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  Joey looks more than appropriately chastised by Mrs. Perkins as he lowers his head. “I’m so sorry. Are you two okay?”

  “We’re okay,” I reply. “My heart is still beating out of control, but this little one seems completely unscathed.”

  “Are you really going to call my mom?”

  I almost feel sorry for Joey.

  “You’ve known me long enough to know I certainly will, Joseph Griffin. Don’t press your luck with me, son, or I’ll call the judge and have your license taken away from you, too,” she threatens.

  I have a feeling the judge’s name is used in threats frequently in this small community to help control the kids, much like Santa and that creepy tattletale elf are used at Christmas time.

  If you don’t eat your vegetables, I’ll tell the judge to take away recess.

  If you don’t do your homework, I’ll tell the judge to make school last year-round.

  Fine. Don’t mind me, then. You’ll have to explain it to the judge and face the consequences.

  River and I sit up on the tailgate and I slide off the edge onto my now shaky legs. That hot tub at the cabin is definitely calling my name, beckoning me to soak my muscles before they become too sore. “I believe this one belongs to you,” I say lightheartedly to Mrs. Perkins as I hand River over to her.

  “What’s uhr name?” River asks as she squirms until Mrs. Perkins puts her down.

  “My name is Layne. It’s nice to meet you, River.”

  “Hold my hand, River.” Mrs. Perkins issues her command in her stern voice.

  River complies and Mrs. Perkins turns her gaze back to me. Before I have time to react, she’s hugging me with her other arm and I feel River’s arms wrap around my leg, making it a group hug in the parking lot. “Thank you so much for what you did. You saved her life.” Her voice breaks when she speaks from the flood of emotions that overwhelm her. Tears are already spilling down her cheeks when she releases me.

  “No need to thank me. Honestly. I’m just glad I was able to reach her in time. She’s so fast!”

  “Don’t I know it,” she replies with a shake of her head. “My name is Rose, by the way. Rose Perkins.”

  “It’s good to meet you, Rose.” I nod at her. “I’d better get my groceries loaded in my car now. I’m sure I’ll see you two again around town.”

  “Joey, go load Layne’s groceries in her car for her right now, and I’ll consider telling your mom that all is not lost with you,” Rose demands.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Joey replies without hesitation. “Which car is yours?”

  “The Jeep right there.” I point to it and hand him the keys. When he walks away to grab my shopping cart, I turn to Rose. “That really wasn’t necessary. It’s no problem for me to load them myself.”

  “He’s lucky I don’t have him scrubbing your toilets for a year,” Rose replies. “You could’ve been hurt, too. Taking care of your groceries is the very least he can do.”

  Rose looks over my shoulder to supervise Joey and calls out to him. “And don’t smash her bread, Joseph Griffin, or you’ll go inside and buy her another loaf.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Joey replies obediently.

  “River, you have to stay with me, baby. You can’t run off like that—you almost got hurt really badly!” As Rose chastises River, I can’t help but notice there’s no anger in her voice. Her words stem from the completely consuming fear we both felt, and I’m sure her feelings of being helpless to stop it only add to it.

  “Otay, Miss Rose.” River turns her face up to Rose with the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen. This kid knows exactly how to charm people to get out of trouble.

  “You’ve got your hands full with this one,” I chuckle. Leaning down to River, I tap my finger lightly on her little button nose. “You stay close to Miss Rose so you won’t get hurt. Okay?”

  “Otay, Waynie,” she nods.

  “All set with the groceries.” Joey hands me the keys to the Jeep, and I thank him before saying good-bye. My mind has returned to that dark place, and I need to walk away before the tears start flowing in front of complete strangers.

  Laynie. River has no idea Bobby used to call me that, but that name does me in just the same. As I drive away, a memory replays in my mind, a conversation that came up frequently in one variation or another.

  “Bobby and Laynie. What should we name our baby? Blainie?” Bobby asked jokingly.

  “No, we’re not naming our baby Blainie.” I laughed in reply. I was so happy that he was even talking about a baby with excitement in his voice. He joked about the name, but he’d started referring to when we had a baby more frequently. It gave me more confidence that we truly had a future together.

  “What name, then? If it’s a boy, we can name him after me. If it’s a girl, we can name her after you.”

  “I’m not sure I want to name our baby after either of us. A baby should have his or her own name, don’t you think? Besides, I don’t want anyone calling our son ‘Junior’ or ‘JR’—or anything else but his name.”

  “I’m sure we’ll come up with something perfect, Laynie. Whatever the name is, our baby will be perfect, because it’ll come from you.”

  “No, it won’t come from me. Your baby will come from Cyndi, my former best friend and your new fuck buddy.”

  Chapter Four

  ACE

  “Hey, Ace, can you bring Frankie up to the pen?” Justin asks.

  “Sure, Justin. Be back as soon as I can get him.”

  I close the gate behind me and head off into the pasture to find Frankie, a buckskin horse we rescued from horrible conditions. He was very skittish around people when we first rescued him, understandably, but we’ve slowly been building up his trust in us. Frankie is pastured when we’re not working with him so he can eat grass and hay until his big horse stomach is full. The problem with this is that he usually runs from me when he sees me coming, so I have to sneak up on him as much as possible.

  The problem with that is it’s extremely hard to sneak up on a horse. It’s even harder to sneak up on one that’s already easily spooked and constantly on alert for any predator that may try to eat him. Never mind that he easily weighs over a thousand pounds and those thick hind legs would hurt worse than a sledgehammer if he kicked me with them. His favorite place to graze is along the edge of the river, so that’s where I usually begin my search for him.

  As I top a small hill that overlooks the river valley below, I stop to scan the area for Frankie’s whereabouts. When I spot him, I can’t believe what’s happening right in front of my eyes. For the first time in my twenty-five years of being around horses, I’m not sure how I should handle this situation.

  Walking briskly down the embankment, I approach the intruder and keep my voice low to avoid startling the horse. “What the hell do you think you’re doing in here? Are you completely stupid? Can you not read?”

  Her eyes dart to meet mine and hold a mixture of anger and confusion. Her hands continue to stroke Frankie’s jawline, and she keeps her voice just as low and controlled when she replies. “You must be a complete moron to approach a stranger and immediately begin belittling and demeaning her. To answer your question, I guarantee I can read anything you can read and then run circles around you with all the things you can’t read.”

  “There’s a sign on the fence that plainly says KEEP OUT. There’s one right underneath that one that says PRIVATE PROPERTY.” She pissed me off by being in this field. Then I found her petting Frankie, and that pissed me off. Now she’s insulted my reading abilities, when she’s the one in the wrong.

  “There are two things wrong with your assumptions. First, there was no fence, and therefore, there were no signs. Secondly, signs don’t ‘say’ anything. If there had actually been any signs, they would’ve read ‘keep out’ and ‘private property.’ So, logic would suggest that you have a fence in need of repair—and an attitude that is in serious need of adjustment.”

  “Do you always just walk up to h
orses you don’t know? You could’ve been hurt.”

  She shrugs her shoulders. “But I’m not hurt. I’m just fine, so you need to chill out before you scare him.”

  “I’m taking him with me. You need to go back to wherever you came from and stay out of this pasture. In fact, I’ll walk with you and check that fence myself.”

  “Fine. Follow me.” She angrily snatches a leather notebook off the ground and whirls around to stomp off. She’s sure of herself and doesn’t hesitate for a second. For the first time in this conversation, I wonder if the fence is actually down.

  After we’ve walked for a few minutes, I realize we’re heading in the direction of my house and there’s not much else out this way. “Hang on. Where are you going? I know you don’t live in this direction unless you walked a long damn way.”

  “It felt like a long walk, but I assure you I’m staying in a cabin just up here.”

  “Well, if that doesn’t cement why you need to stay the hell away from me, nothing will,” I blurt out. “I have better things to do than this bullshit. Take your ass back over the fence you climbed, stay out of this pasture, and stay away from me.”

  “I have absolutely no desire to be around you for any reason. There was no fence for me to climb, but if you want your horses to get out and be approached by big, scary women, that’s fine by me.”

  She stomps off up the hillside and leaves me lagging behind her. If the fence really is down, I can’t just leave it and risk the other horses getting out. Frankie and I walk in the same direction she went but at a slower pace to stay just behind her. When we reach the edge of the property, I scrape my hand over my face and groan loudly. She was telling the truth—the fence is down and has been since it rained several days ago. The barbed wire strands have been pressed into the dirt, and there are hoof prints where one of the horses has already strayed.

  After I secure Frankie’s lead rope to a nearby tree, I mend the fence the best I can without having the tools I need with me. I just hope it’s good enough to hold until I can get back to it later this evening. Frankie and I take a stroll back up to the round pen where Justin and others are waiting to work with him.

  But my mind is still on a spunky, beautiful blond woman who appeared out of nowhere and put me in my place without missing a step. Her deep blue eyes betrayed her anger, her fire, and there was something else in them, too. She was guarded and suspicious, signs she’d been hurt before, but she tried to hide it behind that tough persona. The way Frankie responded to her revealed volumes about her character, too.

  “Ace?” Justin asks. Apparently not for the first time.

  “Yeah?”

  “Welcome back.” He smirks. “Are you ready to do this?”

  “Of course I’m ready.”

  “Do you know what you’re ready for?” His eyebrow is slightly raised, and he’s trying to hide an amused smile.

  “No, I don’t have a clue what you just asked me. But whatever it is, I’m ready.”

  Justin Ramsey has been my best friend my entire life—literally since we were born. Our parents were friends and we’ve spent our lives growing up together. We went off to college together, though we had different majors and he stayed a little longer than I did. When he came back to open his own place in Oak Grove, he shocked the hell out of me. We’ve worked together for the last few years and I love my job.

  Most days.

  “Great. Amanda will be your date for the inner tube race, then. They have a special entry for couples this year,” Justin explains.

  “Hell, no. Not happening. Forget it.”

  Justin barks out a full belly laugh at my disgusted reaction. “Come on, man. She’s Karen’s best friend. It’d make it a lot easier on me if you’d just date my girl’s best friend.”

  “Your girlfriend is great,” I start. “Her best friend is a vindictive bitch.”

  “Man, that was a long time ago. You still haven’t gotten over that?”

  “Nope.”

  “Ace, she was young.” Justin always tries to defend her actions.

  “So was I. And we’ve had this same discussion several times. Let it go.”

  “Fair enough,” he chuckles. “I’ve got a few people coming to work with Frankie. Nothing major, though. You can take off if you want.”

  “Thanks. I think I will. Have a good one.” I give him a friendly slap on the back and head straight to my truck.

  On the ride back to my house, Justin’s suggestion for a double date with Amanda keeps ringing in my ears. I’m shaking my head in disbelief as I cross the small bridge and turn down my driveway. “He’s lost his damn mind,” I scoff out loud. “No way in hell that’s happening.”

  From the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of someone at the narrow part of the river that runs between my place and the cabin next door. When I take my foot off the gas, I realize it’s the same feisty little blonde who was petting Frankie. She’s walking in the ankle-deep water, picking up small stones, and trying to skip them across the surface. It’s pretty obvious she hasn’t had any practice, but she’s not giving up.

  At first, I don’t even realize I’ve come to a complete stop just to watch her. I’m apparently as mesmerized by her as she is with trying to skip stones across the water. She’s searching for another small rock and absently places her foot on a rock that’s barely covered by the flowing water. Before I can jump out of the truck to warn her, her feet fly out from underneath her and she lands on her ass.

  Her reaction stuns me in more ways than one. She’s sitting in the shallow water, the entire back side of her body is soaking wet, and she’s laughing like a lunatic. She slaps the water with her palms, splashing herself even more. Her howls of delight echo across the landscape and make me smile along with her. She’s completely drenched and obviously out of her element, but I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman in my life.

  My arms are propped up on the hood of my truck while I watch her play in the water for several minutes. When she finally stands up, her wet shirt is plastered to her body and my mouth goes completely dry. My sudden desire for river water has nothing to do with being thirsty. No longer able to stand it, I start to make my way down to the water’s edge. She’s still smiling when she looks up and sees me coming, then her face falls flat when she realizes who I am.

  “Let me guess,” she snarls. “This is your river and no one else is allowed in the water.”

  “Well, technically…” I begin to reply.

  “Oh, save it. Are you really such a prick that you’re going to say something when there’s obviously no fence here?”

  I honestly didn’t walk down here to fight, but damn if she doesn’t want to pick one.

  “I don’t need a fence to prove what’s my property and what’s not, sweetheart.”

  “I’m not your sweetheart,” she counters angrily. She’s even more beautiful with the fire shooting from her eyes. “You’re an arrogant and rude asshole.”

  “Whoa. Angry much? My guess would be that’s exactly why you’ve come here all alone,” I spit back. “Can’t hold on to a man?”

  The pain that flashes across her face and morphs her features is all too familiar. I’ve seen it many times in my own mirror. I instantly regret the words and open my mouth to take them back. I’ll eat crow all damn day to remove the pain I just caused her, to repair that wound I just reopened.

  But a familiar voice from behind me interrupts before I can say another word.

  “Ace Sharp!” Rose reprimands me sternly. “What is wrong with you? How could you talk to a lady like that?”

  “Daddy,” a small voice chimes in. “Waynie’s my fwiend. Don’t be mean to her.”

  “Layne, I’m so glad you’re here. I’d like to apologize for Ace’s behavior. I know his family, and I know he was raised better than this. Though, if I didn’t already know better, you certainly couldn’t convince me of that after what I just witnessed,” Rose continues berating me.

  “Daddy?” Layne’s eyes d
art between River’s and mine. River has walked up beside me and wrapped her little arms around my leg.

  “How did you two meet?” I ask, ignoring her question for now.

  “Actually,” Rose emphasizes, and I immediately know I’m about to be in more trouble. “She saved River’s life today.”

  “What?” I yell and instinctively wrap my arm around my little girl.

  “She saved me from that twuck, Daddy,” River answers and looks up at me, her head still leaned against my leg. “It almost wan over me at the gwocery store.”

  “That’s right,” Rose chimes in. “River ran from me in the parking lot and didn’t see the truck backing out of the parking spot. Layne ran straight into the path of danger, risked her own life, and snatched River up just in time. She held River in her arms and jumped into the bed of the truck to keep it from running over both of them. I gave Joey a good tongue-lashing for not paying attention then made him load Layne’s groceries into her car.”

  My hands reach down and draw River up to my chest. My arms wrap around her tiny body, and I hold her as close to me as I can without crushing her. My mind pictures the scene and I shudder involuntarily at the thought of what could’ve happened if Layne hadn’t been there at that exact moment. A swell of emotions rises from my chest and forms a huge knot in my throat. River and I walk the few steps the rest of the way down to where Layne stands.

  “I’ll never be able to thank you for saving my little girl’s life.” My eyes hold hers as I attempt to convey my thoughts. “If you hadn’t been there—well, I can’t even think about that. I’m just so very thankful that you were there, and that you risked your life to save hers.

  “I’m also honestly very sorry for what I just said. And not just because of what you did for River, but because it was mean and wrong of me to say it in the first place. If you can accept my apology, River and I would appreciate it. Seems the two of you have already become friends.”

  “Apology accepted,” she replies coolly.

  There’s no doubt she’s only saying that in front of River, setting a good example for her and making me look like less of a jerk in front of my daughter. That only makes me feel like even more of a jerk. River squirms in my arms until I place her on the ground. She takes off straight toward Layne, forcing her to take two giant strides across the river to catch River before she goes straight into the water. Layne scoops her up into her arms and holds River on her hip.