13. Ambrose #2
The noon sun was bright and warm as I made my way outside. When I squinted through the light, my stomach dropped. There, riding toward me on a horse, was the devil who’d been invading my thoughts all day. Alongside him rode Millie and Annabelle.
My body deflated. Seeing them together again was discouraging, but I wasn’t all that surprised. Annabelle liked Zeth, after all.
I stepped back into the barn, hoping they hadn’t seen me.
But the image of Zeth’s solid form moving up and down in a trot made my breath catch.
How handsome he looked on a horse, wearing his new brown jacket.
The color wasn’t perfect, I didn’t lie about that, but it really did accentuate his broad shoulders and chest. Biting my lip, I poked my head back outside, only to see them still trotting this way. My barn was their destination.
“Shit.” I dusted off my sleeves and tried to straighten my hair. I was a mess, with my collar open and sweating. What would Zeth think?
As they drew closer, I listened carefully, hearing Millie talking excitedly about something. Then Zeth’s voice was clear enough to catch as he teased his sister about manners. His reprimand was strict, but caring.
“Here we are,” came Annabelle’s voice. “Isn’t it a lovely old barn?”
My whole body flushed with fire as I stood there, waiting for them to come in and see me. It would look as though I was hiding, so I had no choice but to greet them.
Clearing my throat, I stepped out and faced them, not realizing I was still holding my chisel until sunlight hit the silver. “Annabelle, Millie.” I nodded at them both before my gaze darted over. “Zeth.”
“Amby.” When Zeth regarded me with a nod back, his golden eyes glimmered in the sunlight. Beautiful.
“Nice to see you all out on such a nice day.” As soon as I said it, my lips pursed. Nice to see you all out on such a nice day ?
Today wasn’t going to end well. I knew it already.
Annabelle flashed a brilliant grin. “You as well. I’m taking Zeth and Millie on a tour of my estate. I hope you don’t mind us cutting through your land.”
My face faltered slightly. If she was showing him her estate, it meant Zeth had found out the truth. Annabelle and I weren’t courting, and since they were together, he was still determined to win her hand, even after our flirting in the tailor shop.
The tool slipped from my hand and landed in the dirt with a thump . I quickly bent to pick it back up, hoping to recompose myself in the process. “I don’t mind at all. I’m just… doing some work.”
“On the barn?” Zeth asked. His horse had shied at the sound of my tool, and Zeth shifted in his saddle, looking uneasy with controlling the beast.
“No, actually just…” I ignored how much I disliked seeing him riding with Annabelle and planted my fists on my hips. “Wood. Some woodworking. You know, cutting and carving, all that.”
Zeth’s lips twitched—he was holding in a laugh at me, I knew—and I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. Their visit caught me off guard, and now my words were coming out as stupid as ever.
“Would you mind showing us something you’re working on? I’ve always wanted to see.” Annabelle sat tall in the saddle with her blonde hair braided over one shoulder.
“I really don’t have much to show—”
Before I could finish, she slipped off the side of her horse and walked into the barn.
Zeth stood in his stirrup and swung a leg over his saddle to follow her.
He looked like the best horseman in the world, until he stepped down and his other foot got hung up in the stirrup.
Then his horse shimmied away from him, and Zeth hopped along with one arm holding on for dear life to the pommel.
When Millie snorted with amusement, Zeth glared over his saddle at her something fierce and tried to hush her while he hopped. Funny enough, Annabelle wasn’t witnessing any of this comic farce. She was too busy looking inside the barn.
Yet the horse kept shuffling sideways, and Zeth kept stumbling on one leg, the space between him and his horse getting wider and wider.
When Zeth cursed, I rushed forward to grab the horse’s reins.
I ducked under his raised arm, the one holding the pommel, and wrapped my hand around his back to steady him.
Once he hopped closer to me and stood upright, I used my other hand to help him remove his shoe from the stirrup so he could pretend nothing happened.
Zeth’s arm clung to my sweaty neck, and for a fleeting moment we stood there still attached, staring intently. I tried to ignore his closeness until he tightened his grip to tug me in tighter, and murmured into my ear a heartfelt, “Thank you.”
I let out a breathy laugh as I let him go. “Anytime.”
When we pulled away, I made my way into the barn to find Annabelle admiring the chair I’d been working on.
“This is marvelous!” She smoothed her hand over the freshly-sanded surface. “Where did you get the wood?”
“Some from fallen trees… others I’ve bought from the mill at discount.”
“Stay out here with the horses, Millie. Rest your ankle,” Zeth said. He came into the barn, seemingly half listening to us as he strolled gracefully past the old stalls full of big haystacks. We had a new barn now for the horses but sometimes stocked extra hay here.
Zeth approached a piece of furniture while he fingered the buttons of his suit jacket to open it, knocking the sides back, and tucked his gloved hands into the pockets of his trousers in a dashing way I could never accomplish.
Annabelle watched him too. I didn’t blame her. It was easy to see why she liked him. He was every bit a tall, handsome gentleman with manners and grace. Well built, solid and mysterious. But I enjoyed that foul-mouthed, playful, real side of him.
When I felt Annabelle’s gaze on me, I picked up a sanding block, then put it back down, not sure what to do.
“How long have you been woodworking?” she asked.
“A few years.”
Zeth moved again, and I watched him from the corner of my eye while answering Annabelle’s next question about my tools.
He glanced over a few nicer chairs at the back of the barn, and I desperately hoped he noticed my work, but his eyes roamed up to the high ceiling braces and the hayloft where we used to fool around.
“Did you see this chair, Zeth? Such fine work.”
Out of all the pieces to point out, it had to be the chair with the broken leg.
I didn’t need Zeth looking at the shitty furniture I had broken, but he did just that.
He walked closely around my back, lingering long enough for me to smell his musky, soapy scent before he showed up between me and Annabelle.
I hoped he didn’t see the cracked wood on the bottom leg as he caressed the ivy carving on top with his long, gloved fingers.
“I love the intricate designs here, Amby,” Zeth said. “Reminiscent of the skilled craftsmanship that comes out of Zembia. Their furniture sells really well, always in demand. You clearly have a talent for woodworking. You’re very good.”
The way his voice hummed that praise melted me.
I bit my lip to hide my smile so no one saw how much his words affected me.
When Zeth raised his gaze, and I caught honest admiration in those sparkling depths, my stomach fluttered.
Why was he suddenly being nice to me? Was it genuine, or a front for Annabelle?
“Did you recently learn?” Annabelle asked.
“I always loved whittling as a boy. When I worked with a carpenter at the local mill for a few years, I fell in love with building pieces and carving. This chair is far from perfect, though. I messed up and hammered too hard.”
“I bet it’s just fine,” Zeth assured me with the calm confidence of this new gentleman he was playing as, the one who was trying so hard to be perfect for Annabelle.
That bothered me, so I crossed my arms and dared, “Alright. Try it, if you insist.”
Zeth’s eyebrow rose, and at first I didn’t think he would take my dare, but then he planted his ass in the chair. As soon as he did, the broken leg snapped the rest of the way. It dumped Zeth—somewhat slowly and comically—onto the dirty barn floor.
It was far from graceful. Zeth’s legs sprawled out on the floor, and he looked up at me in surprise.
When I covered my mouth and cracked up, his eyes crinkled at the corners as he gave an uproarious laugh.
I broke into laughter along with him, hands on my knees, and for a moment, it felt like we were kids. The Daring Duo once again.
When Annabelle’s mouth tightened with parental dismay, it only made us laugh harder. She didn’t understand this familiar companionship between us.
“What happened?” came Millie’s voice. I tried to dry the tears from my eyes to see her in the doorway, still on her horse and staring from her saddle at us like we were madmen.
“Everything’s fine,” I told her, trying to recompose myself. “Just Zeth showing us how to gather wood for a fire.”
“Although I don’t suggest lying in the fire,” Annabelle joked with a stiff voice that made Millie grin. “I suppose now Zeth will have to stay and help Amby fix the chair. It’s the only decent thing to do. Millie, shall we ride ahead?”
“You’re going to leave him here with me?” I asked, not entirely opposed to the idea, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to end up with playful or scornful Zeth today.
“My brother could use some time away from us girls,” Millie answered. “We should get moving before my ankle becomes too stiff.”
“I absolutely agree.” Annabelle claimed Millie’s reins from the horse’s front and mounted her own horse. “Zeth, join us at my stable when you’re done. I’m going to show Millie my car.”
“You are?” Millie gasped. “Can we go for a ride?”
Annabelle chuckled as she rode on with Millie, and for a long moment, I stood there watching them both in stunned silence. They rode as close together as they could, both of them chatting away.