Wyoming Sweethearts

“A drunk driver was going the wrong way on the floating bridge when I was coming home after a late night practicing for my church’s Christmas pageant. I saw the lights and I tried to avoid him. But I steered toward the right hand shoulder, what little there was of it, and he decided to do the same. I spent the next few months in the hospital and the next year in a rehabilitation center in Los Angeles.” She took a sip, letting the pain settle between them. “Gerald couldn’t wait, he had to keep training, so he found another skating partner. It turned out my injury and the distance between Seattle and L.A. were problems too big to overcome and our bond faded.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Sympathy, that was the only reason he reached over to lay his hand on hers. He cared, sure, but he was in control of his emotions. He didn’t care for her too much. He willed his understanding into his touch. “It wasn’t fair.”

“Fair? No. God never promised this life would be fair.” Her chin went up, not a woman to feel sorry for herself. “But there have been many blessings that have come my way. I survived the accident. I beat the odds to walk again. I’m really very blessed.”

“Sure, I see that,” he agreed. She was blessed in more ways than he had understood before. She had strength and faith enough not to let the unfairness of her accident and injuries embitter her spirit. It was hard not to like her more, and he twined his fingers through hers, holding on and not wanting to let go. When he gazed into her clear green eyes, a similar tug of emotion wrapped around him. “You’ve had some tough blows. First the accident, then the breakup.”

“Gerald tried. I have to give him credit. In the end he chose someone else.” Her fingers tightened on his, holding on to him, too. “Yes, it was his new skating partner.”

“Did you feel passed over?” That was certainly how he felt.

“Yes. It was easy for Gerald to move on. Proof his heart wasn’t in it as deeply as mine was.” She smiled, a mix of poignance and beauty that made her compelling. “Life goes on.”

“It does.” He was lost in the moment gazing into her, and he couldn’t remember the name of any woman previous. The brush of the breeze, the murmur of the other couple on the porch and the faint rasp of the rocking swing silenced. The world narrowed until there was only Eloise and her hand, so much smaller, tucked in his.

Footsteps vaguely drummed closer and a familiar woman’s voice pierced into his thoughts, pushing back the boundaries of his world so that Eloise was no longer the center. Cady smiled down at him and she wasn’t alone. Two dark-haired girls, one around ten with braided pigtails and the other a little older with a touch of disdain, stood by her.

“Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?” the youngest girl wanted to know.

“No.” He abruptly sat up and whipped his hand away from Eloise’s. He knew why the kid was asking. It looked as if they were, sitting together with hands linked and sharing secrets. Couples did that sort of thing. He noticed Eloise seemed uncomfortable, too. He caught Cady’s curious look and set out to reassure her. “Just talking. That’s all. I suppose you heard about the horses?”

“I found Eloise’s message on my voice mail when I reached the airport. I had to pick up these two and their father.” Cady was honorary family to the girls and their godmother. They all had been close when she’d lived in New York City. Cady gently steered the kids toward the steps. “I can’t wait to see our new horses. I didn’t think to ask if they were gentle or even trained.”

“They appear to be.” Eloise grappled for her cane. “Their previous owner took good care of them, rode them regularly and they are steady and gentle. With a little training, they should make good, reliable horses for guests to ride.”

“Excellent. What a great job, Eloise.” Cady beamed, her happiness evident, before leading the girls away. “Let’s go see the horses that were saved because of you, Julianna Elizabeth Stone.”

“Do we get to ride them?” the little girl wanted to know as she skipped down the steps, and Cady’s answer was lost in a rising gust of warm wind.

“Well, I guess I had better get back to my desk.” Eloise checked her watch and grabbed her cane. “I’ve got just enough of my day left to call the farrier. Tonight I have to get off work on time.”

“Why’s that?” He climbed to his feet and followed her along the porch.

“I’ve got a date tonight. A blind date.” She let her tone say it all.

“Poor you. Who set you up?”

“My grandma.” She liked that Sean opened the door for her and held it. He was a gentleman underneath his cowboy charm. She stepped into the air-conditioning with a sigh. “She is the only person I can’t say no to.”

“So you are stuck going out on a date when you don’t want to date?”

“Exactly.” She liked that he understood. Her own mother had little sympathy for the situation with her matchmaking grandma. “But it’s only one dinner. I can suffer through anything for an hour or so, at least that’s what I tell myself.”

“Sure. Who is it with?”

“I don’t know him. Some guy who lives in the next town over.” She hesitated in the well-appointed lobby, where their paths would part. The front door loomed to the left, the hallway leading to her office to the right. Remembering what Julianna had said made her blush. She wasn’t interested in Sean in that way. “The last thing I need is a boyfriend.”

“Right, because who wants to be tied down like that?” He swept off his Stetson and raked a hand through his thick dark hair. “Who needs the heartache?”

“You said it.” It was nice that they shared this common ground. Not wanting a repeat of earlier when he’d held her hand too long, she backed away. Maybe a no-physical-contact policy between them would be a good idea. “Thanks again, Sean.”

“Any time. I’ll see you on the next horse-gathering mission?”

“Absolutely.” She spun on her heel so she couldn’t be tempted to watch him walk away. So she couldn’t be tempted to wonder why any woman would have chosen another man over him. He didn’t even seem to notice her disability. He didn’t treat her differently because of her limp. He had understood the devastation she’d felt after her accident and her breakup.

He was a nice guy. A really nice guy. That type of man was hard to find, which made her think about her impending date. She gripped her cane tightly and turned her thoughts to the evening ahead. Please, Lord, she prayed as she always did before one of Gran’s fix-ups. Let this blind date not be too uncomfortable.

God hadn’t answered that particular prayer yet, but there was always a first. She was determined to hold out hope.

“We have to fend for ourselves tonight.” Uncle Frank looked up from his laptop on the kitchen table the moment Sean came through the door. “The girls are in Jackson trying on the dresses for Autumn’s wedding and dragged Mrs. G. with them. I told her you and I could throw something on the barbecue or hit the diner. What do you say?”

“The diner.” He’d just finished cleaning out three stables and feeding all the horses. That explained where Autumn was, who practically lived in the barns. “Where’s Tucker?”

“His fiancée is cooking for him, but he didn’t see fit to extend an invitation to us.” Frank grinned and pushed away from the table. “Let me grab my hat and my keys. How did the horse rescue turn out?”

“Good. The inn has some gentle animals, and some good horses have a caring home.” He turned on his heel and headed right back out the door.

“Then it’s good news all around.” Frank seemed in an unusually chipper mood but he didn’t explain as he hopped down the steps. Buttercup dashed up to the fence and mooed, her bright eyes sparkling. “Hey, girl. I’ll come see you later. How’s that?”

A discontented moo trailed after them as they headed to the garage.

“Tucker’s about ready to take possession of the land he bought.” Frank hopped into the driver’s seat of his big black pickup.

Sean climbed into the passenger seat and buckled in. He liked his uncle. He couldn’t count the number of times Dad had said, “You remind me of my brother.” Sean supposed he and Frank were alike in some ways. They both liked the outdoors, loved animals, had ranching in their blood. Sean liked to think he was as even-tempered. “Does that mean the Greens are officially moved off the land he bought?”

“They leave tomorrow for Florida. Retirement. I can’t picture that.” He started the engine and gunned down the driveway with the speed and skill of someone who had done it thousands of times. Trees whipped by along with rolling green fenced fields full of grazing horses. The view of the Tetons and the Wyoming sky could knock the breath out of you. Frank turned the truck onto the paved county road. “I’m going to wind up like my dad. I’ll be here until the end of my days.”

“It’s not a bad life sentence.”

“I reckon not. Say, I hear you’re on the rebound,”

Frank said as if he were discussing the weather and not dropping a bombshell.

“Where did you hear that?” He chuckled. “Who am I rebounding with?”

Then he knew. He remembered Eloise’s hand beneath his, the feminine feel of her slender fingers entwined between his. The talk they’d shared on the porch in plain view of anyone walking by. “Cady told you, didn’t she?”

“She mentioned seeing you and Eloise together.” Frank kept his gaze on the road as if indifferent, but there was no missing his knowing grin.

“We were having a cool drink after fetching the horses. No big deal.”

“No big deal. Sure, I get that. Except the two of you were holding hands.”

Nothing was private in a small town. Sean chuckled. “Looks are deceiving. Cady saw me comforting a friend, that was all.”

“A friend. If that’s what you want to call her, fine by me.” Uncle Frank’s ear-to-ear grin said he knew differently.

He would be wrong. “Eloise has had a tough time. We were talking about it. Friends do that.”