She was quiet for a long time.
“I wanted to write to you.” She shrugged. “Especially after Jason was killed. Wade offered an address.” She shook her head. “I was afraid I would say something that might cause you to lose your focus.”
“Nah. You should write. I’d enjoy hearing from you.”
She looked up at him. “Really?”
“Well, yeah.”
She settled back against the board wall and he felt her relax. One of the horses nickered; another answered.
“The horses are always ready to go. Night or day. I love their spirit. So eager to be saddled and taken on an adventure. I think they enjoy it as much as the riders do.”
“I would have to say you’re right. The biggest problem I used to encounter was holding them back when they wanted to tear ass and run.”
“Do you think you can still do it?”
Chance had to get a grip on this. There were so many ways this question could go.
“Do what?”
“Ride a horse.” This time she looked over at him, frowning. “What did you think I meant?”
He shrugged and hoped she would let it go. Distraction was the key. “Hell, yeah, I can still ride. It’s like a bicycle. Once you learn...”
“Isn’t that what they say about sex?” she asked. “I suppose it fits both scenarios.”
Sex? Did she bring that up on purpose? He glanced over and saw the look of pure innocence on her face. Nah. “What do you know about sex anyway?” It was out before he could stop it.
The cool look she gave him didn’t require words. But she answered anyway.
“Really. Are you honestly going there?” A look of disbelief covered her fine features. Her mouth was open in awe. Again. “Chance, I’m twenty-four years old and a year shy of being a doctor. I probably know more about sex than you do.”
He absolutely refused to take up that challenge. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
“What way did you mean it? That I’m just a dumb little girl who never left the farm?”
“Your intelligence has never been questioned. I know you’re smart,” he murmured, adjusting his jeans in the most unnoticeable way he could. “You always have been.”
“Okay. Well, that kinda narrows the options.”
Chance didn’t like where this conversation was going. He didn’t want to think about Holly in another man’s arms let alone his bed. Hell. It was none of his business. Holly was an adult and she could date whom she wanted. But he still didn’t like it. Those bullets had done more than knock out his knee and shoulder. Apparently they had severely screwed with his head.
“Who is your boyfriend? Maybe I know him.” Safe subject.
“Don’t have one. Once the clinic caught on, I barely had time to breathe. That’s when we hired Jolie to run the office, take the calls, set up the appointments.”
“You said Kevin Grady is the co-owner?”
She nodded.
“I remember him. Red hair? Thick glasses?”
“Yeah.” She nodded and smiled. “You should see his kids! Anyway, he has the experience but couldn’t handle the workload by himself. I had the land and the old house that was left to me when Aunt Ida died. And that old masonry building sitting empty. So we formed a partnership. So far it’s working. There are two high school boys who work weekends and evenings, cleaning and caring for the boarded animals. Even then it’s still hectic at times. Right now we are all struggling to learn the new computer system.”
“You’ll get there. Look at how much you’ve accomplished already.”
“I guess. I owe a lot to your brothers. They fronted the money for the equipment. We’re making payments but I’ll be so glad when I’ve paid them back.
“Hell, I doubt if they’re worried about it.”
“So when are we going to saddle a couple of horses?”
Chance hesitated. In actuality, he wasn’t so sure he could still swing up into a saddle. His right knee was still healing. It was mended enough that he could hide the tendency to limp. And the left knee took the brunt of the weight when he put his foot in a stirrup. Maybe he could manage without doing any more damage. “I don’t know. I think Wade is expecting me to spend some time in Dallas but that probably won’t be until next week.”
She let her head fall back against the wooden wall and grinned like a cat that had just found the key to the milk vault.
“What?”
“I have something I want to show you while you’re here. Something I’ve recently gotten into. I’ll bet if you give it a try it will have you flat on your back and begging for mercy in about eight seconds.”
Mother of God. He wasn’t going to ask. He. Would. Not. Ask.
“Aren’t you going to ask what it is?”
“No.”
“You sound grumpy again.” Her eyes narrowed as she gave him the once-over. “You must be really tired. I know you’ve experienced a lot of emotions today. I’ll wait until you get your strength back and show you. Give you a live demonstration. It’s easier than trying to describe it anyway. I guarantee you’re going to think I’ve gone absolutely wild-child crazy. But I love it. You get into this rhythm and feel all that power beneath you, pushing you up and slamming you down, and know you control it...ah man, there’s nothing like it.”
He pinched his eyes closed and took a deep breath. He could feel her looking at him. For the life of him, he didn’t know how to tactfully respond.
“Can we change the subject?” He cleared his throat. Why had he ever decided to come to the barn?
“Sure. Are you in pain?”
“No.” Yes. But not in a way he could do anything about at the moment.
She nudged his arm playfully. “What do you want to talk about?”
He hadn’t found one safe topic of conversation so far and he was quickly running out of ideas. When he’d thought about coming back to the ranch to recuperate, he hadn’t envisioned this. He hadn’t considered how Holly would have grown and matured into someone he would love to know better. A lot better. And thoughts like that wouldn’t cut it. He needed to clamp down on his wayward thinking and he needed to start right now.
“How about on Sunday we grab a couple of horses and disappear for a while? I’ll tell Wade we will go into Dallas later in the week. I’d like to see how things have changed on the ranch.”
“That sounds great.” She yawned. “Maybe then I can show you my new passion.”
He let his head bounce against the back wall. Goddamn. This was so messed up. He needed a smoke. Or a beer. Or both. The last time he’d seen Holly she’d been a child. For some reason she’d taken to him and he’d not been able to stop her from following him around the ranch, first with her brother there, then the few times when he wasn’t. She’d been too young to take a hint and he wasn’t about to hurt the feelings of a little ten-year-old by telling her to get lost and leave him alone. She had persisted and not only had he begun to enjoy her presence, he’d missed her when she wasn’t around.
She’d been a cute kid, smart,