Echoes From The Past (Women of Character) Page 15

  "Is that better?" came her muffled voice.

  Garrett stepped closer, his boots sinking into the pale straw. He cleared his throat. "Let me help." He plucked out several more bits, unable to keep his fingers from lingering in the silky strands.

  Christie straightened slowly. Garrett watched her dark eyes move up his legs and over his jeans, then up his chest. It felt like an intimate caress and his body responded embarrassingly fast.

  "That must be it," she said quickly. "I don’t feel any more."

  "A couple more," he murmured, torturing himself with her closeness. He plucked the last of the straw, lightly fluffed the hair and then smoothed a hand over it before stepping back. "That's it." His voice sounded hoarse to his ears. Garrett wondered if he was the only one feeling the sizzle of attraction. He reined in his thoughts. He had told her acting on the attraction wasn’t a good idea. He had to at least try to keep to his word.

  "Christie, you need a jacket," Hannah observed.

  "I’m fine," Christie said.

  They all walked down the barn aisle toward the outer barn door. Christie stood in front of Garrett, Hannah at his side. As the teeming rain blew in through the open door, Garrett noticed the shiver that shook Christie’s slender frame.

  "You can’t go out like that," he said. "You’ll be soaked." He pulled his jacket off and slid it over her shoulders. For the briefest moment, she leaned back, her shoulder touching his chest. Garrett clamped his jaw as desire bit at him hard and fast. He wanted to do more than touch her shoulders.

  Christie turned quickly, her fingers catching the lightweight jacket before it could slide to the ground. "I can’t take your jacket," she protested.

  "Wear it." He closed his fingers around hers when she would have taken it off. "I have another one in my truck. Wait here and I'll bring the truck closer."

  Garrett darted out into the rain and climbed in his truck which he’d had the foresight to park close to the barn. He drove next to the open door where Christie and his daughter waited and placed the truck in park. Leaning across the seat, he pushed open the passenger door.

  Garrett watched Christie put her arms in the sleeves of his jacket and bury her nose in the flannel lining. Garrett clenched his jaw, thinking he’d like to be inside that damned jacket where her nose was buried.

  Chapter Ten

  Christie was glad when the rain tapered off and the sun began to shine through the clouds. As they drove down the highway she felt an incredible sense of happiness.

  "Look at the rainbow," she said as they crested a hill. "What an awesome sight."

  A ribbon of translucent color spread out before them. Farmland, fields and sky, the colors stretched as far as the eye could see with an occasional purple thunderhead serving as a backdrop. Christie had never witnessed anything so spectacular.

  "I suppose you see this all the time," she said.

  "It’s nice to see it through someone else’s eyes," he assured her gravely, turning his glance from her back to the highway.

  She looked down at Hannah who sat between them and realized she’d fallen asleep.

  "She was up really early this morning," Garrett said.

  Christie pressed the child against her shoulder as her head bobbed forward. "I used to wish I’d find the gold at the end of the rainbow," she mused.

  He smiled. "A leprechaun’s pot of gold?"

  "My aunt Rose would say if you let your heart follow your dreams you’d find the gold."

  "Your aunt Rose is a wise woman."

  "Yes," she agreed with a lift of her chin. "She was. As I mentioned, she died when I was ten. Ellen was thirteen. It was an awful time in our lives. The blanket of security that Aunt Rose provided was yanked out from beneath us."

  "Another loss."

  "That was a long time ago," she said quickly. She looked out her side window. "I don't think I've ever seen so many fences. Everywhere you look there's a fence, and those stones, what type of stone is that?"

  "Limestone, they're native to the area."

  Garrett slowed the truck and pulled to the side of the road. He half turned in his seat toward her. Christie splayed her fingers on her thighs as she stared at his face, taking in the faint shadow of beard along his jaw and the sharp inquiry in his eyes.

  He tapped the steering wheel. "Christie, if you don’t want to talk about your past I’ll respect your right to privacy, but you can trust me if there’s something you need to say."

  "Strangely enough, I’ve probably told you more than I have anyone else in the last six years."

  "Trust me," he said.

  Those two words were like stones dropped in a still pond. Christie managed a short laugh. "You say that now, but I know from past experience -- "

  "Christie, we don’t have any past experience."

  "Garrett, I learned years ago to keep my emotions in check. It’s safer. Old habits are hard to break." She pressed her fingers together nervously as he shifted the truck into gear and pulled back on to the road.

  Desperately, she battled the doubt twisting within herself. How much to reveal? Damn. Damn. Her past wouldn’t let her be anything but cautious. She cleared her throat. "You know things about me. I think we should talk about you, Garrett."

  "I’m just a guy trying to make a living."

  "Tell me what it was like growing up in a place like this. Everything is so green and alive. I can’t help thinking it would have been a great childhood."

  Garrett shrugged. "There’s not much to tell. I grew up on the very land where the farm sits now. It’s been in our family four generations. My dad owned a grocery store in town but he should have been a farmer. He raised some tobacco on the side but his big love was animals. Ducks, geese, a few cows and horses. I bought the farm off him when he and my mom moved to town after he retired."

  "Have you always had a passion for horses?"

  "When I was younger I used to rodeo during the summer. The only way my parents would let me go was if Randy tagged along. I guess my mom figured we’d look out for each other. Randy pursued other activities while I entered rodeo events."

  Christie smiled, thinking of Garrett’s fun loving brother. "No doubt Randy had a lady in each town."

  "You know my brother. Randy and I followed one rodeo after the other." He shook his head. "Those were crazy times. Two kids on the loose."

  Christie was intrigued. "I’ve seen rodeos on television, but never in person."

  He crooked a brow. "Maybe we can remedy that while you’re here."

  Christie clasped her hands together. "That sounds like wonderful fun."

  "During the school year I went to college and finally graduated with a degree in financial management. What I’ve always wanted was to start my own thoroughbred farm."

  "Your degree must come in handy," she mused.

  "Of course. My main focus has always been my horses, improving their bloodlines, keeping up with technology. I’ve had some lucky breaks in the business."

  "You’ve built a solid reputation. I understand that. In my career as a stenographer, I built the reputation for reliability. Over the years I worked an incredible amount of overtime to turn in accurate transcripts." There had been no lucky breaks for her, though, on the road to proving her worth. "Why did you give up rodeo?" she asked curiously.

  Garrett scratched the back of his head. "Well, that’s another story. It wasn’t just Randy and me, there was a bunch of us. Judith traveled with us on and off a few seasons. She joined our group after she met Randy. She and I dated steadily all one summer and then I talked her into marrying me. I had some money saved from my wins and was anxious to get started on building my ranch."

  "So it was you, Judith and Hannah?"

  He glanced at her. "Hannah was living with a friend of Judith’s. She came to live with us when we settled at the ranch."

  "Did you and Hannah hit it off right away?"

  Garrett looked down at the little girl between them. "From the first moment I set eyes on her it w
as like she was mine."

  "You two look like you’re related, blond hair, blue eyes, though your eyes are more gray."

  His face turned somber. "I didn’t know right away that Judith had a daughter. She kept it a secret."

  Christie looked at him incredulously.

  "She said she figured if I knew I wouldn’t marry her."

  "Would you have married her?"

  "Truthfully, I don’t know. I found out by accident. I’m afraid it wasn’t pretty, the scene that followed. Judith and I together were like two wrecking balls." Garrett shrugged. "Maybe she was afraid for Hannah. I don’t know. In the end, Judith realized I wasn’t giving in and Hannah came to live at the ranch."

  "And now you’d never give her up," she said softly. "Did Judith share your love of horses?" She shook her head. "It’s strange for me to be asking you about my own sister."

  "She liked the excitement of rodeos, but she didn’t ride. She thought she’d like running a horse farm. I guess she envisioned parties and a lot more socializing. Once we settled at the farm it was pretty quiet. I was away at auctions, working with trainers. I’m not making excuses. It’s what I had to do to succeed but I know I should have been around more for her."

  "You tried to make all the ends work together." She recognized the loneliness in him, the remembered sense of failure. She’d struggled with the same emotions a good part of her adult life. Christie wanted to reach out and touch him but remained on her own side of the seat. He was an adult, a man used to handling his emotions and dealing with life. It’s what they all had to do.

  "In hindsight I realize Judith and I were just too different. But when you really care about someone, you’re more willing to ignore the differences."

  "Judith was older than you."

  He smiled. "Only in years."

  Christie swallowed with difficulty, but felt pressed to ask the next question. "Did she have a drinking problem?"

  Garrett glanced at her somberly. "I’ve never admitted that to anyone, but near the end it became more apparent that she was in trouble. I tried to get her help, but she refused to even admit there was a problem. Does it run in your family?"

  Christie froze upon hearing those words.

  "Daddy, are we almost there?" Hannah asked sleepily, lifting her head from Christie’s shoulder to look around with interest.

  "Almost," her father promised, brushing the back of his hand against her rosy cheeks.

  Christie began to breathe again. Right now she couldn’t answer his question. She marveled at the love Garrett displayed so easily. Such simple gestures had come naturally to her as a child while living with her aunt Rose. But in later years, living with their parents ... the only signs of caring had been between her and Ellen.

  All her life she had struggled to overcome her family’s deficiencies, never daring to step a foot wrong. Seeing the interaction between Garrett and his daughter, Christie wondered if it was possible to mend the jagged edges that represented her life.

  Hannah stretched, trying to touch the interior roof with her fingers. "Daddy, can we go to see Mommy?" she asked.

  Christie froze. She felt Garrett’s searing glance, even though she wasn’t looking at him.

  "We can swing by the cemetery on the way home," he said quietly. "That's what I planned."

  Christie stared out the window, not sure if she was ready for this moment. She finally looked over at Garrett. She nodded. Perhaps it was time for her to stop being afraid.

  ###

  When they reached Lexington Garrett proceeded to give Christie the grand tour. Along the way he pointed out many areas of interest while she and Hannah counted horse farms. Christie had passed some of the same farms by bus when she arrived in Kentucky, but seeing it with Garrett and Hannah felt different and special. Garrett gave her a running history of the area and its landmarks and she knew it was a day she would never forget.

  They spent a good part of the afternoon at the Kentucky Horse Park. Christie stared in awe at the bronze horse statues and was delighted with the hayride Garrett suggested they take.

  However, about late afternoon, true to his word Garrett suggested they visit the cemetery where Judith was buried.

  "It’s a small private cemetery," he said as he drove the truck through ornate black iron gates. "Green Hills Rest."

  Tensely, Christie stared ahead at the cemetery’s narrow paved roadway. There was a small redwood-sided office to their left and then the road wound leisurely up a small hill.

  Christie realized she was digging her nails into her legs as they drove to the top of a rise. Garrett pulled into a parking area and turned off the ignition. "This is it."

  He opened his door and climbed out. Hannah slid across the truck seat and was right behind him. Without a word the little girl walked away from them, following a narrow footpath between some dark, aged stones.

  Garrett came around the truck to Christie’s side. She opened her door and stepped out of the truck on shaky legs. Not far from them Hannah paused beside a rose colored stone. Taking a deep breath, Christie followed Hannah.

  Christie was vaguely aware of Garrett behind her as she reached Hannah, but she was glad he remained quiet. Judith’s stone was square and had roses engraved along the sides and above her name and date of death. Beside the stone someone had placed a small white angel in the grass. On the base of the stone was a small bunch of dried up flowers.

  Hannah caressed the top of the stone angel’s head. "I brought Mommy this angel."

  Christie cleared her throat. "It’s a beautiful angel Hannah. What a thoughtful idea."

  Christie knelt, letting her fingers trace the scroll of flowers in the rose colored stone. She felt strangely out of sync, as if something was broke inside her.

  "Daddy, I’m going to pick Mommy new flowers."

  "I’ll come with you," he said quietly.

  Christie could hear Hannah speaking to her father as they moved away and she was glad of the moment alone. She stared fixedly at the stone. It felt so incredibly sad, finally finding her sister and knowing it was too late.

  "I wish I could have known you, Judith." Christie remained kneeling. She felt puzzled. Her eyes remained dry yet her throat hurt from suppressing the emotion inside. She couldn’t cry. She didn’t know if that was good or bad.

  Christie came once more to her feet when her legs began to cramp. She looked around and saw Garrett and Hannah. Hannah ran toward her with a big bunch of daisies. Solemnly, she shared some of the flowers with Christie.

  "You can put them on Mommy’s stone," Hannah said. "I did it last time. Now it’s your turn."

  "Thank you."

  Christie placed them on the stone base. Standing once more, she felt engulfed by sadness.

  A breeze picked up and the sun disappeared behind dark clouds.

  "If you’re ready, we’ll go," Garrett said, glancing at the sky. "I’m afraid it’s going to rain."

  "I already felt some raindrops, Daddy." Hannah turned and hurried back to the truck.

  Christie shivered. She’d left his jacket in the truck and now realized how much she missed its warmth. Surprising her, Garrett pulled her to his side in a natural, friendly gesture as they turned back to the parking area. She savored his warmth, the momentary support he gave unselfishly.

  "Thank you for today," she said. Leaning into him, she placed a quick kiss on his chin. The sandpaper rasp of his whiskers against her lips was nice. "And for bringing me here."

  His arm wound loosely around her waist and they walked in companionable silence.

  Christies had a sudden thought. Was she falling in love with Garrett? Could life get any more complicated ... or wonderful?

  ###

  Christie woke from a heavy restless sleep. Groggily, she rolled over and groaned when she saw her alarm clock. Five-thirty a.m. After her day out with Garrett and Hannah, it had been almost midnight before she fell asleep. There had been so much on her mind, so many questions about her and Garrett’s relation
ship. She hugged her arms around herself. Surely it had been an aberration on her part; she didn’t love Garrett. Love had never come to her so easily. More than likely it was infatuation or just sexual attraction. It would fizzle and she would leave.

  She lay perfectly still, drinking in the absolute quiet, hoping to drift back to sleep. The sun had not even come up yet.

  Bang. Bang.

  Christie sat up in bed, her heart pounding in fright. The banging noise came again, as if it came from the barn below. The horses. She switched on the bedside lamp, pulled on jeans over her nightshirt and hurriedly stepped into her boots. Christie descended the narrow stairs into the barn as quickly as she dared in the semi-dark. Once in the barn she flicked on several overhead lights. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw movement, but when she turned on another light, there was nothing there. Methodically, she checked each of the stalls.

  When she looked inside the last stall she quickly assessed the situation. It appeared the young horse had laid down too close to the wall and rolled over. He couldn't maneuver to get his legs under him. Each time he tried to rise, his hooves banged against the wall and he fell back down.

  Christie opened the sliding door and knelt at the horse's head. As she spoke soothingly to him, the stall door slid closed.

  The young horse seemed to watch her warily, the whites of his eyes distended. She wondered how long he’d been down. Studying his position carefully, she decided the best thing to do was grab his front legs and pull him away from the wall. No mean feat, considering he probably weighed about three hundred pounds.

  Christie wondered if she'd be able to pull him far enough away without getting kicked. If she went for help it could waste precious minutes and he might injure himself. Christie knelt down and grasped each front fetlock above the hooves. She pulled. His weight was distributed just enough toward her that with her pulling he rolled over away from the wall. She jumped back quickly as he gained his feet and shook himself head-to-toe.

  "Are you okay?" she asked tenderly, running her hand down his soft muzzle. "Now I can go get someone to check you out."