Waiting on the Rain by Claudia Connor
10
Ouch. Ava threw up her hand, touched the spot. She heard Luke curse then felt his hands on her arms.
“Let me see.”
“It’s fine. Really.” She stepped back. “Not your fault. I should have steered around.” The spot above her brow throbbed, but what had her heart running wild was Luke.
“Going to leave a mark,” Luke said. “Maybe a bruise. Damn. I’m sorry.”
“I’m used to it,” she said, waving it off. “I don’t bruise easily.”
“Run into a lot things, do you? I ran into a clothing rack sticking out like that once. Metal with a sharp end. Cracked my head on it good.”
Ava felt him move in closer, close enough that she felt the heat coming off his body. He stroked his thumb gently over the spot and the pain was all but forgotten. He smelled of the barn and sun and male. She felt his warm breath on her forehead. She’d wanted him to kiss her when they’d stood outside waiting for Hannah. She wanted him to kiss her now.
The familiar scents of the tack room surrounded her, usually calmed her. But right now the overwhelming scent was Luke. Different than he’d smelled at the wedding reception. No more baby spit up. No cologne. But he smelled male. A pinewood scent. And God, her heart had been thumping since the minute she’d heard his voice standing in the barn aisle.
His hand moved down to cup her cheek and when she felt his finger touch her bottom lip, her eyes fluttered closed. One hand came up to touch his chest. She leaned in…
And too late realized it wasn’t a kiss he was after.
“Sorry,” Luke said. “You ahh… You had a bit of something on your lip there. I—”
Mortified, Ava jerked away, mumbled a thanks. She was an idiot. An awkward idiot thinking this man was coming in to steal a kiss when that was probably the furthest thing from his mind. No way to know when she couldn’t see his face, couldn’t read his expression.
She felt around for her cane, desperate to get away.
“Ava, come on. That was my fault. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me, Luke.”
“I startled you. I—”
“Just stop. Please.”
They both knew that’s not what happened. She’d misread the situation. Not the first time. And she was afraid if she didn’t get away from him now she was going to cry in front of him.
She pushed past him, found her cane, then holding one hand out for extra protection, she walked out of the tack room. And right into Hannah.
“Ava.”
“Hi. Hey.”
“Your sister-in-law is here. I was just coming to tell you.”
“Great. Thanks. I’m ready.”
As she was leaving, Ava could just barely hear Hannah ask Luke, “Something going on you want to tell me about?”
She didn’t catch Luke’s reply.
“Ryan got held up,” Connie said, explaining why she was there instead of Ava’s brother. “And I’d say that’s a lucky break for you.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because,” Connie said, when they were both in her car. “I walk in a barn to get you and you come tearing out like your ass is on fire.” She tapped her finger on the steering wheel. “Interesting.”
“I was in a hurry,” she said, fastening her seat belt. “And why is that interesting?”
“That’s not. The man who came out behind you looking like he’d just stolen the last cookie from the cookie jar… That was interesting.”
It was embarrassing and it jerked her back to a time with so much uncertainty she sometimes wondered if she would ever completely shake it. The humiliation, the feelings of betrayal. Luke hadn’t betrayed her, but he’d… What? Rejected her?
No, not really. But wanting Luke to kiss her made the wound of Blake’s rejection fresh and raw. And it infuriated her.
Connie drove slowly up the gravel drive. “I’m looking at you and I don’t see any hay in your hair.”
“Why would I have hay in my hair? I was cleaning tack.”
“Uh huh. Looked like more was going on than wiping saddles.”
Ava could hear the grin in her sister-in-law’s voice.
“Want to share?” Connie asked, pausing before turning onto the main rode.
“No,” Ava said, knowing she was pouting.
“Well, can I just say, wow?”
Ava turned her hot face to the window. “You can.”
“Hey.” Connie reached over. “Did something happen? Do we need Ryan to kick someone’s ass?”
“No. Nothing happened. I thought… Never mind.”
“What? Just tell me already!”
“I thought something was about to happen, but I was wrong. He was just getting something off my face. My mistake.”
“Mmm. Well, men are stupid. Want me to tell you what he looks like? Just for kicks?”
She really did. And some of the embarrassment was replaced by curiosity. “If you must.”
“I must. Okay… Tall, for starts.”
“I know that much.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. I danced with him at that wedding thing.”
“Ooooh. Danced with him.”
“Jeez. Stop making me sound like I’m in middle school.”
“Hey, I’m just describing the man. You’re doing the rest.”
“Right.” And Connie had known her a long time. She’d been with her brother the past ten years, married for the past eight.
“Okay, where was I? Tall, hair a little on the long side. Not enough for a man bun. More like he’s missed a few haircuts. Doesn’t look like he has a typical office job.”
“He’s military. Or he was.”
“Mmm. Well, big, built. And hot. I can say that as a happily married woman. Your brother is civilized handsome. This guy is wild, rugged cowboy, ex-military hot.”
“A cowboy,” Ava muttered under her breath.
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”She didn’t know looks, but she knew in terms of comparison. The same as so and so, or different than. She knew tall or short. Big or skinny. Messy or grungy or neat.
They’d had dolls, she remembered, in preschool or therapy. Some with beards to feel. Other with curly hair and straight hair. There were different shaped eyes she could run her fingers over. Color never mattered except in comparison—same as hers, different than mine. “Thanks for picking me up.”
“No problem. I don’t mind. Gives us a chance to catch up.”
“I know, but I could have called a cab or Uber. I hate that Ryan’s the stubborn one and you got stuck with chauffeur duty.”
“I know you do. Get over it. Ryan wants to have a baby.”
“What? Talk about change of subject.”
“I told you I wanted us to catch up.”
“Well… wow. What do you want?”
“I don’t know.”
“I thought you two had decided not to have children. I know you don’t want to give up your practice.” Connie was a prosecuting attorney and loved it.
Connie’s cell phone rang through the car. “Shit. I need to take this. I’m sorry.”
“No problem.” She didn’t mind being left to her thoughts. Her brother with a baby. Ava smiled. She’d be an aunt. There’d been a time, a very short time, when she’d thought she might get the chance to be a mom herself.