by Kara Lennox
“You better be careful,” he said when her fingers trailed even lower, dangerously close to his maleness. “You’ll get me all worked up again.”
“Goodness, what do you think my goal is, anyway?” She kissed him, long and hard and hot, touching him boldly in a way that felt perfectly natural to her. Amazing how quickly her body had adapted to intimacy, as if she’d been born to it, a tight flower bud that needed only a bit of sun and water to burst into full bloom.
Cal groaned, his maleness stirred with renewed interest and they were off to the races.
Once she got him started, Cal needed no further encouragement from her. He stroked and caressed in ways that surprised her, but that nonetheless had her unable to breathe enough oxygen into her lungs. Amazing that a kiss behind her earlobe could stoke the fire in her belly, or that gentle pressure behind her knee would…well, it did the same thing. It didn’t matter where Cal touched or kissed or breathed or licked, it drove her wild.
When he finally moved to enter her, she almost wept with relief. But even then, he took his time, prolonging the pleasure to an almost painful degree. Almost.
Finally, finally the explosion came, rocking her to her foundations. She was sure the whole house moved, or maybe that was just a small earthquake, but her senses were blurred together in a passionate haze.
Now this was living in the moment.
When she got her breath back, she realized Cal had already withdrawn. He’d peaked again, but she’d been so wrapped up in her own pleasure she hadn’t been aware.
Another example of her self-involvement? No, she wasn’t going to blame herself just because Cal had driven her out of her mind.
She didn’t feel the need to talk, and apparently neither did Cal. He pulled a sheet up over them, and she fell asleep nestled in the crook of his arm.
She didn’t wake up again until just before dawn. They’d been joined during the night by both cats and the dog, but apparently she hadn’t even noticed. All three animals were curled up a respectful distance from the humans so as not to disturb them. Willow wasn’t totally surprised that Cal’s animals were well-behaved even in sleep.
She knew it must be around six. She should get up, or she would be late to work. But she wanted to revel just a few more moments, locked in the security of Cal’s sleepy embrace. She almost wished she hadn’t slept last night, so she could have consciously enjoyed every moment.
She’d never felt like this before, never imagined how this would be. Now she wondered why she’d been such a fool all these years, avoiding Cal, wasting her energy being angry with him.
“You awake?” Cal whispered.
“Mmm-hmm. I have to get up.” Her voice was laced with regret.
“Me, too. You can shower first, if you want. I relocated the snake.”
“You are so, so thoughtful. Actually, though, I think I’ll run back to Nana’s and shower, so I can put on clean clothes.”
“Does that mean you won’t have breakfast with me?”
She glanced at the clock radio by the bed. It wasn’t quite as late as she’d feared. “You shower. I’ll put on coffee. I can have something quick, like a toaster waffle.”
“Deal. I’ll cook a real breakfast for you sometime, though.”
“You cook?” she teased, gratified to hear there would be another time. Not that Cal was the type to make a conquest and drop a girl, but it was only natural for Willow to have a few doubts about the future, no matter how hard she tried not to.
“I’m a man of many talents.”
She slid reluctantly out of bed, wishing she had time to stick around and sample a few more of those talents. She hunted around the room for her clothes. The dog woke up and stretched, watching her movements with interest. Cal watched with interest, too.
This was Willow’s first morning-after experience, but she felt none of the embarrassment or regret she’d heard so much about. Last night had been just…right. No matter what the future held, she would never regret sharing herself with Cal. It was a transcendental experience.
Cal sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Obviously he wasn’t embarrassed, either. She tried not to stare, but he was even more gorgeous by dawn’s light than he’d been in last night’s romantic shadows. He stood, stretched, then headed down the hall.
By the time Willow had the coffee perking, Cal entered the kitchen wearing black jeans and a pressed chambray work shirt. His hair was damp, and the scent of soap and shampoo wafted off of him. It was all Willow could do not to grab him and drag him back to bed.
“You look nice,” she commented instead.
“Jonathan told everybody to dress up for the rodeo. No holey jeans or sweaty T-shirts.”
“You guys are coming?”
“It’s mandatory for all the ranch employees. Jon’s a big fan of his brother’s camp. His stepson was one of the first campers.”
“Charlie?”
Cal reached into the freezer and rummaged around, finally locating some microwave pancakes. “Yup. The rodeo camp really helped straighten him out.”
Willow managed a few bites of pancakes, which were surprisingly good. Cal poured some coffee into a travel mug for her. Then she had to scoot.
He walked her down the stairs and to her car. Mrs. Whittaker, Cal’s landlady, waved to them from the front yard, where she was pruning her shrubs.
“Will the Whittakers care that you had a girl spend the night?”
Cal shrugged. “I don’t know. We never talked about it.”
“But you’ve had girls over before, I’m sure.”
“Actually, no.”
She had a hard time believing that, but she wouldn’t accuse Cal of outright lying. Maybe he was just trying to preserve her feelings. “Okay.”
“What, you think I’m some kind of playboy? Different woman every night?”
“No, that doesn’t sound like you. But I don’t believe you’re a monk, either. It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me that you’ve had a lot more…social experience than me. I’m the one who’s a bit odd in that department.”
He smiled, a little secret smile.
“What’s that about?” she demanded.
“Nothing. I’ll see you at the rodeo, okay?”
“Okay.”
He gave her a quick, hot kiss, as if he’d said goodbye to her at dawn dozens of times before. It seemed so familiar, so comfortable and so exciting all at once.
This was blowing her mind, Willow thought. But in a good way.
Nana was still in bed when Willow climbed into the shower. But by the time she emerged with clean clothes, her hair braided in little-girl pigtails with ribbons, Nana was up boiling water for tea.
“Oh, I didn’t hear you come home,” Nana said pleasantly.
Willow kissed her on the cheek. “Of course you did, or you wouldn’t be up so early. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being so accepting, so noncritical. You’ve always been that way for me, ready with advice but never judging me. And I’m not sure I’ve expressed my gratitude enough.”
“Well, Lord knows you got enough judgment from your parents.” Nana’s eyes twinkled merrily. “So, you must have had fun last night.”
“I’ll tell you all about it later.” Well, maybe not all about it. “Right now, I’m running late.”
CAL FELT as if he had springs on the bottom of his boots as he worked that morning. He was out on the four-wheeler, riding fences, making repairs to the barbed wire, broken rails and rotting posts as they were spotted. It was the sort of work Cal normally hated, but this morning, hot as it was, he hummed as he pounded a fence post into the dry, hard earth with a sledgehammer.
He checked his watch often, knowing that soon he would see Willow again. This was even worse than when he’d had his first crush on Willow. It had taken him weeks to get the nerve to ask her out, and he’d flown high as a kite when she’d said yes. Everyone had told him she was too young for him, but he’d persevered, knowi
ng there was something about her that was special—and meant just for him.
He’d never stopped believing that, even when he had no hope they would ever reconcile. Now, all these years later, he was being proved right. He had been with other women, as Willow believed, but only a very few, and only after he and Willow had broken up. She would probably be surprised to know she was his first.
He hadn’t been with anyone lately, except Willow. No other woman had given him the spark that Willow gave him. No other woman had ever made him want to be the best man he could possibly be.
After lunch, all the ranch hands, as well as Jonathan’s entire family, were supposed to drive a mile up the road to Wade’s place for the big rodeo. Their father and a third brother, Jeff, were both doctors and would be on hand in case of injury. So would Sherry, Jon’s wife, who was Jeff’s nurse at their clinic in town.
Cal’s grandfather would most likely be there, too, in case any of the animals got injured.
“Are you going like that?” Jon asked him, pointing at Cal’s shirt.
Cal looked down. “Oh, man.” A huge stain covered the front of his shirt—probably tar from a fence post.
“C’mon inside. I got an extra shirt you can borrow.”
Five minutes later, dressed in a white Western shirt with the Hardison Ranch logo embroidered on the breast, Cal headed for his truck, whistling. Since everyone else had already gone, Jon rode with him. Clementine rode in the back, leaning over the edge of the pickup bed, face to the wind.
Wade’s place was packed with cars and visitors by the time the ranch employees got there. The mood was festive, the kids running around on adrenaline highs, horses and cows snorting and pawing the ground with anticipation. The smell of barbecued beef was in the air. Pete, the Hardison brothers’ tireless grandfather, was barbecuing brisket down by the pavilion. After the rodeo, there would be a huge celebratory dinner for everybody, free of charge. But donations from towns-people and parents would pour in after everyone saw what Wade was doing.
The second Cal got out of his truck, he cast around for Willow, but he didn’t see her.
“Looking for someone?” Jon asked innocently. Had word already gotten around that he and Willow had reconciled? It wouldn’t surprise him. They’d made out on the front porch yesterday where a zillion people could have seen them.
Cal decided there was no reason to be cagey. “Looking for Willow.”
“Ah, then the rumors are true? I knew there was some reason you were in such a good mood today. Not a word of complaint when I sent you out to repair the fence.”
“Sometimes the world just seems like a really good place, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
Portable bleachers had been rented for the occasion, but they were already packed by the time Jon and Cal arrived. So they staked out a place by the arena fence. Currently one of the camp counselors was warming up the crowd with a little trick riding.
Cal still didn’t see Willow. But she was probably helping Pete, he reasoned, since meals were primarily her responsibility.
Sherry, looking cheery in her brightly colored nurse’s scrubs, found them. She and Jonathan embraced briefly and shared a light kiss, and Cal saw the warm, intimate look that passed between them. A narrow ray of hope flashed through Cal every time he saw Jon and Sherry together. They’d built a wonderful life together despite their wildly different backgrounds and a host of obstacles, starting with the fact they’d lived in different cities.
Sherry turned her attention to Cal, greeting him with her usual exuberant kiss on the cheek. “How are you doing, Cal? I hear you’ve launched a new venture.”
“Word travels fast.”
“He’s already got people clamoring for his services,” Jon said, almost bragging, and Cal realized that what Willow had said was true. He’d included other people in his dream, and they were not only tripping all over themselves to help him, but they were sharing in his small successes. “I’ll be sorry to see him leave the ranch, but I’ve known from the beginning that his heart wasn’t really in ranching.”
“Don’t be replacing me too fast,” Cal said. “I’m sure it’ll be a while before I can make a living as a trainer.”
Jon just laughed. “I’ve already got your replacement signed up. He starts in September.”
Cal froze. He’d been afraid of this. “You’re firing me?”
“What? Oh, hell no. You got a job as long as you want one. I just think you’ll be leaving of your own accord a lot sooner than you think.”
“Why’s that?”
“’Cause you’re good,” Sherry interjected. “There’s a need for what you do. Oh, look who’s headed this way.”
Cal grinned when he saw Willow walking toward them. With her girlish pigtails and wearing a pair of red overalls, she reminded him of the fourteen-year-old he’d first fallen for. Only with a few more curves.
She was scanning the crowd, and he could only hope she was looking for him. He smiled when her gaze reached him, but her answering smile was fleeting and impersonal.
He knew by now not to be surprised, but he still was.
She came closer, but instead of coming to him, she walked straight up to Jonathan and Sherry. “Hi, Jon, Sherry. It’s nice to see you here. Did Cal come with you?”
“Uh…” Sherry’s gaze flickered to Cal, standing all of two feet away, then back to Willow. “He’s, uh…” She nodded in Cal’s direction.
“Willow, I’m right here,” he said, wishing there was some way he could cover up for her blunder. But it was too obvious.
Even after he’d spoken, Willow stared at him, un-comprehending, for a couple of seconds. She was studying his hair, he realized. Then his hands. “You changed shirts.”
Oh. Hell, he hadn’t even thought about that. “The other one got stained,” he said, having no idea how to smooth over the situation.
If it had been anyone but Sherry, they might have just changed the subject. But Sherry’s concern showed in every line of her face, and she was not the kind of person to turn her back on someone having any kind of trouble. “Willow, honey, are you okay?”
Willow’s face turned bright pink, and Cal didn’t think it had anything to do with the hot sun. Cal put his arm around her. “Willow has a little trouble recognizing faces sometimes,” he said, trying not to make it sound too serious. “She saw me earlier in a blue shirt, so that’s what she was looking for.”
“Don’t soft-pedal it,” Willow finally said. “I can’t recognize my own mother.”
“You have prosopagnosia?” Sherry said, sounding more fascinated than horrified. “I’ve read about that, but I never actually met someone with it. Is it from the car accident?”
Willow nodded and pushed her bangs off her forehead.
“Come on over here out of the sun, honey. You don’t look so good.”
“I’ve had a raging headache for a couple of hours,” Willow admitted as she let herself be led to a spot on the shady side of the nearby barn. Cal kept his arm around her, feeling more than embarrassment now. Willow did look a bit strange. Her eyes seemed unfocused, and her hand was clammy.
“Jon, would you get me my first-aid kid, please?” Sherry said. “I left it in the announcer’s booth. And some cold water.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Cal asked.
“I’m guessing heat exhaustion. It’s like an oven out here today.”
Jon returned shortly not only with Sherry’s first-aid kit, but with his brother Jeff. And Jeff did not like what he saw.
“I’m okay,” Willow kept protesting. “I think I did get a little hot. I was working around the barbecue pit, and I probably forgot to…Oh, shoot, I was supposed to get something for Pete.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Cal said as Sherry slipped a blood-pressure cuff around Willow’s arm while Jeff listened to her heart.
“But it was important…” she said, just before her eyes rolled back and she slumped over, unconscious.
Chapte
r Eleven
Willow was sure her head was full of cotton batting. She felt awful, as if she was going to throw up and her head were going to explode all at the same time. But she was worried about the task she’d promised to perform for Pete. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember it, and that scared her worse than her physical miseries. It was something about pickles.
“Let’s get her to the hospital,” Sherry said.
“No,” Willow protested weakly. “No, no, no, that’s not necessary.” She’d had enough of hospitals recently to last her a lifetime.
“Don’t waste your breath arguing,” Cal said. She wasn’t good at deciphering facial expressions, but Cal looked scared to her.
“Honey, you had a recent head injury,” Sherry said. “You need to get checked out, just to be on the safe side.”
Willow knew she had the right to refuse treatment. And she was tempted, just thinking about the medical bills she’d racked up during her last hospital stay.
An ambulance was already on hand. A couple of paramedics were bringing over a gurney. Willow made a decision.
“I’ll go to the hospital, but, please, no ambulance. Cal can drive me. Okay?”
Sherry looked at Jeff uncertainly. “Her vitals are strong.”
A small crowd was gathering around them, a sea of bland, Pillsbury Doughboy faces. “Please,” she whispered to Cal. “Can you take me?”
Cal didn’t hesitate. He scooped her up into his arms. “She’s okay,” he told everyone. “Just a little too much heat.” Sherry shoved a cold water bottle into Willow’s hand and slapped a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. “Drink. And y’all take my truck. It’s got killer air-conditioning and aV-8 that can outrun any cop in the county.”
By the time Willow had drained the water bottle, they were well on their way to Tyler where Mother Frances Medical Center was. The air-conditioning in Sherry’s snazzy little red pickup did indeed blow a blizzard.
Willow glanced at the speedometer. Cal was driving at eighty-five. “Cal, please, slow down. I’m feeling better. I probably just got dehydrated or something.” Her head had been pounding so hard, the pain had probably overridden other warning signs she ordinarily would have heeded.