Chapter 8

Whitney

Trinity has been on cloud nine all afternoon. Chuck had her riding the horse everywhere in short order. He took her all over the ranch, and he even taught her how to ride in a trot. My baby girl is going to marry a rancher some day, I just know it. She’s in love with horses now.

“Looks like you’ll have to bring Trinity around here a lot more often.” Mary says. “She’s hooked now.”

“It looks like.” I agree. She didn’t even want to come in to open presents and have cake. That’s saying a lot. “I hope she’s not wearing Chuck out.”

“Oh, he’s fine.” Mary waves. “I figured she’d be worn out by now.”

“That little girl has more energy than most kids her age.” Quin says. “She’s a survivor, that one.” he winks at me.

Chad and Rachel, who had been sitting in Chad’s old room, talking on the phone with someone, come and join us in the living room. “Well, we’re getting married in two weeks.” Chad announces.

Mary’s face lights up. “You’re serious?”

“As serious as we can be.” Rachel says. “And we’ll have the wedding right here at the ranch.”

Mary cups her hands on her face. “Oh, dear Lord! My cup runneth over!”

Chad lifts a hand. “Now, we’re going to need a lot of help from everyone to put this all together, so I hope everyone’s up for it.”

“We are, baby.” Mary says. “Gosh, you’ve made me so happy!” she rises and gives the two of them huge hugs.

“And we’ll invite everyone who can make it; family, friends, coworkers.” Chad says.

“Are you telling people about the baby, too?” Cal asks.

“We’re not going to make that upstage the wedding, but if anyone asks, sure, we’ll tell them.” Rachel answers.

“Whatever I can do to help, just let me know.” I offer. “If you need any homemade decorations, I can have my students do some. They’re great at crafts, so is Trinity.”

Rachel is impressed. “Sure, that’s a great idea.”

“And my sister-in-law, Lisa, she’s an interior designer, and has a lot of contacts for things. I’ll give you her number. She’s dying for work before her baby comes; she’ll thank you for it.”

“You’re so awesome, thanks.” Rachel beams. “And you’re so coming to the wedding, right?”

“Sure, I’ll come.” I nod. It’s been years since I’ve been to a wedding, and I’m already excited.

We see Chuck and Trinity come in the front door. “You all tuckered out, little lady?” Quin asks Trinity.

“No, but my bum hurts.” She says, making us all roar.

“Well, I’ll get you a hot water bottle to sit on while you open your presents, doll.” Mary says, and she scurries off, almost dancing down the hallway. It’s adorable.

When she returns, we sit and eat cake, while Trinity opens a very cool and fun board game that the Hedgers bought her, plus her little cowboy hat that was a gift from Chuck. They sit and play, but unfortunately the game is only for four players, so Quin invites me to go for another walk. “It’s a beautiful day. It’s a shame to sit inside.” Quin says. “Are you up for it?”

“Sure. This ranch is on beautiful land. And I love to walk.”

“Me too. I walk around here all the time if I’m not riding.”

“I’m not keeping you from riding, am I?”

“No. I was just out this morning.” He smiles, taking my hand. “Let’s go.”

Again, the hand thing, is wonderful. It’s just enough of a grasp that I can let go if I want to, but I don’t. “So, you’re going to be an Uncle.”

“I am.” He nods.

“Are you excited about that?”

“Yes. I love kids. And Chad is head over heels in love with Rachel.”

“It’s pretty evident. They’re very cute together.”

“I’m not used to seeing Chad with a woman. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve seen any of my brothers with a woman before.”

“The day I see my brother with a woman, I’ll be so shocked I’ll be speechless.”

We come across a grassy area beyond where we were by the barn before, and within view is more of a wooded area. “Do you ever camp out there?” I ask, gesturing with my chin.

“We used to when we were kids, but not anymore.” Quin answers. “There’s a little stream in there that we’d go fishing in, too.”

“Really? That’s kind of neat.”

“When my folks built the guest house, we used to have sleepovers, too. There weren’t any ranch hands for a little while, so we had fun in there. Inside the barn we used to jump off the hayloft, too. Lots of fun growing up on a ranch.”

“It sounds like.” I smile at him. He has perfect teeth and lips. His hand is still in mine and I wonder if he’s enjoying holding my hand as much as I’m enjoying holding his. “Do you still have the hayloft?”

“Sure do.” He nods. “You think Trinity would like to give that a go later?”

“I was thinking we could try it out.”

He lifts a brow. “Why, Whitney, I’m very surprised. I figured you weren’t the type to jump off things.”

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. When I was in elementary school, a friend of mine used to brag all the time that she could go to her Meemaw and Meepaw’s ranch and do that whenever she wanted. She always made it sound like so much fun, and I asked her if we could have a sleepover once, but by the time it came around, we’d gotten into a fight. Then she moved away, and I never saw her again.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“So, can we jump off the hayloft?”

“I’ll race you.”

 

***

 

As we get ready to climb the ladder to the loft, Quin lets me go first. “As long as you’re not checking out my rear as I climb up, doctor.”

He chuckles. “I promise you I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

“Alright.” I start to climb, he’s as silent as a mouse, until we get to the top. “Well?”

He gives me a look. “Well, what?”

“How did my ass look on the way up?”

He laughs and adjusts his hat, moving it up further on his head. Something about the way that he does it is sexy. His curls fall out of the back of the hat, resting on his shoulders. “Aren’t you going to lose that when you jump?” I ask him.

“Probably.” He says, taking it off. He places it on my head, and his eyes change. They become darker. “It looks way better on you, evidently.”

“Does it really?” I can’t tell. I’m too busy watching his hair fall down on the sides of his face, framing it so sexily.

He nods. But then something changes in him and he asks. “Do you know how to jump off a hayloft?”

“Well…I know how to jump.” I say facetiously.

“How about you watch me first.”

“Okay.” I nod.

He walks to the edge of the loft, but then takes steps back, almost to the ladder, and makes a run for the edge. As he jumps off it, like he’s on a diving board, he tucks his feet under him, and balls himself up, before landing in the hay below, in a heap. The smile on his face is a mile wide. “I’d forgotten how much fun that is.”

“I guess so. You look like you slept with a hanger in your mouth.”

He looks at me. “Now I know where Trinity gets her spunk.” He sits up. “Now, you do the same thing I did. Run, jump, tuck.”

“Okay.” I walk back towards the ladder, run, and stop dead right before the edge.

“Give it another try.” He shouts up. “It’s fun as hell. You have to try it.”

“I don’t know what happened there.”

“Just a little stage fright. Shake it off.” He says casually, now standing up. “Give it another go.”

I move back again, and run towards the edge, only the same thing happens. “I can’t do it.” I shout, frustrated. “My legs won’t let me.”

Quin walks towards the ladder and climbs up. When he reaches me, he says, “Let me help you.”

“No, no, don’t make me do it.” I bat his hands away.

“Okay, okay.” He says with a casual chuckle. “You don’t have to do it. But you’ll always regret it.”

“I…can’t. I don’t know why. But I can’t.”

“How about we jump together?”

“Can we do that?”

“Absolutely.”

“But isn’t it dangerous? I mean, you had a whole procedure going there. You know? Run, tuck, jump?”

He shrugs. “I just made that up.”

I start laughing, looking at him like I can’t believe he did that. “Why did you make it up?” he’s laughing with me.

“Sometimes it helps to think it’s safer if there’s a method to it, but there isn’t. You just jump…however you want.”

“But won’t we crash into each other if we jump together?”

“Not if we just hold hands and jump. We don’t have to be stuck together.” The way he says that makes me squirm. He’s got straw bits in his hair, his hair is all messed up and as sexy as hell, and he’s looking at me with this sultry stare that makes me want to kiss him…and more. What is wrong with me? “You want to give it a try?”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to run and jump, or just jump from here?” he asks, with his hands already holding mine.

“What’s better?”

“Running is always better. The takeoff is the best part.” He wiggles his brows and it makes me smile.

“Okay, let’s run.”

We step back towards the ladder, and take off running, this time I don’t chicken out. I squeal as we plummet off the loft, and we both laugh, hooting as we’re midair, and land simultaneously in the hay below. His hands are still holding mine, and our eyes lock. We’re both a little winded from the run and jump, and his eyes move to my lips. “Well?”

“That was fun.” My eyes are on his lips now.

Suddenly, he moves towards me, and he plants a gentle kiss on my lips. When his nose stays against mine, I pull back. “What…did you do that for?” I ask softly.

“Well, you just did something that you always wanted to do.” His eyes search mine.

“You always wanted to kiss me?”

“For a long time, anyway.” He answers softly.

“But…you’re my daughter’s doctor. Isn’t that…wrong?”

“I’m also a human being, Whitney. And unless it made you feel uncomfortable, there are no rules against kissing a person.” His voice is still soft, but the moment is gone. “I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

“I just…”

He lifts his hand. “Look, it’s okay. I just…I must have read the signals wrong is all. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have done that.”

But I wanted to kiss him, too, I just…I feel like it’s wrong, but also…so goddamn right. His lips are warm and full, and even though it only lasted a second, I can feel my body tingling all over.

“We’ll just…forget about it.” he helps me up. “We should head back to the house before they call a search party.”

“Okay.” I’m so confused. Why didn’t I kiss him back? And why didn’t I let him kiss me more? I’m such an idiot. Quin is the most caring, smart, dedicated man I know, and it’s obvious that he not only cares deeply about my daughter, but he also cares about me, too. I want to take the moment back and have a redo, but it’s over. I screwed it up and I can’t fix it. I’m so out of practice when it comes to men, I have no idea what I’m doing. I was looking at his lips, and he knew that I wanted to kiss him, but I didn’t, and I stopped whatever spark was there, and ruined it.

“Let’s head back.” He says and bless him for not being curt with me. I don’t think I could handle that. In fact, he still takes my hand in his, making me feel like all is okay with the world again. We say nothing on the way back to the house, but as soon as we enter it, Quin asks. “Alright, who’s winning? I’ll play the winner.”

“You can take your pick.” Mary says. “Both Rachel and Trinity won games. This is really fun. I don’t know why we didn’t have this when you guys were little.”

“We never played board games, mama.” Cal says. “We were too busy around here.”

“Aw, quit acting like you were so hard done by.” Mary tuts.

“Yeah, we had the hayloft and all the horses.” Quin interjects. “I was just telling Whitney here about all the camping and messing around we did here. Why, Whitney and I just jumped off the hayloft.”

Devon chuckles. “That explains the straw in your hair.”

“I figured you two had been rolling in the hay.” Devon says.

Mary gives him a look. “You want to go slop the stables again? Keep up with that talk.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Devon says.

They finish the game, and I feel like I don’t want to overstay our welcome. “We should get going, Trin, and let these people get on with their day.”

“Aw, but mom, Chuck said that we could go for another ride later.”

“She’s right. I told her that we could go down by the little stream and watch the horses take a drink of water.” Chuck says, and then he addresses Trinity. “How’s your butt, kiddo?”

She slaps it and giggles. “Just fine, how’s yours?”

We all have another laugh, courtesy of my clownish daughter.

Quin looks at me. “What about you, mama? You ever been on a horse?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“You want to learn? I have it on good authority that I’m decent at teaching people how to ride horses.” Quin offers.

“He’s right. Before he went to medical school, he was my best teacher, and then every summer when he came home, we had a lot of people asking for him.” Mary concurs.

I frown. “Okay. I suppose I can learn.”

“Of course, you can. Come on. It’ll be fun.” Quin says with a smile. I’m so glad that our earlier awkwardness has been forgotten. He’s so great.

Once again, his hand is in mine, and I wonder if he treats everyone like this outside of the office. He’s never held my hand before, even on the occasions that I have been to see him on a personal level. It’s new. I like it. We walk out to the stable, where two horses are stationed. The other two that Chuck and Trinity were riding earlier are in the gated pasture. “Do you want to ride Biscuit or Maybell?”

“Whichever one you don’t want to ride.” I shrug.

“You mean you want me to choose?” he guffaws. “I can’t do that. That’s why I let you choose.”

I can’t help but smile. He’s so cute. “Okay, which one is gentler?”

“Well, Maybell’s a lover, but Biscuit, he’s as gentle as a baby.”

“You’re not making it any easier. Which one won’t kill me.”

“Neither of them will do you any harm. They’re both very docile animals. But I’ll cut you some slack and take Biscuit. Us men have to stick together, see.” He lifts a brow.

“Cute.” I smirk. “Are you always this charming? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this side of you, Quin.”

“Well, I have to be charming around the horses.” He teases. “I don’t want them to kill me, you know.”

“Hardy har.”

He smiles, placing a saddle on Maybell. “Alright, I’ll boost you up. All you have to do is sit on her. She’ll do all the work. I’ll show you how to steer her. It’s real easy.”

“Geez, I’m glad I didn’t pay for this riding lesson.”

He chuckles. “Now, pay attention.”

“Yes, sir.” I play along.

“You put your foot in this here stirrup, slide your leg over, and sit. Just like a ride at an amusement park.” He looks at me. “I’ll be right here to help guide you.”

“You’re serious. Just…hop on.”

“Yep.”

“And you charge how much to learn this?”

“That’s for the kiddies.” He explains. “Then they learn how to steer and do all kinds of things like trots, gallops and jumps. There’s nothing to getting on a horse when you’re an adult. I’ll show you the rest when you’re on. It’s pretty simple. Sometimes the kids just need the confidence to get on the horse, whereas, grownups don’t usually have that problem.”

“How about if I’m too chicken to ride, like I was too chicken to jump off the hayloft.”

“Well, we have a double saddle for that, if you want to ride together. But you have to let me know first, so I can change the saddle.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s not like I’m jumping off anything.”

“No, but you could be thrown.” He teases. I smack him playfully. “Come on. Let’s get you on her, now.”

“Okay.” I grin. He mirrors me and I feel a little flutter in my chest. He has a little dimple in his left cheek that’s adorable. I place my foot in the stirrup, and Quin’s hand is on my back as I lift my foot up, and his hand rests on my rump as I get up without much hassle.

“There you go. Nice work. On the first try, too.”

It’s high up, but very neat. “Yeah, and you only felt me up once.”

“Just to clarify, I did not feel you up.” He chides, good-naturedly. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t fall back.”

“Tell it to the judge.”

“Careful, or I’ll make Maybell flip you off, and it doesn’t mean give you the finger, either.”

“Talk is cheap, doctor. Let’s go.”

“Keep it up, missy.” He says as he hops on Biscuit like it’s something he’s done since birth. He probably has. With a grunt, he’s almost at eye level with me, and he adjusts his hat the way he does that makes my toes curl.

“I like your hat.”

“Oh yeah?” he squeezes the horses middle with his thighs gently, and Biscuit takes a few steps towards Maybell. Quin lifts his hand and removes his hat, placing it on my head. “You can borrow it.” he adjusts it, so it sits perfectly on my head. Draping a tendril of hair over my ear, he searches my eyes. “How’s it feel?”

“Good.”

“I swear there’s a cowgirl inside there somewhere.” He comments, sliding a finger down my cheek. I want so badly to kiss him, but every muscle in my body is saying not to. Why, I don’t know. His eyes slide down to my lips, but only for half a second, but it’s long enough to know that this man still wants me. It’s thrilling but it’s scary, too. It’s been a long time since I felt like this, and I feel like there are so many factors involved here, that my head is swimming. Quin picks up on the tension in my eyes and he lets me off the hook. “Now, horses are just like cars, see. You squeeze your thighs together gently so they know that you’re ready to go. Pull the reigns to steer just like in a car. Pull right to go right, pull left to go left. Understand?”

“Sure. How gently do I squeeze?”

“Just with enough pressure to let her know it’s time to go. She won’t take off on you; I’ll show you that later if you’re ready for it.”

“Okay.”

He nods once. “Give it a try.”

I squeeze my thighs together and Maybell moves forward. I squeal a little. But when I see Quin right next to me on Biscuit, I calm. “Now, to stop her, either say ‘whoa’ or pull back on the reigns.” He pauses. “Here, I’ll show you. Follow me.”

We take about ten steps forward, and Quin literally calls, “Whoa,” in a soft voice, and the horse stops, but mine keeps going. “You do it so she’ll stop.”

I do it, chuckling a little, feeling kind of silly, but she stops.

“See?” Quin grins. “Easy, right?”

“It is.”

“Good. Now, follow me.” he says, as we start off at a trot, and I can’t help but squeal a little. It’s really liberating being on a horse. Never thought it would be, but it is. I feel like I’m so free, like I can take on the world, and this horse is so gentle and docile. Her movements are fluid and soft, I feel safer than when I’m in a car. The land is gorgeous as we ride through, and Quin shows me the wooded area, where we stop and let the horses take a drink, just like Trinity was saying earlier. It’s so peaceful here. I feel like I could get lost and never feel any unease.

“I love this.” I say honestly, feeling so at home with nature.

“See? I told you there was a cowgirl in there somewhere.” He says, reaching for me face, as he cups my cheeks in his hands. “I think I’ve converted you.”

“I think so.” I comment, allowing myself to stare at his lips for a second. His eyes go to my lips as well. We’re glancing at each other, almost taking each other in, when he leans in and gives me another soft kiss on the mouth. But as soon as his skin touches mine, as much as it feels heavenly, it’s like something takes over in me, and I pull back, lowering my head.

He stays, so we’re still nose-to-nose. His speech is soft. “You think you might ever let me in? I promise I’d never hurt you, Whitney.”

“I know you wouldn’t.” I say and mean it. “But I just…I think that with Trinity…being so sick as she is, I can’t focus on anyone else right now.” I explain as honestly as I can, and from my heart. “I think you’re wonderful. Kind, caring, very hard-working and loyal, and every cell in my body wants to…be with you. But my heart keeps pulling me away, Quin. And I can’t stop it.”

“That’s fair, Whitney.” He says honestly, and without resentment. “Your daughter is your world, and I get that. I wouldn’t…have it any other way.”

“I’m sorry.” I whisper. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Hey,” he murmurs, pulling my chin up, so I’ll look at him. “If you didn’t tell me the truth, that would have hurt. But, honey, I couldn’t ask for more. I’m not going anywhere, Whitney. I’ll be with you and Trinity and see this through if it’s the last thing I do. No matter what happens between you and I. You have my word on that.”

I glance at him warmly. “Thank you. You are one in a million, Quin.”

He kisses my forehead. “So are you.”