by Alexa Davis
“Okay, Slink. Let’s get your leash first.” I closed the door and reached for the leash on the bedside table while she turned herself into a whining pretzel, trying to push her nose through the wooden door. I laughed and clicked the latch before opening the door, and she tried to pull my arm out of the socket to get down the stairs.
I let my nose lead the way, even though I could have found the spacious veranda in my sleep. I walked into the memories of a thousand dreams when I stepped out into the cool morning air and headed toward the twelve-foot table that was the center of the Lago Colina life. Men already surrounded the platters piled sky-high with food, pulling stacks of flapjacks and sausages onto their plates.
Rachel made room for me next to her, and George rescued me from Slinky’s pulling, tying her up near the fireplace so she could lie on the thick rug with her sausages. I glanced up at him when he returned to say thank you, but the intensity in his face made the words catch in my throat. I licked my lips and picked at my breakfast, trying to fill my belly past the butterflies ricocheting off my ribcage. He didn’t even try to sit near me, giving me the space I wanted, but it left me feeling cold.
I chided myself and drank my coffee. I was not about to turn into one of “those” women, who always wanted what wasn’t theirs and chased men off, only to draw them back in. I tried to pay attention to what Rachel was chatting about at my elbow, but nothing seemed to catch my attention and hold it, until she suggested I take a mare and go for a ride. She went on to talk about their race horse and that they’d built a special training area for him, and after breakfast, she would take me over to see him in action.
I readily agreed and made more effort with my food. I knew George didn’t think he could ride properly anymore, and I took the opportunity she’d presented to ask her about getting George to ride again as therapy. I knew it was used with others disabled by injuries in the field, and the current studies suggested riding therapy helped with emotional injuries sustained, as well. She glanced toward George and his older brother, who were horsing around and getting the dogs riled up.
“If I were to assume, based on the Hargraves I am more familiar with, I’d have to say, ‘no way in hell is that going to happen,’” Rachel replied. “But, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He knows he can trust you.”
She shrugged and sipped her coffee, wincing as George dropped to his right knee and bowed over his left leg. “Should we do something about that?” She motioned toward George and Daniel, who was at that moment half-carrying George over to the outdoor sofa to sit.
“No. He’s going to keep pushing himself until one day he realizes he hasn’t had to for a very long time.” I sighed and Rachel nodded with a smirk on her face.
“Definitely a Hargrave.” She toasted the men with her coffee mug.
“Maybe that’s it. I just need to point out that if he can’t get on a horse, then what’s all the training for? He must push himself to see improvement. It’s a hell of a lot better than wrestling with Danny until he breaks something for good.” Rachel laughed and agreed that it was indeed better than trying to commit suicide by overzealous brother.
The men began clearing the table, and I quickly topped off my coffee and cream before they were whisked away to the kitchen. I meandered over to the sofa where George was lounging, watching as he massaged his sore knee and grimaced through the pain.
“When do you want to leave for a ride?” I asked him between sips of coffee. He reached out for the mug and I handed it to him. He drank the scalding liquid fast, sucking in air afterwards to cool his tongue.
“You’re really asking me that right now?” he asked, pointing to his leg.
“Of course. If we want to get you feeling better, we should get a move on. If your leg seizes up, you might not be able to ride at all, and then what kind of therapy can we do out here?” I motioned around us at the gigantic garden and the paths around it. “Riding is one of the most helpful things you can do for yourself right now.”
“Says who?”
“Ummm, says science. Why? You weren’t going to neglect Colby Jack while you were here, were you?”
“I was going to go see him, of course, but, Cal, honey, he’s eighteen now. I can’t ask him to carry my weight.” I nodded and pursed my lips.
“You’re right. I’ll have Rachel pick out a nice, gentle mare for you. Good therapy, no fear.” I smiled at him and gave Rachel a thumbs up sign as George craned his neck trying to see who I was communicating with. I rubbed the top of his foot until he stopped moaning in pain and the men had all left to begin their morning assignments. The veranda got quiet so quickly, it was like a switch had been flipped.
“I’m going riding no matter what I say, aren’t I?” George stopped rubbing his leg and let me place it on an ottoman so I could sit next to him.
“Yeah, I think that therapeutically, you really need to spend a little time on God’s favorite creature.”
“Heh, you know it,” George declared. “Let me check in with Tucker and see if the fire marshal or the police have learned anything they’re willing to share. We’re not out here on vacation, after all.”
He swung his legs out over the edge of the seat and stood up. I could see him straining to hold his weight equally on both sides, and not pitch to one side or the other. I smiled automatically at his broad shoulders and slightly bow-legged cowboy stance. When I met his eyes, he was watching me. A slow, predatory smirk slid over his face and he licked his lips, making my stomach flop.
“All right, as soon you’re done, let’s head over to the stables. Rachel’s waiting on us.” I stepped away from George before he could see the flush of pink up my cheeks, showing he’d won the round. Once we were away from the remains of food still being put away by the ranch hands, I let Slinky off her leash. She bounded and pranced in circles around me, her face split in a joyous grin. George called his brother, then decided on a text instead when he got no answer. He put the phone away, called Xavi to him, and we headed out.
The stables were still quiet, as the men who were assigned there were still cleaning up after their breakfast. Pete Call, the horse master, and his girlfriend/jockey Verica were waiting with Rachel and a few, pretty mares, which they were still getting into their saddles.
“George! It’s so good to finally meet you,” Verica gushed. She handed the reins in her hand to Pete and rushed George with a surprise hug attack. I felt my back go up just a little, but Pete just looked mildly amused. I reminded myself that I had no right to jealousy and pasted a blank smile on my face. Besides, Verica was just as sweet when she ninja-hugged me, and I couldn’t help but hug her back. She almost skipped back to Pete, who gazed at her like there was no other woman in the world. A lot had changed while I was gone, and I was happy for the once-confirmed bachelor.
George touched my arm, and I followed him over to the horses. He limped up to one of the mares and stroked her face and pressed his cheek against hers. She bounced her head and hung her face over his shoulder for a hug of her own, and I glanced at Rachel with a question in my eyes, to which she only shrugged. Pete laughed out loud so abruptly a couple of the horses jumped and pranced at the sound.
“George, I forgot you helped with Classy Girl’s foaling. She sure does remember you.”
Pete turned to us newcomers with a grin that lit his face up in the early morning hours and made him look ten years younger than his forty-three years. “You might not remember, Miss Callie, but Classy Girl is one of the last foals George brought into the world before he left for the military. She was his shadow for more’n a year before he left.” George smiled and nodded, content to whisper sweet nothing’s into Classy Girl’s twitching ear.
“So I guess we know who George’ll be riding today. How about we get you onto one of our gentle girls here.” I was an accomplished horsewoman, thanks to my years with George, but I had nothing to prove, so I was happy with a gentle nag to get us where we were going.
I pulled myself into the saddle and
watched George do the same after turning down the mounting block. The muscles in his arms and chest bulged under the fabric of his shirt as he pulled himself up and swung into his saddle. It made my mouth water and my knees weak to see his easy grin from up there. His legs may have been weak, but his upper body had only grown stronger as he’d been forced to rely on his arms and chest to move his wheelchair. I hadn’t seen him look this confident in a long time, and the effect he had on me was heady. For the first time in a while, I wondered if there was a chance we could get the old George back, and watching him astride a horse, with Xavi patiently waiting at his feet, that was exactly the man I saw.
19. George
We took it slow through the yard, while Cal and I got our bearings. I watched her light up like the first time I’d taken her out on our own, to race over the fields and see if we could sneak up on the mustangs out over the hill.
After my bull-headedness and the investigation and the fire, I’d finally put her exactly where she needed to be – where we both felt free of the worries of the world. I egged her on, and we raced away from the others.
Callie looked back when we finally slowed, puzzled that she couldn’t see them. I silently thanked my horse master and sister-in-law for giving us some space, and reined Classy in so Cal and I were loping side by side, close enough for me to reach out and grab Rhythm’s reins out of Cal’s hands.
She started looking around us more furtively, quick shy glances to make sure we were alone. She swallowed hard and licked her lips, just before I reached out and stopped both mares in their tracks.
“Cal. We need to talk.” Her eyes flew wide open and I would’ve sworn tears were making them shine that way. “I’ve messed up a lot with you, and I have no excuse. You were the only girl I ever loved. I didn’t have anyone else to make mistakes on.”
She tried to smile and looked down at her hands, which firmly gripped the pommel since I had her reins in one gloved fist.
“What do you want, George? I can’t even pretend to guess anymore.”
“I want you to forgive me, one last time. If that means you’ll let me try again, then that will make me happier than I’ve been since the day I left. If not, at least I will know I’m not hurting you anymore. What do you want, Cal?”
“I want you to trust me to still love you, even though you’re not perfect. Got to be honest, babe. I prefer you learning to be confident again over the young stud who flaunted his ability to get attention from any woman, any time. I don’t want you hurting, but you aren’t nearly as cruel to me now.”
My jaw nearly hit the ground from the saddle of my sixteen-hand quarter horse. It took a minute to get my bearing, and I walked Classy Girl a few paces off and looked out over the valley below us. Off to one side, I could see the new building and track my brother had put in for his racehorse, and Rachel and Pete were already there with a beautiful thoroughbred trotting the track with his trainer. I looked back at Callie and fought the firebrand of hurt and anger that stabbed me in the chest.
“I have never looked at another woman, Callie. Why would you even say something like that?”
“Oh, Georgie-boy. You looked plenty. Even more, you like being looked at. Back in the day, whenever I finally got pissed enough to say something, you always came back with, ‘Hey, I didn’t touch her.’ Well, I’m calling bullshit. My dad never touched, either. Until he did. And you would’ve, too. If you didn’t like that flirting from other women so much, I’d never have believed Sarah Abbott. But, I did, because you loved having girls hanging all over you, begging you to stare at their tits, or ass, or whatever it was you liked enough to leave me by myself in a corner.”
I stared back at her in shock. “Goddamn it, Callie. I’m so sorry. I thought it meant I was special. Worthwhile. I never meant to make you feel bad.”
“All I’m saying is I always loved you, but there’s things about you I like better now.” She walked Rhythm over to me and turned her back toward the racing center. “I had accepted that I wasn’t enough on the surface. Then, you came back and told me I wasn’t enough for the hard stuff. So why do you want me?”
She turned and cantered off toward the exercise track and the others, without waiting for an answer. I stayed behind and painfully swung my leg over Classy’s back so I could slide to the ground, where Xavi was waiting with an anxious look on his face. Unmanly tears burned my eyes, but I swallowed them and walked the rest of the way with my hand on his broad back, as he nudged me and whimpered in concern.
My leg burned like a bitch by the time I caught up, but the pain disappeared into the fog at the back of my brain when I was face to face with the intelligent, watchful Texas Tango.
His muscles twitched under his glistening, chestnut coat and his ears swiveled as he measured me up. Xavi paced and whined, something I’d never seen him do around another animal. I put myself between them and glanced at Callie, who instantly stepped up between him and the horse and calmed Xavi with a few soft words and a treat from her pocket.
She motioned me over and handed me another treat, and when I bent over to him as far as I could without putting myself off-balance, Xavi perked up and hugged me around the neck. I leashed him and let Verica walk the thoroughbred back to his paddock. Xavi quickly calmed down away from the high-strung Texas Tango.
“George, let me hang out with Xavier for a few minutes. I am astonished that he was so sensitive to the racer’s anxiety level. Wonder dog,” Callie addressed Xavi with the nickname and his tail thumped my leg. “You need to spend some time with Texas Tango. He’s amazing. Your brother did well.”
I nodded and walked to the paddock with Pete, who explained that it was, in truth, Rachel who had helped catalyze my brother’s passion for racing into a reality. I wasn’t surprised that he’d found a woman as driven for success as himself. I liked Rachel even more after hearing how hard she worked to make the ranch even better.
I found Cal and the dogs playing in the field with Rachel and her Skipper. Xavi ran to me with his tongue lolling out to one side in a grin. I waited until Cal joined us with Slinky in tow.
“He loves you more than he loves bacon. Look at that goofy face. Not that I blame him,” I remarked as I rubbed behind Xavi’s ears. “You have the same effect on me.” She stepped in close enough that my mouth watered and my lips parted for a kiss. Instead, she turned her face so her breath tickled my ear.
“I know. The question is, what are you going to do about it?” I licked my lips and gave her a small smile. One hand slid to her waist and my thumb flicked under her shirt, making her gasp.
“We should get back to the house and talk about that.” She laughed, and her head tilted back so the sun caught on her skin like afterglow. “Okay, maybe not in my parents’ house.”
“Oh, because that ever stopped you before?” Cal arched an eyebrow at me, and it was my turn to laugh.
“Well, I’ve grown up, as you’ve pointed out. I have become the master of my domain and learned how to delay gratification so I can listen to you scream louder later.”
“That is true. I tend to get shy around your parents, what with them really, really not wanting to know what we’re up to. Then there were the four brothers to be thoughtful of, as well.”
“Let’s take the dogs back to the house and go out for a ride, just the two of us.”
“You don’t think we have other things we should be taking care of? This has been wonderful, but I don’t want us being here to derail finding out what is happening in my dad’s company.”
“It can wait two more hours. Besides, I texted Tucker to let us know as soon as he learns anything, and I talked to Danny. We have the use of the library and the computers for anything we need. Come with me and relax for a little while. Nothing bad can happen to us here. It’s the magic of the ranch.” We waved our goodbyes to Rachel, who stayed behind with Skipper, who was happily playing fetch.
I took our two dogs to my mother in the kitchen and rounded up some grub from the pantry. When Mom i
mmediately began spoiling both animals with counter scraps, they instantly forgot I existed. Patty added a few cans of beer to the lot I’d swiped and wrapped it all in a picnic tablecloth for me. They exchanged a look and Patty winked at me. I turned tail and fled from the room before my reddening face made me more of a target for the old woman.
I gave Callie the lead as we rode off towards the lake, her favorite place. The lake was already getting a little low, so there was plenty of gravel and small rocks to make the path treacherous, but the horses handled the shifting, loose stone like goats. We reached the shallows and forded the cool, crisp water that even at its deepest was only to the bottoms of my boots. Across the water was a small island that she and I had declared our personal hideaway during our senior year of high school.
Without a word from me, she led us up the narrow path the deer had left through the tall grass, up the hill to where the cypress trees created a canopy that we’d used as cover when we’d made love for the very first time. The branches curved and dipped low in places, and we’d imagined it our very own castle. There, with the sun playing hide and seek through the leaves, I’d uncovered her for the very first time.
I had been young and terrified. She was sweet, nervous, and patient with my fumbling fingers and rough hands. We’d taught each other everything each of us knew about love right here on the lake.
I glanced at her, and she blushed and looked away. We both dismounted and tied off the mares, and I undid the saddle bag containing the food and picnic cloth. She grabbed the saddle blankets from the horses and let them graze without their saddles so we could sit more comfortably.
I was as nervous as I had been our first time. My hand wobbled as I tried to serve food to the paper plates we’d brought with us, and my mouth was so dry I downed the first beer in one long pour, straight down my throat. When I looked at Cal again, she was smirking at me.