Uncommon Emotions Part 7

"I'm twelve years older than my sisters, but they've been bossing me around from the moment they were born."

She laughed with me as we tore into the coffeecake.

"What does your dad do?"

"Contractor."

"Ahh, the true secret to the success of your beautiful home."

"He's actually retired, but I'd worked alongside his apprentice at sites since we were kids. He was more than happy to build my place as long as I helped out." I put the rest of my coffeecake back in a plastic bag, too full to eat any more. "Why is your dad the only brother not working for Paul Industries?"

"He's a surgeon, so the family let him off the hook. My mom and brother are doctors, too. Pediatricians. They share a practice that my brother will take over once she retires next year."

"That's great. No medical calling for you?"

"h.e.l.l no, I got queasy dissecting the frog in biology."

"Me, too," I agreed. "The smell, the rubbery guts, so disgusting."

We chuckled, lost in the memory of seventh grade bio lab. She looked relaxed and happy, reclining back on her arms with legs stretched out in front of her. Sunlight touched off purple highlights in her black hair as her face *67 turned up to the sun. My eyes were drawn to her tilted neck.

A slight tremor pulsed at the base of her throat from her steady heartbeat. The sight mesmerized, pulling a ragged breath from my lungs. I shook my head at the sudden flush of heat in my belly.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Her hesitance pierced my moment of insanity.

"Because these others haven't been personal?" I joked.

The stylish cowboy hat bobbed up her back when she ducked her head at my tease. "How long have you and Chase been together?"

Surprised by the sudden change of topic and somewhat embarra.s.sed at the mention of Chase, I took a few moments to respond. "We're actually not seeing each other anymore."

Brown eyes flared at my revelation. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. When did you break up?"

"It's been a long time coming."

She considered her reply. "So, it wasn't just one thing?"

"Not really." The interest in her expression made me want to confide the rest. "Although, the a.s.sumption that we were getting married before we'd even discussed any kind of future together kinda tipped me over the edge."

"Hmm, that would be annoying," she mimicked my lighthearted tone.

"Ever had anything like that happen to you?"

"Can't say that I have." She studied me with an amused expression. "I must admit I was a little surprised to meet him."

Surprised? Was the idea of me in a relationship so surprising even to an acquaintance? "Why?"

Raven took time to choose her words carefully. She looked back at the dogs who'd made fast friends with the horses, snoozing at their hooves. "I don't mean to embarra.s.s you, but I heard something about a dark supply room a few weeks back."

68*

I coughed in surprise. Kelly hadn't seemed like she wanted to tell her boss about that. "Oh really, you heard about my abduction, did you?"

"Sure did, and by the way you reacted so nonchalantly, I wouldn't have guessed that you had a boyfriend."

"Oh?" Now, I was really curious.

"Not that I like blanket statements," she chanced a look at me before continuing, "but most straight women don't handle being kissed by another woman with such a 'no biggie' att.i.tude."

"She told you a lot," I said with cautious amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Did Ms. Supply Room Kissy Face spill that she thought I was someone named Raven?"

She sat up straight, eyes widening again. "Actually, Ray was the one who told me about it." She tilted her head toward me with a piercing look. "Is that why you brought up the no fraternization policy? You thought I was having an affair with my a.s.sistant?"

"How many Ravens do you know? And what's the likelihood that two of them work in the same company?"

"You honestly thought I would be that stupid?" Her tone sounded incredulous. Not disbelief that I might have thought that, more like astonishment at the idea of entering into a relationship with her subordinate. Like it was the most absurd notion she'd ever heard.

"Stupid is a little harsh, and I didn't want to believe it." I tried not to sound defensive. "You can't help who you fall in love with, right?"

"No, I guess you can't," she agreed so easily I thought she'd moved past my misperception about her. Her mouth slid into a wicked grin as she kidded, "Might explain you and Chase."

I was so shocked by her instant camaraderie that I blurted, "I wasn't in love with Chase."

"Really?" Her shock didn't contain itself to her tone of voice. Wide eyes, raised brow, and intent lean accompanied *69 her surprised retort. "He's talking about marriage and you're not even in love with him? Either he's clueless or you're a d.a.m.n good actor."

"Now, that's a personal question," I kidded to cover my embarra.s.sment at admitting something so private.

She smiled at my attempt to move off the subject.

"You're right. We should start back anyway."

"Sure, and it's a nice way to dodge any personal questions aimed at you." I stood to help her gather up the blanket and start packing up the saddle bags.

She laughed and slid a smirk my way. "Ask away."

"Ahh, umm..." Her easy response was so unexpected I couldn't formulate a more original question. "No one special in your life that I can tease you about?"

A spark flashed in her eyes when she turned toward me.

It made me abandon the task of fastening the saddlebag. She stepped closer to finish the job for me. "Not in a while."

The statement, issued at a lower than normal register, kicked my heartbeat into a higher gear. Could I really be thrilled that she wasn't dating anyone? Thrilled may be too strong a word, but I was definitely gladdened by her response. Maybe I realized that, since we were both single, days like this could be repeated more often than if she was in a relationship. Yeah, that sounded right.

Chapter 10.

T he descent down the backside of the hill helped refocus my attention away from rare feelings of close friendship to our beautiful surroundings. When we reached the foot of the slope, we rode along the creek for a while, slipping back into silence. Racc.o.o.ns, squirrels, more deer, and a beaver dam kept my mind occupied so I wouldn't have to contemplate the confusing emotions tangling up my thoughts.

Just before the trail turned inward away from the creek, Raven halted Fate and stepped down from her saddle.

"They usually take a drink here."

"All right." I dismounted beside her and led Calamity over to the creek.

We watched the dogs splash through the brook as the horses leaned their long necks to taste the water. Raven stretched toward the sun, providing a glimpse of her flat stomach beneath the now hiked up tank top. I found the sight riveting and confounding all at once.

"Is all this land yours?" I turned back toward the horses because I couldn't handle the thoughts my brain was entertaining.

"I've got ten acres. We're on my neighbor's land right now. He's got another ten acres and the one over there," she pointed to the left, "has five. We all ride horses and agreed *71 to allow each other access to the natural trail that runs up the hill on my property, down the hill on his property and across this creek over to the other neighbor's. None of the overlapping trail runs near our houses, so it's nice and private. Although, I have b.u.mped into them both on the trail before."

"Guess we were lucky to have it to ourselves today." I silently thanked both neighbors for staying off their horses for the day.

Calamity declared her thirst quenched with a quiet whinny. I moved her back from the creek and stepped one foot into the stirrup. A movement caught my eye, and I saw the snake as it shot toward us from the tall gra.s.s. My leg was mid swing over the saddle when Calamity reared at the advancing snake, and I found myself falling back to the ground. The fall seemed to take forever. I had plenty of time to hope I didn't land on my dogs and to realize this was going to hurt. What made the fall interminable was the panic that Raven might be bucked off as well. I managed to slip my foot out of the stirrup to try to break my fall. A stab of pain shot through my foot into my ankle when my weight joined in, and I hit the ground with a thud. My head felt like it dribbled several times against the ground as the air rushed from my lungs.

I'd heard the start of Raven's shout when my foot touched down, but my head bounce dimmed all other sound. Having my wind knocked out stunned me enough that I didn't immediately register any other pain. Raven's face loomed over me, her eyes frightened and her lips moving, but I couldn't make out the words. When I felt her fingers press against my forehead, my hearing started to become clearer. "...kay? Oh G.o.d! Joslyn?" She gently touched the planes of my face. "Don't move. Please, G.o.d, please be okay."

"Snake," I rasped when my wind came back. "Look out."

72*

"Shh, Jos, honey, it's okay. It took off when Calamity reared." Her face showed only a hint of relief that I'd responded to her.

"Is she okay? Fate and the dogs?"

An anxious breath leapt from her mouth as she dropped her forehead to where it touched my shoulder. "They're fine. I can't believe you get bucked and you're worried about the horses and dogs." When she swung her head back up, her eyes looked shiny like she was fighting tears.

"Are you okay?" Why would she be crying? And did she call me "honey" before? Maybe I really was hurt.

She blinked several times. "You're the one that's flat on your back. Are you hurt?"

Panic a.s.suaged, I took stock of my faculties. My head hurt, my back ached, my b.u.t.t was sore, and my ankle felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing it with a hot poker.

"Ugh."

She let go of a nervous laugh. "Ugh? I take it that's a yes.

Please tell me you can move your hands and feet?"

"My neck's fine." I eliminated the fear of paralysis.

"Everything else, not so much." I kept my tone light and moved to get up.

She reached out to pin me to the ground. "Jos, wait! You could have broken something." Her hands moved down to check my ribcage, tenderly probing along my torso.

"Ribs are good. Nothing's broken, but I think I twisted my ankle. I'll know when I try to put weight on it."

"But you hit your head."

"Are you saying I'm loopy?" I kidded, making another move to sit up. This time her hands slid around my back and easily pulled me up. The throbbing that was in my ankle spread quickly to my head. "Whoa!"

"Oh G.o.d, you've probably got a concussion. I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have brought us all the way out here."

*73 I placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her and my dizziness. "Raven, stop. I'm fine. Now, if you'll just stop wavering, I can stand up."

"You're joking. You're hurt, you've been thrown from a horse, and you're joking?" The concern in her eyes turned to disbelief.

"You're not the only twisted one." I sucked in several breaths through my nose and out my mouth to regain some equilibrium. When I could twist my head back and forth without any dizziness, I told her, "Okay, up and at 'em."

Raven stood and reached down to help me up. The strength of her arms made me think she probably could have picked me up and set me on my feet without any help from me. I let her haul me up and stood clasping her forearms as I attempted to step down on my hurt ankle. Ow!

Yep, sprained for sure.

"Jos!" she shrieked when I winced and pulled back the weight from that foot. Her arms came around to steady me and hold some of my weight. I felt the dizziness return. If I'd been able to think clearly, I might have realized that some of the dizziness wasn't only from the pounding in my head.

"Ankle's twisted, too." I reported, laughing at my own joke. Now, I was getting downright silly.

Warm breath swept across the base of my throat as she bent to examine my ankle. My head fell back on its own, the dizziness making me feel weightless. "You're not okay. I'm so sorry. Calamity is usually so gentle. I've never seen her rear up before."

"It wasn't her fault. Snakes wig me out, too."

Raven's relief came in the form of breathy laughter, but two tears escaped her eyes. Without thinking, I reached up and brushed the tears from her face, saddened that she felt responsibility for a freak accident. She watched my fingers leave her face before her eyes snapped back to mine. The emotion in them was so raw it stole my breath. She stepped 74*

back, moving her hands from my waist to my arms to keep me steady.

"Here's what we'll do." Her voice cracked when she spoke until she cleared her throat. "As soon as you feel up to it, we'll get you into the saddle, and I'll ride with you.

Calamity and the dogs can follow us."

"I'm sure I can ride, Raven." I knew it sounded like I was trying to convince myself, but only because I was.

Her brown eyes, so like fine whiskey, stared sternly at me. "Humor me, Joslyn."

The process of loading me into the saddle convinced me that I wouldn't be able to keep my balance right away. I was glad when she eased onto Fate behind me. Her arms shot forward on either side of me, keeping me poised in the saddle as she grabbed the reins and got our convoy moving.

Fate's first step brought my back against Raven. I tried to move forward, but that spinning thing happened again.

All I could do was close my eyes and let her act as my backrest. She didn't seem to mind, her sinewy body strong in her seat, arms resting against mine. Every so often I had to close my eyes to block out a falling sensation and fight to refocus my vision. Clearly, I was a little worse off than I thought. After a long trek, my ankle swelled painfully which kept me from succ.u.mbing to the drowsiness I felt.

"Hey, stay with me," Raven ordered softly into my ear.

I'd slumped against her left arm and rocked back into my seat after she spoke. "Good, we're almost there."