The Reluctant Bachelorette (20 page)

Sterling gestured to the horses, looking horrified. “We’re
just going to leave them here?”

“Unless you want to carry them, yes. Luke will have to come
back for them in the morning. It’ll serve him right.”

“Serve him right? For what? Loaning us horses?”

“Loaning us
trail
horses,” Taycee corrected. “I should
have seen this coming.”

“What are you talking about? Of course they’re trail horses.
How do you think we found this place so easily?”

“Because they wanted to come here. Problem is, they don’t want
to go back, and I refuse to spend any more time trying to coax them.”

Sterling frowned and glared at the horses. “This is crazy.”

“Crazy, but true. Horses can be stubborn when they want to be.
Especially trail horses.” Taycee squinted through the trees at the lowering
sun. It would be dark soon and they didn’t have a flashlight. Not good. She
headed for the trail. “C’mon, guys. We need to hurry. It’ll be a lot harder to
find our way in the dark.”

Sterling grudgingly followed as Burt tucked his camera back in
his bag. Taycee breathed a sigh of relief. It was bad enough being filmed when
she was in a good mood.

Dusk settled in as they trudged down the mountain. The sounds
of shoes scuffing the ground, crickets creaking, and twigs snapping underfoot
filled the silence. As the sky turned from gray to black, Taycee slowed and
walked with her hands outstretched to keep from running into something.
Sterling’s hand rested on her shoulder. It was the blind leading the blind, and
Taycee could only hope they were headed in the right direction.

“Burt, doesn’t your camera have a light?” Taycee asked.

“Sorry, I left it in the car. Figured we’d be back before it
got dark.”

Taycee’s leg scraped against a painful prickly bush, making
her want to curse. Loudly. But she wasn’t the swearing type and she wasn’t
about to let Luke turn her into one.

A loud crunch came from behind, and Sterling’s hand ripped
from her shoulder as he stumbled and let out a loud groan. She turned to find
him lying in a heap on the ground, grabbing onto his ankle.

Taycee squatted beside him. “You okay?”

“No. I twisted my ankle.”

“Here. Take my arm.” Burt came to Sterling’s other side, and
together they hefted him to his feet. He hobbled along, and their progress
slowed to a turtle’s pace. At this rate, they wouldn’t be back until morning.

“Sterling, I’m sorry, but it’s going to take forever like
this.” Taycee pulled out her cell phone and squinted at it. No reception. “Can
either of you guys get a signal?”

Both Sterling and Burt studied their phones, and then shook
their heads.

“Okay.” Taycee searched the trees. “Here’s what we’re going to
do. I know this trail well, and I’m sure I can find my way back. So how about I
go on ahead, find Luke, and we’ll bring a horse back for Sterling to ride on.”

“How will you find us again?” Sterling asked. “It’s pitch
black out here.”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with you going on alone,” Burt
added. “I’ll come with you.”

“And leave me here alone?” Sterling squeaked.

Taycee rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Burt, I promise. I can
use the light from my phone. And don’t worry, Sterling, we’ll be able to find
you with a flashlight. We can’t be that far from his house. I’ll be back in a
half an hour. Forty-five minutes tops.”

Sterling grabbed a hold of her arm and brought her closer.
“Are you sure?” A spray of moisture hit her face.

“Positive,” she said.

L
uke saddled up a horse
in
the barn, berating himself for thinking this had been a good idea. The sky had
darkened and Taycee still wasn’t back. He figured they’d have trouble getting
the horses to leave the meadow without Sally, but had they refused outright?
Was everyone walking back on foot? Had they gotten lost? Was Taycee okay?

He cinched up the belly strap with a bit too much force and
reached for the bridle.

“Luke!” Taycee’s voice rang out.

His body stilled as he let out a breath. She was okay. She was
fine.

“In here,” he called. “It’s about time you guys got back.”

The barn door flew open, and Taycee stood there in the dim
light with a few leaves poking out of her disheveled hair. She looked
beautiful. And angry.

“I’m the only one who’s here,” she said, hooking a thumb
behind her. “Sterling’s back about a mile with a twisted ankle.”

“And the horses?”

“In the meadow.” Taycee glared. “How kind of you to send us
with your most stubborn trail horses.”

Luke smiled as he walked over to her, reaching to pick the
leaves from her hair. It was soft and looked silky in the lamplight. He felt
the sudden urge to pull her to him, but rested his hand on her shoulder
instead. “I figured you’d get along really well with them."

“Very funny.” Taycee stepped away, making his hand fall from
her shoulder. She pointed to the animal behind him. “Will you please put a
bridle on that horse so we can go find Sterling? He and Burt weren’t exactly
thrilled to be left in the dark.”

Luke gave her a lingering look before he reached for the
bridle once more.

“Where do you keep your flashlights?” Taycee walked past him
and started looking through his gear, pulling open drawers and slamming them
closed when she didn’t find what she wanted.

“In the bag on the saddle,” Luke said as he fit the bridle in
place. “I was just about to come looking for you.” He led the horse from the
barn and double-checked the saddle. Then he mounted and held his hand out to
Taycee. “Coming?”

She hesitated, as if touching him was the last thing she
wanted to do. Finally, she placed her soft hand in his, stuck her foot in the
stirrup, and swung up behind him, immediately relinquishing his hand.

When her arms didn’t come around his waist, Luke glanced over
his shoulder to see her gripping the back of the saddle instead. He bit back a
grin. “I know you’re mad, but it’ll be a lot safer if you hold on to me.”

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” A quick
tsk
, a kick, and the horse
leapt forward. Taycee gasped and her arms coming around Luke in a tight hold as
she steadied herself. His grin widened as they started forward, reminding him
of other times they’d ridden together like this. Only now it was different.
Better.

“You’re smiling and thinking ‘I told you so,’ aren’t you?”
Taycee accused.

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Right.” As they settled into an easy pace, her grip around
him slackened. Luke resisted the urge to grab her hands and keep her close.

“Thanks for the great date, by the way,” she finally said. “It
was a real adventure.”

“No problem.” From the sounds of it, she would never forgive
him for this.

“And thanks for the other night as well. That was you too,
wasn’t it? Ralph sure did a great job. How much did he charge you for that
performance? Or was it just a favor to an old friend?”

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh please. Ralph’s too nice to come up with that idea all on
his own.”

“And I’m not a nice guy?”

Silence.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Luke said, shining the light through
the darkness as they picked their way along the trail. The crunch and scuffle
of the horse’s hooves mingled with the creaking of crickets as they moved
along. “What about you, Taycee Lynne? Are you a nice girl?”

“Yes.”

“I wonder if Carl and Missy would agree. Or me, for that
matter.”

More silence. Her hands fell from his side, probably gripping
the back of the saddle once again. What happened to her anyway? They used to be
such great friends. Could time really do that to a friendship? Erode it to
nothing?

The fact was, Luke wanted her friendship. Craved it even.
Especially since it could be the start of something even better. But Taycee
refused to give an inch. It made him want to give her a good, hard shake.

“So tell me this, Taycee Lynne,” he finally said. “Why did you
do it? Have things really changed that much between us that you couldn’t stand
the thought of going out with me? I don’t get it.”

“And I don’t get why you wanted to make me look bad on
camera—especially since I’m only doing this for Shelter Springs.”

He shrugged. “It’s called retaliation, something you know all
about.”

“How would you know?” Taycee accused. “You don’t know me
anymore. You may not have changed much during the past ten years, but I have.”

“Too bad. You were a lot more fun back then.” Okay, so maybe
he’d gone too far, but it was the truth. Where was the girl who used to hold on
tight and urge him to go faster? The girl who used to follow him anywhere and
looked up to him. Who’d tease him and talk to him. Made him feel like the older
brother he’d never gotten to be—not that he wanted to be her brother anymore.

What happened to that girl?

“What did I ever do to you anyway?” Luke asked. “You’ve
treated me different since I got back, and I don’t get it. I’ve done nothing to
you.”

“Nothing? You call tonight and Ralph nothing?”

“I’m talking before that. Why the manure in my driveway? Why
Missy?”

“I was helping you out. You said you didn’t want to be on the
show, remember?”

“No,” Luke said. “I said that I would get voted off if I
wanted to—not that you should take it upon yourself to do it for me.”

“Well, excuse me for helping you out. You should be thanking
me right now.”

“Thanking you? For making me look like a jerk in front of a
whole lot of people? Sorry, but forgive me if I don’t.”

“Please. Since when have you ever cared about people seeing
you with different girls? Or is it the fact that it’s now all over the internet
that bothers you?”

Luke yanked on the reins and twisted around to face her. He
felt like he was being accused of a crime he didn’t commit, as though Taycee
grasped at any excuse she could find to rail on him. “What are you talking
about?”

“Will you please keep going? Sterling is probably freaking
out.”

 “Not until you explain.”

“Seriously?” Taycee said. “You really need me to point out the
fact that you’ve never had a problem dating a bunch of girls? Back in high
school you did it all the time, or is your memory really that bad?”

Luke slid off the horse and pulled Taycee down with him,
fighting the urge to shake her senseless. “Who cares if I dated a lot of girls
in high school? It was ten years ago, Taycee! Ten years! And since I got back,
I haven’t had a chance to go out with anyone but you.”

Taycee’s fingers fisted at her side. “You left, Luke! You
promised to call and you didn’t. You promised to email and you didn’t. You
walked away without a backward glance and forgot all about me and Caleb. You
don’t do that to friends!”

Whoa. Luke shook his head to clear his thoughts. Caleb had
said that Taycee had a hard time when he left, but that was so long ago. Was
she still hung up on it? “Is that what this is about? Why I’ve been getting the
stiff arm from you since I got back?”

No answer.

A deep breath, and Luke tried again. “I don’t get it. Caleb
doesn’t care that I didn’t keep in touch, and no one else in town does either.
In fact, everyone else has welcomed me back with open arms. Why can’t it be the
same with you?”

“Because I’m not Caleb or everyone else! I’m Taycee!”

“Duh.”

With a stomp of her foot, Taycee spun on her heel to leave,
but Luke grabbed her hand and pulled her back. “Oh no you don’t. You aren’t
going anywhere until we finish this. Are you really still blaming me for
something I did ten years ago?”

Taycee yanked her hand free. “You did it when you got back,
too. You said we should get together for dinner. You said you’d call. But did
you? Of course not. Why? Because you really haven’t changed. Ten years later,
and you’re still the same unreliable excuse for a friend.”

Her words slammed into him with a brutal force. Luke took a
step back, as if distance would somehow lighten the impact. But it had the
opposite effect because Taycee’s eyes now appeared darker. More condemning. The
expression looked so out of place on her. So wrong. And yet somehow, he’d put
it there.

Luke suddenly had this insane urge to drag her toward him and
kiss her until she stopped looking at him like that. Until she stopped blaming
him for something Luke didn’t understand or feel like he deserved.

He needed to get away. Somehow figure out where he’d messed up
and sort through his mixed up feelings about her. He reached for the reins and
jumped back onto the horse, and then pulled an extra flashlight from his bag
and tossed it to her. “We’re not far from the house. You can wait inside, and
I’ll go and get Sterling.”

With that, he sank his heels into the horse’s side and lurched
forward, putting as much distance between them as he could.