Come Moonrise (4 page)

Frankie forced her lips to smile, her eyes
to warm and her heart to keep beating despite the mortal blow it
had just received.

He was definitely interested in this goddess
among women. No wonder he couldn’t see Frankie for dust. His tastes
ran to the exotic and beautiful. Because he’d never been much of a
womanizer, she hadn’t known that. Then, the town didn’t boast that
many women who could have modeled for Botacelli either.

"Hi, Olivia. It’s nice to meet you." Frankie
said the lie without so much as letting her smile falter.

Olivia’s expression turned concerned anyway,
her eyes filling with a knowing sadness as her gaze flicked back
and forth between Tyler and Frankie. Her insight surprised Frankie,
who had never thought she wore her heart on her sleeve.

She shrugged her shoulders slightly to let
the other woman know she had no intention of fighting the
inevitable, but Olivia didn’t look comforted. If anything, she
looked more worried.

CHAPTER
THREE

"If you’re here about Circe, she’s doing
fine. I just checked on her." Olivia tucked a wayward curl behind
her ear. "I don’t think she’ll foal for another few days."

"If I’m not around, have your dad call
Frankie. She’s staying at the Random’s place. They’re her
people."

At one time the vote of confidence would
have touched her, but now it just landed against the wall of
numbness growing around her heart. Why had she let herself hope
again? Because he never dated anyone else?

How stupid was that? What a flimsy excuse to
use to come home ready to seduce a man who so obviously wasn’t
interested in his tomboy best friend.

There had been no Olivia before was all.

"Then Frankie should meet Circe, I think,"
Olivia said.

"That’s not necessary," Ty said. "Frankie’s
a trained vet with an affinity for animals. If you don’t need me to
look in on the mare, then we’ll be on our way."

"
Sacre
bleu
.
I am not having a vet who has never met her tend my horse for her
first birthing." Olivia’s voice was hard with certainty, her eyes
snapping annoyance at Ty.

Ty gave her a look of pure irritation. "If I
say Frankie will do, she’ll do."

"God is the only omnipotent being I know of,
Tyler McCanlup. I will have your friend meet the horse, if it is
all the same to you."

"It isn’t. I said I wanted to get her
home."

"If you are in such a hurry to return to
your ranch, then I will make sure Frankie gets home."

"No."

"Yes."

They glared at each other and Frankie
couldn’t help doubting her certainty that Ty wanted the other
woman. His expression was anything but lover-like and shouldn’t a
man enamored of a woman be more indulgent?

Ty didn’t love
her
that way and he had
always been a lot more tolerant of her whims. Which meant what?
That maybe there still was hope?

Her emotions were swinging like an over
zealous metronome. She needed to get herself under control and
stick with the plan. Either seduce Ty or walk
away...completely.

"I’d love to meet the horse," she said,
hoping to avert an all out war between the two people still glaring
at each other.

She laid her hand on Ty’s sleeve when he
said nothing. "Please, Ty. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a
pregnant mare."

He turned to her with the indulgent smile
she knew so well. "All right, little bit, if that’s what you
want."

She warmed at the familiar nick name. At six
foot three, he was one of the few men who actually considered her
five foot, eight inch frame little.

Olivia led the way back into the barn and
stopped at a stall with a beautiful little brown mare in it. "This
is Circe."

Frankie extended her hand to the horse’s
muzzle, letting the animal get her scent before she started
scratching the mare’s head and talking softly to it. "You’re a
beauty. I bet your baby is going to be just as pretty."

The horse responded to the soft words with a
gentle neighing and butted her head against Frankie’s shoulder.
After that, Frankie insisted on meeting the rest of the animals in
the barn.

She stopped at Circe’s stall again on her
way out and asked if she could examine the horse, just to get her
used to having her around. But the truth was, she wasn’t sure
Olivia was right. Frankie sensed the horse was ready to foal, even
though she wasn’t showing a lot of outward signs.

This affinity she had for pregnant animals
had surprised her family at first, especially considering what a
city girl she’d been when she came to live with them. However, her
uncle had learned to listen when Frankie said a female was ready to
give birth.

The more she touched the horse, the more
certain she became. "She’s going to drop her foal tonight."

Olivia stared at her and Ty swore.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, and I don’t think she should be left
alone. She’s scared and new at this."

"You’re not pack," Olivia said, her voice
laced with disbelief.

"Pack?" she asked.

Ty shook his. "Never mind. If she says it,
it’s true."

Olivia’s shapely brow rose and the look she
gave Ty was nothing short of mocking. "Oh speaks the great Oracle
again."

Frankie laughed. "You two fight like brother
and sister." And the relief she felt at that was huge.

Ty glared at her, but Olivia nodded. "He’s
every bit as annoying as any little brother could be."

"Are you older?" Frankie asked.

"Less than a year," Ty groused.

"Sometimes it feels like a decade," Olivia
said with an obvious bid at yanking his chain.

It worked and Ty glared at her.

"Well, this time you can believe him,"
Frankie said before the argument could escalate. "I can’t explain
how I know things about pregnant animals, but I do. It’s one of the
reasons I became a vet."

But she’d helped with a total of only six
births in the two years she’d practiced in the city. Domestic
animals usually had their babies at home without the assistance of
a vet.

Olivia frowned, biting her
lip, her agitation apparent. "I’ve got to go somewhere. Tonight. I
should have left hours ago. I can’t be
here
, not ever for her."

"Where are you going?" Ty asked sharply.

"None of your
business,
little
brother
."

Ty’s jaw twitched. "Rocking M land is the
safest for running."

"That’s not what you told me when I rode my
horse across it today," Frankie said with a frown.

Ty looked like he couldn’t decide what to
say and Olivia just shook her head, her expression obdurate.

"Look, I don’t mind staying with the horse
if Ty has other animals he needs to tend to," she offered.

The life a rural vet was a busy one, if
extremely satisfying.

"No. Nothing, but I don’t understand why
you’re leaving your mare right now, Olivia." Though something in
his tone said he knew exactly why the other woman had to go and it
made him mad.

"I must leave," Olivia repeated, a stubborn
edge to her voice. "And I think you understand very well why I
might find it necessary."

"Fine, then I’ll stay." Ty
accepted the inevitable with bad grace. "Will you drop Frankie off
on your way to
wherever it is you’re
going?
" he asked with sarcastic
emphasis.

"Certainly."

"No."

They spoke at the same time.

Frankie crossed her arms over her chest. "I
want to be here for the foaling. Do you mind Olivia?"

"Not at all. I am very glad my mare will
have you to comfort her. I sense things too...about people. And I
think you are kind."

Frankie’s smile at the compliment faded with
Ty’s next words.

"Well, I mind."

"Why?" she asked.

"I’m Circe’s vet. I’m here now and I don’t
need your assistance."

"Stop being so cranky or I’m going to think
you’ve got PMS," she joked. "You’re a guy. You aren’t supposed to
have monthly hormonal imbalances."

Olivia snorted at that.

"You’re not staying." He spoke so harshly,
Frankie took a step backward.

Finally, she got it. "You don’t want me
around you."

The look on his face said it all, like a man
caught in an unpalatable truth. She’d come with the noble
intentions of breaking off their friendship if that was what it
took to move forward with her life, but it had never occurred to
her he was ready for it to end.

And the realization hurt more than she would
have thought possible. "You’ve been trying to get rid of me since
you first saw me this morning. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to
catch on. I guess your family really wants a total break from
mine."

If she thought it was more personal than
that, her heart was going to break. Maybe it already had.

It felt like everything inside her had
shattered. So much for the numbness she’d been feeling. She was in
so much pain, she could barely breathe.

He said a word under his breath that was not
very nice, but she kept backing up.

"I’ll just ride back to the ranch with
Olivia. I won’t bug you again, Ty." Her voice broke on his name and
she spun away before the stupid stinging sensation in her eyes
manifested in something as embarrassing as tears.

A hand latched onto her arm, the hold
unbreakable. "Damn it, Frankie. I’m not trying to kick you out of
my life."

She kept her body averted, her head faced
away from him. "Don’t worry about it, Ty. It’s time I grew up and
moved on. I knew it and I thought I was ready, but it’s harder than
I expected is all."

He yanked her back around, the movement not
gentle, but not painfully rough either. He glared down at her. "It
is not time for you to move on. We’ll be friends forever."

"No. We can’t, Ty.
I can’t
," she
stressed.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"This...all of it...you’re right. I have no
place in your life."

"I never said that!" His roar startled a
loud whinny from Circe.

"Then, I’m saying it. I can’t be your friend
anymore, Ty." The moisture in her eyes welled against her lids. If
she blinked it would trickle over.

"Don’t you dare cry," he growled.

"I’m n-not," she said as two tears rolled
hotly down her cheeks.

"Damn it!"

"D-don’t swear at me!"

"What am I supposed to do? How do I fix
this?" he asked as if the answers pained him as much as they did
her.

She didn’t get a chance to respond because
his lips were claiming hers again. This time they were hot, hard
and hungry against hers...confusing her even more. But nothing
could dampen her response, this kiss had been so long in
coming.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and
pressed up against him with all her might. His arms circled her and
he held her as if he could never bear to let her go.

This time he kissed her until she was a
melting pool of feminine desire against him, until her mouth parted
and his tongue tasted hers.

When he broke his lips from hers, he hugged
her close and spoke into her neck. "I don’t ever want to hurt you,
Frankie."

"This doesn’t hurt."

"But it will. If we keep doing it."

"Why?"

"I told you. I don’t think of you that
way."

"Then why are you hard?"

He swore again, but he didn’t move away.
"Biology. It still won’t work between us."

"I don’t understand."

"I know, baby. I know."

He swore again, this time even more
viciously than before, and stepped away from her.

"What’s the matter?"

"She left."

"Olivia?"

"Yes."

She looked around and sure enough the other
woman was nowhere to be seen.

"She’s probably up at the house. I’ll leave
with her if you want me to, Ty." She had too much pride to stay
when she wasn’t wanted.

"She’s not at the house. She left."

"How—"

"I heard the car start."

"I didn’t hear anything."

"You have your gifts. I have mine."

"There’s probably time for you to drive me
back to Uncle Ben’s before anything happens with Circe."

"What did you mean you couldn’t be my friend
anymore?" he asked instead of answering.

She met his eyes, for once not trying to
hide anything in hers. "I love you, Ty."

"I love you too, little bit."

"Not like that. Not like a friend. I want
you."

"That’s just..."

"Biology?" she asked, wondering if he really
believed it.

"Yes," he gritted.

"It’s not. Not for me anyway."

"Frankie, don’t do this."

"Don’t tell you the truth? I can’t live a
lie anymore, Ty."

"So, what, you’re saying that if I don’t let
you be my girlfriend, you won’t be my best friend anymore?"

"That’s really
oversimplified, but in essence...yes.
I
can’t keep giving the best of myself to you when all you want is
one part of me
. I’m sorry."

"That’s such a human load of crap."

She flinched from the disgust in his eyes.
"I know you’d like to believe you aren’t human, but you’re fallible
too, Ty."

"I’m not threatening you with walking away
if you don’t do what I want."

"Aren’t you? Haven’t you always made it
clear that if I tried to be more than a friend our friendship would
end?"

"I never said that."

"No, you just lied to me."

"Never."

"Always. You said you didn’t think of me
like that, but you want me too. Isn’t it worth trying to make a
relationship work between us?"