Chapter 9
A/N #1: Super quick shout out to those guest reviewers I'm unable to personally respond to. Your kind words are so very encouraging. And Once Upon A Whim, this one's for you, my friend-thanks for your patience!
After sharing a quiet lunch with Mrs. Sherwin that ended up providing Lucy some unexpected perspective on her bewildering feelings (especially the ones concerning the woman's grandson), she'd gone to her room to prepare next week's lesson plans. She was determined to put Wyatt Logan out of her mind–for at least the rest of the afternoon-despite learning a good deal of personal information about the man from his grandmother...
Flashback
Without intending to, she must've dozed off because the next thing Lucy knew, there was a knock on the door. "Lucy, dear? Is everything alright?" It was Betsy Sherwin. Perhaps her hasty flight upstairs had been witnessed after all. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood and tiredly squaring her shoulders, opened the door.
Pretending not to notice the way the older woman's perceptive gaze discreetly raked Lucy from head to toe, she mustered a wan smile. "Everything is fine, Mrs. Sherwin. I was merely resting my eyes," she answered. From the way Betsy thoughtfully regarded Lucy, it was unlikely her small fib was all that convincing (she'd never been very good at falsehoods, even as a child), but to her relief, she let it pass.
"Well, then, I have finished up my correspondence for the week, and wondered if you'd like to join me for a bite to eat. I imagine you've worked up a fair appetite with your walk after breakfast. I hope you enjoyed yourself. Now, the midday meal is quite casual around here on Saturdays since Martha and Katie are busy most of the day with the laundry and cleaning." She beamed at Lucy's reluctant nod and turned toward the open door. "Oh, and it will be just the two of us, my dear. Wyatt went into town to pick up his horse from Rufus at the smithy and James rode over to the spread next to ours for a visit."
Although food was the last thing on Lucy's mind at the moment, she nonetheless obediently followed Mrs. Sherwin downstairs to the dining room, where the efficient housekeeper had set out steaming bowls of vegetable soup, thick ham and cheese sandwiches, and a dish of hard boiled eggs, with a plate of soft sugar cookies for dessert. Settling the cloth napkin over her lap, Lucy resolutely dipped her spoon into the delicious soup. There was silence in the room as the women devoted their attention to the meal.
"Lucy, dear, forgive me if this feels intrusive, but you seem terribly preoccupied at the moment. I'd be more than happy to listen if there's something you'd care to talk about," Betsy probed delicately, pushing her soup bowl aside and adding an egg to her sandwich plate.
With a quiet sigh, Lucy set her spoon down, her faint appetite dwindling away entirely. Apparently her efforts to appear her normal, poised self had failed miserably, but she wasn't all that surprised. Her Papa had on countless occasions affectionately teased his big-hearted daughter about 'wearing her feelings on her sleeve' more often than not. She considered Mrs. Sherwin's offer. Perhaps she would feel better after speaking about inadvertently discovering the family cemetery during her walk this morning.
Clearing her throat a touch nervously first, the words abruptly poured from her lips in a guilty rush. "While I was out walking after breakfast, I found your family cemetery, Mrs. Sherwin...and I hope it wasn't terribly rude of me, but I was curious, you see, so I walked around and began to read the crosses...actually, finding the cemetery was quite the coincidence because just minutes earlier, your husband had told me of the circumstances surrounding your grandson coming to live here at the ranch...and it made me sad when I saw the cross marking the graves of your daughter and her husband...but then I happened upon the single plot in the far back corner...and it took me a few seconds to comprehend that in addition to his mother and father, Wyatt had also lost his wife and son, and not even that long ago...and I felt so terrible for all of you..."
To her dismay, just saying the words aloud made Lucy feel surprisingly emotional and she fell silent, dropping her gaze to her lap. She looked up at the touch of a hand covering hers. "No apology is necessary, my dear. Of course you were curious–anyone would be. And, yes, losing our sweet Libby at such a young age was devastating for her father and I. Thankfully, her son was spared because that little boy gave us a reason to live, a distraction with purpose, if you will, that we eagerly reached for in our grief. Wyatt was only three, and such a gentle, quiet child who's brought tremendous joy into our lives. Sometimes it's difficult for us to understand the Lord's ways, but raising our grandson these past twenty-five years has been a real blessing," Betsy remarked, squeezing Lucy's hand.
Lucy smiled in understanding and admitted, "That's very close to what your husband said. I, too, have experienced loss of my own. You see, I never knew my mother, who passed away within days of my birth. My father, who never remarried, contracted consumption around the time of my 18th birthday, and lingered for a little over two years. As I was an only child, aside from some very distant cousins back East, I have no family to speak of-which has meant taking care of myself the past five years."
Mrs. Sherwin's face softened, blue eyes gleaming sympathetically. "Such a tremendous loss you've suffered, my dear, and at a tender age. My heavens, after hearing this, I find your solitary journey from California to be all the more impressive. And as for being all alone in this oftentimes cruel world, Lucy Preston, that is not quite accurate, because James and I would be most pleased if you would consider us to be your family...at least for duration of your time here in Brady." The two women smiled at each other.
"Thank you, Mrs. Sherwin, that's extremely kind of you. And I am sincerely sorry for your losses, and greatly admire the strong faith you and Mr. Sherwin possess that has sustained you all these years." The older woman nodded, regarding Lucy somberly for a moment.
"Thank you, Lucy, that's very sweet. James and I have built a good, contented life together over the past forty some years, and our faith is important to us. Of course, our grandson is responsible for a large part of our happiness. As for his wife and son, it will be two years in May since Jessica and Matthew passed away after contracting measles when an outbreak spread through this part of the state. Such a frightening time. It was a terrible blow for Wyatt to lose them, especially since, regrettably, he was working away from Brady when they took sick." Mrs. Sherwin sighed.
"Although they'd been married for just a few years, he and Jess had known each other since they were children, and their baby son was barely six months old. By the time he received word his wife and child had taken sick with the measles, they were gone before he returned. And for a very long time, my grandson blamed himself–not that he could've saved either of them. Unfortunately, Wyatt knew when he signed up that being away from home for extended periods of time was all part of the job. As for his wife, it was certainly hard on her at times, but she loved him, and understood and accepted the demands of his career." Lucy's heart filled with compassion for the deceased woman who'd been married to Wyatt and left alone with a small baby for what sounded like weeks on end. She had no idea what type of work he'd done, but it sounded like Jessica Logan must've been an incredibly strong woman...
End Flashback
Working steadily for the past hour or so, Lucy was startled when there was suddenly a loud knock at the door. To her surprise, standing on the other side was the man she'd been trying her best not to think about all afternoon, holding what looked like a piece of clothing in his hands. "Wyatt, hello. Is anything wrong?" Lucy asked uncertainly, cheeks warming faintly at the instant–but hopefully, not readily discernible-attraction she felt in his presence.
"No, Ma'am," he answered solemnly. "When I got back from town a while ago, Gran mentioned you were probably working on things for school, and I sure don't wanna interrupt that, but if you're finished or about to be, I was hoping to persuade you to come with me for a few minutes. There's someone I'd really like you to meet." Lucy frowned and shook her head, somewhat confused by not only the unexpected invitation but also the oddly expectant look on the cowboy's face. Go with him to meet someone? But who? Were the Sherwins having company for supper? His grandmother hadn't mentioned anything at lunch about entertaining guests this evening.
Mentally cursing the breathless tone of her voice, she stammered, "I beg your pardon? You want me to meet someone? Like an invitation of sorts?" Later on, Lucy would swear Wyatt's warm blue eyes visibly darkened at her response, but why, she had no idea. And then, as if her heart wasn't already starting to race, he gave her a slow, dimpled grin that literally made her go a little weak in the knees. My goodness. Only feminine pride kept Lucy from reaching out and hanging onto the doorframe for support.
"Sorry, but that's a surprise, Miss Preston," he said lightly. "Now, if your work for today is all done, why don't you get your coat and come with me and find out? This won't take too long, promise," Wyatt urged, continuing to watch her intently. Baffled by both the cowboy's mysterious request and his unsettling nearness (but yet, definitely intrigued), Lucy dutifully retrieved her coat from the closet and slipping it on, followed him downstairs.
At the bottom of the steps, he came to an abrupt halt, causing Lucy to nearly slam into his back. Instinctively reaching out and putting her hands on Wyatt's broad shoulders to brace herself, she shivered at the feel of his muscles under her fingers. He was so strong...and heavens, smelled really good, too. Seemingly (hopefully) unaware of her intense reaction to his very close proximity, he looked over his shoulder at her (oh, those blue, blue eyes), and putting a finger to his lips, whispered, "Just a word of warning...Gramps is having his afternoon nap right now and gets a tad cranky if he gets woke up."
Taking a hasty step back for the sake of her besieged senses, she barely suppressed a giggle at Wyatt's exaggerated tip toeing past the front room. A quick peek inside revealed that Mr. Sherwin was indeed stretched out on the sofa, and it looked like his wife had dozed off as well in her rocker beside the fireplace. Lucy had no idea the normally reserved cowboy could be this playful-a new side of the man she found dangerously appealing...
Wyatt closed his eyes at the sensation of Lucy's small hands lightly gripping his shoulders when he impulsively stopped in front of her on the bottom step, her slender body so close to his, he could feel her breath warming the back of his neck when she gasped in surprise. For a split second, everything around them faded away, and there was only Lucy and the unexpected warmth of her hands on him...
Luckily for his masculine pride, Wyatt swiftly came to his senses. Turning his head, he put a finger on his lips and warned her about Gramps' sacred nap time, amused–and maybe a little something more-when Lucy's soft brown eyes widened and he saw the beginnings of a smile curving her rosy lips, especially when he made a show of tip toeing past the front room where his grandparents were indeed napping.
Politely holding the front door open for her to go first, Wyatt caught a hint of the delicate floral scent he'd already come to associate with Lucy Preston as she gracefully moved past him and down the steps. How the hell did she always smell so good? Shaking his head to clear it, he grabbed his coat from a peg beside the door and shrugged it on before quietly closing the door behind them.
Walking closely by her side, the old pants tucked under his arm, he escorted her across the barnyard. Thankfully, (for his purposes this afternoon) aside from Spot, who'd resumed sleeping in the sunshine near the barn after his walk with Lucy this morning, the yard was deserted. Most of the ranch hands would've finished their chores for the day and were either settling in for a quiet Saturday night in the bunkhouse or perhaps getting cleaned up to make the trip into Brady and Miss Emma's.
Stepping through the open double doors, Wyatt inhaled deeply, the familiar smells of hay, leather and horses filling his nostrils-and also his heart with contentment. How he loved this place. No matter how far afield he'd ventured during his years with the Rangers, this was–and always would be–home...
Wyatt guessed this might be the first time Lucy had been inside the building, and somehow (deep down), it felt right he'd be the one to show their guest the very heart of Sherwin Ranch. Turning to the right just inside the doors, he went into the large storage room that held several wooden barrels of grain, along with an assortment of equine tack and equipment neatly hanging on the walls, to set down the pants and pick up a lumpy burlap sack from one of the tables. "Follow me," he requested, leading Lucy toward the main section of the stables. On either side of a generous center aisle that stretched all the way to the back wall and another set of double doors there were at least a half dozen roomy stalls, nearly each one occupied.
"Oh, there's so many," Lucy exclaimed in wonder, her head swiveling left and right before turning back to Wyatt, who nodded, gratified by her interested reaction.
"Yes, Ma'am. Sherwin Ranch has anywhere from ten to a dozen or more horses at any one time, depending on the season and demand. Right now, there are several mares who will deliver foals sometime in April, so the number will go up a little after that until we sell a few, which is usually two or three a season," Wyatt informed her.
He went on to explain that years ago when the ranch started to earn the fine reputation for good quality horseflesh it had today, there had been such demand for a 'Sherwin' horse, it became necessary for them to start keeping a waiting list of prospective buyers, most of whom came from around the state. However, in the past couple of years, they'd attracted buyers from outside Texas as well, which naturally pleased his grandpa very much. Of course, depending on what type of horse someone was interested in, it might be a season or two's wait before it was available.
They slowly moved forward with Lucy listening attentively as he talked. Wyatt wasn't surprised at all when the perpetually curious residents of the stables began sticking their heads over the stall doors to greet them with excited snorts and whinnies. These horses never missed a trick. "Oh, there's Caesar," Lucy pointed out happily, going toward the Palomino's stall, though clearly taking care to come to a halt just out of his reach, Wyatt noted with some amusement. She turned when he called her name.
"How would you like to give him a treat? Caesar had a fine workout this morning, and besides, what male alive could resist a treat from a pretty lady?" he offered, holding out the open burlap bag with an encouraging smile before realizing his choice of words. Aww, hell, did he just call Lucy a pretty lady? Out loud? From the becoming blush warming the teacher's face, it would seem Wyatt had done exactly that. They stared at each other a second, neither one moving a muscle, until dropping her gaze, Lucy hesitantly reached into the bag to draw out a fat carrot. He smiled approvingly at her.
"Don't be afraid," he coaxed when she looked up at him uncertainly. "Put the carrot flat across the palm of your hand and hold it close enough for him to reach. He won't bite you, and I'll be right beside you." Squaring her shoulders, Lucy nodded and stepping closer to the stall and the enormous golden stallion, opened her trembling hand and bravely offered Caesar the carrot. Wyatt chuckled at her nervous yelp when the horse delicately nipped the treat from her hand with all the precision of a fancy surgeon. It made him glad when Lucy stepped closer and cautiously rubbed the Palomino's nose while he greedily crunched the carrot. Predictably, from behind them came a loud snort of displeasure.
"Huh. Looks like someone is jealous of the attention you're paying to the new arrival," Wyatt observed knowingly, drawing Lucy away from Caesar and across the aisle to stop in front of Commander's stall. Wrapping an arm around the black stallion's long muscular neck, he murmured in his ear, "Now you cut that nonsense out and behave yourself for the nice lady," laughing when the horse tossed his head willfully before obediently fixing his gaze on Lucy.
"Oh, what a beautiful horse," she breathed in admiration. "Is he yours, Wyatt? What's his name?" It pleased Wyatt when she unconsciously moved closer to him as he answered, 'Commander.' They both chuckled when the ebony stallion whinnied rather impatiently in response as if to say, 'yes, yes, that's my name...now where is my treat?'
"What a well-fitting name for such an impressive fellow," she declared with a grin. "May I feed Commander a treat as well?" At Wyatt's ready nod, Lucy reached into the burlap sack and pulled out a shiny red apple this time, and just like he'd shown her with the Palomino, placed it on the palm of her hand and offered it to the stallion. The teacher had no idea it was Commander's favorite treat. Between Gramps and Lucy, Wyatt decided his horse was going to become horribly spoiled.
"Well done, Miss Preston," he praised when she grinned proudly over her narrow shoulder at him. "You've learned a very important lesson today about raising horses-that the only way to keep two strong-willed alpha males like these boys happy is to treat them as equally as humanly possible." He was charmed to hear the teacher giggle when Commander skillfully finessed the crunchy treat from her open hand. The sheer delight on her face was quite attractive, too. He pushed away the sudden awareness that-whether he was interested or not-the more time spent around this woman, Wyatt had so far found very little about Lucy Preston that wasn't appealing. Thank God Gran wasn't around to witness whatever this might be he was feeling...
To distract himself, one by one, he introduced the rest of the horses to Lucy, who graciously insisted on giving each one a carrot or apple. It was slow going, to be sure, but Wyatt found he was too busy enjoying himself to notice. In fact, they were having such a nice time, he almost forgot what his main purpose for bringing Lucy to the stables was. Finally, they stopped in front of the last stall. The dainty chestnut mare inside leaned against the stall door and sweetly pushed her soft nose against Wyatt's chest. He stroked her neck fondly and turned to face Lucy, who appeared to be looking around curiously even as she fished around in the sack for a treat. He had a pretty good idea who she might be looking for.
"So, remember when I said I had someone I wanted you to meet?" he asked. When Lucy stopped what she was doing and glanced at him somewhat warily, Wyatt grinned and said, "Lucy Preston, this beauty here is Maisie, a sweet-tempered lady who was one of our best brood mares for close to 15 years. Now she's enjoying a well-earned retirement from having babies. Maisie, this is our new friend, Lucy."
He bit the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face at the puzzled expression on the teacher's face, though she recovered well enough to belatedly offer the patient mare an apple. Unlike the greedy stallions, the well-mannered Maisie very politely lifted the treat from Lucy's small hand. "I'm not sure I understand, Wyatt. You've shown me all the horses, have you not?" He nodded, continuing to watch Lucy closely as he stroked the mare's long neck. "What's so special about this one?"
Now that it was actually time to put his impulsive plan into motion, Wyatt suddenly felt an unfamiliar flash of self doubt. What if Lucy really had experienced a horse-related trauma as a child? Was it fair to spring something like this on her out of nowhere–even if he truly did have the best of intentions? No guts, no glory, as Dave Baumgardner liked to say. He grimaced mentally, trying not to be disturbed at hearing his old friend's voice in his head at a time like this.
Clearing his throat, Wyatt began, "Like I was saying, our Miss Maisie here has a very sweet nature. She's an older girl, quite gentle and patient, perfect, really for an inexperienced rider...and well, I think she would be an excellent horse for you to learn to ride on, Lucy." For several tortuous seconds, it felt as if the whole world around them had gone quiet and the only thing he could hear was the fierce pounding of his heart when Lucy immediately froze, her dark amber eyes widening in shock. Just when his stupid male brain was starting to figure out what a God-awful mistake he'd just made, she turned and gathering up her heavy skirt, ran out of the stables in a flash of frilly white petticoats, leaving Wyatt to stare after her in dismay (and also, literally holding the bag).
Dammit, Logan, you idiot. In his blind arrogance, Wyatt had really screwed things up...and just when he and the pretty brunette had been getting along so well. "I've really gone and done it now, Maisie, and there's no one to blame but myself," he remorsefully told the mare, who sympathetically rubbed her velvety nose against his cheek. Sighing heavily, he absently patted her neck.
"I probably should've listened to Gran when she had some misgivings about my impulsive notion to teach Lucy to ride–seeing how she's a woman, too, and definitely smarter than most men I know." With one last gentle stroke to the horse's neck, Wyatt slowly headed for the storage room up front to leave the burlap sack on the table, deliberately setting it on top of his old pants. He stood still for a moment, feeling like the worst jackass and wondering how he was going to make this right. Gran was not going to be pleased that Wyatt had upset their guest.
This was precisely why he had no interest in women or courting or even thinking about trying to find another wife, Wyatt thought morosely, because he was just terrible at being around females his own age. Fortunately for him, about the time he'd matured enough to begin thinking about the fairer sex in that particular way, there was Jess. What a relief for a teenage Wyatt. No need for him to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing-or worse, looking like a clumsy fool-probably because they'd known each other since they were small children. Being with Jess had always been comfortable and just so easy. A bit shy and reserved in nature like him, their youthful friendship grew into a quiet, solid love, and Wyatt had been more than content at the thought of raising a family and spending the rest of his life with her. But apparently God had decided they weren't meant to be...
Determined not to waste time going down that futile, bitter road, Wyatt ordered himself to calm down, to take a couple deep breaths in and out and leave the past in the past. Right now, he needed to find Lucy Preston and make amends for his bone-headed mistake. Squaring his shoulders, he walked out of the barn, taken aback to see her slight figure leaning against the corral rail looking off into the distance. (He thought sure she'd be in her room by now, planning on never speaking to him again.)
Cautiously moving to stand beside her, Wyatt wordlessly rested his arms on the fence also, sensing it was important to stay quiet and let Lucy talk first. Whatever she had to say, he definitely had a scolding coming, so better to take it like a man. When she finally spoke after a long moment, her voice was so soft, he had to bend his head to hear her.
"I'm quite sorry for my rude behavior just now," Lucy apologized primly, continuing to look straight ahead. When a guilt-ridden Wyatt instinctively opened his mouth to protest, she held up a hand to stop him. "Please, Wyatt, let me finish. I understand now you were just trying to be kind to a guest of your grandparents-a big city girl who apparently has never spent much time, if any, around the beautiful animals who mean so much to you. I imagine it's nearly inconceivable to a man like you who's grown up around them to comprehend anyone being afraid of horses."
Turning to face him, Lucy sighed pensively and explained in a low voice that when she was just a small girl, barely two years of age, her father would have the nanny dress her in a miniature ladies riding habit and take her up in front of him on his favorite stallion for a daily ride through the spacious park not too far from their home in Nob Hill. She adored horses and riding so much that on her fifth birthday, Papa gifted her with her very own pony, a cream-colored Shetland Lucy named Princess.
"Naturally, because I was so young and also rather small for my age, my father insisted on proper, supervised riding lessons–which was exactly the right decision. Unfortunately, after only a few weeks, I was so eager to be a big girl and ride all by myself on my own pony that I sneaked out of the house very early one morning just before dawn while the nanny still slept and headed for the stables." Lucy smiled wryly at Wyatt's involuntary wince. "I can tell from your pained expression you've probably already figured out the ending to my story, Mr. Logan," she said lightly, her casual tone belied, however, by a lingering sadness lurking in those expressive brown eyes.
"To this day, I still find it hard to believe that my stubborn five-year-old self managed to get inside the stables unseen, climb up on Princess' bare back and guide her out the doors and into the brick street. The city was starting to wake by then and all of a sudden, it seemed to my quickly overwhelmed childish senses there were people and horses and wagons everywhere. In my fear, I pulled too tightly on the pony's mane, and naturally, she did not appreciate being treated so roughly by her mistress. Princess began to vigorously prance around while I tried desperately to hold on. When she at last reared up on her short hind legs to rid herself of me, I fell off and in her own fear, the pony stepped heavily on my left wrist and broke it. It was terribly painful...and to my father's dismay, I was quite afraid of riding ever since."
Watching her absently rub that same slender wrist made Wyatt's heart ache for the trauma a tiny Lucy experienced–but yet, strangely, a secret part of him wanted to smile just thinking about how smart and brave she'd been to try a stunt like that in the first place. "I'm so sorry for the terrible accident you had when you were just a little girl. I should've known from your reaction to Caesar misbehaving this morning you felt more than a plain old aversion to horses. It was wrong of me to try and push you into learning to ride..."
He immediately fell silent when she placed two slim, cold fingers over his mouth. "Don't you dare apologize, Wyatt Logan," Lucy scolded, her soft pink lips curving faintly before she dropped her hand. "For goodness sakes, how could you have known about something that happened to me 20 years ago? So please, no apologies. As for this afternoon, I want to thank you for the tour of your lovely stables and the famous Sherwin horses. It was very kind of you, and I enjoyed it immensely. It actually made me remember how much I used to love horses, so thank you for that. I'll be going inside now to get freshened up for supper."
Wyatt watched her walk away, unable to take his eyes off the teacher's gently swaying hips. Damn, but she was like no other woman he'd ever known. His face grew hot when she abruptly stopped–nearly catching him in the act–and called over her shoulder with a shy smile, "Maybe I will change my mind some time about the riding lessons, Mr. Logan, if you don't give up on me," before going up the front steps and in the house. Shaking his head, Wyatt slowly followed. The past couple hours had given him a lot to ponder, but one thing seemed pretty damn obvious. Lucy Preston was as unlike his Jessica as a woman could be...and it was becoming clear Wyatt needed to figure out pretty quick how he felt about that...
A/N #2: Sorry we didn't get to an actual riding lesson this chapter, but I think Lucy is gonna come around to it eventually (fingers crossed) :) Quick personal note: I wanted to let everyone know ahead of time there will probably be a delay in the next update. I'm having a procedure done on one of my fingers this week and because it will be splinted afterwards for at least 7 days, unfortunately, I will be unable to properly type during that time-which is super frustrating :( Anyway, thanks so much to all of you for your favorites, follows and reviews of my stories–it's greatly appreciated :))