Leaping Hearts(60)

At night, as he lay in bed, he saw images of her face and remembered how much he’d hurt her with his careless words. It was eating him up inside. Every night, as he slept alone, missing her, he hoped on the next day she would come to him.

And then, at last, he’d had a glimmer of hope.

Today, at noontime, A.J. had emerged from the car without her arm in the sling. Waiting at the window while she was inside the barn, his turkey on rye hanging in midair with his hopes, Devlin tensed as soon as she stepped back out into the daylight and walked to her car. With her hand on the door, she paused. And finally looked up at him.

Their eyes met for a moment and he willed her to come inside. He was desperate to smell her, hear her voice, see her up close. At the slightest indication from her, he was ready to rush outside, to try to put things right between them, ready to speak…. But she’d looked away and then driven away. And his mood had gone from foul to something darker.

It was a change in attitude that had not been met with enthusiasm by his lunch partner. He knew Chester had just about had it with him skulking around. And who could blame the man? Devlin was getting tired of being around himself, too.

That was the trouble, he thought. Everywhere you go, there you are.

Coming back to the present, he focused on Sabbath’s pathetic workout.

“I think that’s enough, Ches,” he called out.

Chester reeled the stallion in like a sailfish and approached Devlin with an annoyed look. The man and the horse were both out of joint.

“Just in time,” Chester said, dryly. “He’s gettin’ tired a’ the lunge an’ I’m gettin’ tired a’ him.”

“I know, Ches.”

The expectant look in the groom’s eyes was a demand.

“What?” Devlin asked.

“You know what.”

Devlin looked past the ring, to the mountains beyond. Was the eye contact they’d shared enough of a signal that A.J. was ready to hear him out?

He had to try.

“I’ll go talk to her.”

“About time,” Chester grumbled, leading the stallion back into the barn and leaving Devlin with a dilemma.

Having decided to take a chance and reach out, he found himself too impatient to wait for A.J. to show up the following day. And what he had to say was too important to do over the phone. He wanted to do it in person.

Then it dawned on him. It was Saturday. Her father’s birthday.

He thought for a moment. Then made up his mind. It looked like he was liberating his tuxedo from the mothballs.

Later that evening, while standing in her underwear, A.J. put the last pin in her hair and surveyed her new look in the bathroom mirror. Her thick auburn waves were twisted off her neck and piled on her head in a remarkably adept shot at a chignon. She’d been mostly interested in getting it all out of the way but the fact that the style emphasized her high cheekbones and heart-shaped face didn’t hurt.

She turned to the side, staring over her shoulder. With some eye shadow and a little lipstick, she looked like a different person. Granted, she wasn’t in jeans and muck boots, and lacy lingerie did add an allure.

A.J. heaved a sigh, and let her shoulders collapse. She didn’t feel like putting on a face and pretending to be happy. She didn’t want to interact with the kind of socialite crowd who were about to show up. She wanted to sit in her room, stare off into space, and try not to go crazy while her arm healed.

But duty called.

Resigning herself to the evening’s festivities, she went over to the dress hanging on the door. It was a filmy black creation, made of layers of paper-thin chiffon that fell from a tight, strapless bodice. She’d bought the dress for the coming holiday season, the only good outcome of an afternoon with her stepmother.

The two rarely spent any time alone and they never shopped together. Garrett, however, wanted some measure of connection between the women in his life and had a quiet way of getting his way. By playing to A.J.’s better nature and buying Regina off with the promise of a week at Canyon Ranch, stepdaughter and stepmother had gritted their teeth through a strained lunch followed by a trip to a high-profile boutique.

The gown had been heaven the moment A.J. slipped it on and now, standing in her bathroom, she felt its delicate waves go over her head again like a sigh. As she zipped up the back, she could feel the bodice clinging to her breasts and the floor-length skirt brushing against her legs. She took a twirl in front of the mirror, thinking the discomfort of shopping with her stepmother might have been worth it.

It wasn’t like anything she normally wore, even to formal parties. If she had to dress up, she usually put on silk pants and bolero jackets or tailored floor-length skirts with simple, classic tops. With her hair done up and wearing makeup, she imagined people were going to be surprised. Staring at her reflection, she decided the look was part damsel and part seductress. It made a very feminine and powerful statement.

She wondered what Devlin would think of her.

The thought was like hitting a speed bump.

Devlin was never far from her mind and she missed him so badly it stung. Every day, when she went to visit the stallion, she knew he watched her from the kitchen window and there was a big part of her that wanted to follow the blue stone walkway up to the farmhouse, knock on the door and fall into his arms.

But she was still angry at him for lashing out at her. And she was scared. Scared by how much it had hurt to have him walk away from her. Frightened by the strength of her love for him. Terrified that he was right and they couldn’t have it all.