Get to Me

by Lara Van Hulzen

The look on her face made him want to say yes to everything she ever asked for. He shook his head. Man, he’d fallen and he’d fallen hard.

  When they reached the edge of the meadow, he stopped and went over once again how to relax and move with the horse when Patsy ran. Aimee listened, nodding and smiling like a little kid.

  He had every intention of riding in front of her, but before he could say so, Aimee clicked her tongue and kicked Patsy gently in the sides. Patsy started in a trot but then moved to a smooth lope. Dane watched as Aimee’s hair blew behind her like flames in the wind. Her body moved steady with Patsy. He smiled, soaking in the moment.

  The moment shifted, though, when Patsy ran faster. His heart rate sped up as he spurred Kershaw to a canter. He was almost to her when he saw the large log in her path. Just as he shouted her name, Patsy’s front legs came off the ground and she vaulted the log in one smooth motion. Dane stared in horror, waiting for Aimee to fly through the air, but instead, her body moved fluidly with the horse.

  Aimee’s “Woo-Hoo!” filled the air as Dane rode up beside her. She’d pulled Patsy to a stop, the horse now breathing hard from running, a gleam in her eye from the exertion.

  Aimee looked at him, her face flushed and glowing. “That was awesome!”

  Dane tried to control his breathing, keep his cool, but failed. “That wasn’t awesome, Aimee. That was stupid.”

  She pulled back as if he’d slapped her. “What?”

  “It was stupid to jump like that. This is your first day on a horse. You could’ve fallen and broken your neck.”

  “But I didn’t.” She leaned forward and patted Patsy’s neck. The horse had the nerve to look proud. Traitor. “I saw the log ahead of us and Patsy sped up. I pulled back on the reins, but she wasn’t havin’ it. What was I supposed to do? And anyway, that was great!”

  Dane shook his head and huffed. “Let’s get home.” He turned Kershaw toward the path, leaving Aimee. He heard Patsy’s hooves follow in step behind, the quiet anything but peaceful now. He could feel the daggers shooting into his back from Aimee’s eyes. Good. Fine.

  That’s what he told himself the entire ride home, even though his gut clenched and his brain knew he’d been a first-class jerk.

  ***

  Patsy followed Kershaw up to the entrance of the barn. Dane hopped down from his horse and stomped inside, pulling Kershaw by the reins. The animal clopped lazily behind.

  Aimee looked around. Keith was nowhere in sight. Neither were Colt and Ellie. Good. She intended to give Dane a piece of her mind and didn’t necessarily need anyone eavesdropping on her.

  She slid from the saddle and led Patsy into the barn. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the barn after being in the sunlight. Dane was pulling his saddle from Kershaw’s back. He took it to the tack room and tossed it on a wooden peg sticking out from the wall. Four other saddles sat atop their perches. Two lone pegs awaited their saddles to return. Aimee guessed one was for the saddle she used and the other for Keith’s. She’d noticed another horse waiting outside the barn when she and Dane left earlier.

  Dane stomped back to Kershaw and started running a brush over the animal’s back and rump.

  “You do that any harder and you’re gonna make him bleed.”

  No answer.

  Fine. He wanted to do this the hard way. She was game.

  “You wanna tell me what made you completely lose it on me back there?”

  “I told you. You made a bad decision.” Dane continued to comb the horse, his back to her.

  “A bad decision? What are you, my father?”

  “No, but out there you’re my responsibility, and your recklessness wasn’t smart.”

  Her hands fisted at her sides and her blood boiled. “My recklessness? Good Lord, Dane, you make it sound like I poked a grizzly bear asking for a fight. I jumped one little log while riding a horse.”

  Dane tossed the comb into a bucket nearby and turned to her. “It was dangerous, Aimee, and those kinds of choices don’t just affect you.”

  She tilted her head and looked at him a moment. His hands on his hips, hat tipped back a bit, and pain oozing from every pore in his body. Ahhh, she got it now.

  “Oh, I see. This isn’t about me. This is about Beth.”

  He shook his head and shuffled over to Kershaw’s reins. Removing the bridle, he replaced it with a loose rope and led the horse into his stall, securing it tight. The horse moseyed over to his feedbag and munched some oats.

  Dane brushed past her and started taking the saddle off Patsy.

  “I shouldn’t have told you about her.”

  Aimee turned and got right up next to him. “Oh really? That’s how you feel? Let me ask you something, Dane. Why did you tell me?”

  He shook his head.

  “You keep getting close to me then pulling away. How’s that for reckless?”

  His head snapped towards her, his hands frozen on the straps of the saddle.

  “That’s right. Your choices don’t just affect you either. You trusted me enough to tell me about your past, you keep kissing me senseless, but when the first thing happens that scares you, you run. You don’t think that hurts me?”

  He hung his head, his hands now on his hips again, his shoulders slumped.

  “I’m not Beth. And continuing to compare every woman to her is only going to leave you alone and distant from anyone who just might care about you. I’m guessing at this point that’s what you want.”

  With that, she turned and left the barn. She passed Keith in the doorway. Too angry to be afraid of him, she gave him a nod and moved right past. He tipped his hat to her as she walked by.

  She made it to her room before the tears began to fall. Kicking off Ellie’s boots and peeling out of her clothes, she hopped in the shower and let the hot water wash away the horse smell. As she cried, she prayed. Prayed for Dane and the pain he still carried. For all that he’d lost. Prayed that her heart could hold together, because she’d fallen for Dane, and fallen hard.

  ***

  “You wanna talk about it?” Keith moved past Dane, his own horse trailing behind.

  “No.” Dane turned to finish putting Patsy away. He yanked at the straps of the saddle.

  “Sounds like your ride didn’t go as well as you’d have liked.”

  “I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll do all the talking.” Keith leaned against the door of a stall near Dane and crossed his arms over his chest.

  Dane snorted. “That’s a first.”

  Ignoring him, Keith continued. “She’s right. She’s not Beth.”

  “How much did you hear exactly?”

  “Enough.”

  Dane shook his head. “What the heck is with the eavesdropping around here?”

  Keith shrugged. “Don’t blame me. I came back from riding and could hear you two a mile away. She’s got spunk, I’ll say that.”

  His brother actually had the nerve to smile. Idiot.

  “I like her. She’s good for you.” Keith pushed away from the stall and began taking off his horse’s saddle.

  “Oh, yeah? What makes you say that?” Dane was still pissed. Keith was right, but Dane would never admit that. He moved around Keith and into the tack room, placing the saddle Aimee had used on an empty peg.

  Keith passed him with his own saddle and did the same. They both grabbed a comb and started working on Keith’s horse. They brushed in silence for a few minutes.

  Keith stopped and looked at him over the horse’s back. He placed his hands over the animal, the brush hanging loose in his hand. “She doesn’t take any of your crap. That’s why I like her.”

  With that, he started combing the horse again.

  Dane tossed his brush into the bucket and shook his head. He left the barn, his brother’s chuckle haunting him as he left.

  ***

  Dane headed straight for his room. After a shower and change of clothes, he was certainly cleane
r, but didn’t feel any better. He felt worse. The weight of how he’d reacted to Aimee was heavy on his shoulders. He’d gone looking through the house for her, but his mother said she’d headed out toward the pond to find a place to sketch. Said she’d be back by dinner. He wasn’t crazy about her wandering around alone, but she’d be safe on Scott property.

  He didn’t blame her for wanting time alone either. What an idiot. To even think of comparing Aimee to Beth was dumb. Where Beth was frivolous and without any kind of boundaries in her life, Aimee was solid, steady, grounded in her faith and her moral standards. Something Dane used to pride himself on as well.

  He plopped down into a rocking chair on the front porch and let out a deep breath. His cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He hit the accept button. “Hey, Ben.”

  “Hey, friend. How’s it going?”

  “Couldn’t be better.”

  “You always were a crappy liar.”

  Dane chuckled.

  “Is Aimee okay?”

  Dane rubbed his hand through his hair. “Yeah. She’s fine.”

  “Again, crappy liar.”

  “She’s physically fine, yes. Safe. Bringing her here was the right plan.”

  “I agree. What about you?”

  “I’m fi…”

  “If you say you’re fine, I’m gonna climb through this phone line and beat you senseless.”

  Dane laughed again. Man, he missed his friend. Ben was the only one who knew of his past and never judged him. Well, Aimee knew now, too, and she hadn’t judged him either. He was an idiot.

  “I can hear you beating yourself up from here. What happened? Your parents do okay with you coming back?”

  “Yeah, my parents are great. Even Keith is warming up to the idea of me being here.”

  Ben laughed. “Tell the Hulk I said hi.”

  “Will do.”

  “I get a feeling whatever’s wrong with you has something to do with my wife’s feisty sister.”

  “I told her about Beth.”

  “Good.”

  “Good?” Dane couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “Yeah. Good. Any fool can see there’s something between you two. And she deserves the truth before getting involved. And you deserve to move on, man.”

  Ben had told him that for years, but what did he know? All that Dane carried around wasn’t something he needed to put on Aimee’s shoulders too.

  “Let it go and then neither of you has to carry anything,” Ben said.

  Had he said his thoughts out loud? He shook his head. Ben had an uncanny way of reading his mind.

  “Look, Dane. You’ve avoided God long enough. Let this crap go. Allow yourself to be forgiven and move forward with Aimee.”

  “How do you know she wants to move forward with me?”

  Ben laughed. “I know my sister-in-law. If she wants something, she’s going to go after it, whole hog.”

  “That’s what scares me. Aimee does everything full force.”

  “And I’m guessing that’s one of the main things you love about her.”

  Dane rocked back in the chair and crossed his boot-clad ankles. Yep, Ben was a mind reader. And he was right. Dane was drawn to Aimee’s carefree spirit and love for life. And there was truly nothing reckless about her. Adventurous yes, but not dangerous. She cared about herself and the people she loved too much to take stupid risks. And right there was the difference. Beth thought attention from others would make her feel secure. Aimee was secure in who she was as a child of God. That gave her the courage to face the world head on. She was a fearless little fireball and he was madly in love with her.

  “Again, hearing you thinking all the way from here.”

  Dane laughed. “Sorry. You’re right.”

  “Gotta love those words.”

  “I love her. And now I need to get off the phone with your ugly mug and go prove it to her.”

  “Excellent plan. Let me know how it goes. And keep me updated on Marcos. I’ve been checking in with Torie, too, but keep me in the loop, okay?”

  “10-4. Thanks for calling.”

  “You got it.”

  Dane ended the call and tucked his phone back in his pocket. Taking a deep breath, he did something he hadn’t done in a long time. Too long. He prayed. He asked God’s forgiveness for his choices in the past and asked for a chance of a future with Aimee. He thanked God for her in his life and promised that no matter what, he’d love and protect her, even if she didn’t love him back. But deep in his heart, he prayed she would.

  Chapter 21

  Dane found his mother in the kitchen. The scent of rosemary and garlic filled the air. His stomach growled.

  “That smells amazing, Mom.” After his phone call with Ben, Dane helped Keith clean horse stalls, working up a good appetite while also planning how to woo Aimee back into his good graces. She deserved better than a short apology and hope for forgiveness. He wanted to prove he was ready to move forward, to stop hurting her, and to leave his past behind him where it belonged.

  “Thank you, darlin’. It will be on the table soon. I just need to finish preparing this tray for Aimee.”

  “Tray? What do you mean?”

  “She said she wasn’t feeling well. I offered to bring her dinner in her room, let her rest. Maybe horseback riding doesn’t agree with her as much as it agrees with us.” His mother gave him a wink and a smile, oblivious to the real reason Aimee was avoiding the dinner table. Aimee was at home in the saddle as anyone who grew up around horses. She was avoiding him. And understandably so.

  He refused to let this glitch keep him from his plan. He watched as his mother put a bowl of spaghetti with homemade meatballs on the tray along with a glass of ice water and a small vase holding a tiny wildflower.

  “I’ll take it to her,” he offered.

  “That would be great, D, thank you. I’ve got to get things set for Dad and you boys.”

  He kissed his mother’s cheek and took the tray from the kitchen counter. He headed down the hall to Aimee’s room, Operation Win Aimee about to begin.

  ***

  Aimee curled up in the chair in the corner of the guest room, her arms wrapped around her knees. She’d spent the afternoon down by the pond, sketching. A family of ducks lived there, the perfect thing to distract her, get her mind off of Dane. It had worked for a little while, but her thoughts kept coming back to what Dane had said. He hadn’t called her stupid, but he sure pushed one of her hot buttons. He had no idea she grew up being teased for less than stellar grades and “always having her head in the clouds.” She wasn’t an idiot. She just lived in her head more than she probably should. Painting scenes, creating pictures.

  And reckless? That was a new one. Flighty and too happy she’d been accused of before, but never reckless. Riding Patsy was amazing. Freedom had washed over her as the horse loped through the meadow. When the log came into view, Aimee could feel confidence rising up through the horse, wanting to take that leap. Afraid at first, she had pulled back on the reins. But Patsy fought her, so she relaxed and let go. The best things in Aimee’s life had happened when she simply let go.

  Unlike Dane, who was wrapped so tight he didn’t know how to unclench his fists anymore. She sighed. Who was she kidding? She’d tried all afternoon to be mad at him, but couldn’t do it.

  A soft knock pulled her from her thoughts. “Come in.”

  She turned, expecting Ellie. When Dane came through the door with a tray full of food, her heart jumped in her chest.

  He placed the tray on the table next to her. “May I sit?” He motioned to the end of the bed across from her.

  She shrugged, afraid if she spoke she’d start crying, something she did NOT want to do in front of Dane. Not now.

  Dane sat down, his hands clasped together between his knees. “I know I’m the last person you want to see right now.” He looked towards the tray and back to her again. “And I don’t blame you.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Aimee, I want to apologize.
I was a jerk today and I am truly sorry. Can you forgive me?”

  She nodded.

  “But words aren’t enough in my book. Yes, I need to say them, but I was wondering if I could make it up to you.”

  Her heart started to fill with hope, but she pushed it down. An apology was nice, yes. But that didn’t answer where she stood with him. How he felt about her.

  “There’s an art festival in Heavenly going on, and I’d like to take you there tomorrow. I think you’d enjoy it, and I want to spend the day with you. Would that be okay?”

  Okay? Hope fought its way past her hesitation and filled her completely. “I would love to.” She smiled. “Are we still friends then?”

  “No.” Dane shook his head and her heart dropped. “I want to be more than friends.”

  “Oh.” Emotions spun like a tilt-a-whirl through her, and it took one heck of a valiant effort to fight tears now.

  “I know I don’t deserve that, Aimee. I don’t even deserve your friendship. But I don’t want to hurt you anymore. I don’t want to keep pulling you towards me then pushing you away. I want to pull you towards me and keep you there.”

  She nodded, again afraid her voice wouldn’t work.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “That’s a yes.” Ah, her voice did work. Great. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she thought for sure Dane could hear it too.

  “I want to take you on a real date. We’ll go to the art festival, have ice cream…”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  “Great.” Dane took her hand in his and placed a sweet, soft kiss across her knuckles then let go. “Until tomorrow then, Miss Aimee.”

  As he reached to pull the door closed, she said, “I like the name Sunshine better.”

  He stopped and gave her a dimple-filled, bone-melting smile, then closed the door.

  ***

  The little town of Heavenly certainly lived up to its name. Aimee took in the sights and sounds like a kid at Christmas. The sky was as blue as the lake water, a hue unlike any she’d seen in art. She took a picture with her phone, determined to mix paints forever until she could match it. People strolled along the sidewalk, stepping into stores and coming out with shopping bags or ice cream cones or bags of candy.