Page 21 of Wicked Cowboy
Part of me assumed this was her nurse's training talking, but her heart was already with Chelsea and helping my pop. I squeezed the edges of my desk. “Glad you’re settling in well.”
She finished signing and put the papers back on my desk without asking a question.
I braced for her to say something, but then she pointed to the door. “I was hoping you can show me Henry?”
Now I had an instant family and I wasn’t sure how to proceed.
But I stood and walked to the door with her, gently placing my hand on her back. “I’d love to.”
We headed outside a few minutes later and the sunshine and fresh air filled my lungs as the best smell in the world. After years in the sandbox, the grass and warm gravel here had been a welcome home present that still made me pause. Ridley at my side made the day better, and I directed her to the training area. “At Bernie and Chloe’s wedding, I remember you were helping to wipe Chloe’s tears before the ceremony. I always wondered why she was crying?”
Her lips curled up and Ridley glowed like she had in my memory of that day. “She was in love and happy to have found the perfect guy for her. I just had tissues handy.” She pivoted and blinked as her eyes fluttered like the sun was in her face. “How is it you remember that?”
I ignored how she made my insides warmer when I said, “I was there to see if everyone was ready to get started and when I returned to the guys, I asked who you were.”
Henry rushed over to us and poked Ridley. Without missing a beat, she rubbed his mane like they were friends and asked, “You asked about me?”
“Traitor,” I joked to Henry’s floppy ear and leaned against the rail. Ridley had won over Chelsea, brides, my horse, and she’d even got my pop as her cheerleader. I watched her when I said, “Sure, you were the calming force in the room.”
“I… hope so.” Henry’s trainer joined us to lead the horse away and I motioned for Ridley to step back. We both did and she said, “It’s shocking she’s never coming back.”
I stilled for a second. My fingers circled her fist that opened for me. My heart beat faster, but I hung my head down. “I felt guilty. I hadn’t even known they’d take a date night when Chelsea was at school practicing for a play.”
She curled her arm around my neck and hugged me. “I… you can’t be. We aren’t all-knowing.”
Tears formed in my eyes. I never cried. I'd lost my entire team in Afghanistan and sent my friends home in body bags, including the woman who loved me. Death permeated the air I breathed and held me in its grip. My deal now, with Ridley, was safer than risking our hearts, for both of us.
Henry bucked and returned to us, and I stopped crying. I petted his mane. “He’s going to be a champion.”
She brushed him again as she said, “He’s handsome.”
I stopped and met her gaze. “I’m jealous.”
She tugged my shirt out of my jeans and shook her head. “Are you joking, Carter? You’re the hottest guy I ever met.”
The trainer came again and took Henry away, and I trailed my hand down her side. “Doubtful, sweetheart, but thank you.”
She made atsksound with her lips and reached in her back pocket. “Let me show you on my phone.”
She scrolled through her online profile pictures and then opened one. I saw the old me beside her. “What?”
She handed me a snapshot of the two of us dancing with thousands of likes, and she said, “Look, here you are on my profile.”
I hadn’t imagined that aura of goodness around her, with everything she does. Even now, she made me want to protect her and keep her as my own. Forever.
I handed the phone back and her skin sent a jolt of electricity in me. “You were kind and sweet without overshadowing the bride but still stole my breath away.”
“That’s sweet.” She tucked it away, that blast from the past and shrugged. “And since their wedding, life wasn’t easy.”
My friends, Roberto, Aaron, Liam, Titan, and Marley, might be alive and I’d not carry their memories like weights on my shoulder. And then there was Dora as her death was entirely my fault. I coughed. “The good and the bad come in waves.”
She bumped into me. “I guess.”
The air near her was like vanilla and cinnamon though she hadn’t baked anything. It was her essence. Maybe I was being selfish and self-centered for marrying her with a business deal.
“We’d never have met again if not for our friend’s tragedy.”
She rubbed her shoulder into my muscle and winked, “Or we would have… on better terms.”
