License to Love (14 page)

After that dark moment passed, he climbed into the truck and
started it. What would Missy think if he told her?

He transported the horses back to their owners, who had
returned from vacation, then picked up more hay while he was out. He wished, as
he looked over at the passenger seat, that she would have come along.

He wanted to slip over and see her for lunch, like they’d
done many times now, but he needed to think about what he’d say. So he went
back to his own place when he was done working. After heating up leftovers, he
chewed without tasting, wondering how he’d gotten so lost.

After lunch, he ventured to Missy’s door. While taking her
porch steps, he brushed off any lingering hay before looking up to find her
standing in her open door.

“We sure complicated things before,” he said. Maybe that was
why she’d left instead of staying with him.

The soft skin around her eyes wasn’t red from crying, but
her face looked gloomy today, and her brown eyes dark. She stepped inside and
let him follow her in.

When she stopped and turned to him, they were inches apart,
and her eyes grew heavy with need. The change threw him, but only for a second,
because he always needed her.

He swept her into an embrace, barely getting the door shut
behind them while he hungrily kissed her.

“You look good,” she said, pulling off his coat to see his
thick, cotton shirt underneath.

“Work clothes.” He gently pulled the band from her ponytail
to set her long hair free.

“You look good when you work.”

He tugged on her shirt, but she made him wait till they were
in the bedroom to pull her clothes off. Both were naked in minutes.

They fell onto the bed in a rush. Her body was made for his
hands, the curves and dips, the swells. Their tense words were forgotten in
their kisses. She seemed to need him as much as the first time. When she arched
up against him, it sent him over the edge.

“Sorry,” he gasped against her neck. “You got the better of
me.”

She laughed under him, shaking them. He ran his fingers
through her hair, pulling it to his nose to smell her lavender shampoo.

“Missy.”

“You sure like saying my name in the bedroom.” She spoke with
a smile, gazing into his eyes.

Did he? What else did he say while making love to her?

“Because you like having me in your bedroom so much.” He
rolled so they lay stomach to stomach and skimmed his hand over every inch of
her. “Do we have time for round two?”

“What else do we have to do today?” She followed his lead
and flattened her hand on his chest before running it all over his bare skin.
While he’d been nice and touched her sensitive places, she teased and ran
around his.

With a sly smile, he said, “The new horse will be here in an
hour.”

“Oh!”

“Did you forget?”

“Not until you showed up at my door.” She continued to tease
him. “A lot can happen in an hour.”

His body responded to her hands. What if the owner brought
the horse early? Didn’t matter, he couldn’t move. “Do I make you forget
things?”

“Let’s find out!”

* * * *

Forty minutes later, they were scrambling to make it to the
stables in time. Brent would have never guessed he would enjoy watching her
dress. She’d yanked on her jeans and a sweater and pulled on a navy coat to
protect her from the biting cold outside. A cold front had interrupted their
mild weather, but at least it wasn’t below freezing right now.

As they walked together down to the road, Brent heard a
truck rolling toward them on the gravel.

“We made it just in time,” Missy said when the truck pulled
up with the horse trailer behind it.

“Mr. Henderson!” He greeted the horse’s owner when the truck
door opened. He’d picked up the horse before, but Henderson seemed nervous
about leaving him this time.

Stepping out, the older, thin man nodded at them both.
“Hello, Brent.”

“This is Missy Nelson. She’s running the place along with me
now,” he introduced her, not caring if the way he did it implied they were more
than business partners. They were, whether or not she wanted to see it that
way.

Henderson flicked a thumb back towards the horse. “He’s
anxious over this trip. So if he gets too rowdy, please call me. We’ll turn
around if this doesn’t work out.”

“We can handle it. I've had tense hoses here before without
any problems.” Brent motioned for Missy to help lead the horse out of the
trailer.

“Well, Jumper here is a Draft Cross
,
so I didn’t
expect him to . . . well, fit his name the way he does. We love him, but he’s a
handful. And the trip over shook him up pretty bad.”

Brent let Jumper smell his hand while he petted its muzzle.
“Seems calm enough now. I can put him in a stall, if that’s all right.”

“Well . . . he’s been in the trailer two hours longer than I
planned. Our road turned into a mud pit last night, and I had to do some
digging on the way over.” Mr. Henderson rubbed Jumper’s neck. “He might like to
get out and stretch.”

“Alright. Come on, big boy, time to stretch those legs,”
Brent said as he led Jumper out into a partitioned pasture. He expected
Henderson to stay and watch the horse at least a few minutes, but he looked at
his watch and said his family was already waiting for him.

“That mud threw off our schedule. I’m sure you’re right. He
seems right at home,” Henderson said as Brent closed the gate to the pasture.

They waved when Mr. Henderson pulled his truck around the
circle and headed out.

“So you think he’ll calm down?” Missy asked as she watched
the truck drive down the road.

“Seems to be doing fine now,” Brent answered. “We’ll just
keep him away from the other horses, and us, as much as we can help it. Let’s give
him room.”

Together, they each hitched a foot on a wood beam of the
fence and watched the horse adjust. Brent slid a sideways look at Missy while
she focused on the horse. While she still had a lot to learn, she’d proved how
easily she could learn it. She might not be able to guess at a horse’s
sickness, but she’d feel something was off. That intuition was the best start
she could hope for.

Within minutes, Jumper had circled the area and was now
running and bucking. Brent got chills up his back, but tried to shake off the
unease starting to form over him like wet dew.

“What happened?” she asked him. “He’s acting up again.”

“He got scent of the mares.” He watched the new boarder with
unease as he bucked around his section of pasture.

Missy watched Jumper, then threw Brent a worried look. “I’m
not sure Jumper and the fences are getting along.”

“The good news is that’s flexi fence on the back half, and
it won’t hurt a horse like wood railing would, if they hit.” Brent paused. “But
I’m starting to wonder if he can jump them.”

No, he didn’t like this one bit.

“Can you calm him down or should I bring in the mares?” Three
mares grazed in their own pasture, but it touched one corner of Jumper’s.

“He’s spooked.” Brent straightened. “Stay back if he gets
out of control. I’ll get him into a stall to calm down.”

* * * *

“Don’t get hurt,” she called to Brent before turning away.
Not wanting to watch Brent with Jumper, she entered the stables to see if Ivan
had mucked out a stall for their new arrival.

Inside, she stopped when she saw Ivan leading Jeffrey to a
new stall. “What’s going on?” Brent didn’t have anyone else care for his horse.

“I’m almost done with a stall for the new horse. I’m moving Jeffrey
further down.”

That seemed like a good idea, but just then Brent came
around the corner to lead Jumper inside. She felt uneasy about the situation, especially
when she saw Brent’s eyes go cool and calculating. Straight fear shot up into
her stomach.

“What’s Jeffrey doing out?”

“Ivan’s moving him.” She backed away from Jumper as he pawed
the ground. Now closer to Ivan and Brent’s horse, she hoped to help guide him
away from Jumper and back into a stall.

“All right, I’m taking Jumper back out for a minute.” Brent
turned Jumper to leave just as Jeffrey reared up. Missy flattened against the
wall, praying no one would get kicked.

“Watch out!” Ivan exclaimed in a panic-laced voice. She knew
better than to get underfoot as Jeffrey charged to the exit.

Something
clanged
. Jumper bucked, but Brent kept hold
of his reins.

Still, the horses faced off with wild eyes and flying
hooves. Jeffrey gave a startled horse screech and charged past.

“Jeffrey!” The horse didn’t slow his pace even as Brent
called out. He wrestled Jumper into a stall, slammed the door and took off at a
run to find Jeffrey.

She knew she couldn't help with Jeffrey, so she tried to
soothe the agitated animal they’d just penned. She talked to Jumper the way she
heard Brent talk to the horses. “That’s right, boy, settle down. Everything’s
okay.”

“Is he hurt?” Ivan asked from behind her.

“I don’t think so. Stay with him a minute.”

She rushed outside and spotted Brent. Jeffrey hadn’t made it
far. He was injured. He stood by the fence, a hind leg lifted, as Brent
approached.

“Hey, boy, it’s just me.” Brent took slow steps, coming up
to Jeffrey at an angle. He held out his hand toward the horse’s nose. “Come on,
boy. I need to see your side.”

She stayed still to give them space while Brent settled him
down. She could make out the wound on Jeffrey’s side, where his stomach and hip
met.

Ivan walked up beside her, and they watched Brent from the
stable entrance.

“This isn’t good,” she whispered to Ivan. “Jumper kicked Jeffrey.
See by his hind leg?”

She glanced at Ivan and saw the horror on his face.

“It was just a misunderstanding,” she added. As bad as
things were, they could have been much worse. She valued the horses, but not
over Brent.

She watched while Brent looked over his horse and called the
vet on his cell phone. After squeezing Ivan’s shoulder, she walked halfway to
Brent and the horse.

“Can I help?” she offered, but he shook his head - a quick,
don’t bother me shake - without turning to look at her. All right, it was his
horse. She backed up to the stables, trying not to let her anxiety show.

Ivan looked nervous too, so she suggested they clean up in
the stables. A few things had been knocked over, and the horses were making
noises.

Dancer snorted when he saw her, his way of calling her over.
Ivan turned and saw her pet him.

“You two getting along now?”

“Yeah, we like each other, don’t we?” She’d made the effort
and he’d warmed up.

The worry in Ivan’s face added to her own.

“Why don’t you go home to Tina?” she suggested.

Turning, she came face to face with Dancer. “Hey, there,
boy. It’s okay.”

He pawed and made noises that she’d come to think were for
agreement.

Night fell outside and the temperature dropped. She sighed
and watched her breath in the air.

Would Brent be upset with her for what happened? She didn't
know if anyone was to blame, or maybe they all had needed to work together
better.

She laid her face on Dancer's muzzle. She enjoyed their
friendship as he made soothing noises to her. Then, at the crunch behind her,
she guessed Dancer had chosen to let Brent walk up unannounced behind them.

She glanced up and found Brent's eyes were soft,
questioning. He’d already taken his jacket off, and pulled it around her shoulders.
His cologne surrounded her, underlain with the smell of his skin. She hugged it
close while turning to him.

“Is Dancer calmed down?” That quiet voice of his washed over
her.

“He’s doing good, and we’re friends now.” She turned to the
horse again, afraid to look at Brent’s eyes because she needed to see something
there, and she wasn’t sure she would.

“Missy.” His whisper made her pause, and his arms wrapped
around her and pulled her back against him. She could see their breath in the
night air. “Come back to my house with me.”

That wasn’t anger in his voice. It was flat out desire.

“Okay.” She patted Dancer before leaving. Brent put his arm
around her and shock ran through her at how much she needed him.

“It’ll be alright.”

His words put tears in her eyes, but she hid them by
pressing her face closer to him. What had happened today? It felt like more
than an accident occurred.

In his bedroom, he trailed kisses all over her body while he
undressed her. She felt the need he always sparked, but her heart ached with
strange emotions. Unable to speak, she clung to him for comfort and warmth and
the fulfillment he offered. Spending their mutual need left them entwined in
each other’s arms. Missy wasn’t sure who was holding who, but she needed his
arms around her.

“Today reminded me of the day Ben died,” Brent said softly. Despite
his quiet voice, she jumped into alertness, her heart thudding hard.

Why hadn’t she seen that?

Raising her head, she looked into his face in the dim light.
“Today wasn’t your fault. Neither was that day.”

“You weren’t there.”

She didn’t care what the facts were. “Tell me what you’re
thinking.”

He shrugged, and since they were lying down together, his
shoulders moved under her. “I lost control.”

This must be the male mind at work. She wouldn’t argue now,
but just let him talk. “Of your horse, you mean?”

“I wasn’t clear enough to Ivan. I didn’t give enough weight
to Jumper’s mood. I should have checked before bringing Jumper into the
stables.”

She wanted to say
what’s done is done
, but that
wouldn’t help him. This was the first time she’d seen this side of him, one
that worried and admitted weakness.