Ladd Haven

by Dianne Venetta

  Spirit was a real beauty, a chocolate brown Quarter Horse that reminded him of his own stallion kept at his parents’ place. Both were tall and strong. Strong-bodied and strong-willed. Troy moved to Spirit’s opposite side and repeated the gentle toss of rope over his body. The horse didn’t flinch. “That’s a boy,” he rewarded softly, maintaining contact with the animal, mindful of the ears which were twitching. One went back and forth, stiffened. “Nothing going on here,” Troy told him, lightly patting the horse on the neck. The animal pushed into Troy but Troy held firm. “It’s okay. I hear you but I’m not doing anythin’ to hurt you,” he said, following up with a stroke along the animal’s body. “I just want you to feel it. Just want you to get used to it, that’s all.”

  Delaney had asked him to train the animal for riders. She’d received the horse from a friend of hers in Georgia, but it came with a warning. The animal wasn’t suitable for trail riding. Didn’t matter. Delaney fell in love with the horse at first sight and bought him on the spot—something Troy totally understood. This boy was special. You could see it in his eyes. Animal and man were equally tuned in to what the other was doing. So far, Spirit was proving an easy train.

  With measured movements Troy wrapped the rope around the animal’s front hoof and lifted. The animal resisted, stepping forward. “It’s okay, buddy.” Troy leaned down and brought the hoof up again, repeating his rope wrap. Spirit eyed him but allowed him to hold it steady in the air for several seconds. “That’s right,” Troy said with a smile. “Didn’t hurt a bit, did it?” He proceeded to repeat the move with the other hoof. “Good job, Spirit.”

  Yesterday the animal refused to let him loop and lift. Troy gave a vigorous stroke down the length of the animal’s snout. Today was an improvement. “Excellent.”

  But next came the most risky move. Dialing in, Troy watched the animal’s head as he moved the rope and lightly brushed it over and around the flanks. The horse turned his head and stepped away from Troy. “That’s it, boy. All done. Nothin’ but a simple brush,” Troy said, stepping with him. The rear was a sensitive area. If the horse became uncomfortable with the feel of the rope, he might kick. But Troy needed the animal to understand that if he let his defenses down around people, no one was going to hurt him. He was safe. It was the key to training an animal for use around people.

  Troy tried again—keeping his pressure light and tender, reassuring. This time the animal moved in a circular fashion with him, allowing Troy to maintain his rope contact. Troy pulled the rope from his body and that’s when he saw her. His heart stopped—bucked out of control. Casey was hovering by the entrance to the barn. The horse circled him, momentarily blocking his view.

  What was she doing here? Gently moving the horse from his line of vision, Troy was stunned to see her approach. Instinctively, his gaze dropped to her stomach. With the sun at her back, he could see the outlines of her belly through the sheer material, the sticks that were her legs disappearing into black boots. Next to him the horse tugged at the rope but Troy held firm. He was busy right now.

  As Casey neared, he tried to read the expression on her face, the strange look in her eyes. She seemed uncertain about him, like she didn’t know him the way she did but was advancing anyway. Like a stranger. Recalling their night together, the fact that she’d been with Jimmy, he resented her for making him feel like the bad guy. Drawing Spirit close, Troy shook it off. Why was she here? What did she want?

  “Troy.”

  “Casey,” he replied coolly, avoiding the impulse to stare at her stomach, the immensity of what it meant to him. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk to you.” She glanced up at the horse, shuttering her gaze in a timid sort of way.

  “About what?” he asked. And what did she have to be timid about? She was the one holding the gun. She was the one who’d fired first. Impatience got the better of him. “I have work to do,” he said, leading Spirit to a wood railing. From the corner of his eye, he saw her follow him. Desire and longing tore at him, mingling with anger and hurt. Why was she here? Hadn’t she said enough already? The horse snorted, jerking its head up as Troy tied him to the top board. He turned. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  Blue eyes quieted. “I came to tell you the baby...” she began, but her voice fell away.

  The baby. Disgust roiled through him. Jimmy’s baby. Troy stepped away from her, adjusted his hat forward. The way she was looking at him—her gaze filled with longing, want—it was too close to the way she looked at him the night before he left.

  “The baby is yours.”

  “What?”

  Troy dropped his gaze to her stomach as she took a step toward him. “The baby,” she murmured, cradling her belly with both hands, exposing the size and dimension of her stomach clear as day. “It’s not Jimmy’s. It’s yours.”

  “What are you talking about?” Troy stepped back, grappling for reason. What did she mean the baby was his? It didn’t make sense. She and Jimmy were dating. She’d said it was his. Why was she telling him this now? “I don’t believe you,” he snapped.

  “It’s true.”

  “You said it was Jimmy’s.”

  Sadness punctured her gaze. “I lied to you at Ashley’s.”

  Troy walked away from her, a tide of emotion choking his thoughts. “I don’t understand,” he said over his shoulder, unable to look at her. Part of him wanted it to be true. Part of him feared it was a lie. “Jimmy said you two were dating.”

  “We aren’t.”

  Troy whirled on her. “Why would he say it then if it ain’t true?”

  “He was trying to protect me.”

  “Protect you—from what? Me?” Troy spit. He turned from her, tired of feeling the bad guy, someone to be afraid of. He wasn’t, yet that’s how she was making him feel.

  “From myself.”

  The fragile quality of her reply shattered his anger. When he returned to face her, the beaten look of defeat that met him split Troy in two. What was going on? First she was mad, now she was sad. “Dad gum, Casey. You’re not making any sense.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.” She brushed strands of silky black hair behind an ear, stepped closer. The stallion he’d been training was watching them, its ears forward, dark eyes glancing at them as he angled away from them.

  The baby was his? Was she for real?

  “I just... When you left...” Casey narrowed in on him with a pop of emotion, “I was so hurt and angry. You didn’t ask me to come with you. You didn’t tell me where you were going. I had to find it out from Felicity, because you didn’t have the decency to tell me yourself!”

  Surprised by the hit, Troy knew she was right. He should have been the one to tell her, but he didn’t know where he’d end up when he left, and dragging her around the country while he looked for a job wasn’t gonna happen. She deserved better than that. They’d talked about this!

  “Then I found out I was pregnant”—she continued through his silence—“and I was scared. I was really scared. Jimmy was there for me but as my friend. We were never more than friends, I swear.”

  Old resentments flared. “Not cause he didn’t wanna be more.”

  Casey shook her head. “Jimmy is my friend, Troy. He’s been good to me. I don’t want you to hold that against him.”

  Troy cursed under his breath, hating the void he’d left for Jimmy to fill. It was his fault the guy ever had the first chance with Casey.

  “Then all of a sudden you showed up, and I didn’t know what to do. I, I...” She fumbled, fiddled with a tie on her dress. “I didn’t want you to know.” Tears moistened her eyes. “I didn’t want you to know because I didn’t want you to leave me again.”

  “Leave you?” Troy rushed to her, searching for reason. Grabbing hold of her arms, he forced her to look him in the eye. “But I never left you, Casey. Don’t you get that? I never left you.”

  “You moved to Kentucky!” she shrieked, unsettling the horse.

  Tr
oy calmed his voice. “I told you I’d be back. I went there to prove myself, to show you I could be a better man. I thought you understood.” Her gaze darted back and forth across his. “It was you who turned away from me. I told you I’d be back and I am. Only I came back earlier than I planned to,” he said, the admission a stain on his heart. “Because I quit.”

  “Why?”

  The doubt in her eyes hurt him. There was still a part of her that believed he was a loser who couldn’t hold down a job. Well, he might be a loser when it came to quitting but not when it came to working with horses. He was good at what he did. Horses were part of him. They were in his blood. He could beat any challenge thrown his way when it came to training, but his heart?

  That was a different story. He thought he could handle the challenge of being away, but he couldn’t. “Being away from you was too hard. I told myself it was for the best. I told myself it was the only way to prove to you that I could do a good job. When you didn’t return my calls, I figured you were mad, that your momma was probably turning you against me. I figured you needed time, and once I got settled in with the new ranch, I’d call and you’d move to Kentucky.”

  Casey slackened within his grasp. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Mr. Foster said you were okay so I figured it couldn’t be that bad.”

  “You called him?”

  Troy nodded.

  “He never told me.”

  Troy stilled. “He probably didn’t believe me.”

  “Oh, Troy...”

  Her pity only made it worse. Mr. Foster was right not to believe him. Troy hadn’t shown him anything different. Why believe he’d changed? Troy shrugged it off. “It don’t matter. I couldn’t do it. I had to come back. I love you, Casey.” Then it hit him. The baby was his.

  He was going to be a father.

  A thousand thoughts ripped through him at once. He was going to have a baby. He was a stable hand, making minimum wage. He didn’t have a place to live. He had a wife and child to support. A baby. He honed in on Casey. Would she marry him?

  “What’s the matter, Troy? Are you upset now that you know?”

  Realizing she was misreading him, he said, “No, Casey. I’m not upset.”

  “You’re not?”

  “You’re not really dating Jimmy, right?”

  She shook her head. Looking her directly in the eye, he asked, “You never slept with him?”

  “Never.”

  Troy swung an arm under her legs and swept her from her feet. “How could I be upset? I’m going to be a daddy!” he exclaimed, mindful of her swell of body between them.

  Casey clung to his neck. “You’re happy?”

  “On my honor.” Troy beamed, euphoria pouring into him. Casey wasn’t with Jimmy. She was carrying his child. “I’m happy as man ever could be.” He kissed her without thinking, and the feel of her mouth caught him unprepared. Desire surged. Holding her slender body in his arms, taking in the light scent of her hair, her skin, brought so many memories and feelings rushing to the surface that his head swam. How many times had he thought about this moment? Holding her again, kissing her, touching her? Hunger and need coursed through him. Too long. It had been too long. She tasted so good...

  Casey pulled away. Eyes wide, lips swollen, she held him in her gaze. “Troy, we can’t do this here.”

  A sudden hilarity jolted through him. “Dad gum, Casey. I’m not trying to make love to you—I’m kissing you!”

  A tinge colored her cheeks. “I know, but—” She glanced around. A few men stood near the barn entrance, watching with heightened amusement. Spirit whinnied in protest of being neglected.

  Troy set her down to her feet. He straightened her dress, careful to avoid contact with her stomach. He didn’t want to hurt her. “I’ll leave you be.” Flecks of alarm filtered into her gaze. “For now.” He pecked her nose. “But later—”

  It occurred to him there might not be a later. She was pregnant. She couldn’t do anything while she was pregnant. He peered at her. Could she?

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing.” Troy laughed at himself, warmth spreading through his chest, filling him with a happiness he hadn’t known in too long. He was gonna have to learn about pregnant women, having babies, the works! He was going to be a father. A daddy. It was a thrill he never expected to affect him quite this hard and strong. Brushing the hair from her eyes, he traced her brow. “You know you have to marry me now.”

  She giggled. “What?”

  “You heard me. You have to marry me.” Casey glanced away, seemingly uncertain as what to do next. “I have to buy you a ring first. I don’t have a lot of money, but I have saved up some from my last job.”

  “Troy, you don’t have to spend your money on a ring for me.”

  “Yes, I do.” Offended she would even suggest such a thing, he added, “I’m going to buy you a diamond and you’re going to wear it when we get married. You can help pick it out, if you want.” She giggled again and this time the sound reached straight into his heart. “Dad gum, Casey. You’re not supposed to laugh when a man proposes.”

  “Is that what you’re doing?” she asked coyly, a bright smile embedded on her face.

  Troy dropped to one knee. An outbreak of nerves wracked him as he took her hand. “Yes, ma’am, I am.” His pulse ricocheted like a pellet in a tin can as he asked, “Casey Melody Owens, will you marry me?”

  Her eyes glistened. Placing her free hand over theirs together, she whispered, “Yes, Troy. Yes.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Casey swung in through the front door of Fran’s Diner, flying higher than she had in months. Troy was excited. Happy. He wanted to get married. A swarm of butterflies took wing in her chest. Married!

  Heading straight for the kitchen, she had to tell Jimmy. She had to explain to him why she told Troy, that it was the right thing to do. She knew Jimmy wasn’t fond of Troy, didn’t care for him because he believed Troy was a selfish hothead. At the same time, Jimmy understood her desire for them get back together. He knew she still loved Troy but felt taking him back was the wrong thing to do. Troy would only end up hurting her. Well, he was wrong. After clearing the air between them, Casey finally understood. Troy had never left her. He might have gone about relocating in a way she disliked, but in his heart he never left her. He simply crossed state lines for better opportunity.

  Coming to a stop at the food counter, Casey searched for sight of Jimmy. Through the service window, she glimpsed his mismatched head of hair on the opposite side of the kitchen, next to the sinks. His turned and their eyes locked. She smiled, he smiled, and for a second they were the same old friends they had been for the last six months. Then a realization deepened his features. Casey’s heart caught in her throat. He knew.

  Jimmy combed a hand through his hair, looked around his immediate vicinity and then retreated from sight. And he wasn’t happy.

  “Casey.”

  Startled by the voice, she turned to find Felicity standing by her side. “Are you here for dinner?”

  “Um...” She glanced back to the kitchen, “I don’t know.”

  Felicity turned her mouth down in a mock frown. “You don’t know?”

  Seeing no more sign of Jimmy, lead poured into her chest. Jimmy wasn’t happy. She’d chosen Troy, but couldn’t they still be friends? Glancing back toward the kitchen, Casey glimpsed a busboy depositing a load of dishes into the sink where Jimmy had been standing. She slumped with a sigh. “I was here to talk to Jimmy but it looks like he’s busy.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Actually,” Casey replied, inhaling deeply, “I told Troy the baby was his.”

  Felicity grabbed hold of her shoulders. “You did?”

  She nodded, encouraged by the excitement in Felicity’s voice. “I did.”

  “And?” she asked, brimming with eager anticipation.

  Casey broke into a grin. “He wants to get married.”

  Felicity enfolded C
asey in a hug and squeezed. “I’m so happy for you!”

  “Thanks,” she replied. “Me, too.”

  Pulling away, Felicity asked, “What made you change your mind?”

  Casey shrugged. “I thought about what you said. Whatever happens, the choice should be his. It’s his child, too.”

  Felicity flung a glance toward the kitchen then back to Casey. “You did the right thing. I know it was hard, but you still did it. And now look. You’re getting married!” she squealed.

  Part of Casey cringed. She didn’t want Jimmy to hear the news this way, like she hadn’t come to him first. Struck by a thought, Casey lingered on the notion. Jimmy had asked her to marry him. It was a pity proposal, but he’d done it with a sincere heart and a genuine desire to help. Casting a limp gaze toward the kitchen, Casey was saddened by his response. Jimmy was one of the good ones.

  “Felicity!”

  Both turned. Travis waved her over to a booth. “Food’s here.”

  “In a minute,” she called back to him.

  Casey wondered at the mild grunt that accompanied the reply. Was she mad at Travis?

  “Come join us,” Felicity invited.

  “Oh, I don’t think so.” Casey gave a dismissive wave. “I’m not really hungry.”

  “You’re here, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, but I was here for a different reason...” Unwilling to explain how she managed to ruin Jimmy’s day, she let go of further explanation. Maybe she could still talk to Jimmy. Once his shock wore off.

  “C’mon, Travis won’t bite. Besides, you and he are going to be family!” Felicity squealed again, more excited than Casey would have believed possible. Casting a wary gaze toward Travis, she groaned inwardly. Oh, brother—literally. Though not interested in sharing her good news with Travis, Casey followed Felicity over to their table.