A Love Like Ours Read online

  Sixty seconds until five. Which gave her one more minute to indulge in staring at him.

  She released a sigh, her chest filling with buzzing and tipsy devotion.

  When Lyndie arrived at the barn at Lone Star, she went straight to the bulletin board that always contained her instructions for the morning. On it, Jake had listed workout details for the other four horses she exercised but nothing for Silver.

  At Silver’s stall she found Zoe within, hanging a fresh pail of water on his hook. “Morning.”

  “Good morning.” Zoe smiled.

  “I don’t have a workout for Silver Leaf on my sheet.”

  “That’s because Jake thinks he’s sick.”

  Concern plummeted through Lyndie. Silver Leaf had come out of his race in excellent form. The vets had checked him afterward, as was standard and required, and declared him completely healthy. “What’s wrong?”

  “He didn’t clean up his feed. And he’s running a temperature. More than either of those things, though, I think Jake could tell by looking at him that something’s off. The vet’s coming by this morning.” Zoe gave the horse two pats on his withers, then went to work raking the floor. “I’m not sure . . .”

  Whether Silver’s contracted chicken pox? Lyndie’s imagination supplied. If Saturn is currently aligned with Neptune?

  Lyndie let herself into the enclosure. At first glance, the stallion appeared as placidly regal as always. Yet the more she studied him, the more she could sense what Jake had noticed. The horse’s eyes lacked their usual bright intelligence.

  Silver rested his head on her shoulder with a little too much heaviness, as if the weight of it taxed him. “You’re just getting started,” Lyndie murmured, scratching the underside of his cheeks. “Don’t go getting sick on me now.” Since running to such an overwhelming victory, interest in Silver Leaf had swelled. Lyndie had heard that Meg had fielded several calls from buyers interested in acquiring the horse. Meg, of course, had no intention of selling.

  “Is Jake out at the track?” Lyndie made an effort to mention Jake’s name casually. It wouldn’t do for Zoe to suspect Lyndie’s romantic notions toward him at this point.

  “No. He got in his truck and left a minute ago.”

  Lyndie parted from Silver and went about exercising her other horses. Jake did not appear. She followed the plans he’d written out for each of his Thoroughbreds under the oversight of his foreman.

  The whole time concern for both Silver and Jake dogged her. Surely Jake hadn’t fled the track because he wanted to avoid her. When she’d woken him this morning, they’d shared nothing noteworthy. But then, this morning hadn’t been the time for noteworthy interactions. It had been fully dark and her animals had twined around his feet in happy chaos when he’d stood and thanked her and tried to walk to the door. He’d still been three-quarters asleep when he’d left. She shouldn’t be concerned. Should she?

  She’d just released her final horse to his groom when she saw Dr. Murray, the vet, pull into a parking spot outside their barn. Lyndie poked her head into the break room. “Zoe?”

  “Yep?”

  “Dr. Murray’s here.”

  Lyndie and Zoe waited in the row outside Silver’s stall. At the risk of sounding like a broken record . . . “Is Jake back?” Lyndie asked.

  “No, but now that the doctor’s arrived, I’m sure he’ll be here any second.”

  Dr. Murray walked toward them down the long shed row, flanked by a college-aged guy who had to be at least six foot six.

  “I think I’ve finally spotted a cute tall guy for you,” Lyndie whispered.

  “Oh my gosh. He’s so cute. And he’s so tall.”

  Lyndie had nothing but respect for the vet Jake used. A trim woman who wore her gray hair cut short and favored cargo pants and T-shirts, Dr. Murray knew her stuff when it came to Thoroughbreds. The doctor introduced the tall guy as her intern. “Andrew’s finishing up his final semester at SMU. He’ll be heading to veterinary school in the fall.”

  “Awesome,” Zoe told him. “Will you be going to school close to Dallas?” Her tone all but warbled with hopefulness.

  “At Texas A&M in Commerce.”

  “Oh, I live in Holley. Less than an hour from Commerce.”

  “Cool.” Andrew had brown hair and big dimples and a shy smile. Like Zoe, he had an upper body that bent forward slightly, as if it had grown that way because he’d been forced to lean forward to hear people.

  While Dr. Murray examined Silver, Lyndie talked with the two tall people. For the first time since she’d met Zoe, the redhead’s posture had straightened to fully upright, from the soles of her lime green boots to the crown of her head.

  When Jake strode suddenly into a flush of sunlight at the far end of the barn, Lyndie’s heart stuttered. His attention locked on to her, holding as he closed the distance.

  Please don’t be freaking out over last night. Please be okay with the dynamic between us, both personally and professionally. “Hi.” Not the most clever conversational volley.

  “Is Dr. Murray with Silver Leaf?” he asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Thanks.” He said hello to Zoe, shook hands with Andrew, and moved past Lyndie into the stall. Dr. Murray consulted with him as she continued looking over the horse.

  Jake had showered, shaved, and changed since she’d seen him last. His handsomeness blared at her as loudly as a full orchestra. She was stunned that everyone else was able to go about their business in a normal fashion around him.

  “Andrew,” Dr. Murray called.

  Andrew joined the doctor, and the two of them spoke in hushed tones.

  Lyndie looked to Jake and found him watching her in such a sober, measuring way that nervousness tightened her lungs.

  She mumbled something to Zoe and beelined to the sanctuary of the restroom.

  Something was wrong between her and Jake—no, no. Nothing was wrong. Good grief! She couldn’t lay expectations on him of any kind. I just have to take what comes and pray over the rest. She washed her hands, undid her thick ponytail, and finger-combed it back into a neater ponytail. Then she went to the tack room and polished the bridles belonging to each of her horses—

  Jake let himself into the tack room. Every scrap of air seemed to evaporate in the small space.

  “What did Dr. Murray say about Silver Leaf?” Very industriously she kept right on polish, polish, polishing away.

  “It’s a lung infection complicated by a virus.”

  Lyndie’s motion paused. A diagnosis like that could quickly turn dangerous. “He’s going to be fine, Jake.”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t want you to worry.”

  “I’ve learned to deal with worry about my horses. I’ve had to. They get sick now and then.”

  “Well, he’ll be better in no time.” She refused to consider the possibility that Silver would be sidelined so soon, after just one race. “Silver’s strong. He’ll recover quickly—”

  Jake turned the lock on the tack room door.

  “Um.” Lyndie swallowed.

  He stepped to her and took her face in his hands. He had a way of circling his upper body, his shoulders and arms and strength, around her. He kissed her like his universe centered on her, and it went right to her head.

  He pulled back an inch. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here this morning.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “I had to meet with a horse agent.”

  “Likely story.” She grinned. It was sheer delight to have the freedom to rest her hands on his upper chest. “So. About dinner tonight. I’ve already made you the only thing I cook well, but I’m willing to try a casserole. Or we could go to a restaurant.”

  “Do you like barbecue?”

  “Yes.”

  “Taste of Texas at seven? I’m buying.”

  “No, I’m buying.”

  “This isn’t California. If we go to a restaurant, I’m paying.”

  She exhaled because she could see h
e wouldn’t budge on the point. “Do they have dessert at Taste of Texas?”

  “Cobbler.”

  “Then bring an appetite for cobbler.”

  “I don’t usually eat dessert.”

  “I know. But, Jake?”

  “Mmm?” He seemed distracted by the sight of his thumb as it smoothed across the skin below her bottom lip.

  “You’re going to be eating dessert from now on. Like it or not.”

  “Like it or not?” An ember of humor lit eyes that were usually deadly serious.

  “Like it or not.”

  “I think . . .” His thumb made another pass over her lip. “I’m going to like it.”

  Around noon the next day, the sound of feminine laughter broke through the barn at Lone Star just as Jake finished a conversation with his foreman. He stepped outdoors to investigate and saw Lyndie standing beneath a tree, wildflowers at her feet. She had Silver Leaf with her, as well as his mom, her mom, and Mollie. Odd. No one had mentioned anything about holding a family reunion at his barn today. He made his way to the group.

  Lyndie had finished standing beside him at the track half an hour ago. By now, she should have been on her way back to Holley to spend the afternoon on her art.

  “Jake.” His mom approached him, arms outstretched. Nancy Porter’s hugs were always as energetic as she was.

  He hugged his mom back, then greeted Lyndie’s mom. “Hi, Karen.”

  “How are you, Jake?”

  “Doing well. Hi, Mollie.” They’d settled Mollie into the same special chair they’d used for her on Easter. Her eyes were open, her head angled down and to the side.

  “It’s fun to see behind the scenes here at the track,” Karen said. “Now I’ll have a visual of where you and Lyndie work.”

  “It’s been a while since I’ve visited here, myself,” his mom said. “Maybe you can give Karen and me a tour after lunch.”

  “Lunch?”

  His mom bent and lifted a big white sack. “Chicken tarragon salad sandwiches.” She tucked a piece of her hair, dark brown with one gray stripe, behind her ear and smiled.

  “We didn’t make them ourselves,” Karen put in.

  “Land sakes!” His mom slapped her thigh. “I certainly couldn’t make anything this high-falutin’, as Jake well knows.”

  “Nor me,” Karen said. “Lyndie buys frozen enchiladas from the grocery store, and it’s all I can do to warm them up.”

  The two older women looked at each other and laughed. They’d been good friends since before his birth. He could remember them laughing together just this way when he’d been young.

  He risked a glance at Lyndie. She returned his attention, a gentle expression of enjoyment on her face. In the past half hour, she’d taken down her hair. She’d also undone a few of the tiny buttons at the top of her pale blue shirt, revealing a V of skin. Completely modest. And yet, man, that V of skin . . .

  “I brought food for you,” his mom said. “Can you join us?”

  “I can join you.” He remembered how faithfully Lyndie had continued to feed the Stoneleighs’ dog after his surgery. “Do you need help getting things set up?”

  “Goodness, no. Visit with Mollie.”

  Karen and his mom pulled out a yellow tablecloth and used it to cover the plastic outdoor table his employees sometimes used for meals or break times.

  Lyndie knelt next to Mollie’s chair, talking softly, holding Silver’s lead rope.

  He had a hundred things he needed to get done. He didn’t even know for sure what a chicken tarragon sandwich involved. He probably wouldn’t like it. And yet he’d agreed to join them. Because she was here.

  They’d had a long dinner last night at Taste of Texas, and afterward he’d walked her back to her apartment. It wouldn’t have mattered if the barbecue had been terrible or if it had rained on their walk. Lyndie had been there, and she could turn something ordinary into something beautiful. He wished he could spend every minute of his day with her. He wanted to.

  When he’d returned to his loft last night, he’d slept better than he had in longer than his memory could reach. After two good nights of sleep in a row, the exhaustion that usually weighed on him like a coat of iron had lifted.

  Lyndie drew Silver Leaf near to Mollie’s chair. “So this is him, Mols, the horse I’ve been telling you about. I’d like to introduce you to Silver Leaf.”

  Mollie’s head turned in Lyndie’s direction. Her face twitched, as if trying to talk or smile.

  “Want to pet him?” Lyndie asked, already taking Mollie’s limp hand in her own.

  Affection for Lyndie, so sharp it felt almost like pain, scored through Jake. She was amazingly persistent in her efforts to help people and animals. Horses had been his therapy for years, so he understood the powerful effect they could have on humans. Yet it seemed clear to him that nothing could be done to help Mollie more than what medical science and her family’s care had already done. Even so, Lyndie had brought her sister here. Mollie was twenty-seven years old, and Lyndie was still trying to do what she could to improve her sister’s lot in life.

  Silver Leaf whinnied, and Mollie seemed to come to attention in response, lifting her eyebrows a couple of times.

  As if he understood exactly what Lyndie expected, the horse stepped forward and carefully lowered his head.

  “He’s bowing to you, sweetie! Like a king to a queen.” Lyndie placed Mollie’s hand on Silver Leaf’s head. Both Mollie and Silver Leaf seemed to still, the moment stretching.

  Jake had had a knot in his gut ever since he’d heard Silver Leaf’s diagnosis. He’d been downplaying his worries to Lyndie because he knew she was concerned already and he didn’t want to increase her worries.

  He’d seen some of his horses come through lung infections and viruses quickly. Others had been taken down by them. He didn’t want to think what it would do to Lyndie if this illness took down Silver Leaf.

  When Silver Leaf moved away from Mollie, Jake extended his arm for the lead rope. “May I?”

  “Thanks.” Lyndie passed it over, which freed her to stand beside Mollie and hold her sister’s hand.

  “You brought Mollie here because you thought Silver Leaf could do her some good. Right?”

  She reached back and brought her hair over one shoulder. “Exactly the opposite.”

  “The opposite?” He furrowed his brow.

  “I brought Mollie here because I believe that she’ll be good for Silver Leaf.” She gave a tiny shrug. “She has that effect on everyone.”

  He stared at her, astonished. She thought that Mollie’s visit here would heal Silver Leaf? “I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

  “It’ll work,” she said with all the confidence in the world. “You’ll see.”

  Jake didn’t say anything else because even though he’d turned cynical, he loved her just like she was—a bit of a dreamer, determined, hopeful, and too soft-hearted for her own good.

  ———

  Lyndie watched the struggle on Jake’s face, somewhat entertained by it. Tall, Dark, and Brooding thought her kooky. Fine. She was right about this, as he would soon see.

  “Do ya’ll have plastic forks and napkins inside somewhere, Lyndie?” Nancy asked.

  “Sure. I’ll show you.” Lyndie led Nancy toward the barn. She’d always liked and admired Jake’s mom. Nancy had never met a stranger, and she’d never seen any glass as half empty.

  “I have a secret to tell you,” Nancy said.

  “Oh yeah?” Once they’d entered the barn, they stopped and faced each other.

  “You have to promise not to tell my other kids,” Nancy said.

  “Okay, I promise.”

  “Jake’s always been my favorite.”

  “Oh.” Well . . . how could he not be?

  “He was such a wonderful boy, thoughtful and responsible. Smart. Whooeee, handsome.”

  “I agree with you. He’s all those things.” Were they about to form a Jake fan club? She’d readily become
an inaugural member.

  “His injuries have been hardest on him, of course. But his injuries have been hard on John and me, too. His brothers and sister.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “I’m glad he’s working with you, Lyndie. Karen told me that he’s come by their place a few times, that he’s started to talk with her.”

  “I think it’s progress.”

  Nancy took hold of her hands and squeezed. “I know it is.” A sheen of moisture came to her eyes. “Thank you, Lyndie.”

  “He’s going to be fine,” Lyndie assured her. Had she just said the same thing to Jake yesterday about Silver Leaf? Her intuition that the man’s destiny and Silver’s destiny were tangled together intensified. “He’ll be all right.” They both would be.

  The next afternoon Lyndie pressed her Jeep’s gas pedal hard enough to make the speed limit frown. She didn’t like to be late anytime, but especially not for her standing Wednesday afternoon coffee date with Amber.

  She’d been absolutely set on getting Mollie out to see Silver Leaf again today. Since both her mom and dad were working, and Grandpa Harold hadn’t been trusted with a set of car keys since 2008, she’d driven to Holley after work to pick up Mollie, driven her to Lone Star to see Silver, then driven Mollie home again. She’d already logged more than three hours in her car today.

  Lyndie needed caffeine. And not just to recover from all the brain-numbing time behind the wheel. She needed it to help her get through the rest of the day. Staying up late for three nights in a row because you were thrilled out of your mind to be dating a handsome man did not make for a solid eight hours of shut-eye.

  She arrived at Amber’s apartment seven minutes behind schedule. “Sorry I’m late.” Harried, she rushed into Amber’s kitchen only to find that Amber had the coffee prep—usually Lyndie’s domain—well under control.

  “Don’t worry about it at all. I’ve got your back.” The whipped cream canister made its rasping sound as Amber shot two final mounds onto Jayden’s cup of hot chocolate. “You’re never late if you get here before the whipped cream melts. If you get here after the whipped cream melts, then we can both agree that you’re out of luck.” Amber grinned.