Dave shrugged. “Point is, I got on the plane to Mexico.”
“True,” she conceded. It was in celebration of their thirty-fifth anniversary last year.
“And I wore sandals every single day there.”
“Also true. Your poor toes had never been exposed to the light of day before.”
“Yep.” Dave grinned, that incredible Claverley smile that always made her believe things weren’t as bad as they actually were. “I hear there’s a new place in town where I can expose them again.”
“She’s gotten enough of our business.”
“Maybe she’ll give me the family discount.”
Janet spluttered, incoherent again, but Dave’s grin remained unmoved.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
WILL FELT MORE than his shoulders tense as Krista and Alyssa took in the latest from Krista’s ex on their phones. “When do I get to read it?”
Not that he’d get more than a glimpse, given he was point man on Austin patrol right now. Keith was on his way home from an all-day haul that was running late, and Will’s parents were out on their horse ride. Their time alone. Fed, Austin was toddling around the back lawn, Will following like a bodyguard to make sure small stones, grass or too much dirt didn’t make their way down Austin’s gullet.
“Here you go,” Krista said. Austin had his fists clutched in the neck hair of Clover, who saw Austin as her human pup. That would buy him time to look away from the boy. Will took Krista’s phone. A meme of two inflatable dolls sat together on a fence, a superimposed sunset of oranges and purples in the background. The Krista-doll, perky in a buckle bunny outfit of pink and tassels, held a rope lassoed around the foot of the Will-doll slouched in chaps and a plaid shirt. The speech balloon above the Krista-doll read “Don’t you just love kids? I love them like cupcakes.” His reply was a thought cloud: “Kids are accidents that permanently injure my life.”
He thrust the phone back at Krista, too angry to speak. Where did that piece of scum get off accusing him of hating kids? Austin was edging to Clover’s tail. Will closed the distance between him and Austin, Krista right there with him in silent support.
Alyssa followed. “The hospital is all about kids who have had accidents. We can’t be represented by someone who is caricatured as calling kids themselves accidents. And wow, that permanent injury bit—” She shook her head. “We’ve got to hit back. It’s already had five shares and it’s only been up for a half hour.”
This had not been the first meme or the first online attack, either. Phillip had set up a website and created an entire dreamy life featuring Krista-doll and blogging about her country hick boyfriend. They’d had titles like How My Man Lassos a Post, What Makes a Horse Go Vroom-vroom, and Riding Off into the Sunset—Backward. Each blog came with a meme widely distributed on social media. Each Will had absorbed, but this one would not go away after a few hours of working with the horses.
“Oh great,” Alyssa said. “An email from Super-A Supplies. ‘Our company draws its support from our family-oriented customers. Due to the ongoing media spotlight on Will Claverley, we regret to inform you that we will not be able to proceed with our sponsorship of the charity ride.’”
Clover, who made a living flushing cattle out of the bush, wove in front of Austin to herd him back to Will. Austin decided to try and crawl under Clover. Smart tike. “But I’m for family. I’ve never said a word against it.”
“It doesn’t matter who you are,” Alyssa said. “It only matters what other people say you are.”
Practically word for word what Krista had said. She was tapping her lip. “Nobody said anything until this latest meme, so they don’t really care who Will dates. It’s the family thing. So how about we focus on Will and family on the Celebrity Ride page and start a new narrative.”
Austin broke around Clover, and gravity was carrying his legs down the slope of the lawn to the gravel drive where a face-plant would bring blood and howls. The dog and the three humans moved in accordance, but Austin was picking up serious speed.
Will nabbed him as his little rubber boots hit gravel. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get you back in the pasture.” He began to walk Austin up the slope. Alyssa and Krista regarded him with the same speculative expression. What had he done to put them on the same wavelength?
Alyssa’s fingers were flying over her phone. “We’ll go with a short video. Less than thirty seconds.”
“Then a voice-over from Will, maybe some music,” Krista continued, “if it’s not long enough.”
“What are you guys up to?”
Alyssa held up her phone. “Walk. I’ll video you.”
“You can’t put Austin on social media. It’s not right.”
“Laura has already put him on Facebook,” Alyssa countered.
True... “Okay, just the back of him.”
Alyssa began to protest but Krista said, “That’ll work. It’ll come across more universal.”
And so Will had the unsettling sensation of two single women filming from his backside, Austin riding on his arm. His good arm. He had yet to tell Krista the dire warnings of the physiotherapist. It was bad enough that his mother knew.
“Stop,” Alyssa said. “Now to come up with words to neutralize Phillip’s poison.”
“Something natural,” Krista said.
“But profound,” Alyssa said.
“I can do the first, but not the second,” Will said. “I’ll say whatever you two decide.”
“But that completely goes against the ‘natural’ part,” Krista said. “Tell me, Will, how do you feel about kids?”
Will gazed at Austin, whose little hands were busily digging into his shirt pocket bumpy from his baggie of painkillers. The crinkling noise had Austin squeezing the pocket for all he was worth. Austin had never made strange with Will, like other babies with their uncles, because they were part of each other’s daily routine.
He couldn’t imagine a world without Austin, without kids, a family. When did Krista want to start a family? He wanted one, the sooner, the better. But she had her business, and she’d probably prefer to wait until it was on its feet. Only he couldn’t see himself waiting years on end to carry around his own Austin or Austin-ette.
He brushed away a mosquito hovering around Austin’s bare neck. He spoke to Krista, though Alyssa had her microphone pressed close. “Some people say kids are a pain, a problem, not worth the trouble. But I grew up with farm animals and there’s not one of them that doesn’t take care of babies. Even those that belong to others. A mother cat will nurse kittens if their mother dies. A stallion makes sure all the other horses get in ahead of him. The dog lies beside a hurt calf. Kids aren’t easy, but even an animal understands you don’t ever give up on them.”
Krista’s blue eyes were wide with...what? Bewilderment? Fear? Definitely not the excitement he’d hoped for.
“Aaand that’s a wrap,” Alyssa said. “I’m off to get this turned around. I should have it posted to the Celebrity Ride site in a couple of hours.” Krista’s head was still down and didn’t rise until Alyssa was out of earshot. “That was nice, what you said.”
“You want kids?” he said quickly, to get it out there.
She drew her finger down Austin’s arm. “To be honest, they always seemed down the road. I’ve never had a serious enough boyfriend to consider having kids. My nieces, Sofia and Isabella, they’re my first contact with kids and that only started eight months ago.”
“Laura told us about them.”
“You’ll meet them at the barbecue.”
He grinned. “Six days and counting.”
Austin yawned. Will recognized that signal. “First yawn already. Three yawns and he’s done for the day. We’d better get him in the bath quick.” He caught Krista looking in the direction of her car. “Unless you have someplace to go.”
“No,” she said. “No
better place.”
He wished he could believe she wasn’t just saying that to make him feel better.
* * *
“I SCREWED UP BAD, didn’t I?” Will said as he and Krista got into his truck after the Montgomery Canada Day barbecue. The rest of her family were still around the fire, probably happy to see the last of him.
Krista shed her red-and-white beanie with moose ears—and yes, she made it look cute. “Um, well, it wasn’t all bad. The girls adore you. I mean who can resist a guy with dogs, cats and horses. I bet they’ll pester Jack and Bridget to take them up on your invite to come out to the ranch.”
“Which I shouldn’t have offered before checking with them.” He pulled the truck away from the curb, relieved to put distance between Krista’s family and him.
“I promised to give Sofia makeup before checking with them, too. It’s small.”
“And the whole steak thing. I meant it as a hospitality gift, but Jack made enough digs for me to regret it.”
“I totally blame him for that one. He is overly sensitive that way,” Krista said. “Penny’s Place nearly went bankrupt last Christmas, and they’re really only breathing easy now. I guess your gift was an unintentional reminder of a time when they couldn’t afford to serve their house guests steak.”
“What else did I do?”
Krista hesitated. “You did seem nervous around Mara.”
That was the worst mistake. Krista had filled him in on Mara’s deteriorating vision, how they had to watch not to put stuff in her peripheral vision. He’d overcompensated, reacted as if she were Austin. He’d jumped to reach for a plate, scooted his chair way back when she edged by and it wasn’t until Jack outright told him that Mara wasn’t deaf, that he realized he’d spoken extra loud to her.
“I was nervous,” he confessed.
“Why?”
“Same reason you’re nervous around my mother. You want to make a good impression.”
“No, I don’t.”
No way was she getting away with that lie. “I don’t believe you.”
“I—” She stopped. “I guess I am out to impress. But why do you care about what my family thinks?”
He couldn’t have this conversation and drive at the same time. Krista, he was discovering, demanded his full attention. He pulled over and faced her. “Because I want to impress you, Krista. And part of that is impressing your family.”
“So that’s why you told them about your two sections of land and two hundred head of cattle?”
Gaffe number four. “I guess I wanted them to know that you hadn’t made a mistake in choosing me.”
This was where she was supposed to reassure him that they weren’t a mistake, that she didn’t regret her decision and that she was ready to renew their relationship lease. Instead she leaned her head against the headrest.
“Our entire relationship so far has been about keeping up appearances.”
“We haven’t really been together for very long.”
Krista gazed out the passenger window so he couldn’t see her expression when she said, “For ten years.”
Will’s head hurt worse than his nagging shoulder. “What do you mean? We didn’t date.”
“And why didn’t we? Not because you weren’t attracted to me, because you admit you were. But because I didn’t fit your picture of the kind of woman you were looking for.”
“Give me a break. You were hardly a woman. You were sixteen.”
“And you were twenty. Neither of us was full grown, but you already had the image of the girl you ought to date, didn’t you? Even when it went against what your heart wanted.”
What did she want from him? “I changed my mind. I grew up. So did you.”
She tilted her head and her face softened. For a second, he thought she might touch him. He could really do with her hands on him right now. “You know what Phillip said about you?”
Will scrubbed his face with his hand. “I bet it wasn’t complimentary.”
“He said you’re no better than him or me. You’re all about appearances. At first I thought he was nuts, as usual. But now...I’m not so sure. Maybe he has a point.”
There she was, letting that jerk govern their lives. “What do you mean? The promotional videos weren’t my idea but if it weren’t for them, there might not be a charity ride next month.”
Krista nodded, conceding that much. The campaign had stemmed the withdrawal of sponsors, but there was still the sticky factor of the dolls out there. Phillip had lobbed more nasty memes, more asinine blogs, and his followers had spread them like a virus. Going viral was not always a good thing. But so far, he and Krista and Alyssa were putting up a good fight. Still, it went to show how many people got off on the cruelty of others.
“Believe me,” he added, “all I want to do is be outside, away from the spotlight.”
Krista nodded again, this time with a twist of her mouth. “Getting back to the real work of finding a suitable wife?”
If he’d not had such a nerve-racking evening, he might’ve trod more cautiously. Instead, he stepped right into the muck of their argument. “Nothing wrong with that. You’re the one who believes you don’t fit the criteria.”
“I don’t,” she said. “But the only way you’re going to find that out is if you see the real me.”
“What am I seeing right now?”
“The real me. The one you’re in a fight with. You want more of that for the rest of your life? And the real me is in that family you were on pins and needles with. Are you ready for more of that, too?”
Yes, the twenty-year-old him would’ve run at this point. The young, rational guy. The older Will, though, stared right back into her blue eyes and said, “Bring it on.”
She blinked. “And in return, you’re not to go out of your way to impress me.”
That made no sense. “Krista, so long as we’re together I will always try to impress you.”
“Try not to.”
“I will impress you with the real me.” His stomach flipped at the idea.
“Didn’t you hear a word I said? Be yourself.”
“I’m always that way.”
She touched him now, a hard poke to his chest. “You’re always out to impress. You’d still be riding bareback if it wasn’t for your shoulder. You still feel you have to impress.”
He did miss winning. But it wasn’t buckles or trophies he wanted now. He wanted top ranking with Krista. “What do you want from me, then?”
“Be Will Claverley as if I’m the only one around.”
Will wasn’t sure Krista really wanted that guy. That Will popped pills, had never traveled outside the rodeo circuit, thought a horse ride in a pasture was the height of romance. The real him was sore and boring. But if that bought him an extension on his Krista lease, then sign him up.
“Sure.”
She touched him again, this time placing her soft lips on his. And it felt very real.
* * *
“DON’T LEAN FORWARD,” Will offered from his position astride Blackberry.
Krista had no idea that she was anything other than straight. She sat back, and up shot Molly’s head. Right, stay easy on the reins.
Will looked across the pasture they were supposed to arrive at the end of sometime before the snow flew. Well, she’d warned him that she would hand him the real Krista and he’d still insisted on this evening ride for a missing calf.
“Now what am I doing wrong?”
“Maybe not quite so far back.”
Krista tilted forward a titch. “There?”
“A little more.”
“There?”
“Try pulling your feet back.” He watched. “The other way.”
“Maybe,” Krista said, trying to keep up a smile, “we stop and you show me?”
He agreed, but that
operation happened in fits and starts. First, Krista was worried about pulling too hard on the reins, so Molly kept walking, and then because she pulled unevenly on the reins, Molly turned to face home. “I completely sympathize,” Krista muttered.
Will dismounted in one easy swing and gave instructions, which were as useful as his earlier ones. His hand flexed in obvious restraint. Eventually with Blackberry’s reins in one hand, he instructed her to let go of the reins and brought the horse to a stop by soft words and a tug on the strap that went behind her ears.
Still holding Blackberry’s reins, he rearranged Krista’s body.
“Now stay like that.” He stepped away, as if checking for the squareness of a picture frame. “Shoulders down.”
“I’ve taken dance classes that don’t require as many adjustments.”
He rubbed Molly’s neck. “Relax, Krista. Molly’s feeling your tension.”
“She is? How can you tell?”
He shrugged. “She’s getting a little tight in the face.”
Krista had no way of checkingMolly’s face, and she doubted she’d recognize “tension” even if she did.
“Put your weight into your heels,” he said as he swung himself back into the saddle—no mounting block for him—his right foot arcing through the air and slipping into the stirrup like he’d done it a thousand times. Well, he probably had.
This evening ride was proving to be every bit as bad as Krista had feared. Silver was on loan to an equestrian stable, so Will had chosen Molly, Laura’s horse. Except Molly was used to being ridden by an expert rider and she was confused by Krista’s mixed signals. And Molly was definitely not used to plodding along. Neither was Blackberry.
Which didn’t help any of them, horses or riders, feel less tense. If it wasn’t for that poor, shivering calf with its soft pink nose, alone and scared somewhere, she would’ve begged off the second they’d cleared the barn corral.
Will had tried to ease her into it. He’d taken her out to the grass corral so she could become more comfortable with the horses. But watching for brown piles and keeping a sharp eye on the horses’ massive haunches that could kick her into Tuesday had only made her jumpier than a rabbit. Will walked around these huge animals as if there was nothing to be afraid of.
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