Once Upon a Cowboy (9 page)

Later that night, Jess lit the candles she’d brought up from her cabin, placing them in the windowsills of the spa. Her bare feet slid across the polished hardwood, and she itched to dance across the big, empty space. She glanced out the open window, comforted by the nighttime sounds of the ranch. She could hear crickets and peepers in the meadow, and an owl called from somewhere not
far away.

She’d been trying to put her aunt’s phone call out of her mind all day, and staying busy with Cole and the kids had definitely helped. Once the sun had gone down, though, it’d been just her and the crickets—and the memories.

The stables glowed in the darkness, the nighttime lights soft and inviting. For a brief moment she was tempted to stroll down and just find a quiet corner where
she could sit and breathe in the goodness of hay and horses and grain, but heading down there meant possibly running into Cole on his nighttime rounds.

Since seeing him this afternoon laughing with the kids, soaked to the skin, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her brain. The way his T-shirt had clung to his abs, the way he’d thrown his head back with that laugh that was straight from the
belly, the way he’d murmured revenge in her ear—all of it had kept her even more on edge all evening. The sensations in her gut were unfamiliar and completely unsettling, and she had no idea what to do about them.

But until she did, avoidance seemed like a pretty good strategy.

She hadn’t been able to settle down in her cabin, hadn’t been able to fall into that soft bed and sleep, so at midnight,
she’d walked up to the spa. This space, with its polished floor and scent of fresh lumber, brought a sense of peace she desperately needed right now. In this space, she felt at home. In this space, she could throw her arms out, spin for hours, and try to forget about manila envelopes and Breezy Meadow and a huge check eating a hole in her suitcase.

And sexy cowboys.

She queued up a playlist
on her phone, then set it on a pile of lumber as she moved to the center of the room and stretched. It was a list she’d used for months, with a series of moves she’d perfected to a point where she didn’t even have to think while she did them.

This was what she needed right now. She needed to lose herself in this music, lose herself in the movements of her body, feel nothing but tendons and ligaments
and the beautiful stretch of muscles. If she could get to that place, she could leave everything else behind.

She spun and leaped across the floor, doing moves she’d invented herself—moves that were neither yoga nor dance, but a combination of the two. As the music got faster, so did her spins. The leaps got higher, the stretches bigger, and she closed her eyes, lost in the beauty of losing herself.

Fifteen minutes later, as the music finally slowed, she moved through a series of long stretches in the middle of the floor. Her eyes were closed, her muscles were burning, and she was tempted to lie down right on this floor and fall asleep until morning.

But a sound from the doorway had her eyes popping open, and the sight of a familiar Stetson had her grabbing her T-shirt and whipping it over
her leotard.

“You here to retaliate for the water balloons, cowboy?” Jess tried to keep the shake out of her voice.

Cole stepped through the open door, hands in the air. “I don’t retaliate so quickly. You’ll never see it coming when I do.”

“Ooh. Shivers.” Jess pretended to quiver.

He motioned toward her phone. “You thinking about adding dance lessons to the Whisper Creek menu?”

She laughed.
“Um, no. Definitely not. I have no training.”

“Where’d you learn how to do—all that, then?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I just—
feel
it, I guess. So sometimes I dance.”

“It was beautiful.” He cleared his throat after the words came out all husky, and Jess felt color rise in her cheeks.

“Thank you.”

Cole laughed softly. “You always dance in the dark?”

“No. I actually was headed to bed,
but I just can’t seem to stay away from this space.” Jess fluttered her arms around. “I could live here.”

She saw him shift his feet. “Seems to be a common problem for you Boston gals. One whiff of Whisper Creek air, and you’re all packing your bags to move out here.”

“Oh, I’m not moving. I didn’t really mean that. But I do love it…here.”

There went her voice again, getting all breathy and
strange, just because Cole happened to be within ten feet of her.

He took a step backward, like he was trying to snap an invisible thread pulling them together. “So…you like dancing at night. How about riding? Ever ridden under a full moon?”

Oh, sweet honey. Just what she needed right now was an offer like this—a moonlit ride, a hot summer night, a steamy cowboy.

“Don’t you have to be up early
in the morning?”

“Nope. Come on. Let’s go for a ride. I’ll show you one of my favorite spots.”

“I don’t know—”

He raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter? Afraid this is all part of my hot-charming-cowboy routine?”

Jess choked on the water bottle she’d raised to her lips. “Maybe?”

“Just a ride, Jess. Just a ride.” He motioned to her. “Come on. Trust me.”

Half an hour later, Jess’s horse crested
a hill behind Cole’s, and the sight took her breath away. “Oh!” was all she could say.

He smiled back at her, then reined Scooby to a stop so she could pull abreast. “Not bad, eh?”

“Oh my gosh. It’s—wow.”

She’d heard a growing rush of water over the past ten minutes, and now that they’d reached the top of a hill, she could finally see where it was coming from. Like something out of a movie,
a moonlit clearing stretched before them—a small grassy meadow surrounded by tall pines. On the far side of the clearing was a sheer cliff that stretched upward at least three stories, and over the top of the cliff came a cascade of water that sparkled under the full moon.

Jess looked up at the water, mesmerized by how it fell through the air. “This is nothing like the falls we rode to yesterday.
How did I never know this was here?”

Cole smiled. “We don’t show it to just anybody.”

“Good.” Jess breathed deeply, the scent of pines and water filling her nose. “Can we get closer?”

“Sure.” He dismounted, then came around to the left side of Sky Dancer, reaching up to help her down. She hesitated before she put her hand in his, scared that she would like the feel of him far too much.

“Come
on, cowgirl. I know you’re perfectly capable of dismounting on your own. I’m trying to be a gentleman here.”

She slid her hand into his, and was inordinately relieved to feel a warm, comforting, protective heat. And when both feet were on the ground, she fully intended to pull her hand back, but nestled there in Cole’s, it felt—good.
Good.

It didn’t feel like running.

Didn’t feel like panic.

Didn’t feel like…fear.

“You’re hurting me, Billy.” Star tried to pull her hand out of Billy’s iron grip as he yanked her through the back entrance doors of the mall. “Please let go.”

“Not a chance.”

Star cringed when she saw the ugly sneer cross his face. Oh no. She’d made him crazy.

Again.

She tugged. “Seriously, you’re holding me too hard.”

“Should have thought of that before you started
flirting with that asshole back there.”

“Flirting? That was Garrett! We’ve been friends for, like, ever. I wasn’t flirting, I swear. We were just talking.”

Billy continued to tug her through the parking lot as Star tried to stop him. “Come on, Billy. Let’s go back inside.”

“No.” He pulled harder, and she squeaked in pain. “You have any idea how that looked to my guys in there?”

“You’re overreacting,
Billy. I was just talking to him. He’s just a friend!”

“Looked like I ain’t got control over my woman, that’s how it looked.”

Star felt a prickly steel rod lodge itself in her gut. Control over his woman?

“I think maybe we need to have a little talk about what flirting looks like, Star. Seems you and me don’t necessarily agree.”

Star’s stomach clenched at the words
little talk
. And now she
knew why he’d parked so far away from the door. Tonight he needed a punching bag, and he’d manufactured himself a reason to make her it. She had about thirty seconds left before they reached his car—thirty seconds to plead her case and try to calm him down.

She hated the person she was about to become, hated the pleading noises that were about to come out of her mouth, but his hand was huge,
iron-like around her wrist. No way was he going to let her go. He knew she’d run.

“I’m sorry, Billy. I didn’t mean to make you mad. Come on. Let’s go back in.”

“No.”

“Ow!” Star felt tears prick as he squeezed her hand harder. “You’re hurting me.” She hated how her voice sounded, hated the begging.

She should have known not to stop and talk to Garrett tonight. Should have known Billy was watching,
even though she’d thought he was all the way across the mall with his buddies.

Should have known she’d pay.

He opened the passenger door in an oddly gentleman-like fashion, handing her in almost gently. He closed the door quietly, and for a moment, she had hope. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe he wasn’t as mad as he looked. Maybe it would be all right.

The next morning, she woke up on the back
steps of her mother’s trailer, head pounding, hair a tangled mess. Wincing as she straightened up, she felt her ribs, counting.

Later that evening he’d shown up at the door, a bouquet of wildflowers in his hand, tears in his eyes. The apologies flowed. The promises leaked out in a hoarse, hurt voice.

And when he’d put out his arms—when he’d gathered her to his chest, petting her hair like she
was a fragile kitten—she’d forgiven him.

And she’d apologized.

She’d
apologized.

“You okay?” Cole looked down at her, his eyebrows drawing together.

Jess swallowed, nodded, trying to knock the memories away and focus on Cole. “I’m okay.”

Good God, was she going completely nuts? She’d locked away all of these memories for so many years that she’d thought maybe they’d left her for good.
But now? Ever since the phone call, they just kept creeping in. For so many years, she’d lived as Jess Alcott, radiating peace and calm. But apparently she’d been faking all of it, even when she’d believed she wasn’t. Even as she taught others how to breathe through their tension, how to focus inward and heal themselves, her own demons were brewing just under the surface, threatening to boil over.

She shook her head, trying to tamp down the flashback and concentrate on Cole. He was looking at her with his forehead furrowed, like he didn’t believe her
I’m okay
any more than she did.

“Jess? Looked like you saw a ghost. You sure you’re okay?”

Jess rolled her shoulders, trying to shake off the shivers that wanted to envelop her entire body. “Yes. I’m good. Tired, I think.”

His eyes were
intense as he watched her face, and she expected her fight-or-flight reflex to take over, as it usually did when someone got too close. Instead, though, her feet stayed firmly planted, and even more miraculously, so did her hand, still gloved in his.

“Want to walk over to the waterfall?” His voice was soft, gentle.

She nodded. “I’d love to.”

They strolled, hand in hand, and the rushing of the
water got louder as they got closer to where it flew over the cliff toward them, and into the huge pool at the bottom. At the edge of the pool, Cole let go of her hand and bent down.

“Come over here. You have to feel the water.”

Jess stepped toward him, crouching to run her fingers over the surface of the water. She expected it to be cool, clear, refreshing, but she looked up in surprise when
she realized it was almost as warm as bath water.

“Hot springs underneath.” Cole pointed to a couple of spots in the pool. “See the bubbles?”

She nodded, crouching lower to immerse her hands. “This is so beautiful.”

“Pretty amazing, isn’t it?” He tipped his head. “Betcha don’t have anything like
this
back in Boston.”

“No.” She shook her head, swirling her fingers in the water. “We just have
a big silly ocean.”

“Touché.” He pointed at the pool. “Be careful how long you touch that water.”

“Why?” She pulled her hands out, shaking the drops off.

“There’s an ancient legend surrounding these falls.”

“Uh-oh. Is this where the wolves drink? Are they going to descend from the hills now and take me away to live with the pack?”

He laughed. “No. It’s not that kind of legend.”

“I’m going
to be
eaten
by the wolves?”

“Probably more likely, yes. But no.” He shook his head. “That’s not it, either.”

“Okay, then I totally know what it is.” Jess made a show of drying every drop of water from her skin. “Now that I’ve touched the magical pool, I’ll fall madly in love with the next man I see?”

This time Cole’s laugh came straight from his belly. “Exactly. That’s
exactly
the legend I
was going to tell you.”

“Liar.”

“Maybe.” He paused, went quiet, and she could almost hear him raising his eyebrows comically. “So why won’t you look at me?”

“No reason.” She leaned back down and reached her fingers into the water. “If I touch it again, does it erase the curse?”

“Curse? What woman in her right mind views falling in love as a curse?”

Jess swished her hand in the warm water.
“Ha. More than you’d think, cowboy.” She stood up and spun slowly, eyes on the moon, then on the pool of water, where awesome power from above met mystical power from below. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I would much rather have fallen in
this
water this afternoon.”