Nobody's Dream (51 page)

He shrugged and gave a sheepish grin. “I’m not too good at coming up with names. Pic—Picasso—had already been named. When I needed more names, I thought about the reproduction pieces in the gallery where you had your December showing.”

Cassie recalled some of those pieces, including prints of a Fontana and a Cassatt, but not the other artist. “Why O’Keeffe?”

He scuffed his heel in the dirt but didn’t answer right away. “Well, actually, one of your paintings reminded me of O’Keeffe’s
Sweet Peas
. In fact, the horse herself reminds me a lot of you, too.”

Cassie blinked and grew sober as she focused on the horse again. Fear. Distrust. Brokenness. Which of those emotions reminded him of her—or perhaps all of them and more?

“Why are you telling me this?”

He glanced at her. “I want there to be no secrets between us, Sweet Pea.”

He had called her that many times before, but she thought it just a Texan’s empty endearment. Southern Americans liked to give women—even strangers—such nicknames.

She had studied O’Keeffe in college and actually loved some of her desert pieces, but knew exactly which painting Lucas referred to. Hers were snapdragons, but painted in extreme close-up, he could have mistaken them for sweet peas, she supposed. She had tried to determine the secrets hidden within the petals of the flower.

She flushed as she remembered how erotic some of O’Keeffe’s paintings of flowers had been. Surely he hadn’t seen anything sexual in her own paintings because that would have been the furthest from what Cassie wanted to convey. Hoping to steer clear of continuing this discussion, she teased in an effort to divert her thoughts and his.

“What, López wasn’t famous enough to have a horse named after her?”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he faced her. “Did you just make a joke, baby girl?” She blushed. She supposed she had teased him a little. He grinned. “Well, I have no doubt Cassie López will one day be as famous as Georgia O’Keeffe, but I decided if I named any of them that I’d have Karla and Angel on full-alert matchmaking mode. I didn’t think you wanted that kind of pressure.”

Goddess, no.

She relaxed knowing Lucas was not planning to push her beyond friendship, despite the certificate and vows that said they were married. She liked him a lot—provided he did not ask for more than she could give. The thought of being friends with a man had not even occurred to her since the attack in the cantina, but Lucas was nothing like those men. He was gentle and kind, a deep thinker, and he provided a safe haven to broken spirits.

Spirits like hers.

She never wanted to admit to anyone she was broken. Wounded, yes, but being broken implied there would be no fixing her. Or that the
bastardos
had succeeded.

Being mended was not any goal she had, but remaining broken would hinder her spiritual growth in this lifetime. She had seen how difficult it was now to become the shaman her mother was because she continued to hold onto so much of the past’s negative energy.

O’Keeffe whinnied, and Cassie turned to watch as she used her front left hoof this time to kick the ball toward her. It bumped against the toe of her shoe, and she just stared at it.

“Go on. She wants to play with you. That’s a good sign. Kick it back.”

“I have never kicked this kind of football before.”

“Nothin’ to it.” Lucas knelt in front of her and propped the ball up on one end, with his index finger holding the other pointy end. “Just give it a soft kick. We’re not going for a field goal.” Whatever that entailed. “Just try to get it across the corral to her.”

Cassie stared at the ball, at Lucas, and then at O’Keeffe, judging the amount of pressure she might need to achieve
that
goal. When was the last time she had played anything? Her heart pounded, but she pulled her right leg back and brought it forward to give the ball a gentle kick. It only went a few feet before rolling to a stop. Embarrassed, she said, “Let me try that again. I did not put enough strength into it.”

Lucas grinned and set the ball for her again. This time, she pulled her leg back a little farther, and when her toe impacted the ball, it sailed through the air and bounced off a slat in the corral fence before landing in front of O’Keeffe. The horse spooked, and Cassie’s hand flew to her mouth. “I am so sorry!” She hadn’t thought it would go so far.

Lucas laughed. “That’s some leg you have there, Sweet Pea.”

“It is not funny. I frightened her!”

He opened his mouth, but before Lucas could respond the horse kicked the ball back to them. Apparently the horse had not been too traumatized, after all. Cassie took a step toward O’Keeffe, but the horse snorted and began backing away.

“You’ll have to give her time to become better acquainted before you get too close. I pushed too hard at first and, man, was she pissed. Nearly tore her stall apart trying to put distance between us, so I’ve learned to give her more space and time.”

Cassie nodded, tears stinging her eyes. She met the horse’s gaze and tried to project the message that she would do her no harm, but the spell had been broken. O’Keeffe retreated.

Lucas clasped her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “We’ll work with her some more later on.”

Suddenly realizing Lucas was holding her, she shrugged away. He may only want to comfort her, but she did not want to invite him to touch her so freely. Innocent touches could be misconstrued.

She tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “I think I will go inside and clean the dishes.”

He grinned. “Thanks, darlin’.”

“It is only fair. You cooked.”

“I don’t mean about doing the dishes. I mean about taking on O’Keeffe for me.”

Oh.
She hoped she could build trust with O’Keeffe one day.

Patience and time. That’s all the horse needed.

*     *     *

That evening, Luke looked back on one of the best days he’d had in a long time. He and Cassie hadn’t done anything spectacular. Hell, he couldn’t even say what all they’d done together throughout the day.

The key was that they’d spent much of the day together. Mucking stalls. Feeding and turning out the horses with the alpacas and watching them interact with each other. Discussing the artwork she had taken with her when she evacuated. She seemed frustrated she wasn’t able to finish it in time, but with the upheaval in her life, he told her to cut herself some slack. It would be finished when the time was right.

He’d started out trying to find ways to distract Cassie from thoughts about the loss of her home, but her first session with O’Keeffe had broken down some kind of barrier inside her. He had no clue what had done the trick, so he couldn’t exactly write it down in the playbook to make sure he repeated it again later.

She’d even let him squeeze her shoulder earlier without bolting from him right away. Progress.

He wondered where she’d run off to the last half hour, though. He supposed he’d have to wait to see her again at supper.

Luke came out of the barn with a flake of hay for O’Keeffe and stopped in his tracks. Cassie stood in the corral just a few feet from the horse. The two simply stared at one another, locked in silent communication. He had no doubt they were communicating. O’Keeffe’s mangled ear flicked forward then the other. When the mare bowed her head toward Cassie, Luke had to remind himself to breathe. Cassie reached up and stroked her neck, and O’Keeffe let her.

He’d worked for months to come that close to the horse. Cassie already had broken down barriers with O’Keeffe it might have taken him years to go beyond.

The girl literally took his breath away.

Time stood still as he continued to watch the two. Cassie’s lips moved, but he couldn’t make out her words. A horse whisperer was difficult to hear even when you stood right next to them, because they weren’t necessarily communicating on a hearing level. Mental telepathy was a big part of it. And touch. Now that Cassie had made that physical contact, she touched O’Keeffe often with her gentle hand, reassuring the horse she was safe.

O’Keeffe nodded her head, and Cassie patted her neck, broke contact, and turned. When she spotted Luke, she paused almost imperceptibly before continuing across the corral.

“That was beautiful to watch.” As she came closer, Luke saw tear streaks down her cheeks. “You okay, Sweet Pea?”

She nodded, but the quiver of her lips told a different story. He opened his arms, and she surprised the hell out of him by walking into his embrace. What the hell had happened out there? Maybe O’Keeffe wasn’t the only one who had barriers shattered today.

“How can people be so cruel?”

“Nietzsche nailed it. ‘Man’s the cruelest animal.’” He’d learned that saying back in college, and it had stuck with him as being true, even though he hadn’t been on the receiving end of any of man’s great cruelties, thank God. But his horses sure had seen their share. “If you don’t mind sharing, what did you learn from her?”

She shuddered, and he held her tighter before realizing she might be reacting to his touch and not whatever O’Keeffe had conveyed to her. He started to release her when she spoke.

“Some say horses are not like people. That horses do not hold onto things and only live in the present.”

“But?”

“But when I asked about certain injuries, she opened up. She remembered it all.”

Luke stroked her back as she kept her face buried in his chest.

“They beat her with switches until she bled. Let her hooves grow without trimming them.”

“Yeah, I’m still working on trimming them back to normal, but it’ll take a while.” Cassie gasped for air and wrapped her arms around him. “Let it go, baby girl. What else did she tell you?”

She shook her head, and he wondered what O’Keeffe had shared that had her so shaken up. They held on to each other for what seemed like hours, but it had to have been only minutes. When she grew stiff in his arms, he knew their time was over.

She pulled away, but didn’t make eye contact with him. “I am going to turn in early. It has been a long day.”

Luke hated to watch her walk away, but knew he’d made enough progress for one day. Like his horses, he’d have to give her the time and space to learn to trust him. But she’d shown him today that a firm, but gentle, hand at the right time might be able to help break through some of her walls.

Chapter Eighteen

C
assie ran toward the house, but stopped before she entered and looked up at the pass where smoke still billowed from the other side of her mountain. More sorrow washed over her as she imagined
Abuela’s
belongings that she had left behind in the rustic cabin and studio. Both gone forever.

Her cell phone vibrated, and she pulled it out of her pocket. Kitty. Could she carry on a conversation right now without breaking down into tears? But if she did not answer, she would only worry her friend who had enough on her mind right now.

She touched the screen. “Hello. How are you and the babies, Kitty?” She tried to make her voice sound more cheerful than she felt, but must have failed miserably.

“Cassie, are you okay? I saw on the news that the fire was near your cabin. Where are you now?”

In the chaos yesterday, she had completely forgotten to let Kitty know she was okay. With so many major wildfires burning, she doubted her mountain’s blaze would make Denver news channels.

Cassie drew another breath and walked inside the house and toward the bedroom. She did not want to have to face Lucas again when he came in after her meltdown at the corral. And he would be coming in soon to fix supper.

“I am fine. Staying at Lucas’s.”

“Luke Denton’s?”

She smiled as she pictured Kitty’s incredulous face. “Yes, one and the same. He rescued me.”

“Cassie! What happened?”

Cassie recounted the story for her friend, but the weariness that had begun to set into her body out in the corral became even more pronounced as the magnitude of what Lucas had done hit her. Her hand shook, and she kicked off her shoes and burrowed under the covers.

“Cassie? Are you there?”

“Y-y-yes. I am in bed.”

“At this hour? Are you okay?”