27. Clara #2
Thankfully, those workouts made it easier to run. There was a time when just jogging down the steps would have done me in.
“Ben! Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“For a ride,” he called over his shoulder.
Nox was already saddled when we reached the barn, but as I looked around for a second horse, I realized his intentions.
“Isn’t Nox a little…wild for two riders?”
“Not with me at the reins,” he grinned, tugging me into his arms. “I’ll keep you safe.”
When his lips met mine, I melted into his touch, forgetting all about my worries. I could have stood there with him all day, making out like we were back in high school. But all too soon, he stepped back, thankfully, looking just as shaken as I was by the loss of contact.
In a matter of minutes, I was sitting in front of him as we slowly made our way through the ranch. He couldn’t stop touching me, and every time his hand slid around my waist or brushed down my arms, chills skated over me, reminding me what it was like to be young and in love.
“Do you remember sneaking out with me before our engagement?” His voice rumbled against my ears, sending chills skating down my spine.
It was hard to concentrate on anything when his thumb leisurely brushed against my bicep.
“I remember.”
“The party was about to start, and neither of us wanted to be there.”
I smiled at the memory, how he climbed a tree up to the bedroom window where I was getting ready. “And you convinced me to climb out onto the tree. As I recall, my dress got torn.”
“It looked better hanging off you than fully covering you.”
“Your mother was so mad,” I laughed, remembering the look on her face when we walked back through the door later that evening. “My hair…God, it was curling all funny from drying in the breeze, and my makeup was smeared all over my face!”
“You never looked sexier to me.” His lips brushed against my neck as he tugged me closer.
“I didn’t exactly win brownie points with anyone in your family that night.”
“They knew it was because of me.”
“Oh, please. You were their little angel who could do no wrong.”
His laughter vibrated through me, doing nothing to ease the ache that was quickly growing in my core.
“I never was an angel, and they knew it. They just didn’t like to think that I could fall so hard for someone like you.”
“A spoiled brat?” I asked, remembering just how pampered I had been when I first met the love of my life.
“Someone who would stand up to her family for the man she loved. Someone who walked away from everything to be with me,” he answered earnestly. “I think it scared them a little.”
“Well, your mother never said anything to me. I think, if anything, she was harder on me.”
He grunted in reply as we approached the falls. If I looked to my left, I could see Liam’s house with his lights on, and to the right, across the river, was Lily’s house.
“You never told me about the woman who moved in here.”
“Because it wasn’t my story to tell.”
Shifting in the saddle, I craned my neck to see him. “But how did you know her?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t. An old friend contacted me, asked me if I could give her a place to stay.”
That was news to me. “And who is this old friend?”
Sighing, he pulled me tighter. God, this must be really bad.
“His name is Michael Gage. I doubt you remember him. The man only stopped by the property a handful of times. He always dropped in unannounced and left just as quickly. The first time I met him was…about twenty years ago. He needed a place to lay low for a few days.”
“Lay low?”
I could feel him tense at my question. “He was injured on the job, and needed a place to hide out. So, I put him up in one of the empty bunk houses.”
Something sparked in my memory, but I hardly recalled every detail; it was so long ago.
“Anyway, he stayed for a few days, and then he was gone.”
“Wait, you said injured on the job. What does that mean?”
“He said he was a spy.” Ben chuckled humorlessly. “I didn’t believe him, of course. I thought he was just on the run, but after I put him up in the bunk house, I went into town and had the sheriff look him up. He didn’t exist.”
“Everyone exists.”
“Not this guy. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just kept an eye on him, and then he was gone. A few years later, he stopped in again, asking me if I could keep someone safe for a while. That’s when Jimmy came to work for us.”
Craning my neck again, I stared at him with wide eyes. “Jimmy? Jimmy that stayed with us for two years and then vanished one day?”
He nodded at me. “It was better if you didn’t know anything.
Men came and went over the years, all of them hiding out and working the ranch…
it was a thing. And then he showed up one day with Lily.
Said she needed someplace to hide out. She was beaten to hell and so skittish, I couldn’t even stay in the room with her. ”
“That was several years ago. Has he come back to tell you anything more?”
I felt him shake his head. “Michael never really came by with details. I just assumed that I was to keep her safe until he returned for her.”
“That’s a big thing to ask.”
“It wasn’t in the past. The guys always worked the ranch and earned their keep. But Lily…I couldn’t exactly turn her away.”
“Why not?”
“Would you want me to?”
I’d been around Lily a lot, bringing her food and trying to get to know her. Honestly, the woman hardly spoke to me. She couldn’t even make eye contact. It was clear that she needed help, and knowing my husband gave her someplace to stay warmed my heart.
“No, I suppose not.”
“Anyway, when he brought her by, that was the last time I saw him. When he didn’t come back for her after a year, I figured I’d better help her acclimate to the place.
That’s when I called Ryder and asked him to help her out with a job.
From what I understand, she’s getting better around people, but I don’t know that she’ll ever be okay. ”
“Thank you for telling me,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
He tugged on Nox’s reins a short time later, stopping him just outside the falls. God, it had been ages since I’d been out here. Ben dismounted first, then held his hands up for me, helping me down. My legs were sore from the ride, but I enjoyed every second of it.
“It’s been a day or two since you were last in the saddle,” he chuckled.
“Tell me about it. Forget exercising. I could ride a horse a few times a week, and my legs would be as strong as an ox.”
Chuckling, he led me down to the pool of water that I hadn’t been in since we were much younger.
The mist from the falls hit my face, cooling me in the late summer heat.
Memories swarmed me from that night of our engagement, how Ben lured me into the water, and we finally had sex for the first time in the grass just a hundred feet away.
“What’s that smile about?” he asked, tucking his arms around my waist from behind.
“I was remembering our first time.”
He hummed in my ear, nipping at the lobe with his teeth. “Suave as ever. I didn’t exactly account for the bugs.”
“Or the dirt.”
“Nope. But it was sexy as hell, seeing you spread out on the grass for me.”
“Memorable for sure,” I grinned.
“That was the night we made Liam.”
“Thank God the wedding was the next month. The scandal would have ripped this town apart.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they knew,” he chuckled.
Then his fingers slid down my stomach, catching the material from my dress and tugging it up.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Going for a swim with my wife.”
The low bass of his voice vibrated in my chest, but it was the way his fingertips trailed over my skin that made me shiver. As he guided the dress over my head, doubts crept in. It was one thing to be naked in my house, but out in the open?
“Ben, what if someone sees us?”
“At the falls? Not likely. No one comes out here. Besides, this is our spot.”
Tossing the dress aside, I turned in his arms, feeling bashful despite everything that had transpired between us over the past few days.
This was my husband, and while I should feel comfortable in his arms, I still had flabby areas I was working on, desperate to get rid of.
Namely, my baby pouch that just didn’t seem to want to go away.
“Hey,” he whispered, tilting my chin up. “You’re beautiful. Don’t ever hide from me.”