to a whole new level of difficulty.
He moved his arm from her shoulders to the horse’s back, aware that she kept her hand on him, ready to assist if he should fall.
“Steady now. Once you’re ready I’m going to let go so I can mount up. I’ll help you up after me as much as I can.”
He took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with.” Almost before he had time to draw a second breath she was up on the horse. She scooted forward then reached down. “I’ll hold the horse as steady as I can. Take my hand so I can help pull you up.
The next few minutes were fragmented splinters of motion. He grabbed hold of her hand, then found himself chest first over the back of the horse, pain clawing through his injured arm and shoulder. The next thing he knew he had somehow gotten his leg over the horse without any memory of doing so, and was maneuvering himself into an upright position.
Which brought him face-to-face with his next dilemma.
“This isn’t the time to worry about niceties,” she said, obviously reading his mind again. “Ain’t no way you’re going to be able to stay on this horse without holding on to me. We’re not budging from here until that arm of yours is around my waist.”
She was right of course. Still, it felt like taking liberties he wasn’t entitled to. “Yes, ma’am.” He eased his right hand around her surprisingly trim waist, but managed to hold himself erect, keeping several inches between his chest and her back.
She set the horse in motion. “I’m going to try to keep a slow, steady pace. This probably won’t be the most comfortable ride you ever took, but it’ll be best if we go straight through without stopping.”
“I agree.” He swallowed an oath as the horse tossed its head before settling into a steady rhythm. “The sooner we get back to town, the better.” He wasn’t certain he could climb back up on this animal if he ever got off of it.
He’d just have to live with the fact that they were headed back to Knotty Pine and not toward Foxberry. For now, Josie’s needs would come before his, and even before Belle’s.
Jo wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet. Getting him up on the horse had only been half the battle. The other half would be keeping him there until they reached town.
The man had a lot of grit, she’d give him that. Not many would have managed to come through that ambush and lived to tell the tale.
She’d been well aware of his efforts to spare her during their walk across the clearing, and again when he’d mounted up.
Even now, with his hand around her waist, she could feel his effort not to lean against her. If she’d had reason to question whether he was an honorable man before, she could set her mind at ease now.
Probably be best to keep him talking so she could gauge how alert he was. Besides, she liked the sound of his voice. “Tell me about that family of yours back on the ranch.”
“I have a brother and a sister, Griff and Sadie.” His voice had slowed and deepened, his Texas drawl coming out. And she could feel the warmth of his breath stir the hair at her nape.
She told herself the shiver that fluttered her shoulders was due to the dropping temperature. “I said tell me about them, not name them.”
“What do you want to know?”
“The usual stuff. Are they older or younger than you? Are they married? What are they like?”
“Both younger—Griff by two years, Sadie by five. Neither is married.”
He paused and she wondered if he would give her any more information.
“Griff takes after Pa—a rancher through and through. Hawk’s Creek is in his blood and you couldn’t pry him away with a crowbar.”
So, was he implying that he himself wasn’t so tied to the land? She could sure relate to that. God had made this world way too big to limit yourself to one little patch of it.
“Sadie’s what you’d call impetuous. She’s a bit on the clumsy side, but she doesn’t let that stop her. She’s as comfortable at a barn raising as she is at a ladies auxiliary tea.”
Sounded like someone she’d get along fine with. “How often do you see them?”
“Two, three times a year.”
It was like wresting a bone from a dog to get any information out of him. Did he hurt too bad to talk? Or did he just not like the questions she was asking? “Tell me about the ranch.”
“Hawk’s Creek? It’s just north of Tyler. Covers about six hundred acres all told. My family raises some of the finest Hereford stock around. Not to mention cutting horses.”
There was an unmistakable touch of pride in his voice. Sounded like he still had a fondness for the place. “So how did you end up going to law school?”
“Long story.”
His voice was getting deeper, his words dragging. She had to keep him alert. “Seems we’ve got nothing but time. Talk to me.”
“My grandfather’s a lawyer and prominent member of Philadelphia society. Mother was his only child.”
He paused and she leaned against him briefly. She could almost see him pull himself back together.
“She was the apple of his eye,” he continued. “He didn’t like it much when she up and married my pa and moved to Texas. Took it even harder when she died without ever moving back.”
“And?” she prodded, placing her hand on top of his at her waist.
“Grandfather always wanted a son to follow in his footsteps. The year I turned sixteen, he asked my father to send one of us boys up to Philadelphia to spend a few months with him. Truth be told, I think Pa felt guilty over having deprived Grandfather of his daughter. Whatever the reason, he agreed.”
“And you volunteered.”
“It was only supposed to be for the summer.”
That sounded almost defensive.
He shifted but his hand never moved from her waist. “When summer was over, Grandfather wanted me to accompany him on a trip to Boston. When we returned he needed help researching a major case. Then he wanted to show me his lodge up in the Adirondacks. The entire fall stretched out that way, one ‘one more thing’ after another, and it was Christmas before I made it home.”
The offhand, almost resentful way he cataloged his travels, as if he’d just taken a not-too-enjoyable walk around the block, flabbergasted her. She’d give her eyeteeth to have such an experience. “Sounds like he went all out to give you a taste of what your mother’s world had been like.”
“I never thought of it that way.” He seemed to ponder on that a moment before he went on. “Anyway, before I left Philadelphia, he asked me to consider returning to attend the university and perhaps enter law school. It was hard to leave because I knew he was lonely and that in a way I was a tie to his daughter.”
“Is
