Tacy met her gaze in the mirror. She agreed with Pace’s assessment of Brent. The man had been hurting and guilt-ridden. He’d been punishing himself.
“So when Pace had to leave unexpectedly, Brent was the first person he thought of…said he realized it was a good time to see if he could draw Brent back into the real world.”
“Even if it meant messing up my plans,” Tacy said, but there was no anger in her words.
Lacy snipped. “Actually, Sheri was the one who messed with your plans. See, Pace wanted to call and let you in on everything, knowing you’d probably go somewhere else to break horses.”
Tacy met Lacy’s blue eyes in the mirror. “Sheri wanted me here.” It wasn’t a question but a statement. Sheri had acted evasive over the phone when she’d called her that first day after meeting Brent. “But why?”
Lacy dipped her chin and a blond curl fell across one eye as she gave Tacy a Duh-think-about-it stare. “She thought getting the two of us to butt heads would help?”
“Is it working?” Lacy asked, instead of denying anything.
Tacy thought of the kiss they’d shared three days earlier. She’d been in a funk ever since that kiss. Even the customers at Sam’s had noticed. Poor Jess had stopped flirting with her after she’d practically growled at him.
“Honestly, Lacy. He confided in me because he felt that since he wasn’t letting me in the arena I deserved to know why he was so against it.” She didn’t elaborate because it wasn’t her right to tell, and she knew Lacy totally understood that. “He was right to tell me. I get why he’s against it, so I’ve backed off. I mean, he’s hurting about something and me pushing to get in with those horses is only making things worse. But I do feel like I’m here for a reason. It’s kind of a weird feeling. I think I’m here to help him, but I don’t have a clue how to do that.” She didn’t mention that she was also so attracted to him that she couldn’t think straight. She really didn’t enjoy feeling so out of her element.
Finished with the cut, Lacy combed all of Tacy’s hair down and picked up her blow dryer and brush. “Maybe you’re here to push him.”
“No, you don’t understand. When I push, fireworks happen.”
Lacy pointed the blow-dryer at her in the mirror like a gun. “You are not the kind of woman who is scared of fireworks. Jump in there and let them fly. The smoke will clear eventually.” She smiled impishly.
“But—”
“No buts. Did you ever stop and think that maybe he needs some fireworks? There is nothing like tension to make a man face the truth.”
Tacy’s mouth dropped open and her heart did a free fall. Could Lacy be right? “But what if we’re wrong?”
“What if we’re right?” Lacy countered with a big smile.
Chapter Eleven
When Tacy got back to Pace and Sheri’s, Birdy was snuggled up in her bed beside the door—with Brent’s boot.
“How are you feeling, you little thief?” she asked, bending down to pet her friend and make sure she was okay. She was going to have to keep a close watch on her because she was due any day now. Snuggling with Brent’s boot might be a sign that the time was near. She was obviously nesting.
“I really hate to take the boot away from you, sugar, but I’m going to have to.” She was also going to have to tell Brent to stop tempting the poor dog by leaving his boots outside. Thank goodness he had two pairs he worked in or else he’d be up a creek.
After changing into her riding clothes, Tacy drove to Brent’s and set his boot on the porch beside the other one. She could see him in the corral working one of the colts. As she caught sight of him he was preparing to place a horse blanket on a colt’s back for what was obviously the first time. She headed that way, watching and listening. The colt wasn’t sure about the whole idea, but Brent was speaking to it calmly. His voice was wonderfully reassuring. The baritone rumble of it was so enticing that Tacy was certain it would calm anything and anyone he spoke to—she herself could listen to it all day long.
There she went getting sidetracked again. Striding to the corral, she climbed to the top of the board, threw her legs over and took a seat. Seeing her, the colt jumped sideways, which won her an instant scowl from Brent. He really needed to get over that scowling or his face might just freeze that way. It dawned on her that his heart might be in danger of the same thing.
Shooting him a grin, she crossed her arms and sat perfectly still. He was grinding his molars so hard the poor man was going to have TMJ before the sun went down. “Get back to work.” She mouthed the words silently. He turned away from her, and she couldn’t help smiling. He knew as well as she did that the horse would accept her after a few minutes if she was still and quiet. Brent, however, was an entirely different ball game. He glared again, then turned back to the horse, evidently determined to ignore her.
Which was fine with Tacy as long as she got to observe him now. She loved watching him work. He was patient as the day was long—with a horse. Teaching a horse to trust you was an art. You had to get the animal to realize you meant no harm. Anytime you earned an animal’s trust, it was better all the way around. Horses were just like people in that respect.
She wondered how she could earn Brent’s trust. In a way, he’d already shown that he trusted her by confiding his past. Forcing the issue of breaking horses might ruin that and she knew it.
But, as Lacy had pointed out, it also might help him. Sitting there watching him work the colt while he ignored her, Tacy closed her eyes and prayed that God would lead her. That He would help her know how to handle this situation. She also prayed that He would forgive her if she messed up. She was afraid of messing up…but then she was just going to have to trust God to fix her goofs if they weren’t part of the big plan.
After about an hour, Brent tied the horse and stalked her way. Watching him, she had a flashback of the last time he walked purposefully toward her like that—she forced the kiss out of her mind and climbed from the top of the corral.
“You’re bothering the horse by being here,” he said, opening the gate and walking out.
She scooted out behind him. “You know as well as I do that it forgot about me after a few minutes.”
His glare hit her like a brick as he shook his head in disgust or frustration before stomping toward the cabin.
“You are so stubborn, Brent. I only brought your boot back, if you really want to know why I’m here,” she called, hurrying behind him. “You might want to keep it inside. Birdy was treating it like a puppy this morning.”
She saw his lip twitch and knew he thought that was cute. The man had a soft spot for her dog.
“Has she had pups before?” he asked, stopping at the steps. He wore buckskin chaps over faded jeans and a button-down, long-sleeved shirt—she dragged her mind away from thinking how rugged and safe he looked. She forced herself not to think about how wonderful it had felt to be held in those strong arms.
She took a deep breath and shook her head. “First litter, but the vet says she should be fine. Her mother always had good luck delivering pups, so I don’t anticipate a problem.”
“Good.”
He stepped up onto the porch and headed toward the door without saying anything else. She’d expected an argument, even a fight. She hadn’t expected to be totally dismissed. Okay, so he’d said a few words, but how could he just go into the cabin and leave her standing there?
Spinning around, Tacy stomped back to the barn and fed Rabbit. When she was done she waited, toe tapping beside the corral, but Brent didn’t return. She checked her watch. An hour had passed.
This was ridiculous. She glared at the cabin and imagined him sitting in there, watching her. She crossed her arms, jutted a hip forward and fumed. The horse Brent had been working snorted, and she glanced toward it, furious when she saw it calmly waiting for him.
Was Brent playing her? Trying to manipulate her? Did he think that if he went inside all he’d have to do was wait until she gave up and left? Ha! She’d
get him out of there if he was watching. Instead of heading toward her truck, she went straight toward the corral. With a glance over her shoulder at the front window of the cabin, she opened the gate and slipped inside with the colt. Two could play this game.
She wasn’t as easily manipulated as he thought she was, and thanks to Lacy, she was seeing things in a whole new light.
What was the beautiful little fool doing?
Brent was out the door and down the steps the instant he realized Tacy was going into the pen. She was supposed to go home. She wasn’t supposed to go in with the colt. At least it was tied up and the other colts were in a different pen.
The moment he entered the corral he realized he’d been had. Tacy wasn’t down at the end of the corral with the colt.
She was leaning against the chute waiting for him.
“Hey, cowboy, about time you showed up.”
His gaze narrowed and his temper flared. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you, honey bunch,” she said with an exaggerated smile as she held her wrist up so the face of her watch was toward him. “You made great time. Four seconds flat from the moment I unhooked that latch. You must have had your nose stuck to the corner of that window, watching like a hawk, expecting me to just lope over to my truck and leave lickety-split.”
“Okay, so you got me. Now you want to come out of there?”
“Nope. I don’t think so. I think I belong here. Look, he’s not complaining.” She studied the colt, then turned uncompromising eyes toward him. “I wasn’t sure how to handle this. After you told me about your sister, I backed off because I respect your feelings and understand that you’re hurting inside and feeling guilty about what happened with her and the horse.”
“Come out,” he said sternly, not at all pleased with the turn of conversation.
She planted her feet. “As I said, I’m staying.” She crossed her arms and challenged him with her stare.
The woman looked entirely too cute with that smug, defiant glint in her eyes. “Tacy, don’t push me,” he growled. She shook her head and took a step away from him. He moved toward her. “I’m warning you.”
Her mouth fell open then, and she looked amazingly playful. “Or what? Are you going to throw me over your shoulder and carry me out of here?”
“Don’t tempt me.” Instead of looking the least bit worried, she tilted her head back and laughed! “Hey, I’ll do it,” he warned, taking another step toward her, making his spurs clink.
Uncertainty clouded her eyes. “Don’t be silly. I was just joking.”
“I’m not.” He called her bluff and took another step closer. She backed up, glancing at the colt watching them.
“You’re scaring the colt.”
“Obviously, he’s not too worried about you. He looks fine to me.”
Her eyes lit up as she stuffed her fists into her pockets. “Noticed that, have you.”
“Noticed what?”
“That the horse isn’t too worried about me being in here. I was wondering if you’d admit it. There, you have.”
He stared from her to the colt. It was true that it didn’t look too worried about her being here. And he’d already admitted that she did have a way with animals. “Have you always been so pigheaded?”
“Always.”
They had a staring showdown, and he was really tempted to actually snatch her up and carry her out the gate—but he knew that would frighten the colt in the process, undoing the work he’d already done. He studied Tacy.
“You don’t have a comeback?” she asked.
“Honestly, no. You confuse me.”
“Hey, I’m an open book,” she said, then climbed back up to her perch on the top board of the corral. She chuckled when she looked down at him. The colt snickered right along with her. “Besides, confusing is good.” She patted the board beside her. “Climb on up here and take a load off. Ask me anything. I think we need to talk and get some of this confusion cleared up.”
The last thing he wanted to do was sit beside her and let her try to whittle down his resolve. But what could he do? He climbed up beside her anyway…so close their knees touched.
“Don’t look so glum—we’re just talking,” she said. “It looked like you got sandwiched between App and Norma this afternoon.”
“You looked like you were enjoying the show,” he grumbled.
“I will admit it was fun watching. You weren’t sure if they were about to duke it out or not.” She chuckled and nudged him with her shoulder. “Admit it. You were scared you were about to have to referee.”
He laughed. “Okay, you’re right. I didn’t know what was happening.”
“Believe me, they’re just having a good time, despite the look of things. Lacy said they’re always finding something to stir up mischief between them.”
He found himself losing his train of thought as he watched her dancing eyes. Suddenly, the green in them darkened, catching him off guard. Just as unexpectedly, she touched his arm, squeezing it gently.
“Are you going home for Thanksgiving?” she asked quietly.
They’d gone from frustrated to teasing to serious business in seconds. How did she do that to him? “No, I’m not,” he said firmly. He wished she’d stop it. His mother’s disappointed voice now rang in his ears.
“I bet your mom didn’t like that when you told her.”
He didn’t want to talk about this, but her concern got to him. “She was disappointed,” he admitted and tried not to think about how much sadness he’d heard in her voice when they’d last spoken. “But it’s for the best.”
“It would be good for you to go home and stop running.”
He grimaced. “Is that what you think? That I’m running?” Instead of giving him a quick comeback, her eyes darkened even further.
“Yes, actually. I know it’s not my business, but from what you told me I can’t help feeling that you must go home.”
He straightened, his shoulders suddenly feeling knotted up. “Tacy, you have no idea—”
“You know what they say about getting back on a horse after you’ve been thrown…”
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“But it does, Brent. You made a mistake. A really tragic mistake. But your sister is doing better, praise the Lord. And you’ve learned from what happened. You know what I think is the saddest thing about all this? The fact that it has come between you and your dad. I’m sure that’s hurting your mom something terrible.”
Brent looked away. “You’re right. This isn’t your business.” Yup, he was being a jerk. No doubt about it.
She knocked him in the knee with her knee. “Hey, we might not be friends, exactly, but we’re neighbors and neighbors care about neighbors.”
“Or they’re just being plain nosy.”
She let out an I-don’t-care laugh. “If you think being mean is scaring me, you’re wrong.”
“This is insane. Is there something in the water around here that makes people—”
“Care?”
“Not the word I was looking for. More like ornery busybodies.”
She chuckled. “If there is, then you’ve been guzzling way too much of it.”
His concentration was shot to smithereens as her snappy words hit him. His lips twitched against his will, and before he could help it he smiled.
“Oh!” she exclaimed and threw a hand to her heart. “The cowboy doth smile.”
“Funny.”
“No, really, you should do it more often. It’s nice. Really nice,” she said with a warmth that shot straight to his heart and set it racing.
She wasn’t being sassy, just genuinely nice. On the one hand, looking at her, being near her, made him want to smile. On the other hand, she aggravated him no end. He was totally falling for Tacy Jones and he knew it. Needing to put distance between them, he hopped down from the fence. Determined not to help him at all, she followed. And wasn’t it just his luck that she landed with a thud and a grun
t as her ankle turned. Immediately, he grabbed her arm to steady her and just like that found himself too close again for comfort.
“Oops,” she said, as breathless as he suddenly felt.
“Are you okay?” he managed to ask. The woman had the biggest eyes—looking into them was just plain dangerous.
She inhaled slowly before answering. “Just checking your reflexes. Now about that horse—don’t you think you could give a girl a chance?”
The horse. Here he was thinking about Tacy and all she was thinking about was that darn colt and how to get him to let her break it!
Some fool he was. He dropped his hand from her arm and pointed at the gate. “Out, Tacy. Now!”
Chapter Twelve
“Stop with the commands,” Tacy said the second she was out of the corral. “I’m trying to help. You have a problem. You realize that, don’t you?”
“You are my problem. I’m trying to protect you, and all you want to do is—”
“Is what I want to do. Yes, I know. And you don’t have any reason to keep me from doing that. I’m not a child or a teenager. I’m a grown, capable woman and you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed that.”
He started to say something, but instead slammed his mouth into a tight line as his gaze slid over her. She crossed her arms and stared up at him. She remembered every detail of his kiss. What in the world was she thinking when she even toyed with the idea that he was someone she could fall in love with? The very thought was ridiculous. Still, her mind kept coming back to that thought time and again. Ridiculous!“Well, are you going to just stand there? Haven’t you noticed that I’m a capable woman?”
His eyes narrowed to match hers. “Oh, I’ve noticed that you’re a woman, all right. No denying that.” He stepped closer now, invading her space. “A beautiful, feisty woman who likes to get her way. Even if she has to manipulate men to get it.”
He thinks I’m beautiful! She smiled like a goofball at him and tried to keep her thoughts straight—easier said than done. She was enjoying his nearness more than she wanted or needed to. “My way is the way it was supposed to be in the first place,” she said, forcing herself to focus on what was pertinent to her goals. “Come on, Brent. You have a problem and I’m the solution. You need help out here. You need help riding these horses in order to get enough time in the saddle on them before the owners pick them up. You need me.” It was absolutely true, and he knew it. Either he was going to have to let her help or hire someone else.
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