Читать книгу A Family For The Rancher - Allison B. Collins - Страница 12

Chapter Four

Several days later, after a grueling session with Kelsey, Nash had snapped at her to leave him alone. All he wanted was a soak in a cool tub. But he needed to be outdoors, not cooped up in his cabin. His mind flashed to the pond where he used to go skinny-dipping. The cool water would feel good on this abnormally warm July day.

He grabbed a towel and climbed into the truck, his leg aching like a sonovabitch. He drove to the hidden spot, cursing a blue streak. Good thing his momma couldn’t hear him now, or she’d take a spatula to his backside. He’d loved her a lot, and it nearly broke him when she died. He’d only been ten, and Hunter was barely a year old, with the other three ranging in age between them. No-nonsense, good Christian, but a lot of fun. The light left their house that day.

Seeing the split in the trees that led to the pond, he pulled over and parked. Out of all his brothers, he’d been the only one to consider it his sanctuary. Why hadn’t he come back here before now?

He tried to get out of the truck, and had to lift his left leg out. Yeah, that was why. Damn leg.

Throwing his Stetson on the dashboard, he slammed the door, then picked his way across the uneven ground. About a hundred feet through the trees, the path opened up to sparkling blue water. He wanted in that pond so bad he could taste it. Yanking off his T-shirt, he threw it on the flat rock that sat a few feet up from the water. Leaning against it, the trapped warmth heated his backside, and he stripped off his jeans as fast as he could. Hauling himself onto the flat rock wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped, but he made it.

A flash of light blinded him for a minute, and he realized it was the sun glinting off his leg. He punched the prosthesis, and was rewarded with stinging knuckles.

Rustling from the bushes about six yards to the left caught his attention, and he squinted in the sunlight. Didn’t see anything. Probably some animal coming for water. As long as it wasn’t a bear or a mountain lion, he didn’t care. Unwrapping the binding on the leg, he pulled it off, held it up in the air, tempted to pitch it into the pond.

A bloodcurdling scream split the quiet afternoon, scaring him so much he almost fell off the rock. He looked around for a predator crouching to attack. Standing near the water’s edge was a little girl with dark curly hair.

Screaming.

He froze. What the hell should he do? He was naked, holding a fake leg in the air, with a little girl screaming bloody murder. He grabbed his T-shirt and clamped it to his privates.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. Who are you?”

The screaming continued, and he knew she hadn’t heard him.

He tried to fit his leg back into place, but his hands shook so bad this time he really did almost drop it into the water.

“Maddy! Madison!” a woman’s frantic voice called. Kelsey? A light dawned and he realized this must be her daughter.

“It’s okay, Madison. I know your mommy.” His words were still drowned out by her voice. Her very loud voice.

“Maddy! What is it? Are you hurt?” Kelsey stumbled through another break in the trees. She knelt down in front of the girl and frantically checked her over. “Sweetie, what’s wrong? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”

The little girl’s screams subsided into gulping sobs, and she pointed at him.

Even though he was a few yards away, he saw Kelsey freeze, prepared to pounce on whatever threatened her daughter. She grabbed a thick stick next to her, leaped to her feet and whirled around to face him.

“Nash?” she asked, looking around the perimeter of the pond.

He waved. “Hiya.”

“Um...is there a wild animal here?”

“Nope.”

“Why is my daughter screaming?”

He held up his leg. “I was getting ready to swi—”

Maddy screamed again, Kelsey dropped the stick and picked her up. She walked several feet away and turned around so the girl wasn’t facing him anymore.

This was the damn reason he didn’t want to be around people. Ever again. They’d see him as a freak. He’d come home to prove he was still the same person.

But even a little girl knew he wasn’t.

He started to climb down, then realized he was still naked. Looking up to ask Kelsey to leave, he could tell she’d just realized he was naked, too. Color swept up her neck, then her face, until she looked like a sun-ripened strawberry. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, her tongue darting out to lick her lower lip.

He hardened instantly and hunched over, trying to hide it with the T-shirt. How could one look from her turn him on so much? Even when she was trying to calm her daughter down? Glancing at the water, he knew he needed to get in there. Fast. Or he’d embarrass both of them to no end.

He looked up to ask her to leave, but didn’t see either of them. Great. He dropped the leg on the rock, wincing as it hit the granite with a clang. Scooting to the edge, he lowered himself into the water, grateful for the freezing runoff from the glacier that fed into the stream, filling his pond.

Scanning the area once more, he was satisfied they were gone. Letting himself go, he floated, the sun heating his front, and the water cooling his back. His muscles relaxed, bit by bit, and the pain in his leg reduced to random twinges.

He let the cold water soothe his aches. If only it could soothe the noise in his head. Squinching his eyes closed, he still heard the little girl’s screams echo in his brain. She’d been terrified of him. Without even opening his eyes, he knew he looked like a monster. Between the white scars against his tanned skin, and no leg—no wonder the poor kid had screamed.

Great reinforcement for not having kids. Not that any woman would want him anyway. He didn’t want to mentally scar the kids he used to want, and hoped Madison would forget what she’d seen an hour ago.

Maybe I can just stay here, never leave this place. A flash of Kelsey’s blue eyes squinting at him as she pushed him in rehab made him think she’d just hunt him down here so she could torture him some more. “Screw her,” he mumbled.

And of course those words made him think about what it would be like to do that to her literally. Not that she’d let him. But considering the way his body reacted just thinking about her, he could at least fantasize in case he needed to take matters into his own hand. The cold water wasn’t helping right now, and he cupped himself, wishing...

“I wanted to apol—”

He jackknifed up, then his foot slipped off a rock, and he went underwater. Thrashing around for balance, he rose up for air, coughing up the water he’d swallowed.

Kelsey stood at the edge of the pond, her hands plastered over her eyes. From what little he could see of her cheeks, they were blazing red.

Great. Just great. Did she actually see me...?

“Why’d you come back? Where’s Maddy?” he asked, moving his arms back and forth for balance, trying to stay upright.

She lowered her hands to look at him. “She’s with my mother back at the car. We finished our picnic and I wanted to say I’m sorry for Maddy’s—” Her hands flew up again to cover her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s really clear water in the pond there. Did you know that?”

“Sure. The water all over the ranch is like this.”

“You can see every rock, every plant, real clear.” She still hadn’t lowered her hands.

He looked down and saw everything magnified in the waist-deep water. Dammit. He started swimming, or trying to, and ended up practically dog-paddling to the edge. The rock ledge loomed over him, and he reached to pull himself up. It had been a long time since he’d been to the pond, and he’d forgotten that to get out, he needed to push off. With his legs.

“Uh, Kelsey?”

“Yes,” she answered, still covering her eyes.

“I need a hand to get out.”

“Oh.”

He waited, could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

“Maybe we could turn this into a session.” She peeked out through her fingers, he assumed to assess the rock, shoreline and find a way he could get out.

“Just get me out of here,” he growled.

“You’re going to have to learn how to do this on your own if you come back here. Might as well start today.”

“Get me the hell out of this pond. Don’t lecture me about rehab. I can’t get out by myself. You think that makes me happy?” If she said one more damn word about rehab, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.

“Fine,” she huffed, dropping her hands to her sides. She stomped to the edge and held her hand out.

He reached up to grab her hand, and she pulled. Using his foot, he tried to scramble as best he could up the slippery slope.

She gripped his wrist with her other hand and pulled again, just as he started sliding backward. He tried to let go, but she followed him with a big splash and sank underwater. She rose to the surface, spluttering and coughing.

“Kelsey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

Her outrage was so absolute he was surprised the water didn’t start boiling around them. Her black as sin hair plastered to her head, and she scooped it out of her eyes.

A tickle rose up his throat, and he tried to cough it back. Which only made it worse. It turned into a snort.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” The accusatory finger aimed his way could have been a lethal weapon.

Choking back another laugh, he held his hands up. “No, ma’am. Honestly, I didn’t.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she swiped a hand down her face. “Better not have, mister,” she muttered, heading for the shore.

Another laugh bubbled up, and it felt so foreign, he let it out. Which was followed by another laugh, sounding rusty even to his ears.

She froze and slowly turned to face him. Drawing her hand back, she swooshed it across the surface, sending a tidal wave of water into his face.

It should have pissed him off, but even as he coughed out the water, he admired her feistiness.

Reaching the shore a few yards from the rocky ledge, she turned around to wait for him. “Hurry up. I need to get packed up and back to the cabin for Maddy’s nap.”

He swam forward, cursing himself for being naked.

“The bank is more of a gentle slope here. I’ll put my arm around you, and you lean on me however much you need to.”

God, he hated this. Having to depend on someone to help him grated on every last nerve. And to rely on a woman, any woman, made it worse.

Her hand slid across his back and around his side as she tried to support him, leaving a trail of fire over his slick skin. Oh geez. Think of something else. Anything else besides her hand on me. He pictured the pile of horse manure he’d had to shovel as punishment one hot summer as a teenager just to get him the few yards till he could grab his towel.

He tried not to pant as they hobbled together out of the water. Hated showing weakness, even if she was a therapist. As soon as they were close enough, he leaned forward and grabbed his towel off the rock, wrapped it around his waist. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Her voice sounded breathless, and he glanced up to see her hurrying away. She stopped suddenly. “You okay from here?” she asked without turning around.

“Yeah.”

Leaves crunched as she hurried away, leaving him alone with the crickets. He dried off, then leaned against the rock, looked around the serene setting. This place had always been his sanctuary, a place to be completely alone.

And now it would always remind him of limitations.

And desperate need.