It seemed that life was at a standstill for Tabby when she got home from the hospital. She’d had a difficult time adjusting to the staircase up to her apartment with her crutches. Trip was afraid she’d fall, so each day, Trip or one of the hands would help her down the stairs when she felt like getting out for some fresh air and then someone would help her back up when she got too tired.
The pain killers the doctor had given her made her loopy. She hated the feeling. It made it hard to do much of anything other than sit on the sofa and sleep. Most days someone would bring her a meal and sit and talk for a few minutes before going back to work. Tabby would look out the window and see the barn where Tenterhook was confined to his stall, hopefully healing.
The chances were strong Tenterhook would never compete again. They’d been a team. He’d been her constant companion since her parents’ deaths. It wasn’t as easy as everyone made it out to be. Train with another horse? How could she?
When you trained for barrel racing, you spent a lot of time with your horse. She couldn’t just discard Tenterhook and forget that he was a big part of everything she’d learned about barrel racing.
Kas said it was only a matter of time that she’d start training with another horse. Maybe. But right now she was stuck. Alone. With no chance of getting out of this apartment on a beautiful sunny day to see her horse unless someone came to get her and helped her down the stairs. She couldn’t even work at the bakery at the grocery store in order to earn much needed money to help pay her bills and pay for ongoing veterinarian treatment Tenterhook needed. Her mood was so foul that when she heard the knock on the door, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to answer it.
After the third knock, Kas opened the door and slowly walked in carrying a plate of food. She was hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything since early that morning. But as soon as she saw his face, all thoughts of food disappeared. He smiled at her and emotion bubbled up her throat until she sobbed.
* * *
When Kas stopped by the bakery Tabby worked at to pick up some sweets and was told by a colleague that she worked with that she had a particular sweet tooth for cannoli, he figured it was the perfect excuse to drop by and see her. With the box of sweets in his hand and a plate that the ranch’s cook and put together for Tabby, Kas walked through her door and found her sobbing.
“I don’t usually get that kind of reaction from people,” he said.
“No? Well, then I’m unique.” She sniffed back a few tears.
“The door was open.”
“I don’t usually keep it locked during the day. It makes it easier for Trip and the hands to stop by without me having to get up and down from the sofa.”
He hesitated. “Can I come in?”
“As long as I can have whatever is in that pastry box. Please tell me Georgette was working today and told you what I like.”
He grinned. “She made them special for you.”
She sobbed a little bit more and then lifted her arms to take the box.
“Don’t you want to eat lunch first?”
“Spoil sport. Nothing is as good as Georgette’s cannoli.”
He handed her the box and she immediately broke the string holding it shut, and then popped open the top. She had a look of longing when she reached in, took out one, and held it in front of her.
“Are you into sharing?” Kas asked.
“Not usually. But since you did bring the cannoli, I’ll make an exception.”
She handed him the open box while she started devouring her cannoli. With both hands occupied, he put the hot lunch plate down on the side table and sat in the chair opposite the sofa.
She ran her tongue over her lips to scrape away the cannoli cheese and powdered sugar remnants. Then she gave him a sidelong glance. “You’re buttering me up for something.”
“What makes you think that?”
He took a bite of the cannoli. A little murmur of delight bubbled up his throat.
“See? Georgette makes the best,” Tabby said. She finished off her cannoli and rubbed her hands together, letting the powdered sugar fall to her lap. “So out with it. What’s the real reason you’re here?”
“Isn’t it enough to want to see you?”
She glanced down at her hands with guilt. “Sorry. Everyone has been going out of their way trying to make me feel better. But nothing is going to work.”
“You don’t know that.”
She chuckled wryly, reached down to her leg and knocked on her cast. “Well this is pretty clear proof things aren’t going so great.”
“That’s temporary. You know that.”
“But Tenterhook might not be. I can’t even get out to the barn to see him on my own. He’s hurting and he probably thinks I’ve forgotten about him.”
She started to sob again. This time more softly than when he’d first arrived. But still just as heartbreaking.
“I know you’re feeling lost,” Kas said.
Tabby turned her face to the white curtain behind the sofa. “I don’t want to talk about it, Kas.”
“Then don’t talk about it. Let’s just get up and do something.”
She glanced at her cast and then at him.
“You’re not going to let that get in the way, are you?”
“No, of course not,” she said sarcastically. “Let me just get my ballet slippers and tutu on right now and I’ll do a dance.”
“I wasn’t thinking of ballet slippers. I wouldn’t mind seeing you in a tutu.”
“Don’t push me. Please just leave me alone.”
“You have a right to be angry,” Kas pressed.
“You don’t know anything! How could you know what I’m feeling right now?”
“Because I’ve been there. I know more about what you’re going through than anyone you know. You still have a chance to get up and get moving again. My riding days ended the day Wicked Wild stomped on my back and broke my neck. Everything I’d wanted for myself and my future ended in that moment and nothing else after that mattered as much.”
Her mouth dropped open just a bit.
“But, you’re a successful business man. You’re one of those hockey jocks.”
His lips lifted only slightly. “Who told you that?”
“Never mind.”
“Okay, play it your way.”
“It doesn’t matter. People talk.” When he continued to challenge her with a stare, she added, “You own a hockey team and you play hockey here in Sweet every chance you get with the local jocks. That makes you a jock.”
“I’d hardly call them local jocks. They’re friends from high school who are still in rodeo. It’s been a while since I played.”
“How come? You’ve been back here for weeks. The local skating rink in the next county has hours.”
“We never play hockey on a rink. We started playing on the mill pond on the side of town. It’s a good size. Not too deep so it freezes up pretty quick. And the mill owner doesn’t mind us playing on a Saturday every now and then.
“I didn’t play hockey when I was younger. I started when I stopped competing. A lot of us needed some way to burn off all that testosterone when the rodeo season ended. I stopped when I left Sweet. But I missed it, and I went back into it when I found out some of my friends were still playing. You should come see us play some time.”
Her eyebrows stretched high on her forehead. “I still have another four weeks with this cast. I’m not going anywhere. Besides, what am I supposed to do, lace up skates over this cast?”
He thought a moment. It could work. Not lacing up skates over her cast. But it was clear Tabby had cabin fever. And staying here feeling sorry for herself wasn’t helping her frame of mind at all.
“Get yourself dressed,” he said.
“I’m comfortable the way I am.”
“You’re wallowing the way you are, Tabby. The biggest smile I’ve seen in you since the accident is when you were eating a cannoli and that doesn’t count. Get dressed.”
* * *
Irritation coiled beneath the collar of Tabby’s flannel robe. “You must be hard of hearing because I just said—”
“I heard you just fine. And you heard me.”
She sat up as straight as she could. “Are you giving me an order?”
He stood up from the chair, towering over her as she sat on the sofa. “If it works, yes.”
“Offering me sponsorship money doesn’t give you the right to order me around. Especially now when the deal—”
“First of all, no offer beyond a look at you and Tenterhook in action was made.”
“That turned out real swell, didn’t it?”
He gave her a wry expression with her choice of words. “Swell? Really?”
“Give me a break.”
“You already have one. You don’t need another one.”
“Ha, ha, ha,” she said with heavy sarcasm.
“You’ve been sitting on your behind too long.”
“It’s only been a week.”
“Ten days.”
“Who’s counting?”
“Me. We’re going skating,” he said.
“Now I know you really are crazy. It’s five degrees outside. Welcome to Montana.”
“That means the ice is thick and smooth and ready for skating. In fact, I happen to know that the boys have already cleared off a spot on the pond for a game this afternoon.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because they asked me to play. All the snow from the last snowfall has been pushed aside, leaving a nice smooth surface just perfect for a good game.”
“What am I supposed to do? Skate with one skate?”
“Exactly. We’ll put a plastic bag and a sock over your cast.”
“No way. I’ll break my other leg.”
He took her by both hands. “Tabby, I’m going to be right there. I’ll hold you and you won’t fall. I won’t let you.”
She liked the feel of his hands on hers and it startled her more than she thought it would. She’d thought a lot about Kasper Dobbs since she’d met him. He was so unlike every man she’d ever met. He was commanding. Infuriating. Exciting. Right now he was a little of all three of those traits.
He cleared his throat. “Besides, I skated with a halo on my head. That has to be a lot harder that trying to move around on the ice with a cast.”
She rolled her eyes. “You went skating with a halo? Wasn’t that a bit risky? I mean, even for you?”
He shrugged. “I was a bull rider.”
“And look how that turned out for you.”
“My point exactly. Nothing in this life is without risk. Tabby, you could be perfectly healthy, get in your car and get an accident. It happens every day to good people.”
Pain pierced her chest. “Don’t I know it.”
His face registered steep panic. “Oh, Tabby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“Boy, you really are a bundle of joy, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you going to leave me alone now?”
She really didn’t want Kas to leave. In truth, despite the challenging dialogue, his visit was the brightest point of her life since the accident.
“Just get dressed,” he said. “Please.”
“And if I don’t?”
He gave her a wicked grin. “Then I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you down to the pond in your pajamas.”
Tabby eased herself up from the couch, ignoring the ache in her leg. She wasn’t sure if it was from sitting too long or from the break. But it did feel good to be standing, or in her case, teetering as she tried to balance herself on one leg.
As if reading her mind, Kas said, “No talking yourself out of it. I got you to your feet, and I’ll get you out the door one way or the other.”
As she hobbled to the bedroom, she said over her shoulder, “Tyrant.”
Kas smiled. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
* * *
Kas used the time it took Tabby to dress to call Jesse Knight.
“Did you get a hold of Sean?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Jesse said. “We’ll be at the ranch tomorrow.”
“Good. I’d like to clear this up as quickly as we can.”
Jesse hesitated. “You know, it may be nothing. Horses become infertile for a lot of reasons.”
“I know. To be honest, I hope it is. I’d hate to think someone is purposely trying to sabotage the horses and…”
“People?”
Kas thought of Levon. “They already have. I know they have. Levon’s death…well, they said it was an accident.”
“But you don’t believe it.”
It didn’t take an investigator to sift through the evidence. Jesse hadn’t even had a chance to look at what was adding up for Kas and he was already summing up what didn’t make sense. It would only get worse when he got to Sweet and had a chance to talk to the hands on the ranch and look at all the strange things that had happened in recent weeks since Darren Lacey and Trip began feuding over the failure of Mad Dog and some of the other horses to produce a pregnant mare.
“If there’s anything to be found with the horses, then Sean will find it. Were there sperm tests done on all the horses? I know that’s the first thing Sean is going to ask.”
“There were. I saw the reports myself which is why I decided to partner with Trip for breeding. These stallions are fertile.”
Kas thought back to the conversation he had with Hunter right after Tabby’s accident. Hunter had been genuinely upset over what had happened during the competition. He didn’t seem like a person who’d meant to cause harm. And yet the veterinarian at the rodeo insisted that whoever put the shoe on Tenterhook must have done it wrong for him to throw a shoe that quickly after being shoed. And then there was Levon’s death. He’d been hit by a horseshoe and struck on the side of the head.
As much as he didn’t want to focus on the superstition of the upside horseshoe in the barn, he couldn’t ignore it in the context of everything else that had happened. Levon had been killed. Both Tenterhook and Tabby had been hurt. It could’ve been a lot worse. Kas couldn’t help but think that’s what someone had intended.
“Sean said Tenterhook should make a full recovery.”
“Yes, he said that to me as well. I’m more worried about Tabby.”
“How’s she doing? Carly and I were in the arena when she hit that wall.” Carly was Jesse’s fiancée and the owner of some prize bulls being ridden on the circuit. “I didn’t see you until I saw you run over to Tabby after her fall. And then you’d gone. I’ve seen a lot of spills over the years. Yours included. But most of the injuries I’ve seen were to the bull riders and bronc riders. Not the barrel racers. I think we were all holding our breath waiting to see Tabby move.”
“You and me both.” He scrubbed his hand over his head, messing his hair in an attempt to rid himself of the image of Tabby’s lifeless body on the ground. The moments after were a blur. Kas didn’t know how he’d managed to get from the stands to the arena, but he was there by her side. Her eyes fluttered open and only then had he taken a breath.
“Kasper?”
“Tomorrow then,” Kas said quickly, realizing he’d drifted into a dark place he didn’t want to go.
“I’ll give you a call in the morning to let you know around when we’ll be there.”
“I appreciate it.”
He disconnected the line just as Tabby appeared in the doorway. He’d heard her coming.
He glanced at her outfit and the scowl on her face. She was adorable. Even when she was giving him sass and irritated about something, she was beautiful and took his breath away as she stood there balancing herself on one leg.
“What? Couldn’t find a matching sweater?” he asked.
She twisted her lips into a wry smile. “Very funny. What am I supposed to do in the snow with this cast?”
She’d pulled a wool sock over the bottom of the cast to keep her toes warm, but as soon as her foot hit the snow, the sock would get wet and her skin would freeze even if she had a cast boot over the cast.
He made his way into the kitchen and started searching drawers quickly.
“You know, you could have just asked me if I have what you’re looking for.”
He continued to open and close drawers and then frowned and stood up straight. “Everyone has plastic bags. We’ll just stick one over the cast to keep it dry.”
She hobbled into the kitchen and walked over to a closet, opened the door and grabbed a box of white kitchen garbage bags off the shelf.
He scratched his chin. “I never would have found them there.”
“You can organize my kitchen if you want, but you’ll have to leave me a cheat sheet for when you leave. I’m afraid I’m not very domestic.”
“Never mind about that,” he said, reaching for her to help her into a chair. She lingered next to him, so close that he could feel the heat from her body. She smelled of lavender and something sweet he couldn’t make out. Feeling lightheaded by their close proximity, he turned her around so she was facing him. Their eyes locked for a brief moment. He wanted to touch her. Kiss her. The thought of the two of them holding each other and being lost in a warm embrace was intoxicating.
He had a feeling there was much more than the sweet goodness of Tabitha Swanson he’d seen on her surface. This woman made him feel wicked and think of things that drove him mad at night when he was alone in his bed.
She looked up at him and he saw raw emotion. She hid nothing.
With body suddenly hard with desire and his head filled with a fantasy he couldn’t push away, he cleared his throat and coaxed her to sit in the chair. “Let’s get this on you before we never get out the door.”