by Judy Baer
Marlo turned to stare at the patient, beautiful Lovey, and her eyes widened. Jake did everything in his power not to laugh out loud. The horse was holding her head proudly, even though it must have felt quite strange to have the saddle horn over her rump and the cantle on her withers.
“It’s on backward,” Marlo moaned. “How did that happen?”
“I’m not sure how you did it,” Jake admitted cheerfully, “but it couldn’t have been easy.”
“The story of my life,” Marlo muttered, her face as red as the halter Lovey wore.
“I don’t know, let’s see.” And before he could quash the impulse, he put his arms around her, pulled her close and kissed her. It was a long, tender kiss that surprised even him. He released her quickly, stunned by his own visceral reaction to her.
“Jake, I…” She stumbled backward, a plethora of emotions racing across her features. Delight and dismay seemed to be the primary ones, he thought, and hoped delight would win out.
“You do that very well. Not backward at all,” he said cheerfully. “Now let’s get this fixed so we can ride.”
Marlo watched as he flipped the saddle, tightened the cinch and adjusted the headstall and bit in a few smooth movements. He talked as he worked, defining each piece of tack as he used it. His grandfather Samuel had always told him he was a born teacher. Perhaps that was why he so loved to see children learning what there was to know about riding.
When he was done, he handed her the horse’s reins. “You stay here. I’ll bring my mount out of the barn.” He took a minute, once he was inside the dark fortress of the barn, to take a deep breath. Marlo was getting under his skin and he didn’t know how to feel or what to do about it. Go slowly, he decided. Something frightened her about their relationship. He’d better hold back and tread very carefully until he knew what was what. Jake chose a huge Tennessee walker and led him into the arena where Marlo was nervously standing with the placid Lovey.
“This is Fine and Dandy. I call her Dandy, for short.”
Good kisser. Check.
While Jake expertly saddled the second horse, Marlo’s short-circuited brain began to work. He’d kissed her. Again. He shouldn’t have done that, she told herself, because… For a moment she couldn’t think of a good reason. Oh, yes. Sabrina.
What exactly did it mean to her? She didn’t have a lot of time to consider the answer. All she knew was that Jake Hammond was causing her to fall in love with him whether she wanted to or not.
Chapter Fourteen
“Gather your reins in your left hand. It’s time to get on.” He felt her hand tremble a little beneath his touch as he settled the reins in her hand. Nerves? Something else? Perhaps their kiss had affected her as it had him.
“Always mount on the left side. That’s what she’s accustomed to.”
“Why?” Marlo’s voice was thin and uneasy, but she still hadn’t lost her curiosity. He liked that in a woman.
“Most horses are trained to be mounted from the left because it is a tradition. Historically, horses were trained that way because a right-handed soldier needed to carry a sword on the left side of his body. That way, he could swing his right leg over the horse without poking the horse with the sword. Lovey is calm enough to mount from either side, but you should always assume that a horse is trained to mount from the left.”
“I had no idea this was so complicated.”
A little frown creased her forehead and her lips turned down at the corners, which only made Jake want to kiss away the scowl and make her smile again. He reined in his thoughts much as he might an unruly horse. She was jumpy enough, without his alarming her further.
“Put your left leg in the stirrup, and your right hand on the back of the saddle. I find it helps to bounce a bit, to get some momentum, before you push yourself up with your left foot while swinging your right leg over the horse’s back.”
“You have got to be kidding. That will take more strength and coordination than I have at the moment.”
“Untrue. You can do amazing things, Marlo Mayfield, if you’ll only try.”
That seemed to inspire her. Following his instructions—and with a little shove from behind—she managed to scrabble her way onto the saddle.
She perched there on the powerful horse like a mouse on a keg of dynamite.
Jake slipped the tiny camera he always carried with him to use on job sites from his shirt pocket. “Do you want to commemorate the moment?”
“Does my hair look awful?” Marlo fretted.
“The riding helmet looks wonderful. You’re a cross between a jockey and a bowling ball.”
“I feel so much better now.”
“You’ll feel even better when you relax. Lovey isn’t going to burst out from under you and run amok, you know. I’ll lead you two in circles in a round pen, until you get a feel for each other.”
“Actually, I don’t know that I will relax. Do you provide a written guarantee?”
“You’ll be fine, now that your sense of humor is returning. Let’s go out on the trail. You are probably getting dizzy, circling in the round pen, and Lovey has to be bored.” He smiled, a dazzling flash of white teeth in stark contrast with his bronzed skin.
“Okay,” Marlo said meekly.
He made sure she had the reins properly in her hand before swinging onto his own mount. Jake settled into the saddle like most people might occupy their favorite recliner. When they approached the gate, he leaned over and opened it from the back of his horse.
“Don’t try that for yourself yet,” he admonished, as he turned Dandy toward the beginning of one of the many riding trails that meandered across the ranch.
“Don’t worry,” Marlo said through tight lips, as she and Lovey moved out to follow.
She was silent beside him. Jake looked at her to see her jaw rigid and teeth clenched. “Quit gritting your teeth and you’ll have a better time. You’ll give yourself a headache if you keep doing that.”
After ten minutes of tense silence, Marlo took a deep breath. Lovey, Jake knew, had a smooth, easy gait. The horse hadn’t even bothered to glance at a rabbit that had crossed the path in front of them.
The rocking motion beneath him was soothing, and the sun on the tops of his thighs loosened his muscles, as he felt himself relaxing into the saddle and stirrups. He had a good idea that the same thing would happen for Marlo, if she’d only give it a chance.
“How are you doing?” Jake matched Dandy’s gait to hers. He had a firm grip on the reins. His horse was as explosive as Lovey was gentle, but he enjoyed the test. He’d been riding so long that no horse was much of a challenge anymore, except perhaps something particularly wild and unbroken. Or naturally wary, like Marlo.
“I think I’m beginning to have fun.” Marlo’s nose was growing pink in the sun and her eyes twinkled. “I know for sure that I’m falling in love with this animal.”
“Lovey has that affect on people. Now picture yourself as a child who has spent most of her life in a wheelchair and is enjoying her first ride on a horse.”
He watched Marlo as she scanned the horizon. “It feels…” she sought the right word “…free. I feel powerful. I’m visualizing how he would feel up here, on the back of a horse. Like he was flying, I’m sure. There is something about Lovey’s serene, patient gait that would make him feel safe, I’m sure of it.”
“Him? You’ve got someone specific in mind?” Jake studied her now-somber face. “You suddenly look very serious. Who are you thinking about?”
She hesitated before responding. “Just about how wonderful this would be for my nephew.”
“Bring him out. Have him give it a try.”
“I know it would be amazing, but it’s not my decision.” Then, as if she needed to run from the conversation, she urged Lovey to go a little faster.
Jake caught up to her easily. “I appreciate your passion for my scheme. It’s been an uphill climb with my father. It’s nice to have someone on my side who believes as I do.”
“Sabrina seems to think it’s all right,” Marlo reminded him.
“So she says.” Why did Sabrina always come up when Marlo was around? “I’m sure she’d rather have the attention herself.”
“You mean she’d like you to be more interested in her and not spend so much time on this venture?”
“Something like that. Sabrina and Cammi were both raised by doting parents and grandparents. It’s going to be a wake-up call when they realize the sun doesn’t actually rise and set at their command.” He tried to soften the words, but they still sounded harsh. “The fact of the matter was that Alfred spoiled the women in his life too much. It was out of love, of course, but it can be hard to take.”
“Cammi is a beautiful child,” Marlo pointed out. “I’m sure it’s fun to pamper her.”
“Her grandfather is one-hundred-percent guilty of that,” Jake agreed. “Her parents have had a rocky marriage, and Alfred is her stability. He’s practically raised her. I’m very glad they have each other.” He shifted restlessly in the saddle, tired of discussing the Dorchesters. “Want to pick up the pace?”
“Ahh…sure.” Marlo experimentally leaned forward in the saddle the merest bit, and Lovey obediently moved out.
She might have been screaming, Jake thought, but her internal scream didn’t seem to be making it through her lips.
“Hold on,” he advised, as he urged Dandy ahead to catch up with her. He searched his mind for something that she could relate to. “This is just like using one of those big exercise balls at the gym. Keep your seat, yet move with the horse.”
That, she obviously related to. When Marlo leaned back, Lovey immediately slowed to a plodding walk once again.
“Jake,” she asked, as they made their way around one of the many riding trails on Hammond Stables land, “do you know how beautiful this is, or do you see it so often that you take it for granted?” They passed a clear brook on the left, and a stand of maples that eventually would be a glorious cacophony of reds, golds and yellows. A doe stood poised for flight at the edge of the trees, watching them pass, while a hawk turned and wheeled overhead.
“I never take this for granted.” His gaze followed her and he saw the doe turn tail and bound into the trees. “Not for a minute. These are my everyday miracles.”
“Everyday miracles.” She rolled the words across her tongue. “I like that. Miracles don’t need to be noisy or spectacular, do they?”
She smiled at him, and the sheer delight in her eyes made him vow to look more closely at maple trees and birds in the future. “God’s miracles,” she said softly.
Jake nodded. He’d always thought that, even when his father was grousing about the unsightly weeds growing around a fence post, or when Sabrina was smacking at horseflies and insisting she preferred inside to out. Weeds and horseflies were their own sorts of miracles—not so much to his liking, but miracles nonetheless.
“I like a man who appreciates God’s miracles.”
He glanced at her sharply. She was still slogging along at his side, gazing at the landscape, seemingly unaware of what she’d just said. The statement hadn’t been meant for his ears. Still, it made him smile for the rest of their ride.
When they returned to the round pen an hour later, Jake swung to the ground and handed his reins to a stable hand who appeared out of nowhere. Then he turned to her. “Good job, Marlo! That was excellent for your first time out.” He felt like a proud teacher, and he held out his hands as she scrambled off her horse.
“I can do it by myself,” she informed him, just before her knees buckled. Jake caught her beneath the arms as she crumpled to the ground, her legs like water.
She felt soft and warm and surprisingly small as she tumbled against his chest. “You’ll feel stiff tomorrow, but it’s a good stiffness. It will remind you how much fun you had today.” He propped her onto her feet, but it took everything in him to release her.
Like a sailor without sea legs, Marlo hobbled to the nearest bench and sat down. “No wonder stereotypical cowboys are always depicted as bowlegged!”
“Take a warm bath tonight and you’ll be fine.” He plopped down beside her, their outer thighs touching. “Did you have fun?”
“I loved it.” Her eyes were shining as she smiled at him. “I know I’m not any good yet, but I’d like to do it some more. It makes me happy.”
He hoped so. Personally and inexplicably, he couldn’t ever remember being happier.
“Tell me all about it!” Lucy demanded, when Marlo stopped by Dining with Divas on her way home.
“Later. Bryan’s got tickets to the Ordway tonight to see Phantom, and I promised I’d go with him.” Marlo sampled a bit of the vegetable soup Lucy was preparing.
“You should spend more time dating men of your own choosing, and not babysitting your cousin’s boyfriend,” Lucy chided. “You should be with men like Jake.”
“How many times do I have to tell you Jake and I aren’t dating?”
“Then what are you doing?”
“We’re friends. Have you got a problem with that?” she said testily.
“Not if you don’t. But be careful, Marlo. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
Marlo drove home to shower and change, but she couldn’t wipe Lucy’s voice out of her head. Was she playing with fire? The bottom line was that she didn’t approve of women who moved in on men who were seeing someone else. Her mother had always told her, “Stealing someone’s love away from another, no matter how much you care for him, is still stealing.” There was no way Marlo wanted to be accused by Sabrina of pilfering Jake’s heart. Yet she didn’t want to give up spending time with him. She had no choice but to stay on the balance beam and not fall off.
Besides, it wasn’t so bad. Things were working well enough. Everyone was happy except Sabrina, who didn’t want Marlo anywhere near Jake. Sabrina had nothing to fear from her, whether she knew it or not.
She was relieved to hear her doorbell ring. Her cousin’s boyfriend, Bryan, stood in the doorway holding a rose and wearing a foolish grin. Sweetly boyish, Bryan sauntered into Marlo’s living room with one hand in his pocket and thrust the rose at her with the other. “Thanks for coming with me tonight. I really didn’t want to go alone, and I hated to miss the performance. Kelly is very happy you agreed to join me.”
“No problem. It will be fun.” She liked Bryan a great deal, and was happy for her cousin. Marlo slipped a short, silver-gray cashmere sweater over her black sheath. “What do you hear from her?”
“She doesn’t complain. She worries more about me being bored and lonely than she does about herself.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place. My friend Lucy tells me I need to get out more. Call me anytime.”
Bryan’s face lit. “I was hoping you’d say that. How do you feel about football? And soccer?”
By the time they reached the theater in St. Paul, Marlo had begun to worry that Kelly’s boyfriend could become a full-time job.
They left the car with valet parking and moved with the crowd into the theater lobby.
“We’ve got plenty of time,” Bryan said. “How about a coffee? Ice cream?”
“Sure, why not? I’ll wait over there.” From the corner of her eye she saw a familiar profile move into view. She would have known that billowing blond hair anywhere. It was Sabrina Dorchester, wearing enough sequins to outfit an entire ballet recital.
A sick feeling washed through Marlo as she looked beyond Sabrina to Jake. He was laughing at something Sabrina had said. The easy companionship between them was apparent. Jake leaned forward and whispered something in her ear and Sabrina lifted a hand to touch his shoulder. The look in her eyes was sheer adoration.
“Here’s your coffee.” Bryan returned with two paper cups topped with large cookies. “Sorry it took so long. There was a big line… Hey, do you feel okay? You’re white as a sheet.”
She took the cup with shaking hands. “I just need a little caffeine.”
He looked at her, a worried expression on his boyish features. “Don’t get sick on me. You’re Kelly’s favorite cousin, and mine, too.”
“I can see why Kelly loves you,” Marlo said, forcing a smile.
He flushed to the roots of his sandy hair. “Family is family, Marlo. If you ever need my help, you’ve got it. Okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered. She refused to let the visceral reaction she’d had at seeing Jake and Sabrina together ruin her evening. Instead, she took a bite of the cookie.
They flooded in with the rest of the waiting patrons eager to find their seats, and much to her relief, Marlo lost sight of Jake and Sabrina.
If the play had been Phantom of the Opera Meets Les Misérables and The Lion King at South Pacific, it still wouldn’t have held her attention. Whatever dialogue was happening onstage was nothing, compared with the discourse going on in her head.
At church on Sunday, the pastor had spoken on the Ten Commandments. Now a single commandment kept rolling through her mind like a catchy, repetitive jingle that gets stuck in one’s head. It was the one about not coveting one’s neighbor’s house, wife, slave, ox, donkey—or anything else that belonged to a neighbor.
I’m sorry, Lord, she thought, feeling the desperate urge to pray. Wanting someone else’s almost-fiancé was included in that commandment somewhere. She prayed that He help her to put her relationship with Jake into a healthy perspective. She didn’t want her foolishness to jeopardize her work for his hippotherapy program. She needed to focus on what was really important.
And when she wasn’t talking to God, she was talking to herself.
She had to control her feelings and back off. Jake was not hers to fawn over or to love. From now on, Lucy could meet with Jake about the events they catered for Hammond Farms. She could hire someone to serve in those occasions in her place.
But what about when she was at the stables? And why was Jake so friendly to her, if he and Sabrina were, as Sabrina hinted, practically married? A stabbing, disconcerting thought came to her. Maybe Jake’s talk about God was for her benefit, not his own. Maybe he wasn’t the kind of man she thought he was.