Riding Hard (16 page)

He knew the news would mean their time alone was pretty much over. “Jeannette finished work ahead of schedule and she’s flying in tonight. Come with me to the airport. I want her to meet you. I want her to meet the woman I—”

“No, Drake.” She shook her head. “For one thing, I have to work tonight. For another, you two need time alone.”

“We can talk on the way back from the airport. I’ll come by Spirits and Spurs.”

“Please don’t.” Panic gripped her. She didn’t want to face what could end up being the love of Drake’s life while she was in a public situation where she couldn’t escape. “She’ll be tired, and I’ll be busy. It wouldn’t be a good beginning for either of us.”

“I guess not.”

“Just take her back to your cabin. I’ll meet her...later. Now let’s go round up the horses and put them back in the barn before Sprinkles wears Dottie to a frazzle.”

He agreed, and while they did, he found himself regretting that he’d invited Jeannette to Jackson Hole. Maybe it would end up okay, but he had a bad feeling that her visit threatened to ruin everything.

16

T
RACY
THOUGHT
SHE
’
D
prepared herself to get through this night. She’d worked especially hard at Spirits and Spurs and had even stayed later than she needed to while she polished every item behind the bar until the area gleamed. She would hear from Drake the next day, and that was fine.

He and Jeannette had plenty to talk about. They’d stay up late, so he wouldn’t come back to Peaceful Kingdom in the middle of the night. But just in case, she left the front door unlocked because she’d never given him a key.

She was almost sure he wouldn’t come over, though. He and Jeannette would both be tired from the emotional stress of seeing each other and working through their issues. She couldn’t really believe he would just leave Jeannette and come back here.

Logically, he’d offer her his bed in the cabin, and...he’d take the sofa. Tracy did her best to picture Drake on that sofa, but the image of them sharing a bed wouldn’t go away, no matter how she tried to banish it.

Drake had claimed to love her, although she was afraid to believe it. But if
he
believed it, then he wouldn’t share a bed with Jeannette, not even just to sleep. Or would he? Tracy thought of how long Drake and Jeannette had been friends. If you knew someone that well, would you even think twice about sleeping in the same bed? Maybe not. And it would be
fine.

No, it wouldn’t, damn it. She didn’t want any other woman waking up beside Drake, whether they’d had sex or not. She slept in Regan and Lily’s king-size bed that night, unwilling to stay in the room that contained so many hot memories of Drake.

Or rather, she
didn’t
sleep. All she could do was lie there and stare into the darkness, torturing herself as she wondered what was happening in Drake’s cabin. She’d never spent such a miserable night in her life.

Finally, when it was barely light out, she crawled out of bed, dressed in old jeans and a T-shirt, and staggered into the kitchen to make coffee. She might as well jack herself up with caffeine, because today didn’t promise to be any better, stress-wise, and coffee would have to substitute for sleep.

As the coffee brewed, she paced the kitchen in her bare feet and reminded herself that no one was to blame for her misery except her. She’d taken in the pregnant mare against orders. She’d elected to call Drake, and then she’d invited him to stay.

Oh, but it got worse. She’d initiated the sex. If she hadn’t gone to the barn that night, he wouldn’t have made the first move. Not with all the guilt he’d carried about Regan and Jeannette.

Tension would have remained high, but they wouldn’t have spent all that lovely time in bed together. She wouldn’t have taken him hat shopping. She wouldn’t have fallen in love with him. She didn’t regret any of it, but man, payback was a bitch.

She was pouring her first cup of coffee when the front door opened. Her stomach pitched. If he’d brought Jeannette over here without warning her, without giving her a chance to shower and fix her hair and put on makeup, she’d
kill
him.

Heart pounding, she finger combed her unbound hair and tugged down the hem of her T-shirt, but she was positive that she looked like hell. Couldn’t be helped.

He walked into the kitchen looking at least as ragged as she felt, although he had one thing going for him. He’d worn his hat. But he was in desperate need of a shave, and his Western shirt—the same one he’d left in—was badly wrinkled. He regarded her through bloodshot eyes, and his voice was hoarse, as if he’d used it a lot in the past few hours. “I love you.”

She felt as if a gigantic vacuum had sucked the air out of the room. “Drake, you may think—”

“I don’t
think,
Tracy. I
know.
Just like I know you love me, but I don’t want to stand here and argue about it. Put somethin’ on your feet. We’re taking a ride.”

She struggled to breathe. “Who’s we? Is Jeannette with you?”

“No. She’s asleep in the cabin.”

Okay. That helped. She took a shaky breath.

“We stayed up most of the night talkin’—about us, about Regan, but mostly about you.” He sounded tired. “I was pretty damned sure how I felt, but after all those hours of goin’ over it with Jeannette, every doubt is gone. Go get your shoes. Or your boots. Whatever.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’ll tell you on the way.”

“There’s coffee if you want some.” She gestured to the pot.

“That’ll be nice to have, at that. I’ll fix us a thermos.”

“I’ll be right back.” She hurried into the bedroom and put on some sneakers. Her boots had a strong association for him, and she didn’t want to cloud the issue of whether he was in love with her by causing him to think about sex.

When she returned to the kitchen, he picked up the thermos. “Let’s go. We need to be back in time to feed the critters.”

She nodded. Whatever he was up to, he seemed to have taken all the factors into consideration. He helped her into his dusty black SUV, but that was the only time he tried to touch her. He behaved like a man on a mission, a man who wouldn’t allow himself to be distracted until he’d achieved his goal.

This was a side of Drake she’d never seen before. He’d always seemed so laid-back with his Southern accent and his tendency to joke about nearly everything. That Drake wasn’t driving the SUV and pushing the speed limit. Fortunately nobody else was on the road at this hour.

To her surprise, he seemed to be going toward the Last Chance. But that would also take them past the cabin where Jeannette lay sleeping. “You’re not taking me to see Jeannette, are you? Because I’d rather not go over there looking like I’d been pulled backward through a knothole, and I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate seeing me before she has a chance to—”

“I’m takin’ you to a place Josie mentioned to me a while ago. After you and I came to an impasse yesterday, I called her and got directions. I wasn’t sure whether I’d need them or not, but it seemed like a good plan to have in my hip pocket.”

“Are we going to that flat rock, the one that’s supposed to be sacred to the Shoshone tribe?”

“That’s it. Have you been there?”

“No. It’s on Chance land, so I’d have to ask first, and I just never... To tell you the truth, I would have felt funny telling them I wanted to go stand on their rock to clear my mind.”

“You have my permission to feel as funny as you want, because that’s exactly what we’re gonna do. I’m runnin’ out of ways to convince you that what we have is the real deal, so we’ll give this a shot.”

“You’re, um, driving kind of fast.”

“I want to get there before the sun comes up.”

“Okay.” She settled back in her seat and decided not to talk to him for the rest of the trip. If he insisted on barreling down the highway, she didn’t want to interfere with his concentration. “I’ll watch for cops.”

“Thanks.” He floored it, and they came to the Last Chance turnoff in no time at all.

The road was unpaved and known for being an axle-breaker, so he slowed down. Drake swore each time the SUV bottomed out. “Jack needs to maintain his damned road.”

“He leaves it this way on purpose.”

“You’re kiddin’ me.”

“No. It’s how his father chose to discourage trespassers. Other family members take a different view, and they’ve argued about it for years. It’s still like this, so I guess Jack’s winning.”

“Bully for him.” Drake hit another pothole and cussed again. “Wouldn’t hurt to have a few lights out here, either.”

Tracy smiled. Drake was used to the manicured pastures and well-maintained roads of Virginia farms. He was wearing an awesome Western hat and he had fully subscribed to the cowboy code of honor, but at heart he was a Southern gentleman. She cherished that about him. It was part of who he was.

But she wasn’t questioning her feelings for him. He thought he could convince her of his sincerity by standing on a piece of granite at sunrise. It was the kind of scenario that would appeal to the soul of a poet. She cherished that about him, too.

They rounded a curve and the ranch buildings came into view. Drake whistled under his breath and slowed down. “Now that’s impressive.” He brought the SUV to a stop and switched off the headlights.

“Uh-huh.” In the predawn light, the immense two-story log house loomed even bigger than in broad daylight. Faint light glowed in a couple of the windows. The occupants might be starting their day.

“I like the way the wings are angled.” Drake leaned on the steering wheel and peered at the house. “Like they’re welcomin’ you to come and sit a spell.”

“I think so, too. Jack’s grandparents started with just that center section, and then the two wings were added later. My favorite part is the porch that runs the length of the whole thing.”

“Mine, too. The rockers remind me of porches in the South.”

“People sit on porches out here, too.”

“Obviously.” Drake’s gaze took in the rest of the buildings, which included the original barn, the tractor barn, the bunkhouse and several corrals. “Quite an operation. Probably worth millions.”

“It is, but they have no plans to sell, and the overhead has to be huge. Josie says that Jack works hard to make sure the place stays in the black.”

“I can believe it.” Drake looked at Tracy. “But fascinatin’ as all that is, we have a date with the sun.” Stepping on the gas, he turned left and followed another dirt road that wound westward through ranch land and brought them closer to the mountains.

He took this road more slowly. “Keep an eye out for the rock.”

“I will.”

“It’ll be on the right. It’s supposed to be the size of a parking spot.”

“So I’ve heard. Let’s put down the windows now that dust won’t come billowing in.”

“Sure. Sorry about the wild ride. Just wanted to get here in time.” He lowered the front windows and cool morning air wafted in, along with the occasional chirp of a bird.

Tracy drew in a deep breath. The scent of dew-soaked grass and a whiff of evergreens across a meadow calmed her. “Ah. Nice.”

“I know you love it here.”

“Of course I do. Who wouldn’t?” But something in the way he’d said it told her it was more than an idle comment. “To be fair, I haven’t been out of the state, so I don’t know what other places are like. Oh, I did take one short trip to Idaho with some friends from high school, but that barely counts since it’s just across the border.”

“If you had to live in just one place, this isn’t a bad choice.”

“Probably not. Wait, slow down! It’s right up ahead! I saw something sparkle in your headlights. Everybody says it sparkles in the light. The quartz in the granite makes it do that.”

He slowed the SUV to a crawl. “Okay, I see it. Josie said I could park beside it. The ground’s packed down from all the folks who’ve parked there.”

“Can you pull in so your headlights shine on it? I want to see the sparkling effect again. This is cool. Now I wish I hadn’t been so shy about asking to come out here.”

Drake maneuvered the SUV until the headlights were focused directly on the slab of gray rock with veins of white quartz running through it. “How’s that?”

“Perfect. It’s as if teenaged girls were out here playing with glitter.”

“I’ll leave the lights on. We won’t be here that long.”

“Okay.” Tracy reached for her door handle.

“Hang on. I’ll come get you. And I’m leavin’ this.” He took off his hat and laid it on the dash.

She sat patiently and waited for him to come around. He really was cute about that. Even though she was a fully liberated woman, she enjoyed his gestures because he’d never implied that she
couldn’t
do those things for herself. He just liked making her feel special.

He thoroughly succeeded at that. As he helped her out of the SUV, she felt like a princess being escorted to the ball. Hand in hand, they walked up to the rock, which jutted out of the earth about two feet.

Tracy surveyed the granite. “So we just climb up on it?”

“Josie said it’s supposed to work better if you take off your shoes.”

“Then let’s do it. It would be silly to come all the way out here and not do it right.” She let go of Drake’s hand, sat on the rock and pulled off her sneakers. She hadn’t bothered with socks.

He followed suit and took off his boots and socks. “I’ll go up first.” Bracing his palm on the rock, he vaulted up.

“Nice job.”

“I was on the gymnastics team in high school.”

“There are so many things I don’t know about you.”

He held out his hand. “But you know the important things.”

She thought about that as she placed her hand in his and he pulled her up. He was right. She knew enough to love the man he was and the man he would become. Once he began devoting his time to equine rescue, he would blossom as his innate kindness was allowed to flourish. She wished that she could read the poems he would write then.

He led her over to the center of the rock. “So, what do you think?”

She paid attention to the feel of the rock under her feet. “It’s warmer than I thought it would be.” Glancing down, she smiled. “I feel as if I’m standing on the Milky Way.”

“And I feel as if...I’m standing...with the woman I’m supposed to be with...forever.”

She looked into his eyes and tried to tell herself that he was confused, but he didn’t look confused. There was no teasing in those green depths. The self-mockery was gone, too. In its place gleamed the clear certainty of a man who knew what he wanted. And he wanted her.

A burst of energy radiated from the spot where his hand clasped hers. It flowed through her body in a tingling river of sensation. She almost expected to begin sparkling like the rock at her feet.

“I love you.” His voice was as steady as his gaze. “No matter what happens between us, no matter whether you choose to be with me or not, that isn’t going to change.”

Warmth filled her, then, and with that warmth came precious knowledge. He loved her.
He loved her.

He stared at her, and then he sucked in a breath. “You believe me.”

“Yes.” She couldn’t stop smiling.