Chapter Eleven #2
“Mostly working at my downtown office or my home office,” he explained. “And if I’m on a phone call at night, there is usually very little to be amused about.”
Sounded lonely. Not that she was there to fix that. Still, Kelley pointed toward the pasture and said, “You’re technically working now. You can think of this as more of an open-air office if it makes you feel better.”
“For the first time in a long while work doesn’t feel like work.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth as if perplexed by his own confession.
Kelley shifted her gaze back to the pasture and asked tentatively, “How does it feel?”
“Like a really good way to spend an evening,” he said, his words quiet and pensive.
He read her mind. She smiled and said, “Maybe you, Asher Blackwell, are finding your second act, too.”
His laugh came and went like the breeze. He shifted toward her again. His gaze was thoughtful. “You know you bring up a good point. If you are helping me find my second act, it seems only fair I return the favor.”
But they’d already established they could not be each other’s second acts. She had been clear about that much.
“This isn’t about us. This is about your second act.” His eyebrows lifted as if he really could read her mind. He reached over and took her hand in his then said gently, “I remember what happened at that Fourth of July parade when you fell that time.”
Kelley inhaled and curved her fingers around his. “You were supposed to have forgotten it. That’s what I assumed.” Same as she would forget this time with him. She had to. Otherwise, she just might feel like she had lost something precious.
“But you haven’t forgotten that day,” he said.
“It’s hard to do that when I was the one who got tossed,” she said, grumbling.
Asher adjusted their hands, then rubbed his thumb in a slow circle across her palm. “You know what I remember the most about that day?”
“Me sprawled out on the pavement,” she said, her voice crackling like dry leaves. But his small caress against her skin was soothing in the most impossible way.
“You were barely on the ground long enough to get gravel stuck to your jeans.” He shook his head and continued, “One second you landed on your backside and the next you were up and standing as if nothing happened.”
But something had happened. And if she wasn’t careful, she could find herself falling again. “You helped me up, which was why I was standing,” she said, yet her tone lacked conviction.
“That’s not how I recall it.” Asher shifted and considered her. “I handed you your cowboy hat, then went after your horse. You got yourself back up all on your own.”
It was embarrassing all the same. She asked, “Why are we talking about this?”
“Because you have to get back in the saddle.” Asher held her gaze, his expression understanding. “It’s past time.”
“That’s an old wives’ tale. You don’t have to get back in the saddle and try again when you’ve fallen.
” She tugged her hand free. “In fact, sometimes it’s safer for both the rider and the horse if everyone takes a break.
” One small hop and she was off the fence.
Her awkward landing aside, she was standing on her own once again.
“Except you do need to ride.” Asher joined her, his boots thudding softly in the grass. “You sort of agreed to be in the parade this year. Frannie is really looking forward to this. She’s been talking about it every time I see her.”
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration.” Kelley blew a raspberry at him, then asked, “Why is this so important to you?”
“Because it’s about your second act.” Asher eyed Kelley. “You know the one I told you I would help you find.”
“Horse racing is not my second act,” she said dryly.
“No, we’ll leave that for Frannie’s first act,” Asher said rather cheerfully.
“I’m going to help you remember the cowgirl who was practically glowing that day in the parade.
Because that is what I remember. A fearless cowgirl, front and center, thrilled to be there on her horse, surrounded by friends and family. ”
Growing up, Kelley had always kept to the background, content to give her sisters their center stage.
But that day in the parade, Kelley had risked and stepped forward and for a moment felt like she really belonged.
“I was having fun. I was with my sisters, and we were riding together. I couldn’t imagine anything better.
Of course I was enjoying myself, until my horse spooked. ”
“Because of a rabbit skittering out of a bush,” Asher added. “You lost your balance and fell. Even an experienced rider would not have been able to keep their seat.”
“You would have,” she said quickly. “You would have at least been on guard and prepared, just in case.” Kelley had let herself get lost in the thrill of the parade excitement. She had relaxed and quit watching out for potential hazards. And she’d been unseated for her mistake.
“I’ve had my share of falls that I did not anticipate,” he said. “That they happened in the back pastures and woods doesn’t mean they don’t count.”