seen you, and then I don’t know what happened. She scrambled to get away, but spooked the horse. He reared and almost trampled her to death.”
Blake turned and stared at her, so much sadness and pity filling his tawny eyes. The same shade the man standing next to him had. In fact, they looked very similar to each other in height and build. Her brain stopped screaming for her to run and started processing the things around her again.
Blake took three steps to her but stopped five feet away and kneeled down, sitt
ing back on his heels. “Gillian, sweetheart, please take a breath. Slow and easy,” he pleaded.
Her gaze darted from him to the other man and back. She tried to breathe but couldn’t.
“Sweetheart, look at me. No one is going to hurt you. I promise. Look at me.”
She shifted her focus back to him.
“That’s it, sweetheart. I won’t let anyone hurt you. This is my brother Gabe. I should have told you he was coming today. I’m sorry.”
Gabe moved to Blake’s side and kneeled down, arms braced on his thighs.
Gillian put both hands up to stop him from coming closer, even though he made no move to do so.
“Hey there. I’m real sorry I scared you. I didn’t see that you were listening to music and couldn’t hear me. I never meant to scare you. I’ll tell you, you took ten years off my life when that horse nearly stomped on you. That’s all I was trying to do, get you out of the way of that horse.”
Boots stood to her side, staring at Blake and Gabe.
“He’d never hurt you, would he, sweetheart? Boots loves you. He tried to protect you from Gabe. Like you, he didn’t know Gabe wouldn’t hurt a fly. I promise you, Gabe’s no threat. He’d stand between you and danger the same way I would. I know telling you that doesn’t really change your mind, but . . .”
She put her hand up to stop him. Her breathing slowed, but her heart still pounded. For the first time, she realized tears tracked down her cheeks one after the other.
“I’m sorry,” she said to Blake. She turned to his brother. “I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Totally my fault,” Gabe said. “Blake told me about you. I should have known better than to come up behind you. He’s right though, you’ve got the prettiest hair I’ve ever seen. What color is that?”
“All of them,” she whispered.
Gabe laughed. “That’s about right.”
Blake stood and took two steps toward her. She put her hands up again to stop him, so he kneeled in front of her again. Gabe remained low behind him.
“Sweetheart, your hand is bleeding. After covering twenty feet of dirt and grass, your knee must be killing you. Come to me. I’ll take you up to the house. We’ll get you some pain meds, and you can rest.”
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