Allie huffed a relieved chuckle and sagged in his arms, burying her face in his shoulder. This close, he could smell the flowery scent of her perfume, feel how warm her body was pressed against his. She was surprisingly light, which made him want to curl his arms around her, protect her.
"Are you hurt?" Morris asked. "Your ankle?"
Allie nodded her face into his shoulder. "But I think I can walk."
Morris frowned. She shouldn't put weight on it, not until they were sure she hadn't broken or torn anything.
"Cover your ears," he said to her.
She lifted her head, eyes narrowed in curiosity. "What?"
"I'm going to signal one of my men to come help. Cover your ears. It's loud."
She covered her ears, and Morris found himself missing the light touch of her hands on his shoulders. Then he released a piercing pattern of whistles. Any of his men within hearing distance would drop everything and come his direction.
He kept whistling until two men showed up.
"Doug, take Daisy back in, brush her down. Lewis, call Cam, see if he's nearby."
"Oh, you don't have to..." Allie protested. Morris leveled her a look and she closed her mouth.
His men took off at once, leaving Morris once again alone with Allie. He marched out of the ring, toward the house.
"We need to get your foot out of that boot before the swelling gets too bad. And we'll put some ice on it."
Allie nodded, letting her hands drift back to Morris' shoulders. She rested her head on his chest and relaxed. Morris’ head swam at the gesture of trust, wishing circumstances could be different.
They made it back to the house in record time. Morris walked up the back door that led to the mudroom. Without a word, Allie reached forward and opened the door for him. He kicked it shut behind them, wincing at the state of the house.
Shoes, jackets and hats were a mess on a bench next to the door. Laundry had been left in the basket atop the dryer. Papers and coffee cups were strewn all over the dining room table to the left as they walked through. Dishes were piled in the sink in the kitchen off to the right, a couple days past due.
He walked quickly, hoping Allie was too distracted by her foot to worry much about the farmhouse of a bachelor. He simply didn't have time to take care of everything on the ranch, and then come home after a long day and do his own chores. He kept meaning to hire a maid, but by the time he remembered, it was late at night and he would tell himself he’d take care of it first thing in the morning. He never did.
Entering the living room, Morris let out a relieved sigh. At least this room wasn't a pigsty. Sure, there were a couple of old magazines littering the coffee table, but he didn't spend enough time in here to make it looked as lived in as the rest of the house. The couch was a comfortable one, though. He knew that from experience.
"Here we are," Morris said, before lowering Allie down to the couch, propped against one arm. "I'm going to put some pillows under your foot and try to get that boot off."
Making his way to the other end of the couch, Morris pushed Allie's pant leg upward, out of the way. Feeling around, he could tell there was some swelling, but not enough yet to prevent slipping the boot off.
"This might hurt. Feel free to whimper and even scream, but if I don't get the boot off, it'll hurt worse."
"Go for it," she said. When Morris glanced up her way, he saw that strong, courageous girl once again.
"That's the spirit." And went to work.
Allie barely even whimpered before the boot was free, though he knew it must have pained her. Her hands were balled into tight fists around the edge of a pillow, her jaw clenched tight.
Morris tossed the offending boot to the ground and grabbed all the pillows and blankets he could find.
"Lay down on your back. We need to get your foot above the level of your heart to help prevent more swelling."
She did as he asked without question. He propped her leg up onto the teetering stack of pillows, adjusting them until she was comfortable.
"I'll be right back," he said. "Going to get that ice."
He rushed to the kitchen, throwing open the freezer and grabbing the large pack of peas. Wrapping it in a, thankfully, clean dishtowel, he grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen, and a glass of water, then headed back to the living room.
"Here we go," Morris said, placing the bottle and glass on the table. He gently laid the peas on Allie's ankle, hearing her slight hiss.
"Thank you," she said. "I feel like such an idiot."
"You're not an idiot. Happens to the best of us." Morris popped open the bottle of ibuprofen and held out two. "Take these."
Allie held out her hand and tossed them back. Morris passed her the water and she swallowed diligently. She held onto it, playing with the sides of the glass.
Morris watched her, feeling helpless. He knew he had done everything he could and that Allie would be okay, but he still worried. What if he hadn’t caught her? What if she never wanted to ride again?
The front door opened, interrupting Morris’ dreary thoughts. "Morris?" Cam called.
"Back here," Morris said, projecting his voice. "Living room."
Morris heard Cam's heavy footsteps make their way through the house before he finally entered the living room.
"What have we here?" Cam asked, slowing down by the couch. He put his emergency medical kit down on the floor before kneeling by Allie's foot. Then he turned to face Allie. "What happened?"
"I fell off the horse. My foot was caught in the stirrup," Allie said. Her voice sounded strong, though a bit embarrassed. "Sorry," she added.
"Don't be sorry. I'm glad I was nearby to take a look. Are you okay with me taking a look? I know I'm only a large animal vet, but I do know what a break or a sprain looks like."
Allie nodded and gave him a tentative smile. "Go ahead."
"Did you hurt anything else in the fall?" Cam asked, removing the ice pack and rolling Allie's sock down her foot. Morris could see the swelling, but no sign of discoloration. That was good.
And she had pretty feet, the toes painted the color of ripe cherries. Morris quickly looked away, back to Allie's face.
"No, um," Allie glanced up at Morris. "Morris caught me."
Cam's eyes flicked to Morris. He could see the interest, and heard the hint of amusement in his voice when he said, "Did he, now?"
"It was her first time on a horse," Morris said, hoping he didn’t sound too defensive. "I was spotting her."
"Good job," Cam said. Then sat back on his haunches, replacing the ice pack. "Looks like it's just a minor sprain. Nothing broken, nothing torn. Just let the swelling go down, try not to walk on it for the rest of the night. And take it easy over the next few days. Ibuprofen for pain and swelling. If the swelling doesn't go down, or it starts swelling up again after a day or two, I'd go to the hospital, have them take a couple of pictures."
"Thanks, doctor," Allie said, giving him a relieved smile.
"Please, call me Cam," he said. "I'd offer you a ride home, since I don't recommend driving, but I have to run off to another appointment."
"I'll take care of her," Morris said. At Cam's knowing look, Morris rolled his eyes, letting Cam know what he thought of Cam's conclusions.
"I can call Paige," Allie said, quickly. "I don't want to be a bother."
"You're not a bother at all," Morris said. "Just lay there and look pretty. I'll walk Cam out."
Cam and Morris walked to the front door in silence, both knowing they shouldn't say anything until they were outside. Sound traveled all too easily inside the house.
When Morris shut the door behind him, Cam turned back to him. "I just bet you want to take care of her," he said, amusement coloring his tone.
"Here we go," Morris muttered up to the sky. "I'll call Paige and take her home right away. As soon as the swelling goes down a little."
"Hey, I'm not judging," Cam said, lifting his hands up to the air in surrender. "I don't blame you. I'd love to have a pret
ty girl like that laid up on my couch."
Morris' jaw dropped. Then he snapped it shut and narrowed his eyes at Cam. "So when are you going to mend fences with Paige?"
Cam's teasing demeanor faded, replaced by irritation. "That's none of your business."
"Just like Allie is none of yours."
They stood there, sizing each other up. Then Cam sighed, his shoulders slumping forward.
"Sorry. I meant it in good fun. But I can see she already means a lot to you. I didn't mean to be disrespectful."
Morris was ready to deny everything, but something stopped him. It was then that he realized it was true. Allie already meant a great deal to him.
Taking a couple steps away, Morris exhaled harshly, raising his hands to rub them roughly along his face and in his hair. "I'm in trouble," he said on a groan.
Cam gave a light chuckle. "Not if you let it go where you want it to. I figure, God brought her here for a reason."
"That reason is to get to know her family. Not start dating a rancher. She has to go back to New York in a couple of weeks."
Cam remained silent, watching Morris pace back and forth. "She seems to be fitting in quite nicely here, though, isn't she?"
Morris nodded before he could stop himself. And Cam's point was made.
Just because Allie was from New York, that she lived in New York, didn't mean that she wanted to stay there.
But that was her decision. Morris would do everything he could to not get in the way of that.
"Thank you for coming," Morris said, sticking a hand out. "I'll take care of the bill."
"No charge. I can't legally do that since she's not a horse," Cam said on a laugh. "Have a good night. Call me if you need anything."
"Will do."
As Cam walked away, Morris found himself lost in thoughts that swirled around the woman on his couch.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Allie sat at the little nook in the kitchen, lightly kneading dough, like Paige had showed her.
"The trick is to keep your hands cold," Paige had said earlier, placing a bowl of ice water next to Allie's elbow.
They were making pies for dessert. Since Allie could walk around the farm, Paige took the opportunity to claim she needed help making pies and ushered Allie into the kitchen.
Yesterday afternoon had been the most exhilarating and more embarrassing time of Allie's life. She had loved being atop of Daisy, experiencing the world from a whole new vantage point. Morris had been an excellent and patient teacher, coaxing her gently to achieve the goals she had always wanted to. She already felt the urge to climb back up, though the fall definitely gave her pause.
After Morris and Cameron had left the house, Allie had rested on Morris couch for all of five minutes, already feeling as though she had taken up too much of Morris time. He had a ranch to run. He didn't need to be hovering over Allie to make sure she was alright. No. It would be best that she just went back to Greene Pastures, and hid in her room for the rest of the night. Her foot would be just fine in the morning.
Morris had walked back into the house as Allie was trying, and failing, to lift herself up off the couch with one working foot. She hadn't really thought about how she would hobble herself out the front door and drive home, but she had decided not to bother Morris another minute.
The incredulous look on Morris' face, followed by the lecture, almost made Allie laugh, had it not been inappropriate to do so. He had called her stubborn and even threatened to quit doing the lessons if she so much as budged. Then he had unceremoniously pushed her right back down on the couch, thrown her leg up onto the pillows, and turned on the TV.
"HGTV," he said, before thrusting the remote at her. "I don't know a single woman who wouldn't watch hours of it at a time. Here's the volume controls."
And he had left her. Helpless. Watching a show about a woman wanting to buy an apartment in Istanbul. She heard the faucet in the kitchen turn on.
Having no other option, Allie had sat there, enraptured at people buying and fixing up houses. She had even begun to fantasize what it would be like to have her own house, her own space, to do with as she pleased. Morris' living room had plenty of little things here and there that she would update if it had been her house.
That had been about the time she had realized she needed to leave.
Paige wandered over to her, checking her progress on the dough. "Good! You can stop, don't knead it too much, or you'll over agitate it."
"Got it," Allie said, removing her hands from the dough and wiping them off on a towel instead of walking over to the sink. Walking was getting easier, though everybody cautioned her to take it easy or it would get more irritated.
Paige passed her a rolling pin. "Coat this with flour and roll it out."
Allie nodded and went to work. It was a bit difficult to roll out the dough while sitting, so she stood, bracing one knee on the chair.
"So," Paige drawled, focused on her own mixing bowl. "I didn't get a chance to see you last night. How did everything go? Aside from the foot, of course."
When Allie had finally caught Morris attention and demanded she go home, it surprised her that Morris looked a bit, upset? Sad? She couldn't pinpoint the expression, just that he wasn't happy about it. Maybe he thought she would try to walk on her foot without him being there to supervise.
It hadn't been too difficult to get home, in the end. Morris had simply scooped her up, grabbed her boot and walked out the door to the car she had borrowed from Paige. He deposited her into the passenger seat, took the keys from her and slid into the driver seat.
"How will you get home?" Allie had asked.
Morris gave her a sideways glance. "I know people."
The answer had made her laugh aloud. His sense of humor was already growing on her. Even the sight of him made her feel lighter than she had in months.
There's nobody in New York like him, I’m sure of it.
When they had arrived at Greene Pastures, Morris had taken Allie straight up to her room and laid her on her bed, fully dressed, though he did slide her other cowboy boot off. The moment had been a quiet, intimate one and had left Allie breathless. Then Morris wished her a goodnight and left.
Not even ten minutes later and Eleanor had knocked on her door with a fresh ice pack, more ibuprofen, and dinner. Beef stew with a large dinner roll.
"It was fun," Allie said to Paige, nearly grunting with the effort of rolling the dough. "Being on top of the horse was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It's so high! And all the... movement." Allie stuck her hands out and waved them, trying to emulate the feel of Daisy walking beneath her.
Paige chuckled. "Yeah, takes some getting used to, but from what Morris tells us, you're a natural."
Allie felt heat rise up to her neck, her cheeks. "Certainly didn't feel that way when I fell off Daisy. Of course the horse is going to shift around. She moved and I lost my balance."
"It happens," Paige said with a shrug.
"That's what Morris said, too."
"And how was he?" Paige said, her voice picking up a thicker, slower drawl. There were very few southern accents in Washington, but that didn't mean the people didn't like to use it every once in a while.
Allie's flush deepened despite her best efforts. "He's a good teacher," she said, aiming for a neutral tone.
Paige snorted out a laugh. "I just bet he is," she said. "Come on, you can't tell me you didn't spend just as much time admiring him as you did the horse, or the ride."
Putting the rolling pin aside, Allie wiped her hands.
She didn't know what to say. Yes, she had admired Morris yesterday. Morris had been the best part about yesterday, if she were being completely honest with herself. He had been kind, gentle, sweet, and funny. He had cared when she expressed her fears. He had caught her when she had fallen. He had taken care of her after the fact, despite his frustrations at her stubbornness.
Allie didn't think she would ever forget the feeling of being carried in his arms.
The warm, spicy scent of him that surrounded her as he pulled her close. The feeling of falling hadn't stopped when she landed in his arms. She didn't know if it would ever stop.
Could she open up to Paige? Paige, a stranger, though her sister by blood. Paige had been nothing but welcoming and friendly to her since she had arrived. But Paige also meddled in things she shouldn't.
"Promise not to tell him?" Allie asked, her voice quiet.
Paige squealed behind her. Just a soft, light sound, gone in an instant. "Of course. I promise."
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