But what?
Company? Someone to talk with?
Sex?
Perhaps it was more about sex than he was prepared to admit. Up until a week ago he’d been in a kind of sexual hibernation. But Callie had him thinking about it. And got him hard just thinking about it. And not the vague, almost indistinct inclination that usually stirred him. This was different. Way different.
Maybe I should ask her out?
That was crazy. That would be like standing in front of a bulldozer.
She can’t stand you, he reminded himself. Okay, maybe I’ll just ask her to reconsider about Lily again?
Despite his brain telling him to forget the idea, Noah picked up the telephone and dialed the number he couldn’t recall memorizing but somehow had. She answered on the fourth ring.
“Callie, it’s Noah Preston.”
Silence screeched like static. Finally she spoke. “Oh—hello.”
“Sorry to call so late.”
A pause. “That’s okay—I’m not in bed yet.”
His body tightened. He had a startling image in his head and shook himself. Maybe I will ask her out. “I was wondering if you—”
“I haven’t reconsidered,” she said, cutting him off.
“What?”
“About Lily,” she said on a soft breath.
All he could think about was that same breath against his skin. “I was actually—”
“Janelle Evans,” she said quickly, cutting him off again.
Noah paused. “What?” he asked again.
“She’s an instructor just out of town. She has a good reputation. She breeds quarter horses. I have her number if you’re interested.”
Oh, I’m interested all right. But not in Janelle Evans.
She was talking fast and Noah knew she was eager to end the call. Bulldozer, he reminded himself. “Ah—sure.”
He took the number she rattled off and had to ask her to repeat the last few digits because she spoke so quickly.
“Well—goodbye.”
He hesitated, feeling the sting of her reluctance to engage in conversation. “Yeah, okay—goodbye.”
She hung up and he dropped the telephone on the sofa. He needed a shower—as cold as he could stand. Then he’d go to bed and sleep off the idea that he wanted to make love to Callie Jones more than he’d wanted to do anything for a long time.
* * *
On Sunday morning Callie woke at seven, after spending a restless night fighting with the bedsheets.
It was all Noah Preston’s fault. She didn’t ask for his late-night call. She didn’t want to hear his sexy voice just before she went to bed. She didn’t want to spend the night thinking about him.
She dressed and made short work of a bowl of cereal topped with fruit, then grabbed her hat and headed outside. The sun was up, already warming the early October morning air. She fed Tessa then headed for the stables, where Joe waited outside Indiana’s stall.
“Are you taking the big fella out this morning?”
Callie shook her head. “Not today.” Indy’s long head swung over the top of the door and she ran her hands down his face. “‘Morning, my darling boy.” She turned back to Joe. “He did well yesterday, two firsts and a third, so he gets a day off. Give him a feed, will you, and then tack up Kirra. The English saddle please.”
Joe made a face. “What do I tell the kid?”
Callie frowned. “What kid?”
“The one who’s here for a lesson.”
Callie shook her head. “I don’t have anyone booked until eleven.”
“I know,” Joe said. “I checked the booking sheet. But she’s here.” Joe pointed to the office. “I put her in there,” he said, then more seriously, “and told her not to touch anything.”
Callie strode the twenty meters to the office and swung the half-opened door back on its hinges. She stood in the threshold and looked at the young girl sitting at her desk.
“What are you doing here?”
Lily Preston swiveled in the chair and got to her feet. “Um … I’m here for my lesson.”
Callie inhaled deeply. “You’re not having a lesson.”
“But I thought—”
Callie placed her hands on her hips. “You have to go home, Lily.” She turned on her heels and went to walk away but stopped when the teenager spoke.
“Please.”
She turned back and looked at the teenager, whose green eyes were wide open, their expression sincere. Lily was sorry. Callie could feel it. Something tugged at her heartstrings.
Callie took a deep breath. “Indiana is my horse, Lily. And as quiet as he is, you could have been badly hurt. And I would have been responsible.”
Lily’s chin lifted, half defiant. “But I can ride a bit.”
“A bit isn’t good enough for a horse like Indiana, especially in an ill-fitting bridle and without a saddle.”
Lily looked shame-faced beneath her makeup. “I really didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” she said. “I just … sometimes I just do things. I don’t know why. I do things I know are stupid, but I can’t help myself.”
The tug on Callie’s heart grew stronger. She knew exactly what Lily meant. Kindred spirits, she thought. But, oh, God … what should she do? Say yes to this girl who looked at her with such raw intensity. A girl, she suspected, who rarely showed that side of herself to anyone. But a girl whose father she couldn’t stop thinking about. Who, without even trying, was making Callie feel, imagine.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” Lily said quickly, almost desperately. “Please teach me.”
Before Callie could reply Joe stuck his head around the door to tell her Kirra was ready. She thanked him, then returned her attention to the teenager. “I’ll tell you what—you stay out of trouble while I work my horse and we’ll talk after.” She stood aside for Lily to pass. “No promises, just talk.”
Callie led Lily from the stables and told her to stay put near the dressage arena. She gave her an old soda crate to sit on and then took the red bay mare into the arena. She worked her for twenty minutes, trying to concentrate on the maneuvers and transitions from trot to canter. But her mind wasn’t really on the job. Lily sat on the sidelines, watching her, masked behind her makeup.
Ten minutes later Noah Preston’s silver utility vehicle pulled up outside the stables. Callie continued with her ride, watching as he got out and opened the back door of the truck. The children stepped out. The older boy grabbed the hands of the twins and listened as his father spoke to them. Then he headed for Lily. He had a great walk, she thought. And he looked so good in jeans and a black T-shirt. Way too good.
Callie watched as the kids followed behind him. And again it stirred something inside her. An old longing. And it gave her a snapshot of a life she’d never have.
Ryan …
The longing turned into a pain—a piercing, incredible hurt that always took root behind her ribs when she thought about the beautiful baby boy she’d lost when he was just two days old.
I miss you Ryan … I miss