Chapter 13
R egan and Cole walked over the gravel road and back to the house. They were arm-in-arm, both of them laughing and talking like they’d never done before. They had to let the other go as they entered through the door to the kitchen.
A short, round woman, with brown hair liberally streaked with gray and pulled into a tight bun at the nape, stood there with her arms crossed over her chest apparently waiting.
“I saw you two headed back this way.” The woman held her hand out to Regan. “I’m Mrs. Underhill, though you can call me Bea. It’s short for Beatrice, which I hate, by the way, so don’t call me that unless you want me to be mad.”
Regan bit her cheek to hold back a laugh. “No, Bea, I don’t ever want you angry. We’ll starve if you don’t cook. I can bake, and I like to, sometimes. Will that bother you? That I take over your kitchen, I mean.”
The woman waved an arm. “Heaven knows I can’t bake a lick.
I’ve tried more times than I can count, and every one was an abject failure.
Baking is an art and not an easy one to pick up.
There’s following recipes and then there is the talent involved.
The decorating is especially hard. I’ve never done anything like that before. ”
“Maybe we can teach each other. I’d love to learn how to cook, especially my favorites.”
“Honey, I’ll cook you anything you like, but you’re right, everyone should learn how to cook a few things, anyway.”
“We’ll talk to you later, Bea.” Cole pulled on Regan’s hand.
Regan laughed. “I guess I’m going now. See you soon.”
“Not if I have my way,” grumbled Cole as he pulled her out of the kitchen.
“Don’t be a grump. Not when we’ve just declared our love for each other. You should be happy.”
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “You’re right. I do love you, and I want to make love to you.”
Regan shook her head. “I want to as well.” She cupped his jaw with her hands.
“But I want to wait until after we’re married.
I need to. I feel like Danny used me, and I don’t want to rush into physical love until we’re married and you can’t ditch me.
I know that sounds harsh, and I’m sorry about that.
” She rolled up onto the balls of her feet and kissed him.
“We’ll make it. I know we will.” Then she kissed him again.
This kiss was long and thorough, as she loved him with her mouth.
Moving over him, delving inside with her tongue, circling his tongue, tasting his coffee from this morning.
He lifted his head and then pulled her flush with his body. “Can you feel how much I want you?”
Grinning, she nodded. “I sure can, big guy, but we’re still going to have to wait.
He narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows. “Just stop right there. I’ll wait for you forever. I love you.”
“I love you, too. It just seems sudden.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“It’s not, really. I’ve felt this way since I saw you.
” He chuckled. “Love at first sight. I never thought it was real and certainly not for me.
But you knocked me over when we met, and then bruised my ego by taking me down.
Seals will never live to accept that a Ranger, a woman, in fact, took out a Seal.
“Well, I can admit it now, but it was a close thing. I thought I was going to lose for a minute there.” She chuckled.
“Let’s take a walk or go upstairs. We can’t stand here all day, the help will wonder what we’re doing.”
She stepped back. “Let’s go for a walk. You can show me your ranch. All I’ve seen is the cabin.”
“There’s not that much to see. Just the barn, really, but you can meet my pride and joy. It’s a racehorse, my brother, Ray, bred especially for me.”
“Do you race him?”
“This will be the first year he’s eligible. He’s only two.”
They walked arm-in-arm to the barn.
As they approached the barn, the smell of horse manure, leather, and fresh hay hit Regan’s nose. Together, the scents weren’t bad.
Cole stopped just inside the door, turned on the lights, and then grabbed several horse cookies from a bag on the wall and put them in his shirt pockets.
Inside were ten stalls; six were occupied.
They walked down to the third stall on the right.
“This is Satan. He’s my baby and doesn’t live up to his name at all.
” He pulled a cookie from one of his pockets and placed it on his flat palm.
The horse took it with his lips.
Cole was never in any danger of being bitten, even by mistake.
“Can I pat him?”
“Of course. He’ll love you forever if you scratch around his ears.”
She stood on tiptoe and reached for the animal’s ears.
At the same time Satan lowered his head.
Regan dropped from the balls of her feet to stand flat-footed and scratched all around his ears. “He’s beautiful. I love the white blaze down his head. Against his black coat it’s mesmerizing.”
“He is beautiful. When he gets a little older, I have a mare I want to breed him with. Sugarplum’s a registered thoroughbred, too. Come see her.”
In the next stall was a solid chestnut-colored horse. Her reddish-brown coat shone in the light in the barn.
Suddenly, the back barn door opened. A cowboy sauntered through. “Oh, hi there, Boss.”
“Hi Chet. How are my lovelies behaving today?”
The weathered-looking old cowboy took his hat off and slapped his thigh with it. “Real good. Sugarplum did her laps around the track in ninety-seven seconds. She’s getting a little faster every day. ‘Course, she couldn’t beat Satan. He did it in ninety flat.”
Cole grinned broadly. “That’s great news, Chet. That new jockey must be working out.”
“Oh, yeah, she’s a real pistol for being such a tiny thing.”
Regan lifted her brows. She knew female jockeys were extremely rare, almost as much as a female Ranger. “Your jockey is a woman?”
“Yeah. She’s just out of high school and already has two years of racing under her belt. Her name is Kimberly Swift. Get it, Swift?” He poked Regan in the sides with his elbow.
She chuckled. “Yeah, I get it.”
Just then, a small blonde woman in purple-and-white racing silks walked into the barn. “Oh, hi, Cole. I see you brought a friend.” She walked over to Regan. “I’m Kim.”
“Regan.” The woman was quite confident, for being so young.
“Hey, I heard Mason talking about you when he was down here a couple of days ago. You’re Cole’s bodyguard.”
“Yes, well, we’re working on eliminating that position.” Cole placed an arm around Regan’s shoulders.
She didn’t mind. Regan liked it when he touched her. She put an arm around his waist and leaned into him. Getting closer simply felt right.
“We’d all best go. Mrs. Underhill will have lunch ready in about fifteen minutes,” said Cole.
“Mmm, yeah. She’s making chicken and dumplings today, my favorite.” Kim rubbed her non-existent belly in a circle.
Regan chuckled. “It’s one of my favorite meals, too.” She looked up at Cole. “Come on, I don’t want to be late.”
“It’s okay, if we’re a little late.” Cole squeezed her shoulders.
Regan shook her head. “Nope, not even a little if it’s chicken and dumplings. I want some of the first batch and probably the second, too…if she makes a second.”
Cole laughed. “Oh, she’ll definitely make a second batch, with Kim being here. She can eat all of us under the table when this is on the menu for lunch. But where will you put all that food?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She winked.
“Actually, I would, though I’m afraid of the answer.”
Regan cackled and then stopped herself and grinned.
“You sounded like the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz .”
Chet laughed. “Well, I’m headed in. I have to get washed up for lunch, even if you don’t.” The old cowboy walked out of the barn, headed toward the house.
“How about we give the horses the rest of those horse cookies you have in your pockets.” She patted both of his shirt pockets. “And then head in to clean up.”
“We won’t be first in for lunch.”
“That’s okay, I want to see and get to know each horse. As I’ve told you, I love horses. I can’t believe you have so many. Can we ride them or are they all for racing only?.”
“We can ride them. We’ll take a picnic lunch and spend the day. The area’s rolling hills make for a nice ride and there is a slow moving river just west of us. A couple of spots are perfect to wade in.”
“Sounds good. Let’s do it.”
They finished with the horses and closed up the barn. Then they walked to the house, hand-in-hand.
Regan looked up at Cole. She never thought she’d find love again, but this time it wasn’t a young girl’s infatuation with a boy, but a woman’s love for a man. She never had that with Kip. He was a rebound love.
But Cole, he was everything she ever wanted…everything she would ever want…in a man.
She thought about her life. Nothing had ever been easy, except Danny.
Maybe that was why she was with him. It was easy when nothing else in her life had been.
Losing her dad, then struggling through school.
Not making friends because everyone felt sorry for her, but she was strange because of her dad dying.
Danny had been her only friend, so she fell in love with him.
Then he’d married someone else, and now she realized it was the best thing he could have done for both of them.
They might have married, but it wouldn’t have lasted because theirs wasn’t the lasting kind of love.
Even the love she felt for Kip was not the same.
She never felt for either of them what she felt for Cole.
Cole was her present and her future.
Danny was her past, and she finally was okay with that. She realized now she’d let her anger at him control her. But she wasn’t angry anymore. She was grateful. Maybe someday, if she saw him again, she’d tell him.
Cole released her hand and placed his arm around her shoulders. “What are you thinking so hard about?”
She smiled and cuddled close. “I was just thinking about my life and how everything that happened before brought me here to now…to you…to us.”