by Celya Bowers
“Nutmeg needs water.”
Jemma moved out of the way. Kassie and the horse slowly walked to the end of the barn. Kyle handed her a handkerchief.
“I’m going to have start charging you,” he said quietly, as he took the fabric from her shaky hands and began gently wiping her face. “Now, there’s that pretty face. I take it Kassie has been using more words this week?”
She nodded, then the dam broke and tears flowed freely. She hadn’t realized that she’d been holding them back for so long. “I was so afraid to think it was possible. I didn’t want to push her, but it was so hard to just do nothing.” Her sobs became louder. Once she started crying, she couldn’t seem to stop.
“I know, Jemma.” He put an arm around her, leading her into a nearby room and closed the door. “I didn’t want Kassie to hear you crying. Give me a second.”
Jemma nodded, hating the scene she was making. He was supposed to be training her daughter, not soothing the ruffled emotions of her mother. She watched him reached for his cell phone.
“Bruno, Kassie Patterson is watering Nutmeg. Can you escort her to the arena? I’ll be right there. If she doesn’t want to go with you, then call me back.” He ended the call and turned his attention back to Jemma. “He’s my assistant. He’s great with kids. Actually, that’s who will be training Kassie.”
“You don’t have to stay with me. Kassie needs you more.” Why couldn’t she stop crying? “I’ll be fine.”
His cell phone buzzed. “Bruno?” He smiled. “Great. Tell her I’ll be right there.” He replaced the phone in the holder on his waist. He walked to the cabinets in the corner of the room. He retrieved an unopened box of tissues. “I’m sure that handkerchief is soaked.” He handed her the box and reached for the piece of fabric.
Jemma shook her head. “No, I’ll clean it and bring it back to you. It’s the least I can do.” To prove her point, she stuck it in her purse. “You’ve been such a help already.”
Kyle shrugged. “Okay.”
Jemma sniffed. “Sorry for losing it. She’s been talking and each time, I try not to sound surprised, I guess I’d been holding those emotions in. Is Kassie all right?”
“She’s fine. They’re on the way to the arena.” He stood directly in front of her. “Jemma, there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the fact that Kassie is speaking. Pressuring her to speak more might cause a regress, celebrate the moment for what it is.”
Jemma let his words sink in her muddled brain. How did he know so much about kids? He seemed so knowledgeable about a child’s emotional makeup. “Do you have children?”
“No. My sister has two girls, and my brother has a son.” He looked down at her. “Is Kassie an only child?”
“Yes. We had planned for more, but it never happened,” Jemma admitted. More tears. She and Jared wasted so much time on things that didn’t matter now that he was gone. Now, she was looking forty in the face, more children didn’t seem an option. Especially now. She wiped at her tears.
“Jemma?” Kyle called her name so softly, almost a whisper. “I wasn’t trying to bring up sad memories.” He pulled her in his arms. “I’m sorry.”
It had been so long since she’s been held. Strong arms surrounded her, blocking out the rest of the world. She didn’t need to be strong now, she could actually crumble, if she’d wanted.
“Jemma, I’m really sorry if I hurt your feelings,” he whispered as he rubbed her back. “If there’s anything I can do to make you feel better, just let me know.”
“Just hold me.”
Kyle wasn’t ready for such a simple request. And in the tack room of all places. They were in a room filled with saddles, saddle pads, bug sprays, bridles, and cleaning supplies. Not the best place for romance, but it was for him. “You got it.”
In the crowded room, he held Jemma in his arms and listened to her cry like a baby. She was blubbering something awful, he wondered if he should call his mother for reinforcements. Then he felt her arms crept around his waist, holding him tighter. Maybe he didn’t need his mother, after all.
SIX
What was she doing?
Jemma slowly reclaimed her emotions. “Looks like I’m apologizing to you again.” She knew she should step away from those strong muscular arms, but it was so hard. This was her daughter’s trainer, there had to be a rule against this somewhere.
“You never have to apologize to me for being human,” he said softly. He released his embrace and put his hands on each side of her face. “I’m probably the one who should be doing the apologizing.”
Okay, she was totally confused. “For what?”
“For this.” He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. It was a more than a chaste kiss, less than a tongue-gouging, but enough to get her attention. He took a half a step back and stared at her for a brief moment. “I think you’re a pretty, courageous woman, and I would like to take you to dinner Saturday night.”
Jemma was speechless. A date? Really? Was he crazy? “I-I need some time to think about it. Can I let you know tomorrow?” She was still reeling from their kiss. Now this man wanted a date?
“Sure, sounds fine. I’ll understand if you’d rather not.” He smiled at her. “I’d better get to arena before Kassie starts looking for me. Why don’t you relax in the office?”
She agreed. “Okay.”
He nodded, then left the room without another word. She stood in the tack room for a few minutes, not knowing exactly what was what. She remembered the calming exercises Janna had taught her when things got too real. After she was calm, she left the security of the tack room.
She decided to call her sister, instead of just waiting in the office. She sat in her SUV and dialed her Janna’s cell. She needed real talk. Janna answered on the second ring.
“Hey girl.”
“Hey,” Jemma said on a sigh.
“What’s wrong? Is Kassie okay?”
Jemma laughed. “Kassie is fine. Way better than her crazy mother. I had a meltdown.”
“Oh no! Did Kassie see you?”
“No, Kyle took me into the tack room, so she couldn’t,” Jemma said. “That was really sweet of him.”
“Ah! Continue,” Janna prodded. “Don’t leave me hanging.”
“All right. Kassie was showing me how to say hello to the horses, that’s what started it. It’s like she’s been doing that forever. She had touch each of the horses.”
“Jemma…”
“All right. Anyway, I had started crying, then I asked Kyle if he had any children. He told me no, then asked me the same thing. I started thinking of all that time Jared and I lost to our careers. We were waiting to have more kids and the time never get here. Such a lost.”
“Oh, Jemma. I’m sorry. I know how important that was to you. This is the meltdown part. What happened?”
“Kyle kept apologizing for making me cry and he tried to comfort me.”
“Oh, I feel a kiss coming on?”
“Were you in the tack room too?”
Janna gasped. “Oh my gosh! He actually kissed you? He put his lips on yours? How do you feel about it?”
Jemma debated telling her something the rest of the story. “I don’t know how I feel about it. He asked me for a date.”
“Oh, wonderful!” Janna exclaimed. “I’m so happy. Did you say yes?”
“No, I need to think this through. What about Kassie?” Jemma wasn’t ready to re-enter the dating world. “I don’t have anything in common with a ranch manager. I used to be an advertising executive. What would we talk about?”
“He’s a man, you’re a woman. Besides, the whole time you were working, you hated that job, and the politics of the corporate world. I hate to say this, but you’ve been happier since you stopped working.”
“I lost my husband in the process. Even before the accident,” she admitted. “We were both working crazy hours, Mom spent more time with Kassie than we did. Except for Sundays when we did spend the day together. We were running afte
r the wrong things. Yes, living the ritzy part of Dallas was nice, but we didn’t have to. Jared always wanted to paint, but he never got to do anything about it. That’s how we met. In art class in college. I wished I had all those years back.”
“I do too, but all you have is right now. Live your life, Jemma. I say go out on the date. I bet you guys have more in common than you think.”
Jemma sighed. “Well, I still need to talk to Kassie about it. What is she going to think when he shows up at the house?”
“Nothing. It’s apparent that she really likes him. Why don’t we come over this weekend and then you’ll have a built-in babysitter just in case you want to get freaky and spend the night at the ranch.”
“Not even funny.” Jemma noticed Chutney staring at her from the office window, then waving. “I’d better get inside the office. I think they’re looking for me.” She waved back at the teenager.
“Oh, how sweet,” Janna teased. “He probably called, since you were such a mess. He wants to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m not dignifying that with an answer. Talk to you later.” She ended the call and went inside the office. Janna always made her feel better. Thank God for her sister.
Kyle made it to the arena as Kassie mounted Nutmeg. “Thanks, Bruno.”
The young man smiled at Kyle. “Sure man. You might want to wipe that lipstick off your face before you get to Kassie.”
Kyle reached in his pocket his handkerchief, but remembered he gave it to Jemma. Bruno handed him his. “Kassie said her mom was crying.”
He stopped mid-wipe. “She spoke to you?”
“Yeah. Is there a problem?”
“No man. No problem.” Maybe Kassie was ready to rejoin the talking world, he hoped. “Thanks for covering for me.”
“Anytime. Besides, you’re the boss.” Bruno headed back to the stables.
Kyle walked toward Kassie as she circled the arena on the horse. She waved at him and guided the horse to where he stood. “Hi, Mr. Kyle. Is Mommy okay?”
“Yes, Kassie. She’s fine.” He had to divert Kassie from thinking about her mother. “What would you like to do today?”
“Jump.”
Kyle laughed. “I don’t think you’re quite ready for the hurdles. We have to build up to that. Let’s start with a slow gait. A gait is how the horse moves. Gaits can be slow, medium, or fast. Think of it in terms of walking.”
“Okay.”
“Great. Grab the reins. Don’t hold them too tight. You don’t want to hurt Nutmeg, you want to guide her.”
She nodded, and did as he directed her. Soon Kassie was guiding Nutmeg around the small arena. She had perfect form, he thought. As he watched Kassie, his cell phone rang. He answered on the first ring.
“Kyle Cosgrove.”
“Kyle, this is Chutney. Mrs. Patterson is sitting in her car. It looked like she was talking on her cell phone.”
“Thank you, Chutney.” He ended the call. What the hell was wrong with him? He had a nice plan to ask Jemma out in a few weeks. This was only the second week, and they barely knew each other. What if she says yes? Where was he going to take her? What were his plans?
“Mr. Kyle?” Kassie directed the horse toward him. “How many times?”
He didn’t know when he became Mr. Kyle, but he’d take it. Especially since Kassie hadn’t said two words when they first met. He caressed Nutmeg’s face. “How about a few more times?”
Kassie nodded, but she didn’t leave. She stared at him. Those brown eyes seared right through to his soul. She was going to be his downfall. Kyle sighed, hating himself for what he was about to do. “Kassie, can I ask you a question?”
She stared at him.
“Would you mind if I took your Mom to the movies?” He waited a beat.
Kassie continued gazing through him. “Which one?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Oh.” Then she move the reins guiding the horse away from him. She continued the slow gait around the arena.
Kyle figured she was thinking about their conversation. He rushed them both, damn it. He was going to have to get those hormones in check or Jemma would definitely turn him down. He turned his attention to Kassie. “You can speed up a little bit. Slow trot,” he called to her.
He had expected her to follow his direction, but instead she trotted over to where he stood. Then she gave him the death stare. “Yes.”
“Yes to what?” Kyle’s heart quickened at the possibilities. Would this little actually be okay with her mother dating?
“Mommy.” She smiled at him as she patted Nutmeg on her neck.
“I can ask your mommy to the movies?” He smiled up at her.
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Kassie.”
She grinned, then prodded Nutmeg and resumed her trotting around the arena. Kyle watched this tough little girl who had the courage to battle something she could not see, and had already captured his heart. What was so different about her?
Since his return to the ranch five years ago, he’d trained lots of kids. Some younger than Kassie, with attractive mothers, but he’d never asked one of them out.
Then it struck him. What if Jemma didn’t date white men? Race was unimportant to him, since he’d grown up on the ranch. He’d worked with just about every race there was. If that was the case, he’d just admire Jemma from afar and move on with his life.
“Kyle and Kassie should be coming back soon, Mrs. Patterson,” Chutney said from behind the counter. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you. I’ll just sit and wait.” Jemma was seated in one of the chairs, admiring the cookbook. “This book has great recipes. I never realized there was actually cowboy cuisine. My dad would flip for this. He’s originally from England, so he loves discovering stuff like this.” She continued looking through the book. “His birthday is in a few months.” Why was she babbling to the teenager?
“Wow, that’s neat. Do you ever go there?”
“Yes, my grandmother’s 90th birthday celebration a few years ago. I loved it there. It’s a great place to visit, but I’m always happy to return home.”
Chutney’s blue eyes took on a dreamy haze. “I can just imagine all the rain, walking through the parks, and seeing the queen.”
Jemma laughed. “Most Americans think all Brits see the queen on a daily basis, but the royals are rarely seen. Unless they want to be. My dad says he’s never seen any of them.”
“How long has he been here?” Chutney walked over to the table where Jemma sat and took a seat. “I mean, I could imagine being that far from my parents.”
“Me either, actually. They live in Dallas. For most of my life I lived pretty close to them. Moving to Mansfield is about the furthest I’ve ever lived from them. I still see them almost every weekend.”
“Does your father still have his accent? I think British people sound so sexy,” the teenager said.
“Well, he just sounds like Dad to me. He’s been here almost forty years. So I imagine he’s lost a lot of it. When I go to England, he doesn’t sound like any of my cousins.”
The office phone rang. “I’d better get that. Probably Mr. Cosgrove,” she said as she rose. She hurriedly walked to the phone. “Cross-Cut Ranch,” Chutney said into the phone.
Jemma resumed browsing through the book when the door opened and Kassie ran to her mother. “Mommy!” She hugged her mother. “I can jump!”
Jemma’s voice got caught somewhere in her body. Did she really just say she jumped? “Baby, are you sure?” Surely, Kyle wouldn’t have let her baby jumped bushes, trees, or whatever they use to jump.
She nodded, slipped the helmet off her head. “Yes. It was fun!”
The fact that her daughter was excited about anything overruled any fear that Jemma had. Every word her daughter babbled was joy to her ears. She hugged her daughter. “That’s wonderful, Kassie. I’m so proud of you.” Her weepy emotions took control of her once again and this time Jemma didn’t fi
ght back. She let them flow.
“Are you okay, Mrs. Patterson?” Chutney asked, handing her a box of tissues. “Kyle would never endanger Kassie,” she reassured Jemma.
Jemma released her daughter, took the tissues and wiped her eyes. “I’m sure he wouldn’t.” She continued dabbing her eyes. “It’s a long story.”
Kassie studied her mother. “Are you okay?”
“Never better,” she said.
Kyle walked inside the office and studied the room. Jemma had been crying again. The dead giveaway was Kassie was wiping her mother’s face. He made eye contact with Chutney, silently telling the teen to leave. She gathered her things and made a dash for the door. “Goodnight, Kyle, Mrs. Patterson, and Kassie.”
“Goodnight, Chutney,” said Kyle taking a seat next to Jemma. Once the teen had left, he turned his attention to Jemma. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, my daughter surprised me. Jumping?”
He should have known Kassie would rat him out. She was so excited when she made the jump. It was a very small one, but still, she handled it like a champion. “Yes, she was awesome. It was a very, tiny one. I promise she was in no danger.”
Jemma laughed. “You know as happy as she was when she came inside, it was worth it. Thank you.” A few tears drop from her eyes.
That was really going to be his undoing. He wanted to fix the world for this woman. “Kassie is doing fantastic.” He rose from his seat and extended a hand to help her up. “Call me with your answer,” he whispered. “I’ll see you next week, Kassie.” He opened the door to let them out.
They walked to Jemma’s SUV. Kassie stood near her mother. Jemma unlocked the vehicle to let her daughter inside. Once Kassie was in the backseat, Jemma turned toward him. “I have an answer now.”
“And?” He stepped closer to her.
“I would like to go out on Saturday night.” She handed him a business card. “I know you have my contact information, but here it is again. Let me know where to meet you.”
Right. He knew what she was doing. She was planning her escape before they even had the date, but he was one step ahead of her. He took the card anyway, just to show he was a good sport. “I’m a country boy. I’ll pick you up. I already have your address on all that paperwork you filled out.”