around the side of the building as her sandaled feet picked a path across the thick carpet of still-damp, brown pine needles. But just when she’d convinced herself to go back inside, the sound of a horse nickering close by reached her ears.
A horse? At the church?
That’s all it took to send her around the corner in Jake’s wake. Yes, a horse. Two, in fact, saddled and tied to a hitching post. Bridles removed and draped over saddle horns, each horse had been secured with a lead rope fastened to its halter. One of them leaned his head into Jake, eager to have a sweet spot behind his ear scratched.
“People ride horses to church here?” Talk about the Wild West. She approached slowly, not wanting to spook the animals. They were beautiful, with intelligent, gentle brown eyes.
“The pastor’s brother, Trey Kenton, and Trey’s wife, Kara, do when the weather’s suitable. Meet Beamer and Taco.”
Kara and Trey. That would be the woman with the strawberry-blond ponytail and the soft-spoken cowboy with a slight limp. They were one of the December wedding couples. What an ideal addition to tomorrow’s blog this would make. A true taste of high country Arizona that would appeal to her readers. Perfect.
“I’ll get them from inside, along with my camera.” She spun away.
“Macy. Wait.”
At the sharp command, she halted and hesitantly turned toward him. “I want to see if they’ll come out and pose for me.”
“I’m sure they’d be happy to. But they aren’t going anywhere just yet. I saw Trey cutting himself a whopping big piece of cherry pie as we were leaving.” He cracked a smile. “So, pardon the expression, but hold your horses.”
Macy’s throat constricted. Despite the pun, she read something else in his now unsmiling blue eyes. Something she wasn’t in any mood to deal with right now.
“Look, Jake—”
Chapter Four
Nostrils flaring, the chestnut Taco suddenly lifted his head and emitted a powerfully shrill whinny that startled Macy into silence.
Having detected the preemptive strike intention in Macy’s tone, Jake laughed and gave his equine friend a grateful pat. Perfect timing. He had something he wanted to say and the challenge he sensed in her words would have put him on the defensive. “I think you’d better get over here, Mace, and give these guys some attention. I don’t remember you being afraid of horses.”
“I’m not.”
He sensed her indecision, though. Should she allow herself to be distracted or pick up where she’d left off? She again approached, probably more uneasy around him at the moment than she was the tethered horses.
Beamer stretched his neck toward her and she patted the top of his nose. He pushed forward to sniff her and she quickly stepped back to prevent him from getting anything on that pretty dress.
“Here. I snagged these off a veggie tray.” Jake fished in his jacket pocket and handed her a carrot stick. “Place it on the flat of your hand at the base of your fingers. Keep your fingers together and thumb tucked to the side. Then arch your hand downward and let him lip it off.”
“He won’t bite me?”
“Naw.” He pulled out another carrot stick and demonstrated with Taco. Beamer pushed in, looking for his fair share, and Jake nodded to Macy. “Go ahead. He’s ready for his.”
Gingerly, she held out her hand as Jake had instructed and immediately Beamer’s lips grazed her palm, searching for the treat. Finding it, he slipped it into his mouth and stepped back to crunch it. Loudly.
Macy laughed. “He didn’t waste any time.”
Jake handed her another carrot, but from her cautious glance in his direction she seemed to sense he was biding his time. And he was. After the passage of time, you’d think he’d have had anything he intended to say engraved in his memory, but having her here, right now, his mind drew a blank.
She toyed with the carrot in her hand. “You know, Jake, this is going to be a long four weeks for both of us if you intend to monitor my comings and goings each and every day.”
“I always go to church. Ask anybody.”
“Nevertheless, considering yesterday’s conversation, don’t tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind to keep an eye on me.”
A corner of his mouth turned up in admission. He patted Taco’s neck, then again scratched behind the big animal’s ear. “I wanted to talk to you about that.”
“That’s what I thought.” Her voice held a note of resignation.
He kept his eyes trained on the horse now rummaging for another treat. “I want to apologize for yesterday, Macy.”
From the intake of her breath, that was the last thing she expected to hear come out of his mouth. Studying her thoughtfully, he gently pushed the horse’s head away. “We had ourselves a little standoff, didn’t we?”
Her words came softly. “I’m not the enemy, Jake.”
“I know that.”
“Well...” She drew another breath. “Yesterday it sure didn’t feel like you did.”
“I’m sorry.”
If the sudden crease on her smooth forehead was any indication, she wasn’t convinced of his sincerity. Maybe a contrite Jake wasn’t something she’d been accustomed to in the past?
“People all over the country love my blog.” She motioned to the building next to them. “As you saw, towns love my slant on their communities and welcome me wherever I go.”
Macy slipped another carrot into Beamer’s mouth. “You said you’ve read my posts and admitted they’re done well. Why can’t you trust me to fairly report my experiences here?”
He glanced at the ground, again avoiding her gaze. “I think we already touched on that.”
“I never meant to hurt you or your friend, Jake. You have to believe me.”
He met her steady gaze with a questioning one of his own. “That might get you off the hook, but will it make me feel any better about having trusted you with information shared in confidence? Information I knew only because someone trusted me?”
“You didn’t tell me it was confidential.”
His throat tightened. Did she have no idea how he’d felt about her back then? How close he’d come to asking her to become a permanent part of his life? “I shouldn’t have had to tell you. That’s the thing.”
She still didn’t get it.
“I was supposed to be a mind reader?”
“I shouldn’t have had to preface my every word to my girlfriend with ‘not for publication, please.’”
Her eyes widened
