Love Lift Me (14 page)

“I
thought I’d let Shane here go for a ride. He’s never been on a horse before.”

“That
right?”

Shane
kicked up a little puff of dust from the barn floor with his boot.

“Yep,”
I said, giving Shane a playful bump with my elbow, “He’s a newbie.”

“I
kinda figgered that. S’ok, though, son. Everybody’s gotta be new some time or
‘nother.” Dale turned to me. “It’s been real fine, Lil’ Bit, and I’d sure like
to carry on talkin’ with you but I need to see if I can get this here thing up
and runnin’. My
help
still ain’t here this mornin’. Spec’ he must be
late again, if you know what I mean.”

I
held my breath when he almost said Hale’s name.
Thank goodness.

“I’ll…I’ll
let you know if we see him.”

“Alright,
back to work for me. Nice seein’ ya’ll.”

After
Dale crawled back under the harvester, Shane and I walked outside the garage
and around to the narrow path which led towards the stables. The way took us
through a stretch of forest where the path seemed carved out of the wilderness
like a tunnel just big enough to walk through without hitting your head on the
branches. At the very tips of their leaves, the sprawling oak trees were
starting to show the first signs of fall’s approach.

Shane
caught my hand as we were walking and said, “Thanks for bringing me out here.
It feels like I’ve been spending too much time cooped up inside an office or a
courtroom or a…a hospital room now that I’m walking here with you.”

“You’re
welcome.” I squeezed his hand. “And I can definitely relate to that last one.”

We
shuffled along a little further. Not much longer, and the path would open up
and we would be across the meadow from the stable.

“How
long do you think this case will take you?” I asked. It seemed like the words
could only manage to fumble out. The truth was, I wanted to know how long we
had before Shane would have to leave.

“I’m
not sure, Kat. Probably several months.”

“Oh.
Do these sorts of cases take a long time?”

“They
can,” he answered, never breaking his easy stride. “I’m working on a solution
though, for the employees. There’s a chance we might be able to work something
out sooner.”

“A
solution?”

“Forgive
me if I’m not more specific. It’s really still sort of a plan I’m trying to
work out. Until then, I can’t really say much about it. You understand, right?”

I
nodded. I didn’t.

“Is
that it, up ahead? The wooden building?” Shane pointed across the meadow.
Without me even realizing it, we’d already broken into the clearing.

Instead
of trying to climb the split-rail fence and crossing through the overgrown
meadow, we made our way around the outside, through the tack room, and into the
stable. Ruby and Zip had already sensed our presence and both of them were
happily tapping their hooves in anticipation. When I drew near, Zip let out a
soft whinny and thrust his head against my shoulder.

“Wow,”
Shane remarked. “This is the one you had with you the other day, right?”

“That’s
right. this is Zip. The brown one is Ruby.”

“They’re
beautiful. How did you name them?”

“Mother
named Ruby when Daddy bought her as an anniversary gift years and years ago.
She told me once that she’d always wanted a horse called that. I named Zip when
he was just a little pony because he could run so fast.”

“Uhh,”
Shane said and scrunched up his face as Ruby nuzzled him, almost knocking off
his Stetson. “I think this one is tasting me.”

I
giggled and scratched Zip behind one pointy ear. “Relax. They don’t bite. Well,
they might nibble on you a little bit, especially if you taste like apples.”

“No
apples today. The doctor, and the horses, apparently, are going to be a bit
disappointed.”

“They
sure look ready for another outing. Let’s brush them and get them saddled. Don’t
worry, it’s not that hard.” I walked back into the tack room while Shane was
still getting to know the horses and brought out the saddles and a pair of
curry combs for us to use. With the saddles balanced on the wooden beam in the
middle of the stable, I handed Shane one comb and showed him how to gently
brush away the stray hair and dust that covered Zip’s velvety black coat. Once
that was finished and the saddles were on, we led the horses out of the stable
by their reins.

“So,
which one am I riding?” Shane asked.

“You’re
definitely going to be taking Ruby. Zip is…a little wild sometimes.”

“Ok…so,
how do I get on? Do I just sort of jump?” Poor Shane looked completely
bewildered as he pulled on Ruby’s saddle trying to figure it out.

“Just
watch me.” I placed my left foot in the stirrup, gave a little bounce to get
myself started, and swung up, putting my other leg over to the opposite side.
“See?”

It
was funny watching Shane try to copy me. He tried several times, once even
spinning all the way around and having to do a half-run back into the stable,
before he finally got it. The moment he landed in a sitting position, Ruby
began to trot eagerly out into the meadow.

“Alright…alright…steady,
girl,” Shane told the horse. He had the reins in a deathgrip while he worked on
maintaining his balance. “How do I control this thing?”

“That’s
Ruby. She kind of goes wherever she wants. Right now she probably wants to get
out into the meadow near the Johnson’s orchard and try to score some free
apples.”

“They
sure make this look a lot easier in the movies.”

“It’s
ok. Riding takes a little getting used to. You’ll get the hang of it.”

To
his credit, Shane did. He learned fairly quickly not to try and direct Ruby
until she was ready. Within a short time, and about a dozen half-eaten apples
later, he was taking the horse all over the field. Sure, he was bouncing all
over that saddle, but the look in his eyes had gone from caution to sparkling
delight as he went along.

When
I started taking Zip in racing laps around the perimeter of the meadow, even
old Ruby couldn’t resist joining in. Before long Shane was holding the saddle
with one hand and letting out loud whoops while the horse kept up as best she
could. Time got away from me and for nearly an hour we rode together, while I
guided the stallion into keeping pace with the old mare. Down to the end of the
meadow and back we went, then outside the gate and along the dusty trail which
led off the main driveway.

Before
I realized it was happening, the clouds had gathered and turned into growing
thunderheads that seemed to expand and lower in the sky. The few drops fell, a
smattering that came in on the wind, and soon turned into a downpour.

“Let’s
go back,” I shouted to Shane across the meadow. He pulled on Ruby’s reins and
the horse quickly turned in my direction. She didn’t like getting wet any more
than I did.

“Oh
man,” Shane said as he rode up beside me. Rain dripped off his hat and his
plaid shirt clung darkly to his skin. “I don’t know where that came from, but
I’m soaked.”

“Yeah.
Momma was talkin’ about rain coming today. Guess I should have listened.”

“That’s
all right. Ruby here needed the exercise.”

“She
must have really been feeling spirited today. I haven’t seen that horse so much
as break into a gallop since I came back. Don’t really know when the last time
was she ran quite like that.”

“That
was seriously fun, Kat. I mean, I had no idea what the heck I was doing, but it
was fun.”

“Glad
you enjoyed it,” I said, and dismounted once we reached the stable. Zip
immediately swung his head around to nuzzle me again before trotting away, out
of the rain. “And you’re welcome too, big fella.”

“Ok,
now I have to get down. Do I just swing my leg over, like- whoa!” Shane’s foot
had slipped right out of the stirrup while he was trying to leave the saddle
and down he went, crashing to the slippery grass with a dull thump. By the time
I got around to help him, he was lying on the ground and clutching his shoulder
in pain.

“Shane!
Are you ok?”

“Y-yeah...
I think so. Looks like the landing is the hardest part to riding horses, huh?”
He sat up with a grunt, still holding onto his shoulder. When he tried to
rotate the limb to work out the injury he immediately let out a sharp, “
Ow!
”
and pulled his arm back across his chest. “Ok…that hurt.”

“Do
you think you can stand? If you can make it to the barn, it’s dry in there, and
there’s plenty of soft hay that you can rest on while I check out your
shoulder.”

“Sure.
Help me up?” Shane stuck out his good hand and I pulled, bringing him up to a
stooping, but upright position. He kept his arm around my waist and I led him
across the gravel driveway to the large, open barn. Once inside, I swung the
doors shut to keep out the wet. The sound of rain resounded in tinny echoes on
the roof.

Shane
quickly found a large bundle of loose hay and sat down. With a sigh of relief,
he flopped backwards and put his hand back over his shoulder.

“How
are you?”

“Completely
drenched.”

“Funny.
I meant the shoulder.” I said, and knelt down next to him.

“A
little better.”

I
peeled back the collar of his shirt, and as I did, I uncovered part of the
glossy scar that stretched along the upper part of his chest. “I’m going to
have to undo some buttons to I can see, ok?”

He
nodded and leaned back stiffly. “Go for it, Nurse Atwater.”

My
fingers were shaking and hard to control as I went about the business of
pushing the top four buttons through each hole. Once the shirt was loose
enough, I was able to pull it up and hang part of it out of the way. What I
found shocked me. Shane’s scar was much more extensive than I’d thought. Dull
red skin had been stretched tight where the flames had burned him and it seemed
to wrap all the way around from the top of his shoulder to his elbow.

“Oh
my goodness, Shane…I…“ The words trailed away and tears began to sting in my
eyes. With a single finger, I lightly traced the edge of where he’d been burned
to the top of his back and withdrew my hand. “I had no idea you were hurt this
badly…because of me.”

“Don’t
go blaming yourself.”

“But
I-“

He
reached forward and took my hand. “Stop. It doesn’t hurt anymore, Kat. It’s ok.
The pain from then is all gone. I don’t blame anyone for it.”

“Ok.”
I cupped my hand over his shoulder and felt for anything unusual, such as a
fracture or bulge. To my relief, there was nothing amiss.

“It
looks alright. I think you just bruised yourself up. How does it feel now?”

“Kind
of sore, still. Almost back to normal, though,” Shane said and stretched out
his injured arm. “I thought for a minute that I might have dislocated it again.”

“You’ve
dislocated your shoulder before?”

“Yeah.
That same night.” He looked up at me solemnly and then cracked a halfhearted
smile. “Guess I overexerted myself. I felt it when it happened. My shoulder
just sort of…gave up. It was agony. The fire was even worse. I had to get you
out of there, though. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I didn’t do
everything I could.”

“Thank
you. Again.” I slid down onto the hay beside him and stared into his soulful
eyes. Had a more handsome, charming, sexier man ever existed?

“So
you don’t think I’m hideous now or anything do you?” He asked.

“Of
course not. I think it’s kind of sexy. Didn’t you know? Chicks dig scars.”

“I
guess that makes me a chick magnet, huh?”

“
Definitely
for this chick,” I whispered and wiggled closer to him. Unable to resist
myself, I pursed my lips and gave him a quick peck on one stubbly cheek. He
turned towards me and chuckled playfully.

“Ya
know, I seem to remember you telling me I would be worn out and all my stress
would be gone after you were done with me today.”

The
sound of the rain pelting the roof grew more intense.

“Done?
Who said I was done?” I purred.

Shane
tipped his Stetson, which was still soaked through and bending up around the
rim. “Oh…what did you have in mind,
ma’am
?”

“A
little of this,” I whispered, and drew myself into his arms. “And this…”
Softly, I brought my lips against his and tasted. Shane’s hands explored my
back, grasping firmer as our kiss became more heated and passionate. “
Mmm
…and
this…” I turned my head away and brought my mouth to the nape of his neck. From
there, I reveled in the feeling of his flesh against my lips and listened as
Shane’s steady breathing became more and more disarrayed.

“Ever
since I met you, I knew there was something about you,” he said before pushing
me over by my waist and taking control. Whatever pain remained in his shoulder
must have been completely forgotten. My hands went into his open shirt and
traced over the firm, solid muscles that I had only dreamt about touching before.
A reckless longing began to stir deep in my belly.