“As long as we’re not in the way,” Hal added, glancing at one of the horses in its stall.
“You won’t be,” Jayden said with a smile. “There’s a patio table and some chairs off the back of the barn. Go take a seat. You can watch from there if you want.”
“Perfect,” said Hal.
“And I’m going to take this silly girl around to pet some horses,” Crystal said, smiling at Olivia. “Would you like that? I’m sure you would. Maverick, Flynn said you were feeding the mares and foals for him tonight. Why don’t you take Charlotte and go do that now? Those mares and their babies are so cute.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Charlotte said before he could get a word in. “I should probably stay here with Will, don’t you think?”
“Nah.” Jayden glanced over at him and he could see the amusement in her eyes. He would need to have a talk with his aunt and sister when the day was over. They were clearly trying to push him and Charlotte together, though goodness knew why. “Will’s parents are here.”
“Go with Maverick,” his aunt said to Charlotte. “It’s really a sight to see all those horses together. And when you come back, have Maverick bring you up to the house. We can go over the plans for Fostering Hope and, oh, I just can’t wait to tell you all the latest news. It’s going to be great.”
He could tell Charlotte didn’t want to go with him, but she also didn’t want to be rude. Her mouth hung open a bit before he saw her throat work in a noticeable swallow.
“If you don’t want to go, you can stay here.” He offered her an out.
“Oh, no.” She glanced at Crystal, and he could tell she didn’t want to be perceived as rude by declining his aunt’s suggestion. “That’s okay.”
But as he walked her toward the ATV parked off the back—Greenie, they called it—whistling for Sadie along the way, he wondered why his spirits had suddenly lifted. Today she wore jeans and a beige shirt that brought out the color of her brown eyes. She wore her hair back in a ponytail, and the style emphasized the sharpness of her cheekbones. He realized in that moment that she worked to downplay her looks. Loose clothes, tied-back hair, no makeup. One of those women who was so naturally pretty at first you didn’t notice it, until you looked deeper, like a painting that took on a whole new perspective when viewed from far away.
Maverick pointed her toward an ATV that resembled a miniature truck with its tiny cabin and wheelbarrow-sized bed. “Go ahead and take a seat. I need to load a bale of hay in the back.”
She nodded soundlessly, and when he took his seat a few minutes later she still didn’t look happy. Sadie had already jumped in the back, her tongue lolling off to the side, a canine grin on her face.
“Look, if you’d rather stay behind, that’s okay. My sister and aunt can be a little heavy-handed and it’s pretty clear they want the two of us to spend some time alone together, but I know that’s not what you want, and I understand your reasons why, so you won’t hurt my feelings if you want to stay here.”
Their gazes connected, and he could tell she waged some kind of inner war.
“No.” She shook her head. “I would like to see the baby horses. Your aunt’s been telling me about them for a while now.”
“Good.” He smiled.
They headed away from the barn, skirting the bottom of the hills, past the cabin his brothers and cousins used to share, and then across a shallow creek that kicked water onto the windshield and made Charlotte duck inside the cab.
“You won’t get wet.”
She clearly didn’t believe him, swinging her knees toward him so that they nearly touched. This time of year, the creek was pretty shallow. Come winter, they’d have to move the mares and foals to a different pasture.
The ATV rocked back and forth as they rolled over some boulders. “My dad and uncle bought it years ago, when land was cheap out here. Threw every penny they had into it, bought more land when the ranch started turning a profit, added the vineyards when I was a kid.” They made it to the other side of the creek. “It’s their baby.”
“And you manage the whole thing.”
He pointed the ATV toward a gate set between a rock wall—a relic of the past. Back when the land had been a part of a Spanish land grant, it was what they’d used as fencing. They’d added new sections over the years, like the one that enclosed the mares and foals. They grazed in a pasture that’d been freshly irrigated, moisture making the air dank around them.
“Just the cattle operation. My brother Flynn handles the horses. My older brothers used to help, but they’ve got their own thing going now. My cousins handle the vineyard.”
“They all sound like big jobs.”
“It is, but I wouldn’t want another job in the whole world. Just look at that.”
He parked in front of a gate, the mares lifting their heads, their foals scrambling to hide behind their mothers. In the distance, trees cast inkblot shadows on the ground. Yellow flowers dotted the landscape, thicker in some areas than others, like lakes of yellow.
“It’s beautiful,” she agreed.
“When I was a kid, I used to come out here all the time. There’s a place in the back where that creek we just crossed cuts through our property. The pond I showed you that first day is part of it. My dad built the dam you saw on the far end. It has a spillway so that it doesn’t destroy the creek downstream. He stocked it with fish. Best spotted bass in the whole valley.”
She kept her eyes on the horses and he wondered what she was thinking. And why he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. She seemed so lost in thought.
“This whole place really is amazing.”
And so very different from the place where she’d grown up. She didn’t need to say the words.
“You want to say hello?”
She’d gone still, and something about the look on her face made him study her closely. Sadness. That was what he saw in her eyes. For herself? He didn’t think she was the type for self-pity, but something had upset her.
“They’ll come right up to the gate.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“You need to meet them.”
“Maverick, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m sort of afraid of horses.” She glanced toward Sadie, who’d jumped down and waded in the creek. “And dogs.”
“Yeah, I kind of noticed.”
“Really? And here I thought I hid it so well.”
He laughed. “Not really. So you should at least get a little closer because it’s really all about trust. I promise, they won’t hurt you.”
She climbed out of the ATV reluctantly, and they walked in silence because he honestly didn’t know what to say to her. A part of him wanted to wrap her in a hug. Another part of him wanted to ask her what was wrong. He knew he could do neither.
The mares had started walking toward them, and he debated with himself whether or not to show her Smokey, a bay mare he favored. He could point Charlotte in the direction of one of the other horses and her baby. Instead, he motioned Charlotte over. The mare ate quietly on the other side of the wall, just out of touch, a dark brown foal hiding behind her.
Charlotte stumbled a bit when she caught sight of the scars on the mare’s body.
“We got a call a few years back from Animal Control. Some so-called trainer had her in his program. They found her bloodied and sore, tied up in her stall, without food or water. Apparently, he’d been trying to train her all night. Those are spur marks on her barrel and neck. The marks on her face are from a wire chin strap, not the kind we normally use, but a piece of barbed wire rigged to the bridle.”
She didn’t move and he wondered if he’d done the right thing pointing the mare out. Would it bring back horrible memories? What kind of abuse had she suffered? He didn’t know, but he wanted her to open up. To find out why, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, her eyes were always just a littl
e haunted.
“We took her in. Nursed her back to health. She was terrified of humans at first. If you moved the wrong way she’d try and bolt the other, and can you blame her? Took us weeks just to get a halter on her. Such a shame, too. She’s bred to the hilt. Probably would have made a heck of a cutting horse, but that idiot trainer tried to beat the talent out of her. So we’re using her as a broodmare. She gets to have a baby every year and she’s happy. Look. She no longer shies away from people.”
He lifted his hand to stroke her mane. The mare turned her head and eyed the two humans on the other side of the wall.
“Here.” He pulled a treat out of his pocket. The mare slurped down the treat, the bald patches on her face more pronounced with her so close to them. It had never grown back, the tissue too traumatized.
“She’s a great mama, too. The first baby we got out of her is winning in the show pen right now. The baby at her side looks even more promising. Isn’t he cool with his big white face? Gets that from his daddy, one of my dad’s stallions.”
The mare had finished her treat and turned toward Charlotte. The other mares had approached, each of them looking toward him. He cut open a bale of hay and started spreading it around, giving more to Smokey than the others. But Charlotte stood still.
“She’s beautiful,” he heard her say. “Even with the scars.”
“Yes. She is.” He half turned toward her, dusted the hay off his hands and his shirt. “And so are you.”
The air around them went perfectly still. God knew why he’d said the words. They’d just sort of come out. Charlotte wouldn’t look at him, but that was okay. He didn’t want her to look at him, worried that if she did, he’d say something else, something stupid and maybe out of line.
“We all have scars, Charlotte. Some are on the outside, some inside, but we can’t let them affect us for the rest of our lives.”
She stared at her toes for a second. “I disagree,” she said softly, so softly he had to lean forward to hear her. “I think some scars are so deep you never forget they’re there.”
He wanted to touch her again, but he knew if he did, she’d bolt. But he wanted to help her. Wanted to help her so badly it was an ache that clawed at his soul.
“The system failed you, Charlotte. I can tell even though I don’t know what happened to you, and I don’t want to know, don’t need to. I do know you’re strong. You didn’t let whatever it was break you. You help kids, and you help families that want to adopt. You’ve moved on and I admire that about you.”
There were tears in her eyes, and it made his heart ache for her all over again. What had they done to her? This foster family she’d had to endure. Why couldn’t she have gotten away? Or maybe she had tried to get away. Maybe that was the sadness he saw in her eyes.
“You’re extraordinary. I want you to know that I know that. And I’m sorry for what you went through. So very, very sorry.”
She stood there, and it was a moment when he knew he could make a left or right turn. Left and head back to the ATV, leave her standing there to gather her thoughts and regain her composure. Go right and move closer to her, risk something so precious that it took his breath away. Whatever choice he made, he knew that if it was the wrong one, he’d never gain her trust again.
“Charlotte,” he said softly, shifting right.
She didn’t move.
“Don’t cry.”
Her eyes glistened when she met his gaze, but the tears didn’t fall. She was the type of woman who wouldn’t let them fall.
“Sometimes I hate myself for being so scared.”
Her words kicked him in the gut because he knew how she felt. When his dad had insisted he ride a steer, he’d been so afraid, and yet he’d wanted so badly to please his old man. To this day his dad had no idea he’d thrown up behind the chutes. He’d somehow gutted it out and ridden that damn steer, but he’d been mad at himself for weeks for being so dang weak.
“You don’t ever have to be afraid of me.”
She held his gaze for so long that he wondered if he’d upset her. But then she said, “I know,” and her words made his insides flip upside down. The sensation was so real it made it hard to breathe for a moment as he stared into her big brown eyes.
He wanted to kiss her.
He lifted a hand, then let it fall back to his side, terrified of making the wrong choice again. She held his gaze and he began to move again, gently cupping the side of her face. That was all, just resting his fingers against her cheek, trying to tell her without words that she could move if she wanted.
She didn’t move.
“Can I kiss you?”
She held his gaze for a long moment. Another choice.
“Yes.”
He slowly lowered his head, her eyes holding his own, the brown in them having gone dark, pupils dilating as he slowly, ever so gently, brushed his lips against her own.
She didn’t move. He took that to mean it was okay to keep kissing her, and it lit a fire inside of him knowing that she had trusted him thus far, that she wanted him to kiss her. He wanted it to be perfect, this kiss. He wanted to make her feel all the same crazy, adrenaline-surging, knee-weakening things he felt.
He touched her lips with his tongue. He felt her jolt, waited for her to move away, and when she didn’t, he increased the pressure, urging her, no, begging her without words to let go.
She opened her mouth to him.
It was like galloping through the shallow part of an ocean, her touch as exhilarating as the sting of the wind on his cheeks and the pinpricks of moisture in his eyes and the shock of cold water on his legs. He lapped up the taste of her, shaking with his need to deepen the kiss even more, afraid to move lest he startle her.
She pulled away.
He let her go, but the sudden loss of contact and the look on her face brought him back to earth as if he’d fallen into the ocean. She didn’t have the look of a woman who’d been well kissed. What he saw on her face was more like surprise and maybe even relief.
“Take me back.”
“Charlotte.”
She turned and headed for the ATV. He stood there for a moment wondering what had just happened. Why did she look at him so strangely?
You shouldn’t have kissed her, you damn fool.
He slipped behind the wheel to take her back to the barn.
Chapter 14
Her lips tingled. She resisted the urge to touch them as she forced herself to slip into the passenger seat of the ATV. He didn’t chase her. Didn’t try to talk her out of leaving. Just followed her back, and she wondered what he was thinking.
That you’re crazy. That you’re messed up in the head. That there must be something wrong with you because most women would kiss a man like Maverick right back. That and do other things.
“You better never tell me the name of the bastard that assaulted you because I think I could beat him black-and-blue.”
The words jolted her in a way that had her turning toward him. He was angry. Not at her. At Rodney. A vein throbbed on the side of his head, and his jaw flexed over and over again.
“I don’t know what the hell kind of foster family you had that they let someone hurt you, but I hope they’re rotting in hell somewhere, too.”
She had to look away, his outrage on her behalf making her heart expand in a way so foreign she couldn’t quite place the emotions he’d evoked.
“Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say, but it seemed so inadequate.
When they arrived back at the stable, she slipped out of the ATV, wanting to say something more, uncertain what words to use. In the end she kept quiet because what could she say? His kiss might have made her feel things that she’d never felt before, but that didn’t change the fact that her past made her a poor choice for a girlfriend, maybe even a friend.
He whistled for
Sadie to get out of the ATV as Charlotte walked ahead. She hated how awkward things had gotten between them. Maybe he’d leave. But, no, she heard him follow her into the barn.
They’d passed Will’s parents sitting at a patio table off the back of the barn. They hadn’t been gone all that long, Jayden leaning against a rail by the arena, a blousy white shirt resting against her pregnant belly. Will worked with a red-colored horse, making the animal do circles around him while holding on to a long rope. He held a whip that looked more like a fishing pole in his left hand.
“You’re teaching him to lunge,” Maverick said.
Jayden had retreated to the rail. “Better to be safe than sorry.”
Grateful for something else to focus on, Charlotte said, “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, really,” Jayden said. “Lunging is a way to let a horse stretch its legs before riding it. Sometimes they’ll buck and do things that make you glad you weren’t on them.”
“Has that horse bucked before?”
“Not in a long, long time. And considering it’d take a horde of ogres to get that horse to do more than trot, I’m pretty sure he’s safe. But I told him to let go of the rope if anything happens.”
The horse’s hooves sent up puffs of dust with every step. Will’s grin was so big, it warmed Charlotte’s heart. This was what she was good at. Helping kids. Not relationships.
“It’s good for him to do stuff on his own,” Jayden added, her pretty blue eyes sparking with amusement. “It gives him a sense of responsibility. Plus, it will help forge a bond between Will and the horse.” Jayden tipped her head sideways, her black hair falling off to one side. “I get the feeling he’s had a rough go of it at some point in his life.”
The words touched a nerve still exposed from kissing Maverick, though Charlotte tried to hide it. She forced herself to take a deep breath.
“He was taken away from his biological parents, but more than that I really can’t say.”
“I understand.”
“But his foster parents are the best,” Charlotte said. “I wish we had more like them.”
Home on the Ranch: Unexpected Daddy Page 11