Charity came to her mother and kissed her cheek. “In the beginning he wasn’t so bad. Just later on when he realized it was more fun to bet on horses than to care for them. Hey, a lot of people have it a lot worse. We always had each other and the farm. Think of now. Think of the good times ahead. The wedding. Patience graduating from college. The new foals due anytime. No regrets.”
Charity nodded toward the door. “I’ll be in the stables. If you want to come visit, that would be wonderful.”
She watched her mother head for the front porch, then Charity climbed the stairs. She hadn’t seen Mama like this in a long, long time. Hopeful. She stood in the middle of her room and took a deep breath, closed her eyes and savored the moment.
Right now, this very instant, everything seemed perfect. It didn’t happen often, not often at all, but holding on to the perfect times is what got her through the tough ones. That she knew from experience.
THE NEXT MORNING Charity stood at the back window sipping orange juice and watching spring come to Kentucky. The hills, turning blue with new grass, were dotted with patches of yellow buttercups, bluebells, purple cress, red buds and pink lady’s slippers. Her whole being seemed to come alive just taking it all in. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. But somewhere deep inside she wanted to have someone to share it with. Someone to care about, and who cared about her. Deeply, intimately.
But that didn’t look as if it would happen. And…and that was okay. No pity parties. Heck, after what she’d been through to save the farm she’d be downright delirious with happiness for the rest of her days just taking care of the horses and watching the farm prosper. Right?
She pulled in a deep breath. Of course, right! Everything was great.
Just look how things were going with Savannah and Tanner. That situation couldn’t be better. She’d kept Savannah away from Tanner so she wouldn’t be inspired by his tales of Alaska, and she’d kept Tanner from asking Savannah to go flying and reminding her what she was missing by marrying Nathan.
Today brought round two. Savannah had to work, so that would keep her from Tanner till the evening. But then what?
Savannah darted into the kitchen, snatched the juice from Charity’s hand, downed it in one gulp and headed for the back door, calling, “Don’t forget the barn dance at Thistledown.”
Charity ran after her sister. “Dance? What dance?”
Savannah paused by her Cavalier and kicked a loose hubcap back into place. “Nathan’s throwing a prewedding get-together. Isn’t he the greatest! We’ll have fun, and I’ll finally get a chance to talk with Tanner.” She winked at Charity. “Since you’ve been keeping him all to yourself.”
Savannah drove off in a cloud of dust and oil-burning exhaust and Charity gazed at the retreating car. She’d wondered what to do that night and now she knew. Keep Tanner away from that dance. “Why does there have to be a dance?”
“What dance?” Patience asked as she came up beside her, dragging brush half her size.
“Guess I’m not the only one out of the loop. Nathan’s throwing it over at Thistledown. Tonight.” She nodded at the brush. “What’s that?”
“Verbascum thapsus. Mullein. For coughs. Mama needed some.” Patience grinned. “How’s the Enthralling Tanner Plan coming? You going to enthrall him at the dance? That should be interesting since you’ve never been to a dance, have you?”
“Once.” In junior high, when she helped serve punch rather than be a wallflower. “Keep it down.”
“Tanner’s not here.”
“You’d be surprised where that man shows up. And as for the enthralling…it’s coming along.”
She glanced at Charity’s jeans. “Well, you’re not doing much of anything in those. Do you even own a dress?”
Charity grinned and winked. “No, but Savannah does. We’re about the same size.”
Patience laughed and eyed Charity’s chest. “Not everywhere. The waist might fit, but how do you intend to fill out the front?”
“We can trade you in for a brother, you know. It’s not too late.”
Patience laughed again and walked to the house, dribbling verbas something after her. “Oh, yes, it is.”
Nothing like a sibling to lay the facts out plain and clear whether you wanted to hear them or not. But what the heck was she going to do about them?
Later that evening, when everyone else had gone to the dance, Charity stood in the middle of Savannah’s closet with two questions still hounding her. The first was how to keep Tanner and Savannah apart. She could keep Tanner away from the dance altogether, or—if that didn’t work—keep him too busy to get to Savannah. That would mean dancing and flirting and whatever else it took to keep Tanner occupied.
Trouble was, when other girls were learning the finer points of keeping a man occupied, she’d been mucking stalls and memorizing bloodlines. Which brought her to the second problem.
She studied the contents of the closet—fashion mecca of the South, wooing central—and stripped to her underwear. She stuffed her bra with tissues. Where was the Wonderbra fairy when she needed her? Then she cranked up the music on the radio to drown out any doubts she had about all this. She snatched a glass of wine Savannah had left on her dresser and gulped.
Relax, she ordered herself. Forget horses. Think sexy, think mysterious, think womanly. Forget impossible. But she needed to hurry, the dance had already started. She practiced a swing step from an Elvis movie and kicked over a lamp. She twirled the way Baby had done in Dirty Dancing and knocked a pile of magazines.
Maybe she should just aim for graceful and work up to sexy, mysterious and womanly. She closed her eyes, tipped her chin, poised her wineglass elegantly aloft as she arched her tissue-enhanced chest and gyrated her hips—what hips?—across the room.
“Charity?”
“Tanner?” Her eyes flew open, the glass flipped into the air and she snatched two magazines from the floor and placed them in strategic places…mostly to conceal the tissue.
His eyes rounded. Red inched up his neck. “Uh…uh, Savannah sent me to get you because she wanted you at the dance and knew you wouldn’t come or even answer the door because you’re not the partying type. Said you were up here cleaning her room.”
“Does this look like a maid’s outfit?”
His left brow arched. “Depends on the maid.”
“Out!”
“I’m going, I’m going. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
TANNER TURNED FROM the room as the door slammed shut behind him, rattling every pane of glass in the house. Desire settled in his groin. What was wrong with him? It wasn’t as if he’d never seen a woman in her underwear before. And what was with those tissues? He’d never seen so much of Charity MacKay at one time…and he really liked what he’d seen.
Dammit. He was here to save his brother, not to salivate over Charity in her underwear. It must be that Alaskan man/woman ratio thing hassling him again.
Tanner clambered down the bare wooden steps and headed for the kitchen. Food. He yanked opened the fridge to the promised land. Corn bread, potato salad with a sprinkle of paprika, green beans with little pieces of ham.
He sampled the bread. Ecstasy. No thoughts of Charity…except for her soft hair. He reached for a drumstick. No one could eat Mama Kay’s fried chicken and think of anything else…except Charity’s soft skin and sweet womanly fragrance.
“Least you could do is eat at the table and save our electric bill.”
Busted. He pulled his head from the fridge and faced Charity. “You’re probably…probably…” Probably something. He couldn’t remember what he intended to say. What happened to the hay usually tangled in her hair? No horse drool on her shoulder? Sandals? Pink toenails? Where were her old boots? He took two more bites of corn bread, but it didn’t deter his fascination with Charity one lick. He mumbled, “We better get going. Savannah will wonder what happened to—”
“How much did you talk to Savannah? What did she say? What did you say?�
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He shrugged. “She told me that I wasn’t to leave here without you, and when I get back she wants to know about Alaska.”
Charity twisted a lock of hair that curled by her ear and nibbled her bottom lip. Her full, pink, very-tempting bottom lip. Maybe he should try the potato salad.
“Have any plans on how to stop the wedding?” she asked.
He wiped his hands on a paper towel and tossed it into the garbage along with the demolished chicken leg. He leaned against the chipped counter. “I have an idea for tonight.”
She folded her arms and leaned against the counter, too. “Doesn’t this bother you just a little bit? It’s manipulative and sneaky.”
“Like I said, I’m not manipulating anyone. And I am not sneaking anything. Tonight I’m just going to get Savannah to dance. That’s it.”
“Didn’t know Nathan hated dancing enough to call off his engagement over it.”
“Not just dancing, dancing, but dancing on top of the bar. Savannah used to do it all the time at parties. She loved it. Nathan, on the other hand, hates a scene. Loathes being the center of attention. When his horses win races, he won’t even go to the winner’s circle.”
“Doesn’t sound like a great plan to me. We should stay here so you can think of something else. What if Savannah’s dancing-on-the-bar-days are over? Ever consider that? She’s older now. More sophisticated. We have barstools and she doesn’t even sit on them.”
His grin gave way to laughter. “If Savannah lives to be a hundred, her dancing days still won’t be over.”
Besides, they couldn’t stay here because he’d never be able to keep his hands off Charity. Nope, they needed lots and lots of people around. “We’d better go.”
“But…but…”
Ten minutes later as he stood at the entrance of the barn-turned-dance pavilion with Charity, he knew this was the perfect setting to get Savannah going, and to keep his thoughts off Charity. Paper lanterns swung gently from strands of suspended lights, bails of hay served as tables, chairs and the bar. A great band fiddled away. Dancers crowded the floor. The horses had obviously been relocated to other residences for the occasion.
“Okay,” Charity said over the music, “now what?”
“Now you get the band to play something wild and reckless while I—”
“Me?”
“You are a part of this, right?”
She nodded and he continued. “While I remind Savannah of the good-old dancing days, when a gang of us would sneak off to…” Charity’s brows raised to her hairline.
“Not sneak, exactly. More like not tell anyone where we were going.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Okay, we were sneaky as hell. And I’m sure being the big sister and trying to keep Savannah out of trouble and not worry your mother into an early grave was the stuff nightmares are made of. But tonight all that’s important is to get Savannah on that bar and to show Nate he has nightmares of his very own in store if he marries her.”
Tanner nodded toward the band. “It’s show time.”
He watched Charity start off, then rounded his way through the crowd to Savannah, who sat with a group of high school friends. She spied him and met him halfway across the room, looping her arm around his waist.
“Why, there you are, you bad boy. You were gone much too long. I see you got Charity.” She smiled and gestured toward the bar. “Doesn’t Nathan look handsome as all get-out tonight? Let’s join him and you can tell me about Alaska.”
The music suddenly turned to hip-hop. Good old dependable Charity. Then he caught sight of her heading in the direction of the bar and realized there was not one thing old about her. She was dazzling.
He said to Savannah, “I’ll tell you all about Alaska later, but this is your engagement party. All your friends are here, and just listen to that music.” He nodded at the band. “Reminds me of the times the gang would sneak up to the lake, go skinny-dipping and dance like crazy.”
Her eyes brightened. “Gee, that seems a zillion years ago.”
“Doesn’t have to be. Least, the dancing part.” He tipped his head toward the dance floor. “Well?”
She shot him a hundred-kilowatt smile. “You are right as rain, Tanner Davenport. I’m feeling the need to shake my booty. Don’t think Nathan’s ever seen me dance, I mean really dance and kick up my heels.”
She bebopped her way to the middle of the barn and Tanner made for Nathan and Charity, feeling downright pleased with himself. He said to Nate, “Well, look at that. Your fiancé sure can move.”
“Yeah.” Nathan’s voice was throaty, sort of a croak. His eyes never left Savannah as her golden hair swayed, her arms waved and her body twirled to the music. She kicked her red sandals into the air, making guests cheer and gather ’round clapping to the beat and encouraging her.
Perspiration dotted Nathan’s forehead. A vein at his left temple throbbed, his eyes glazed. Was he breathing? Charity snagged two beers and handed him one. “You need this.” She looked back at Savannah and gulped the other beer. “I need this.”
Savannah boogied onto a hay bale, took the red sash from her dress and swung it over her head. The crowd cheered and Tanner said to Charity, “This is great. Perfect. I’m brilliant. Look at Nathan. He’s stunned. Going to have a stroke right here in his own barn.”
Savannah kicked and whirled and stepped up onto the bar. The crowd cheered again and she looped the sash around the back of Nathan’s neck, pulling him closer to her as she danced. She bent to him, her face to his, gazing into his eyes and giving him a view of cleavage only husbands, or near-husbands, should have.
Tanner grinned and said to Charity, “My brother will never forget this night.”
Nathan’s eyes widened to the size of softballs and Savannah ran her fingers through his immaculate hair, then mussed it in all directions. Still dancing, she undid the top three buttons of his shirt and she gave him a big, wet kiss. The crowd went wild, Tanner congratulated himself on a job magnificently well done, and Nathan leaped onto the bar with Savannah.
Huh?
The crowd screamed, the music blared louder and Tanner choked. “Wait a minute. What’s he doing? Nathan doesn’t dance.”
Charity swayed to the sexy rhythm, grinning ear-to-ear, clapping to the beat. “Guess Nathan doesn’t know that. Never seen him like this. Doubt if anyone on the Ridge has. He sure is having fun. Chalk one up for Cupid.”
She turned to Tanner, eyes shining, face radiant, and he was sure he’d never seen her like this, either. Did she have to look at him that way, as though she was happy to be with him? Right now he sure felt happy to be with her even though his great plan had just blown up in his face.
Dang it all. Cupid was working overtime tonight and Tanner had no one to blame but himself.
Chapter Four
The next morning Charity hit the barns extra early. It was a beautiful day. Birds sang, trees bloomed and she’d had a great time last night. Except for Tanner walking in on her in Savannah’s bedroom. She laughed to herself. Who was she kidding? That was the most fun of all. The expression on his face was priceless, the hunger in his eyes memorable. First time she’d ever done that to a man. Too bad he lived three thousand miles away. Then again, if he lived closer what would she do about it? Nothing. There wasn’t time for both Tanner and the farm.
She mixed malt with oats and walked past the other stalls to Silver Bell’s. “Here you go, girl,” she whispered. She took a brush from the wall. “This will make you feel better. I’ll keep you inside today. Get you gussied up for spring and comb out some of that winter coat you’re still carrying around.”
The sound of footsteps on concrete came her way and she looked up to see Tanner. “You talk to that horse like she understands every word.”
“And you don’t think she does?”
He chuckled softly. “Yeah, I’m sure she does.”
Denim shirt open at the throat, thin lines at the corners of his eyes, hair mussed as if i
t refused to lie down…Strong. Male. A touch of awesome. She wished this assessment came from her horny state of spinsterhood, but it didn’t. After listening to Tanner at the school, then at the library, she knew he was all that and more. Not that he boasted. That wasn’t his style. “Are all bush pilots noisy as you?”
“Practice for keeping polar bears away.” He stopped at the stall and took a knife from his pocket. He quartered an apple from a basketful of the horse treats.
“Polar bears are so cute, all soft and furry and white.”
He grinned. “As long as they’re on TV. You don’t go near bears unless you have a death wish. But they are magnificent. Cranky and territorial as hell, but magnificent.”
He cut himself a big chunk of apple and offered another to Silver Bell. “She sure likes apples.”
“But she’s not touching anything else. I think she just spit at her breakfast. Are you here to entertain me with bear stories or to feed my horse?”
He shared another quarter with Silver Bell. “To borrow some ground malt. Now two of Nathan’s mares are off their feed. When Mama Kay was over with Puck she said it might encourage them to eat.”
He gave up the last slice then leaned against the stall, arms folded, driving Charity loony by doing absolutely nothing.
She nodded at a brush on the wall. “Make yourself useful as well as ornamental, flyboy. This horse has two sides.” And with Tanner buried behind a horse, there’d be a lot less of him to go loony over. “I thought Mama lost interest in the horses a long time ago, but she checked on them for me, too.”
Tanner rolled his sleeves to the elbows. Did he have to expose more skin? That defeated the whole brushing-behind-the-horse idea. “I wonder why the sudden interest now.”
He picked up the brush and went to work. “I think she felt she let down the farm and the horses, so she was down on herself. Coming to the barns was too painful. But now the farm’s on the mend and so is she. She and Puck have been spending a lot of time together.”
“They’ve been friends forever.”
Tanner laughed. He had a great laugh, the kind that made her happy just listening to it. “Yeah, just friends.”
The Wedding Rescue Page 5