Three weeks into the marriage and it felt to Knox like Genevieve had always been an integral part of his life. They had developed a rhythm; they had developed a way of moving in each other’s lives that made sense. Not only did he have a lover now, his friendship had deepened. Between their busy work schedules, they had found time to play together. Genevieve, as it turned out, was a skilled fisherwoman and one of their first afternoon getaways was to his newfound favorite fishing spot. That night, they served their freshly caught bounty to the family. When it was his wife’s turn to pick their next outing, she chose rock climbing. Everything Genevieve liked to do for fun involved some sort of risk to life and limb. In spite of the fact that he was not the biggest fan of heights, Knox had allowed her to strap him into the safety gear and he managed to climb his way up the sheer face of a mountain. Once he got to the top, he was rewarded with a kiss from his beautiful wife, but the family jewels were still sore from the safety straps and there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hades that Genevieve was going to convince him to rock climb again.
They were on their way to another outing this afternoon, albeit a tamer, less risky one.
“I can’t wait for you to meet Spartacus!” his wife said excitedly from the passenger seat. They had both finished their work early because Genevieve wanted to take him out to the Triple T Ranch, the sprawling Traub family cattle spread.
Knox found that when it came to Genevieve, he could muster enthusiasm for just about anything. The wedding reception was a perfect example. He wouldn’t typically be interested in menus and decorations, but it was Gen’s family and he wanted to make a good impression on them. He wanted them to like him; he wanted them to accept him.
“Look!” She pointed out of the window as they turned onto Triple T land. “There he is!”
“Holy monster horse,” Knox exclaimed. “What the heck is he?”
“Stop here.” She was already opening the door and he hadn’t stopped the truck. “He’s a Percheron, of course.”
With a halter and an apple in her hands, Genevieve climbed up to the top of the fence and straddled it. She whistled at Spartacus, who lifted his large black head, snorted and then began to gallop at full speed toward the fence. Gen laughed, her cheeks flushed with happiness, her blue eyes shining in the most enchanting way. Spartacus bucked several times, his muscular black body glistening in the sun and his thick black mane and tail dancing in the wind.
“You’re gorgeous!” Genevieve called out to her horse.
Spartacus was so big and so powerful that Knox worried that he might try to jump the fence. Gen stood up on the fence, her boots balanced precariously on the planks, to greet the Percheron. Spartacus slid to a halt in front of her, snorting and tossing his head and pawing at the ground.
“Yes, my beautiful boy.” Gen offered him the apple before putting the halter on his head. “I’m happy to see you too.”
“What are you doing?” Knox leaned over so his voice would reach her through the open truck window.
“I’ll meet you at the barn.” Genevieve climbed on the horse’s back. Spartacus kicked up his hind leg in protest, but Gen just gently chided him. “Knock that off, grump.”
Without any warning to him, his wife squeezed her legs on the horse’s side and Spartacus took off at a full gallop.
“Darn it, Gen.” Knox fumbled to get the truck out of Park. He stepped on the gas and tried to keep his eyes on his wife as she galloped bareback on the giant Percheron. With her blond hair loose around her shoulders, Genevieve reminded him of a warrior goddess racing into battle. Had he ever seen anything more incredible than his wife, his lover, riding bareback on this magnificent black horse?
Knox quickly found a place to park his truck near the barn, grabbed his keys, jumped out and ran to the fence. He had lost sight of Gen as she rode into the woods and he was anxious to see her emerge in one piece.
“Howdy, Knox.” Collin Traub walked out of the barn and headed toward him.
Knox gave the town mayor a quick nod but his eyes were laser focused on the spot where Genevieve should appear any moment.
“She’s riding Spartacus bareback again, I take it?” Collin asked.
“No bit, no bridle,” Knox said.
“That’s about right,” the mayor said. “I’d better open that gate for her or she’ll try to jump it.”
Collin walked quickly over to the gate that led from the field to a riding arena adjacent to the barn. Knox didn’t realize that he was holding his breath until he let it out when Genevieve appeared. Still galloping, his wife headed straight for the open gate.
“Watch this.” Collin rejoined him at the fence.
One hand holding on to Spartacus’s thick mane, once she guided the gelding into the arena, Genevieve leaned her weight back and the draft horse halted. Laughing, his wife patted the horse on his neck and then smiled at Knox.
“Has she always been like this?” Knox heard himself asking the question aloud.
“Yes, sir.” Collin chuckled. “You’ve got a tiger by the tail, my friend.”
All Knox wanted Genevieve to do was get off of the horse. Yes, she was an accomplished horsewoman but for some reason this horse seemed riskier than the quarter horses he was used to riding at the ranch. Spartacus was nearly eighteen hands tall; Big Blue was only sixteen hands.
“Now what’s she doing?” Knox muttered.
“What she always does,” Collin responded with another chuckle.
Genevieve pulled off her boots and socks and tossed them toward the fence. Now barefoot, she slowly stood up on Spartacus’s broad back. The horse stood stock still for his mistress while Knox’s heart started to beat faster in his chest. The thought of Genevieve getting hurt made his stomach knot. And yet, she wasn’t the type of woman who would ever be hemmed in. He was just going to have to get used to watching his wife take risks with her life and limb.
Once she was balanced on Spartacus’s back, she leaned forward, pressed her palms on the horse’s rump and then lifted her legs into the air.
“Have you ever seen anything like that before?” Collin asked him.
“No,” he said. “I can honestly say I haven’t.”
No one in his or her right mind would think to do a handstand on the back of a horse—at least no one he knew in Texas. This was a first.
Genevieve executed a perfect handstand on Spartacus’s back before she carefully lowered her legs and carefully slid into a seated position. Once seated, his wife clucked her tongue and asked the horse to move over to the fence where Knox and Collin were waiting for her.
“Hi, Collin.” Genevieve held out her hand to high-five the mayor.
“Howdy, Genevieve.”
Knox’s wife smiled and held out her hand to him. “Get on.”
The last thing Knox wanted to do was get on Spartacus bareback. Honestly, he wasn’t too sure he’d be all that jazzed to ride the draft horse with a saddle and bridle. Collin was staring at him with an amused look on his face, as if he knew that Genevieve had him between a rock and a hard place. Not wanting to look like a coward in front of the mayor or Genevieve, Knox climbed up the fence and onto Spartacus’s back.
“Wrap your arms around me,” Genevieve said. “You’re about to go on the ride of your life.”
That was exactly what he was afraid of.
“Have fun, you two.” Collin gave a wave of his hand.
“Have you done this before?” Knox asked the mayor.
“Oh, yes.” Collin grinned at him. “I have. All I can say is hold on tight, my friend. Hold on real tight.”
As it turned out, that was the best advice anyone had given him in a long time.
Genevieve turned the Percheron toward the open field and the next thing he knew, he was working overtime to stay on the back of the draft horse. His wife was laughing like she was having the time of her life while his legs were on fire from gripping the horse. Genevieve had only one speed and that was full-steam ahead. She pointed the gelding toward the woods and all Knox could see was a maze of tree limbs just ripe for taking off their heads.
“This is the best part,” Genevieve said as she leaned forward.
Knox instinctively tightened his hold on his wife’s waist. If she thought something was the “best part” he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what was about to happen next. Over the top of Genevieve’s head, he spotted a creek without a bridge.
“No, Gen!”
“Yes, Knox!”
The next thing he knew, his body was lifting off the back of the horse as Spartacus jumped over the creek. When the horse’s hooves touched the ground, Knox landed hard and he felt his private parts get smashed in the process. All the way back to the riding arena, he was gritting his teeth against the pain he was feeling between his legs. He’d never been so happy to get off a horse in his life.
“Wasn’t that the best time ever?” Gen slid off her horse, gave him a kiss on his nose, took off the halter and let the horse run back through the gate and into the field.
Knox took a step and winced in pain. He would be walking a bit more bowlegged for a while, thanks to that ride. And not for nothing, there might be a question of his ability to procreate. Once his brothers saw him limping around and riding tender in the saddle, they were never going to let him hear the end of it.
His wife, oblivious to his distress, linked her arm with his. “I’m so glad I got to share that with you.”
“Oh, yeah.” He shook his leg to reposition himself. “Me too.”
After their amazing ride on Spartacus, Knox had insisted that they go straight home. Disappointed, Genevieve couldn’t figure out why they had to cut their afternoon short until Knox made a beeline for the kitchen, stuffed some ice into a Ziploc bag and stripped down to his boxer briefs.
Sitting on the couch with a bag of ice on his private area, a clearer picture began to form in her mind.
“I thought you might’ve landed a bit hard on the other side of the creek,” Genevieve said contritely.
Knox frowned at her. “Why does every activity you pick for us to do end with me needing an ice pack?”
She sat cross-legged on the couch next to him and called Silver up to sit beside her. “Not everything.”
“Rock climbing,” he recounted. “I couldn’t sit in the saddle for two days after that little episode.”
“Sorry.” She giggled. She couldn’t help it. Knox was as masculine a man as they made and it was cute to see him show some vulnerability.
“Now this.” He held up two fingers. “And what? Next week you want us to go bungee jumping?”
Her face lit up. “Yes! Let’s do it. You’ll love it.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I won’t love it. You’ll love it and I’ll end up sitting on the couch with another ice pack. No. Thank. You.”
She frowned at him playfully. “Spoilsport.”
“Look, woman.” Knox repositioned his ice pack. “If you want to have children one day, you’re gonna have to pick activities that don’t involve crushing the family jewels.”
Genevieve stopped smiling. It wasn’t the first time Knox had talked about their marriage as if it didn’t have an expiration date. Now that they had been intimate, all of the lines had been blurred and it was difficult to know what was real and what was fantasy. Sometimes she felt that Knox was in her same boat—that he was falling for her in the same way she couldn’t help but be falling for him. But nothing tangible had been said. And no promises—other than a promise of a divorce—had been made.
“You know what?” She reached out and patted him affectionately on the arm. “I’m going to make you dinner.”
“Do you know how to cook?”
She sprang up off the couch. “I know enough to get by. You’re always making dinner for me, so now it’s my turn to spoil you.”
A short while later Genevieve had to admit that she had oversold her ability in the kitchen. They ended up eating turkey sandwiches with a side of potato chips on the front porch. But one of the many things that she liked about Knox was his willingness to appreciate her smallest effort. Like the day she’d done their laundry. Knox had acted like she had done something really special for him. Out of every man she’d ever known, Genevieve was beginning to believe that Knox understood her in a way that no one else ever had.
“It’s so beautiful here, Knox,” she said, looking out at the setting sun. “I’m really going to miss it.”
Knox turned his head and she could feel him staring at her profile. She found herself giving him opportunities to talk her into staying, but no matter how many times she opened that door, Knox never walked through it. He never said, “I don’t want you to go.”
“I saw that you got some literature in the mail from some stables in California.”
She nodded. “It’s not easy to find a place suitable for a horse like Spartacus.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“His size can be intimidating and he does have food aggression in the stall, so I have to be careful where I stable him.”
“Did you find any good prospects?”
“No. Not yet.”
For a minute or two, they sat in silence, each in their own thoughts.
“So, California is still the dream?” Knox asked.
California had been her dream for so long it was hard to imagine her life without that goal in mind. And yet, the time she had spent with Knox had begun to make her imagine a different kind of life. A life with a family, a husband and a dog—not in California, but right here in Rust Creek Falls.
When she didn’t respond, Knox filled in his own blanks. “California is the right place for you, Gen. I want you to be happy.”
Maybe California was right for her. Maybe she would be happy there. But would she be happier than she was right now, sitting on the front porch of Knox’s cabin in the woods?
No. That was the answer that floated into her mind. No. She wouldn’t be happier. Being Knox Crawford’s wife had brought a new level of happiness into her life. But she couldn’t be so sure that Knox shared her desire to stay married. Yes, he was an eager and passionate lover—the best she’d ever had—but physical chemistry didn’t automatically translate to happily-ever-after. She had never been a chicken before in her life until now. She just couldn’t bring herself to build up the nerve to tell her husband that she had fallen in love with him.
That night, Knox made love to Genevieve slow and long. He didn’t want the moment to end. Perhaps he was afraid of what it was going to feel like when she was gone from his life. The day he had found information from California in their PO Box, he had actually been contemplating asking Genevieve to give their marriage a chance. There had been moments when he was sure that Gen returned his feelings. It certainly felt that way when they made love. And it was more than just the physical. It was all of the little things she did for him that made him believe she cared—like doing his laundry or picking up his favorite barbecue sandwich on her way home. She noticed every little thing about him and tried to make his life more comfortable. What she didn’t realize was that just her being in his life, being his friend, had made his life so much better.
Knox curled his body around Genevieve’s body, holding her tightly as they both were drifting off to sleep.
“Knox?”
“Hmm?”
“I had a wonderful time with you today.”
He smiled, his eyes still closed. He pulled her just a little bit closer. “I’m glad.”
“Knox?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you want to have children?”
Knox’s eyes opened in the dark. When he had mentioned giving Genevieve children earlier in the day, he had regretted those words the second they came out of his mouth. Sometimes it was difficult for him to remember that this thing between them wasn’t the real deal. It felt like the real deal to him.
“Yes.” He stared at her flaxen hair that was spread out across the pillow. He had imagined a little girl with Genevieve’s blond hair, blue eyes and tomboy fearlessness. “I do.”
Several seconds passed before she responded. “I’ve seen you with Wren and my nieces and nephews. I think you are going to be an amazing father one day, Knox. I really mean it.”
He hadn’t ever voiced it aloud, but he had often imagined Genevieve in the role of mother. Yes, she was tough and fiercely independent, but she had a nurturing side. He had seen it particularly in her kindness to Wren. Genevieve saw that Wren needed extra attention and she gave her exactly that.
“I think you’ll be a wonderful mother.”
He felt her hand tighten in his at the compliment. “I never thought that I wanted to be a mother.”
He heard an unspoken “but” dangling off the end of that sentence.
“Has that changed?”
His wife snuggled more deeply into his arms. “Yes. I think it has.”