Kentucky Groom (16 page)

Jay reacted swiftly. He caught her chin in his hand, forcing her eyes to meet his. Even in the darkness, Carrie saw the angry glint in them. She felt the rude pinch of his fingers and heard his ragged breath.

“It’s too hot, and I’m too tired to play games,” he told her. “This has been a hard day. I may have not said the words to my father that you expect me to say, but he understands. And I understand that he and I are both trying. What about you, Carrie? Where’s the same spirit of fairness in you?”

Carrie jerked her head free and pushed up from where she sat on the table, jumping down to the ground. She rounded on him. “Don’t touch me like that again.”

“You’ve treated me like a plague for weeks. All I want is to make you a good husband and Jesse a good father. I want to love you. But you’ve thrown up barriers. I don’t know why, and I’m beginning not to care.”

“Just like you didn’t care who you hurt with your lies?”

“You keep throwing that up to me. I’ve said I was sorry. I’ve done the best I could. I’m not perfect, but I guess you are.”

“That was a cheap shot.”

“No cheaper than your arrogance,” Jay pointed out with horrible cruelty. “You told me I had to forgive my father. Then you would think about forgiving me. Well, now it’s time to think about it Carrie, because I don’t want this sham of a marriage to continue. Either you love me like I know you can or I’ll go back to California tomorrow.”

Carrie shook with fury—with the knowledge that his words held truth, a painful truth.

“I must check on Jesse.”

She took the safe way out, shouldering past him and running toward the doublewide.

* * * *

Carrie shut the door, resting her back against it as if that would bar Jay from her. How could it when he was in her heart and in her soul?

With brutal clarity, she recognized her own stubborn frailty. An unexpected fear knotted her stomach.
Divorce.
It was an ugly word. Jay was serious, and she was heartsick with dread.

Quietly, she crossed to the door of Jesse’s room and pushed it open. The little girl’s light still shone above her pillow, but her daughter was asleep. Carrie tiptoed into the room, removed the book from her slackened grasp and flipped out the light.

“Mom,” Jesse said when Carrie turned to leave.

With great love in her heart, Carrie came back to her daughter. “I thought you were asleep.”

“You didn’t give me a kiss.”

“I’m sorry.” She had to smile as she bent down and touched her lips to Jesse’s forehead.

“That’s where Jay kissed me.” Jesse’s words were dreamy, her eyelids drifting shut. “If you want to sell Dr. Doolittle, you can.”

Surprised, Carrie asked, “What would make you say that.”

“I know you and Jay don’t have much money. It doesn’t matter to me about Doolittle.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No, not as long as I have you and Jay.”

“You go to sleep, and we’ll talk about it in the morning.”

Moved, Carrie kissed Jesse again and left the room. She closed the door to Jesse’s room and stood in the middle of the living room floor. The knowledge of Jesse’s selflessness washed over her like a wave. She had never told Jesse about Jay’s wealth, preferring for her to get to know him without that prejudice.

Jesse thought they were still in financial trouble. In her own way, she was trying to help by sacrificing her horse. So much for Carrie’s attempt to keep things the same in her daughter’s life. Jesse was willing to sacrifice. Was she?

Cold shivers swept Carrie’s body. She had been wrong, horribly wrong. With a gut-wrenching acceptance, she acknowledged her own stupid mistakes. She admitted her stubbornness. Now she was about to lose the person she held most dear next to her daughter.

“Jay,” she said softly.

Carrie ran from the house through the darkened night. Jay had taken her place on the picnic tabletop. She crawled up on it and sat down beside him. They remained silent a while.

Finally, Carrie gathered her courage. “Jay, I was wrong too.” He sat there, unmoving. Not quite meeting his eyes, Carrie plowed ahead. “I wanted you to suffer as I had suffered. Tate had hurt me by his indifference. Then you hurt me by your lies. I wanted to hurt you.”

“You’ve come to that conclusion in the time it took you to put Jesse to bed?” Jay’s indictment echoed hers.

Carrie lifted her chin. “Yes.”

“How special.” Bitterness tinged his voice.

She turned a tortured gaze upon him. What if she had hurt him so badly that her words had no effect? After all, Rhett Butler walked away from Scarlet O’Hara. What if Jay deserted her? She’d been a fool, a blind, stupid fool.

“Jesse said something to me just now that made me see I was wrong.”

“From the mouths of babes.”

“Stop it!” Carrie grabbed his arm and shook it. “Listen to me.”

The clouds that had hidden the full moon parted, and for the first time, Carrie caught a glimpse of Jay’s features lined with weariness. There was grief deep in his heart that transmitted itself through the look he gave her.

“I’ve been trying to get you to listen to me,” he said.

“I know and I refused to hear,” Carrie admitted. She took a deep breath. “Jesse made me see that I was masking what was important. My daughter didn’t need a horse and the trappings of her old life to make her happy and secure. She needed me, and then you. Jay, she needed us together as a family.”

He was slow to reply. Instead, he took a fingertip and pushed a strand of her hair away from her eyes, gently brushing the tears away as well. Carrie hadn’t realized she was crying, but now, with the warmth of his fingers against her skin, she choked back a sob.

“Oh, Carrie,” Jay said.

And suddenly she melted into his arms. Her tears now coming childlike, her words wet with emotion. “Jay, if I lost you, I couldn’t go on living. I was so scared in the house when I thought I had really ruined our marriage. What would I do if you weren’t my husband?”

He smoothed her hair. “What would I do if you weren’t my wife?”

“We’d be pretty miserable.”

“Yes.”

Jay lifted her face, cupping it in his large hands, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. “Let’s not be angry and closed up again. Promise me.”

“I promise.” The words were hardly out of her mouth before his lips captured them. His tormented kiss drew her breath away.

“Tell me you love me.” His harsh whisper contained all his fear and heartache.

Carrie lifted her hands to his face, her fingers lingering against the corners of his damp eyes. Over his shoulder, the moon showered silver light upon them, throwing his beloved face into shadows.

“I love you, Jay Preston,” she murmured and offered him a watery smile. “I’ve loved you since you presented your backside to me while you were picking that horse’s hoof.”

Jay returned her smile. “And I’ve loved you, Carrie Preston, ever since you accused me of shoveling too much horse manure.”

“Show me,” she said. “Show me how much you love me.”

Jay climbed to his feet and pulled her up beside him. “It will be my pleasure,” he said.

Together they walked back to their temporary house. When they got to the door, Jay swept her into his arms, carried her over the threshold and straight to bed.

The End

About the Author

Jan Scarbrough lives in Louisville, Kentucky, along with two dogs and four cats. Dreams do come true! On January 2, 2000, she married Bill, her soul mate. When she’s not writing, Jan takes riding lessons every week on her favorite horse, the American Saddlebred. She also volunteers at The Luci Center, a therapeutic riding center.

Jan says, “The process of becoming a published author has been fun. My best friends are fellow writers. Who else will check a point plot for me or understand GMC and POV?”

Jan Scarbrough is a member of Novelists, Inc., Romance Writers of America and the Kentucky Romance Writers, where she served as president, secretary, and newsletter editor. Jan is currently the web mistress of the KYRW chapter’s award-winning web site.

To learn more about Jan Scarbrough, please visit her at
www.janscarbrough.com
.

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They thought the boys they loved were out of their lives. They were wrong.

KENTUCKY COWBOY — She had dumped him in high school because he was a risk-taker.

“Warmhearted and wonderful... Kentucky Cowboy is a keeper.”
— Bestselling Author Joanne Rock

*Winner of the 2006 PASIC
Book of Your Heart
Contest, Contemporary Series Romance

A contender for the world title, professional bull rider Judd Romeo defies death for a living. Now he must deal with the death of his mother by settling her estate. Returning home to Kentucky, he runs smack dab into the arms of his high school sweetheart, a woman he has never forgotten.

Veterinarian Mandy Sullivan learned early on that risk-takers are trouble. Having custody of her sister’s child, she is working hard to be both mother and father to the abandoned girl, and doesn’t count on trouble showing up next door.

Mandy discovers she can’t avoid the famous cowboy she’s never quite put out of her mind. When Mandy’s sister comes back threatening to take away the little girl she loves as her own, will Mandy realize Judd is not the same man he was back then?

KENTUCKY WOMAN — She had loved him when she was a teenager, but they never connected.

*Winner of the 2007 San Diego RWA’s
Spring into Romance
Contest

*Second Place in the 2007 PASIC
Book of Your Heart
Contest, Contemporary Series Romance

Years of hard work and schooling have paid off for single mom and ex-jockey Alexis Marsden. She now has a desk job she loves and she’s paying her bills—barely. But she can’t give her son everything he needs, especially a father. When the big brother of her child’s father asks her to marry him, does Alex give up her hard-won independence and settle for an old-fashioned marriage of convenience?

Workaholic banker Jackson Breckinridge has spent his life meeting the expectations of his parents and protecting his younger brother. When his brother fathers Alex’s child, Jack must protect his parents from the truth and fix his brother’s screw up. Marriage to the childhood playmate he’s loved since his school days is just the right thing to solve his problems. He accepts her terms for a marriage of convenience, but he longs to convert it into a one that’s for real.

KENTUCKY FLAME — She had his baby, but he left not knowing the truth.

Horse trainer Jake Hendricks arrives to take charge of Royalty Farm from his one-time mentor. After the main barn goes up in flames, Jake must do everything he can to save the farm that is already under financial pressure from a greedy local real estate developer.

After gathering the courage to leave an abusive marriage, horse trainer Melody O’Shea returns to Royalty Farm when her father needs her help. Coming home to the famed American Saddlebred farm is bittersweet because it is also the home of her daughter, the secret child she gave up for a private adoption.

Mel doesn’t count on Jake being there. The man left her nine years earlier not knowing she was carrying his baby. Forced to work with Jake to save her daughter’s home and heritage, Mel grapples with the mistakes of her past and her love for a man who once rejected her, but who she never forgot. When danger escalates, Mel’s life is in jeopardy and she must work with Jake to solve the mystery that threatens her safety and the safety of the daughter they both love.

KENTUCKY BRIDE — She rejected him once, but he’s willing to try again.

Champion equestrienne Aimee Elliott wants to be in taken seriously. An over-protected only child, she’s tired of being just window dressing. Refusing financial support from her parents, Aimee goes to work for a horse trainer. For the first time, she’s free of her parents’ control. Determined to marry for love, Aimee can never be sure if a man loves her for herself or for her father’s millions. Besides, she’s unsure if she can make it without Daddy’s money.