9781631053566SpringsDelightBallNC (8 page)

Her eyes shimmered with tears.
“I’m afraid, and I can’t talk about it now. Give me time, Colt.”

Colt studied her as though he
was trying to see inside her head. “I’ll be back for dinner.”

She watched him go out the
door, a sob in her throat and tears flowing down her face. He’d acted downright
cold toward her. Wave after wave of regret washed over her. Why couldn’t she
let her guard down for just one minute? The hope she hadn’t realized she’d
harbored shriveled. She told herself from the beginning Colt was not for her.
Men were not for her. It had taken too much for her to realize her mistakes
with Billy and she didn’t trust herself not to do it again. She hoped she still
had his friendship.

The roast was about ready.
Pulling it out of the oven, she realized she had come to think of this place as
home in the short time she’d been there. She set the roast on the counter. Colt
had a right to know if Billy was going to cause trouble. Thinking about Billy
made her ashamed. She should have been stronger, she shouldn’t have allowed him
to beat her and use her.

Coming to Montana was supposed
to be her mulligan, her do-over. Why couldn’t the past just be the past?
Something bad was bound to happen if Billy showed up.

The door opened, and all three
cowboys shuffled in. She pasted a smile on her face. It wasn’t their fault she
was stupid.

Chapter Six

Colt had been walking on
eggshells. Spring’s face said it all, she was lying and he couldn’t figure out
why. He could have sworn she was alone in the world but the flowers proved
otherwise.

Mailing just three flowers
felt deliberate, so he’d looked for some kind of importance. The white flowers
he found out were calla lilies. Shady had to clue him in. Once he knew their
name, he looked them up on the internet. Some said they were for funerals. The
red rose was easy, that meant love. She knew exactly who sent those to her and
why. There was her ex-boyfriend out there somewhere. Maybe she still had
feelings for him. No, he decided, she seemed scared. The other possibility
could be the flowers were some type of warning, but since she hadn’t said
anything, he couldn’t be sure.

He
wished he had more experience with women. His dad brought a few home
after his mother’s death. One smacked Caleb around. Colt lured her out of the
house, and then snuck back in locking all the doors. He found it easy enough to
be around women, but he never understood them.

His home didn’t feel as
comfortable these days but he had plenty of work to do to keep him busy. Thank
God, he had Holden O’Leary and his brothers helping him out with the horses.
Holden was the town’s veterinarian. If not for him, Colt wouldn’t have been
able to help all of the rescues. The amount of medical care they needed was
astronomical.

Holden and his brothers were
due to come out, and he didn’t want any of them to think
Spring
was fair game. Matthew was old to enough to appreciate a woman like
Spring
. He planned to stick close to the house today of
course. He supposed she was for the taking. He had no claim on her.

Soon enough the sound of
trucks driving up toward the house could be heard. Colt met them with a smile.

Spring was already on the
front porch, her hand shading her eyes from the sun as she watched the trucks
arrive. He liked the way she glanced at him to see if it was all right. He
nodded. She started to smile at him then stopped, and he wondered what she was
thinking.

He went over to the black
pick-up and shook the driver’s hand. “Hell, Holden, I’ve been waiting all day
for you to show.” Colt chuckled.

Holden cocked his dark-haired
head in
Spring’s
direction. “If I had known, I would
have dropped by days ago.”

Colt didn’t like the twinkle
in Holden’s eyes. “You’re married.”

Holden gave him a smile of a
contented man.
“And happily too.
There are plenty of
bachelors in Carlston searching for a woman as fine as my
Summer
.
How attached are you to this one?” he teased.

Colt could feel his anger
start to burn. “She’s mine.” His heart skipped a beat in shock at his words.

Holden nodded. “You best tell
her that.”

Colt turned toward the house
and swore. Spring was standing in the middle of the O’Leary brothers. She
smiled at them as though they were at some barn dance, and it hit him right in
the gut.

“Hey you knuckle heads. We
came here to help, not to socialize.” Holden walked over to the porch. He
grinned. “I can understand the distraction. Ma’am, I’m Holden.”

Spring gave him a tentative
smile.
“Nice to meet you, Holden.”

“I’ll have my wife stop by and
meet you later. She and her gaggle of friends would love to get to know you.”

Spring nodded almost
hesitantly, and Colt wondered at her reluctance. He’d have thought she’d
welcome friends. He knew the other wives, they were nothing but nice.

“Well enough visiting for now,
let’s get these horses checked out.” Colt winked at
Spring
as she smiled in relief. At least he didn’t have to worry she’d fall for one of
those
O’Learys
. It mattered too much to him, and he
didn’t like it. He had horses to tend to, and no time to moon over a woman.

They walked to the barn, and
Holden looked at the newest horse, a bay, and whistled low. “What the hell?” He
sighed. “Don’t tell me, Cramer?”

“Probably was one of Cramer’s
but this horse was found wandering about thirty miles west of here.” Colt’s
face hardened. “Think he’s going to live?”

Holden swore again. “I don’t
know.” He opened the stall door and slowly went in. “He doesn’t shy away.”

“He hasn’t been skittish at
all,” Colt told him.

“On the body condition scale I’d
give him a one.” Holden ran his hands over the gelding gently.
“Looks like his belly is bloated, probably full of worms.”
He gently touched the horse’s face next. “His muzzle and jaw are disfigured.
Most likely he wasn’t getting the right food when he was fed.” Holden patted
the horse’s neck then let himself out of the stall.

“Colt, I really don’t know if
this one will make it. It’s worth a try though. If ever a horse needed you, it’s
this one. He’s a basket case but I’ll treat him. No markings or brand on the
horse. It could have come from anywhere.”

Colt slapped his Stetson
against his thigh. “We both know who the likely culprit is. A basket case, you
know that’s a good name for him. I’m thankful your brothers came along. There
is never enough time in a day to work with each horse.”

Holden grinned. “You didn’t
seem so happy when they were talking to that pretty gal you have up at the
house.”

Colt felt his face redden. He
glanced away. “I have another new one I need you to examine.”

Holden kept grinning and
walked with Colt passing a few stalls.

Colt nodded toward an
appaloosa in his stall. “This one is a sad story. Apparently the barn flooded,
so the owner decided to keep the horse in an old horse trailer. He’s weak.”

Holden nodded. “I can see from
here he has rain rot.” Holden eased his way into the stall. “This horse had
been starved. I can count each rib and look at its spine. Has he been eating?”

“I’ve had to hand feed him, he’s
just so weak. He’ll eat though. We’ll have to treat that fungus he has.” Colt
hated what had been done to each of the horses that came through.

“Where’d this one come from?”

“The people at the animal
shelter wouldn’t tell me. It was
an owner
surrender
though. They should have locked those owners up.”

“Don’t I know
it.
He’ll eventually be fine. Does this one have a name?”
Holden fed the horse some straw.

“His name is Thumper.” Colt
chuckled. “Poor horse, they named him after a rabbit.”

Holden shook his head. “Well,
they fed him as though he was a rabbit.” He walked out of the stall. “Where are
Bibbs and Shady?”

“Someone has to keep track of
the cattle. That’s what keeps the rescue alive. I’ve been running on a
shoestring.”

“How are you holding up? I see
the snowmobile is still there.”

Colt’s heart squeezed
painfully. “One day at a time. Spring has helped. She was Caleb’s friend from
Texas. Poor girl came out here, and she didn’t know Caleb passed away. He had
offered her a job here, and I almost sent her packing, but I want to honor
Caleb’s wishes. She’s had a hard life, and she can be as skittish as a
frightened filly.”

Holden laughed. “Well, she
came to the right place.”

Colt smiled back. “I gave her
Heidi’s foal. She named him Daybreak.”

“Nice,” Holden commented.
“Guess that means she plans on staying.”

Holden’s words startled Colt.
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

One by one,
all
of Holden’s
brother’s joined them, Matt, Mark, Luke and John.

John nodded at the rest. “Well
that’s all of them. We exercised and fed the horses that would let us near
them. Did I hear you say
Spring
likes horses?”

Colt frowned. “Listen guys,
Spring’s
been through the wringer with the last ass she
dated. She landed on my porch with more than a few bruises. I’m
askin
’ just let her be.”

John smiled. “No problem. If
it’s healing her soul she needs, then you’re the best man for the job.”

Holden shook hands with Colt.
“I’ll be back tomorrow and check on the horses. You take it easy.”

Colt watched them leave with
envy in his heart. They all had such camaraderie, the same he had with Caleb.
It probably was time to get the smashed snowmobile towed away. It didn’t serve
any purpose anymore, and it certainly didn’t honor Caleb, instead it was a
reminder of his one mistake. Colt shook his head and almost laughed. One
mistake who was he kidding? They’d gotten into the normal boy trouble together.

Loneliness assailed him. It
was something he would live with for some time. There was no escape, just
constant reminders. He just hoped that one day he’d be able to remember Caleb
with love and laughter instead of as broken and dead.

Staring at the house, he
spotted
Spring
looking out the window at him. She’d
tell him the truth when she was ready, wouldn’t she? His heart felt heavy, and
his breathing came hard. He didn’t want to walk on eggshells anymore. He’d give
her space. Maybe John was right, she needed to heal. They both did.

He wished he had the right to
go inside, grab her up into a big hug and kiss the daylights out of her. He
wanted to lay her across his bed, and make sweet love to her but neither was
going to happen.

* * * *

What to do? Her nice
comfortable living space was no longer comfortable. Colt disliked her. She
could see it in his eyes. He stared at her plenty lately, always with a giant
frown. At least he wasn’t a hitter and not much of a yeller. A frowner wasn’t
so bad, although it was depressing. Looking out the window, she could see him
frowning at her yet again. What to do?

She thought she’d found a
place where she could live peacefully, but her peace hadn’t lasted. At first,
she’d been wary, but then her heart would flutter when he was around. Now this
frowning act sat in the pit of her stomach. If only she could lock her emotions
away. A frown was just a frown she tried to tell herself.

She set the table. Since she’d
been there, both Shady and Bibbs had been constant guests at dinner. It made up
for the silences between her and Colt. She knew they could sense something was
wrong, but they played along as though nothing was wrong.

The front door opened, and she
braced herself. Putting on her best smile, she turned and spied the big frown.
“Have you ever heard the saying ‘turn that
frown
upside down’?” He shot her a puzzled look. “You know, it means smile.”

Colt hung up his coat. “I
might not have gone to college, but I do know what it means.” His voice gave
away his irritation.

“I just thought maybe you didn’t
know you’ve been sporting a perpetual frown for a couple days.”

“Oh, you mean since you got
those damn flowers and wouldn’t tell me who they’re from?”

Her smile faded. “Yep, that
would be the very frown I mean.” She turned from him. It unnerved her that he
didn’t move, just watched.

“I’m sure Bibbs and Shady will
be here any minute.” She twisted and untwisted the green kitchen towel she was
holding.

“They won’t be here for
dinner.”

“No?”

“I sent them to get rid of the
snowmobile.” His voice conveyed unbearable pain.

Spring put down the dishtowel
and walked over to him. The grief in his eyes pierced her heart, and she
wrapped her arms around his waist holding him tight.

He crushed her to him, and
there was a lot of need in his hug. She lightly stroked his back, trying to
offer comfort. She heard one sob bubble up out of him, and then all was silent
as they held each other.

Colt pulled away and cupped
her face. He stroked her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb, and stared into
her eyes for the longest time. Dropping his hands, he began to turn away but
suddenly he lifted her face with his finger and stared at her lips.

She wet her lips in
anticipation and butterflies swarmed in her stomach. He stared into her eyes
again and leaned down, but before his lips reached hers, he stepped away.

 
“We really should eat while it’s still hot.”
She gazed at him. His eyes bespoke of regret, and she wondered if it was regret
from not following through with the kiss or regret for thinking about it.

Colt took a step back and ran
his fingers through his dark hair. “I’m sorry. I almost, and I shouldn’t have.”

She turned away and walked to
the oven. “Don’t worry about it. I know you’re grieving, we both are.” She
pulled the roasted chicken out of the oven and got the potatoes ready to mash.
It felt good to exert her pent up pain with each mash. No lumps in her potatoes
tonight. A pricking on the back of her neck bothered her. She knew Colt was
watching her, and it began to unnerve her.