Summer on Main Street

by Crista McHugh

  Ben positioned her hand. Just the feel of her skin under his palm sent a shock wave of his own through his body. What the hell was he thinking, offering to teach her how to ride, spending more time with her?

  “Okay, now pull yourself up, and get your right foot in the other stirrup. Not too far, just rest the ball of your foot there. You want your heel lower than your toe.”

  Hayden mounted up smoothly, got her foot settled, but gripped onto the horn as if she expected Roxy to go into a fit of bucks and twists. She still bit her lip, but her attention was solidly on the task at hand.

  “You’ll keep your balance with your legs, through your upper legs and knees. Sit up straight and tall. I’m going to give you the reins now, so you’re going to have to let go of the horn, there you go. Hold the reins just over and in front of the horn, not too loose. And lay your other hand on your leg. I know you’re going to want to use the horn, but don’t. Remember, balance with your legs. I’ll be right next to you.”

  She bit her lip in concentration, staring down at her hands. Her knuckles were white.

  “Relax, honey,” Ben said lowly, laying a hand on her thigh.

  The touch did nothing to relax him, though. Made him want more. He wondered what his chances were of getting another kiss from her. This time he should be the one to initiate it. Yes, that would be the way to go. He’d seen the look in her eyes when he came into the dining room that morning, that deer in the headlights look and the pink that filled her cheeks. Not the same girl he’d stood with under the moonlight. He wanted that girl back. But he’d certainly take the one sitting up on the horse. He pulled his hand away and turned to his own horse, Ricochet, who was tied to the fence next to them. He swung easily into the saddle and reined the horse around.

  “Why don’t we head down the drive? We can check the culvert while we’re at it.”

  “Sounds good,” Hayden replied nervously. Her eyes remained on the hand that held tightly to the reins. Her other hand crept toward the horn.

  “Don’t touch the horn,” Ben warned. “Give her a little squeeze with your heels. You’re doing an excellent job. Since you made it a good distance yesterday with Bugs, I really don’t think you’re going to have trouble getting Roxy down the drive and back. It’s all flat terrain, no curves to speak of. Maybe in a few days we’ll get you on a trail ride.”

  “You think very highly of me.” Hayden laughed. “Of course I thought I was much better than I actually am. Maybe I just dreamt up all those riding lessons at camp.”

  Ben looked at her and was rewarded by her twinkling brown eyes. There, with the sunlight flooding down over her, her hair picked up tiny flecks of chestnut and her eyes had shifted to a shade closer to hazel.

  “And you underestimate yourself greatly,” he countered with a wink.

  They headed down the long drive silently, passing the fenced-in prairie, with its long waves of grass blowing in the gentle breeze. Several dozen head of buffalo grazed about a quarter of a mile away. The dark brown animals were very popular with the guests.

  Clouds rode low on the horizon, carrying the possibility of another storm, but they didn’t look as vicious as the ones that smothered the landscape the day before.

  “What else besides running a bed and breakfast did you do back in Maine?” he asked, breaking the silence.

  “Painted. I sell my work in the gallery in town. I’ll never be a millionaire, but I love doing it. I wish I could do it full time, but my stepfather and I run the bed and breakfast by ourselves. When my mother became too ill to work, we hired a part-timer, but we still have our hands full. Carl is in a wheelchair as well so it adds to the challenge. We make it work though. There are two girls who come in in our busy season to clean rooms and such.”

  “But you were able to take time to leave to come here?”

  Hayden shrugged. “Carl insisted. He thought I needed to sort things out here and meet my grandmother. He just told me to make sure I came home, was afraid that South Dakota would lure me away from Maine. Or maybe he was more worried my family out here would keep me.”

  But Ben didn’t feel the lightness in her words. Her relationship with her grandmother was one thing, but she still hadn’t said much about her intentions as far as Jesse was concerned. He thought of his godfather. Jesse and Ben’s father had been best friends since grade school, and Ben couldn’t remember a time in his life when Jesse wasn’t involved somehow. Now a prominent lawyer and Burton’s mayor, Jesse, along with his wife Iris, had been his biggest support system when Ben’s father had passed away, followed not long after by his mother. Every step of the way, Jesse had helped him, emotionally, and finally financially when Ben decided to turn The Painted Horse Ranch from a struggling working ranch into one of the premier Paint Horse ranches in the country. If it hadn’t been for the man, Ben would’ve probably sold out and been working somewhere else. He owed too much to Jesse and didn’t want to see him hurt.

  If Hayden was to be believed, and truthfully he found it hard to deny, then his godfather was not only an adulterer, had also gotten a teenager pregnant while his own wife was pregnant. Then took her as far as Indiana and left her in a hotel somewhere with nothing but the clothes on her back.

  The Jesse he knew wouldn’t have done such a thing. He was the most devoted father Ben knew, loyal husband, always willing to lend a hand.

  It just didn’t jive.

  “Just be careful how you sort some of these things out,” he replied, trying not to make it sound like a warning. “I don’t want people getting hurt.”

  “I just want to talk to Jesse. I never expected to have to deal with this and I certainly never intended for this to become public knowledge,” Hayden said angrily. “I don’t intend to wreck any homes. I just want to go home.”

  “Just like that. You come here, get involved in Lu’s life, disrupt Jesse’s just to turn around and leave again.”

  Ben knew he was being unfair. After all, she had a right to do what she thought best. Her life wasn’t here in Burton. It was on the rocky coast of Maine, with a view of a lighthouse from her window. The damned thing about it was that he didn’t want her to leave. Not only for Lu’s sake, but also for his own. He’d never felt such an instant, strong connection with a woman before, and the thought of her leaving for good left him cold and empty.

  “It’s not like I’d never have contact with my grandmother again,” Hayden explained. “Not like I’d never visit her. But I can’t just leave my life out in Maine. I’m needed out there too.”

  They came to the end of the drive where the hard-packed surface had deteriorated away under the force of the storm the day before. The water had died down to a trickle, but over a quarter of the driveway had been washed away. A car could still pass, but there would be plenty of work to be done to put it right again.

  “Bring Roxy to a halt, just pull back a little on the reins,” Ben instructed. “Keep her right there.”

  Ben dismounted and walked to the edge of the washout. He’d have to send a few men down to do some makeshift repairs. If possible, he’d take Hayden out in the old Jeep he kept for emergencies. Unless he could convince her to stay for another night.

  He looked back at her, sitting so still in the saddle. She’d lost the frightened look; her hands weren’t quite so tight on the reins. She fingered a lock of Roxy’s mane. Not a bad start.

  “Let’s head back. I’ll send some guys out to get working on patching this up. Maybe we’ll have to watch the sunset some other time.”

  Ben was pleased to see disappointment flash in Hayden’s eyes, her lips tilted down just a touch.

  “Unless you want to stay, that is. I’m sure Lu wouldn’t mind.”

  Hayden gulped, her cheeks darkening in the shade cast by the brim of the hat. Ben chuckled as he swung himself back into Ricochet’s saddle.

  “Come on, let’s get you back. Maybe I’ll teach you how to rope.”

  “Um, sure, that sounds like a terrific idea.” But the tone in her
voice told him she thought the direct opposite.

  ****

  As soon as they returned to the stable yard, Hayden carefully dismounted. Though it wasn’t a long way down, and the docile mare didn’t move a hair, Ben kept his hand at her waist as if he thought she’d go crashing to the ground.

  Even after she had both feet safely on the ground, his hand didn’t move from her side. She looked up at him from underneath the wide brim of her hat. What did he want from her? How could he deny the resemblance between her and Jesse? No doubt he’d protect the man from her, if need be, but the fire that lit his eyes, the invitations for sunsets, contradicted his loyalty to Jesse. Her feelings were no less conflicting. She wanted to go home. She missed the ocean and her lighthouse and the simplicity of her life in Clarksport. Yet she felt an odd compulsion to stay, to learn more of this strange land, get to know her roots, remain as close to possible to Ben as she could.

  It was plain crazy. She pulled away, putting her guard back up. “Okay, you gonna show me how to unsaddle the horse?”

  Ben made a move toward her, reaching out, his fingers just inches from her cheek.

  “Ben, thank goodness you’re back!”

  Amelia came down off the porch with speed that surprised Hayden. The housekeeper never moved quickly. She seemed as laid back as the ranch she worked on.

  Ben’s hand dropped as he swung away from Hayden to face Amelia.

  “Sally just called. Lu had another spell. Sally took her to the hospital.”

  Hayden’s heart sank. “What’s wrong? Is she okay? I need to get to her!”

  Ben took hold of her shoulder. The mere feel of his hand rubbing against her soothed her slightly.

  “She’s okay now, honey,” Amelia replied. “Her heart. It happens. But this one scared Sally. She was trying to reach Hayden, to let her know.”

  “I need to get to her,” Hayden repeated, turning her gaze up to Ben. “Is there any way we can get off this ranch?”

  Ben nodded. “We can take the jeep. It’ll be a bumpy road getting over that washout, but we can do it. I’ll have the boys patch it up while we’re gone.”

  After a little off-roading, which showed off Ben’s skill as a driver, they were headed toward Burton and the medical center. Hayden gripped the side of the seat for dear life, even though the seat belt held her securely inside the old vehicle as it sped down the old highway. They were halfway to the hospital when she understood that it wasn’t Ben’s driving that drove fear into her heart, it was the thought of losing her grandmother so soon after meeting her. She couldn’t bear it, not so soon after losing her mother.

  With the wind pushing against her face, her tears dried as soon as they sprung from her eyes. Who’d have thought she could become this attached to the woman so quickly? It seemed impossible. She never formed attachments so fast. Apparently there something in the South Dakota air changed that, because now two people moved up the ranks from acquaintances to be kept at arm’s length, to friends who would be painful to leave behind.

  Hayden pulled her hat down farther on her forehead, sure the driving wind would rip it from her head. Ben had the Jeep floored at breakneck speed and she had doubts that the ancient vehicle would make it without splintering into a million tiny pieces. She shot a glance at his grim profile. No doubt the thoughts going through his head matched her own. After all, he and Lu had been much closer.

  Ben looked back at her, his lips turned up in a smile and his right hand let go of the wheel to take hold of hers. He gave it a firm squeeze, but instead of releasing it he held on tight.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he bellowed against the howl of the wind.

  And sitting there, with her hand in his, somehow she knew it would be. She gave him a weak smile and he squeezed her hand again.

  Within minutes the hospital came into sight, one of the largest buildings on the landscape. Not nearly as large as the hospitals she was used to. The low, sprawling building blazed white under the sun. Ben pulled the Jeep into the visitor parking area and Hayden was out before he even cut the engine, heading across the blacktop toward the main entrance. Ben quickly caught up with her and led the way, bypassing the front desk. He headed straight for the cardiac unit. Apparently he’d been there before.

  Even the nurses seemed to know him and directed him to the room Lu occupied. Sally sat in a padded rocker by the window, looking half-asleep. Her eyes widened as she locked her attention on Ben. Hayden didn’t miss the look in her blue eyes. She might as well have been drooling over the man.

  With disgust, Hayden turned away from her and toward her grandmother.

  Lu looked tiny in the hospital bed, her white hair pulled up in a makeshift bun, with tendrils falling around her forehead and cheeks.

  Somewhere she’d gone from healthy pink to an ashen pale hue. Hayden’s heart took a plunge. She pushed past Ben and settled at her grandmother’s side.

  “Grandma, I’m here,” she whispered.

  Gran opened her faded blue eyes. They fluttered, as if the mere effort took more strength than she could afford. A tiny smile lifted the corners of her pale pink lips. “Rosalyn, honey. You’ve come home.”

  Chapter Four

  Ben gazed down at Hayden as she slept, curled up as best she could in the little futon chair next to Lu’s hospital bed. She clutched at a thin white blanket, had it pulled up just below her chin. Her dark brown hair lay like a light cloud on her cheek. The morning sunrays that filtered through the window lit strands into glowing auburn highlights. He longed to push the loose curls away so he could see the way her lashes fanned out on her cheeks. A sweet smile played on her dark pink lips and he wondered what she was dreaming.

  Which reminded him that he never did get that kiss he wanted yesterday. And they’d missed the sunset too. But some things just couldn’t be helped. Lu’s health certainly took priority over sunsets.

  Lu slept just as soundly, reclining against two pillows. Some of her color had returned and her chest rose and fell in a normal rhythm. Though she still had a tube resting just beneath her nose, distributing oxygen, she looked as normal as could be. He took a deep breath, relief flooding through his heart and head. He sure wasn’t ready for Lu to leave this world and though he wouldn’t have admitted it out loud the day before, knowing she was ill scared the hell out of him.

  Content that Lu was out of immediate danger, Ben turned his attention back to Hayden. He wanted to let her sleep. He’d slept in plenty of hospitals in his time. First when his father took ill ten years ago and then his mother three years after. One had to be a contortionist to be able to sleep in one of those chairs, even when it was folded out to its full five-foot length. The pillow Hayden’s head rested on had no more substance than a folded towel. She probably didn’t get more than a few hours of sleep, with the nurses coming in every ten minutes or so to adjust tubes and bags, check blood pressure, and do whatever business they needed to do.

  As soon as Lu was released, he wanted her to go back with him to The Painted Horse Ranch instead of Primrose Inn. As her nurse, Sally had proven capable to take care of Lu when Lu was well, but Ben didn’t like the thought of the two of them—no, the three of them, including Hayden—alone at Primrose. Call it male pride but he wanted the women close to him so he could take care of Lu.

  Convincing Lu of that would prove to be a challenge. The woman had a stubborn streak a mile wide and wouldn’t easily give up her home in favor of a guestroom at The Painted Horse Ranch. Ben hoped he’d be able to get Hayden’s support and backing, but gazing at her now, he wondered what life would be like with her living under the same roof.

  It would give him plenty of chances to show off the sunset.

  As he thought of that, Hayden’s eyes fluttered open. She reached up and pushed her hair away from her face and rolled over, still unaware that Ben stood so close. To give her some privacy, Ben backed up to the opposite side of Lu’s bed and sat on the round little stool used by the doctor or nurses.

  But he
still kept his eyes on hers; ready to look away as soon as she saw him. She sat up, turned to look at Lu and locked eyes with him.

  So much for looking the other way. For a second her eyes widened and she held her breath. Then she let it out slowly and shifted her gaze away from his and back to her grandmother.

  “She looks so much better.” She sighed, reaching out to tentatively touch Lu’s fingers. “How long have you been here?”

  “Not long. Two minutes tops. I brought you a bag of clothes so you can change if you want. And a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and shampoo, I think.”

  Hayden smiled, but still didn’t look at him. “A godsend. Thank you. Where’s Sally?”

  “She’s back at Primrose. I’d like to discuss some things with you over breakfast.”

  “All right.”

  Ben got to his feet. “I’ll let you get ready then. I’ll be out in the waiting area when you’re finished.”

  Evidently Hayden wasn’t the kind of woman who required an hour in the bathroom to clean up. Fifteen minutes after he left Lu’s room, she joined him in the empty waiting area, her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail. The royal blue T-shirt Sally had picked out for her hugged her breasts and clung to her curving waist. Her white capri pants had tiny blue flowers embroidered along the hem and did wonders to showcase her well-rounded hips. He stifled a chuckle and wondered if Sally had realized just how good Hayden would look in the outfit that she’d picked out for her. It surprised him that Sally hadn’t selected the most god-awful garment she could find for her attractive cousin. He’d seen more than a little jealousy in Sally’s dealings with Hayden.

  He stood with a grin, forcing himself to stay focused on her face, though that didn’t ease the attraction he felt for her, had felt since the moment he set eyes on her.

  “I don’t want to go far,” Hayden said as he reached her side. “Just in case Gran needs me.”

  “That’s okay. I hear the cafeteria makes a mean stack of pancakes.”